Chapter 81: Enduring Through the Ages

This chapter spans over five thousand characters, dear readers, so please take your time. I humbly ask for your comments, tips, recommendations, and collections—thank you.

The two stone coffins lay quietly in the heart of the chamber, as if waiting for someone to unveil their shroud of mystery. All eyes in the room turned expectantly to Lord Wei, for unless he made the first move, no one dared to act before him.

Ye Dong’s face shone with unrestrained delight. “Are these the stone coffins where the treasures are hidden?!”

“Making such a fuss—shows you lack experience.” Though Lord Wei sneered inwardly, he kept his expression gentle. “Brother Tian, whether there’s treasure within, we won’t know until the coffins are opened. No need to be impatient.”

As the two spoke, a rapid hissing sound echoed from within the stone chamber!

From beneath the two coffins, thick white vapor surged forth like mushroom clouds, instantly engulfing the entire room.

This bizarre sight startled Ye Dong and Hui Yan. Before they could even voice their questions, Li Xing’s eyes widened in terror as he shouted, “Everyone, get out—run for your lives!”

He hadn’t finished speaking before his hands shot out to grab Lord Wei and Le Cheng. Without even pausing to retrieve their “tools of the trade” from the ground, he dragged them out at full speed!

“Hui Yan, run!” Ye Dong seized Hui Yan’s hand and tore after Li Xing with desperate speed.

The white vapor swept toward them like a ghostly demon.

“Diggers, hurry up!” Hui Yan shouted, unable to stop herself as she saw the fog about to swallow the workers behind her.

“Brother Li Xing, help us! Save us!” Several of the diggers, slower to react, were nearly consumed by the encroaching mist.

“Useless fools!” Li Xing summoned all his strength, shoving Lord Wei and Le Cheng out of the stone door. He roared, “Scatter left and right! Stay away from the entrance!” As he spoke, the whip at his waist lashed out, binding the diggers together, and with a beast-like roar he yanked them out of the tomb in one motion.

Whoosh!

The moment they cleared the entrance, a flood of vapor burst from the doorway, surging forward over ten meters before slowing.

Hui Yan, crouching dozens of meters away, clamped her hand over her nose and shouted, “Is it poison gas?!”

Le Cheng, eyes fixed on the fog-shrouded chamber, backed away cautiously. “It’s not poison—it's fire oil!”

“Isn’t fire oil liquid?” Ye Dong squinted, breathless. “If this much gas detonates, won’t we all be roasted alive?”

No sooner had he spoken than a thunderous boom erupted from the tomb. A fierce tongue of flame shot out beyond the iron door, writhing like a dragon reborn. It was a spectacular sight.

Even the battle-hardened Lord Wei couldn’t help but praise it. “So the legend of the Ming Sect’s expertise with fire was no mere tale! This fog-like fire oil is called ‘Fiercefire Oil’—a formidable weapon of war. If it meets water, it burns even more fiercely. When water is heated to vapor and mixed with the oil, it becomes this misty fire oil—a technique from ages past.”

“So what do we do now?” Hui Yan asked, gazing at the inferno.

Le Cheng chuckled. “What else? We wait for it to burn itself out.”

“But if the fire blows everything up, won’t the tomb be destroyed?” Ye Dong objected. “If it’s ruined, there’ll be nothing left for us!”

Lord Wei shook his head. “The tomb is covered with fire motifs. In my experience, only after being scoured by flame does its true nature appear!”

“So that’s it,” Ye Dong muttered. “The fire motifs reveal themselves through fire. If we’d been any slower, we’d have perished in the blaze.”

Lord Wei called out, “Everyone, stay away from the mountainside—if there’s a real explosion, the slope could collapse!”

Li Xing approached, whip in hand, visibly moved. “The ancients’ weapons were truly formidable—this misty fire oil is incredibly powerful!”

Le Cheng grinned. “This kind of oil is usually found in Ming tombs, hidden in the darkest corners. If some fool stumbled in with a torch, they’d be roasted for sure.”

Hearing this, Hui Yan couldn’t help but admire Lord Wei and his companions. “Such knowledge must come from years of surviving countless tomb traps. With skills like these, why not walk a righteous path?”

Because of greed and desire, of course.

The flames raged for over thirty seconds before dying down. To everyone’s relief, the tomb had not collapsed. Their quest for treasure remained hopeful.

“The fire’s out!” Ye Dong could barely contain himself. “Lord Wei, how long before we can go in?”

Seeing Ye Dong so restless, Lord Wei sneered inwardly, “If you’re so shaken by this, what’ll you do at the Tomb of Eternal Life—call me father?” Still, he kept his tone genial. “Brother Tian, once it cools down, we can go in—about thirty more minutes.”

Hui Yan whispered, “Don’t be reckless later. Opening coffins isn’t child’s play.”

Ye Dong nodded. “I know. Even if I wanted to, Lord Wei wouldn’t let me help open them.”

Thirty minutes passed quickly. With a wave of his hand, Lord Wei led the group back in.

“Now, behold its true face!” Lord Wei gazed around at the stone walls, full of admiration. “Just as I thought—the fire has revealed a hidden world!”

Ye Dong was equally stunned. “So it’s only after fire that the patterns on the walls become visible!”

The walls and stone doors were now covered in countless crimson flame totems, large and small, carved in myriad bizarre forms. Judging from the overall design, the fire patterns radiated outward, converging around the stone doors.

Looking closer, Ye Dong realized these weren’t just simple flame motifs. They were clusters of fire shaped by the twelve zodiac animals—artfully and vividly rendered, of immense artistic and historical value. If old Master Sima Jing were here, he’d be grinning from ear to ear.

“Look, Lord Wei!” Le Cheng’s eyes gleamed in front of the doors. “These are diagrams for making fire weapons!”

Lord Wei’s delight was plain to see. “Not only that—look, there are schematics for fire traps as well!”

Li Xing, eyes narrowed, studied a stone inscription, no less excited. “Lord Wei, it says here the tomb holds a Ming Sect Fire Blade, meant for a fated person!”

“The Ming Sect Fire Blade?!” Lord Wei rummaged through his memory of ancient texts. “All these things—fire oil, fire arrows, zodiac fire patterns, weapon diagrams, trap blueprints... Could the tomb’s master have been a leader of the ‘Blazing Fire Banner’ under the Ming Sect’s Five Elements Banners?!”

“What? A leader of the Blazing Fire Banner?” Li Xing was intrigued. “Then that fire blade must be a rare treasure!”

Le Cheng snickered. “Who’d have thought a leader of the mighty Blazing Fire Banner would be buried here, in such a humble grave? Strange, indeed.”

“There must be a reason,” Lord Wei murmured. “Perhaps the two stone coffins hold the answer. Let’s take a closer look.”

Ye Dong and Hui Yan trailed after the three, eyes wary for hidden traps.

To their surprise, after the fire, no further traps appeared along the passage. They soon reached the coffins.

“Are these paired coffins?” Le Cheng whispered.

Lord Wei paced around the coffins, then shook his head. “They are double coffins, but the burials happened at different times.”

He pointed to the base of the left coffin. “See here? The fire marks are thicker than on the right—it was burned more.”

Le Cheng nodded. “So the left coffin was buried first; the right one came later.”

Suddenly, Ye Dong’s expression darkened. “This is bad!”

Hui Yan noticed his worry. “What’s wrong, Brother Tian?”

Before Ye Dong could answer, Lord Wei spoke first. “Something’s very wrong—very wrong indeed!”

Ye Dong looked at Lord Wei’s grave face and thought, “If his suspicion matches mine, then we don’t have much time!”

“What is it?!” Li Xing and Lord Wei asked simultaneously.

Lord Wei gestured at the fire patterns. “The left coffin has more burn marks, which means someone’s been here before and triggered the fire oil trap, scorching the coffin. I suspect that when the right coffin was added, intentionally or not, the fire oil was set off again.”

Li Xing tensed. “You mean the fire oil trap could reset?!”

“Exactly!” Ye Dong’s heart pounded. “Lord Wei’s thinking matches mine!”

“That’s why both coffins show multiple fire scars!” Lord Wei pointed to the fading fire motifs. “Look—the patterns are fading. Soon, things will return to how they were before we entered.”

They all saw the designs on the walls growing fainter by the moment.

Li Xing grew anxious. “We’d better open them quickly, before the fire oil is released again!”

“Yes! Everybody stand back!” Lord Wei waved his hand, and the others quickly withdrew.

He bit his finger, squeezing out blood, and smeared it across his half-closed eyes, chanting, “Celestial Artifact, Infernal Aura, settle upon my gaze; grant me divine sight, by the urgency of the decree!”

As the incantation ended, Lord Wei’s eyes blazed red and bright, scanning the coffins intently.

Ye Dong was startled. “Is this... Lord Wei’s Heavenly Eye?!”

Blood trickled from Lord Wei’s hand as he traced strange patterns on the coffins. Soon, the fading fire motifs flared scarlet again, and a deep rumble sounded from within.

“Back, all of you!” Lord Wei commanded, repeating the process on the right coffin. When both were burning hot, he braced himself and roared, “Supreme power, boundless and vast—by the urgency of the decree!”

With a thunderous crash, Lord Wei, unaided, lifted both massive stone lids upright and propped them against the wall.

Amidst hushed exclamations, the coffins stood open—their contents revealed.

Each coffin held a skeleton clad in splendid garb, adorned with gold and silver, surrounded by a fire bow, several scrolls, and a trove of jewels and jade. Yet, apart from these, there was nothing else.

Breathing heavily, Lord Wei rifled through the remains, untroubled by disturbing the dead. His eyes betrayed disappointment. “Where is the Ming Sect Fire Blade? Why is it missing?!”

“It’s not here either!” Li Xing combed through the other coffin, but the legendary “fire blade for the fated” mentioned on the walls was nowhere to be found.

After searching again, Le Cheng could only shake his head and sigh. “Seems the treasure isn’t destined for us. Let’s just take the valuables and go while there’s still time.”

Ye Dong, too, wondered, “Why isn’t the fire blade here? What does it mean to be the ‘fated one’?”

The greater the hope, the deeper the disappointment. Lord Wei almost wished he’d never heard of the “fire blade”—it would have spared him this letdown.

“Still, this is a good haul!” Le Cheng stuffed valuables into his bag. “Better than leaving empty-handed.”

Ye Dong picked up a bracelet and examined it. “This adventure was thrilling enough. I’ll pass on the loot.”

He handed the bracelet to Hui Yan. “Here, this is for you.”

Lord Wei chuckled. “Brother Tian is wealthy enough not to care for trifles. Still, tomb-robbing is all about taking a token—even if it’s just a handful of dirt, you shouldn’t leave empty-handed!”

He pressed a gold ring into Ye Dong’s palm. “It’s tradition—best not to offend it.”

Ye Dong replied coolly, “If you say so, thanks.”

Hui Yan studied the bracelet. “Lord Wei, earlier you mentioned ‘enter together, leave together’. What did you mean? Can you explain now?”

As he packed the loot, Lord Wei replied, “It means whatever you bring in, you must take out.”

“But that tall, thin man is already dead,” Hui Yan protested. “How do you take him out?!”

Lord Wei grinned, pulling a scrap of cloth from his pocket. “This is his clothing. He’s dead, but taking this out suffices.”

Ye Dong cursed inwardly. “What nonsense—this ‘enter together, leave together’ is just superstition.”

Seeing Hui Yan’s skeptical expression, Lord Wei said, “Miss Hui Yan, you find it unreasonable? If a companion dies and we don’t carry out something of his, his spirit would be trapped here forever. Do you understand?”

“I see,” Ye Dong murmured. “You should have said that sooner!”

Li Xing interrupted, “Gentlemen, enough talk—the fire motifs are nearly gone. We need to leave!”

Prompted by Li Xing, Ye Dong cast a final glance around the stone chamber. “Soon, all these fire patterns will vanish. Who knows when we’ll see them again? If only there were no fire oil—we could admire them longer.”

Suddenly, a curious thought flashed in his mind. “Why do the Ming Sect’s fire totems here not burn endlessly, like the Sacred Flame atop the Bright Summit? It doesn’t make sense!”

Rumble.

Lord Wei and Li Xing replaced the coffin lids and prepared to leave. “Let’s go—this is no place to linger.”

Ye Dong glanced at the two coffins, noting the crimson lines almost entirely faded. Then his gaze fixed on an altar-like motif atop one lid.

“Is this a fire altar?” He reached out to touch it, thinking, “An altar alone is useless without fire oil. But the fire oil here is all vaporized—impossible to pour onto the altar. So what is the true nature of this fire oil?”

“What are you standing there for? Let’s go.” Le Cheng slung the bag over his shoulder, ready to depart.

But Ye Dong ignored him, staring at the fading red flames. Suddenly, a wild, reckless idea struck him. “Could the fire oil that lights the altar be the living blood of the fated one?!”

Without hesitation, Ye Dong sliced his finger and dripped over ten drops of fresh blood onto the altar patterns atop both coffins. Squeezing harder, he filled each pattern with his blood.

Lord Wei was alarmed. “Brother Tian, what are you doing?!”

Before Lord Wei could finish, nothing happened when Ye Dong’s blood touched the altar. Lord Wei exhaled in relief. “Thank goodness—Brother Tian, enough with the—”

He hadn’t finished his warning when Ye Dong’s next move nearly frightened him to death: Ye Dong took out a lighter and flicked it toward the blood on the altar!

“No! It’ll explode!” Lord Wei shouted, but it was too late.

Click—the lighter sparked.

“Damn it, am I going to die here?!” Lord Wei cried out.

With a roar, the blood on the altar ignited at the touch of flame!

“Down!” Lord Wei yelled, dragging Le Cheng and Li Xing flat to the ground.

To Ye Dong’s astonishment, the blood-burning flames grew fiercer, leaping higher. Two jets of red fire shot upward from the coffin lids, merging into a single blazing path that soared to the chamber’s arched ceiling.

Boom!

Upon contact with the ceiling, the fire ignited the entire dome.

Click, click!

The huge dome, once ablaze, emitted the grinding sound of machinery. Before Ye Dong could marvel, the entire ceiling rotated, revealing a colossal fire altar above!