Free Web NovelChapter 448: Chapter 247: Huangfu Ancestral Land (3)
As Li Xuejin inserted the key, turned it clockwise three times and then counterclockwise once, he immediately felt a tremor.
Li Xuejin took a few steps back to stand beside Cheng Zongyang. "This," he said, "is the true ancestral land of my Huangfu Family."
Staring at the slowly descending stone gate, Cheng Zongyang asked, "When the Huangfu Family built this underground cavern, did no one find out? This couldn’t have been a simple project. Not even the Da Yi Commerce Association was able to find it."
Hearing this, Li Xuejin smiled. "My grandfather had this place built. The workers he brought here never left. Everyone who knew about it is dead, so how could the Da Yi Commerce Association possibly find out?"
Cheng Zongyang heard him out and didn’t press for more details.
Now that they had found the place, it was time to uncover its secrets. He held his breath and walked inside.
Cheng Zongyang then noticed that the cave was lit by many oil lamps. He took a closer look and saw they still had plenty of oil.
"Everlasting Lamps?" Cheng Zongyang said, surprised.
"Correct," Li Xuejin replied, walking beside Cheng Zongyang. "It’s refined from the fat of a certain Exotic Beast and is extremely long-lasting. A single pot with three pounds of oil can stay lit for three years. There are still two or three hundred pounds of oil left in this ancestral land, enough to last a very long time."
Cheng Zongyang nodded slightly. ’This oil is just what the underground passages of Cheng Family Village need.’ He couldn’t help but ask, "What kind of Exotic Beast?"
"It’s oil from the Cyan-horned Sheep. They live deep within Tianduan Mountain. This oil is from our old stores. My aptitude is limited, so even now, I only have a Seventh Grade Cultivation. I don’t have the strength to hunt them in the deep mountains."
As he spoke, Li Xuejin led the way through a tunnel about a dozen meters long, and they entered the main underground cavern.
What greeted them was, indeed, a place that resembled an ancestral hall.
There were memorial tablets to the left and right, an incense table in the center, and a Copper Coffin. Four pillars surrounded the hall, supporting the cavern’s ceiling.
After examining the four stone pillars, Cheng Zongyang confirmed they were made of the same material as the stone gate. He suppressed the urge to investigate them immediately and first looked around the Huangfu Family’s ancestral hall.
He finally discovered that everything—the four stone pillars, the Copper Coffin, the walls—was carved with the original script of the Innate Qi Technique, which was the language of the Wilderness World.
This was enough to show just how deep Huangfu Ren’s obsession with this script was. No, more accurately, his obsession with the *origin* of the script.
He looked at Li Xuejin. "Do you know what this script is?"
Li Xuejin nodded. "My grandfather told me it’s the script of ancient Cultivators. Everyone in the Direct Lineage must learn it. The Huangfu Family’s Innate Qi Technique comes from the legacy of a Cultivator’s former cavern-dwelling, which gave our family two hundred years of glory! If not for the actions of the last Emperor Liang, the Huangfu Family would have long since become the fourteenth Royal Family—or perhaps something even greater!"
’This guy really knows how to sing his own praises.’
’If I didn’t know some of the truth, I might have actually believed him.’
"Have you ever heard of the East Sea Abyss, then?" Cheng Zongyang asked, walking toward the Copper Coffin instead of immediately examining the translations on the pillars.
"The East Sea Abyss?" Li Xuejin frowned. "Do you mean the Eye of the East Sea? I’ve heard that’s the Sea Eye of the East Sea, and it’s unfathomably deep. Deeper than the seabed in any normal part of the ocean. It’s supposed to be a spectacular sight."
Cheng Zongyang took the waterskin from his waist, uncapped it, and poured some water into his mouth from above. He then offered it to Li Xuejin. "Thanks for your hard work. Have a drink. I’ll look around a little more, and if I don’t find anything, we’ll go."
As he spoke, he screwed the cap back on, casually tilted the waterskin upside down for a moment, and then handed it to Li Xuejin.
"Thanks, Boss." Li Xuejin smiled. He took the waterskin, opened it, and took a sip.
He wouldn’t have dared to drink so casually if Cheng Zongyang hadn’t drunk from it first. But since Cheng Zongyang had taken a drink without any issue, he drank as well, his expression perfectly natural.
What he didn’t realize, however, was that the half-full waterskin had indeed been drugged. The water itself was clean when Cheng Zongyang drank it, but when he capped it and turned it upside down, a powder hidden inside the cap dissolved into the remaining water.
Less than ten seconds later, Li Xuejin was out cold.
He didn’t even have time to think. Such was the effect of Wilderness Beans.
