Zu An headed deeper into the cavern, still holding Chu Chuyan in his arms. Just half an hour ago, he would have turned tail and left the mausoleum if it meant that he could shake off Shi Kun. After all, the zombie army was a huge threat to him.

However, after witnessing the ability of the Magical Flashlight to deal with the undead, he had changed his mind.

From his experiences in playing games and reading novels, risk and reward always came hand in hand. Although great danger lurked within creepy mausoleums like the one he was in right now, there was a good chance that incredible treasures were lying in wait for him as well.

In the first place, his motive for entering the Ursae Dungeon was to secure the Evanescent Lotus and release his seal. His future—whether the rest of his life would be lived out in bliss or misery—rested on this, so there was no way he would give up this precious treasure-hunting opportunity!

Since he had an ace in his hand right now, it would be a waste not to use it to its fullest potential.

I wonder how a single ‘use’ of this flashlight is calculated.

Zu An remembered that the Magical Flashlight could only be used three times. Since it had remained lit all this while, did it mean that, as long as the light didn’t go out, it would still be considered as only one use?

If that was the case, it was truly a relief that a faint light glowed within the walls of this mausoleum all this while, keeping the flashlight powered. Just to be safe, he had even fashioned a crude but ignitable paper roll, which he kept in his hand. He was prepared to light it up in case he ever stumbled into a completely dark area. 

“Honey, did you see Shi Kun’s expression earlier? How in the world did he find the confidence to ask me to cooperate with him after all he has done?” Zu An sniffed disdainfully. “I pity Snow, though. She’s likely going to die with him there. Will you blame me for that?”

Given how exhausted Shi Kun and Qiao Xueying were, it was unlikely that they would be able to stand their ground against so many zombie soldiers.

“Eyy. Honey, Snow did save us twice earlier. Am I being too heartless by hanging her out to dry like that? Should I turn around and save her alone? Heh, I bet Shi Kun would be so angry that he would explode like a volcano.” Just imagining the situation was enough to bring a smile to Zu An’s face.

“Hm? Honey, why aren’t you saying anything at all?” Zu An suddenly noticed that something was amiss. He hadn’t heard Chu Chuyan’s voice for a while now. He looked down at her, only to see that the woman in his arms had closed her eyes, and her face was deathly pale. She was hardly breathing.

Ever since she had used the forbidden art, her life had been hanging by a thread. If not for Zu An giving her so much of Divine Physician Ji’s restorative medicine, she would already have breathed her last.

Even so, Divine Physician Ji’s medicine only provided her with a temporary respite; it couldn’t cure her affliction. On top of that, things had been so hectic during the escape that she hadn’t been able to get any rest at all. She had been forcing herself to focus earlier on out of worry for Zu An’s safety, but now that they were finally out of danger, the tension drained out of her, and she was swiftly consumed by exhaustion.

“Honey!” exclaimed Zu An in a panic.

He might not have been a physician, but he could sense Chu Chuyan’s life slowly slipping away. He quickly took out a bunch of medicines and put them into her mouth. 

“It’s useless. Her ki meridians have been destroyed. Your medicine cannot fix the root of her problem,” a feminine voice suddenly came to him. The voice had a pleasant melodious quality to it, but at the same time, it carried an air of authority too. 

“Who’s there?! Who’s speaking?!” Zu An quickly swept his flashlight around the cavern, searching for the person who had just spoken to him. However, he was unable to find anyone at all. A chill suddenly crept up his spine. 

Could it be a ghost?

“You need not care who I am. I’ll only ask you one question. Do you wish to save her?” said the feminine voice again. The voice seemed to have been whispered in his ears, but at the same time, it sounded so vague that it could have been coming from afar.

“Of course!” replied Zu An.

“Very well. Walk on, and you’ll stumble upon a spiritual medicine. Harvest it and feed it to her, and she’ll be able to keep her life,” instructed the feminine voice.

Zu An didn’t act right away. “How can I trust your words?” he asked grimly instead.

He knew that there was no such thing as a free lunch in the world. He did often fantasize himself as the protagonist of this world, but he wasn’t so naïve as to think that a random stranger he met in this mausoleum would actually help him out of goodwill.

In his view, the voice sounded more like it belonged to a demon often depicted in stories. It was probably trying to lure him into its trap by tempting him.

“You have no other choice but to trust me. There’s no other way for you to save her,” replied the feminine voice coldly.

Zu An’s heart sank. He knew that the other party was right. 

Unless, of course, he was lucky enough to stumble onto the other teachers of the academy and Ji Xiaoxi as soon as he walked out of this mausoleum, and they happened to have some sort of incredible treasure on them that could treat Chu Chuyan’s condition… but how could that be possible?

In the first place, if the others had stumbled upon such a precious treasure, it was unlikely that they would spare it to save Chu Chuyan. They had no obligation to do that. Besides, he had a feeling that not even Ji Dengtu would be able to treat Chu Chuyan even if he was here. Chu Chuyan wouldn’t have been so despairing otherwise.

“All right, tell me where to go!” Zu An said through gritted teeth. 

For Chu Chuyan’s sake, he had to march on no matter what kind of dangers lurked ahead of him.

Since the mysterious voice had spoken to him curtly earlier on instead of trying to entice him with sweet words, Zu An reckoned that she wasn’t lying to him. 

Damn it, what’s wrong with me? Why am I more inclined to trust her just because she was rude to me?

Zu An carried Chu Chuyan’s body and walked in the direction that the feminine voice had indicated. Somehow, looking at the seemingly endless path before him, he felt that he was walking right into the mouth of a gigantic beast. Only the illumination coming from his flashlight was able to calm his unease slightly.

Unlike before, the path often split along the way, making the route far more complicated than before. He felt as though he had walked into a labyrinth, and it didn’t take him long to lose his sense of direction.

Had it not been for the feminine voice guiding him along, he would have been utterly lost.

He did encounter quite a few zombie soldiers along the way, and some of them were even stronger than the zombie swordsmen. However, under the light of his Magical Flashlight, the zombie soldiers were forced to run away from him, as though he was somehow the monstrous one.

Even the feminine voice couldn’t help but remark, “It seems like this is the will of heaven. Given your strength, you would never have been able to reach the center of the underground palance if not for that mysterious item you have there.”

Zu An made use of this opportunity to strike up a conversation with that voice. “Based on what you’re saying, it seems like you have already been here for quite some time. Are you a human or a… ghost?”

The feminine voice giggled softly. “What do you think?”

The image of a demure woman laughing gently surfaced in Zu An’s head. “Well, regardless of whether you’re a human or a ghost, I’m sure you’re a very beautiful woman.”

“Beautiful…” The voice suddenly fell silent at this point. There was a long pause before it sighed in desolation. “What’s the use of being beautiful?”

It was a casual remark, yet it sent a shiver through Zu An. His heart began beating nonstop, as if something had triggered a spike in his adrenaline. Back when he watched ‘Demi-Gods and Semi-Devils’, he couldn’t understand why Duan Yu would be so entranced with Wang Yuyan just by hearing her voice. 

However, at this very moment, he finally understood that there were indeed women with voices so enthralling that they could draw a person in.

I guess perverts can be turned on by just about anything.

Zu An made a jab at himself, before his eyes suddenly lit up. He realized that the passageway was opening up into a wide space. Even with a brief look, it seemed to be at least as large as several football fields.

His attention was immediately drawn to the lake in front of him. It wasn’t unusual for water to accumulate inside a cavern like this, but the pristine clarity of the water was unnatural. On top of that, plants were growing on the surface of the water, emanating a faint green light. The surface of the lake itself was cloaked in a thin layer of mist. All in all, it seemed a stark contrast to the rest of this dark underground palace.

Although Zu An was lacking in his general knowledge of this world, he could still tell the plants were anything but ordinary.

As if having guessed his thoughts, the feminine voice said, “Indeed. The medicine that can cure your companion is within the lake.”

Zu An could sense that Chu Chuyan’s breathing was becoming shallower and fainter. In fact, he could barely hear it anymore unless he focused hard. Knowing that there was no time to lose, he rushed over to the lake, carrying her in his arms.

The next instant, however, an instinctive shudder ran through his body, compelling him to stop in his tracks. He turned his neck stiffly toward the left. 

He had been so excited upon seeing the glowing plants above the lake that he had forgotten to assess his surroundings carefully, and only now did he notice what he had overlooked earlier on.

There were rows of terracotta soldiers standing in a neat formation in the midst of this massive underground square, each of them holding a long pike. They were towering figures, standing at around 1.85 meters tall. Even at a quick glance, Zu An could tell that there were several thousand of them.

Beside the formation of pikemen were a formation of war chariots, and behind them was a huge battalion of archers… 

In other words, he was looking at a complete army!

Zu An rubbed his eyes in disbelief, wondering if he had returned to Qin Shihuang’s Mausoleum Site Museum, which he had visited in his previous life.

Isn’t this, by all accounts, the same terracotta army?

However, there seemed to be a difference between the two. The terracotta soldiers arrayed before him were dressed neatly in vibrant armors, and the sharpness of their weapons hinted that they were all elite soldiers. There was no way they could be compared to the worn and crumbling terracotta soldiers he had seen in the Mausoleum Site Museum in his previous life.

As if they had sensed an intruder, blue light started gleaming in the eyes of the sleeping terracotta soldiers, and all of them suddenly turned to look at him simultaneously.

It was hard to describe this feeling. The eeriness of being stared down by thousands of terracotta soldiers all at once was so sinister and intimidating that he nearly suffocated.

*Kacha!*

The terracotta soldiers in the front row began to move. They held their pikes loosely in their arms, but for some reason, they seemed to be pointed towards Zu An. Their initial movements seemed a little awkward, but they were slowly becoming more nimble.

Zu An gulped. He couldn’t even be bothered to gauge the individual fighting prowess of these terracotta soldiers anymore. Given their numbers, they could easily crush him if they all swarmed him at once.