Back in his own courtyard.
Lin Shan eagerly opened the information on the Ancient Tomb of Yelang, and the records Nightingale provided were indeed detailed.
It documented how, a thousand years ago, the Yelang Ancient Kingdom was annihilated overnight by an unknown force, with blood flowing for a thousand miles and not a single blade of grass growing. Except for the Yelang people who were in foreign lands, all the native people were massacred.
Later, the Yelang people returned to their homeland and built the Ancient Tomb of Yelang, and the Yelang Ancient Kingdom gradually disappeared into the long river of history.
A month ago, there were three waves of unknown forces that entered the Ancient Tomb. The first wave consisted of ordinary people, the second wave had Post-Innate Martial Artists, and the third wave even had first-rate experts leading them.
However, all three waves of people were lost, with not a single one escaping.
Seeing this, Lin Shan immediately gasped. Even first-rate experts died inside!
He had previously heard Wu Yuanwai's younger brother describe it, and thought the zombies in the tomb were similar to those in movies from his previous life—a type of human-made viral mutation, highly infectious, which ordinary people couldn't defeat. But surely Martial Artists could?
However, the current information clearly stated that even first-rate experts didn't come out alive. This truly scared Lin Shan.
The information Nightingale provided continued, as it was an ancient assassin organization. Nightingale's intelligence personnel also suspected a corpse transformation had occurred in the tomb, and specifically prepared some records about corpse transformations for the assassins.
"Seven hundred years ago, an earthquake occurred in Longnan, and green-haired corpses appeared in the mountains. Local villagers killed them with shovels."
"Five hundred years ago, there was a flood in Weinan, and later, Yellow River water corpses appeared. Fishermen's nets were broken by them, and they were later bound with iron nets and beaten to death."
"Two hundred and eighty years ago, Jingxi suffered a three-year drought, and arid corpses appeared in cracked autumn fields, biting dozens of villagers to death. Local heroes could not control them, and an Innate Expert was later invited to slay them."
"One hundred and twenty years ago, an Ancient Tomb in Zangke cracked open, and dozens of bronze-skinned, iron-boned corpses escaped. The Southern Barbarian King mobilized tens of thousands of troops to suppress them, and more than half of the army suffered casualties."
…
Lin Shan frowned after reading, and was even more shocked. Ordinary zombie villagers could easily be beaten to death, but the more powerful bronze-skinned, iron-boned zombies were impervious to blades and spears, and even a large army would suffer more than half casualties to suppress them!
With further understanding, a hundred years ago, the zombies escaping from the Ancient Tomb were in Zangke Commandery, and now zombies have appeared in the Ancient Tomb of Yelang. They are all corpses from tombs.
Could this be the same thing!
The more Lin Shan thought about it, the more he felt there was a great connection. Otherwise, why would a first-rate expert enter and disappear without even a splash?
'Calm down!'
Lin Shan forced himself to calm down, secretly admonishing himself.
"I'm just going into the Ancient Tomb's secret passage to pick up the burial items left by the tomb raiders. I'll pick them up halfway and leave. I absolutely won't go deep into the secret chamber, and I won't provoke the ancient corpses in the tomb. Then Nightingale will have an explanation for the mission, and perhaps there will be gains for Ancient rhyme."
"Moreover, once I have Ancient rhyme, and my strength and wealth increase, there will be hope for the golden bell."
"Once the golden bell is Acquired, the Ancient rhyme will directly skyrocket, and from then on, I will ascend rapidly."
A different kind of brilliance shone in Lin Shan's eyes. As he secretly calculated, the more he thought about it, the more he felt that this trip was not without a chance of survival. As long as he was careful and cautious, there was still a certain probability of success.
Seeking wealth in danger, let's do it!
"No time to lose, let's set off immediately."
…
Three days later, Lin Shan arrived at Peach Garden Village, three hundred li away from Zangke City. Before him lay an endless mountain range, Yelang Mountain.
Peach Garden Village was at the foot of Yelang Mountain, nestled by the mountains and water, a scene of a secluded paradise.
It was still bright, and Lin Shan entered the village. Village houses lined both sides of the bluestone street, with blacksmith shops and pharmacies readily available. Farmers were returning from the fields, and smoke curled from each household.
Lin Shan went from house to house asking if he could stay, but to his surprise, he was repeatedly turned away.
The reason was that a mysterious Ancient Tomb had appeared in the nearby Yelang Mountain, and a large number of tomb raiders and treasure hunters had passed through the village.
The villagers were quite superstitious and believed that these outsiders, by digging up the Ancient Tomb, had disturbed the mountain gods, leading to consecutive punishments for the tomb raiders.
So, they all refused to take him in.
Left with no choice, Lin Shan had to resort to his ancestral trick: "cash power."
The next household immediately welcomed Lin Shan in with a smile.
This trick truly worked every time, no matter the world.
…
As night fell, Lin Shan, having finished dinner, stood in the rural courtyard counting the stars. He inadvertently noticed that in a small room next to the courtyard, there was a black lotus buddha statue enshrined!
He immediately recalled what the small stall owner on the antique street had told him: Peach Garden Village had many black lotus buddha statues.
Stepping into the room, the space inside was small, containing only a meditation cushion, an altar, a buddha statue, and candles. The incense offerings seemed to have long since ceased.
He stepped forward and touched the foot-tall buddha statue. There was no Ancient rhyme, which was not unexpected. After all, the buddha statues collected by the stall owner had no Ancient rhyme, so they were likely all fakes.
Turning around, he happened to see the owner of the house passing by, and quickly stopped him, asking, "Old man, what is this you're worshipping in your home?" He then pointed to the black lotus buddha statue.
"Oh, you mean the Black Lotus Sect? That's the Protector Saint statue of the Black Lotus Sect. Most people in the village believe in him. I'm just a shallow believer, so I just worship it casually for fun."
Lin Shan: "..."
'Are the elderly in the village so open-minded and free-thinking now? Or perhaps this old man is the only anomaly in the village? And I just happened to stumble upon him?'
But since it concerned Ancient rhyme, Lin Shan shamelessly pestered the old man: "Does every household in our village have this buddha statue? And how long have they been worshipping it?"
Old Liu casually replied, "Almost every household worships it. It should have started hundreds of years ago."
Lin Shan's heart stirred. Wouldn't that mean some households have black lotus buddha statues that have been passed down for hundreds of years?
"But every twenty years, a Black Lotus Envoy comes down from Yelang Mountain, takes away the buddha statues that everyone worships, and at the same time gives each household a new one. Everyone is used to it."
Holy crap!
Lin Shan trembled with rage! Someone had already beaten him to it?
'Damn that Black Lotus Envoy, I swear I will never rest until you are dead!'
Old Liu looked at the twitching young man in front of him in confusion, shook his head, and went back into his room.
"Black Lotus Sect, Black Lotus Envoy."
Lin Shan's gaze lingered on the distant Yelang Mountain. Another potential clue for Ancient rhyme had appeared. It seemed he had no choice but to go.
…
The third watch, with a bright moon and sparse stars.
Lin Shan was fully armed, with a ring-pommel saber on his back, a newly bought dagger at his waist, sleeve arrows hidden in his sleeves, and a package containing a fire starter, sulfur, a grappling hook, and a gourd of black dog blood.
He carried a cage in his hand, inside which was a rooster he had just bought from the village.
The tomb passage was fraught with danger, so naturally, he needed a living creature to scout the way. The rooster was tied up tightly, its iron beak bound with cloth strips, trembling in the cage!
Lin Shan had almost spent all his savings to achieve his goal in one go!
"I hope everything goes smoothly."
…
Under the twilight, Lin Shan stepped onto Yelang Mountain.
The mountain path was rugged, but the information Nightingale provided naturally included a map. The Ancient Tomb of Yelang was located on the mountainside on the back.
Carefully avoiding animal droppings along the way, Lin Shan, guided by the map, traversed the mountain peak without incident.
It was now the fifth watch, and the mountain forest was a chaotic scene of howling wolves and ghostly wails.
Lin Shan, with his Sharp Weapons, remained unfazed. He stood on the mountain, pinpointed his direction, and made his way to the mountainside, stopping before a cave.
…
"Is this the tomb-robbing hole dug by Wu Yuanwai's five younger brothers?"
Lin Shan looked at the cave, which was two people high. If it weren't for the map's annotation, he would have suspected it was the lair of some fierce beast!
No wonder they were able to get out the giant buddha statue and the golden bell. It's a bit of a shame that such talented people can't be used by me.
Despite his lament, Lin Shan took a deep breath, opened his fire starter, and blew hard!
Slowly entering the mountain cave.