Who was Huo Ban?
He was a descendant of Lu Ban, the most valued craftsman by Qin Shi Huang during the Qin Dynasty!
According to Hu Hai's oral account, Huo Ban built the Great Wall, the Afang Palace, and this magnificent underground imperial city.
But this was merely a drop in the bucket of Huo Ban's capabilities.
Having meticulously planned and even usurped, creating such an imperial mausoleum for himself, how could he possibly allow later generations to easily plunder it?
Thus, when the Imperial Tutor, along with his disciples, arrived at the Qin Shi Huang Mausoleum after much hardship, they opened the bronze coffin on the mercury river. After just one glance, they were so terrified that they turned and fled!
Even the Imperial Tutor lacked the courage to face Huo Ban, who was born more than a thousand years before him and had been dead for over a thousand years.
It was only natural, after all, for someone who sought immortality to also be timid and cherish life.
At that time, after the Imperial Tutor's last shield, Wei Wuxin, died, he lost his nerve to face Huo Ban.
A coward, always a coward.
"The Imperial Tutor left without looking back?" Lin Zitong asked, frowning.
Wei Wuxin nodded, his tone unable to hide his disappointment in his master: "When I died, he had already reached the riverbank."
Wei Wuxin believed that by accompanying his master to the very end, it meant his master valued him the most among his disciples. Once his master attained immortality, he would be next.
Only in the end did Wei Wuxin realize that his survival until the last moment was not due to his master's favor, but simply because he was lucky.
He and his fellow disciples had ultimately become sacrifices, or stepping stones, for the Imperial Tutor. The Imperial Tutor had stepped on their corpses to reach the bronze coffin, only to leave without a backward glance out of fear of death, betraying the final hopes of his disciples.
Later, Wei Wuxin died beside the bronze coffin. Due to the peculiar nature of the mercury river, his soul could not depart.
Even ghosts, to linger in this world, need to absorb the vital energy of the living.
But Wei Wuxin was trapped on the mercury river; where could he find vital energy?
He endured alone for several decades, and finally, just as his soul was about to dissipate, he used the pendant artifact to preserve this last wisp of remnant soul. The next time he opened his eyes, it was over a thousand years later, in the present.
A millennium had passed in the blink of an eye. Upon learning this, Wei Wuxin was filled with emotion.
Yan Shouyi and Lin Zitong also felt a sense of sighing.
They had originally thought that a ruthless figure like the Imperial Tutor would stop at nothing to achieve his goals, but he had merely glanced at Huo Ban and retreated.
However, this was not good news for either of them.
The Imperial Tutor had fled, and the bone chain that preserved the other half of Lin Zitong's soul had vanished. If they had no further clues, it would be difficult to find the Imperial Tutor from a thousand years ago.
This also meant that Lin Zitong's predicament was temporarily unsolvable, and it would arrive sooner than Yan Shouyi's own impending doom.
Thinking of this, Yan Shouyi's expression turned grim.
He asked Wei Wuxin, "Where is the Imperial Tutor's bone chain?"
Wei Wuxin paused, then recalled past events, understanding why Yan Shouyi was asking.
He remained silent for a moment, as if considering whether or not to answer.
Seeing this, Yan Shouyi said directly, "You are trapped on the mercury river now, with only a wisp of remnant soul. Even a slight breath from me would cause you to dissipate completely."
Wei Wuxin thought Yan Shouyi was trying to threaten him, and his expression turned displeased. He had already decided to remain silent.
Who would have thought that Yan Shouyi would then change his tone: "My wife possesses an artifact that preserves souls. If you are willing to tell me the whereabouts of the bone chain, we can temporarily store your soul. Once we are outside the imperial mausoleum, we will give you a token of passage for reincarnation."
Reincarnation!
These four words were something Wei Wuxin had previously disdained. But now, after being imprisoned for a thousand years, he heard them and was overjoyed.
This was what he had dreamed of for millennia!
Beforehand, he had never imagined that Yan Shouyi, his enemy from a past life, would be willing to help him in this way.
Yan Shouyi explained, "I do not wish to interfere with past grievances. Furthermore, even if you have sinned, a thousand years of imprisonment is sufficient atonement."
Hope ignited in Wei Wuxin's cloudy eyes.
He said without hesitation:
"When my master saw Huo Ban's corpse, he was so terrified that in his panic, he accidentally dropped the bone chain, which he had already prepared in his hand, into the mercury river!"
Dropped into the mercury river?!
Yan Shouyi glanced at the wide river surface and the vast expanse of water leading to the sea. Suddenly, his head began to spin.
Searching for a bone chain in the mercury river, what was the difference between that and finding a needle in a haystack!
If it were just water, finding it would only be a matter of time. But this was heavy metal mercury!
Even if Yan Shouyi were a Heavenly Fiend Corpse Puppet, he absolutely could not dive to the bottom of the mercury river.
"This answer..."
Yan Shouyi said with a bitter smile, "It would have been better if it remained with the Imperial Tutor."
Lin Zitong also tilted her head back and closed her eyes, trying to calm her emotions.
Wei Wuxin hesitated, seemingly wanting to remind the two that he had told the truth, and they should fulfill their promise.
Yan Shouyi glanced at Lin Zitong. Lin Zitong casually shook the Soul Summoning Bell, drawing Wei Wuxin into it.
Beside the bronze coffin, only the two of them remained, along with the Sanyuan circling in the sky.
"What do you think?" Yan Shouyi asked Lin Zitong.
Lin Zitong gently hugged Yan Shouyi, pressing her cheek against his cheek, which had grown a light stubble, and comforted him, "There will be a way."
"Yes, at least we know where the bone chain is now," Yan Shouyi consoled himself.
"Who can enter the mercury river and remain unharmed?" Lin Zitong murmured to herself. "If he were more familiar with the mercury river, that would be even better."
Yan Shouyi fell silent for a moment, then suddenly said, "There really is such a person!"
"Who?" Lin Zitong's spirit also lifted.
"The Mercury Woman Corpse, Afang Nu!" Yan Shouyi replied.
Afang Nu was originally dormant at the bottom of the mercury river, so she could naturally enter and exit it at will. Moreover, if she still possessed some consciousness, she would certainly be extremely familiar with the depths of the mercury river.
Lin Zitong, however, pouted and said, "Afang Nu has no self-awareness; she only knows how to kill. You saw her appearance just now. Your idea won't work."
"Not necessarily!"
Yan Shouyi's gaze gradually firmed, "Wei Wuxin just said that the Imperial Tutor led them to defeat Lu Huai and Afang Nu. Since they can be defeated, there must be a way to control them. After all, no matter how powerful they are, they are essentially walking corpses... That's right! Walking corpses!"
Yan Shouyi said excitedly, "If they are unconscious walking corpses, we can have Luo Ning use corpse-driving techniques to control them, and let Afang Nu dive into the mercury river for us to find the bone chain!"