The inner city.
Outside the closed city gate, there was a chilling commotion.
Even though the city gates were shut, everyone instinctively braced their small bodies against them, fearing the zombies outside would break in and bite them.
Yan Shouyi comforted the crowd, "The city gate is incredibly heavy. Only mechanisms can open or close it. With the strength of those zombies outside, they won't be able to budge this gate."
"Everyone should take this time to rest and adjust their state of mind," Lin Zhitong also said. "This inner city might not be safer than the outer city."
Upon hearing Lin Zhitong's words, everyone managed smiles that were more pathetic than tears.
Xia Qi said awkwardly, "Sister-in-law… you can't comfort people like that…"
Everyone had just survived a life-or-death ordeal and witnessed so many terrifying scenes. Just as they were about to catch their breath, Lin Zhitong told them that the inner city might be even more dangerous.
Of course, this was something everyone knew clearly in their hearts, but no one wanted to face it.
"Miss, where is this place?" asked Taohua Ying, who had just been summoned, with confusion.
She had been taking a beauty sleep in the Soul Summoning Bell. After waking up groggily, she immediately started fighting zombies and killing蛊虫 (gu worms). Now, she finally had the chance to ask.
Lin Zhitong casually explained a few things, and Yan Gui, the Faceless Ghost, who was beside them, also began to understand the situation.
Then, they all looked at Yan Shouyi.
Yan Shouyi, however, was looking at the tightly shut city gate, his brow furrowed.
With his and Lin Zhitong's abilities, it wouldn't have been impossible to fight their way out of the imperial mausoleum directly. However, to lead everyone away together would have been a fantasy.
Coupled with their original objective being to delve deeper into the imperial mausoleum and search for the Grand Tutor's whereabouts, there was no turning back.
But now that everyone had entered the inner city and the inner city gate was closed, could Second Uncle Wei Changqing, who had followed them, still get in?
Yan Shouyi was uncertain.
However, he quickly adjusted his emotions. From the very beginning, Wei Changqing was merely Yan Shouyi's backup, not his only reliance. His life and death had always been in his own hands.
"Girl."
Yan Shouyi uncharacteristically addressed Lin Zhitong as "girl" instead of "stinky girl."
He said, "I'll go check the surroundings. You see if anyone is injured."
Just as Lin Zhitong was about to agree, Taohua Ying eagerly interjected, "Let me handle this. Miss shouldn't be troubled."
Yan Shouyi didn't mind and nodded before going off to survey the area.
Taohua Ying floated smilingly to a team member, showing a concerned expression, "Little one, are you alright?"
"I… Ga!"
This team member was initially quite happy to see Taohua Ying as a beautiful woman.
However, when he looked down and saw her floating in mid-air, he gasped in fright and fainted. He became injured even though he was fine before.
"Miss, he fainted!" Taohua Ying, completely oblivious to her own role in the incident, said angrily, "Those zombies outside are too scary."
Lin Zhitong pressed her forehead and quickly introduced Taohua Ying to everyone.
The others were still very afraid of Taohua Ying. But seeing that she was quite beautiful and was on their side, they felt a little better. However, they still sat far away from her, always feeling a chill when they got a bit closer.
Lin Zhitong personally checked on everyone and felt relieved. Although the situation had been critical, fortunately, Liang Yinqiu had promptly found a way to open the city gate. Everyone had entered safely without any losses.
However, there were some minor bumps and bruises. The most seriously injured was Li Yang, who tripped after entering the city gate. His nose hit the ground, causing a bloody nose, but it had stopped now.
Compared to their physical injuries, the emotional wounds of everyone were more severe.
After witnessing so many terrifying scenes, even the well-trained Wang Sihui found it difficult to calm his mind, let alone some team members who were already on the verge of collapse.
Their faces were pale, their hands and feet trembling incessantly. They tried to light a cigarette, but they kept dropping them, unable to hold steady.
Seeing this, Lin Zhitong could only comfort them, "You have participated in rescue missions and must have saved many people. You are people with merit, ordinary spirits wouldn't dare approach you."
"Then… Miss Tao?" Wang Sihui asked.
Taohua Ying proudly replied, "Of course, I'm not an ordinary spirit. I am a female ghost king with centuries of cultivation."
Wang Sihui nodded silently, moving even further away from Taohua Ying. He also made sure to check if his protective talismans were still there.
It was no wonder Wang Sihui and the others were so afraid. After all, they had never encountered ghosts before, so being scared was normal.
Taohua Ying, finding these living "little ones" so afraid of her, pouted in annoyance and ignored them, turning to float with Yan Shouyi instead.
When Yan Shouyi and the others arrived before, they had taken the corridor of the outer city and had not truly seen the appearance of the outer city. Now, passing through the inner city gate and truly arriving at the inner city, they finally witnessed the grandeur and magnificence of Qin Shi Huang's mausoleum.
This was a city entirely underground, with wide streets and orderly houses. However, after thousands of years, there were inevitably signs of decay.
Walking through this empty inner city, they looked up to see a sky adorned with countless luminous pearls, like stars. It was as if they had traveled back two thousand years, walking in the capital city of the Qin Dynasty.
However, it was too quiet here, devoid of any life, which served as a reminder to Yan Shouyi that this was the mausoleum of Qin Shi Huang.
"In ancient times, the inner city was mostly where high officials and nobles lived, while commoners resided in the outer city," Yan Shouyi muttered to himself.
Taohua Ying glanced over, surveying the surroundings, and commented, "It's much inferior to our era, but after all, there's a gap of over a thousand years."
Taohua Ying had been dead for about four hundred years. When she died, it was still the Ming Dynasty. Compared to Yan Shouyi, she was a true "ancient person."
"Qin Shi Huang went to such great lengths to build this inner city, even building houses so meticulously. Did he truly intend to be buried here so empty?"
Yan Shouyi felt puzzled. Everyone initially thought that Qin Shi Huang had shown a final act of benevolence before his death by not burying living people alive. But after encountering a large number of zombies crawling out of the mercury river outside the inner city gate earlier, everyone had changed their minds.
If countless zombies were to emerge from the inner city now, Yan Shouyi wouldn't find it strange at all. Instead, its current quietness was too peculiar.
For Qin Shi Huang, every design in his mausoleum generally served only two purposes.
First, to showcase his noble status as Qin Shi Huang.
Second, to prevent tomb robbers from entering his mausoleum and disturbing his peace.
Therefore, this inner city could not be a simple inner city. Amidst this silence, it must harbor hidden dangers.