Chapter 0260: The Disappeared Corpse

Chapter 0260: The Disappeared Corpse

Qin Yun chuckled, "Alright, alright, I won't say it again. Never again."

Xiao Xuanqin recalled the curses those big men had hurled at Qin Yun and felt a mix of shame, anger, and an indescribable complex emotion rise within her.

Qin Yun looked around, carefully observing the main hall, and said, "Is this the interior of the Tian Xiao Imperial Mausoleum? This place is empty. Could Xiao Yanglong have moved everything?"

"Of course not. There's a door above the hall. That's the entrance to the deeper parts of the mausoleum," Xiao Xuanqin pointed ahead, where there was only a wall, with no visible door.

Qin Yun walked to Xiao Xuanqin's side and took her jade-like hand.

For reasons unknown to herself, Xiao Xuanqin shook off Qin Yun's hand and quickly walked toward the golden wall.

Thinking she was angry, Qin Yun didn't give it much thought and followed her to stand beside the wall.

"Touch the wall with the key!" Xiao Xuanqin confirmed by touching the wall before speaking to Qin Yun.

Qin Yun took out the key and touched the golden wall.

The golden bricks rumbled as they retracted inward.

The wall retracted more than three meters, revealing a staircase on the ground.

"It's so dark down here. Wouldn't it be safer if we blended into the darkness using shadow power?" Qin Yun suddenly said after walking down the stairs.

Xiao Xuanqin was silent for a moment, then reached out and tightly clasped Qin Yun's hand again, feeling that strange emotion rise in her heart once more. She couldn't quite explain why she felt this way.

Pushing aside her jumbled thoughts, she led Qin Yun carefully down the stairs.

Now, they had truly entered the Tian Xiao Imperial Mausoleum. The main hall they had been in before was mainly used for Tian Xiao royal family members to pay their respects.

"Aunt Xiao, is it possible that Xiao Yanglong is guarding something in here?" Qin Yun asked in a low voice.

"I don't know. But it's best if we are cautious," Xiao Xuanqin whispered, "Don't worry, I'm here with you."

Qin Yun shrugged. He thought that if something unexpected happened, he might react faster than Xiao Xuanqin.

The staircase was long, and it took them almost half an hour to reach the bottom.

They finally arrived at the subterranean tomb complex, a vast underground plaza filled with a musty smell. Chilly drafts occasionally swept through, bringing an eerie chill that sent shivers down their spines.

Xiao Xuanqin took out a glowing stone and controlled it to fly upwards, illuminating the underground plaza.

With the faint light, they could see numerous large and small buildings.

"The larger buildings are the emperors' tombs! The others belong to members of the royal family, like princes or princesses who died unexpectedly, or empresses," Xiao Xuanqin explained, pointing at the large stone houses.

"Your Tian Xiao Empire's mausoleum is really huge. It looks even bigger than our Tian Qin palace," Qin Yun said in astonishment as he observed the massive underground chamber.

Constructing such a massive underground mausoleum must have been an incredible feat of engineering. Even a martial adept couldn't damage it from above. The only way to enter was with that key.

"You're right. I've only recently realized how extraordinary this mausoleum is," Xiao Xuanqin also sighed.

Qin Yun wanted to let go of her hand and wander around, but Xiao Xuanqin wouldn't let go. She didn't want him running off, and she was also worried about hidden enemies.

"Aunt Xiao, what do we do next? Where should we start investigating? Is it true that there are countless treasures buried here?" Qin Yun asked.

"We should visit the tomb of Yuemei and Yuelan's mother first. Yuelan specifically asked me to do this," Xiao Xuanqin said.

"Okay!" Qin Yun recalled what Xie Qirou had mentioned about the possibility of Xiao Yuelan's mother being resurrected.

"I was part of the group that brought Consort Xiao down here, and I remember it was over there!" Xiao Xuanqin pulled Qin Yun and walked quickly. After walking for several dozen meters, they stopped in front of a small stone house.

In front of the small stone house, there was a tombstone with many words engraved on it. Qin Yun saw the two characters "Xu Jing," which was the name of Xiao Yuelan's mother.

"This is the place. Let's go inside and take a look!" Xiao Xuanqin said, opening the stone door, from which a chill breeze wafted out.

After entering, Qin Yun took out a luminous stone to illuminate the room. Inside, there was a jade coffin.

"Let me use my Divine Control Technique to open it!" Qin Yun quickly pulled Xiao Xuanqin back, not letting her approach the jade coffin, worried about potential danger.

Qin Yun used the Divine Control Technique, locking onto the coffin lid, and slowly moved it aside.

Soon, the lid was moved, revealing that the coffin was empty inside!

"It's empty!" Qin Yun exclaimed in surprise. "Did Xiao Yanglong take them?"

"Impossible, this stone house and jade coffin show no signs of having been opened. How could it be empty?" Xiao Xuanqin was extremely shocked, her frightened eyes revealing a look of terror.

Qin Yun quickly led her out of the stone house and said, "Let's check the other jade coffins and see if the recently buried ones are also like this!"

Xiao Xuanqin nodded and then led Qin Yun to a stone house that had been sealed five years ago, belonging to the previous Tian Xiao emperor's consort.

When they went inside and opened the jade coffin, the body was missing as well!

A chill instantly rose in both Qin Yun and Xiao Xuanqin's hearts as they tightly held each other's hands. This was too eerie.

Next, they opened many other coffins, including those of queens and emperors, and all of them were the same—empty!

"Alright, the bodies are all gone!" Qin Yun said, a hint of dark humor in his voice. "Did they all just... disappear?"

Xiao Xuanqin's hands were slick with cold sweat. She knew that this Tian Xiao Imperial Tomb was not that simple.

Qin Yun carefully examined the jade coffin and suddenly discovered that the interior of the jade material was engraved with spiritual runes. Among them were high-quality spatial spiritual runes, which were hard to notice if one wasn't looking carefully, as they could be mistaken for the natural texture of the jade.

"Aunt Xiao, did your team craft these jade coffins?" Qin Yun asked hurriedly.

"I... I'm not sure. I only remember using a wooden coffin to bring Consort Xiao down here and then transferring her to the jade coffin. It seems the jade coffins were already in place when I arrived." Xiao Xuanqin frowned, recalling the events of that year, and then asked, "Is something wrong? Did you discover something?"

"The jade coffins are engraved with many spiritual runes, including spatial ones. As for the others, I don't know. I can only see the visible runes, but there are many hidden ones."

Qin Yun controlled a luminous stone, making it float inside the jade coffin, illuminating the transparent jade. Inside, there were indeed many spiritual runes.

"Have the bodies been teleported away? What do they want with these bodies?" Xiao Xuanqin's spine turned cold again, feeling even more frightened.

"I don't know! In any case, this Tian Xiao Imperial Tomb hides many secrets. Perhaps... only the Tian Xiao emperor knew. Xiao Yanglong has rendered the Tian Xiao emperor incoherent, so he probably doesn't know such secrets either." Qin Yun sighed. "Let's go up and bring Xiao Qiong's body back down here and place it in the jade coffin to see what happens."

Xiao Xuanqin nodded and then went up with Qin Yun. She didn't feel at ease letting Qin Yun go up alone, and she didn't dare stay in this eerie tomb chamber by herself.

They quickly brought Xiao Qiong's body down and placed it in the empty stone house, which had been prepared for future burials and had never been used before.

They placed Xiao Qiong's body into the jade coffin, closed the lid, and waited patiently beside it.

"The jade coffin itself doesn't contain any energy. The energy should be transmitted to the jade coffin through space. This is a very advanced application of spatial spiritual runes."

Qin Yun, with a face full of admiration, said, "Even in Wuhuang, it seems no one can craft spatial spiritual runes with such precision. It appears that this tomb holds secrets far beyond our imagination."

"I just don't understand what they want those bodies for?" Xiao Xuanqin remained puzzled.

"Bloodline or martial soul—these are things that can be preserved for a while after a person dies," said Qin Yun. "As you mentioned before, the bloodline of your Xiao family is very powerful. You always awaken strong martial souls, and you’re born with many spirit veins. This might be related to your ancestors."

Xiao Xuanqin nodded. "It seems that the origins of our Xiao family ancestors are very mysterious, and they built this mausoleum early on. Unfortunately, that Xiao Yanglong, what a jerk! He left the emperor in a coma, so we can’t find out what’s really going on here."

Suddenly, a wave of strong spatial fluctuations emanated from the jade coffin.

Qin Yun immediately used his mental energy to open the coffin lid.

Xiao Qiong's body was gone!

"Aunt Xiao, should we... you know, try lying in it?" Qin Yun asked impulsively.

"No, what if we end up in some ghostly place and can’t come back?" Xiao Xuanqin shook her head hurriedly. "No way, that’s too dangerous!"

"We’ll search around some more; maybe we’ll find something," Qin Yun said, abandoning the idea.

Xiao Xuanqin nodded. "But we need to stay together for safety. That way, we can watch each other’s backs if something happens."

"Okay!"

Afterward, Xiao Xuanqin and Qin Yun continued to move between the stone houses, searching for other clues.

After two days of searching, they confirmed there was no danger, so they didn’t need to use shadow power anymore. Xiao Xuanqin, feeling tired, sat on a chair Qin Yun had brought out.

"We haven’t found anything useful," Xiao Xuanqin sighed. "Maybe we should just give up and leave?"

Qin Yun crouched on the ground, took out a square piece of leather, and marked the positions of the stone houses on it. "I think I’ve found something! The layout of these stone houses seems to follow a pattern, and I need to confirm it."