Exploring the Illusory Tomb Part 1 [Ancient Times Version] - Chapter 24: Blood-Colored Glazed Jade

Chapter 24: Bl00d-Colored Glazed Jade

I thought to myself, “This is bad, how are we going to end this now?” But beside me, Luo Shen reached out her arm. She pushed the lid of the jade coffin open. Then she helped me, and I jumped out of the jade coffin.

Not far away, Yu Linxing and the others had just arrived and were standing there. Their faces were pale as paper. They were full of shock and fear, as if facing a great enemy. Now seeing Luo Shen and me crawling out of the jade coffin in such a sorry state, their eyes widened. And they stood frozen on the spot.

I had just steadied myself with Luo Shen’s help. When I looked up, I saw a beautiful woman in white standing before me. Her skin was like fine jade, her waist like a fragile willow. She looked seventy percent like a pure white pear blossom. And thirty percent of her bearing was like the delicate moon shrouded in mist. In that pure appearance, there was a hint of seductive charm.

At her waist was a complexly patterned silk and jade belt. From there hung a green short flute at an angle.

But that face—so beautiful it didn’t seem human—filled me with a terrifying, icy fear. It felt like countless icicles were shooting out from inside me. My thoughts became blank. Even though I had seen many strange and supernatural things in this world, I just couldn’t believe what was in front of me.

This woman in white looked exactly like the jade statue of the Chu Consort in the main hall!

So the words “Chu Consort” that Luo Shen had written in my palm were not referring to the woman in the crystal coffin. But it was to this woman who was softly speaking to the deceased!

“Is she… human, or a ghost?!” 

Yu Linxing had now drawn her scarlet sword. She stood beside Luo Shen and me. She leaned in and whispered in my ear, 

“This is the first time in my life I’ve been scared to death. What kind of scene is this? It’s terrifying.”

The woman slightly furrowed her willow-like eyebrows. Her face showed a mysterious, unreadable expression. She lightly said, 

“What are you whispering about? Of course I’m human.”

“You… you are the Chu Consort?” 

I couldn’t help but stutter. Seeing her almost identical face, I thought I must truly be mad to be standing here talking to her.

“I was, but I am not anymore,”

The Chu Consort said.

Everyone gasped in shock at her words. The disciples of the Mo Yin Valley began whispering to each other. I felt like a hammer had struck my chest. So it was true, it was true! The records in the Jade Shuttle Scroll weren’t made up—there really was a person who had lived forever!

I felt that the quiet and reclusive life I had once lived in Shu was already gone. I was being forced into a strange and dazzling world. And I was slowly getting used to accepting all these bizarre things. If it were before, I would never have dreamed that one day, I’d be standing here talking to someone who had lived for a thousand years.

My lips trembled. I asked in a low voice, 

“This tomb was originally built by the King of Chu for you. Why, then, is the person lying in the jade coffin… someone else? Who… who is she?”

Heaven knows how badly I wanted her to answer. All these questions were piling up in my chest, suffocating me. But then I thought, she was a consort who had lived for a thousand years—was I really so naive as to think I could sit down and have a long chat with her?

The Chu Consort laughed softly and said, 

“You’re quite bold, asking so many questions.” 

She turned and looked at the beauty sleeping in the crystal coffin. Her eyes were growing deeper and more distant. Then she said quietly, 

“She is my beloved.”

As soon as she said it, the tomb chamber fell silent.

“But you two… you’re both… and the King of Chu wasn’t…”

This was too messy—I thought to myself.

“We’re both women, is that it?” 

The Chu Consort chuckled softly, cutting me off. 

“If I love her as a person, why should gender matter?”

Hearing her calm words, a mural suddenly came to my mind—those two perfect figures made for each other. So all those scenes were just illusions. Were they just the King of Chu’s imagination when building the tomb? Did she… never love him?

The tender words I had just heard inside the jade coffin echoed again in my mind. Suddenly, I understood: this woman had waited a thousand years—for another woman.

But one had already died, and the other remained. What use was such a lonely and sorrowful immortality?

My thoughts shifted, and I glanced at Luo Shen. She seemed not to care about anything. Her eyes were fixed firmly on the crystal coffin. I was shocked to see that the expression in her eyes beneath the mask was one of sorrow and melancholy. I had never thought I would see such an expression on her.

That look of sorrow made Luo Shen seem like a stranger.

“Ah, today’s really lively. You know, it’s been a long time since anyone came here.” 

The Chu Consort gently brushed a lock of playful black hair from her chest. She fiddled with it for a moment before sighing softly.

“Ying’er doesn’t like noise, really doesn’t like it. Whatever you all do outside, I won’t stop you. But now you’ve come in here—Ying’er will be angry.” 

Her eyes now showed faint weariness. Through those deep, amber-like pupils, I seemed to see our shadows inside them—already like cold corpses.

Not good. This woman… she’s having murderous thoughts!

Yu Linxing noticed the sudden killing intent from the Chu Consort too. She swallowed hard and tried to stay calm. She said, 

“We… accidentally entered the Consort’s residence this time. It was just a stroke of fate. No need for any special treatment, we’ve disturbed you enough—we’ll be leaving now.”

“Leave? Why leave? Isn’t it better to stay?”

The Chu Consort still spoke in her usual calm tone. But now, it sent chills down my spine. I was already scared stiff. I then saw her gently place her hand on the green short flute tied to her waist belt. She slowly took it down, raised it to her lips, and began playing it.

The sound of the flute was like pearls and jade. It was filling the entire tomb chamber. It gradually spread, distant and sorrowful. It was making my heart tremble. The sound… was like a soul-calling tune from the underworld.

Now I understood why the Chu Consort could talk to us so casually—because, when speaking to the soon-to-be-dead, what was there to be cautious about?

As that strange flute sound spread, a rustling sound drew closer and closer. Everyone heard the wave-like noise and their faces turned pale. No one knew what kind of demons or monsters were coming for us.

“Stop blowing it!” 

Luo Shen had been silent. But she suddenly interjected in a trembling voice. She then pulled a crimson object from her robe and handed it to the Chu Consort.

“We only came to take something. We’ll leave very soon,” 

Luo Shen said. Her voice was unusually hoarse. I looked closely at the object—it was a bright red glazed jade, carved in the shape of a carp. It was so lifelike it looked as though it had just leapt over the dragon gate. It was lively and vivid—truly an extraordinary item.

The Chu Consort saw the jade pendant shaped like a carp. Her already pale face turned even paler. She immediately stopped playing the flute. And the noisy rustling sounds vanished at once. Thankfully she stopped; otherwise, who knows what terrifying things would’ve been summoned by that flute.

I secretly glanced at Luo Shen and saw her tightly pressed lips had lost all color.

“You…” 

The Chu Consort gently caressed the carp-shaped jade pendant. Her every move was full of tenderness. She sighed softly. She then looked at Luo Shen and said, 

“You’re just like me—a pitiful person. Come with me, all of you.”