Chapter 127: You Once Died There

"No, this is wrong," Wang Xi shook her head. "It is truly wrong."

"What is?"

They were standing before the entrance of a sleeping chamber. Wang Xi had claimed it was where she once lived. After they stepped inside, the quilts still lay upon the bed, as if the room’s occupant had only just departed.

Wang Xi was the mistress of this place. She had hurried to unlock every door in the courtyard complex, but in the end, she grew weary. "It’s just... wrong."

"What have you realized?" Liang Si understood her anguish.

She had first been told by that mother and son that the Kingdom of Qianyan had fallen, and that she was the sinner responsible for its ruin. They claimed that every year, when the storms rose, she would ride in a palanquin to inspect her lost dominion, seizing a group of able-bodied men to serve as labor.

Later, she had traveled through her own cities with a heart full of anticipation, listening to the commoners lavish praise upon the Kingdom of Qianyan. She had assumed those stories were merely a ploy by the mother and son to sow discord.

Yet, at the city gates, and within the city itself, she found only overgrown weeds. Though the houses stood firm and the shops lined the streets, the prosperity she remembered was nowhere to be found.

Her family was gone, and her former home had been sealed off, as if someone were deliberately hiding everything.

"That room is mine, but what is inside is not what I like. None of it belongs to me," Wang Xi whispered, sobbing. She felt panicked, unsure of what to say.

It felt as though someone had found the vulnerabilities in her memory and continuously fed her false information, until finally, she was forced to believe the rumors she had once dared not trust. Because, in that moment, the rumors seemed more like the truth than the truth itself.

"Let me walk with you," Yang Wennan said. His brow had been furrowed since they entered. "I feel as though this place is familiar. It doesn't feel like my first time here. It would be best if you could take me to a more secluded spot; perhaps seeing the scenery will stir something, and I might recall more."

"Can... can I?" Wang Xi wiped her tears.

Though she was a princess, a noble of high birth, her body and temperament were not as fragile as that title might suggest. Her emotions were more like a momentary outpouring; once she had voiced her distress, she knew how to compose herself quickly and attend to what needed to be done.

"The Treasury Pavilion." She seemed to be deep in thought. Finally, they walked toward the throne, which symbolized the king's power. "Other places are likely inaccessible now; only this can be entered."

The back of the throne was carved with two lifelike lions—one fast asleep, the other roaring. It was quite intriguing.

Wang Xi reached out and placed her finger into the mouth of the roaring lion. It snapped shut, biting down. Ling Yi was startled and about to reach out to pull her away, but Liang Si held him back.

"It’s fine. She knows better than we do what is at stake."

"Right, right," Ling Yi pressed his temples, casting another glance at the lions.

The sleeping lion suddenly yawned. It crawled up from the seat as if to fight for prey with the lion that held Wang Xi’s hand, lunging toward her.

"Don't come any closer!" she warned Ling Yi sharply. "Go stand by Senior Brother Yang."

"What... what is this?"

"It's done." The lunging lion retreated, deflated, and curled back up to sleep. As for Wang Xi, she withdrew her hand. Her fingers were mangled as if chewed by something, and blood was dripping from them.

The blood fell onto the lion's head and slowly vanished.

On the ground, exactly where Ling Yi had been standing moments before, an opening appeared, revealing a staircase leading downward. Wang Xi did not wait to bandage her wound before taking the lead.

"Follow me. I have never walked this path before; they say it is riddled with hidden traps."

"Little Senior Sister," Ling Yi said, trailing close behind Yang Wennan, "why would your family install such vicious mechanisms on the throne? What would happen if one of your own accidentally stuck their hand in?"

"The thing beneath the throne would bite the entire hand off."

"Has anyone ever had their hand bitten off?"

"Naturally..." Wang Xi took a deep breath. The tunnel ahead was a dead end.

"Is the Treasury Pavilion underground?"

"Above ground."

"Then why are we walking underground?"

"I..." She paused, stunned. "I forgot that I knew how to fly with a sword. No, that’s not it—if I walk on the ground, I still have to dig. When I left, the Emperor said he would blow up the Treasury Pavilion, and I... I didn't take it seriously."

"It’s alright. We are with you, and we will find the truth," Liang Si comforted her. "Besides, the people in this city didn't seem to leave on their own; it’s more like they suddenly vanished. Where there are traces, the truth can be found."

"Thank you, Senior Brother. I can handle it."

Slowly, the path grew narrower, and Yang Wennan took the lead.

"Senior Brother Yang..." Ling Yi looked cautiously at the back of the man ahead, clutching the fabric of his robes. "Why does this place feel more and more familiar to you as we walk?"

"I don't know." Yang Wennan shook his head in confusion, his tone growing increasingly desperate. "I know nothing! Don't ask me, I don't know, I don't know! I don't know! Don't ask me! Don't ask me! Get away! Get away! Stay away from me!"

He suddenly stopped in his tracks, shouting at the surrounding air like a madman.

But only his own echoes in the tunnel responded; no one answered him.

"Senior Brother, did I say something wrong?"

Liang Si frowned, stepped forward, and shielded his two junior siblings behind him. He tentatively tapped Yang Wennan’s shoulder with his sword hilt. "Yang Wennan! What is wrong with you?"

"Get away!" he roared weakly. "I told you, I don't know anything! Even if you kill me, I still won't know..."

"Who... who would kill you?"

"Sheyue..."

"Sheyue?" Wang Xi looked at him in bewilderment. After thinking for a moment, she finally remembered. "Yes, that's right. The Grand Master once said that a clan descended from the White Deer was called Sheyue. But that was ten thousand years ago. How could Senior Brother Yang..."

"Soul Clan," Liang Si uttered the two words. He pointed ahead. "We can escape them if we get out of here. They cannot leave, but you cannot go back either. Do you still wish to go forward?"

"Go?" Yang Wennan suddenly let out a foolish laugh. "Naturally, I must go. Go, I must go..."

Like a soul-less corpse, he listened to Liang Si’s hypnotic tone and took heavy, deliberate steps forward. As he walked, he finally saw the sunlight and came to a sudden stop.

He slowly turned his head. His mouth was twisted, and he extended his tongue, looking like a man who had been hanged.

"Hiss!" Yang Wennan clutched his neck and looked upward. "Did I scare you?"

"No, it's good that we're out." Everyone had secrets, and Liang Si did not wish to pry, as long as those secrets posed no threat to his goals.

"Senior Brother Yang..." Wang Xi smiled sheepishly. "How are you even crazier than that man we sent away earlier who claimed to be a god?"

Yang Wennan: ...

"Senior Brother," Ling Yi whispered, his voice as faint as a mosquito's. He pointed to the stone ceiling Yang Wennan had been staring at earlier. "I saw it. You... you once died there."