Love from the Male Protagonist's Harem

Chapter 39-Trail of Zhen Hun Part 2

Translated by Snowfall77

Xia Ge stepped forward and found that beyond the crumbled wall was a very expansive stone chamber.  So radiantly lit that it hurt the eyes, Xia Ge squinted to get a better look, after which she was unable to refrain from licking her lips.

The walls of the chamber were set with innumerable night pearls, and the floor, instead of being laid with flagstone, was a layer of glass, reflecting the luminosity of the night pearls.  At first glance, it was like staring into a beautiful starlit sky.

The flute music had completely disappeared.

Inching even closer, but not brave enough to step in, Xia Ge prudently kept scrutinizing the glistening chamber

“……have we come to the end?”  Ah Tang stood next to Xia Ge, hands tucked in her red sleeves, tone low, “It looks like we have.”

Xia Ge: “……isn’t this supposed to be a tomb?  Where’s the coffin?”

System: [Perhaps A Coffin Wasn’t Necessary?]

Eyes finally adapted to the bright light, Xia Ge spotted a small, carved table made of Liuli tree in the center of the chamber.  Atop the table was what appeared to be a sandalwood box, looking particularly out of place against the shine and sparkle of the Liuli tree table, night pearls, and glass.

Somehow, the sight of the box made Xia Ge feel inexplicably terrified: “……there seems to be a box.”

“Mmm,” Ah Tang’s voice was soft, “Do you think it could be……the ancestor’s ashes?”

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Xia Ge: “Not even a coffin?  It’s chilling, isn’t it?”

What if the box fell on the floor?

Was the first generation of Lingxi ancestors really this tragic and gloomy?  One little box was miserable enough, but why, throughout the whole blasted tomb, were there no valuable funerary objects?  Night pearls?  That was it?  Had the ancestor really loved night pearls that much when she’d been alive?!

While Xia Ge was observing a moment of silence for her poor ancestor, melodious flute music suddenly could be heard again.

This time the music was not as comforting, but even more heartrending.

Xia Ge involuntarily looked over to Ah Tang.

The beauty in the blood-red wedding dress stood with her hands hanging down, staring fixedly at the sandalwood box on the table, the expression in her pure black eyes complicated and blank at the same time.  However, it appeared she didn’t hear the flute music.

Pausing for a second, Xia Ge then asked: “……Ah Tang, do you hear anything?”

Ah Tang gave Xia Ge a bewildered sideways glance: “Hear anything?  No, I don’t.”

Really, Ah Tang couldn’t hear it?   What was going on, what was the flute—–

Interrupting Xia Ge’s thoughts, the flute music rose higher, like it was reaching the crescendo of its song!  The brilliance of the night pearls intensified, almost blinding Xia Ge again, although she was able to see as the clear floor precipitously lit up with untold fine gold lines interlacing with each other, comprising a detailed array that Xia Ge had never seen before!

A vast amount of frenzied lingqi violently gathered as the array formed!  The notes of the flute grew intensely fiery, like it was playing a war anthem!

Wind began fiercely blowing in the passage, like a storm gathering strength, along with a great surge of more lingqi.  A tornado formed, swirling towards the table at the center of the chamber and knocking it over!

With a backhand swing, Xia Ge hooked her sickle into a wall, using it to stop herself from being pulled into the chamber by the wind’s force.  But before she could catch her breath, a red form flew in front of Xia Ge’s face.  Ah Tang was being swept into the chamber!

Xia Ge made a rapid grab with her left hand, managing to catch a corner of one of Ah Tang’s sleeves: “Ah Tang!!!”

But the pull of the whirlwind was too strong, and Xia Ge had used too much strength earlier, her belly now rumbling with hunger.  Her grip on her sickle weakened as she gritted her teeth: “……stay still!”

The storm of lingqi was accompanied by the militant flute music, and Xia Ge watched as the glass floor was lit up even more by a ball of golden light.  Then the golden ball dissolved, and Xia Ge sucked in a lungful of cold air, only to see the dispersed golden light shift and form into many demon puppets!

Endless black vines were erupting from the stone walls, never-minding the fierce winds.  The small table carved from Liuli tree was being protected by a puppet also made of Liuli tree, its body almost transparent and box-like, with a visible rune-engraved stone inside it.

Xia Ge stared intently at that stone in the puppet’s gut area……it looked to be a runestone!

Perhaps a runestone that could teleport Ah Tang and herself out of this tomb?!!

The flute music suddenly reached a new fever pitch!

Instantaneously, black vines wrapped around Ah Tang, viciously pulling her into the chamber with great strength!  Refusing to relinquish her grip on Ah Tang’s sleeve in spite of the vines’ tugging, Xia Ge felt the wound in her left hand began to bleed through its bandage!

The pain of the wound being torn back open was terrible.

But Xia Ge resolutely gritted her teeth.

“Young man—–”

The beauty’s black hair streamed in the wind and her red dress was like blood.  Gazing at the boy who would not abandon his hold on her sleeve, a strange color flickered in Ah Tang’s eyes: “Let go your hand—-”

“Shut up!!”

Xia Ge only held on even tighter, blue veins throbbing in her forehead as she used every last ounce of her strength to try and pull Ah Tang back into the passage—-

“I am indeed fucking—-Lei Feng!”

Riiip—-

The sound of fabric tearing came.

Like a broken bowstring, Xia Ge’s hand abruptly hung loose.

Her focus broken, Xia Ge stared dazedly at the piece of red silk in her hand while the vines took Ah Tang into the chamber, leaving behind only a soft aftertaste.

“——-The young man has saved this servant’s life twice, Ah Tang will not forget it.”

The flute music receded to a low ebb, until finally stopping altogether.  When Xia Ge finally raised her eyes from the red silk in her hand, she saw that innumerable vines were suspending Ah Tang’s body up high, thorns piercing her skin.  The beauty’s eyes were closed, leaving Xia Ge unable to tell whether or not she was still alive, dark blood flowing down the vines and dripping onto the floor with its golden array.

The vines must be poisonous!!

For a long moment, Xia Ge felt completely empty.

“……I couldn’t save her?

“Did she……like this…..die in front of me?”

——Like many, many years before.

——A friend had died right in front of her……and Xia Ge had been powerless to stop it.

The system was incredibly anxious: [……She Isn’t Dead!  Host, Snap Out Of It!  You Can Still Save Her!!]

[Black Vine: Thorned, With A Slow-Working Toxin.  Efficacy:  The Black Vine Toxin Can Paralyze A Person For 3 Hours.  After 4 Hours, The Person Will Gradually Lose Consciousness.]

All of a sudden, the flute’s martial melody could be heard again!  Within the stone chamber, the golden array on the floor shone brighter, countless demon puppets aggressively rushing towards Xia Ge!

Snapping back to her senses, Xia Ge yanked her sickle out of the passage wall, then her silver ring flashed dramatically, and her Xue Bigu dan was in her palm!

—–Now was not the time to lose heart!

“Three days……”  Xia Ge swallowed the Xue Bigu dan, green light flickering in her eyes as she activated {puppet reconnaissance}.  To her astonishment, the puppets racing towards her were C Rank puppets, and the big puppet with the runestone, guarding the center table, was only a B Rank puppet—–

“Seriously, the first ancestor’s puppets are going to be this useless?!  Shouldn’t there at least be some SSS Rank ones?  It’d be more impressive.  Crappy, having these guard the ancestor’s tomb—–”  Xia Ge tightened her grip on her sickle, “—-it’s enough to make disciples look down on this!”