Nie Li, with Ye Ziyun by his side, sprinted through the forest, skillfully avoiding the ordinary Azure Arm Giant Apes.
As the night deepened, continuing forward no longer seemed wise due to the lurking dangers.
"Let's set up camp here," Nie Li suggested to Ye Ziyun.
Despite the darkness surrounding them, Ye Ziyun showed remarkable bravery, much greater than that of an ordinary girl.
Her bright eyes peered into the depths of the forest, spotting a shadowy figure in the distance.
"What is that?" Ye Ziyun asked curiously.
"It looks like some kind of structure," Nie Li replied with a slight frown, recognizing it might be a ruined building.
"Let's go check it out!" Ye Ziyun said, stepping towards the shadow.
Although she was a bit nervous being alone with Nie Li at night, she trusted him not to do anything inappropriate but felt her heart fluttering nervously, trying to distract them both.
Nie Li followed Ye Ziyun as they headed towards the silhouette.
"This might have once been a statue," Nie Li commented, not sure what the statue originally depicted as it lay collapsed and broken.
The remnants of this place seemed to belong to a civilization that existed before the Dark Era.
"What do these inscriptions say?" Ye Ziyun asked, looking at Nie Li.
Clearing the dust off a stone tablet at the statue's base, Nie Li squinted under the faint moonlight and read out loud, "These are the words of the Divine Empire: 'Those who follow me shall be honored, those who defy me shall perish.' Such arrogance!"
These words were likely left by a tyrant of old, whose power and influence must have been immense at one time.
But what did it matter now? Both he and his empire were swallowed by the unrelenting waves of demon beasts, turning into mere dust, leaving behind these fragmented statues.
"Nie Li, how did you learn the language of the Divine Empire?" Ye Ziyun asked, curious since only a handful in Glory City knew even a bit about it.
"How did I learn?" Nie Li chuckled.
He couldn't very well explain that in his past life he had spent centuries inside the Temporal Demon Spirit Book studying the languages and techniques of various eras and empires of the Saint Spirit Continent.
"If you don't want to say, that's fine!" Ye Ziyun pouted.
Nie Li shrugged, not unwilling to share but knowing she wouldn't understand.
Ye Ziyun circled the statue, ready to explore another ruin.
Suddenly, she yelped in surprise.
Nie Li saw that the ground where Ye Ziyun stood was collapsing.
Alarmed, he leaped toward her, but the ground gave way even more, and a strong pulling force dragged them down.
Below seemed like an endless abyss.
How could such a place exist within the ruins of Ancient Orchid City? Holding Ye Ziyun tightly, Nie Li withdrew a sword and attempted to anchor it into the stone wall.
The sword embedded itself but snapped with a crack.
The stone walls here were far too hard.
Where was this place? Nie Li tried to make out what was below but could only see darkness.
Ye Ziyun, seizing the momentary slowing of their fall, quickly produced a rope from her Spatial Ring and anchored it to a protruding rock.
With a thud, the two were left suspended against the cliff.
"Spider silk from the Ice Snow Spider, no wonder it's so strong!" Nie Li sighed with relief.
Despite the pull from below, they managed to halt their descent.
"Nie Li, where are we?" Ye Ziyun asked nervously, stuck in midair with no way up the smooth rock walls and unable to see the bottom.
"I don't know either," Nie Li replied with a bitter smile, having never heard of such a place in the Ancient Orchid City ruins in his past life, even from Ye Ziyun.
They had stumbled upon a secret realm within Ancient Orchid City!
Reflecting on the events, Nie Li suddenly realized that the phrase he read earlier was the "key" to this place!
"We can only go down," Nie Li said.
The walls were too slippery to climb up, so descending was their only solution.
Nie Li looked up at Ye Ziyun under the moonlight, noticing her expressive eyes, slightly curled lashes, and flawless complexion that gave off an indescribable charm.
Her lips, colored like faint rouge, seemed particularly alluring.
Their close proximity filled the air with a delicate fragrance.
Ye Ziyun, aware of their intimate position, blushed deeply.
"Don't move, I'll go down first!" she hurriedly said.
Seeing Ye Ziyun's shy and flustered demeanor reminded Nie Li of their early encounters in his past life, stirring a sense of affection for her.
With a mischievous smile, he boldly wrapped an arm around her waist.
"Hold on tight, we'll go down together!"
Nie Li was being too audacious!
Ye Ziyun, feeling Nie Li's hand on her lower back, was both embarrassed and annoyed.
Yet, struggling might make them both fall.
Nie Li, you scoundrel, hooligan! She silently cursed, powerless in this predicament.
Noting her embarrassed look, Nie Li chuckled.
The softness conveyed through his hand was intoxicating, and he couldn't resist a squeeze, knowing that in a few years she'd be even more blossoming.
"If you dare touch me again, I'll fight you, and we'll fall together!" Even someone as graceful as Ye Ziyun couldn't hold back, scowling at him with furrowed brows.
"Alright, I won't move," Nie Li laughed heartily, recalling her temper from the past.
With that, he gradually released his grip on the rope, and together, they slowly descended.
After about ten minutes, Nie Li finally felt ground under his feet and unwillingly let go of Ye Ziyun, feeling a touch of emptiness.
Ye Ziyun, frustrated, stomped hard on Nie Li's foot in silence.
She'd never been taken advantage of like this before.
What was infuriating was Nie Li pretending as if nothing had happened, looking around curiously.
Fuming, Ye Ziyun firmly stomped on Nie Li’s foot.
"Ouch!" Nie Li winced, hopping around on one foot.
Seeing his exaggerated reaction, Ye Ziyun couldn't help but laugh.
"If you dare act up again, I'll make sure you regret it!"
Her radiant smile made her even more captivating, and Nie Li was momentarily entranced.
Ye Ziyun's smile was truly breathtaking.
Feeling Nie Li's gaze, Ye Ziyun quickly looked away, her cheeks slightly flushed, a quickened heartbeat inexplicably arising.
"Quickly, let's find a way out, or we'll be stuck here," she urged.
"Right!" Nie Li responded, composing himself.
He took out a torch from his Spatial Ring, lighting it to examine their surroundings.
It seemed they had fallen into an underground palace with five or six passageways leading to unknown destinations, reminiscent of a complex labyrinth.
The maze's vastness was unimaginable.
Nie Li found a line of text on a nearby rock wall.
"A resting place for Void Souls of the past," he read aloud, exclaiming in surprise, "This is the tomb of Emperor Kongming of the Divine Empire!"
"Emperor Kongming?" Ye Ziyun asked, full of curiosity.
"Yes," Nie Li nodded slightly.
"He was the most mysterious emperor in the Divine Empire's history. As a ruler, choosing 'Void' as his title was peculiar. He left the throne to his son in his mid-years, supposedly having reached an astonishing level in cultivation, achieving immortality. Yet no one discovered his tomb. Who knew it lay here?"
"Can someone truly achieve immortality through cultivation?" Ye Ziyun inquired, looking at Nie Li.
"No, it's just a legend. Even reaching beyond the legendary realm, one can only live for two or three centuries, ultimately subject to the cycle of life and death," Nie Li laughed.
"Beyond the legendary realm? What kind of realm is that?" Ye Ziyun questioned further, as in her view, legendary was the pinnacle of strength.
"You'll find out in the future," Nie Li chuckled and shook his head, choosing not to elaborate.
Ye Ziyun puzzled over whether Nie Li had encountered beings stronger than legendary, and given he seemed never to have left Glory City like her, perhaps it was something he read about.
She decided not to press further.
"This is likely a maze, potentially filled with traps and mechanisms. Be cautious. Only step where I step!" Nie Li advised as he glanced at Ye Ziyun.
Though finding Nie Li's almost commanding tone slightly annoying, as if he were much older than her, Ye Ziyun docilely nodded, "Okay."
Unbeknownst to Nie Li, because Ye Ziyun was still quite young in this timeline, he felt a protective instinct towards her, altering his speech compared to their past interactions.
"There are five or six paths here; which shall we take?" Ye Ziyun asked, observing the eerie passages.
"It's simple. We should head north; Emperor Kongming's tomb must have been built facing south, seated to the north!" Nie Li confidently chose.
"Why?" Ye Ziyun asked, puzzled.
"Why must the tomb face south and be seated to the north?"
"That's written in the Divine Empire's Book of Fate. Each fate has its own corresponding features for graves and residences, and people of that era believed in it wholeheartedly," Nie Li explained with a smile.
The Book of Fate from the Divine Empire era? Ye Ziyun murmured to herself, just how much has Nie Li read?
"But how do we know which way is north? We're underground and can't tell directions," Ye Ziyun questioned.
Nie Li smiled, "It's easy. The Saint Ancestor Mountain Range runs north to south. By observing the rock's grain, we can discern direction. This way!" He confidently strode towards one of the passageways.
(End of Chapter)