Chapter 163: Mysterious Female Voice

Zu An continued deeper into the underground, holding Chu Chuyan. If it had been half an hour ago, he would have definitely turned back and left this eerie tomb had he had the chance to escape Shi Kun's pursuit, given that the zombie army here was far beyond his ability to handle.

However, having just witnessed the miraculous flashlight's ability to restrain these undead creatures, he changed his mind.

His experiences from various games and life in his previous world told him that while such places were extremely dangerous, the more perilous they were, the more likely they were to contain rare treasures or even fortuitous encounters.

His purpose in entering the Yaoguang Secret Realm this time was to find the "Traceless Illusion Lotus" to break the seal on his lower abdomen, which was crucial for his happiness in the latter half of his life. Naturally, he wouldn't give up any opportunity.

Now, with the wondrous flashlight at his side, he felt much more confident and wanted to seize the chance to explore this perilous den.

"I wonder what counts as one use for this flashlight," Zu An thought, recalling the instructions that mentioned a limit of three uses.

Since he started using it, the flashlight had remained on. Did that mean as long as it didn't turn off, it counted as the same use?

Zu An concluded this was the most likely scenario. Fortunately, although the tomb was dim, the stone walls were made of a special material that emitted a faint glow, enough to keep the flashlight illuminated.

Just in case, he also felt for the tinder in his pocket, thinking that if he encountered a completely dark area later, he would light the tinder first to prevent the flashlight from going out in the darkness.

"Wifey, did you see Shi Kun's expression just now? It was like he'd eaten shit. I don't know how he had the nerve to think I'd cooperate with him," Zu An scoffed. "It's a shame about Xue'er, though; she'll probably die with him. You won't blame me, right?"

Shi Kun and Qiao Xueying had clearly exhausted much of their energy and would likely not be able to withstand so many zombie warriors.

"Hey, wifey, Xue'er did save me twice, after all. Would I be too heartless if I left her? Should I go and rescue her alone? That would probably make Shi Kun furious enough to blow smoke out of his seven orifices, right?" Zu An mused, a faint smile appearing on his face as he imagined the scene.

"Huh? Wifey, why aren't you speaking?" Zu An suddenly realized something was wrong. He hadn't heard Chu Chuyan's response for a long time. He quickly looked down and found the beauty in his arms with her eyes tightly closed, her face incredibly pale, and her breath barely perceptible.

It turned out that after Chu Chuyan used the forbidden technique, she had been in a critical condition. Had Zu An not given her so much of Doctor Ji's healing medicine just now, she would have long since perished.

Even so, Doctor Ji's medicines only treated the symptoms, not the root cause. As time passed, and having been carried in a hurried escape, she had initially forced herself to stay awake and focused, worried about Zu An's safety. But after seeing him use the miraculous beam of light to escape danger, she immediately relaxed. With that relaxation, a wave of drowsiness swept over her, and she could no longer fight it, closing her eyes.

"Wifey!" Zu An instantly panicked. Although he wasn't skilled in medicine, he could feel Chu Chuyan's life force flickering out. He quickly fumbled for the last remaining injury medicine in his pocket and tried to force it into her mouth.

"It's useless. Her energy meridians are shattered, and her channels are severed. These medicines only treat the symptoms; no matter how much she takes, it won't help." Just then, a faint, distant female voice suddenly echoed from an unknown source. The voice was pleasant but carried an inexplicable sense of majesty.

"Who... who's speaking?" Zu An quickly shone the flashlight around, but saw nothing. A chill ran down his spine. Could it be a ghost?

"You don't need to know who I am. I only want to ask if you want to save her?" The female voice was ethereal, seeming both intimately close and infinitely distant.

"Of course I do!" Zu An replied quickly.

"Good. Continue onward. Deep within the underground palace, there is a spiritual herb. Pick it and give it to her, and it will save her life," the ethereal, lingering female voice said.

Zu An didn't act immediately. Instead, he asked in a low voice, "How can I trust that what you say is true?"

No one in this world would be good to him without reason. He didn't consider himself a "Dragon Aotian" type of protagonist; how could someone just conveniently appear to help him?

In his view, this female voice was more like the demons in fairy tales, luring him with sweet words before setting a trap for him to fall into.

"You have no choice, unless you have another way to save her," the female voice said coldly.

Zu An's heart sank. He knew the other party spoke the truth. Even if he turned and left this tomb's underground palace now, and by some miraculous stroke of luck immediately ran into other academy teachers and Ji Xiaoxi, and they happened to have some resurrection medicine on them...

But he knew that was impossible. No matter how skilled a doctor, they couldn't save someone destined to die. Even if Ji Dengtu came now, Chu Chuyan would likely be beyond saving; otherwise, she wouldn't have been so desperate and lifeless before.

Moreover, Chu Chuyan was on the verge of breathing her last and couldn't endure any more jostling.

"Alright, tell me which way to go!" Zu An gritted his teeth. For Chu Chuyan, even if it was a dragon's den or a tiger's lair ahead, he had no choice but to brave it.

The mysterious female voice hadn't used sweet talk to entice him; instead, it had adopted a take-it-or-leave-it tone, which he thought meant it probably wasn't a deception.

Damn it, was he a masochist? He ended up trusting it more because of the impolite tone.

While muttering to himself, he continued deeper into the underground palace, holding Chu Chuyan, following the female voice's guidance. Looking at the seemingly endless corridor ahead, he couldn't shake the feeling that the palace was a colossal beast ready to devour people. Only the light from the flashlight offered a slight sense of calm.

Unlike the previous areas, these new sections had many forks and a much more complex environment. Zu An felt as if he were in a real palace, quickly losing his sense of direction.

He wound his way through twists and turns; without the female voice's guidance, he would have surely gotten lost.

Along the way, he encountered many zombie warriors, many of whom were even stronger than the long-swordsmen he had seen earlier.

However, under the light of his miraculous flashlight, the zombie warriors all shied away from him, as if they were humans and he was the terrifying zombie.

Even the mysterious female voice marveled, "It seems to be fate. If you didn't have this miraculous beam of light, how could someone of your strength possibly reach the core of the underground palace?"

Zu An seized the opportunity to strike up a conversation with her. "From what you're saying, you've been here for a long time. Are you a human or... a ghost?"

The mysterious woman let out a soft giggle. "What do you think?"

Zu An's mind automatically conjured an image of a woman shaking with laughter. "I think whether you're human or ghost, you must be very beautiful."

"Beautiful..." The voice suddenly fell silent. After a long pause, it let out a soft sigh. "What's the use of being beautiful?" The tone revealed an extreme sense of desolation and melancholy.

At the other party's casual sigh, Zu An's entire body trembled. His heart pounded, his blood boiled, and his mind was completely captivated. Before, when he read "Demi-Gods and Semi-Devils," he couldn't understand why Duan Yu would become so infatuated just by hearing Wang Yuyan sigh.

At this moment, he suddenly understood: some women, even without seeing their appearance, could captivate one merely by the sound of their voice.

Damn, they're all just perverts!

Zu An scoffed at himself. Suddenly, his eyes lit up. The previously cramped surroundings abruptly opened up into a vast space, roughly the size of several football fields.

However, what was most striking was a pool of water in the distance to the front-left. It wasn't unusual for an underground tomb to have water, but a pool as clear and clean as this was rare. What's more, a large patch of plants emitting a faint green glow grew on its surface, shrouded in a misty aura. In the overall dim environment of the underground palace, it stood out remarkably.

Even without common knowledge of this world, Zu An could tell that these plants were extraordinary, likely emitting the inherent light of legendary natural treasures.

As if reading his thoughts, the female voice spoke again: "Correct. The spiritual herb that can save your companion is in that pool."

Feeling Chu Chuyan's breathing becoming fainter and fainter—almost imperceptible without careful listening—Zu An cast aside all other thoughts and ran towards the pool, carrying her.

Suddenly, his body trembled, and he stopped. He struggled to turn his head to the left. He had just entered, and the glow from the pool had been so striking that he hadn't had time to look at the rest of the space.

Now, as he got closer, he finally saw what he had overlooked.

Standing in dense rows across the vast square were terracotta warrior statues. Each warrior was tall, about 1.85 meters, holding a long halberd, and stood perfectly aligned in countless ranks. A rough estimate put their number at several thousand!

Looking further, there were chariot formations on both sides and archer formations behind them...

It was a magnificent and formidable army, truly alive with various military branches!

Zu An rubbed his eyes, momentarily dazed, thinking he had returned to his past life, visiting the Terracotta Army Museum in Xi'an.

Isn't this just the Terracotta Army?!

However, there were differences. These terracotta figures before him had vibrant colors, neat armor, and sharp weapons. Each looked like a living, elite soldier, incomparable to the dilapidated figures in museums from his past life.

As if sensing an intruder, the eyes of the many slumbering terracotta warriors suddenly flared with blue light, and then, in unison, they turned their heads to look at him.

Zu An didn't know how to describe the feeling: being stared at by thousands of majestic terracotta figures, all turning their heads in perfect synchrony. The overwhelming sense of pressure and eeriness nearly suffocated him.

Strange noises emanated. The terracotta figures in the front row moved. Their long halberds were lowered diagonally, subtly pointing towards Zu An, and then they began to advance towards him. Their movements were somewhat stiff at first but became increasingly agile.

Zu An swallowed hard. He was in no mood to estimate the combat power of these terracotta figures, as there were thousands of them at a glance, each capable of drowning him with a single spit.