Chapter 521: Ancient Child

Zu An smiled faintly and held Pei Mianman's soft hand. "It's not just this secret realm; even outside, she has helped me a great deal."

Pei Mianman was startled, not expecting him to suddenly hold her hand. But now that the crisis had passed, she relaxed completely. She held his hand back, leaned gently against his shoulder, her cheeks as beautiful as flowers.

Watching the two embracing intimately, Mi Li was speechless. What sin had she committed to be forced to witness this couple's blatant display of affection?

Mi Li's Rage +333!

She simply retreated back into the Tai'a Sword, opting for an "out of sight, out of mind" approach.

Sensing her rage, Zu An knew he had annoyed her. But there was nothing he could do; he couldn't stop being intimate with Manman in the future. He figured the Empress sister would get used to it eventually.

If Mi Li knew his thoughts at that moment, she would probably die of anger.

At this point, Pei Mianman asked, "Ah Zu, should we go down?" She was actually enjoying the rare warmth of the moment and didn't want to break the feeling to step into unknown danger.

Zu An nodded. "Yes, besides a way out, there might be a great opportunity down there..." He briefly recounted his conversation with Mi Li, musing that this seemed to be one of the twelve "unspeakable places," containing a secret text. If he could get it, he wondered what new functions the Keyboard Warrior System would unlock.

Pei Mianman wasn't very interested in opportunities. She just thought that staying here was definitely not a solution; it would be better to go out and be with him forever.

The two agreed and started walking towards the underground staircase.

As they passed the large cauldron, they found that the evil spirits within it had vanished. Only two skeletons remained of the alligator and the gluttonous beast. Zu An noticed two special bone fragments among them, adorned with ancient patterns and faintly flickering with electric light. He recalled that these should be the two horns from the gluttonous beast's head. Anything capable of emitting lightning must be extraordinary, so he put them away.

He instinctively turned his head to look at the gigantic gluttonous beast's skeleton beneath the steps. Those two horns were even larger and presumably more valuable. Just as he was about to retrieve them, his foot touched the steps, and a strange melody immediately emanated. The air around them grew colder, and the flames lining the steps flickered wildly, becoming erratic.

Zu An instantly retracted his foot. What a joke! He didn't want to summon evil spirits again; he had no sacrifices this time. Though somewhat reluctant, he had no choice but to give up on the idea of taking those two large horns.

Each taking a torch, they proceeded down the dark passage. The steps were not straight but wound downwards, as if spiraling around a central pillar. The walls along the way were carved with many warrior figures from the Shang dynasty. They also featured various patterns such as cloud-dragon motifs, gluttonous beast motifs, thunder motifs, and bird-and-beast motifs.

Zu An was no expert in this field and could only vaguely deduce based on a documentary he had watched in his previous life. He had intended to ask Mi Li for help, but she seemed genuinely annoyed and never responded to his inquiries. As for Pei Mianman, she had seemed to possess some psychic ability earlier. Unfortunately, that ability seemed to have suddenly vanished, and she couldn't make sense of what she saw.

After an unknown period, they finally reached the end of the staircase and arrived on flat ground.

A grand, ancient avenue stretched straight ahead. The avenue was paved with countless enormous, neatly cut stone slabs; achieving such a feat must have required an immense amount of manpower and resources. Holding their torches, they continued walking forward for an unknown duration. Suddenly, Pei Mianman gasped and instinctively recoiled into Zu An's arms, "Ah Zu..."

Following her gaze, Zu An saw deep pits on both sides of the avenue. These pits were not as large as the one outside, but similarly, they were filled with eerie white bones. Zu An patted Pei Mianman's hand reassuringly. He approached the edge of the pit and observed it carefully. It wasn't very deep, only a few meters, and certainly not deep enough to trap anyone. However, he was worried about traps at the bottom of the pit or those strange snakes hidden among the bones. He didn't rush down. Instead, he pried off a small stone from the floor and tossed it in to test the way. Only after confirming there were no dangers he feared did he jump down to investigate.

"Ah Zu, come up quickly!" Pei Mianman really didn't want to go down, and at the same time, she was worried something might happen to Zu An below.

After examining it for a while, Zu An jumped back up. "These seem to be sacrificial pits. Unlike the pit outside, these skeletons appear sturdier and more robust, indicating that those individuals were better nourished in life than the ones in the outer pits."

"You mentioned before that this might be the location of the Yin-Shang royal tomb. It stands to reason that the offerings here would be of a higher caliber than those outside," Pei Mianman analyzed.

"Exactly," Zu An concurred with a similar assessment. "What's more striking is that the bones in the outer pit showed no external injuries, but all the skeletons in these pits are headless." The bodies of the skeletons in the pits were on one side, while their skulls were scattered in various other directions, making it impossible to tell which head belonged to which body.

"Captured nobles or warriors from enemy states were best sacrificed through decapitation rituals," Pei Mianman suddenly said.

Zu An looked at her in surprise, "???"

After saying these words, Pei Mianman panicked and covered her mouth. It was a long time before she caught her breath, "I don't know why, I just said it instinctively. Could I be possessed?" She was extremely worried now. Having just confirmed her relationship with Zu An and with a future full of hope, she certainly didn't want anything unexpected to happen to her.

Zu An said in a deep voice, "Your condition is probably not possession. It's likely connected to this place in some way. Don't be afraid; it might not be a bad thing." He recalled Mi Li's previous analysis, thinking that this secret realm might indeed require their combined cooperation. After his reassurance, Pei Mianman calmed down slightly. However, she still seemed somewhat distracted and lacked her usual effervescent cheerfulness.

As they walked, they successively discovered several more similar pits. All the skeletons inside were headless, totaling about a thousand in number. Although the quantity was not as great as in the large pit outside, it was important to note that these were all skeletons of local nobles and high-ranking warriors, their quality far surpassing those outside.

Feeling Pei Mianman's slight trembling, Zu An pulled her forward quickly, wanting to leave the place as soon as possible. However, they hadn't walked much further when he had to stop. The sight before him made his scalp tingle, no matter how brave he was.

Another sacrificial pit had appeared before them. This pit was smaller than the previous ones, but its contents were highly unusual. Inside sat 17 infants, not skeletons, but perfectly preserved infant figures. Their entire bodies were dark, and their skin was covered with strange patterns. If he hadn't been unable to detect their breathing, Zu An might have even thought they were alive!

"How could someone be so cruel, not even sparing infants?" Pei Mianman bit her lip tightly, her voice filled with both fear and anger.

Zu An said in a low voice, "In a world I dreamed of, there was a country called Thailand. In ancient Thailand, there was a general named Khun Paen who conquered a city. The city's leader offered his daughter as a gift to Khun Paen, so Khun Paen married her and lived in that city until his wife became pregnant. However, later, Khun Paen's relationship with the leader deteriorated. Eventually, the leader instructed his daughter to poison Khun Paen's food to kill him. When Khun Paen learned of this plot, he first stabbed his wife to death as an act of revenge. After his wife died, Khun Paen cut open her womb, took out the infant, and brought it to a temple. He first built a fire, then wrapped the infant's upper body in cloth inscribed with scriptures and roasted it over the fire until the infant's corpse shrunk and completely dried. Throughout the entire process, Khun Paen continuously chanted scriptures. Once the ritual was complete, the infant had transformed into a lively spirit that could speak and communicate with him. Khun Paen named it 'Guman Thong,' and with it, he waged war in all directions, proving to be invincible."

Zu An paused, looking at the scene in the sacrificial pit before them. "These infants look very much like the legendary 'Guman Thong.' I didn't expect the Shang people to also possess such sinister methods."

No sooner had he finished speaking than the infant corpses, whose eyes had been tightly shut, suddenly opened them. Their eyes glowed red, and one by one, they slowly crawled out of the pit towards the two of them.