The Emperor Rui shielded his eyes from the light, seeing the two figures behind him hidden in darkness. Clad in black and silhouetted against the light, they seemed to melt into the night, their forms indistinct.
Though he had long anticipated his fate, Emperor Rui’s heart still trembled. A chill crept up from his feet, and he felt as if these two were messengers from hell, about to drag him into an endless abyss.
Su Muqing frowned at Emperor Rui, who stood frozen ahead, wondering what had seized him. She urged him on, “What are you looking at? Hurry up!”
Emperor Rui jolted back to the present, turned, and continued forward in silence. The small Buddhist shrine was indeed cramped, feeling tight with just three people.
Upon entering the room, Emperor Rui’s entire body turned cold, his teeth chattering uncontrollably.
Sensing the sudden drop in temperature, Su Muqing couldn't help but furrow her brow. Huo Qiyuan felt no change; having once suffered from cold poison and subsequently detoxified, he possessed an inherent chill, making him highly adaptable to frigid environments.
With trembling hands, Emperor Rui fumbled behind the shrine, and a "rumble" sound echoed. A hidden door slowly creaked open, revealing a narrow gap, wide enough for only one person at a time.
After the hidden door opened, Emperor Rui hurried into the inner chamber. The dim oil lamps on the walls flickered, making his shadow dance.
Reaching for a heavy cloak on the wall with trembling hands, Emperor Rui quickly draped it over himself. Feeling a trace of warmth, he felt as if he had come back to life.
With oil lamps illuminating the interior, visibility was not an issue. Su Muqing put away her searchlight, and she and Huo Qiyuan squeezed through the gap, following close behind.
This inner chamber held no particular features; it resembled an ordinary private hall with simple tables, chairs, cabinets, a stone bed, and a dressing table. The temperature here was even lower than outside, a coolness rising from the ground, yet it remained within their tolerance.
Seeing Emperor Rui still trembling in his cloak, they remained silent. After he seemed to recover somewhat, he pointed to the stone bed without waiting for them to ask.
His voice quivered, the chattering of his teeth clearly audible. “Beneath this stone bed is another secret room. Lie down and press the button on the side, and the bed will flip, sending you into a secret passage. However, the passage is not very wide; only one person can pass at a time.”
Su Muqing tugged at Huo Qiyuan, who was about to step forward. Frankly, she was concerned that Emperor Rui might be playing a trick, given the stark contrast in temperature between here and the outside, which seemed rather peculiar.
She then scanned the area beneath the secret chamber with her detector to examine its structure.
Upon seeing the situation below, Su Muqing couldn't help but raise her eyebrows. Wow! This emperor was truly something. What kind of people had he hired? To excavate an underground secret room so deep, and to make it look so solid.
Especially the winding, serpentine secret passage, which made one dizzy. However, seeing Emperor Rui’s familiarity with it, it was clear he had been here many times.
Designing such a complex terrain and layout while ensuring the emperor would not bump into anything and get injured during transit would not have been easy.
Indeed! The working people of any era possessed their unique wisdom. They were not to be underestimated!
Su Muqing nodded to Huo Qiyuan, signaling that she had found no issues or traps. She then gestured to Emperor Rui with her chin and said coldly, “You go down first!”
Emperor Rui nodded without further comment. Frankly, he was now terrified of these two “people,” unsure if they were ghosts or demons. He only wished to minimize his presence as much as possible.
He stiffly walked to the stone bed and lay down, reaching out to press a raised button on the side of the bed. Instantly, the stone bed flipped, and Emperor Rui, who had been lying on it, vanished.
After an interval of ten seconds, Huo Qiyuan lay on the stone bed, and Su Muqing walked over, wrapping her arms around his neck and pressing herself tightly against him.
Holding each other closely, Huo Qiyuan’s arm circled her slender waist, while his other hand pressed the button on the side of the stone bed. Then, the bed rolled over, and they too disappeared.
This secret passage was indeed not very wide, barely accommodating their passage. Fortunately, Su Muqing was petite; held tightly in the tall Huo Qiyuan’s embrace, she occupied very little space.
Emperor Rui was just ahead of them. Su Muqing continuously tracked his movement with her detector. Fortunately, after the small red dot representing him stopped moving, it remained stationary.
After a period of sliding, Huo Qiyuan and Su Muqing arrived at the final secret chamber underground. The cold air that greeted them indicated that this was not just a secret room, but rather an ice chamber.
The surrounding walls were made of solid ice blocks. White mist swirled throughout the chamber, and the cold permeated their limbs, bringing a bone-chilling cold that made Su Muqing, who could automatically regulate her body temperature, involuntarily shiver.
She retrieved two long, thick down jackets from her spatial storage. She first draped one over Huo Qiyuan and then quickly put one on herself. The 90% down provided excellent warmth, and within moments, she felt the clothes on her body begin to heat up.
After sliding down, Emperor Rui, clutching his cloak, stayed obediently by his mother’s coffin. It wasn't that he didn't want to move, but he was too frozen to do so.
The temperature here was even lower than outside. Emperor Rui had been abruptly pulled from the bed by Huo Qiyuan, so he was only wearing a thin sleeping gown underneath the cloak.
Moreover, it had been soaked in saliva and hadn't dried completely before they arrived here. The damp part on his chest had frozen stiff, clinging uncomfortably to his body.
Sensing footsteps behind him, knowing it was Huo Qiyuan and Su Muqing who had arrived, Emperor Rui dared not look back. He simply pointed to two ice coffins placed elsewhere.
Though he didn't speak, Su Muqing and Huo Qiyuan understood his intent.
Seeing the shivering Emperor Rui, Su Muqing threw another garment at him. Startled by the falling clothing, he stiffened his neck and glanced back at the two behind him.
He noticed they were both wearing strange clothes, but Emperor Rui had no time to ponder it. His chest ached with tightness from the cold, feeling as if it were being squeezed, ready to explode at any second.
The fur cloak was heavy, making it impossible to put on the down jacket. Fortunately, Emperor Rui was not foolish. Enduring the bone-chilling cold, he took off his cloak.
He quickly put on the garment Su Muqing had given him. However, as he didn't know how to use the zipper, he put his cloak back on and then held it tightly from the inside.