Yan Shouyi held the compass in one hand and counted on his fingers with the other, occasionally looking up at the starry sky above and then frowning as he chanted incantations.
Numerology was not something that could be easily figured out by just counting on one's fingers; its computational complexity was no less than that of advanced mathematics.
Advanced mathematics at least had formulas and derivation processes, but numerology, passed down to the present day, mostly only retained methods, with its profound mysteries long lost to human knowledge.
In other words, if Yan Shouyi could perform reverse deduction, he would be able to establish his own sect and become a grandmaster.
Lin Zhitong did not disturb Yan Shouyi, merely watching him quietly.
At the same time, she was also thinking.
Their only clue to the National Teacher now was the Mausoleum of Qin Shi Huang. If they failed to find the National Teacher here, or their other half of the soul, what would she do?
With her incomplete soul, her own demise might come even sooner than Yan Shouyi's fated death.
"If I can't find my soul this time, I'll confess about being pregnant."
"If fate decrees that I must leave first, I'll leave the child to him. Otherwise, leaving him alone in this world would be too cruel…"
As Lin Zhitong thought, her heart couldn't help but feel sorrowful. In this world, the person she least wanted to leave was Yan Shouyi.
Yan Shouyi did not notice Lin Zhitong's emotional changes; he was immersed in star-gazing.
Suddenly, he pressed down on the compass, a smile appearing on his face, "I've figured it out."
"You figured it out?" Lin Zhitong quickly composed herself. "Where?"
"Based on the tidal conditions within the imperial mausoleum, the bronze coffin should be in the inner city right now!"
The two quickly mounted Xue Treading and hurried back towards the inner city.
Unbeknownst to them, two souls had already bypassed Chu Wu and others, silently following behind them.
...
The two biggest bosses in the imperial city, Lü Huai and Empress Afang, were both fighting Chu Wu and his group in the inner city. Therefore, the imperial city was relatively safer at this time.
The two galloped swiftly and soon returned to the inner city. They then followed the mercury river and indeed faintly saw a massive coffin floating on the mercury river!
The coffin was as large as a truck. Floating on the mercury river, it was like a grand ship, carved with exclusive royal totems and ornaments, supporting a bronze coffin! It was from the Da Feng Novel Network.
On either side of the bronze coffin sat twelve small golden figures and twenty-four auspicious beasts. Outside, there were even more humanoid terracotta warriors. In the four directions of the coffin, other small boats and carriages provided escort, presenting a scene of imperial procession!
Seeing this sight with their own eyes, Yan Shouyi and Lin Zhitong were deeply shaken.
The two stood by the mercury river and watched for a while before suddenly noticing something amiss.
"Girl, look at that bronze coffin," Yan Shouyi pointed at the coffin. "It looks like it's been opened before?"
Lin Zhitong quickly looked and found that the bronze coffin, which should have been tightly sealed, actually had its lid askew.
No one would deliberately tilt a coffin lid, let alone Qin Shi Huang. Therefore, the only explanation was that someone had tampered with the coffin lid!
Wait a minute…
The coffin lid had moved, but was it moved from the outside, or by something from within?
This thought flashed through Yan Shouyi's mind, but he felt no fear.
No matter what was inside the bronze coffin, he had to take a look.
"The mercury river is too wide, and it's mercury inside, so we can't swim across. Let's get Sanyuan to help," Yan Shouyi said.
Lin Zhitong collected Xue Treading as instructed, and Yan Shouyi summoned Sanyuan, who now possessed the body of a golden swan goose.
In this era of advanced technology, cars were the mainstream mode of transportation, but they also had their drawbacks.
In this imperial mausoleum, it was Xue Treading that proved to be of great service.
The two sat on Sanyuan's back. Sanyuan flapped its wings and soared into the air, quickly flying above the mercury river.
They looked down at the vast mercury river and were once again awestruck by Qin Shi Huang's grand undertaking.
At this moment, Lin Zhitong also made a discovery, "There is a skeleton next to the bronze coffin."
Sanyuan lowered its altitude, allowing the two to see clearly that there was indeed a skeleton next to the bronze coffin. Judging by its posture, it had died kneeling before the coffin.
Since entering the imperial mausoleum, Yan Shouyi had seen all sorts of strange and peculiar things, so he was not surprised to see a skeleton now.
After a brief analysis, he concluded that this skeleton belonged to an outsider brought by the National Teacher, and it was even possible that it was the National Teacher himself!
"Let's go down and take a look!"
Sanyuan carried the two onto the bronze coffin. After landing, they found that the coffin was remarkably stable on the mercury river, with no discernible undulation, as if they were standing on solid ground.
They cautiously approached the bronze coffin and came to the skeleton. The clothes on the skeleton had long since rotted away, but a pendant still remained around its neck.
"Is he the National Teacher?" Yan Shouyi wondered.
If it were truly the National Teacher, wouldn't there be more things on his person? With only a pendant, was it fitting for his status as National Teacher?
Lin Zhitong looked at the pendant and exclaimed in surprise, "There's a soul fluctuation within the pendant."
Lin Zhitong, who hailed from the Lüshan Sect, was highly sensitive to the aura of souls and immediately pointed out that there was a wisp of a remnant soul within the pendant.
Both of them wanted to understand the identity of this skeleton and to know what had happened next to the bronze coffin.
Therefore, after confirming that the soul within the pendant was too weak to pose any threat to them, both felt it was best to release the soul and inquire.
Thus, Lin Zhitong took off the pendant, placed it before her, and gently shook the soul-summoning bell.
After a while, ghostly energy leaked from the pendant, slowly coalescing into a spectral figure in mid-air.
The ghost was thin and gaunt, wearing a long robe, dressed as a sorcerer. However, its soul was now weak and incomplete, only able to manifest half of its body, with its lower half slowly dissipating.
As soon as the ghost woke up, it saw Yan Shouyi and Lin Zhitong before it, its expression changing greatly:
"General Qing Jiang, Princess Yushu!?"
The two were taken aback, realizing that this person recognized them through their souls.
Yan Shouyi said sternly, "Who are you?"
The ghost steadied itself, then suddenly noticed the bronze coffin beside it and its own skeleton. It seemed to understand something, and couldn't help but sigh:
"It seems a long time has passed. You are not General Qing Jiang and Princess Yushu, but their descendants, aren't you."
Given this realization, the ghost was likely not an ordinary person, unlike the skeletons in Zhangtai Palace.
Since this ghost was nearing dissipation anyway, Yan Shouyi saw no need to fabricate any lies. He readily admitted, "You are correct. We are Qing Jiang and Yushu."
The remnant soul couldn't help but lament, "If I hadn't come to the imperial mausoleum, I probably would have gone through several cycles of reincarnation like you. It's just that I've been trapped in the imperial mausoleum for who knows how many years. Now that I've finally awakened, I'm already on the verge of soul dissipation."