The sorcerer was not as lucky as the蛊师 (gu master), who had a body of golden蛊 (gu).
His corpse was pinned beneath a bronze bell, his lower body crushed into the filling of a sandwich, so bloody and mangled that his left and right legs were indistinguishable.
But the sorcerer was still struggling.
Yan Shouyi frowned and moved closer, taking a few more glances before saying, "Hu Hai said that the four inheritors of folk sects who guarded the inner city were good friends of Huo Ban."
"What's wrong?" Lin Zitong blinked her purple eyes and asked.
"If his friends voluntarily guarded the tomb, why did Huo Ban seal their souls in the main hall?"
"Hmm?"
Lin Zitong also sensed something was amiss.
Yan Shouyi pointed at the sorcerer again and said, "The蛊师 (gu masters) I encountered, though their bodies were controlled by a king蛊 (gu), were strictly speaking zombies. The sorcerer you met was the same."
"Logically, ancient people valued their remains even more than we modern people do. They rarely cremated them. Even if the four of them were good friends with Huo Ban, they wouldn't have been willing to give up their bodies and be refined into zombies, would they?"
"This goes against common sense of the time."
The problem pointed out by Yan Shouyi was sharp and accurate, and Lin Zitong also began to ponder with a frown.
When something unusual happens, there's bound to be a reason, especially when they were in the perilous Qin Shi Huang Mausoleum. It was always right to be cautious.
If they encountered something that felt wrong, it was best to figure it out first, so they wouldn't have any lingering worries.
"I do have a guess, but it's too bold," Lin Zitong said softly, her lips parting slightly.
Yan Shouyi said nothing, gesturing with his eyes for Lin Zitong to voice her conjecture.
In fact, he also had a bold guess, which would likely align with Lin Zitong's.
"Wait a moment."
Lin Zitong shook her head and said, "Although this sorcerer has turned into a zombie, there must be a trace of his soul left in his body. I'll first summon his remnant soul and see if I can find some memories."
Summoning spirits and deploying generals was a supreme skill of the Lüshan Sect. Anything related to ghosts and souls was their forte.
Now that Lin Zitong was the next sect leader of the Lüshan Sect, she must have achieved mastery. Extracting memories from remnant souls was a piece of cake for her.
"I'll guard you," Yan Shouyi said.
Sanyuan also flew into the sky to patrol, while Hei Chuan Lu gripped the hilt of his samurai sword, guarding Lin Zitong's side without leaving her.
Lin Zitong was completely at ease. She sat beside the not-yet-dead sorcerer and gently shook the soul-summoning bell.
Ding Ling!
The bell rang once, and lonely ghosts and wild spirits went with the wind.
Ding Ling!
The bell rang twice, and passersby were asked not to linger.
Ding Ling!
The bell rang thrice, and the dead were commanded to return swiftly!
The sorcerer, whose face was originally ferocious, suddenly stopped struggling.
A look of peace and release appeared on his face, and a faint fluorescence emanated from his body.
The fluorescence converged and was absorbed by the soul-summoning bell.
Lin Zitong blinked her eyes. A thin veil suddenly covered her beautiful purple pupils. She stared fixedly ahead, as if watching a movie that others couldn't see.
As she watched, Lin Zitong's expression suddenly turned very grim.
Seeing this, Yan Shouyi guessed that the sorcerer's memories were probably not very pleasant.
Soon, Lin Zitong pressed down on the soul-summoning bell, and the veil in her eyes receded.
She exhaled a stale breath and, before Yan Shouyi could ask, said coldly, "The remnant soul only had fragmented memories, not complete, but I managed to read some key points."
"You were right. The four inheritors of folk sects who guarded the inner city were not willing."
"Although they were good friends with Huo Ban, the task of guarding the tomb was completely forced upon them by Huo Ban!"
"Huo Ban first lured them into the imperial mausoleum, then secretly played dirty tricks, killed them all, sealed their souls, refined their bodies into zombies, placed them in coffins, and hung them above the four city walls of the inner city. He made their coffins constantly strike the bronze bells, and the bronze bells were a form of restraint!"
Yan Shouyi's eyes flickered. He thought to himself that Huo Ban was truly a beast.
To build the imperial mausoleum and serve Qin Shi Huang, he wouldn't even spare his own friends!
But immediately, he thought of his previous conjecture.
If that were the case, then everything would make sense.
"You little brat, tell me..."
Yan Shouyi hesitated for a moment and said, "Why was Huo Ban so invested in the tombs of others?"
Lin Zitong sighed softly, "Are you suggesting that perhaps this imperial mausoleum wasn't built by Huo Ban for Qin Shi Huang, but for himself?"
Their thoughts coincided.
The bustling world is all for profit; the surging crowds all come for gain.
How could someone like Huo Ban, who was arrogant and ruthless, completely submit to imperial power?
It was more likely that Huo Ban had been building the imperial mausoleum for himself from the very beginning, which was why he was so dedicated, even going so far as to kill his friends to accompany him in guarding the tomb.
His ultimate goal was, after Qin Shi Huang's death, to casually discard the bones of this greatest emperor of all time, and then lie in the bronze coffin himself, becoming the emperor of the underworld for a time, patrolling Kyushu day and night!
This guess was too bold, to the point where Yan Shouyi and Lin Zitong dared not think too deeply.
But if they followed this line of thought, more possibilities emerged.
"There are so many treacherous places in the world. Why did the State Preceptor choose the northern foothills of Lishan, the Qin Shi Huang Mausoleum? Perhaps what he wanted wasn't the Qin Shi Huang Mausoleum, but..."
Yan Shouyi paused, "But for Huo Ban?"
Lin Zitong bit her lower lip, "You suspect that Huo Ban hid something in the imperial mausoleum that attracted the State Preceptor?"
"It could be something, or some information, or even a person," Yan Shouyi said. "But the ultimate direction would be the State Preceptor's goal, which is to break the curse and achieve immortality."
As they discussed this, the truth of the entire imperial mausoleum was becoming clear.
Qin Shi Huang, Huo Ban, and the State Preceptor, the three of them had the same goal.
And three people with the same goal had gathered in the Qin Shi Huang Mausoleum.
There must be a secret in this mausoleum.
"Hiss..."
Yan Shouyi gasped, feeling a chill run down his spine.
This conspiracy spanning over two thousand years was emerging before them through their conjectures, giving them a dreamlike feeling.
"Everything still needs supporting evidence, and the evidence is in the main hall. We are very close to the truth," Lin Zitong comforted him.
"I understand, but there are still two masters blocking our way now."
Yan Shouyi said, turning his gaze to the northwest.
"There are still the corpse driver and the paper figurine. You pick one, and we'll attack together."