Martial Dao: Peace by Force

Chapter 17: Chapter 16: Shootout in the Dense Forest

BAM!

Two figures slammed into each other with a thunderous, muffled boom. This was the first time Wan Ze had ever seen Lei Ming go all out.

It was like toppling mountains and overturning seas—a truly heroic display of overwhelming strength.

What Wan Ze hadn’t expected, however, was that the two-meter-tall giant across from him could actually match Lei Ming blow for blow. Both were sent flying backward at the same time.

”Brother Lei!” Wan Ze rushed forward to help him up, but Lei Ming waved him off. With a grim expression, he stared at their opponent. ”Friend, we have no grudge against you. Why did you ambush us?”

”I told you to stop bothering me! I don’t want to join your damn organization, and I don’t want to kill people! If you keep pushing me, believe it or not, I’ll risk it all and take you bastards down with me!”

Lei Ming frowned and looked back at the others. ”Don’t tell me he’s talking about your archaeology group from National University?”

Professor Song and the others were dumbfounded.

What the hell!

”It must be a misunderstanding,” Wan Ze pointed out. He looked at the giant and shouted, ”We’re here for an archaeological dig! We don’t even know you! You’ve got the wrong people!”

The giant’s grief-stricken, furious expression froze. ”You’re not from the Secret Palace?”

Lei Ming seemed to have heard that name before and raised an eyebrow. Before he could speak, the two students beside Professor Song suddenly found a burst of courage. They held up their archaeology permits and said urgently, ”You’ve really made a mistake! Look, these are our credentials! You can check them if you don’t believe us!”

”You attacked without even asking! If we were all ordinary people, you would have killed us just now!”

”Damn it!”

...

”...” The giant scratched his head, half-convinced. He looked at the permits, then at the equipment scattered around them, and finally realized he had made a mistake. His face instantly turned red.

Seeing that it was a misunderstanding, Professor Song had no intention of dragging it out. He was completely captivated by the mausoleum beneath the entrance; this was the moment that would either prove or disprove his academic theories.

”Enough chatter. Let’s get down there. And you... big guy. There might be more blasting here, so if you’re leaving, leave now. Don’t interfere with our archaeological work.”

The giant was speechless.

He turned and ran.

After a few steps, he suddenly stopped and shouted, ”Hey... sorry about that.”

With that, he vanished into the mountain forest. They could faintly see the top of his head bobbing between the branches as he sped away.

Professor Song paid the incident no mind at all.

Wan Ze, however, went to Lei Ming’s side and asked in a low voice, ”Brother Lei, are you okay?”

”I’m fine,” Lei Ming said with a smile, raising his arm. From their brief clash, where their forearms had slammed together, a patch of flesh over his ulna was now bright red.

He pulled his sleeve down to cover it. Seeing Wan Ze’s concern, he added with another smile, ”It’s nothing serious. A little circulation of my vital energy and it’ll be fine. But that guy is an expert. I’d say he’s close to the Blood Tempering Second Transformation.”

”No wonder he’s so strong,” Wan Ze remarked.

”Let’s go check on Professor Song’s group,” Lei Ming said, leading Wan Ze over. The five of them soon descended into the hole.

To avoid destroying important materials with more blasting, Wan Ze and Lei Ming joined in to help clear the way with shovels.

Half an hour later, they broke through the mix of soil and gravel, creating a large opening. With a final kick from Wan Ze, a passage wide enough for two people was revealed.

Professor Song took the lead.

Wan Ze and Lei Ming hurried after him, but the further they went, the more something felt off. The murals on the passage walls seemed to depict a king leading his people in prayer to the heavens.

But the most crucial part—the object of their prayers—was a complete blank.

”Impossible! This is impossible!”

Professor Song stood in a simple burial chamber, nearly frantic. ”’A square, truncated pyramid... symbolizing a square earth under a round heaven.’ This design is clearly of the highest standard, so why isn’t it an Imperial Mausoleum! But this is the script of the Ying Kingdom; everything matches up! How can the tomb’s occupant not be Emperor Ying... Who is he! Why is it like this? Where did it all go wrong?”

’Not Emperor Ying?’

The others’ expressions changed slightly.

Just then, one of Professor Song’s students suddenly shouted, ”Come look! There are words here!”

Two lines of a poem had appeared on the previously blank rock wall, as if by magic.

”The ancient pine does not age, the crane’s shadow runs deep;Today’s guest seeks leisure beyond the clouds of heaven.”

The group gathered around to look.

However, the script was from the Ying Kingdom and required Professor Song to translate it. After he finished, everyone just stared at each other blankly.

”What does this poem mean?”

”’Beyond the clouds of heaven’ seems to refer to a celestial paradise, right?”

”There are indeed historical records that after Emperor Ying ascended the throne, he dispatched ten thousand people to seek immortality...” Professor Song muttered to himself, lost in thought.

On one hand, the specifications of this massive mausoleum were no less grand than that of an emperor. On the other, the description in this poem was so fitting.

”Seeking immortality?” Lei Ming grew serious as well.

It was said that when the Martial Dao was cultivated to its peak, one could achieve divinity. But who knew if that was true? What if, five thousand years ago, someone had actually succeeded?

But Wan Ze suddenly pointed to the poem and said, ”What if it’s an acrostic? Maybe it actually means ’do not seek immortality’?”

”Impossible,” Professor Song said definitively. ”It’s a well-known fact that Emperor Ying sought immortality. Even if this tomb isn’t his, it must belong to some major figure connected to him... Everyone in that era sought immortality.”

Wan Ze said no more, his eyes fixed on the two lines of the poem.

’A crane vanishing into a dark, secluded place, a visitor passing by in a hurry... The more I think about it, the more terrifying it seems.’

After searching the mausoleum for a long time, they found nothing besides the two-line poem, a few murals depicting rituals for seeking immortality, and some waist-high clay figures.

After finally confirming that this was not an Imperial Mausoleum, Professor Song was crestfallen. They returned to the surface without any real danger. He had his students contact the archaeology association while he sat on a nearby rock, staring blankly into space.

”Professor Song, don’t be too discouraged,” Lei Ming comforted him. ”Even if it’s not an Imperial Mausoleum, it still belonged to a major figure from that era. You might still find some useful information from it.”

Professor Song knew he meant well and forced a smile. ”I’m grateful for your help today. Once we’re back in the city, I’ll pay you the remaining balance.”

”No rush. We can sort it out when we get back,” Lei Ming chuckled, glancing at Wan Ze.

’This job was basically free money.’

He felt almost embarrassed taking the money, since they hadn’t encountered any real danger.

After the group packed up, the entrance to the hole was temporarily sealed to prevent it from being discovered. Professor Song made a marker and prepared to wait for the archaeology association to send people to take over.

”Let’s go.”

Professor Song, disheartened and dejected, walked ahead in silence. His two students followed as quiet as quails, not daring to make a sound.

But just then,

BANG! BANG! BANG!

A series of dense, explosive sounds echoed from the distance.

Professor Song’s previously lifeless eyes instantly went wide. ”That’s gunfire!”

Lei Ming’s expression changed. ”Fuck, I just had to jinx it! Let’s go, now!”

The five of them had no time to rest and immediately fled in the opposite direction of the gunshots. About ten minutes later, the sporadic gunfire finally stopped, but that didn’t mean the danger had passed.

To avoid any stray bullets, the group took a detour and finally found their vehicle as the last rays of twilight faded.

”Get in! Get in!” Lei Ming urged.

”Shouldn’t we call the police?” one of Professor Song’s students couldn’t help but ask.

Seeing the kid’s pale, terrified face, Lei Ming snapped irritably, ”We’re in the middle of nowhere. Who knows what’s going on out here? If it’s a gang of bandits, you’d better pray your kidneys are worth something.”

The student didn’t dare say another word.

Lei Ming slid into the driver’s seat.

THUD!

Just then, a deathly pale hand slammed against the car window, and beads of blood trickled rapidly down the glass.

Everyone jumped in shock.