Quick Transmigration: Underdog Turns out to be Untouchable

Chapter 355: Chapter 355 Heavenly Master 62

The attire on the human-shaped pottery figures is also very sumptuous. Four figures stand on either side of the Princess’s coffin, and in their hands are four different items: medicinal herbs, an ancient zither, an abacus, and double swords!

The murals in the main burial chamber record the life of this Princess, who is quite famous, known to be an exceedingly favored Princess in history.

According to historical records, the Emperor’s affection for this daughter reached such a level that it disregarded the welfare of the nation. Everything she ate, drank, and used was exquisite, and the opulent Princess Mansion where she lived was constructed from the time she was very young, luxurious enough to rival the Imperial Palace!

Despite such indulgence, the Emperor worried that his daughter might not be happy, so he specifically selected bright young girls from all over the country to be trained from an early age in medicine, accounting, martial arts, and the arts of music, chess, calligraphy, painting, and dance.

Those who studied medicine were to take better care of the somewhat frail Princess, those who studied accounting to help manage her finances, those who trained in martial arts to protect her safety, and those skilled in the arts to entertain her!

Despite such lavish pampering, the Princess fell into illness at the tender age of eighteen, never to recover, soon passing away from the world!

The death of his beloved daughter left the Emperor in utter sorrow. He then ordered the construction of a tomb on a scale to match that of the Crown Prince, an act that was met with joint protest from the entire court. The Emperor, with no choice, was forced to adopt the specifications of a Prince.

As everyone compared the life of the Princess depicted on the murals with the history they knew, the talisman on Duan Tong, who was being carried by Duan Chenghai, finally reached the time to automatically release.

She slowly opened her eyes, seeing the scene before her, and was instantly taken aback, leaping off Duan Chenghai’s back in panic, frantically surveying her surroundings before breaking down and screaming!

”Ah—”

”Why! Why! Why have you brought me here again! I don’t want to come back! I don’t want to come back! Ah! You bastards! Wretches! I will kill you! Kill you all!!!”

Duan Tong screamed, streaks of red crawling into her stark black and white eyes, turning blood red in an instant, with red veins spreading across her face, looking terrifyingly ghastly! When she looked at others, it was as if a vicious evil ghost was staring at its prey! Everyone was so frightened that they instinctively trembled, retreating from Duan Tong’s gaze!

Situ Shuangshuang snorted coldly, throwing a Demon-breaking Talisman at her. Duan Tong let out a wretched scream, collapsing onto the ground. The red in her eyes and face rapidly dissipated, returning to normal.

With her hair disheveled, kneeling on the ground, Duan Tong’s body trembled, her face full of fear, unwillingness, and resentment as she looked at Situ Shuangshuang, bitterly questioning, ”You clearly saw, you clearly saw that I am Duan Tong! Why? Why did you bring me here? You can’t banish me, because I am Duan Tong! Duan Tong is me! Why did you bring me here!?”

Those around were baffled by Duan Tong’s words, completely unable to understand what she meant! What did she mean by she is Duan Tong? And Duan Tong is her?

Yet, Situ Shuangshuang remained calm and icy as before, her tone unfluctuating as she blandly replied, ”What do I know! I know you are Xi Lan, I know you are actually a female official beside this Princess!”

Duan Tong’s pupils sharply contracted, her brows furrowed tightly, looking at Situ Shuangshuang with a gloomy gaze as she stubbornly declared, ”I am Duan Tong, that’s the truth!”

”Master, could you explain what is going on here? Who is this Xi Lan? Is it this ghost’s name?”

”Yes, Master, who is this Xi Lan, and why is she insisting on saying she is our Little Tong?” Duan Ze and Miao Ying, who were watching in confusion, couldn’t help but ask.

Situ Shuangshuang, looking at Duan Chenghai and Momenan who were equally curious, organized her thoughts and said, ”This matter should be traced back to this Princess. Back then, the Emperor had selected brilliant young girls from across the land to be raised to serve the Princess. The four most outstanding of these girls became the Princess’s close female officials. Because the Princess was favored, these four female officials were also elevated in status, becoming untouchable even by court officials, showcasing the Princess’s high standing.”

”The names of these four female officials were Chunhua, Qiushi, Chao Yan, and Xi Lan. Chunhua specialized in medicine, Qiushi in accounting, Chao Yan in martial arts, and Xi Lan in the arts of music, chess, calligraphy, painting, and dance. After the Princess’s death, the historical records only mention the grandeur of her tomb and the Emperor’s lavish display during the burial, but do not describe the fate of Chunhua, Qiushi, Chao Yan, and Xi Lan!”

Situ Shuangshuang slowly walked over to the human-shaped pottery figures in front of the Princess’s coffin, speaking with a touch of pity in her voice, ”The resentment in these four pottery figures is heavy. These human-shaped pottery figures are made from clay, naturally without resentment, yet these figures harbor such intense resentment, signifying that these pottery figures were made from living people!”

As soon as Situ Shuangshuang finished speaking, everyone heard faint, indistinct weeping coming from the tomb chamber. Those who were still shocked by the revelation of living people turned into pottery figures felt a chill run down their spines, hair standing on end!

”Ah!! They’re... they’re bleeding tears! The pottery figures are bleeding tears!” Just as everyone was inexplicably frightened, Miao Ying pointed at the four pottery figures in front of Situ Shuangshuang and screamed shrilly!

Everyone looked up and indeed saw two streaks of blood-red marks flowing from the eyes of the four pottery figures, clearly visible under the illumination talisman, as if they were tears of blood!

”Hahaha!!”

Suddenly, Duan Tong, who had been lying on the ground, laughed loudly! Her laughter shook her entire body, madness in her laughter! The people in the tomb chamber, already on edge, watched with terrified eyes, instinctively stepping away from the wildly laughing Duan Tong!

Duan Tong laughed alone until tears rolled from her eyes, stopping only after a long while. Her expression then turned into one filled with resentment and anger as she swept her eyes over everyone before finally landing them on Situ Shuangshuang, who stood in front of the tear-bleeding pottery figures.

”That’s right, I am Xi Lan, Xi Lan who was ordered by the Emperor to be turned alive into a human-shaped pottery figure! Your era is truly wonderful! So wonderful it feels like a dream! So unreal, yet it is so desirable! It’s countless times more beautiful than the Nirvana I imagined!”

”I once imagined what the Nirvana in the afterlife, yearned by those on their deathbed, would be like? Would I not need to worry about being beaten to death for making mistakes? Would there be no endless studying, no endless punishment? Would I not need to fear my life being taken away at any whim?”

A hot tear slid from the eyes of Xi Lan occupying Duan Tong’s body. She cried while laughing, laughing while crying, continuing, ”When I was young and forcefully taken from the cellar by soldiers despite my parents’ efforts to hide me, I wondered. I wondered while training with a group of girls in music, chess, calligraphy, and dance, and watched during evaluations as someone was dragged away to be beaten to death as if crossing the Ghost Gate. I wondered while studying music, chess, calligraphy, and dance from dawn to midnight, and when failing, I was whipped and beaten. I wondered when I entered the palace to meet the Princess and saw others beaten to a pulp for showing the slightest grievance about their fate to the Princess! I wondered while being stripped, covered in clay, pushed into a kiln, and burned alive into a pottery figure! I wondered as I was trapped inside the figure, forced to guard the Princess’s coffin, reincarnated millennium after millennium! Why didn’t I reach Nirvana? I’ve never harmed anyone, never done anything wrong, so why did I end up like this! Why can’t I even find release in death! Why?!”

Xi Lan shouted in a heart-rending cry, asking why? Everyone fell silent, even Duan Ze and Miao Ying felt sympathy for the thousand-year-old female ghost occupying their daughter’s body! The soft-hearted Miao Ying couldn’t help her emotions, moving forward to help Xi Lan, who was still sitting on the ground.