"I just wanted to test my new abilities, but…"
Su Mo snapped out of his daze and replied to Zhang Xulin with a sigh.
"But what?" Zhang Xulin felt nervous because of his pause.
Su Mo continued with a hint of intrigue and trouble.
"I seem to have encountered a hidden secret."
Seeing their curious looks, Su Mo didn't hide it and told them about his discovery. Yang Qingxi had already learned some things through his inner voice. However, she still listened to his narration carefully.
Zhang Xulin was too shocked to speak at that moment. She didn't know how to describe her current mood.
Surprised? That Su Mo can now read memories of the dead and even control them.
Given his powerful strength, which was like an abyss to her. No matter what abilities he shows, it shouldn't feel strange. However, the realm of life and death was too mysterious to her. At this rate, she wondered if sooner or later Su Mo would become an omnipotent god.
---
"Did Li Wei succeed? In the end, what happened?"
Yang Xulin asked while rubbing her chin, lost in thought.
"I don't know." Su Mo shrugged with a helpless look. "I've checked the memories of all corpses here. Nothing useful was found."
"Are you sure you didn't miss any?" Yang Xulin asked again.
"Should be," Su Mo affirmed and said, "The skeletons hanging there are all sacrifices used by Li Wei. The corpse inside the sarcophagus is of General Jiang Waqian. His only memory is of the last battle where he died fighting with glory, protecting the villagers of Tianzai Village. The same goes for the terracotta warriors. They are Jiang Waqian's loyal subordinates, who fought alongside him in that battle and died."
"Which dynasty are they from? Who are the enemies?" Yang Xulin asked.
"The memories I saw had no information regarding it. I saw the face of the enemy army's leader. As for his name, I am clueless."
Upon hearing this, Yang Qingxi suggested. "In that case, we can let someone draw the portrait according to your memory. Maybe we can find some information from the historical figures."
Although she said so, she placed no hope. Before coming here, they had tried looking for Jiang Waqian's information. The result was disappointing.
"We can try, but Li Wei's clue is likely lost now," Su Mo muttered.
"We can try investigating his information in Tianzai Village," Zhang Xulin said.
"That's an option." Su Mo nodded. "Let's go back."
[If the living doesn't work, we can ask the dead. Someone must have the information we want.]
Yang Qingxi took a last look at the chamber before leaving, as if searching for any clues they had missed, as her eyes paused on the massive ox skull mounted on the wall.
"Wait, Su Mo!"
"Hmm?" He paused.
She pointed her finger and asked. "Did you try reading the memory of that ox skull?"
Su Mo was stunned for a moment, then shook his head. "No."
"From what you said, when Li Wei brought sacrifices here. You didn't see these terracotta warriors. The sarcophagus wasn't chained. Nor was there a giant ox skull present here. That means it must have been the work of Li Wei later or someone after him." Yang Qingxi said while squinting her eyes. "That ox is also a corpse. Maybe you can find some information of value."
"Testing my ability on an ox? With its 500 grams of brain, can it remember anything useful?" Su Mo was doubtful about that.
"It doesn't hurt to try." Zhang Xulin was supportive of Yang Qingxi's idea.
"That's true." Helpless, Su Mo could only walk up to the ox skull and activate his ability.
The girls fell silent and waited as they watched Su Mo fall into a dazed state.
---
Picture: The memory opened through Li Wei's eyes.
He was dragging a wooden coffin across the stone floor. The sound of wood scraping echoed in the empty chamber, each drag heavier than the last. His hands were raw, skin split open, blood dripping onto the cold ground. He didn't seem to notice.
"Almost there… just a little more," he whispered to himself, breath uneven. His voice trembled somewhere between devotion and madness.
The air reeked of blood. The pond at the centre had grown thicker, darker—almost black now. Faces seemed to ripple beneath the surface if one looked long enough. Li Wei didn't look away.
"Hehehe… Li Mei, I'll see you soon," he said softly, smiling through cracked lips. There was love in his tone, but also fear—fear that she might not answer him.
He knelt and pulled out an old book from his torn sack. The leather cover was swollen and damp, as if it had absorbed too much blood. He held it like scripture, whispering words only he could understand.
When the chant ended, he pressed his forehead against the coffin and closed his eyes. "Don't fail me. I've done everything you asked."
Then, without hesitation, he pushed the coffin into the blood pond. The ripples spread slowly, almost tenderly, before they began twisting into a slow spiral.
He opened the sack again and took out things no sane person should touch.
A giant heart that still twitched faintly.
Blackened hand, three times larger than an average person, that smelled of decay.
A pair of reptilian eyes that rolled even without sockets.
And deer horns—sharp, cracked, with strips of flesh still hanging from them.
Each time he placed an object on the pattern, the lines on the floor brightened a little more. When he finally cut his palm and let the blood drip onto it, the chamber itself seemed to breathe.
The whirlpool opened in the blood pool. The air grew heavy, thick enough to choke. Li Wei's body trembled, not from fear—but from joy.
"Li Mei! Are you coming back?!"
The coffin floated upward, trembling—cracks formed, spreading like veins until they burst apart.
Something emerged.
A figure—a woman—floated above the pool, her long hair drenched in red, her face half hidden by dried blood. Her eyes were empty, but Li Wei's heart leapt.
"Sister…" His voice broke. "You're back… you're finally back…"
"HAHAHA!"