The old things I repaired have become fine

Chapter 792 Drunk with wine, he drew his dagger; the blade gleamed like frost and snow.

No wonder Gu Yulin was extremely nervous, insisting on holding onto Shen Le and going to great lengths to run around for him, personally driving him, booking his room, and arranging everything for him.

The scroll given by the Dragon Lord marked four or five places from near to far, most of which were popular scenic spots, even 5A-level scenic areas.

For example, right now, Shen Le followed Gu Yulin, drove for an hour to reach their destination, bought tickets, entered, and climbed the mountain step by step, squeezing through the crowd...

Yes, it's a 5A-level scenic spot. Peak season tickets are 70 yuan, so it's 140 yuan for two people, no discounts, but the Special Affairs Bureau will reimburse us. We walked 500 meters and climbed 15 meters to reach our destination.

Looking left and right, there were crowds of people everywhere. Forget about going down to explore, you couldn't even find a spot to take a solo photo!
In fact, even though it was a weekday, there were still two or three thousand people in the scenic area, and he suspected that half of them were stuck here.

"So what do we do now?" Gu Yulin pushed off the ground with all his might, spread his arms to create some space, and stared nervously at Shen Le:

"Do you need a secluded place to go in and investigate?"

“Uh…” Shen Le stared at the large characters “Sword Pool Tiger Hill” a few meters away without saying a word.

To be fair, the scroll that the Dragon Lord gave him was very reliable; he didn't trick him into running around aimlessly.

Just standing here, he could feel a chilling aura emanating from the pool water, from behind what was hidden within it:
The pool beneath which has long been believed to be the tomb of King Helü of Wu. During dredging in 1955, traces of artificial excavation and a triangular cave were indeed discovered, suspected to be the entrance to the tomb.

If it weren't for the fact that excavating here would likely damage the Tiger Hill Pagoda above, the excavation work would probably have continued long ago, and the contents would have been extracted.

In retrospect, this legend is probably quite accurate.

Shall we go in and take a look?

A chill arose from the pool, and the aura emanating from beneath the water was remarkably similar to the aura he had channeled into the immortal jade…

However, the place was crowded with people and tourists came in an endless stream. In the few seconds that Shen Le was in a daze, three groups of people squeezed to the side and took turns taking photos with the large characters "Sword Pool Tiger Hill";

Two tour groups stood side by side, one to the east and one to the west. Their guides held up megaphones and shouted their commentary. If the space hadn't been so cramped and crowded, with the megaphones interfering with each other, even more groups could probably have squeezed in…

"Isn't this place open 24 hours a day?"

He suddenly asked. Gu Yulin immediately breathed a sigh of relief and pulled Shen Le back:

"No! Of course not! It closes at six o'clock in the evening! Here's what we'll do: we'll come in after it closes. The Special Affairs Bureau still has that authority..."

By the way, are you really going in? Should we contact the local archaeological department and prepare for support?

Shen Le pursed his lips and remained silent. To be honest, he really wanted to go in, to see for himself this tomb that had never been opened before, to see what treasures were inside, and whether it was the tomb of King Helü of Wu.

However, he really didn't dare to go into a tomb that had been buried underwater for over two thousand years, with its stone slabs tilted and potentially submerged entirely.

If he were to disturb the tomb even slightly and damage the artifacts inside, as a cultural relic restorer, he would be condemned to death!
"I'll try not to go in, I'll just sense it from the outside... But, just to be on the safe side, could you prepare a protective suit for me?"

"No problem! What level do you need?"

"It has to be completely sealed! — Simply put, it should be so that if I exhale a breath of carbon dioxide inside, not a single molecule will fall onto the artifacts inside!"

"Wait a minute, listen, this protective suit doesn't seem to be designed to protect you?"

"What are you thinking? Of course, it's about protecting the collection!"

At 10 p.m. that night, Shen Le, holding a protective suit, sat cross-legged by the sword pool and slowly closed his eyes.

Strands of spiritual energy probed into the bottom of the sword pool, advancing step by step along the stone wall, touching the triangular stone cave and then the three rectangular stone slabs standing at the end of the cave:
Trying to penetrate further, the moment it touched, a sharp defensive force slashed down, causing Shen Le's mental energy to shrink violently.

Shen Le felt a sudden, sharp pain in her head, and her face paled instantly.
The defenses here are incredibly strong!

He had never suffered such a loss before when using his spiritual power to explore this place and that place! Not even the location where Princess Pingyang's ceremonial armor was stored had ever been damaged like this!
Despite the pain and her pale face, Shen Le became even more excited. The presence of defense meant there was something down there!
That means he's on the right track!
Legend has it that the tomb of King Helü of Wu was built by "mobilizing 100,000 men from five commanderies to jointly manage a thousand li of land, using elephants to transport earth and dig a pond, which was sixty li in circumference and one zhang deep... pouring mercury to form a pond six chi deep, and using gold and precious jade to make ducks and geese."

Even if half of it, no, a third, or a fifth, is true, it would still be an incredible discovery!

"There's something down there." He tried to regulate his breathing several times to calm his injured mental energy, then turned to Gu Yulin and said.

Their eyes shone brightly, almost like two small light bulbs under the dim camping lamp:

"You stay here, I'll go down and take a look—don't put on the protective suit yet, I'll walk around it and see how big the area is!"

He uttered those words and immediately sank into the ground. Tiger Hill, a mere 34 meters high—to say it's a hill is laughable; 34 meters is hardly even a hill?
However, in terms of actual height, it's about ten stories high, and the river encircles it for 400 meters on each side. Finding a tomb within such a large area would be quite a challenge.

Enveloped and embraced by the earth, Shen Le slowly sank downwards, then slowly moved sideways. One circle, then another, and another—

bumped into!
What a powerful barrier! In the Spring and Autumn Period, when the traces of immortals had not yet completely faded from the earth, could such a protective barrier have been left for a ruler of a country?
Shen Le did not go inside for the time being, but instead circled around the barrier, sinking down in circles.

It sank all the way to the very bottom of the barrier, circled the huge, slightly sunken hemisphere, and then sat cross-legged at the bottom of the barrier, trying to penetrate again:
Good news: This huge magical barrier is quite sturdy at the top and around, and his mental power cannot break through it. The treasures inside should also be well protected.
The bad news is that after thousands of years, there are still some flaws at the bottom of the magical barrier.

Shen Le slightly stretched out her hand, and the bright spots in her palm swayed back and forth, constantly colliding and merging into one:
Even though Shen Le used his mental power to create a barrier and try his best to hold them up, they still kept sinking and crawling into his palm.

Only after Shen Le mobilized the power of the Metal element to control them did they slowly rise and rejoin the breach in the magical barrier.

"Mercury...the ancients really loved using mercury..."

Shen Le couldn't quite understand the ancients' love for mercury before, only regarding it as something heavy, poisonous, and polluting.

But now, sensing the magical barrier and the large amount of mercury flowing into it, Shen Le was surprised to feel its power:
It is not heavy, but light, a lightness that is constantly rising and flowing.

It carried a heavy and intense power, rapidly rotating within the magical barrier surrounding the tomb, layer by layer repairing the parts that had been missing over a long period of time.

During this process, Shen Le, who was sitting cross-legged on the ground, had his eyes light up:

He saw it! He saw the barrier, the way the formation operated! It wasn't dormant; it was constantly absorbing the earth's energy, constantly absorbing the surrounding pool water—it was constantly active!

And now, Shen Le has patched up its last flaw!
Shen Le suddenly smiled. He quickly slithered underground, leaped out, and grabbed the protective suit:

"Quick, help me put it on!"

"Did you find it?"

"Found it! -- I'll go down again, hopefully I'll find something!"

Full of confidence, Shen Le, wearing protective clothing, sank into the ground and returned to the place where the barrier had been previously damaged.

He slowly mobilized the power of metal, allowing it to resonate with the mercury above, causing the mercury to disperse slightly and accommodate him as he entered.

In a moment, the flowing mercury carried him up, swirling around, and after a few circles he reached the inner circle, where his feet touched the ground!

Come in...

Before Shen Le could be happy, she first checked the protective suit to make sure it was free of any damage or mercury corrosion. Then she used her mental energy to apply a thick layer of mercury to both the inside and outside of the suit.

Once all the protection measures were confirmed, he used magic to slightly elevate his body, and tiptoed through the air, walking step by step forward in the tomb that had been untouched for over two thousand years:

"This place...this smell..."

It wasn't what he smelled; the protective suit perfectly isolated the inside from the outside, not letting any air molecule out, and naturally not letting any air molecule in either.

However, the lingering spiritual energy had already carried the scent of this place into his mind:
The space, sealed for thousands of years, was so stagnant that even the air was thick with a strange smell that mixed with earth, metal, and mercury, making it exceptionally oppressive.

The interior of the tomb is not a spacious hall like the Mausoleum of the First Qin Emperor; instead, it is somewhat cramped and has a secluded layout.

Fortunately, Shen Le had seen countless tombs and memorized countless mausoleum layouts, so he wouldn't get lost:

"This is the entrance... I should be at the entrance to the tomb passage... Let me look around first..."

He didn't even dare to light a lamp, fearing that any light might damage the treasures in the tomb, and instead carefully used his mental power to see them instead of his eyes.

Underfoot were smooth stone slabs, with dark hues visible through the gaps, whether from the bloodstains left by those who were buried alive or from the long-term seepage of mercury.

On the wall, there are patches of painted marks, depicting the past achievements of King Helü of Wu—good news, they are well preserved and the colors should be very vibrant.

The bad news is that he dared not light anything in the tomb, nor could he take out his phone to take pictures; these murals could only remain buried underground...

Shen Le suppressed his increasingly violent heartbeat and moved forward step by step. Neatly arranged terracotta warriors stood on both sides of the tomb passage, guarding their king;
The design of the armor, the stitching method of the leather armor, the weaving patterns of the bronze armor plates, even the painted faces and bodies of the terracotta warriors—every single detail could bring tears to the eyes of an elderly professor.

Photography is prohibited, there's no time for painting, and absolutely no touching is allowed. It can only be memorized, desperately imprinted in the mind; even the slightest disturbance could destroy this precious historical heritage…

Beyond the terracotta army formation, in the front chamber, west side chamber, and east side chamber, the burial objects are even more precious.

In the front chamber, a complete set of bronze ritual vessels was piled up: ding, gui, zun, lei...

Its shape is simple and majestic, its patterns intricate and full of ingenuity. If professors from universities who study bronzes were here, the differences between Wu-Yue culture and Central Plains culture alone would be enough for them to publish several lengthy papers.

That unique "aura" belonging to bronze, spanning thousands of years, is profound and weathered; one can even sense its powerful strength.

Each bronze artifact is a node in a magical array, maintaining the magical barrier of the entire tomb...

Shen Le carefully avoided them, quickly glanced at the numerous jade artifacts in the east wing, and tiptoed into the west wing. Not here, still not here—

Where exactly is that chilling sword aura emanating from the bottom of the sword pool, that cold light that is similar to and resonates with the power that cleaved the Dragon Lord's Dharma Boat?

It should be in the west wing room, right? Shen Le's mental energy carefully swept over each weapon.

Bronze swords, halberds, spears, and daggers... they are arranged in an orderly fashion as if they were still waiting for their master's inspection, and some longswords still gleam with a chilling light.

Shen Le held his breath, stopping in front of them. That chilling aura of killing intent, even after a thousand years, and through his protective suit and mental barrier, still faintly pierced his senses—

That was the clang of metal on the battlefield, the glorious achievements of the Wu army under the leadership of Sun Tzu and Wu Zixu in their campaigns across the north and south, the glory and pride of the Wu soldiers...

But not yet, not yet... Shen Le carefully bypassed these national treasures, walked out of the west side chamber, and entered the main tomb chamber.

Beside the enormous coffin, two rows of wooden shelves were neatly arranged, each displaying a lacquer box—

Various powerful, gentle, and profound forces intertwined, and among them, his target was clearly the one he was looking for!
It was a wooden box that had long since rotted away. Amidst the collapsed wreckage, a dagger lay silently.

This dagger is extremely unusual. It is less than a foot long, short in size, and has an extremely thin blade. When it reflects the faint glow of mercury in the dark, it is almost like a transparent cicada wing.

Most peculiarly, it has almost no handguard; the handle and blade are almost directly connected, with smooth yet eerie lines…

that's it!
Shen Le felt a chill run down her spine.

From this unremarkable dagger, he could clearly sense an aura that was almost identical to the golden light on the Dragon Lord's magic boat.

Unlike other weapons that surge with the blood and gore of the battlefield, this one concentrates all its power into a single point. Quiet and unassuming, it reveals almost nothing, yet when unleashed, it is sure to drink blood and take lives—

Shen Le took a deep breath and checked the condition of the protective suit again to make sure it was in perfect condition.

Then, he slowly reached out, his hand landing on the icy-cold dagger through the protective suit, through the mental barrier, and through the pure metal elemental energy—

In his mind, a sharp blade leaped up and suddenly stabbed towards his vital heart!
White mist drifted by, and the aroma of fish lingered.

(End of this chapter)