Ya She

Chapter 13 The Silent Shop - Crimson Dragon Robe (Part 1)
This was the second time the doctor had seen the boss vomit blood. This time, the scene was even more horrifying. The boss was almost talking while bright red blood was spilling from his lips, and he even maintained a perfect smile on his face. The level of horror was comparable to a late-night horror movie.

The doctor was filled with remorse. He should have dragged the boss to the hospital when they left the master's villa, but the boss had taken a nap and forgotten. It was really wrong of him. Actually, it wasn't entirely his fault. The boss had been staying in the perpetually dark and gloomy house, and his face was already as pale and bloodless as a patient's. There had been no warning signs beforehand, and he hadn't shown any signs of weakness or illness, so it was easy to overlook his condition.

"Come on, let's go to the hospital for a check-up! It's nearby." The doctor didn't have time to make excuses for his negligence; his heart was pounding, and he grabbed the boss and pulled him out.

The boss didn't move. Instead, he withdrew his hand, wiped the blood from his lips, and said calmly, "I can't go to the hospital."

"Why?" The doctor was taken aback, turning around to meet the bitter smile in the boss's eyes. The doctor cursed himself for being foolish, and after a long while, he finally found his voice and said, "You... how have you lived so long? Will coughing up so much blood affect your health?" The doctor asked hesitantly. Although he had seen many strange things in the Silent Shop, such as the candle that was said to have lasted for hundreds of years, the Classic of Mountains and Seas that sealed a mythical beast, and the white snake spirit he had just met, he absolutely did not believe that the person standing in front of him, whom he had known for several years, was a monster.

The doctor recalled the few times he had physical contact with the boss, and the boss's body temperature was so low that he seemed to be alive.

A cold draft blew in through the already loose door crack, causing the wick of the Changxin Palace Lantern to flicker, and the shadows cast by the antique furniture on the wall to sway. Seeing the uncertain expression on the shopkeeper's face, the doctor felt no fear, nor did he back down; instead, he took a step towards him.

Clearly seeing the concern in the doctor's eyes, the boss couldn't help but show surprise on his face. Even the family of masters who had known him for three generations maintained a respectful distance in their cooperation because his appearance hadn't changed in a hundred years. But the doctor, who had only known him for two or three years, became even more concerned about him after hearing that he might be a demon who had lived for over two thousand years.

Seeing that the shop owner didn't answer, the doctor began to get a little anxious: "It's okay if you can't say, but I'm a doctor, so I might be able to help."

Perhaps it was because he had finally confided everything today that the boss, who had been carrying the secret as a heavy burden in his heart, felt much lighter and thought that it wouldn't hurt to tell the doctor everything.

Anyway, he's really leaving soon.

The shopkeeper placed the half-cooled kettle back on the red clay stove to reheat it. "My master was originally an alchemist," the shopkeeper said quietly. Soon, steam rose from the kettle, wisps of vapor overflowing from the spout and quickly dissipating into the cold air.

The doctor himself was a chatterbox and not a good listener, but he couldn't help but interject, "Could it be that when Qin Shi Huang burned books and buried scholars alive—no, when he buried sorcerers alive—your master was implicated?"

The shopkeeper shook his head and said, "My master was a very famous alchemist. He disdained associating with those swindlers and sorcerers in the palace. He passed away a year after entering the palace."

Seeing the look of reminiscence on the boss's face, the doctor knew he was thinking of his master, so he resisted the urge to interrupt him and waited quietly.

A short while later, the kettle on the stove boiled. Only then did the owner come to his senses, pour out the cold tea from the teapot, and brew a new pot of hot tea. Instantly, the aroma of tea filled the silent shop, invigorating everyone.

"After the incident of the drug-testing attendant dying suddenly, the First Emperor did not give up his desire for immortality. However, when the elixirs were presented thereafter, the drug-testing attendants were no longer needed; instead, the alchemists themselves would taste them." The shopkeeper held his teacup, not drinking, but just playing with it in his hand. "My master left behind two elixirs before he passed away. Since he could no longer find them, I, as his disciple, was the one who tasted them."

The doctor froze, his hand holding the teacup suspended in mid-air, hardly believing what he had just heard. "You mean, you've taken an elixir of immortality?! That's impossible! How could there possibly be an elixir of immortality in this world?" The doctor was so excited that he even forgot he was holding a full teacup, the scalding tea splashing out and burning his hand, but he didn't feel the pain, still excitedly waving his hand.

The boss remained calm, reaching out to take the teacup from the doctor's hand and placing it back to prevent the precious Song Dynasty white porcelain from being carelessly smashed to pieces.

"How is this possible? How is this possible?" the doctor repeated subconsciously. He had thought that his boss must be some kind of spirit to have lived this long, but the truth was even harder for him to accept.

Just taking one kind of medicine? What kind of medicine can grant immortality? Doctors would never admit that ancient alchemy was more advanced than modern medicine!

The shop owner knew it was hard to believe, but he had indeed lived for over two thousand years. Stroking the smooth, delicate glaze of the Song Dynasty porcelain in his hand, he thought it was probably an antique in the shop, and a very old one at that.

The doctor gradually recovered from his out-of-control state and began to realize that this was probably a rare opportunity to glimpse the secrets of humanity. Concealing his excitement, the doctor downed the remaining half-cup of tea in one gulp, calmed himself, and then asked, "Sir, could you tell me more about it?"

Why not? The boss felt the warmth of the hot tea in his hands, letting his thoughts drift away.

"After Fusu was killed, General Meng Tian was unwilling to accept it and led his army back to Xianyang to find Hu Hai and ask him what happened. I don't know what happened to him after that. Historical records say that he committed suicide by taking medicine, but he was most likely assassinated."

"And what about you?" the doctor couldn't help but press. The boss was Fusu's closest companion, and Huhai certainly wouldn't let him off the hook.

“Me?” A cold smile appeared on the boss’s thin lips. “Although my father did not hold a title, as the oldest family in the Qin Dynasty, he could still detect the slightest clues in the capital. Before Hu Hai’s envoy arrived at the border, he sent me a letter from home, saying that he was critically ill. I rushed back to Xianyang, and as soon as I entered the house, my father locked me in a secret room. He only released me when the First Emperor’s funeral was held. It was then that I learned that Fusu had committed suicide.”

The doctor remained silent. Although the boss's narration was calm and even, a closer listen revealed the regret in his words. If he had returned to Xianyang a few days later, he might have been able to prevent Fusu's death and perhaps even rewrite history.

The teacup in the boss's hand had gone cold. He raised it to his lips and took a sip. The altered taste of the cold tea lingered between his lips and teeth, just like the mixed feelings in his heart.

No one knows how horrified and furious he was when he saw the man standing on the throne.

He had dreamed countless times of wearing the crown that represented the emperor's dignity on Fusu's head, and he had also wanted to be by his side at all times, to witness the birth of a new emperor, and to build an ideal and powerful country with him—a great nation that would last for thousands of generations!

The boss's hand holding the teacup tightened suddenly, causing ripples to spread across the tea inside before settling back down.

But all of this has become a thing of the past. He carefully hid the crown and the jade seal deep within the Silent Shop, but sadly, no suitable owner has ever appeared for them again.

The silence within the Silent Shop was so profound it could drown a person. After a long while, the owner finally broke the silence, saying, "On the day of the First Emperor's funeral, all the important officials of the court went to Mount Li, but not many were able to return. I didn't go back either."

"Buried alive? To get rid of those who are in the way? Hu Hai is truly insidious~~" Seeing the boss subconsciously touch his neck, the doctor finally realized where that hideous scar came from.

The boss nodded and said, "When I woke up again, I was in the tomb of Qin Shi Huang. The wound on my neck had healed and stopped bleeding, but looking around, there were corpses everywhere, as if I were in hell. Most of the corpses were people who opposed Hu Hai, including my father. My father had endured humiliation his whole life and never imagined that he would die here in such an inexplicable way. I carried my father's body out of the tomb of Qin Shi Huang and buried him in my family's ancestral cemetery. I think that even in death, he did not want to have anything to do with the Ying family anymore."

The innkeeper paused after speaking, poured himself a cup of warm tea, and then continued his story. After burying his father, he went to find Fusu's grave. But the men Zhao Gao sent wouldn't give him a proper burial, so he searched incognito and found a desolate mound near the border. He wouldn't let Fusu be buried there so lonely; he dug him up and brought him back to Mount Li.

The First Emperor was never buried in the magnificent mausoleum he built during his lifetime; his remains were never found. It was only because his son, Huhai, desired this grand mausoleum.

The First Emperor doted on his youngest son, wanting to give him the very best of everything. But did the First Emperor ever realize that the Qin Empire he had built was ultimately held in the hands of his youngest son? Even the final resting place he had built for himself was taken by Huhai without a second thought.

The boss found it ironic, a cold smile playing on his lips. "So, I buried Fusu at Mount Li. He couldn't be the emperor of the Qin Empire in life, but I wanted him to possess those 100,000 terracotta warriors after his death."

These words were spoken with such conviction that the doctor couldn't help but look up at the boss again. He had always felt that the vicissitudes in the boss's eyes didn't match his youthful appearance, but now, as the other man spoke these passionate and unrestrained words, his face seemed to have gained a touch of vigor. One could imagine what a prominent figure he must have been in the long river of history.

The doctor had taken in the boss's expressions, and could see the boss's admiration for Qin Shi Huang. Therefore, it was not hard for the boss to develop the determination to make a difference by working for Fusu and help the Qin Empire rise to power.

Throughout history, wise men have often been lonely. For a person with grand ambitions and exceptional talent, encountering a ruler who appreciates them at the right time and in their own era is extremely difficult. Gan Luo's encounter with Fusu two thousand years ago was incredibly fortunate. Fusu was gentle and kind by nature, and also intelligent; with proper guidance, he would undoubtedly have become a wise ruler. With the exceptionally gifted Gan Luo assisting him, the two were sure to achieve great things.

But Hu Hai easily destroyed all of this.

The doctor could imagine the unwavering determination the emperor had in searching for Fusu's reincarnations after Fusu's death. He hoped to recapture the past, to once again reach the pinnacle of politics with Fusu, and to lead history forward. However, he soon discovered that each of Fusu's reincarnations died young. Gradually, the search became a responsibility, trapping him in a vicious cycle from which he could not escape, a cycle that had lingered for over two thousand years.

The boss calmed himself down and refused to say another word about Fusu. He knew that the doctor was most curious about the elixir of immortality, so he slowly said, "It was only a few years later that I realized something was wrong with my body. Not only did my appearance not change, but my injuries would also heal quickly. It was only after a long time that I realized that I was probably like this because I had taken the elixir of immortality made by my master."

The doctor leaned forward, his spirits lifted, and eagerly asked, "Have you had any unusual symptoms? Do you lose hair? Are there any other differences in your bodily functions? Ah, if only I could examine you, I promise I won't let the information leak out!"

The boss smiled slightly and said, "I know you won't leak this, but I've never stopped studying myself over the years. Perhaps I don't need machine testing to know the reason."

"Speak quickly!" The doctor was practically driven crazy by him, sweating profusely with anxiety.

The boss thoroughly enjoyed this suspense, though it wasn't intentional; he simply needed to organize his thoughts before he could articulate his ideas. After a moment's thought, he asked, "What causes human aging?"

“They are senescent cells,” the doctor replied immediately. He hesitated, wondering whether to explain what cells were to the shopkeeper, but the doctor continued, “A person is like a cell; cells divide, and new cells grow. When the rate of cell division slows down, becoming less than the rate of cell aging, the body enters old age. Is that correct?” The shopkeeper carefully considered his words.

"That's right." The doctor nodded, feeling a strange sense of unease. Hearing modern medical terms from the boss's mouth felt as absurd as seeing the latest Apple computers being sold in a shady shop.

"However, there are exceptions to such cells. Cells that proliferate indefinitely become immortal cells." The boss narrowed his phoenix eyes.

"You mean...cancer cells!" The doctor's eyes widened, his face filled with disbelief. "You mean, the elixir of immortality you took caused cancer? But shouldn't that have hastened your death?" Normal cells have a limited maximum number of divisions; for example, a human cell can only divide fifty or sixty times in its lifetime. But cancer cells have lost their maximum number of divisions and can divide almost indefinitely, which the body's organs absolutely cannot withstand.

"Therefore, the purpose of the Crimson Dragon Robe I wear is to inhibit the number of cancer cell divisions, maintaining a delicate balance in the body's cells, preventing the organs from failing or malfunctioning." The shopkeeper reached out and touched the robe that had been with him for two thousand years, saying calmly, "It has been said since ancient times that 'gold and jade produce coldness,' which can prevent the body from decaying. This fabric is made of black gold and black jade threads passed down from ancient times, originally prepared for the burial of Qin Shi Huang. During his reign, the First Emperor collected some ancient artifacts from the mythological era, but in later dynasties, such artifacts became extremely rare, and many were imitations. For example, the jade burial suit in the Han tombs is actually a poor imitation."

"I...can I touch it?" The doctor swallowed hard, and after the shopkeeper nodded, he eagerly reached out. The fabric felt both soft and stiff, and its temperature was icy cold. The doctor guessed that some rare metal must have been added to the fabric, giving it a faint radioactive quality that prevented the flesh from decaying. In the past, the doctor would never have believed the shopkeeper's words, but the mythological era was indeed a mysterious time that existed before the feudal era. He had personally witnessed the ability of the *Classic of Mountains and Seas* to seal divine beasts and other dimensions. If a bamboo slip could be used to cast a spell, then a piece of fabric that could prevent decay wasn't too far-fetched.

The doctor couldn't fathom the principle, and knew the boss wouldn't understand such scientific questions, nor would he cut off a piece for him to take back for testing. So, he could only ask, while still groping the boss, "So you haven't taken off this garment for over two thousand years?" The doctor seemed quite interested; to him, the boss was the subject of his dreams. He really wanted to strip off the garment, study its material, and incidentally, examine the boss's body. If possible, he'd even rather touch the boss's heart, which had been beating for over two thousand years…

"Stop giving me that look." The shopkeeper was willing to bet that if the doctor had a scalpel right now, he would dissect him without hesitation. "Taking it off for a while is fine, at least you don't have to wear it to sleep. This garment just needs to be nearby to be effective." The shopkeeper found the doctor's question amusing and smiled contentedly. In the past two thousand years, he had rarely been this close to anyone, especially since the doctor's warm fingers seemed to penetrate the thin fabric and reach his skin, making him feel slightly more comfortable.

"This is a Zhongshan suit style. It wasn't this fashionable two thousand years ago, was it?" the doctor asked with a smile, looking at the boss's stand-up collar.

“During the Republic of China era, I saved the master’s grandmother. The master’s grandfather was a famous antique restorer at the time. He helped me cut the clothes like this. I never expected that this style would be out of fashion a few years later.” The shopkeeper laughed self-deprecatingly. “Fortunately, it’s not too strange to wear this now. It’s better than wearing ancient costumes.”

"This dragon can actually move, right?" The doctor's hand hesitated near the red dragon's body. The red dragon was embroidered so lifelike that he was even a little nervous to touch it.

“Back in the Song Dynasty, this garment was torn once, and I asked the embroidery workshop to mend it for me. This fabric has a specific arrangement for each stripe, and the embroidery workshop eventually embroidered this red dragon on the tear in the garment. The silk thread used wasn't ordinary silk thread either; it was silk thread stained with my blood, which is why the dragon is deep red.” The shopkeeper stroked the red dragon's head, which was perched on his shoulder, with great reminiscence. “The tear was never perfectly mended after all. Before, it would only change position once every few years, but recently it's been changing position every day. I think it hasn't drunk enough of my blood and can't wait any longer.”

The boss's fingertips still bore traces of the blood he had just coughed up. The doctor watched helplessly as the drop of blood seeped into the fabric. The red dragon's head twitched, and its body seemed to swell slightly. Only then did the doctor realize what was happening and looked down at the boss's chest and abdomen.

The tear in the garment was large, and the haphazard stitches were clearly the work of a master craftsman not long ago. Remembering the owner's earlier vomiting of blood, the doctor gasped, "Isn't this garment supposed to be protected from damage? Otherwise, even messing up the threads would affect its function?"

Simply put, this crimson dragon robe is like an extremely delicate circuit board; if even a few wires get messed up, it will short-circuit completely. Otherwise, the shopkeeper wouldn't have gone to such lengths to embroider such a strange dragon on it when it cracked last time. Furthermore, he said the robe wouldn't cause any problems even if he took it off and didn't wear it for a short time, so there's only one explanation for why the shopkeeper vomited blood so quickly.

The boss gave a wry smile; he hadn't intended to say that. "After I die, if my body doesn't decompose quickly, you can dispose of it however you like."

The doctor froze on the spot. He had just dreamt of dissecting his boss, but that was just wishful thinking; he never expected it to actually happen. It took him a long while to find his voice, "Couldn't... we just find someone else to embroider it?"

The shopkeeper toyed with the empty teacup in his hand and smiled faintly, "The Song Dynasty was the peak of Suzhou embroidery's development. The imperial court even had a special embroidery academy. This red dragon on my body required thirty-seven embroiderers from the academy and took two whole years to embroider. Do you think you can still find so many skilled embroiderers in this day and age?"

I really can't find it.

The doctor stood up, his mind in turmoil, and paced back and forth in the silent room. "There must be some way... Can't we use a machine to knit it?"

"It's alright, don't worry about it. I've lived too long, Fusu's matter is finally resolved, it's time for me to rest." The boss smiled slightly, with a sense of relief.

The doctor stopped and realized where the problem lay.

The boss must have a way to survive, but he has lost the will to live, and no matter how anxious others are, there is nothing they can do.

He often saw this kind of thing in the hospital: a disease that clearly had a 50% chance of being cured would worsen and lead to the worst possible outcome because the patient did not actively cooperate with the treatment.

The doctor walked up to the boss, placed his hands on his shoulders, looked directly into his eyes, and asked earnestly, "Are you and Fusu friends?"

"Yes," the boss thought. If he weren't a friend, he wouldn't have endured over two thousand years in this world just to see if his reincarnation could live a normal life.

"And what about me?" The doctor pressed down on the boss's shoulder, applying even more pressure.

The boss looked at him blankly.

He knew he wasn't Fusu; he was very clear about the difference. There were significant differences between them; they were two independent individuals. Their living environments, upbringings, beliefs, and even the slightest resemblance remained. Unlike the reincarnations of Huo Qubing or Xiang Yu, because the reincarnated Fusu lacked a soul and a spirit, even the strongest obsessions couldn't affect the doctor's life, not even slightly.

The Fusu in his heart was dead. The boss had to admit that when he saw the doctor's unwavering expression in Fusu's memory, his heart sank to ashes.

Well, he succeeded in the end. Even if Fusu could never be reborn, his reincarnation would not be affected by the tragedy of two thousand years ago.

That's enough.

If it were Fusu instead, he would probably have wandered the world for such a long time because of him.

But he was truly exhausted. Having witnessed countless cycles of life and death, he knew that by defying fate and lingering in the mortal world, his fate would likely not be much better than that of the White Snake Spirit.

"Aren't we friends?" The doctor, getting no answer from his boss, became somewhat agitated. "If we weren't friends, why did you risk your life to save me? If you hadn't come to save me, the Crimson Dragon Robe wouldn't have been damaged, and you wouldn't have died... I was just being presumptuous. You only came to save me because I'm the reincarnation of Fusu..."

“We’re friends,” the shopkeeper interrupted the doctor’s self-pity. He looked up at the doctor’s glasses, which reflected the flickering candlelight, unable to discern the emotions hidden in the eyes behind them.

Over the past few years, although he was noisy and talkative, and he liked to bring food and force him to eat with him, they had become friends. The boss smiled sincerely and said calmly, "I saved you, but that only applies to you. It has nothing to do with anyone else. You are a good doctor. If you live, you will save many more lives."

The doctor blinked, finding the candlelight in the room somewhat blinding, making his eyes sting. "Then you must live on. There are so many antiques in the Silent Shop; can you really bear to abandon them?"

The doctor knew how much the owner cherished the antiques in the Silent Shop, which made him feel even more guilty. If the red dragon robe hadn't been torn, the owner would have continued to run the Silent Shop as his antique shop owner, even if his wish had been fulfilled.

The boss could feel the doctor's hand on his shoulder burning so badly it was almost unbearable. He used the act of getting up to refill the teapot to break free from the doctor's grasp and said with a nonchalant smile, "The curator is here, he'll definitely take good care of them."

Yes, if that uncle knew that all the antiques in the Silent Shop had been left to him, he would definitely be so excited that he would have a heart attack.

The doctor, inwardly grumbling, racked his brains for any way to keep his boss alive. Listening to the sound of water pouring down, a sudden thought struck him. "Boss," he said, "you said there were two pills of the elixir of immortality. You took one, so what about the other one? Did Qin Shi Huang take it? Wait, if he took it, he shouldn't have died, right?"

The sound of water being poured stopped abruptly. The doctor glanced over and noticed that the boss's expression was rather unpleasant. Realizing he had inadvertently grasped the key point, he quickly added, "Don't hide anything from me anymore. We're friends now!"

"Dissecting my body isn't enough? You also want that drug for research?" The boss gave the doctor a disapproving look—this guy was definitely pushing his luck. The doctor chuckled, offering no explanation, but rather finding this kind of banter a sign of friendship.

After refilling the teapot, the owner sat down again and filled the teacups in front of the two men. "Do you remember the few days I was away?"

"I remember, the day after you left, I ran into the curator. He said he traded you for some Warring States period alchemy cauldron. Warring States period? Do you know this alchemy cauldron?" The doctor, always proud of his reasoning skills, knew he was right when he saw the boss raise his eyebrows.

"Yes, this alchemy cauldron was left to me by my master. There's a hidden compartment at the bottom of the cauldron where another elixir of immortality was originally placed. It was meant to be taken by the First Emperor after his eastern tour, once he confirmed that I was unharmed after consuming the elixir. Ironically, the First Emperor died on that eastern tour." The shopkeeper had a mocking smile on his lips.

"So, you mean the other elixir of immortality is gone?" The doctor could imagine why the boss had disappeared these past few days; he must have gone to investigate the location where the alchemy cauldron was found.

The shopkeeper nodded, then sighed and said, "The inner layer of that alchemy cauldron is covered with verdigris. It's safe to say that no one has opened it for at least two thousand years. That means the other pill was taken away more than two thousand years ago."

The doctor and the shop owner exchanged a glance, both seeing shock in each other's eyes. If another person had also taken that elixir of immortality, it meant that perhaps there would be someone else, like the shop owner, who had lived for over two thousand years...

"Um, does anyone else know how to open the hidden compartment of that alchemy cauldron?" the doctor asked with difficulty.

"The servants in charge of the pills know, but they dare not use the pills offered as tribute at will..." The boss felt a dryness in his throat and swallowed the surging blood with difficulty.

"That means that after Qin Shi Huang died, only one person could openly consume that elixir..." The doctor swallowed hard.

“Hu Hai…” The boss sighed deeply, leaned back in his chair, and looked up at the dark ceiling of the Silent Shop.

The doctor remained silent. He knew that the boss harbored as much longing for Fusu as he hated Huhai.

Although the chances of Hu Hai still being alive are less than one percent, the boss would never be at ease even if there was only a slight possibility.

He thought he no longer needed to worry about his boss losing his will to live in a short period of time.

The two sat silently in the darkness until the eastern sky began to lighten and the sounds of the morning market could be heard in the distance.

"Thank you." The owner's voice rang out as the first rays of sunlight shone through the crack in the door of the Silent Shop.

The doctor, who hadn't slept all night, was instantly energized by the two words his boss uttered, his mouth practically agape. He knew the meaning behind his boss's thanks. "Thanks for what? You saved me, and I didn't even say thank you! True friends don't need to say thank you."

The boss sat up straight, looking at the doctor's radiant smile, and couldn't help but feel contagiously happy. "Oh? So, what's a true friend like?"

“A true friend is someone who shares joy and sorrow, and solves problems and crises together. They'll slap him awake when he's confused, and firmly support him when he's truly made a decision.” The doctor pushed up his glasses, his expression suddenly turning serious as he asked, “Now, tell me your decision.”

The boss seemed stunned by the doctor's words, and after a long while, he let out a long sigh and said, "I...I'm afraid I have to go to Mount Li..."

The doctor jumped up and patted his boss on the shoulder, saying, "I'll ask for annual leave right now and go with you! Don't refuse. I might not be available in the future, but I definitely want to go with you this time."

Just as the boss was about to stop him, the doctor had already strode out of the mute shop.

The shop owner only had time to turn around and see the doctor's back, watching the warm sunlight bathe him, outlining a golden halo, so holy it was almost blinding. The words of refusal stuck in his throat, unable to be uttered. The shop owner smiled with relief and closed his eyes.

A friend...?
"Luoyang shovel, tomb raiding talisman, tomb raiding seal, black donkey hoof...where did you buy all this stuff?" The shopkeeper looked at the items the doctor took out of his backpack, his face growing increasingly bewildered. Which tomb raiding novel had misled him?
"Taobao! They shipped it directly to our hotel, so convenient," the doctor said smugly, as he continued to take out essential tomb-raiding supplies from his bag. He had done a lot of research before setting off; they were staying at a hot spring hotel in Lishan, and the items were shipped directly here after they were ordered online. Otherwise, he really doubted whether he could get through airport security with all these things.

However, he was incredibly surprised that his boss could find his ID card to buy a plane ticket. The doctor wanted to check if the date of birth on the boss's ID card was before Christ, but he didn't have the courage.

The shop owner glanced sideways at the doctor as he continued to pull out advanced instruments such as ground-penetrating radar, metal detectors, and gas analyzers. "Did you buy these online too?" he asked. "Then he must have spent a lot of money."

"No, no, I borrowed it from Uncle Curator." The doctor wiped the sweat from his face and said with a smile, "I just called him. Don't worry, I didn't explain anything to him in detail. As soon as he heard that I came out with you, he immediately sent an express mail. Actually, I think if he wasn't in a meeting in Beijing, he would definitely want to pack himself up and mail himself over."

The shopkeeper closed his eyes helplessly. Although the doctor hadn't explained in detail to the curator, these things had already been mailed to Mount Li. Even an idiot would know which tomb they were after. Was there any need to ask?
"What do you think we need? When do we set off?" the doctor asked with great interest. He had a heated argument with his boss before coming, and he finally won a great victory, with his boss agreeing to take him to the underground palace of Qin Shi Huang's mausoleum.

That's the Mausoleum of the First Qin Emperor! It's as large as seventy-eight Forbidden Cities in Beijing! The world-famous Terracotta Army is merely a gatekeeper around the mausoleum. If the ancient Egyptian pyramids are the world's largest above-ground royal tombs, then the Mausoleum of the First Qin Emperor is the world's largest underground royal tomb—practically the undiscovered ninth wonder of the world! Although Xiang Yu, Huang Chao, and others attempted to plunder the mausoleum, Xiang Yu only burned the structures above the tomb and dug two trenches; they never found the entrance to the underground palace. To this day, no one has truly entered the underground palace of the First Qin Emperor's mausoleum…

No, actually there was one standing right in front of him.

Looking at the doctor's sparkling eyes, the boss sighed helplessly and said, "It's a sunny night tonight, so you can rest first. It's not time yet, we'll set off when it gets dark."

Looking at the room full of medical equipment and tomb-raiding supplies with a headache, the doctor scratched his head and said with difficulty, "Do we have to bring all of this from the ground? I don't think I can carry it all..."

"If these things alone were enough to get into the First Emperor's Mausoleum, the underground palace would have been robbed long ago," the shopkeeper said calmly.

The doctor was quite disheartened, but thinking about it, it made sense. These items would certainly be useful in ordinary ancient tombs, but the world-famous Qin Shi Huang Mausoleum couldn't be searched using ordinary methods. The doctor obediently put the items away again, then glanced at the backpack the boss had placed in the corner, thinking that the boss had surely brought all the necessities, so perhaps he could have brought a digital camera or something? Hehe…

Night fell quickly. The shopkeeper picked up his backpack, and the doctor also took one. Although the shopkeeper said he didn't need to bring anything he had prepared, he still felt comfortable bringing a few things, such as a flashlight, water, and compressed biscuits. After all, the shopkeeper might not need to eat or drink for a long time, and he certainly did.

Mount Li has been known for its numerous hot springs since ancient times, including the famous Huaqing Pool, which is located there, resulting in a multitude of hot spring resorts. They stayed at a private hot spring inn, where no one would notice them going out at night. The doctor followed the owner deeper into the mountains. At first, he didn't notice anything amiss, but as they walked, the distant lights disappeared, leaving only the moon and stars for company. The doctor was initially worried that the owner might not have been here for two thousand years and wouldn't recognize the way, but seeing the owner constantly adjusting his direction based on the celestial phenomena, he felt reassured. While two thousand years is enough for oceans to turn into mulberry fields, the stars in the sky are difficult to change.

The doctor didn't turn on his flashlight because he was afraid the light would be too conspicuous in the forest. At first, he was careful of his footing, but later he stopped looking altogether and followed his boss, trudging through the woods. After walking for more than three hours with great difficulty, the boss finally stopped in the doctor's expectant gaze.

Although it was the dead of winter, the doctor was already drenched in sweat. He drank some water, looked around, and found that this place was no different from the mountains and forests he had passed through before. The only thing that stood out was that there were several piles of barren rocks around them, piled up haphazardly.

"We've arrived, but we won't be able to find anyone until midnight." Although the boss had walked just as far, he wasn't sweating at all, and his face was growing increasingly pale.

"Okay." The doctor casually found a rock to sit on and couldn't help but ask, "Are we going in through the entrance to the underground palace? Aren't there many traps in Qin Shi Huang's tomb? Will it be dangerous?" The doctor decided to tighten the laces on his shoes a little more.

"The sealing stone for the main entrance of the underground palace had been put down long ago. Hu Hai naturally wanted to create the illusion that the First Emperor had already been buried. In fact, there were several hidden entrances to the underground palace. I knew that he would enter the underground palace in the future, so after burying Fusu there, I sealed off the other entrances as well."

The boss stood there with his hands behind his back, gazing into the distance at the Mausoleum of the First Qin Emperor. The earthen mound on the tomb formed a huge arc, looking like a flattened hill. The boss knew that although this place looked extremely desolate now, more than two thousand years ago, it was once home to magnificent palaces and breathtakingly beautiful buildings, which were then burned to the ground by Xiang Yu.

It's as if, in the blink of an eye, I can still see that magnificent palace burning in the raging flames; it's as if, with a breath, I can still smell the acrid stench of burning; it's as if, with a turn of my ear, I can still hear those pitiful cries...

The doctor looked up at the boss's lonely figure.

A chilly evening wind whipped the shopkeeper's clothes through the air. His crimson dragon robe, which had once clung perfectly to his figure, now frail and thinner due to his rapid weight loss in recent days. The dragon on his Zhongshan suit had grown larger over the past few days, now covering more than half of the fabric. The dragon's scales reflected the shimmering moonlight, its sharp claws incredibly lifelike, fluttering in the wind as if it might tear through the fabric and devour the shopkeeper at any moment.

It felt like the person in front of me would disappear from my sight in the next second.

A sense of unease welled up in the doctor's heart. He stood up and walked to stand beside his boss, cleared his throat, and asked, "The entrance to the underground palace is sealed off? How do we get in?"

The shopkeeper stood in a daze for a long time in the evening breeze before he came to his senses and said indifferently, "After the First Emperor died, his mausoleum was still under construction, all at the behest of Hu Hai. Chen Sheng and Wu Guang's uprising was indeed due to their inability to be driven by Hu Hai. The craftsmen knew that they would eventually be buried alive with him, so they secretly dug a secret passage for their escape. Unfortunately, in the end, none of them were buried alive, so this secret passage was prepared in vain."

The doctor was horrified. He knew that countless people had died on this land, and if a zombie were to rise from the ground... The doctor couldn't help but look down at his feet, fearing that a bony hand would reach out from the soil and grab his ankle.

The boss glanced at him and said indifferently, "Watching too many horror movies is not good."

A bead of cold sweat appeared on the doctor's forehead; he was still quite uncomfortable with his boss joking with such a serious face.

The shopkeeper glanced at the moonlight, then walked to a nearby pile of rocks. He pulled an irregularly shaped glass bead, about the size of a ping-pong ball, from his pocket and inserted it into a crack in the rock. The doctor watched in disbelief as the inconspicuous crack and the glass bead fit together perfectly, as if naturally formed. The doctor walked around to the other side of the rock and discovered a tiny hole, about the size of a little finger, behind it.

"What is this?" The doctor turned back and looked at the glass bead embedded in the stone, which shimmered and sparkled in the moonlight. It was clear at a glance that it was no ordinary object.

"The Huainanzi says, 'The pearl of Marquis Sui and the jade disc of Bian He, those who obtain them become rich, and those who lose them become poor.' The jade disc of Bian He is the He Shi Bi, and the pearl of Marquis Sui is one of the two treasures of the Spring and Autumn Period, which are known to the world as the Sui Pearl and the He Bi." The shopkeeper covered the bright glass of the Sui Pearl with his palm to prevent the light from being too conspicuous in the dark.

"The Suihou Pearl? It's actually a rare treasure ranked before the He Shi Bi? But I've never heard of it before." The doctor's eyes still lingered on the stunning beauty of the Suihou Pearl he had just glimpsed, and he blinked hard a few times before his eyes adjusted.

"That's because the He Shi Bi was given the significance of the Imperial Seal of the State and has been passed down for a long time in history. As for the Sui Hou Zhu, it is only recorded in official history up to the time of the First Emperor before it was completely lost." The shopkeeper looked up at the sky and said calmly, "It's about time."

As he spoke, he released his hand. At that moment, the moonlight shone directly onto the crevice in the stone. Through the tiny hole on the back, the moonlight refracted repeatedly in the crystal inside the Suihou Pearl, causing the pearl to brighten visibly until it finally projected a straight beam of light.

The light was actually very faint, but since there were no other light sources around, it was extremely conspicuous in the darkness.

The doctor instantly understood why the boss had waited for a sunny day to act, and why the Suihou Pearl had disappeared after the Qin Dynasty. It was because it was actually a priceless treasure created specifically for the Qin Emperor's mausoleum.

"That's the emergency entrance to the underground palace. Walk fifty-three steps west, then thirty-nine steps north, and you'll find the entrance to a secret passage—the escape route the craftsmen originally left for themselves." The shopkeeper remembered the direction the light from the Suihou Pearl pointed, then carefully removed it and placed it in his pocket. Actually, he wouldn't have needed the Suihou Pearl for navigation before, but two thousand years had passed, and things had changed. He needed to confirm it; otherwise, in such a vast place as Mount Li, where would he find such a tiny entrance?
The boss frowned in the darkness, recalling the phone call he had made to the curator before setting off to confirm that the Warring States period black gold alchemy cauldron had been given to him by a young man, and that he had deliberately asked the curator to take the cauldron to the Silent Shop to exchange for something.

Is it Hu Hai? Is he deliberately trying to lure out his boss? Has he not given up on entering the Qin Mausoleum?
"Boss?" the doctor turned his head and called out in confusion.

The boss suppressed his thoughts and said calmly, "Let's go."

Shortly after the two left, a dark figure suddenly appeared behind the pile of stones and quietly followed them.

(End of this chapter)