Under Li Tan’s spiritual perception, the mechanisms within the passageway were rendered useless, and the two quickly reached the end.
The passage to the burial chamber was enormous, estimated to weigh no less than a thousand pounds. To forcibly open it would require at least Xiantian-level cultivation, coupled with formidable destructive martial arts techniques.
As Li Tan was pondering how to get through, Tang Leyin retrieved several short, thin rods from her spatial ring. She inserted them into the keyhole, twisted slightly, and with a loud “click,” the door opened.
“How did you…?”
Li Tan stared at Tang Leyin in surprise, a faint sense of defeat rising within him. They had been together for over a thousand years before their rebirth, yet he had never noticed Tang Leyin’s exceptional skill in picking mundane locks.
Hearing Li Tan’s exclamation, Tang Leyin briefly displayed a forlorn expression, which quickly transformed into a cheerful smile. Playfully sticking out her tongue, she said, “It’s a secret~”
Li Tan shrugged helplessly before entering the burial chamber first. In the brief moment they had spoken, he had already used his spiritual power to scan the interior thoroughly.
The underground palace was generally divided into two layers. The outer layer contained many small burial chambers, each holding the remains of past clan leaders. The larger chambers mostly contained treasures like gold and jade. Worth noting was that all the burial items were mundane valuables, with no materials useful for cultivation, not even a single piece of spiritual stone, the most basic of such items.
The inner layer occupied about one-fifth of the entire underground palace. The burial chambers were arranged in a circular pattern following the Bagua (Eight Trigrams). The outer chambers, according to their epitaphs, belonged to deceased Xiantian cultivators, while the central chamber, as expected, was the former clan leader’s tomb.
“According to Jiang Xin’s status, her remains should be in one of the small chambers on the outer layer. We’ll split up and search.”
With that, Li Tan walked to the left.
“Got it!”
Tang Leyin immediately went to the right.
“This one isn’t it.”
“This one isn’t either.”
“Neither is this one.”
“Not this one either.”
Li Tan moved from right to left, checking each chamber carefully, but failed to find the desired result.
“It seems like it’s with Leyin.”
Shaking his head, Li Tan quickened his pace forward and soon met Tang Leyin, who had searched half the area. However, she had also failed to locate Jiang Xin’s burial chamber.
Could it be in the inner layer?
Impossible! That was the main tomb area. How could an ordinary person without cultivation be buried there?
Confused, Li Tan bypassed all traps and mechanisms and directly entered the main burial chamber. At first glance, he was stunned.
Inside the spacious chamber stood two coffins.
“This can’t be right.” Although he had already suspected, Li Tan was still slightly surprised.
“It should be correct. One of them must be Jiang Xin’s.”
Tang Leyin muttered.
Li Tan approached and used his spiritual perception to examine the insides of both coffins up close.
Sure enough, one contained the skeleton of a man, while the other held that of a woman.
“It’s this one.”
Li Tan pushed open the lid of the left coffin with force.
“Huh?
How did you know, Master?”
Tang Leyin asked in confusion, looking at the skeleton inside.
Li Tan didn’t want to reveal his spiritual power for now, so he smiled and casually replied, “Just a little trick, nothing to worry about. Well then, let’s get down to business.”
“Alright.”
Tang Leyin didn’t press further, and Li Tan successfully diverted suspicion. Both extended their hands into the coffin. Just as they touched the skeleton, a grating sound rang out, and the chamber door opened.
“Who’s there!”
A furious male voice echoed. Li Tan inwardly cursed his bad luck, turned around, and saw three people standing at the entrance—Lin Long, Gu Lin, and Lin Cui, the Lin family trio.
“How did you get in here?”
Lin Long recognized the people inside and his anger slightly subsided, replaced by confusion.
“Tan’er, what are you doing here?”
Gu Lin expressed concern.
“Li Tan, and this young lady, why are you here?”
Lin Cui was also perplexed.
“We—” Tang Leyin was about to make up an excuse when Li Tan grabbed her sleeve.
“Hmm?”
Tang Leyin tilted her head in confusion.
“Now that they’re here, we might as well speak openly. Before we lay Jiang Xin to rest, let’s uncover the truth of the past so he can depart without regrets.”
“Alright, I’ll leave it to you. Try not to use violence. I’ll help if absolutely necessary.”
Tang Leyin obediently stepped back half a pace. Li Tan turned his gaze toward Lin Long, coldly stating, “You remember Jiang Xin, don’t you?”
Lin Long was momentarily stunned, his eyes widening with visible blood vessels bulging.
“What do you mean?”
“Hmph, didn’t you want to know why I came here? Now I’ll tell you—we came for Jiang Xin.”
Sweat beaded on Lin Long’s forehead. His gaze grew increasingly icy as he said to Gu Lin, “Honey, you take Cui’er and leave first.”
“But—”
“Li Tan and I have something to discuss.”
“Understood. Cui’er, come with me.”
“I don’t want to! What’s going on that I can’t know?”
“Lin Cui, obey me!”
Lin Long’s tone was firm and unyielding.
Lin Cui, familiar with her father’s temper, reluctantly bit her lip, let out a haughty snort, and turned to leave.
“Cui’er!”
Gu Lin called out worriedly, taking a few steps forward before suddenly turning back toward Li Tan, “Please forgive us if we’ve offended you in any way.”
Although her words were directed at Li Tan, Gu Lin’s gaze was fixed on Tang Leyin.
Standing at the back, Tang Leyin appeared almost like an ordinary person, yet that was precisely what was strange—how could she possibly be just an ordinary individual?
Gu Lin also departed.
“Now then, how much do you know about that matter?”
Lin Long stared intensely at Li Tan.
“I know quite a bit, hehe. For example, I know the origin of the Coiling Dragon Fist.”
“You!”
Lin Long’s alertness was completely replaced by murderous intent in his eyes.
Li Tan, however, remained completely unfazed, smiling leisurely as he slowly said, “Tell me two things: first, why is Jiang Xin buried here, and second, what exactly happened back then?”
Lin Long fell silent, his murderous intent intensifying, clearly indicating the sensitivity of the matter.
Li Tan’s lips curled into a slight sneer. “Before you try to kill me to silence me, you’d better think carefully about your own abilities.”
“Do you think I can’t deal with you?”
Lin Long’s face was stern, but upon noticing Tang Leyin, he hesitated, swallowing the words “can’t deal with you” with great reluctance and changed his tone.
“Why are you asking about that?”
“That’s none of your business,” Li Tan replied coldly.
“Why are you asking about Jiang Xin?”
“That’s none of your business.”
Li Tan remained indifferent.
Lin Long’s murderous intent finally receded, but his anger was unmistakable. As the head of the family, he felt deeply humiliated to be cornered like this by a younger generation member.
Yet no matter how furious he was, it was of no avail.
After a long internal struggle, Lin Long finally relented.
“Fine, I’ll tell you everything, but you’d better remember—the Lin family’s people don’t rise by relying on soft power.”
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