The Master and His Wealthy Fiancée

A mountain breeze swept by, and Chen Dong caught a whiff of a peculiar scent. His brow furrowed, and he decided to follow them into the tomb to take a look.

The old man standing guard outside heard the cry of a wild animal in the distance and turned to look. It was at that exact moment that Chen Dong slipped into the tomb.

The man-made entrance to the tomb was less than a meter high. The four members of the Yang Family crawled single-file through the twenty-odd-meter passage and into a tunnel.

The tunnel resembled a natural cavern, about two meters high and wide, with water flowing across the floor that reached up to their calves.

The constant sound of splashing water echoed as all four of them stood in the flooded passageway.

The current was slow, but the water was bone-chillingly cold.

The farmer-like man spat and grumbled, "I can't believe Yang Yushan and Yang Anfu actually found a tomb this deep." As he spoke, he switched on his headlamp and scanned their surroundings.

Stalagmites of various sizes jutted out from the tunnel floor, and both ends of the passage stretched into a deep, endless darkness.

The man in the suit, who was their leader, stood in the current with a grave expression. "This water is below freezing, but it's flowing this slowly without turning to ice. Everyone, be careful."

With that, he took the lead and started walking upstream.

The four of them proceeded with extreme caution, moving slowly to avoid making a sound. After about three minutes, the faint, exotic scent of sandalwood drifted toward them.

All four of them looked alarmed. Yang Lin, who was walking at the back, hurried forward a few steps. He pulled a specially-made dagger from his waist and decisively slashed his own arm, drawing blood instantly. Yang Lin raised his bleeding arm and flicked it toward the other three men several times, making sure they were all evenly spattered with his blood, before finally smearing the rest over his own body.

The farmer-like man grimaced. "We haven't even reached a burial chamber and we've already run into one of the Four Banes. This place is really something else! Good thing Little Lin'Er is still a virgin, otherwise we'd have no choice but to turn back and prepare to try again another day."

Yang Lin, looking slightly annoyed, said, "Third Uncle, just be quiet!"

The man in the suit also said calmly, "We must be in the Tomb Protection Channel. Since we've encountered the Exotic Sandalwood, it's likely the chamber ahead has a Tomb Guardian Beast. Everyone, stay alert!"

As he spoke, he took out two Yellow Talismans and applied them to his body. The other three did likewise.

The four walked for a while longer until the water grew shallower, barely covering the tops of their feet. A stone door, four meters wide and over three meters tall, appeared before them. The door had already been breached, leaving an opening just large enough for one person to pass through.

The inscriptions on the lintel and the right-hand pillar were illegible. On the left, one could faintly discern what looked like Seal Script, but only the first two characters, forming the name "Fuyuan," were recognizable. The five characters that followed were too weathered to read.

In a corner near the door was an ancestral mark of the Yang Family. It seemed Yang Yushan and Yang Anfu had already been here.

The man in the suit studied the inscription for a moment but couldn't decipher it, so he took the lead and entered through the hole in the door.

The other three followed, their faces showing surprise as they got closer. Inside the spacious stone chamber, a bronze vat over three meters tall rested against a stone wall. Beside it lay the corpse of a giant snake as thick as a man's thigh.

Wearing gloves, the man in the suit took out a telescopic probing rod and prodded the snake's corpse. "Judging from the wounds, these were inflicted with the Yang Family's martial arts techniques," he said. "It seems Yang Yushan and his group already dealt with this Tomb Guardian Beast."

The other three also took out their own tools and began to investigate the room.

After a moment, the farmer-like man said with a grave expression, "Big Brother, I can't find any other entrance in this chamber. It seems to be a completely sealed room."

The cold, assassin-like man added, "There's nothing here but an altar in the center and this vat. The altar has marks on it, showing that something was taken—probably a rectangular box."

The man in the suit's expression grew serious. "This is bizarre. This is a Great Evil Stone Chamber. A sealed chamber like this is founded on the Earth element, yet they placed a bronze vat—a Water element—in the southwest corner. Earth and Water are in conflict. How could this Tomb Guardian Beast have survived for so long? By all rights, nothing should be able to live in this room. Unless…"

Yang Lin finished his sentence, "Unless the item on the altar was a ward!"

The man in the suit nodded. "Correct! Use a warding object to alter the Five Elements, turning great misfortune into great fortune. If that's the case, there must be an Abyssal Opening in this chamber to channel that fortune. Otherwise, this room's luck—be it good or bad—couldn't affect the rest of the tomb."

At these words, all four men fixed their gazes on the eerie bronze vat.

Without a word, the cold-looking man gave the others a hand signal, then leaped directly into the vat.

Less than thirty seconds later, the man's head resurfaced. Surprisingly, there was a flicker of fear on his face. "The vat is the Abyssal Opening. It connects to an underground river, and there's another exit about thirty meters away. Most importantly, there's a light at that exit." Saying this, he quickly scrambled out of the vat.

The farmer-like man exclaimed in shock, "The Tomb Guardian Beast, the Exotic Sandalwood, the eternally preserved coffin, and the Everlasting Lamp—those are the Four Great Banes, and we've already run into three of them! Big Brother, are we really going to keep going?"

The man in the suit frowned, his voice firm. "We continue! The fact that we're all moving together won't stay hidden from certain interested parties for long. We need to be as quick as possible." He then turned to Yang Lin. "Lin'Er, take out the Communication Talisman and maintain contact with your grandfather. I'll take the lead; you all follow."

With that, he leaped into the vat. The other three gritted their teeth and reluctantly followed.

Just as they disappeared into the Abyssal Opening, Chen Dong's figure appeared in the stone chamber. He gently ran his fingers over the marks on the altar. Chen Dong could see it now—this was where the Ancient Sword Divine Artifact had been placed. He murmured aloud, "Truly remarkable…"