After discussing a few strategies with the Huang siblings, both Mu Rong Shu and I returned home, only to find Mu Rong Lao waiting for us in our little manor.
"Grandfather? What are you doing here?"
"You should have told us before you dropped in, granddad. We didn't know you were coming."
"No, it's fine." Mu Rong Lao held up a hand and smiled. "I know how busy you two are. And congratulations on your achievements in the Spirit War. Seems like you're doing very well."
Both Mu Rong Shu and I exchanged a glance. Did Mu Rong Lao already know about our victory over the imperial family? In a sense, that would be bad. We were hoping that the imperial family didn't know about the deaths of Wang Ni Tian and Wang Ling Er, which would buy us some time before their inevitable revenge, but if Mu Rong Lao was already aware of it…
"It is common knowledge that you've defeated Hu Li Jing and her spirit Su Da Ji, as well as Bai Xiao Li and her spirit Bai Su Zhen," Mu Rong Lao explained, probably seeing our apprehension. "And if you're still alive, then it means you've survived the attacks from the imperial family as well."
So he still didn't know about the fate of the imperial family. Phew. That was close.
"But I'm here today because of something else." Mu Rong Lao reached into the pockets of his coat and took out his smartphone. He scrolled through his touchscreen and called up a window. "I've a new job for you."
"Tomb exploration again?" I guessed. Mu Rong Lao nodded. I frowned. "But right now we're in the middle of something…"
"Yeah, I know." Mu Rong Lao looked apologetic. Then he grinned. "At the same time, you might get a good opportunity in this tomb. There might be a treasure of interest to you…as a summoner."
"Oh?" I raised a glass that I produced out of nowhere. "You had my curiosity, but now you have my attention."
Mu Rong Lao stared at my glass of wine strangely, as if wondering where I got it from. Then he snapped out of his stupor and coughed, as if to wash away his embarrassment.
"I'll email you the details, but the tomb is the Tomb of the Nine Suns."
"The Tomb of the Nine Suns?" I repeated, feeling a chill. Suddenly, I was reminded of the Nine Yang Divine Flame (which can also be translated as the Nine Suns Divine Flame) technique that I found in the Tomb of the War Spirit, as well as the bow and arrows that resonated with it. At that time, I didn't know why I felt a connection with them, but I was starting to wonder if they perhaps had something to do with summoning.
So far, I couldn't find any links, but it felt like I was missing a piece of the puzzle. A piece that could perhaps be found in the Tomb of the Nine Suns. It couldn't possibly be a coincidence that it shared a name with the Nine Yang Divine Flame.
"Ah, I see that you have some idea about it." Mu Rong Lao chuckled before he turned away. Waving his hand casually, he gave an assurance. "I'll forward you the email shortly. Like the last time, keep whatever relics or divine treasures you deem useful and give me the rest. You'll get eighty percent of the profits again."
"Sounds like a plan," I agreed. "Thank you, granddad!"
"This came at a convenient time," Mu Rong Shu remarked, thinking hard. "If we disappear from Cheng Shi City now, the imperial family will find it harder to link the deaths of Wang Ni Tian and Wang Ling Er to us, especially when they attempt to narrow down the time period of their disappearance. We will have alibis."
"Yeah," I agreed, though I didn't put too much hope on it. They might narrow down their disappearance to the last day of when they established contact with the Wang family and their subordinates, which would happen to be the night before we left for the tomb…and that might cement our guilt in their eyes.
But, as Huang Fei Hong pointed out, there was no point worrying over something we had no control over, so we might as well take the chance and deal with whatever crises that came at us whenever they come.
So we took a plane to the city that was closest to the Tomb of Nine Suns, which was Lie Yang City. We didn't go immediately, of course. We spent the next couple of days preparing and getting equipment and resources while booking the flight that was scheduled for a few days later. During that time, none of the imperial family members or their staff showed up to bother us.
After landing in Lie Yang City, we proceeded toward the outskirts, heading for the place where the tomb was located. The journey didn't take more than a couple of hours by foot, the trail through the forest being impossible for vehicles.
"There it is."
Raising my head, I stared at the massive tomb complex from afar. It was perhaps fifteen minutes away, more if we took into account the difficult terrain. The tomb resembled a tremendous temple, with nine spires surrounding a central complex. Each of the spires was mounted with a sun made from stone or clay, I didn't know which material. But it certainly deserved its name, Tomb of the Nine Suns.
Just being near the damned thing, I could sense an immense wave of heat radiating from it. Already I was perspiring like hell, the sweat glistening off my skin. Mu Rong Shu fared similarly, but neither of us were out of breath or exhausted. Just…hot.
And please, no lurid thoughts. This was not the typical cultivation novel where the protagonist had sex with every random woman character he met. Okay, Mu Rong Shu was my wife, but that wasn't the point. You didn't have to worry about aphrodisiacs, raped or forced sex scenes that happened for no reason. Otherwise, what was the point of being a son-in-law when the married protagonist goes around sleeping with multiple women? Might as well change the title to harem king or cheating bastard or lustful scum instead.
So we weren't hot and bothered, just…hot.
"I know they aren't real suns…but the tomb feels like there are nine suns burning within it."
Even Mu Rong Shu felt the heat. She wiped the perspiration from her face and glared at the tomb. The air was actually shimmering from the high temperatures, looking like a mirage. I swear there was smoke coming out of the ground.
Fortunately, the both of us were dressed for the occasion. We didn't bother with jackets or whatever, we just wore t-shirts and jeans. Mu Rong Shu didn't wear shorts because we knew we were going to trek through a forest. It would be suicidal to expose as much skin as possible. Our arms were fine, but we decided not to risk our legs. Thorns, branches and roots could scratch our skin if we were not careful. Not to mention the myriad bugs that dwelled within a forest, such as leeches, mosquitoes, sandflies, centipedes, millipedes, hornets, wasps and other creepy crawlies out to suck our blood or bite us or sting us, only to leave rashes and stuff. Damn, but those itched like hell.
People thought hiking through a forest was like a walk in a park. Hell, no. Forests, especially those without trails, were pretty tedious and hostile environments. It wasn't as simple as becoming one with nature. There were a lot of adversaries you had to deal with, particularly if you had grown up in an urban environment and was used to…uh, sterility and cleanliness.
"We have to be careful," I murmured, squinting through my glasses and hoping they wouldn't fog up. Well, it wasn't cold, so I doubted they would fog up. There was no steam or bodies of water nearby, so I didn't have to worry about that. Rather, I was more worried about other things. "The creatures living inside this tomb should be powerful."
"What sort of spirit beasts live in this tomb?" Mu Rong Shu wondered out loud. I shrugged.
"Fire type spirit beasts, I bet."
"That would be troublesome." Mu Rong Shu pursed her lips, and then sighed exaggeratedly. "I can't say I look forward to dealing with them."
"We have to reach there first," I said half-jokingly. "I hope we don't die from dehydration or the heat before we get to the tomb."
"Good thing we drank plenty of water before this," Mu Rong Shu murmured. She reached into her storage device and pulled out a bottle of water, sipping some from it before offering me some. I accepted and gulped down a mouthful before returning it to her. It wasn't a good idea to drink too much at one go. "I'm glad you brought along a lot of water too."
We had brought a whole crate of them in our storage devices…just in case. You never knew.
After that, we closed in on the temple, covering the last bit of distance in another twenty minutes. Hurrying over to the complex, we walked past the first spire and toward the central complex. After all, the main burial chamber should be located inside there.
Unfortunately, we had hardly taken more than a few steps before I caught sight of movement. Sensing an incredible surge of qi, I moved on reflex, grabbing Mu Rong Shu and shoving her to the side. My wife didn't complain, having detected the same presence, and she was about to move too, but she relaxed and allowed me to push her away.
Whoosh!
Flames roared past the space where the both of us occupied a few seconds earlier, scorching the ground and leaving a black mark. Glancing up – and adjusting my glasses as I did – I glared at our assailant.
"A fire elemental."
"You nailed it," Mu Rong Shu grumbled as she rose to her feet, already activating the Kan trigram and conjuring a geyser of water. Unfortunately, the water immediately boiled into steam the moment it manifested. The sheer heat was causing the place to fog up. My wife clicked her tongue in annoyance when she saw that, but that didn't stop her from launching the water at the fire elemental.
The aggressive spirit beast had assumed the form of a large feline, resembling a tiger or leopard that was made entirely out of flames. Spikes of ember fizzled and danced about, analogous to fur, and orange and crimson fires raged throughout its almost incorporeal form. Snarling, the fire elemental let loose a stream of flames in our direction.
Fire clashed against water, boiling it immediately. Mu Rong Shu narrowed her eyes, but she didn't relent. Holding her ground, she infused her attack with more qi, increasing the quantity of water and overwhelming the fire elemental's flame technique. The fire elemental was forced to dodge before it could drown in the tide of scalding water that washed over its previous position, the moisture immediately evaporating into steam as it touched the heated ground.
However, Mu Rong Shu was more than ready. Having predicted where the fire elemental would go, she had conjured another wave of water, which burst like a fountain beneath the spirit beast when it landed on the ground. It let out a cry before it was engulfed in water and extinguished from existence.
"Phew." My wife sighed and wiped the sweat from her face. "That took a lot of effort, but it's a good thing that they are easy to kill."
"Don't speak too soon," I warned her, glancing around in dismay as another dozen or so fire elementals emerged from the three spires nearest to us, forming a fiery ring and snarling. "There's plenty more where they came from."