The moment the ancient tomb array disappeared, everyone's interstellar weapons returned to normal. The female ghost also felt that the force which had blocked her from leaving had disappeared, and a burst of ecstasy came over her.
After Gu Bai and Han Lijun steadied themselves, the female ghost floated over and bowed to Gu Bai with tears of joy in her eyes.
"This concubine thanks Great Immortal for taking pity on me. Please accept my courtesy of thanks…"
The female ghost had spent tens of thousands of years in the tomb. Even if she was a fierce ghost with a deep obsession, she would've become mad after being stuck in there for so many years.
Let alone her unique existence, not only was she unable to die, as long as the ancient tomb array was still functioning, her ghostly body would automatically cultivate itself. Even if she wanted to die, it was still impossible. Wasn't that painful? Now that she had obtained freedom, she naturally rejoiced in happiness.
"No need to say thank you. The world's reincarnation channel has already closed, so I'm unable to help you cross-over. Since you're already deep into cultivation, look for an opportunity to ascend to the upper plain. Furthermore, take the spirits whom you had previously turned into slaves with you. They've been infected by your severe qi, so the nether world would not be willing to accept them. Their cultivation is also shallow, so leaving them would only result in their souls' dispersal…"
Gu Bai spoke in a heavy tone. He was always indifferent when it came to matters of the afterlife, and his control over his emotions was extremely strong. Even though he had been shocked by those bizarre relief sculptures, he still calmed down very quickly.
He had too many doubts and suspicions today. His mind was in a state of confusion and couldn't figure them out immediately. He'd deal with it after he returned.
"Immortal, relax; this concubine understands..."
The female ghost nodded, as ten thousand years were enough time to have quelled her initial hatred towards people and her desire to have them buried with her. If she could continue living on, then naturally she wouldn't want to commit any more grievous sins that would result in her soul being obliterated.
After respectfully bowing to Gu Bai again, the female ghost disappeared. As for the remaining survivors, they had discovered that their communicators and other devices could be used once again. In a hurry, they quickly contacted the outside for help.
While waiting to be rescued, some curious scholars came up to them. "Admiral Han, Classmate Qiao, what did you see in there just now?"
When the life-threatening danger had passed, the dedication of researchers emerged. People were very curious about what there was in the main tomb that was guarded heavily by soldiers.
Han Lijun didn't speak. His eyes were slightly red, as if he was in some kind of bewitched state. Gu Bai suppressed the boiling emotions in his heart. Turning on his interstellar bracelet, he displayed all the photos he had purposely taken of the relief sculptures just a moment ago.
"Nothing special, just some recorded reliefs…"
The pictures Gu Bai took were selective. There were only a few simple pictures of people embracing each other. As for the relief pictures afterwards, he didn't keep them. His instincts told him that it was better not to let others know those things.
They didn't doubt him. Although they couldn't clearly see what was on the opposite side of the mountain wall, from afar, there really seemed to be nothing at such an empty place.
But at the moment, the pictures that Gu Bai displayed in front of the crowd had shocked everyone. The pictures of two men shown to be in love weren't what shocked them. In fact, the Interstellar age was already very open. Let alone being gay, there were even some weirdos who fell in love with robots.
Although there wasn't much content in the few reliefs, it was enough to evoke the imaginations of the group of researchers. Soon, the whole ancient tomb's details were connected to explain a beautiful love story.
"The man in the relief should be the Emperor Nanxun. As for the young man, he must be Emperor Nanxun's beloved. If not, it's hard to explain why such an honourable main tomb was carved with these recorded reliefs…"
Someone sighed. Everyone else nodded their heads in agreement, feeling that the explanation was very reasonable.
Gu Bai didn't retort, leaving them to fantasise. He looked at Han Lijun, who was still in a state of bewilderment, and his heart throbbed.
He didn't know what kind of relationship he had with the young man in the relief, but those reliefs clearly demonstrated the past love between that man and the youth.
Was it because of the young man that Ye Cang had not told him the reason for his situation? Had he also fallen in love with him because of the other…?
What did that half face represent? Was it to tell him that the picture on the relief was Ye Cang's and his past life? Had Ye Cang only fallen in love with him because he was that person's reincarnation?
All sorts of questions involuntarily surfaced in his mind, and Gu Bai couldn't accept the implications of these speculations.
Everyone had their own ideas, no matter what others thought. But for him personally, something like reincarnation was entirely fake.
In his heart, Gu Bai was Gu Bai, but now, what exactly was he in Ye Cang's heart..?
No, it's not like that!
Gu Bai bit his tongue hard and forced himself to stop thinking so pessimistically. Everything came too inexplicably. Endless speculation would only disturb his mind.
But there had always been a kind of panic in his heart. That large blank space made him unable to think.
It was not until Han Lijun recovered from his bewitched state, that he suddenly turned back around and hugged and kissed him. His wet tongue intertwined with Gu Bai's, and a lingering sound left his mouth, which dispelled the uneasiness in his heart
"Why did you kiss me?"
After the kiss, Gu Bai's fingers tightly grasped Han Lijun's clothes with a very complex mood.
"I don't know; I just like it…"
Han Lijun's bewitched face was gone, his eyes fixed onto Gu Bai, holding him tightly in his arms as if he were a precious treasure.
He didn't tell the truth. Not only was he fond of it, he was also afraid. It was a kind of indescribable fear, a fear of this person suddenly disappearing.
"..."
Gu Bai's eyes were fixed on him, his confused mind instantly cleared up, and his heart was set. Yes, he liked him, not whom he was based on his memories.
In every world, this man had no memories, but he could always recognise him and fall in love with him. This was an undeniable love.
Since the person who left the relief sculptures could write those final words, it showed that this person knew his character very well.
All of this was not like telling a story, but rather… a warning.
"Do not forget, do not trust anyone, do not panic, do not worry, remember at all cost…"
The final words of the relief sculpture appeared again. Gu Bai's mind cleared, and he exhaled, pressing down all the distractions, and even more firmly engraved the pictures within the relief sculpture into his mind. His eyes became resolute once again.
He wouldn't believe anyone, he would only believe in himself!
...…
Without the array's power blocking them and the danger of fierce ghosts in the tomb, the rest of the man-made boobytraps were not difficult for the Interstellar people. The rescue squad outside the ancient tomb soon arrived at the main hall where the coffin of the Emperor Nanxun was contained.
When entering the ancient tomb, there were originally 21 people including Gu Bai. Now only 10 remained, most of them being soldiers. A few scholars of the archaeological team survived, and the group of people were all afraid.
Under the escort of the rescue team, the survivors returned safely. As for the rest of the matters in the underground tomb, special personnel were assigned to deal with them.
Everything in the tomb belonged to the people of the Interstellar Empire. Not only were they priceless antiques, they also proved the origin of the empire's ancestors, the faith of this race.
The details of the entire trip to the ancient tomb were presented in front of the Interstellar citizens through AI recordings. When Gu Bai and Han Lijun walked out of the ancient tomb hand in hand, laughing while looking at each other, all of StarNet cheered.
Perhaps they had once despised Gu Bai very much and felt that he was not worthy of their male god, but at this moment, there was only one thought in everyone's minds: No one was worthy of Admiral Han of the empire except him.
On the other hand, Nangong Xuan's visit to the ancient tomb not only made everyone realise her ignorance, they were also angered by her cruel actions of pushing the companions who saved her to their deaths into the sacrificial burial pit.
It was difficult for the Interstellar people to reproduce, so every person's life was of the utmost importance. Especially because the tens of thousands of years of fighting between humanity and people on other planets had brought unprecedented unity to all the earthlings who immigrated to the interstellar.
Each Interstellar person would be taught from the day they were sensible that the weapons of the empire were only to be aimed at the enemy. The act of killing each other was absolutely unforgivable.
As soon as Nangong Xuan came out of the tomb, before she could react, she was taken into custody by the military and was escorted to the Imperial Court of Law for her trial.
The degree of attention the Interstellar people paid to her case almost rivaled their enthusiasm toward the ancient tombs that presided on Earth. On the day of the court session, all the Interstellar people watched it online.
During this period, Nangong Xuan refused to admit to her crime even under the pain of death. She didn't feel that what she did was wrong, nor did she comprehend the kind of belonging and conviction in the Interstellar people's unity. She was completely unable to understand the anger of the public. She was sentenced to exile on Planet H0009 for life under the strong demand of the family of the scholar who died for her and the joint prosecution of netizens.
Although the family members of the deceased were still reluctant to accept this judgment, Planet H0009 was the worst planet in the entire interplanetary system, and it was publicly known in the Interstellar that the planet was a prison, which was desolate and full of insects and beasts.
Even if the most powerful Interstellar thief was exiled to such a place, he wouldn't be able to escape. No matter how good Nangong Xuan's spiritual force was, she could only live in fear and struggle for the rest of her life. It was worse than death…
Gu Bai didn't pay too much attention to information about Nangong Xuan. A month after returning to the Interstellar, he and Han Lijun got a marriage license.
Even though the Han family didn't really agree to their grandson marrying a man, because they wouldn't be able to have descendants, they had no other alternatives. They could only let their grandson handle his own matters like always.
Because of his performance in ancient tombs, Gu Bai was invited by the emperor to oversee the protection and excavation of Earth's ancient tombs.
Interstellar technology was very advanced, so the development of excavating ancient tombs was not that difficult. Gu Bai completed his work in just a few years.
Merely, after the completion of the ancient tomb's exploration, rather than return to the capital planet, he had instead continued to stay on Earth. He had too many doubts about this kind of ancient tomb. He needed to research it carefully again. Han Lijun also retired from his post as the empire's Admiral and went down to Earth to live together with him.
The lifespan of an Interstellar person was much longer than that of one born during the Earth Era. Almost everyone had a lifespan of two to three hundred years.
However, in such a long time, Gu Bai had almost rummaged through the entirety of the ancient tomb and still couldn't solve the doubts that were haunting his heart. On the contrary, the mysteries increased.
Furthermore, the female ghost who was supposed to ascend to the upper plains had returned shortly after leaving the ancient tomb. Miserably, she sought him out for help.
Not only was the reincarnation path to the underworld blocked, but even the path to the upper plains seemed to have disappeared. The whole world seemed to have been abandoned.
Without a doubt, as the Interstellar continued to progress, it would become more and more difficult for all creatures in this world to reproduce, to the extent that extinction was the end result. All life would cease to exist!
This was extremely terrifying. The reincarnation channel and the ascension channel shouldn't be closed for no reason. The three thousand worlds were inextricably interconnected.
Just who could do such a deranged thing as wipe out an entire world's life..?
Mystery after mystery circled inside his brain, unable to be solved. Gu Bai could only restrain them. He felt that everything seemed to be connected to him.
Unfortunately, regardless of what he guessed, the large gap in his mind prevented him from making any headway.
But no matter how complicated it was, he believed that there would be a day when the truth would come out, and that, one by one, he would solve all these mysteries!
With strong determination, at the moment of his death, Gu Bai's soul didn't hesitate to return to the starry space.
However, when he returned to the starry space, a huge suction appeared in the void, which took his soul away.
...
At the same time, a strange phenomenon appeared above a towering palace in the Ninth Heaven, attracting the attention of everyone in the world of immortals.
Several Taoist priests wearing white gowns suddenly perceived something in the middle of seclusion and abruptly opened their eyes.
"This, this aura is… No, impossible! How is it possible that he's still alive?! It's over, it's over. If that lunatic became aware that he was still alive, he would do anything to escape. This world will become a mess again!"
A red-faced old man stood up from the praying mat in horror.
The remaining Taoists' complexions were also unsightly. The old man in the purple Taoist robe looked worriedly at the old man with a red face, and spoke in a deep voice.
"I'm afraid it's not just the madman in this mess this time. Only the emperor has the ability to revive him. Let's go and take a look. It's not that easy to revive that man. The emperor will also never allow him to remember the past!"
"Good…"
The group was shocked, their throats dry as they struggled to breath properly, and they nodded.