Chapter 518: Ancient Manchild

Zu An smiled faintly and took Pei Mianman's soft hand. "Not only in this secret realm, but even outside, she has helped me greatly."

Pei Mianman was startled, not expecting him to suddenly hold her hand. However, with the crisis now past, her whole body relaxed. She returned his grasp and gently leaned her head on his shoulder, her cheeks as vibrant as blossoms.

Watching the two embracing intimately, Mi Li was speechless. What sin had she committed to be forced to witness such a public display of affection from this couple?

Rage points from Mi Li +333!

She simply returned to the Tai'e Sword, opting for an "out of sight, out of mind" approach.

Sensing her anger, Zu An knew he had annoyed her. But there was nothing he could do; he couldn't stop being intimate with his Mianman. He figured Empress Sister would get used to it eventually.

If Mi Li had known his thoughts at that moment, she probably would have died of anger.

At that moment, Pei Mianman asked, "Ah Zu, should we go down?"

She was truly enjoying this rare moment of warmth and didn't want to break the spell by venturing into unknown dangers.

Zu An nodded. "Yes, besides an exit, there might be a great opportunity down there..."

He roughly recounted his conversation with Mi Li, musing that this place seemed to be one of the twelve "Unspeakable Lands," containing a secret text. He wondered what new functions the Keyboard Hero System would unlock if he could get his hands on it.

Pei Mianman wasn't very interested in any opportunities. She simply thought that staying there was not an option and it would be better to leave and spend eternity with him.

Agreeing, the two started down the underground staircase.

Passing the large cauldron, they found that the evil spirits within had vanished, and only two sets of white bones remained of the crocodiles and the taotie.

Zu An noticed two special bone segments among them, adorned with ancient circular patterns and faintly flickering with electricity.

He remembered these must be the two horns from the taotie's head. Anything that could emit lightning was certainly extraordinary, so he collected them.

He instinctively turned his head to look at the skeletal remains of the giant taotie at the foot of the stairs. Its two horns were even larger, surely more valuable.

Just as he was about to retrieve them, his foot touched a step, and immediately a strange melody emanated, the surrounding air grew colder, and the flames lining the steps flickered erratically, dimming and brightening.

Zu An instantly retracted his foot. No way was he going to trigger another surge of evil spirits; this time, he had no sacrifices.

Though somewhat reluctant, he had no choice but to abandon the idea of taking those two colossal horns.

Each taking a torch, they proceeded down the dark passage.

The steps were not straight but wound downwards, as if spiraling around a central pillar.

The walls along the way were carved with numerous Shang Dynasty warriors, alongside various patterns like cloud dragons, taotie, thunder, and birds and beasts.

Zu An was no expert in this field and could only vaguely make deductions based on a documentary he had seen in his previous life.

He had originally wanted to ask Mi Li for help, but it seemed she was truly angered and consistently ignored his inquiries.

As for Pei Mianman, she had seemed somewhat clairvoyant earlier, but now that ability appeared to have suddenly vanished, and she couldn't make sense of any of these carvings.

After an unknown period, the two finally reached level ground at the bottom of the stairs.

A grand, ancient avenue stretched straight ahead, paved with countless massive, meticulously cut stone slabs. Constructing such a path must have required an immense amount of human and material resources.

Carrying their torches, they walked on and on. After an unknown distance, Pei Mianman suddenly gasped and instinctively shrank into Zu An's embrace. "Ah Zu..."

Following her gaze, Zu An saw deep pits on both sides of the avenue. These pits were not as large as the one outside, but similarly, they were filled with chilling white bones.

Zu An patted Pei Mianman's hand reassuringly and approached the pit to examine it closely. The pit wasn't very deep, only a few meters, certainly not enough to trap anyone.

However, he worried about mechanisms at the bottom or strange snakes hidden among the bones. He didn't descend rashly. Instead, he chipped off a small stone from the ground and tossed it down to test the way. Only after confirming there were no dangers he feared did he jump down to investigate.

"Ah Zu, come up quickly!" Pei Mianman was truly reluctant to go down herself and worried about Zu An encountering trouble below.

After a brief inspection, Zu An jumped back up. "These appear to be sacrificial pits. Unlike the pit outside, these bones seem sturdier and more robust. Clearly, those individuals had better nutrition in life than the ones in the outer pits."

"You mentioned before that this might be the location of an Yin Shang royal tomb," Pei Mianman analyzed. "It's likely the offerings here would be of a higher standard than those outside."

"Exactly," Zu An concurred with a similar assessment. "But what's more striking is that the bones outside showed no external injuries, whereas all the skeletons in this pit are decapitated."

The bodies of the skeletons in the pit lay in one area, while their skulls were scattered in other directions, making it impossible to determine which head belonged to which body.

"For captured nobles or warriors from enemy states, it was best to sacrifice them by decapitation." Pei Mianman suddenly stated.

Zu An looked at her, astonished.

After saying these words, Pei Mianman frantically covered her mouth. It took her a while to regain her breath. "I don't know why, but I just said it instinctively. Am I possessed?"

She was extremely worried. She had just confirmed her relationship with Zu An, and her future was full of hope; she didn't want anything unexpected to happen to her.

Zu An said gravely, "Your condition shouldn't be possession. It's likely you have some connection to this place. Don't be afraid; it might not be a bad thing."

He recalled Mi Li's earlier analysis, thinking that perhaps this secret realm truly required their combined cooperation.

After his comforting words, Pei Mianman calmed down slightly, but she still seemed absent-minded, lacking her usual vivaciousness.

As they continued, they successively discovered several more similar pits. All the skeletons within were decapitated, totaling approximately a thousand.

Although the quantity wasn't as great as in the large pit outside, it was important to remember that these were all the remains of local nobles and high-ranking warriors, far superior in quality to those outside.

Feeling Pei Mianman's slight trembling, Zu An pulled her forward quickly, wanting to leave the place as soon as possible.

However, after walking for only a short while, he had to stop. The scene before him sent shivers down his spine, no matter how brave he was.

Before them appeared another sacrificial pit, smaller than the previous ones, but containing something very unusual.

Inside sat seventeen infants, not skeletal remains, but complete infant forms, entirely dark-skinned and covered with various strange patterns.

If he hadn't noticed their lack of breathing, Zu An would have even thought they were alive!

"How can anyone be so cruel, not even sparing infants?" Pei Mianman bit her lip tightly, her voice a mix of fear and anger.

Zu An said in a deep voice, "In a world from my dreams, there's a country called Thailand. In ancient Thailand, there was a general named Khun Paen who conquered a city. The city's leader offered his daughter as a gift to Khun Paen, so Khun Paen married her and lived in that city until his wife became pregnant. However, their relationship deteriorated. Eventually, the leader asked his daughter to poison Khun Paen's food, intending to kill him. Khun Paen, upon learning of the plot, stabbed his wife to death in retaliation. After his wife died, Khun Paen cut open her womb, took out the infant, and brought it to a temple. He first built a fire, then wrapped the upper half of the infant's body in cloth inscribed with scriptures and roasted it over the fire until the infant's body shrunk and completely dried out. Throughout the entire process, Khun Paen continuously chanted scriptures. Once the ritual was complete, the infant had transformed into a lively spirit that could speak and communicate with him. Khun Paen named it 'Guman Thong' and took it with him to battle, achieving victory in every campaign."

Zu An paused, looking at the scene in the sacrificial pit before him. "And these infants look very much like the legendary 'Guman Thong.' I never expected the Yin Shang people to employ such vicious methods."

No sooner had he finished speaking than the infant corpses, previously with tightly closed eyes, suddenly opened them. Each pair of eyes glowed red as they slowly crawled out from the bottom of the pit towards the two of them.