Chapter 2116: A Floating Tomb in the Sky
The two stared, tongue-tied, at Lu Yun. Their thoughts were in disarray.
“How does such a powerhouse exist among the guilty? The fire demon stood at the peak of the zombie kings. But he killed it with two punches?” one of the women asked haltingly.
“Guilty?” Lu Yun frowned and seemed to understand something when he heard her murmuring. “I’m… guilty?”
“You’ll naturally learn of some things once you enter the heavenly palace with us.” The woman heaved a long sigh as her att.i.tude towards Lu Yun s.h.i.+fted. It s.h.i.+fted because of his strength, but there wasn’t a fundamental change as he was still “guilty”.
“Let’s go.” The two women resumed their trajectory up into the sky.
Lu Yun was immensely confused, but refrained from further questions. He followed them up into the firmament, not knowing how far he flew. A dazzling expanse of gold entered his eyes when the ground vanished beneath his feet, replaced by only a hazy fog.
It was a palace hovering in the void, one sparkling with so much golden splendor that it dyed the air gold. It even outshone the sun next to it.
This was the first time that Lu Yun saw a hint of any color other than gray since arriving in this world. His eyes were wide open with incredulity at the magnificent sight.
“A floating tomb in the sky… a palace above the clouds…” He trembled as his lips twitched.
“What did you say?” The two women seemed to have heard him and paused, looking at the young man with confusion.
“Is this… your home?” He took a deep breath as his expression s.h.i.+fted rapidly.
“Is there anything wrong?” One of the women asked. “Darkness envelops the land, heaven and earth have withered away, all life has crumbled. This is the only patch of light in the world. It is our last home.”
Lu Yun nodded without a word.
“What do you mean by a floating tomb in the sky?” The other one of them frowned. “I read from an ancient book that a tomb is where the dead are buried.”
“You wouldn’t believe me if I told you, you’d just think that I’m spouting nonsense.” Lu Yun smiled.
“No, I believe you.” The look in the women’s eyes sharpened. “My name is Qingfeng and my younger sister is Qingniao.”
It’d been Qingfeng who raised the question.
“A floating tomb in the sky and a palace above the clouds that buries all life.” Lu Yun took a deep breath and tried to make his voice as calm as possible. “If there is a master of this world, he is surely dead. Only with his death would this tomb and palace appear to bury the world.
“He must have been a benevolent person, so the tomb and palace appeared upon his death to safeguard the last hope of this world.
“But this tomb only safeguards hope and doesn’t permit it to grow. Your roots are not here, they are on the ground. If you continue to live in a tomb, you will ultimately become its zombies and ghosts, never to undergo reincarnation.
“Do you believe me when I say this?” Lu Yun looked noncommittally at Qingfeng.
“Mm.” Both women nodded at the same time. “We believe you. We are the few who can walk out of the palace. Many more are constrained by the palace and unable to leave no matter what.”
Qingfeng sighed, “We have a feeling that if we continue to stay here, we will be confined by it sooner or later and be unable to leave like the rest.”
“So what is your goal in bringing me here?” Lu Yun asked calmly.
“You are guilty, but you have the power to kill a ghost zombie king. You have the right to come to the heavenly palace and receive its true heritage. You can inherit the hope of this world,” Qingfeng continued after a long pause, “The palace oversees the land and we welcome anyone who has the ability to kill a ghost zombie king. We help them become stronger so they can kill more zombie kings.
“Your strength is more than we expected. You are already able to kill ghost zombie emperors.”
“Mmhmm,” Lu Yun nodded. “What do you mean by guilty?”
“The guilty…” A sharp light pa.s.sed through Qingniao’s eyes. “The guilty are the descendants of those who turned the world into this state. Everything that lives on the ground possesses the bloodline of the guilty.”
“What?!” Lu Yun’s expression s.h.i.+fted and he exclaimed, “This world is the work of a group of people?!”
Qingfeng and Qingniao looked at Lu Yun before nodding gently.
“Indeed, the death of heaven and earth is manmade. When it comes down to it, those who live on the earth are descendants of demons. It is the ghost zombies who are the true victims.” Qingfeng looked at Lu Yun. “But who can say who is right or wrong? The guilty created the ghost zombies and ghost zombies have destroyed the world.”
Lu Yun finally understood why the two sisters regarded him with that particular att.i.tude of loftiness. It wasn’t really arrogance, but a kind of contempt.
A contempt directed toward guilty sinners.
But just as Qingfeng said, who could be certain of right or wrong, good or evil? Perhaps they were descendants of the guilty, but when they were strong enough and recognized for their strength, they were taken to the heavenly palace and received the heritage of this world.
At the same time, they were also informed of the matters of the guilty.
“And what about you? Are you also descendants of the guilty?” the young man asked them.
Qingfeng and Qingniao fell silent, the answer apparent without needing to voice it aloud.
Lu Yun spoke no further. He raised his head and looked at the floating tomb at arm’s length, twin spots of dark light appearing in his eyes.
The radiant floating tomb drastically changed in his vision. The glittering facade turned sinister and eerie, filled with yin winds and yin presence. They gusted over his body and raised minuscule gooseb.u.mps over his skin.
“A yang tomb and a yin tomb…” he said softly. “Entering the yang tomb leads to life, entering the yin tomb leads to death.
“You all live in the yang tomb, but it is a tomb in the end. Living here for too long will drop you into the yin tomb. You are unable to leave the floating tomb once you enter the yin tomb.” Lu Yun stepped forward as a winding path appeared beneath his feet, one that led to the floating tomb— the yin tomb.
“What is going on here??” Qingfeng and Qingniao noticed the change in him. They couldn’t glean any clues, but they could sense the aberration.
“Go back and tell the honored one these happenings. I will go with him to see what the situation is.” Qingfeng grabbed Lu Yun’s wrist and set foot on the invisible path beneath his feet—the Yellow Springs Path.