Chapter 50: The Second Tomb of Ten Thousand Corpses

On the helicopter returning to the Xuanyi Center, Luo Longyu sat alone by the cabin door, gazing at the majestic rivers and mountains below. His expression was wooden, his eyes heavy, as the wind and the whirring of the rotors filled his ears. Slowly, Luo Longyu closed his eyes.

“War… what is it…” This question echoed endlessly in Luo Longyu’s mind. Ever since his consciousness merged with the old man’s, Luo Longyu had witnessed countless scenes he had never imagined before. After the battle with Fasheng, these questions grew heavier, pressing on his heart, leaving him unable to forget.

Yes, the war had long since begun. It started five hundred million years ago and has never ceased, raging for half a billion years. But why? Luo Longyu did not know. Survival, once a word filled with hope, became drenched in blood when spoken by Fasheng.

Jet fighters streaked across the sky, while shadows of the Liberation Army gathered on the earth below. This was a full-scale counteroffensive, long in the making. The main force of the Void Spirits had not yet arrived, but threats from foreign races loomed. The direction of the war seemed to be shifting. Although the Void Clan were the manipulators behind it all, the current situation had devolved into mutual attrition between Earth’s races—an unavoidable depletion.

Thinking it over, Luo Longyu felt somewhat resigned. Ultimately, it was still a war against the Void Clan. Five hundred million years, two annihilated civilizations, and no one knew how many forces the Void Clan had cultivated on Earth.

So-called demons, Satan, monsters, evil spirits, and unknown races lurking in deep oceans and desert wastelands—all have contended with humanity, both openly and in secret, since ancient times. Even within humanity itself, who knew how many agents the Void Clan had embedded? These were the urgent matters of the moment.

An hour later, the helicopter landed at the military airfield deep in the mountains, and Luo Longyu returned to the Xuanyi Center.

The command center was a hive of activity, the atmosphere of war influencing everyone.

Luo Longyu followed a few people through the command hall, heading straight for the war situation room where Elder Xuan awaited. Entering, Luo Longyu found the room already filled with military officers and a European man in a black robe. The moment Luo Longyu stepped in, he sensed the man’s gaze lingering on him, making him uncomfortable. He turned and met the man’s eyes.

Silent and unnoticed, Luo Longyu’s Silver Corpse Wheel condensed. He discovered that behind the man were a pair of radiant wings invisible to ordinary people, the man enveloped in a faint white glow, almost saintly, leaving Luo Longyu unable to decipher his nature.

Noticing Luo Longyu’s odd behavior, Long Shaoxian discreetly kicked him. Luo Longyu snapped back to himself, glanced at Long Shaoxian, and took a seat beside him.

Elder Xuan looked at those who had just sat down and gave Luo Longyu a slight smile, further puzzling him. The strange atmosphere in the war situation room unsettled Luo Longyu in ways words could not express.

“Time is tight, so let’s keep it brief. The other two Xuanyi squads are out on missions and can’t attend, but everyone else is here. General Zhuo, as the highest military commander, you may now issue the orders.” Elder Xuan spoke quickly, his gaze settling on a sharp-eyed general in uniform.

Zhuo Yong nodded. “The clearing operation has been underway for six days. In that time, we’ve reclaimed most of our territory. According to Xuanyi intelligence, the Void Clan relies heavily on their own systems in combat, lacking logistical support. The Void Slave units are not a major threat. Our recent successes confirm this intelligence. The Southern War Zone has pushed the frontlines back to the border, and last night at nine, the Eastern War Zone and the Navy’s East Sea Fleet successfully joined forces. The Northern War Zone is still fighting. Although encountering Void Spirit warriors, progress is generally smooth. Sixteen Void Spirit incubation sites have been destroyed. Barring surprises, the northern battles should end within three days. The threat from the Void Slave units is now essentially eliminated.”

He paused, then tapped the central screen, which displayed satellite images of a desert region.

“At three this morning, a strong spiritual surge was detected in southern Iraq, reaching a peak of 800. Its frequency matched exactly that of the spiritual phenomenon at the Ten Thousand Corpses Tomb in Xinjiang. What’s stranger is that the day before the surge, our spectral scan satellites captured this image.” Zhuo Yong finished, and the screen displayed a new picture.

As the image zoomed in, Luo Longyu saw a blinding ball of light in the night sky, as bright as the sun.

“This mysterious light lasted about two seconds before vanishing. In a nearby village, every resident disappeared mysteriously, and the Iraqi security forces sent to investigate have also vanished. The cause is currently unknown.” Zhuo Yong concluded.

“Spiritual Burst…” Luo Longyu squinted, speaking softly.

Hearing his words, Zhuo Yong and Elder Xuan exchanged a subtle glance, as if expecting Luo Longyu to recognize it. Elder Xuan motioned for him to continue.

Luo Longyu studied the image again before confirming, “It’s a Spiritual Burst. The Corpse Path Notes mention it.”

“We’ve reviewed the Corpse Path Notes but found no record of Spiritual Burst,” Elder Xuan replied.

Luo Longyu said calmly, “Some things in the Corpse Path Notes are invisible to you. There are secret markings, essentially password protection—only designated people can see them.”

“Go ahead, tell us what a Spiritual Burst is,” Zhuo Yong said.

Luo Longyu paused, gathering his thoughts, then explained, “Put simply, it’s the sudden release of void energy after extreme compression. Some Spiritual Bursts can tear open space and time, creating domain gates. According to the Notes, it’s usually used for positioning and marking—a coordinate recording method we don’t yet fully understand. A Spiritual Burst temporarily alters the energy molecular structure of surrounding void, and may release a force opposed to life itself. I can’t quite describe this force.”

“Is it similar to antimatter?” Long Shaoxian interjected.

Luo Longyu didn’t know what antimatter was and ignored the comment. “This force affects only flesh and blood; I don’t fully understand it.”

“Anything else?” Zhuo Yong pressed.

Luo Longyu shook his head. “That’s all I know. Spiritual Bursts are rare, usually occurring when domain gates open, depending on the space structure at the time. The Notes don’t record the necessary conditions for a Spiritual Burst. But I want to ask: you said just now that the phenomenon in Iraq matches that of the Ten Thousand Corpses Tomb. Does that mean there’s a second Ten Thousand Corpses Tomb there?”

“It’s possible.” Zhuo Yong nodded, then added, “But there’s no corpse language detected there, which doesn’t fit the characteristics of the Ten Thousand Corpses Tomb.”

Luo Longyu nodded and said nothing more.

“Mm... Froya, tell us about the news you’ve brought,” Elder Xuan turned to the European man.

The man named Froya nodded, speaking in hesitant Mandarin, “To be honest, none of my news is good. I’ve already informed your government of some things—thank you for your trust. Though the main force of the Void Spirits hasn’t arrived, their followers are out in full force. Our church has been warned by demons, but with the Father above, we shall fight to the end. To the point: recently, in the US, UK, Russia, we’ve received appeals from local churches and requests for exorcism ceremonies. Investigations confirmed terrifying paranormal events in these places—powers from Satan.”

“Wait,” Luo Longyu raised his hand, asking seriously, “Satan… what kind of egg is that?”

The room fell silent.

Froya, somewhat embarrassed, tapped the table and raised his brows, thinking how to answer this innocent question. After a moment, he said, “The term ‘Satan’ comes from Hebrew, meaning adversary—an adversary to the Father. People now assume Satan refers to a specific demon, but that’s not so. All who oppose the Father are collectively called Satan. Satan is a vast force, and they have changed human history more than once. China is the only place Satan hasn’t interfered with, but even that may no longer be true.”

Throughout human history, Satan has taken many forms—some you would recognize, though it’s not convenient to elaborate. For now, the strongest Satan is Lucifer, who was cast into hell by the Father, condemned never to leave. But judging by the current situation, it’s highly likely Satan has escaped.

Froya looked at the central map. “This place, known locally as the Gate of Hell, is said to be a road leading to hell. Yesterday, I received word from His Holiness the Pope: Satan has appeared here. Though only as a reflection, it can be confirmed that Satan’s escape is closely tied to this place.”

“Hold on,” Luo Longyu raised his hand again. “I want to ask: the frequency here matches that of the Ten Thousand Corpses Tomb. If this place is the so-called Gate of Hell, does that mean the Ten Thousand Corpses Tomb in China is another hell portal?”

Froya pondered seriously for a moment. “I can’t answer that yet. Our information is too limited to draw such a conclusion.”

Luo Longyu nodded, then looked to Long Shaoxian. “I want to know: in your eyes, what exactly is hell?”

“Hell…” Long Shaoxian squinted, leaned back in his chair, fiddling with a pen. After thinking, he replied, “It’s complicated, but I’ll simplify it. Hell is essentially an opposing space to our current one. This opposition refers to the force fields of time and space—if our world is a positive field, then hell is negative. In the known universe, besides the matter we can observe, there’s much undiscovered but real matter. Together, these form the universe’s structure. We call this unseen matter ‘dark matter,’ which is the main component of hell.”

“This is an ancient cosmic law—one positive, one negative, yin and yang in balance. In your legends, hell is described in many ways, but regrettably, those are not the real hell. The concept originated in the Third Era, initially as a theory. So, the Third Era created its own hell, as a way to infer the real hell. Modern myths mostly describe man-made hells, not the true one.”

“So, from the Third Era to now, we’ve never truly encountered hell?” Luo Longyu frowned.

Long Shaoxian and Froya exchanged glances, then took a deep breath. “That’s correct.”

Luo Longyu nodded, looking at Froya. “So, this so-called hell portal likely doesn’t lead to the real hell, but to a god-made space used to seal adversaries—a sort of prison.”

“Mm…” Froya nodded. “That makes sense.”

“I understand.” Luo Longyu rose and walked to the screen, gazing at the map. “Due to the differences in Eastern and Western civilization and centuries of myth, people mistake this place for a gateway to hell, when in fact it’s a god-made space. In China, the same thing is seen as an ancient, sinister tomb. Am I right?”

“Correct.” Long Shaoxian nodded. Elder Xuan and the other leaders exchanged glances, not interrupting.

Luo Longyu squinted thoughtfully and continued, “In Iraq, this place seals many Satans. So, the Fourth Era forbade humans from tampering with it, naming it the Gate of Hell to keep people away. In China, the Ten Thousand Corpses Tomb carries similar evil, so all these legends serve only to keep people at bay. But… how do we explain the corpse language? Why does the Chinese Ten Thousand Corpses Tomb feature corpse language, while the Iraqi tomb does not?”

“Ah, that’s a puzzle for us as well. To solve it, we’ll need to send people there ourselves,” Elder Xuan spoke up at last.