Chapter 95: Were There Players Before Us?

Princess Anping’s Tomb.

The cold wave had passed, and the players had successfully cleared the level.

The blurred surroundings gradually became solid, and the dizzying sensation of being transported faded. When Ren Ye and the other eight players opened their eyes, they found themselves in the fourth level of the princess’ tomb.

[Congratulations, players. You have successfully entered the fourth level of Princess Anping’s Tomb. This level focuses on information gathering and has a relatively low danger level. Enjoy your adventure.]

[Friendly reminder: After the hour of the Rooster (5 PM – 7 PM), the passage to the fifth level will open. All players must leave by then, or you will die…]

The cold, mechanical voice of the Star Gate echoed in their ears. Everyone froze for a moment before slowly coming back to their senses.

In the narrow tomb passage, the nine players immediately used fire starters to light torches and ever-burning lamps, dispelling the darkness.

The flickering flames illuminated their faces. With just a glance, they instinctively moved to stand beside their respective teammates, naturally splitting into two opposing factions.

The Scholar, Guo Cai’er, the Horsekeeper, and Xing Tao—all four stood on high alert, their muscles tense as they watched Ren Ye’s group of five, looking as if they were ready to fight to the death at any moment.

A few meters away, Ren Ye and his team—two men and two women—also looked at the opposing group with cold and wary eyes.

The joy of clearing the level had vanished in an instant. In the cramped, dark tomb passage, the tension was thick with an air of imminent conflict.

Imperial Inspector Liu paused slightly before hurling a crude insult at Guo Cai’er. “You keep staring at me, and I’ll whip you so hard you’ll spin like a top. Believe it?”

“…!”

A few meters away, the Horsekeeper gripped the Scholar’s wrist tightly. “Remember what you said back in the freezing wasteland. Don’t be impulsive. If we start fighting now, there will be casualties. For us and for them alike.”

The Scholar gritted his teeth as he glared at Ren Ye, his eyes filled with undisguised hatred. But he was rational enough to call out, “We’re leaving.”

“Let’s go!” Xing Tao nodded and slowly backed away.

Their footsteps gradually faded into the darkness, and the glow of their torches disappeared from view.

Once they were gone, Ren Ye’s group of five let out a collective sigh of relief.

Truth be told, unless someone had completely lost their mind, nobody really wanted a full-blown fight at this moment.

Close-quarters combat was unpredictable, uncontrollable, and devoid of any tactical advantage. Neither side had an absolute guarantee of victory or the ability to avoid losses.

A 5 vs. 4—who could say for sure that they would win? Who could guarantee that their own team wouldn’t suffer casualties? Most importantly, there were no rewards for fighting now, nor would it help them clear the level. If a battle broke out, the situation could spiral out of control, leading to mutual destruction.

That was why both the Scholar and Guo Cai’er managed to suppress their hatred and chose to retreat.

After a brief moment, Li Yan spoke up. “Not fighting was the right call. That woman on the other team hasn’t spoken at all. That’s a bit suspicious.”

“Maybe it’s because of her identity tag,” Tang Feng suggested. Ever since he and Li Yan had huddled for warmth last night, he had developed a newfound respect for the old man, with none of the previous awkwardness. “I’ve noticed a pattern.”

“What pattern?” Ren Ye asked.

“Look—on the first level, the inn required players to vote and betray each other. The second level was an information-gathering stage where nothing dangerous happened. The third level was the freezing wasteland, which required cooperation to survive. Now, we’ve reached the fourth level, and it’s another information-gathering phase,” Tang Feng explained, pausing for emphasis. “If we follow this pattern, the even-numbered levels seem to be non-lethal, serving as preparation for the next stage. Meanwhile, the odd-numbered levels involve tasks with death mechanics. What do you think?”

“Makes sense.” Li Yan thought for a moment, then casually slapped Tang Feng on the butt. “You’re really smart…!”

“Oh my, you’re so annoying~” Tang Feng replied playfully.

“Can your brother Liu get a turn too?” Imperial Inspector Liu asked politely.

“Maybe when the time is right…”

The five of them chatted as they walked out of the narrow tomb passage, arriving at the central area of the fourth level.

The first thing they saw was an enormous male statue, over three meters tall.

The statue stood proudly, with a sword on his back and a wine jug in his left hand, exuding an air of carefree elegance.

There was no need to ask—it was undoubtedly the statue of the White-Clad Sword Immortal, Li Mu. It seemed that Princess Anping had indeed harbored deep feelings for him.

The statue stood at the center of the fourth level, surrounded by interconnected tomb passages. Each passage had murals decorating its walls.

Not wanting to split up and risk being ambushed by the Scholar’s group, Ren Ye and his team moved together into one of the passageways, examining the murals.

…

Nearly five hours later, after thoroughly investigating the entire fourth level, the group arrived at a particular tomb chamber to take a break.

This chamber contained no burial treasures, nor did it resemble a typical royal tomb from ancient times. Instead, it looked more like an ancient office.

There was a wooden desk for handling official duties, chairs, a bed for resting, a book chest, a sword rack for placing weapons, and various decayed, unreadable books.

Ren Ye raised his torch to illuminate the chamber walls and noticed a portrait hanging behind the wooden desk. It depicted Li Mu, sword in hand, striding forward.

“As expected, this must be where Li Mu resided after taking office as the magistrate of Shangyu County,” Ren Ye remarked, gazing at the portrait. “Princess Anping recreated his former workplace one-to-one within her tomb.”

From their five hours of searching, everyone had come to a unanimous conclusion:

The entire fourth level of the tomb was built solely for Li Mu.

The murals on the walls of each tomb passage focused on recording the major events that occurred during Li Mu’s third year as the county magistrate of Shangyu County.

That year, Emperor Wu, Zhu Xun, raised his banner in rebellion, secretly aligning with the southern border tribes in preparation to attack Shangyu County.

This information was also briefly mentioned in the life records of Princess Anping, but only in a few short sentences.

However, this level of the tomb provided a detailed account of how Li Mu defended against the enemy—how he led 300 strong men from Shangyu County to ambush Zhu Xun’s rebel forces and ultimately ensured the evacuation of the townspeople.

That year, when the southern border’s army invaded, the corrupt Jing Dynasty imperial court failed to provide timely reinforcements. At the same time, many officials and gentry within Shangyu County, upon hearing that Zhu Xun had raised an army of tens of thousands to attack, either fled or secretly defected.

In the face of internal and external threats, Li Mu, as the county magistrate, neither cowered nor fled. He also refused to accept the Great Qian Emperor Wu’s offer to trade a city for gold.

Li Mu believed that the deep-seated hatred between the southern border tribes and the Central Plains meant that once Shangyu County fell, the enemy would inevitably pillage and plunder, sustaining their campaign through war.

If Shangyu County was breached, the tens of thousands of townspeople would face utter devastation.

The able-bodied men would be conscripted, the women would be subjected to unspeakable atrocities, and the town’s grain and wealth would be impossible to protect. The elderly, sick, and weak would surely perish under the iron hooves of the southern border tribes.

As the county magistrate, how could he bear to see his people suffer such a fate?

In the end, Li Mu chose to fight to the death. He personally selected 300 strong men skilled in combat and set up an ambush outside Shangyu County, near the enemy’s gathering point. They waited for three days and nights.

When the battle erupted, Li Mu killed an enemy general, throwing the opposing forces into chaos. He then ordered his men to set fire to the enemy’s supply camp, buying valuable time for the townspeople to retreat to Sichuan.

It was precisely because of this battle, fought with death-defying resolve, that Li Mu cleansed himself of the shame from three years prior when he had not dared to confront Huang Zi. This battle also earned him immense prestige in the southern regions.

The people there knew that Li Mu was a good official—a leader with courage and responsibility.

…

Inside the Burial Chamber.

Although none of them could discern what clues or significance this level’s records of Li Mu were meant to reveal, they still firmly committed his experiences in Shangyu County to memory.

At this moment, less than an hour remained before the scheduled departure from the fourth level at the hour of the Rooster (5-7 PM).

The five of them sat in the tomb, eating dry rations and drinking cold water from their flasks, aiming to restore their physical condition to peak form. According to Tang Feng’s calculations, the content of the fifth level should involve a life-threatening clearance game.

“Hmm?!”

Just then, Imperial Inspector Liu who was crouching beside a decayed wooden desk, suddenly bent down and pulled out a dust-covered, half-rotten bundle. “What’s this?”

Hearing this, the others gathered around. Imperial Inspector Liu did not keep them in suspense and immediately unwrapped the bundle.

Inside, there were several pieces of blackened, moldy, rock-hard dry rations and a completely deflated water pouch. Aside from these, there was also a small booklet.

Tang Feng stepped forward at once and lifted his torch. “Open it and take a look.”

Imperial Inspector Liu nodded, unfolded the booklet, and let everyone see its contents.

“Year Nine of Emperor Wu, Spring.

I, along with ten secret agents from the Secret Intelligence Division, were dispatched by Prince Huai to enter the Princess’s tomb in search of the legendary Human Emperor Seal.

Upon entering the tomb, the eleven of us were unexpectedly divided into three factions and subjected to the trials set by Princess Anping.

At the first trial, we arrived at a tavern where we had to order food for each other and vote on the most liked and least liked person.

Subtle shifts in everyone’s expressions led to silent conflicts. Eventually, under the silent instruction of our team’s squad leader, we cast our votes for the least liked person.

He… was thrown into a vat of boiling oil by the tavern’s dwarf and deep-fried to death.

The gruesome execution filled the survivors with fear, and we began to guard against each other. The division into three factions sowed distrust and scheming among us.

At the third level, the second trial, we entered a frigid land. While gathering firewood, a fellow agent, who had always been at odds with me, attempted to ambush and kill me. I was forced to fight back and ended up killing him in a northern valley, burying him under the snow.

In truth, we had no deep-seated enmity—just mutual dislike—but the extreme conditions of the frozen land exacerbated our conflicts… I will never forget the way he looked as he died, sitting on the ground, gazing up at the sky with unwilling eyes…

Because someone had died, we were forced to endure a ‘Night of Cycle.’ Once again, it was the clever squad leader who discovered the secret to surviving. He used the fur robe he obtained in the first trial for warmth and ordered everyone to take turns lying in coffins, allowing us to barely make it out of that frozen hell.

By the time we reached the fourth level, only nine of us remained. But among the three factions, no one spoke to each other anymore. Every gaze was filled with wariness and distrust…

Can we make it to the end?! Oh, heavens, have mercy on me—I have loved ones waiting for me at home…”

“…!”

The booklet’s contents ended there.

Everyone exchanged looks before speaking almost in unison.

“…There were ancient players before us? And their experiences are eerily similar to ours!”

At that moment, Ren Ye suddenly recalled something. His eyes glazed over for a second before he instinctively reached into his chest pocket.