51: Chapter 51 The Whereabouts of Prince Jing's Tomb

As dawn broke, Qiu Shuzhen, who had been sitting all night, quietly departed.

Ding Qing opened his eyes and shook his head as he listened to the movements within Steward Li's courtyard.

This mother and daughter had certainly gone to great lengths for the sake of treasure.

They had even stooped to coming up with such a rotten idea.

They were truly persistent.

He lowered his gaze.

Looking at the sleeping child in the swaddling clothes, he let out a weary sigh.

"After all this time, I've only just begun to grasp the outline of this Fundamental Law. Creating it is proving to be much harder than I imagined."

Ever since reaching the Great Perfection of the ninth level of the Iron Cloth Shirt, his strength had been at a standstill.

Following the Old Daoist in Yellow Robes into the past this time was also for the sake of stronger points.

He had the stronger points now.

But facing a Fundamental Law that required even greater potential than the Iron Cloth Shirt...

Even with his current abundant energy—where he could remain spirited even after a month without sleep—he was now mentally exhausted.

He had been in Panshi City for over a month and had only managed to organize a direction.

The goal of fully forming it through deduction and then verifying its strength felt incredibly distant.

However, Ding Qing already had an idea.

This past trapped him, but it also provided an environment for him to slowly verify his progress.

The Blade Master was the key to finding the town object and escaping this segment of the past.

More importantly, he was the opportunity to verify the new Fundamental Law.

"Martial arts flourish in this era, and experts are as numerous as the clouds. If the Blade Master in my hands can stand out and seize the momentum of this past, it will be enough to prove the strength of the new Fundamental Law."

Ding Qing's ambition was immense.

The Fundamental Law he was deducing this time was no longer just about purely tempering the Physical Body.

Ever since the Phoenix Mountain incident, he had realized a problem.

Pure physical strength and physical-level attack methods made it difficult to gain the upper hand in various abnormal events.

He wanted a martial art that could specialize physical strength.

Yet, looking back at the novels and comics from his previous life, powerful martial arts that could truly specialize the body were few and far between.

The required stronger points were an astronomical figure.

There were absolutely no shortcuts to reaching the top in one step.

Therefore, Ding Qing split this new Fundamental Law into two volumes.

The first volume focused on cultivating the Physical Body Divine Treasury to strengthen the physique.

The second volume focused on cultivating the Power of the Divine Treasury to defeat enemies.

Through this, he would further push his own strength to a higher level.

As for what the Physical Body Divine Treasury was, how to develop it, and how to strengthen it...

Ding Qing currently had no clue at all.

...

Time flew by, and half a month had already passed.

After the wedding day, the Li family set up a continuous banquet for ten days, inviting the entire city.

It was only in the last few days that things had gradually settled down.

Late at night, in the Li family's West Courtyard.

The oil lamp was as dim as a pea, its flame flickering uneasily, illuminating two faces that were equally stunning yet held different thoughts.

Qiu Zhiruo was draped in a loose old garment, her black hair disheveled, with a trace of fatigue and impatience that was hard to hide in the corners of her eyes.

She rubbed her aching waist and cursed under her breath:

"That god-forsaken dead fat pig. He's useless with all that fat, yet he insists on secretly gulping down those aphrodisiacs... It's been a nightmare for me!"

She spat, her eyes full of disgust.

"If this keeps up, before he burns out his lamp, I'll be the one falling apart from his tossing and turning!"

Qiu Shuzhen sat opposite her, her slender fingers gently twisting the corner of her clothes.

Beneath her moonlight-colored skirt, her bare feet gently rubbed against the cool brick floor.

She didn't respond to her mother's complaints; deep in her watery eyes, a long-suppressed flame of excitement flickered as she lowered her voice and said:

"Mother, stop complaining for a moment. That place... I've found it!"

"Truly?!"

Hearing this, the fatigue and impatience on Qiu Zhiruo's face were instantly swept away by wild joy, and her eyes erupted with a light more intense than the oil lamp's flame.

"Where is it? Speak quickly!"

"It's in the rockery group in the back garden, under the giant rock shaped like a crouching tiger at the very back!"

Qiu Shuzhen's voice carried a hint of a tremble.

"I've checked it repeatedly; there's no mistake! The entrance is extremely well-hidden, concealed by the flow of water and the rockery. If I hadn't discovered it by chance that night, it would be impossible to notice."

"Good! Good! My good daughter!"

Qiu Zhiruo was so excited she almost jumped up, grabbing her daughter's hand.

"Come! Take me to see it!"

The two figures were like civet cats in the night, using the moonlight and shadows for cover, skillfully avoiding the occasional glow of lanterns from the patrolling servants.

They gave the area around the Eastern Warm Pavilions Separate Courtyard, with its heavy Evil Qi, a wide berth.

Like wisps of blue smoke merging into the night, they silently slipped into the back garden.

The jagged rockery cast grotesque and eerie shadows under the moonlight.

Qiu Shuzhen led her mother through many twists and turns, finally stopping before a massive Taihu Stone shaped like a crouching tiger.

Her slender fingers quickly tapped on several seemingly natural protrusions on the cold stone surface.

A very faint clicking sound, as if coming from underground, rang out.

The massive crouching tiger stone slowly slid inward by half a foot, revealing a pitch-black hole just wide enough for a person to slide down sideways.

A smell mixed with earth, stone chips, and stale air wafted out.

"It's done!" A strange light shone in Qiu Shuzhen's eyes.

The mother and daughter exchanged a look; Qiu Zhiruo went first, followed closely by Qiu Shuzhen, as they carefully slipped into the tunnel.

The passage was narrow and deep, illuminated only by a small fire-starter lit by Qiu Shuzhen.

After walking for about the time it takes to drink half a cup of tea, the path ahead suddenly opened up, and a small stone chamber appeared before them.

In the center of the chamber was an incredibly heavy dragon severing stone door that shimmered with a cold, metallic luster.

The door was carved with intricate Coiling Dragon Patterns, and in the center was a hideous beast head holding a ring in its mouth, with a deep keyhole set within the ring.

"A dragon severing stone!" Qiu Zhiruo cried out, her voice echoing weakly in the empty chamber, filled with intense shock and anger.

She rushed forward, her fingertips brushing against the cold, hard, and chillingly metallic door panel.

She felt along the seams between the door frame and the mountain rock, her expression becoming increasingly grim.

"Damn it! Damn it! I planned everything, but I didn't expect that stupid Fatty Li to have such schemes, actually adding a steel-cast dragon severing gate at the tomb entrance! That old bastard!"

She stomped her foot, gritting her teeth:

"I was wondering how a fallen family like the Li's suddenly became so wealthy; it turns out they dug this place up and got their first pot of gold.

Now, the thief is afraid of other thieves, copying the princes and generals by installing a dragon severing stone."

"Pah! What a load of rubbish!"

Qiu Shuzhen also leaned in for a closer look, her brow furrowed.

She tried to push it with force, but the dragon severing door didn't budge, as heavy as a mountain.

She then carefully examined the beast-head lock; the internal structure was complex and certainly not ordinary.

"Mother, we can't force our way in. This door is exceptionally heavy and cannot be opened by human strength. Breaking it by force would make too much noise and would surely alert the Li family."

"My dear daughter, you are skilled in mechanics. Take another careful look and think of a way!"

Qiu Zhiruo paced around anxiously.

The treasure mountain was right before her eyes, yet she couldn't enter or see it; it was truly driving her mad with worry.

"This lock is a 'Nine-Fold Linked' mechanism lock. Without the key, even a master craftsman skilled in mechanics would need days to deduce and crack it."

Qiu Shuzhen shook her head, indicating she was powerless in the short term.

"The key... the key..."

A cold light flashed in Qiu Zhiruo's eyes, like a hungry wolf locking onto its prey.

"Fatty Li! The key must be on that dead fatty. Only he knows about this place, and only he would need this key... It must be kept close to him, guarded like his very life!"

She remembered Steward Li's unsteady steps and hot breath from these past few nights.

Thinking of the torment brought by those aphrodisiacs, a surge of wicked anger rushed to her head.

"It must be done quickly. I can't endure another night. If I have to stay with that drugged pig-head any longer, I'll go insane.

Once we find the key and take the things, we'll flee far away immediately and let this Li family go to hell!"

"Where... could the key be hidden?" Qiu Shuzhen pondered.

"I've searched all his personal clothing, and there was nothing unusual. We've also gone through the secret compartments in the study and bedroom several times while he was away..."

"Silly girl! Since it's a treasure he guards like his life, why would he hide it in an ordinary place?"

Qiu Zhiruo sneered, her eyes flashing with the shrewdness and ruthlessness typical of a street-smart woman.

"Something kept close isn't necessarily in the outer clothes. That dead fatty is covered in fat; where is the most 'personal' spot? Where is it hardest to notice, yet most convenient for him to check at any time?"

She lowered her voice, carrying a desperate ruthlessness.

"Tonight! Just tonight, when the medicine takes effect, I'll strip him bare and search him inch by inch. I don't believe I won't be able to find that key!"