Ugh—
Ling Shan's pupils constricted. Almost as soon as she saw the 'thing' in the stone coffin clearly, she couldn't hold back and let out an involuntary retch.
She took two hasty steps backward. Her stomach was churning violently, as if something was constantly stirring inside. A sour taste welled up in her mouth, and the nauseating feeling lingered.
Ling Shan could hardly imagine such a scene. The nausea came and went repeatedly. She stood there stiffly, as if struck by lightning, in disbelief.
No one had expected that the sight in the stone coffin would be so eerie and disgustingly horrible.
As soon as the airtight stone coffin was opened, a corpse gradually floated up in the corpse water as red as blood.
It was very well - preserved. If one just looked at it simply, it wasn't particularly scary.
It was just a female corpse.
However, this female corpse was extraordinary.
Ling Shan only took a hasty glance and saw the dense fingers, as well as the twisted legs and feet...
The full picture of the whole corpse immediately flashed through her mind, and her stomach churned uncontrollably.
The corpse with multiple heads, hands, and feet obviously wasn't born like this. Instead, the person was sealed in the stone coffin with such a strange sacrificial method before death!
The method was so strange and vicious that it was outrageous!
How could such a thing be placed in a normal person's mansion?
Jiang Qiming's actions were completely against the will of heaven and human ethics. Most importantly, there was an eerie feeling that made one's hair stand on end.
He deserved to die!
Regardless of whether this stone coffin was used for suppression or for sacrificing something, such a way was too cruel and inhumane.
As the prefect of a state, Jiang Qiming should have brought benefits to the people and sought well - being and prosperity for Liangzhou. Instead, he was furtive and did all kinds of treasonous things behind the scenes.
Now, he was even suspected of feudal superstition, disregarding the rites and pursuing evil ways. One didn't even know how many evils he had done in private.
When he entered the underworld, he should be directly sent to the eighteenth level of hell and never be allowed to reincarnate.
"This is a unique sacrificial ritual of the grassland royal families such as Dan Chi and Bei Lu. They use blood to worship the witch, praying that the sins will be transferred to the sacrifice so that the witch can bless the believers with a long life."
Yu Shiwei's face was as cold as ice.
The people in the northwest region most hated those things that harmed people.
Especially, they deeply loathed everything related to foreign tribes like Dan Chi. Yu Shiwei was no exception.
As long as they were the people of the Great Yan with a conscience, even if they wouldn't pick up their swords and go to battle to kill the enemy when mentioning these things, they would definitely not follow the beliefs of the enemy tribes.
Jiang Qiming might not only be secretly mining and training troops for the Wang family. Perhaps he was also colluding with the enemy and betraying the country!
"Shiwei, I'm fine. Let's find the ledger as soon as possible."
Ling Shan's face was a bit pale, and she naturally had her own speculation in her heart.
Yu Shiwei also knew that if they delayed any longer, the two of them might become trapped like turtles in a jar. She nodded, and the two of them separated to act.
After confirming that there were no traps in the stone coffin, they searched the stone chamber respectively.
Ling Shan was completely relying on a little knowledge from the TV before to search, while Yu Shiwei was much more professional.
She purposefully ruled out one by one, then walked straight towards an unremarkable green stone slab facing the stone coffin. After observing it for a while, she pressed it with her finger.
With a rumbling sound.
The whole stone chamber began to rotate. A whole stone wall spun open, revealing a hidden chamber inside that was shining with gold and was extremely bright even without candles.
Ling Shan swore that this was the first time she had seen so many gold and silver treasures.
It was simply blinding.
At this moment, Ling Shan regretted it.
If she had a space, wouldn't she be able to take all these treasures away?
It was a pity.
However, before figuring out how to take these jewels back, the hidden ledger was the top priority.
Ling Shan tried hard to shift her fiery gaze and tried to learn the calm, even icy look from Yu Shiwei beside her.
There were gold and silver treasures all over the room, but the ledger they had searched so hard for was nowhere to be seen!
Time passed little by little, and Ling Shan and Yu Shiwei searched again.
But this time, they didn't achieve any results for a long time!
Even a hint of eagerness appeared in Yu Shiwei's eyes, and the calmness on her face disappeared.
Click.
A very soft sound, as if it was right in front of them, and also as if it was far away.
"Shanshan, you leave first!"
Ling Shan's fingers that were gently stroking the stone crack stopped. She looked back at Yu Shiwei's slightly solemn eyes and immediately had a sudden realization.
"You mean..." someone had discovered them?
Yu Shiwei stepped forward and took Ling Shan's hand. She led her to the stone wall that had appeared out of nowhere just now and told her the route she had taken and the possible traps.
She pressed the mechanism, the stone wall opened, and with a determined push, Yu Shiwei's figure gradually disappeared from sight.
Ling Shan felt mixed emotions. She couldn't tell whether she was worried, nervous, or scared.
At this moment, there was only one thought in her mind, which was: Hurry up!
Hurry up even more!
She had to run out before someone came!
She also had to create time for Yu Shiwei before she could safely get the ledger.
It was the first time Ling Shan had faced such a thrilling danger alone. Her heart in her chest began to beat violently. Along with the whistling wind, it was booming like a war drum.
Following the route that Yu Shiwei had taken once, Ling Shan finally returned to the desolate plum garden where they had started without any mistakes.
Before she had time to make more preparations, just as Ling Shan walked a short distance out of the plum garden, she saw several servants approaching in a hurry.
Ling Shan's heart, which had not yet calmed down from the wild beating, started to pound violently again.
"Madam—"
Ling Shan quietly made her way towards the stage. A hand reached out from the bushes on the side. Along with a familiar voice, it grabbed her.
Xiao Man?
A hint of surprise appeared in Ling Shan's eyes. Without asking Xiao Man much, she pointed in the direction of the stage.
Xiao Man immediately understood. He reached out and put his arm around Ling Shan's waist. With a gentle step, they quickly landed on the back of the yard where the stage was located.
Without Ling Shan's further instructions, Xiao Man found a jar of wine from the small kitchen and quickly splashed it on the flammable materials that Ling Shan had found.
He threw a fire starter, and in an instant, countless sparks burst out. The tongues of fire spread along the wine and gradually formed a sea of fire...
Soon, the fire attracted everyone's attention. The singing on the stage stopped.
The pampered ladies and young misses had never seen such a big fire before. They were immediately in a complete mess.
For a moment, all kinds of noisy sounds mixed together, and the desolate plum garden became a 'paradise'!
Amid the crowd running around in chaos, Ling Shan and Xiao Man mingled among them, quietly paying attention to the situation in the plum garden.
Countless servants and maids were running and shouting to put out the fire. Buckets of cold water were poured on, but it was just a drop in the bucket.
In the face of the sudden fire, no one had time to pay attention to the plum garden.
Unless Jiang Qiming came in person, how could the servants deal with so many official ladies?
"Stop—"