Chapter 1399: Ancient Hidden Truth

When it heard his question, the voice let out some neurotic laughter and replied, “I’m both human and ghost, hahaha. I was unlike a human when I was alive, and I was unlike a ghost after I died. I’ve already been neither human nor ghost for so many years. Which do you think I am?”

The Fiend Emperor frowned and said, “I do not have time to talk in riddles with you.”

Wu Liang looked on admiringly. If it were him, he would’ve already peed his pants from hearing the voice. After all, in all his years of tomb raiding, even though he had run into some undead creatures, there hadn’t been a single one who could speak.

According to his ancestor’s teachings, if one ever ran into anything inside of a tomb that could speak, one would probably be dead for sure. Either the undead being inside would have developed an extremely powerful intellect, or it would have been ridiculously powerful to begin with and lived for a long, long time. Regardless of which kind it was, that would prove how terrifying its strength was.

The Fiend Emperor actually still had the composure to talk to the voice like that! As expected, that was the confidence of the strong.

As if sensing the Fiend Emperor’s impatience, the voice laughed and said, “I can sense the Golden Crow’s aura from your bodies. You two must be from the Golden Crow lineage, right?”

The Fiend Emperor exchanged a look with the Golden Crow Crown Prince before replying, “And so what if we are?”

“To some extent, I can be considered your ancestor from who knows how many generations ago,” the voice said dully.

Wu Liang’s expression was strange. Why did the voice sound as if it were cursing someone?

The Golden Crow Crown Prince was startled. He quickly looked at his father. However, the Fiend Emperor replied calmly, “Hah, do you think I would believe that?”

“Whether you believe it or not doesn’t matter. After all, I’m not your direct ancestor either,” the voice said. It paused for a bit, then suddenly said, “Young one, I can sense a familiar aura from you. The Sun Slaying Bow should be with you, right?”

The Golden Crow Crown Prince jumped in fright, exclaiming, “How did you know?”

Even the Fiend Emperor couldn't help but frown.

The voice laughed loudly, its voice echoing through the place as it continued, “That bow was a sacred object of my clan in the past. How could I not know about it?”

“Nonsense. The Sun Slaying Bow has always been the Golden Crow race’s divine weapon, so how could it belong to another clan? Furthermore, you should stop trying to mislead others with your lies. I cannot sense the slightest bit of the Golden Crow’s lineage from you,” the Fiend Emperor said coldly. If not for the fact that the other party had immediately deduced that they were Golden Crows and also sensed the Sun Slaying Bow, he wouldn’t even feel like wasting so many extra words on it.

Wu Liang was shocked. This being didn’t have any Golden Crow blood? He had thought that since this Unknown Region was inside the Golden Crow royal family’s tomb, it would definitely at least have something to do with the Golden Crow race.

Judging from what it had previously said, the voice had claimed it was one of their ancestors. If that were the case, everyone involved would be happy. However, it seemed that wasn’t the case at all. Didn’t that mean danger?

The voice suddenly erupted into a strange laugh and exclaimed, “Hahaha, I didn’t expect that after so many years, the Sun Slaying Bow that almost completely wiped out the Golden Crow race would start being treated as a family heirloom by the Golden Crow race’s descendants!”

The Fiend Emperor and Golden Crow Crown Prince were both furious, exclaiming, “What kind of nonsense are you spouting?”

The voice said, “Since you could all come to this place, that must mean you’ve passed Feather Mountain, right? How did you two feel then?”

The Golden Crow Crown Prince’s heart began to race. Back then, he had felt extremely uncomfortable for some reason. Even his father had felt the same. Otherwise, there would have been no reason for the Fiend Emperor to be so careful at all; furthermore, he wouldn’t have had to make Zu An’s group scout out the way, letting them escape in the process.

Of course, the crown prince was an outstanding individual from the younger generation. After his prior alarm, he had gradually calmed down. He didn’t let those thoughts show on his face.

The Fiend Emperor nodded inwardly as he watched his son. This youngster didn’t waste all of my meticulous upbringing after all. He hasn’t disappointed me.

Even though they didn’t answer, the voice didn’t seem to mind and said considerately, “Even if you two don’t say anything, I can more or less guess. The reason why Feather Mountain is called Feather Mountain is because your Golden Crow Ancestor was killed by the Sun Slaying Bow. It was formed from the bloodied feathers that fell from his corpse.”

Even the Fiend Emperor’s expression changed when he heard that. Combined with the strange feeling coming from Feather Mountain, he was already largely convinced. He asked, “Just what happened?”

“Heh, you’re finally willing to listen to me now, hm?” the voice replied with a chuckle. It continued, “It’s already been too long, so I’ve lost my perception of time. It might have been thousands of years ago… No, tens of thousands, or perhaps hundreds of thousands of years… Back then, the Celestial Emperor Jun had many, many wives. Among them, one wife was the Sun Goddess, Xi He. The two of them produced ten sons…” It stopped for a moment, then continued, “... And those were ten Golden Crows, the first Golden Crows in the world.”

The Fiend Emperor and Golden Crow Crown Prince both saw the shock in each other’s eyes. The Fiend Emperor quickly said, “Hmph, a load of nonsense. Our clan has no such records.”

“It’s already been too long, so many things have already been lost. It’s unsurprising that you don’t know about it,” the voice continued. “The Golden Crows all only wanted to have a good time, and often went out together. However, that simply made the common people suffer. In their eyes, it was as if ten suns shone overhead at the same time. The earth dried up, and the people had no way to make a living.

“Later, an outstanding hero appeared among the humans called Yi[1]. The Celestial Emperor bestowed upon him a red bow, and in order to save the people, he used the bow to shoot down nine of the Golden Crows. Back then, the bloodied feathers from those Golden Crows fell and formed a great mountain, which is the Feather Mountain we now know. The last Golden Crow remained, though. He came and went from east to west obediently, and became the sun in the sky. That’s why, over time, the red bow came to be called the Sun Slaying Bow.”

Wu Liang was stupefied when he heard the story. The Golden Crow royal family normally always acted so cocky, he had never expected them to have such a miserable past. Furthermore, they had been killed off by the very same Sun Slaying Bow they were so immensely proud of! Although he felt happy about their misfortune, his smile suddenly stiffened. Now that he knew the true story, wouldn’t he be silenced after the fact?

The Fiend Emperor’s expression changed several times. He harrumphed and said, “What an interesting story. Unfortunately, I do not believe it.”

The voice said in amusement, “You say you don’t, but whether or not you really believe it, you understand yourself best.”

The Fiend Emperor replied with a frown, “You did not call us all the way here just to tell us this nonsensical story, did you?”

“Do you know who I am?” the voice said with a sigh.

“You have deliberately obscured your identity for so long. Who knows what you are?” the Fiend Emperor snapped, his voice turning a bit cold. “My patience is limited.” With his cultivation and status, who else would dare to pretend to be mysterious in front of him like that?

“I already said before that the Celestial Emperor had many wives, and one of them gave birth to your Golden Crow race’s ancestors. Another wife gave birth to my father. Putting all of that together, your Golden Crow Ancestor is my uncle. That’s why I said I could be considered your ancestor,” the voice replied.

The Fiend Emperor and the Golden Crow Crown Prince were speechless.

Meanwhile, Wu Liang’s mouth hung wide open. There was actually something so incredible in this tomb?

The Fiend Emperor took in a deep breath before saying, “If you were only trying to take advantage of us, I can only say that you have already successfully angered me.”

“I apologize, but after being sealed up here for so long, I’ve finally managed to find someone to converse with. I can’t help but become a bit long-winded,” the voice replied. It chuckled a few times and said, “Back then, my grandfather passed on the imperial throne to my father. Many years later, my father then passed it onto me in his old age. However, a certain shameful individual had rapacious designs and secretly raised many assistants and aides. In the end, they turned my father into their puppet, and a bunch of traitors usurped my throne. He still wasn’t satisfied with just that; he even attached all sorts of terrible accusations to my name to deceive the world, to say that was the reason why my father gave the throne to him.”

Wu Liang suddenly realized what was happening. No wonder even though the tomb was built to an imperial standard, whether in terms of the scale or the design, it was too lacking compared to a real imperial tomb. It turned out to have really been a deposed emperor!

The Fiend Emperor sneered, saying, “I thought you were someone, so I patiently listened to what you had to say. However, it turns out you were just trash who had his throne seized from him.”

“Judging from my observations, it doesn’t seem as if you have much of your life left,” the voice suddenly said with a sneer. The Fiend Emperor’s expression changed, but the voice continued, “Are you not curious at all to know how I was able to live for so long?”

1. Hou Yi is a mythological Chinese archer. He was also known as Shen Yi, or simply as Yi. ☜