Chapter 792 — The Nine Ancient Emperors

The dragon qilin and the water qilin were astonished, and leapt about on the root, leaving strings of hoofprints. Yu Tianzun jumped down too and played with them happily, until all at once he missed his footing and fell from the root, letting out a shrill scream.

Shen Mu shook his head. A single strand of his hair grew long in the wind and coiled downward, wrapping Yu Tianzun up tight and hauling him back up.

Yu Tianzun, his fright barely settled, became much more docile. The roots ran in every direction, and the underground was not like an underground at all but a vast, boundless space; only, all around was gloom, and Shen Mu could not make out the arrangement of the place.

He followed Gongsun Yan deep underground.

When the root reached the edge of the subterranean space, he saw walls built of ancient marble, their veins and patterns very old. But as they went deeper, the height of those walls left him somewhat aghast. They went from one root to another, and still had not reached the bottom.

Suddenly the dragon qilin cried out in alarm and hid trembling behind Shen Mu. Shen Mu looked. Not far off, a great many ancient roots crossed and interwove, tied into a knot.

At the center of that knot lay a huge black stone coffin, and from within it came faintly a dreadful divine might.

Before the coffin stood six kinds of stone beasts, qilin, lion, camel, horse, white elephant, and xiezhi, one pair of each, twelve statues in all, standing on the roots before the coffin.

"The specifications of an imperial tomb?

" Shen Mu's heart quivered. "Can it be that the Earth Mother lies in this coffin?

" The black coffin was sixteen zhang high, eight zhang wide, and forty-nine zhang long; plainly whoever lay within must have been enormous in stature. "That is the coffin of a Supreme Emperor.

Within lies the first Supreme Emperor. " Gongsun Yan bowed respectfully to the coffin and said softly, "The first Supreme Emperor has a bad temper.

Let us not disturb him; we will slip past quietly.

" The dragon qilin shuddered, tucked his thick dragon tail between his legs, and crept forward, muttering, "Bad temper or not, he cannot jump out of his coffin.

. .

" As they passed beside the coffin, the stone statues suddenly turned their heads, their faces stern and ferocious, staring fixedly at them, their gazes tracking their movements; only when they had gone by did the statues slowly turn their heads back and resume facing one another.

They went on some distance and saw another huge stone coffin wrapped about by roots, hanging in a place that touched neither heaven nor earth. Before this coffin too were twelve statues, but these had birds' heads and human bodies, wings on their backs, standing on one leg; some heads were Vermilion Birds, some phoenix heads, some dragon heads with birds' beaks, and some bore differing numbers of heads.

"This is the tomb of the second Supreme Emperor. " Gongsun Yan whispered, "Bad temper as well. Keep your voice down.

" The bird-headed statues stared at them, and under that gaze Shen Mu, Yu Tianzun, the dragon qilin, and the water qilin crept past on tiptoe. Then they saw a third black stone coffin and two rows of statues. Shen Mu could not help asking, "Sister Yan, how many Supreme Emperors were there in the age of the Supreme Emperors? " "Fourteen.

" Gongsun Yan lowered her voice. "Nine are buried here.

The others fell in battle far away, and their bodies could not be recovered; they were seized and refined into treasures. " Shen Mu's expression turned strange. After a moment he ventured, "These Supreme Emperors all have bad tempers?

" "Mm.

" Gongsun Yan nodded.

"Bad tempers are one thing, but the tomb-guarding beasts have bad tempers too. Every time I pass here they look at me as though I were a thief.

" Shen Mu had no choice but to keep creeping forward.

At last they passed nine black coffins; the imperial tombs of several Supreme Emperors had all been placed here, the coffins entwined with roots, some custom of the Supreme Emperors' age, though he did not know what it meant.

"Are gods not immortal?

Why did these Supreme Emperors fall and die? " Shen Mu asked.

"They were beaten to death.

" Gongsun Yan whispered, "Lower your voice, or they will hear you.

If they hear you, they will jump out and beat you! The Earth Mother snatched their souls back from Youdu, and they are all shut up in their coffins.

" Shen Mu was horrified. Lowering his voice, he asked, "What manner of being could beat the Supreme Emperors of the ages to death? " "The Earth Mother herself was beaten to death, so how much more so the Supreme Emperors?

" Gongsun Yan said, "The age of the Supreme Emperors was utter chaos.

.

. The Earth Mother's palace is here! " Ahead the light was dazzling.

A palace was held aloft in the air by roots running in every direction, and it was the palace itself that gave off the radiance.

Only when they came before it did they see how towering and magnificent it was.

Stone dragons and bird-headed divine statues were carved on its ornamental pillars and columns; on the roof ridge stood stone statues of divine beasts of every grotesque shape; above the doorway were sculptures of water dragons, and the window lattices bore phoenix reliefs.

Shen Mu followed Gongsun Yan to the front of the hall, and suddenly saw that those stone dragons were slowly turning and writhing; then the stone surface became flesh and blood, and all at once a huge dragon head lowered before them. It was an old dragon, its eyes dim with age, its whiskers streaming, and it said in a muffled, booming voice, "I smell strangers.

" "They are the Earth Mother's honored guests. " Gongsun Yan said hastily, "Please make way, Dragon King. " Suddenly there came a flapping from the window lattice, and a phoenix flew out from it, landing before Shen Mu and the others. Flowing fire wreathed its body; it stood several zhang tall, folded its wings, and stared gravely at Shen Mu and his companions.

"The Primordial Sovereign's honored guests? Could they be spies of that old fellow the Heavenly Emperor? " Just then a murky fluctuation of divine consciousness came from within the palace: "He is a guest I invited.

. .

Eh?

Yu Tianzun!

" The fluctuation of divine consciousness was astonished beyond measure, as though it had seen a ghost. Yu Tianzun was bewildered.