...

Under the Black Corpse’s lead, the group quickly returned to the gloomy tomb.

The Magical Maiden, Lilith, cast a Light spell again. A soft sphere of light floated upward, instantly making the scene within the tomb chamber clearly visible.

They passed through the tomb’s antechamber and entered a corridor.

The corridor wasn’t long. The murals on its walls had been severely faded by the passage of time; one could only vaguely make out scenes of nobles hunting, feasting, and waging war.

Passing through the corridor, they arrived at the main burial chamber.

This main burial chamber was much more spacious than the antechamber, roughly the size of half a basketball court.

Lynch gestured to Lilith. She immediately controlled the sphere of light, making it rise a little higher to illuminate as much of the chamber as possible.

The four walls of the chamber were built from solid, bluish-gray stone blocks, carved with intricate family crests and blurred inscriptions. Even after so many years, they still exuded a solemn, imposing grandeur.

One could tell that a great deal of effort had gone into its construction.

In the very center of the chamber sat an exceptionally large stone sarcophagus, its lid also adorned with ornate carvings.

At this moment, however, the sarcophagus was already open, its lid leaning against the side.

Clearly, this was where our friend the Black Corpse had climbed out from.

Other than that, the main chamber was completely bare, containing nothing but thick dust and cobwebs.

"Tsk. This chamber is certainly impressive," Lynch said, riding Red Rabbit into the main chamber, flanked by his guards. His gaze swept across the room. "It’s just a little... too clean."

’He’d been hoping that this Black Corpse—a nobleman in his past life, no less—would have some decent burial goods.’

’But aside from the coffin, there was nothing.’

Lilith, meanwhile, had curiously moved closer to one of the walls, using the magical light to carefully examine the mottled crests and inscriptions.

"Huh? This crest... I think it’s..." she said, her voice filled with sudden, pleasant surprise. "Senior, I think this is the crest of the Hornheim Clan!"

"Hornheim?" Lynch frowned.

’It couldn’t be helped. He was a commoner; what would he know about noble crests?’

"Mhm," Lilith nodded emphatically, her face alight with the thrill of discovering a secret. "This could be the tomb of Marquis Balthazar von Hornheim! Over two hundred years ago, the Hornheim Clan was one of the most illustrious noble families on the Empire’s eastern coast. They had a huge fiefdom, with several castles, supposedly. Moon Sail Port was originally their family’s private harbor!"

"A Marquis? Moon Sail Port?" Lynch’s eyes lit up.

’Moon Sail Port was a major, prosperous port city on the eastern coast.’

’If this tomb really is that Marquis Hornheim’s... and the Black Corpse is now my underling...’

But before Lynch could get too excited, Lilith’s next words were like a bucket of cold water dumped on his head.

"It’s a shame, though," Lilith sighed. "About two hundred years ago, the Hornheim Clan was discovered to be colluding with the Empire’s number one most-wanted criminal, Lester. They were involved in some forbidden experiments with the Undead and a plot for rebellion, so they were wiped out by the combined forces of the Empire and the Church of Light. The clan members were either executed or exiled, and all their lands and assets were confiscated and redistributed by the Empire..."

Lynch: "..."

The smile on his face froze instantly.

’So... the Black Corpse was a traitorous Marquis whose clan was annihilated and stripped of its assets?’

"Man, this guy had it rough," Lynch couldn’t help but remark. He then turned to Lilith. "You’ve got a sharp memory, knowing about things from two hundred years ago."

"Er... haha," Lilith let out an awkward laugh. "That’s because my family was one of the main forces that helped the Empire wipe out the Hornheim Clan. It’s recorded in our family history."

Lynch was speechless.

Suddenly, Lynch’s eyes lit up as a thought occurred to him. "So, does that mean Moon Sail Port belongs to your family now?"

"No..." Lilith shook her head.

"I figured," Lynch sighed, seeming somewhat disappointed.

"But my family does own a stake in it," Lilith added.

’Damn it!’

Lynch was completely dumbfounded. ’This girl... couldn’t she just say it all at once?’

Still, ’Lilith’s family must be loaded. No wonder she could wear a Space Ring at such a young age.’

"Whatever, forget it." His enthusiasm dampened, Lynch swung himself off Red Rabbit’s back and walked over to the massive sarcophagus.

’Lynch’s family were just minor, well-off merchants; it was a struggle for them to support his study of Magic. If he wanted to get rich, he’d have to do it himself.’

Using the glow of the light orb, he peered into the sarcophagus. He found that, aside from a bottom layer of fabric that had long since decayed into dust, it was completely empty. There wasn’t even a single burial Gold Coin.

"Dirt poor," Lynch muttered, shaking his head in disappointment.

However, his gaze was soon drawn to some markings on the floor around the sarcophagus.

There were grooves carved into the stone slabs, forming a complex circular pattern that radiated outward from the sarcophagus.

A faint fluctuation of death energy still lingered in the grooves.

"This is..." Lynch crouched down, examining it closely.

He had learned some basic information about Magic Arrays in his Undead Magic theory class at the academy. Although his knowledge was still rudimentary, certain features of this Array looked familiar.

"It looks like... a Gathering Yin Magic Array? No, it’s more complex..." Lynch mused, stroking his chin as he analyzed it. "It combines the gathering of death energy, stabilization of the soul, and also... preservation and strengthening of the physical body?"

The more he looked, the more he felt this Array was specifically designed to cultivate a Black Corpse.

"So that’s how it is." Lynch stood up, a realization dawning on him. "Looks like our friend the Black Corpse really did get involved with Lester before he died. This tomb, this Array... this must all be Lester’s handiwork."

"But why create a Black Corpse? Was it to turn the Marquis into a powerful Undead Creature, biding his time for a future comeback? Or was it to fulfill some other conspiracy?"

For the moment, Lynch couldn’t puzzle it out.

’Of course, this all happened two hundred years ago. It doesn’t have a thing to do with me,’ Lynch thought, ’so I can’t be bothered to dig any deeper.’

’Still, after all this trouble, I can’t just walk away empty-handed.’

And so, Lynch began to carefully inspect his surroundings, using his bone dagger to tap and look around.

The left wall of the sarcophagus—nothing. The right wall—nothing... He tapped along the bottom from foot to head and still found no issues, right up until he knocked on a certain stone slab by the head.

THUNK.

The sound was clear and resonant.

Lynch’s eyes lit up.

’The sound... it was slightly different?’

He had Lilith bring the magical light orb closer, then bent down, wedged the tip of his dagger into a seam, and pried the stone slab loose, revealing a hidden compartment underneath.

Inside the hidden compartment was a black metal box.

Lynch’s heart leaped with joy. He beckoned for the young maiden to get back.

He then called a Bone Valor over to retrieve the box.

Nothing dangerous happened.

He examined it from a safe distance. The surface of the box was unadorned, save for a single emblem.

A mound of burning ash.

This was the mark of the "Ashbringer."

’Perfect! To think I’d find it here by sheer luck after searching everywhere for it.’

Lynch was overjoyed.

He again ordered the Bone Valor to open the box from a safe distance.

After it was open, he waited a moment. Seeing there was no danger, he approached the box and found a rolled-up parchment Scroll inside.

’Is this a Magic Scroll?’

’It doesn’t look like one.’

Lynch took out the Scroll and unfurled it.

However, upon reading the first line, he froze, as if struck by lightning.

The line read: "Bro, me and the Quasi-Saintess of Light fell in love on our own. Would you believe it?"

The handwriting was sloppy and casual, with a devil-may-care tone.

But that wasn’t the point.

The point was—

’This was fucking written in Chinese!!!’

Lynch’s hand, holding the parchment, was trembling. He felt completely numb.

’Chinese...’

’In this Otherworld, he had actually seen Chinese writing!’

...

(Pushing the rankings on Monday, please vote with your monthly tickets. There will be a third Chapter tonight at 23:00... Mwah~)