NOVEL WEB Chapter 41 - Fragment of Chiyou’s Tomb Map—Bloodline of the Wu Tribe!
Chapter 41: Fragment of Chiyou’s Tomb Map—Bloodline of the Wu Tribe!
Squelch!
Faced with the young man’s deranged charge, Yang Yi’s halberd pierced clean through his body without hesitation. “You… how could you kill me?” Blood spilled from the corners of the man’s mouth, yet even in death, his eyes remained filled with wild, unrelenting defiance. “There is no need for this. At this point, what difference is there between you and a demon?”
“May your journey be smooth.”
“And may there be no hell awaiting you—because even its ninth level might struggle to contain your madness.” Yang Yi muttered those words quietly, withdrawing his halberd in one steady motion. Still, he could not help but feel a sense of unease. What was this “place” he spoke of? What manner of location could drive a man into such derangement—one so powerful that it rooted itself as obsession deep within his heart?
Yang Yi hadn’t bothered to ask. There would have been no use; the man had already descended fully into madness. He was beyond reasoning—his mind long since consumed. Kill.
Glancing at the lifeless body, Yang Yi suspected the young man had held some secret. But he did not linger. He lifted his halberd once again and pressed deeper into the corridor. What he saw as he progressed confirmed his growing fears. Almost no one left in the passage could be called sane. Most of them were bloodied, eyes glowing red, muttering to themselves or roaring incoherently. When they saw Yang Yi’s weapon, they didn’t flee—they attacked. Madness had completely taken hold.
Yang Yi responded with ruthless efficiency, cutting them down without mercy. As the slaughter wore on, he came to a grim realisation. Less than half of those originally in the corridor were still alive. The floor was littered with mangled corpses, many already beginning to rot. Worse still, his spiritual perception picked up on a lingering aura in the air—something dense, negative, and dark.
Hatred. Resentment. The corridor reeked of it.
Is this… live human gu refinement? The thought chilled him. Given a little more time, these individuals would likely turn on one another, devouring each other until only one survived—a sole victor, brutal and mindless. That final survivor would no longer be human. And when that day came, what would such a creature feed on? Yang Yi glanced around at the decomposing bodies and fought down the wave of nausea that surged within him.
[Live human gu refinement: A grim concept derived from ancient Chinese folklore, where multiple individuals are confined together under dire conditions, often driven mad or to the point of cannibalism. The “survivor” of this brutal process is believed to inherit a demonic strength, becoming something monstrous and powerful—akin to a living curse.]
Let’s hope I’m overthinking it. No one could possibly live by eating carrion. He shook his head and pressed on, his killing intent sharpening with every step. Eventually, he reached the corridor’s end, his halberd dripping with blood. “This corridor needs to be cleared quickly. I only hope its condition is an exception and not a trend.” His brow furrowed as he moved toward the centre of the space and began digging a large pit at top speed.
Ding… Ding…
……………………………………………………………………………
His pace quickened. Even the corpse looting was faster now—motivated less by greed and more by a desperate urge to get out of that wretched place. The stench had long since turned unbearable, particularly when he encountered bodies that had clearly been dead for days. To keep going, he had to mentally numb himself. Finally, he reached the end. Almost every corpse had been dealt with. There were no rare treasures or special items, but seeing the corridor clean and orderly again did lift his spirits. “There ought to be some merit in this.” He smiled faintly, then returned to the first corpse—the frenzied young man he had killed earlier. “Let’s hope you left behind something worthwhile.” His voice carried a sliver of anticipation.
Ding!
[Congratulations, Host. Corpse looting successful. You have obtained the deceased’s greatest obsession from life. This is a unique item. You may discard it, fuse it into yourself, or allow the system to store it.]
Yang Yi froze as the message rang out. His spine tingled. Wait—obsession? You can loot a person’s obsession now? System, what the hell? That’s going a bit far, don’t you think? Just recalling the man’s madness made his scalp itch. “System, store it,” he said at once.
If the option hadn’t existed, he would have discarded the item without hesitation.
Ding!
[Congratulations, Host. You have acquired a partial map of Chiyou’s Tomb.]
Yang Yi blinked. Chiyou’s tomb? So the young man’s obsession… was to find Chiyou’s resting place? His heart skipped a beat. Then that means—Chiyou truly exists? Is it the mythological Chiyou of legend, or a historical figure distorted by time?
Yang Yi’s pulse quickened. This was no ordinary tomb. This was a main story arc, a massive one. “The storyline of my life is officially levelling up.” He couldn’t help the smile that tugged at the corners of his lips. Still, it was only a partial map. A piece of the puzzle. His excitement dampened slightly.
Ding!
[Congratulations, Host. You have acquired a strand of Wu Tribe bloodline.]
The system’s next announcement sent a surge of warmth through his body. A rush of energy briefly stirred within him—but then it faded, as quickly as it had come. It was too little to awaken anything meaningful, but enough to make Yang Yi laugh aloud.
“Haha!”
“A trace of the Wu bloodline? Now that is a treasure!”
He grinned broadly. One strand of ancestral power might not make him a god—but it was an omen of good things to come. So this young man was from the ancient Jiuli tribe… and had inherited a portion of the Wu bloodline? That must be why he was obsessed with finding Chiyou’s tomb. The pieces fit together now. It’s a shame. Perhaps he was fated to receive a protagonist’s inheritance, but lacked the life of a protagonist to match it.
“If he hadn’t been cast into this corridor… if he’d really found Chiyou’s tomb…”
“He might have risen to challenge even Xiang Yu or Liu Bang in the future.”
Yang Yi let out a quiet sigh and resumed his work, rifling through the remaining corpses. Only standard rewards followed: basic supplies, a few years of lifespan, and a decent crossbow.
“No doubt… if I hadn’t come, he might have become the king of this corridor.”
“But fate is fate.”
Once the young man’s body was tossed into the pit, Yang Yi summoned clean water and washed his hands, then retrieved the map at last. It was an ancient scroll, made of beast hide. Clearly aged, clearly incomplete.
The tear marks were clean—almost surgical—suggesting it had been intentionally divided. Still, nearly half the map remained. And half a map… was more than enough to start a journey.