Crown Prince and Ghost King

Chapter 43

After a while of digging, Yin Yu started going upwards. The shovel efficiently moved away dirt and rocks, making them disappear somewhere else rather than piling them up as they went, and soon enough they emerged in the yard of a residence.

Xie Lian offhandedly commented about how the houses on that street were all impressive, after looking around a bit, so Hua Cheng provided an explanation: «This place is close to the Kiln, which is situated in what used to be the imperial capital, so it's a place of wealth», he told his beloved. «The ones who lived here were mostly prominent figures and government officials».

However, those houses weren't as impressive as the exceedingly horrifying sight near the well in the yard. All around it, sprawled over the edge, were seven to eight coarsely-made, ashen white stone statues. Which, in reality, weren't statues at all, and Xie Lian was quick to pick up the detail.

No one would sculpt such terrifying statues, unless their mind was twisted and their intentions far from benign; to see them in the yard of a certainly rich household raised many questions, and the answer to those questions was far more horrible than it could be imagined.

The fact that, beyond the open doors of the mansion, a family could be seen lying on the ground, only proved that those outside were the household's servants, and those inside the masters.

When Xie Lian pointed it out, the ghost nodded: «After the volcano erupted, the residents who lived in the high plains weren't burnt to death, but they succumbed to the volcanic ash. These shells were formed by that ash». Those people probably didn't even realize they died, when the pyroclastic wave engulfed them, a blazing hot cloud burning skin and tissues, filling the lungs with toxic gas.

A quick death, if anything, though a terrifying one.

However, as ghastly as the view was, there was nothing left but those shells. Hua Cheng proved it by approaching the family of three laying on the ground and shattering those shells, leaving behind only a pile of ashen-white shards. The volcanic ash could form a solid protective shell, but the corpse inside would still rot and break down. So many years had passed since the fall of WuYong that not even a skeleton remained.

«San Lang, next time warn me», Xie Lian scolded the ghost, kneeling down beside the pile of ashen shards. «I didn't know there weren't any remains in these shells, I thought you were being disrespectful».

What was left, save for the shells themselves, were some not yet fully rotted through pieces of cloth and the accessories worn by the hosts, such as earrings, necklaces, and so on. Though, the form of the shells was definitely the one of someone clutching something in their hands, close to the heart, ad Xie Lian didn't believe it could possibly be jewelry.

He was carefully picking through those pieces when Hua Cheng handed something to him; a pendant, a shimmering golden plate with something akin to bones hanging off the chain. The pendant was of exquisite manufacture, the gold not quite ruined by the passage of time. Surely it was an item of significance, and an expensive one on top of that.

Looking at it closely, Xie Lian noticed there were patterns engraved on the golden plate: «The ominous star?».

The celestial drawing had him befuddled. That particular star, which was the celestial phase when the Star of Glowing Befuddlement stood still in the Heart Constellation, had historically been seen as the Star of War and Death, and was an even more ominous sign when it rested within the Heart Constellation. Why would the ominous star be engraved on an accessory... it slipped Xie Lian's mind.

What didn't slip, however, was the fact that there were two more of that pendant hiding in the pile of shattered volcanic shells.

«A protection charm with the ominous star?», Xie Lian mumbled, puzzled. «Does the Crown Prince have any connection to it?».