Chapter: 724
After listening to the answer of the Guard behind them, the maid pointed to the shrine.
“Please head inside”
“Yo-you mean the shrine?”
“Yes”
As soon as she answered, the Guards hesitantly went into the shrine. Everything inside was dark as if the lights of the shrine were turned off. During the day, the scent of the incense would enter the noses of those who would enter.
The inside of the shrine lit up when the Guard in the back found a lamp hanging on the wall of the shrine and lit it.
“Oh...”
The Guard who was carrying the maid couldn’t hold back the exclamation as he saw the interior.
The Shrine was entirely decorated in gold and was in no way comparable to the ordinary shrines.
A portrait of the first Emperor hung on the inner wall of the shrine, and on the altar ahead of them was a tablet with an incense holder with a burnt down incense in it.
“You just witnessed the First Emperor, why are you not bowing to him?”
“Ah!... that was...”
When both the guards looked at the portrait and did not bow, the maid asked them suddenly.
When the guard who was carrying the maid became flustered, the guard from behind answered her question right away.
“Inspection maid, we would always bow to the First Emperor, but weren’t you the one who said that an invasion within the palace may happen and we had to hurry to inform?”
“Ahh...”
The words of the guard seemed to convince the maid, and she immediately pointed to the right side of the altar and asked them to move.
Once they walked to the right of the altar, there was a huge red cloth embroidered with golden dragons on it in front of them. When she reached out and pulled the cloth above, a road leading to the back of the altar appeared.
‘What?! There was such a path hidden behind the shrine?!’
Who would have thought that such a secret is hidden in the royal shrine of the First Emperor? Upon entering the road, they were now able to enter behind the walls of the altar. At the back of the portrait wall, there was space wide enough for two people to stand. It seemed like a hidden passage would open in front of them, but their path was blocked by a blue wall.
‘Sapphire stone wall?’
A wall, made of solid sapphire, suddenly appeared in front of them. As the guard lifted the lamp to light the wall, an illustration of an animal came to life.
However, it wasn’t a real animal.
The body was shaped like a deer, the tail of a cow and the hooves of a horse. The most peculiar feature of that so-called animal was its head which looked like a dragon with horns attached to it and an elongated neck joined its head and its body.
‘A Qilin?’
The wall had a strange painting of a Qilin (Chinese mythical creature). It is also referred to as the Flame Qilin, as it could breathe fire from its body. It is also said that a Qilin is the incarnation of fire. It is a sacred being in the ancient legends and also mentioned in the Book of Songs and Spring and Autumn Period.
Like a phoenix, when the Qilin appeared, it was said to be an auspicious sign of an appearance of a great King or a great Emperor.
‘To draw this right behind the portrait of the 1st Emperor...’
What was the most astonishing was that the person who engraved the Qilin’s picture seemed to be a devoted person. seeing how cleanly he drew on the sapphire wall with his fingers.
While they were wondering, the maid spoke,