Imhotep, Alive and Dead Again

Imhotep had clearly ignored Yinsen’s words. His first instinct was to rush forward, seize Yinsen’s Life Force, and restore himself to his peak condition.

That was exactly what he had done in the original story, except he had first dug out one man’s eyes and tongue to regain his sight and ability to speak.

In truth, Imhotep had not completely lost either ability. It was simply that Undead Vision and Undead Whisper could not be heard by ordinary people, which made it difficult for him to communicate with normal humans and unsuitable for use in the world of the living. That was why he had first taken those two organs to make moving about easier, then killed those "tomb raiders" one by one to complete the resurrection ritual.

Yinsen did not know whether Imhotep had retained some teasing intent back then, but the one before him clearly had no intention of talking. His furious roar was mixed with Undead Whisper, clearly conveying his thoughts: kill Yinsen, who had offended him.

Ordinary people could not hear this sound that directly struck the soul. Even if they heard it, they would not understand it, and it could even cause a series of negative effects, such as terror, cold and rigid bodies, and mental exhaustion. None of that could possibly affect Yinsen.

Not to mention that he had more than enough magical power to protect himself, even the faint divinity contained within him was enough to make him immune to this level of Soul Impact.

Imhotep seemed to notice the divinity on Yinsen. Though he looked like a mummy, a trace of surprise still appeared on his face. Then he saw Yinsen raise the Book of Amun-Ra in his hands and recite an incantation that filled him with terror.

"No!"

His soul-roar, mixed with Soul Impact, clearly expressed his resistance. But it was useless. Yinsen did not pause in the slightest and recited the entire incantation in one breath.

Unlike a fully resurrected Imhotep, who could continue moving as an "ordinary person" after the Book of Amun-Ra’s incantation stripped him of all his magical power, Imhotep in his current, more undead-like state was perfectly countered by the Book of Amun-Ra. It had an incantation specifically meant to "kill" him, turning this lively mummy back into an ordinary mummy.

As Yinsen finished the complete incantation, a magical ripple enveloped the entire Stone Chamber. It then found its target, swept over Imhotep, and sent the mummy who had just crawled out of the sarcophagus collapsing to the floor once more.

Yinsen sensed him for a moment. Once he confirmed that the mummy had indeed become ordinary "dried firewood," he closed the Book of Amun-Ra and opened the Book of the Dead again.

The covers of these two books were more like separate clamps, each fitted with a special lock that could only be opened with its matching key.

And once opened, the key remained attached to the book’s cover and could not be removed. To take it out, the book had to be closed and locked again.

There were three places that required the key, including Imhotep’s sarcophagus, but there was only one key. Yinsen had no choice but to keep running back and forth.

He recited Imhotep’s resurrection incantation once more, and the mummy before him regained its "vitality." Furious, Imhotep naturally remembered what had just happened. He roared and charged at Yinsen again, intending to tear him to pieces.

Then he saw, in despair, Yinsen pick up the already-open Book of Amun-Ra and recite that incantation again.

"Wait… nooo!"

Nothing he shouted mattered. Yinsen cheerfully finished the incantation, opened the Book of the Dead once again, and repeated the previous process.

Imhotep’s story, combined with the Egyptian legends surrounding Scarab Devourment, had left Evelyn and O’Connell extremely nervous. They knew Yinsen was a mage, but confronting a "powerful High Priest from legend" still worried them. From the very beginning, both had stared tensely at the scene, afraid things would suddenly take a turn for the worse.

But the situation suddenly became strange. The High Priest described as someone who would bring Egypt to ruin was being repeatedly toyed with by Yinsen.

From being cautious and nervous at first to now watching the two men endlessly perform this farce with speechless disbelief, O’Connell did not even know how to describe how he felt.

"This is the High Priest who’s supposed to bring disaster to the world? Did we find the wrong sarcophagus?"

Evelyn was both speechless and thoroughly entertained. She firmly believed she could not have found the wrong one. As for the scene before her, the only explanation was that the Book of Amun-Ra restrained Imhotep far too effectively.

Though what was happening was amusing, watching the same loop repeat over and over was rather boring. Logan put his cigar back in his mouth. The pyramid smelled just as bad, so he could only use the cigar’s scent to ease his suffering.

Ada also thought the place smelled awful, but having received all kinds of professional training, she could still endure it. At the same time, she continued observing their surroundings.

"The sounds we could faintly hear earlier have disappeared. It looks like the Medjai who were hiding on the other side of the dunes have attacked those Americans."

The faint construction-like noises from earlier had been made by those American archaeologists digging holes everywhere, trying to find the treasures hidden within this legendary city.

When the sounds suddenly stopped and faint gunfire could be heard, Ada immediately realized that the Medjai had launched an attack against the invaders.

Logan noticed it as well. His powerful sense of smell caught the scent of blood, which meant fighting had broken out.

"Yinsen, you’d better resolve this quickly."

Yinsen had been repeatedly bringing Imhotep back to life and killing him again, but he had kept an eye on the surroundings. He heard what Ada and Logan said, and figured that after being put through this several times, Imhotep should have understood that overpowering him by force was impossible.

He had also noticed that the High Priest was taking advantage of getting a few steps closer to Yinsen with every resurrection, quietly waiting until he was close enough to launch a surprise attack. He believed that as long as he could stop Yinsen from finishing the incantation or take away the Book of Amun-Ra, he could teach this crafty man a harsh lesson.

But when he resurrected once more and found that the distance between himself and Yinsen had increased again, he understood that the other man had seen through his scheme.

Yinsen had long noticed what the man was planning. He had done nothing until Imhotep had gotten close enough that, with one more resurrection, he seemed capable of rushing right in front of him. Only then did Yinsen kick the mummy back beside the sarcophagus, where he had stood upon first resurrecting.

When Imhotep came back to life yet again and saw that the distance had been reopened, he finally did not leap up roaring and pounce as before. Instead, he stood there calmly.

"Now we can have a peaceful conversation."

Yinsen had been learning Ancient Egyptian Language from Evelyn. Since he had not studied it for long, he still had some difficulty perfectly understanding Ancient Egyptian when he saw it written down, but carrying out a basic conversation was no problem.

Imhotep did not speak. He currently lacked the ability to "speak human language," but that could not stop a powerful priest from communicating with others.

With a slight spread of his hands, the fine sand in the Stone Chamber gathered around Imhotep, then formed a line of words in the air before him: What do you want?

"I want to learn the magic of Soul Summoning from you."

Imhotep was slightly stunned. He had never expected Yinsen to want to learn this type of magic: The Book of the Dead records the magic of Soul Summoning. Didn’t you resurrect me with it?

"What I want to learn are the specific details of the magic, not this…" Yinsen curled his lip. He was truly speechless at the incantation recorded within. "Half-baked divine magic that cannot even explain what exactly it does."

As a powerful priest, Imhotep naturally understood what Yinsen meant. He had never expected that after being imprisoned for over three thousand years, the first person he encountered after awakening would be someone who wanted to learn magic.

Something like a smile appeared on Imhotep’s face, but a mummy’s appearance simply could not properly convey the expression it was supposed to show. No matter what expression he made, it looked savage and terrifying in human eyes:

Let me resurrect completely, and I will teach you the magic you wish to learn.

Yinsen nodded. That was exactly what he wanted Imhotep to say.

He could guess that Imhotep definitely had his own little plans. Perhaps he had never intended to keep his promise at all and only wanted to trick Yinsen into helping him resurrect completely, allowing him to regain his peak strength and do whatever he wanted.

Teach Yinsen magic? Perhaps, in Imhotep’s mind, if Yinsen’s performance satisfied him, he would not mind gaining another servant to serve him. If not, he would thoroughly settle the score for the humiliation Yinsen had inflicted upon him earlier.

But Yinsen’s next action made Imhotep pause slightly. This young man, who "seemed to know something," actually pulled out a water bottle from thin air. The water he poured out gathered into a Water Orb above his palm, floating there.

Imhotep could sense within it the immense Life Force he desired most at the moment. And Yinsen’s effortless control over the floating Water Orb made him realize that even without the Book of Amun-Ra in hand, this young man was not an ordinary person he could casually deal with.

"There’s no time to find sacrifices now. You can try seeing how effective this is."

Imhotep waved his hand, and the sand finally formed a sentence: Water containing Life Force like this is far better than sacrifices.

Filled with anticipation, he reached for the Water Orb in the air and drew its vigorous Life Force into his body. As the immense Life Force flowed into him, astonishing changes occurred throughout Imhotep’s dried-corpse-like body. From the inside out, he gradually regained the appearance of a normal man.

Having finally recovered his human form, Imhotep took a deep breath and looked at Yinsen with a broad smile.