Meanwhile, in the Moon Palace, Chu Changge was utilising his strength to force the poison out, and the young chief was standing in front of him with a spear in his hand, looking very tense. From last night until now, Chu Changge's body had been emitting heat when he was practising his martial arts, and at this moment, it suddenly changed colour from white to grey, then purple to black. The young chief thought this must be a critical moment for Chu Changge; thus, he had to be extra vigilant. It would be a problem if someone suddenly broke in.
The more one feared something, the more what one feared would come.
The young chief was secretly praying not to be found when he suddenly heard the sound of footsteps from outside. The footsteps stopped at the entrance of the tomb. And there was a distinct conversation that came from outside—
"This is the former Clan Head's wife's tomb. You can search everywhere except here."
"It's better to kill a thousand by mistake than to let one slip through the net. Open the tomb. I want to go in and search the place myself."
"City Lord, you can't do that. Entering the former Clan Header's wife's tomb without permission is going against the natural order and will receive heavenly retribution."
Hearing these words, the young chief secretly sighed in relief, thinking: Gazar, although you have betrayed the clan since you still remember the clan rules, I will leave your whole body intact.
At this moment, another voice outside the door said: "You even betrayed your clan, yet still afraid to enter the tomb? If there really is heavenly retribution, you would have been punished long ago. It wouldn't have waited until now. Quickly open the tomb."
Gazar replied, "Yes, City Lord."
Hearing Gazar's reply, the young chief clenched the spear in his hand, and his eyes were murderous, staring deadly at the stone door. In his heart, he could not wait to cut Gazar into pieces.
With a boom, the stone door opened. Two eyes met another two eyes.
Hua Tiansheng let out a loud laugh. "You are really here."
The young chief asked Gazar hatefully in their indigenous language, "How did you know how to open the tomb's mechanism?"
Gazar also replied in their indigenous language, "I not only know the tomb's mechanism, I know all about the mechanisms in this city. Because the ones who designed the mechanism were my grandfather and father. Despite everything, your grandfather even boiled the hound once it caught the rabbit, sparing none from my family!"
The young chief suddenly realised no wonder Gazar gave gu to his mother and colluded with foreign enemies to betray the clan. It turned out that Gazar was harbouring a grudge. The young chief said, "If your grandfather and father knew what you have done today, they would be ashamed to death. They were not killed by my grandfather but ended their own life. When they first implored my grandfather to entrust them with the important task of setting up the mechanisms in the city, they were prepared to die in the line of duty. Their death was glorious. Their deaths also brought about your position as Supreme Sorcerer."
Hearing the truth, Gazar was shocked. "Impossible, impossible......"
Hua Tiansheng said, "Why are you still talking nonsense with him? Hurry up and arrest him. Someone, take these two assassins down!"
"Yes!" Soldiers immediately went forward to catch the young chief and Chu Changge.
The young chief hastily swung his spear, trying his best to protect Chu Changge. However, the old wound on his right shoulder had not yet healed, and at this time, his forced movements pulled the injured tendons and bones, causing his shoulder to begin bleeding. But he remained relentless, holding his ground and not letting anyone get close to Chu Changge. The only belief in his heart was that he must not fall down before Chu Changge walked out of the gate. One after another, soldiers fell before his eyes. With his eyes red from the kills, the young chief made his last move, piercing through Gazar's chest. "My grandfather's biggest mistake was to leave you, the root of the trouble, alive." After the words, he abruptly drew back his spear, causing Gazar's blood to splatter on the spot.
After killing Gazar, the young chief immediately pointed his spear at Hua Tiansheng. While quenching a mouthful of blood, he spoke one word at a time, "You forcibly occupied my city and trampled on my people. Today, I will make you pay for this!"
Hua Tiansheng replied, "I'll be waiting."
The young chief's eyes tensed as he attacked Hua Tiansheng but was blocked by the sudden influx of soldiers.
Hua Tiansheng yelled, "The one who takes his head will be rewarded with 10,000 silver!"
The young chief sneered. "My head is only worth 10,000. What an insult!" After saying that, he put forth his spear and fought with all his might.
A quarter of an hour passed, then two quarters passed as more and more corpses fell under his feet. The number of soldiers before him lessened over time, and the young chief gradually exhausted his strength. After killing the last soldier, with his spear pointed to the sky, he finally toppled over with a bang.
Seeing the young chief finally collapse, Hua Tiansheng, ready to flee, was overjoyed and walked up to Chu Changge step by step, saying, "Chu Changge, last time I lost because I was inferior to you in martial arts. This time I originally wanted to obtain the secret manuals of the martial arts schools through the position of the Great Leader of Martial Arts Alliance so that I could practice the best martial arts and fight you to the death. Unfortunately, you did not give me this opportunity and messed up my plan. But it does not matter. Even without the best martial arts, I can still win against you. This city is specially prepared for me. After today, this city will be yours, as your eternal grave." After saying that, he pulled out the scimitar hanging on his waist and slashed it in the air. Even after his hand made a hacking movement with the scimitar, it failed to land on Chu Changge's head since his whole body had been blown away at the tomb's entrance and fell to the ground.
Hua Tiansheng quickly climbed up. When he saw two people who appeared from nowhere standing in front of Chu Changge, he asked in shock, "Who are you?"
"Soul Chaser."
"Suo Ming." [T/C]
Hua Tiansheng was astounded. He remembered that these two people had worked as door guards at the Jiugua House owned by Murong Yunshu, and their martial arts skills were unfathomable, no less than Chu Changge's. Hua Tiansheng's heart was fearful, but he kept his composure on the surface and questioned, "How did you get in?" Before the words completely left his mouth, he fiercely pressed on the mechanism and leapt out. The stone door instantly closed behind him. Hua Tiansheng sighed in relief and shouted, "Come on, men. Block the stone door!" After saying that, he immediately swaggered off.
The only way out was to abandon the city and flee. In the future, he would return in a swirl of dust.
*
While there were glints and flashes of daggers and swords on the ground, there were none under it. Murong Yunshu had been racking her brain but still could not find the way to escape the mechanism in the stone room that led into the city. South, East, North, and West tried to knock down the wall with their internal force, but also to no avail. Seeing the quartet's faces looking deathly pale and dripping with cold sweats, Murong Yunshu was even more torn with anxiety. In an emergency, she suddenly remembered a quote in《Fifty In The World》book: "All mechanisms have their own form. The invisible ones are created from their conditions and can also be broken similarly."
Broken similarly...... conditions...... con...... suddenly, an idea flashed in Murong Yunshu's mind as she urged, "Try to hit the ceiling above you. "
Hearing this, East, South, West and North threw themselves together at the ceiling above them, only to listen to a loud band as a circular stone disc fell, leaving a hole in the ceiling. There was a fist thick iron chain in the centre of the stone disc, connected to the upper level of the stone room. The quartet immediately put Murong Yunshu on the disc before jumping on it themselves. A few seconds later, the stone disc slowly rose upward. When the disc rose and reached the upper level, they could hear a click, and the disc became stationary.
South, East, North, and West sighed with relief. East Guardian said with lingering fear, "The person who designed this mechanism is even more amazing than that guy, Mister Shi Er!"
Murong Yunshu also broke into a sweat. That disaster was the most frightening one she had experienced since she entered the jianghu. If she didn't crack it in time, she was afraid that the South, East, North, and West would be cooked thoroughly. "Are your feet okay?" Murong Yunshu turned around and asked.
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South, East, North, and West smiling and shaking their heads, "It's nothing, it's nothing. They're fine." As if to prove their point, they started to jump a few times in situ.
"It's good that they're okay." After uttering these words, Murong Yunshu turned her head to observe this level in front of her.
The moment Murong Yunshu turned her head, South, East, North, and West's smile instantly twisted out of shape as they grimaced in pain.
Murong Yunshu muttered, "This level should not have any special mechanism. But remember not to touch any things inside the room. Just follow the footprints on the ground."
The second Murong Yunshu opened her mouth, the quartet immediately returned to their original form. "We won't. We'll make sure not to touch anything this time." If their feet were nearly cooked after touching the things down there once, how would they dare to touch anything here the second time?
Murong Yunshu and the quartet carefully stepped on the footprint onward, smoothly going through the stone room, until a not wide and not narrow passage appeared before them. Just like the darkness of midwinter, the path was so dark that one couldn't even see one's hand in front. North Guardian remarked, "I just saw an oil lamp in the stone room. Let's light it for illumination."
"Don't you ever!!" East, South and West trio spoke in unison with a fearful look.
Murong Yunshu couldn't help laughing. "Lil North, although the three of them are still young, they can't stand being scared by you like that. Don't joke around at times like this."
North Guardian had a serious expression on his face. "I'm not joking. There really is an oil lamp there." And he did want to light that oil lamp for illumination.
The corner of Murong Yunshu's forehead jumped slightly and patiently reminded him. "Have you forgotten what I said just now? You can't touch anything here."
North Guardian smiled and slapped the back of his head, saying, "Luckily, I didn't go and get it directly. That was close."
Murong Yunshu couldn't help but shake her head. "You three, keep a closer eye on him."
The three people nodded heavily and said in unison, "If he dares to touch it, we'll chop off the hand that touches it."
North Guardian hastily hid his hand behind his back and asked weakly, "Do you guys believe me if I say that was just a slip of the tongue?"
West Guardian gave him a scornful glance. "When have you ever not made a slip of the tongue?"
"......" North Guardian decided not to speak for three days.
East Guardian pointedly said, "It's pitch black in front of us, and we can't even see the footprints. What should we do next without triggering the mechanism?"
Murong Yunshu sighed. "I don't know." She thought they would be absolutely safe if they found the secret passage, but she never thought it would be full of twists and turns. This Old Clan Head of Puhua Island really liked to torment people physically and mentally. It was right for her to think so. The Old Clan Head even put a small blockade for every 3 steps and then a big one for the next 5 steps in his city. Just like this passage, which was vital for the survival of his clan people, he naturally would not neglect it.
Bending down to take a closer look at the passage in front of her, Murong Yunshu said, "This passage is set up with water in it and paved with a row of circular stone platforms. Among these stone platforms, some must be walkable and some not. But all the stone platforms look exactly identical, so I can not see any clue on which one has been put with a mechanism beneath it. For safety's sake, let's use the method of throwing a stone to find our way."
East Guardian asked, "How are we going to do that?"
"Have you ever seen a blind man walking?" Murong Yunshu asked instead of answering.
It finally dawned on East Guardian as he immediately said, "Lil North, it's time to put your red tassel spear to good use."
North Guardian argued, "My red tassel spear has always been very useful!"
The corners of East Guardian's mouth twitched slightly, not bothering to explain to him, and directly said, "You walk at the front and by using your red tassel spear as a crutch, take one tentative step forward."
"Okay." North Guardian immediately took out his red tassel spear to explore the way, but as soon as it touched the first stone platform, he heard a hidden arrow shoot from the left wall to the right wall. North Guardian was so scared that he immediately withdrew his spear and sighed. "In my next life, I won't practice martial arts, and I'll focus on learning about mechanisms instead. Even the most powerful martial arts experts can't help me with this."
Even East, South and West trio nodded with the same feeling. In the face of such layers of progressive, step-by-step mechanisms, even the highest martial arts skills paled in comparison.
Murong Yunshu said, "Don't be ashamed of yourself. Mr Shi Er is also a master of his craft, but isn't he still being squeezed and flattened by you guys? When it comes down to it, having internal cultivation is the most important."
When South, East, North, and West thought of Mister Shi Er, they immediately regained their confidence and were full of fighting spirit. East Guardian proposed, "I'll explore the way first. Even if I accidentally trigger the mechanism, it will only be a few hidden arrows, so it won't be a problem for me." [T/C]
After thinking about it, Murong Yunshu discovered that this was the only way for them to proceed, so she cautioned him, "Be careful."
The South and East duo nodded after hearing her words. East Guardian leapt over the first stone platform and landed on the second one. He paused for a few seconds, and after seeing no hidden arrows coming out, he said, "South, it's your turn." South Guardian jumped over in response and also landed safely. Seeing this scene, the North-West duo immediately took Murong Yunshu with them and leapt onto the second stone platform.
East Guardian spoke, "I'll try one by one next. If there is a mechanism under it, I will immediately dodge it by jumping to the next stone platform. If it is safe, you can follow my step. Lil South, you cover me from behind. Lil West, Lil North, you two protect Madam."
"Okay." South, West and North trio people immediately got into their positions.
Five people stumbled all the way, finally got through the passage safely, and came to a small stone room. Unlike the previous two stone rooms, this one was unusually small and too crowded for five people. With the several previous lessons, everyone did not dare to touch randomly, did not even dare knock on the walls, and could only look around to try to find a breakthrough.
Suddenly, the sound of hurried footsteps, many and varied, came from above their heads. Everyone immediately went into alert mode. Soon the footsteps overhead stopped and were replaced by a few creaks and clicks. Everyone was puzzled when they sensed a sudden movement under their feet. Murong Yunshu was the first to notice the oddity and said, "Oh no. This is a stone cage." Before the words were out of her mouth, the stone room rose slowly away from the walls, turning from stone walls to several thick stone pillars on all sides, in the form of a cage.
The cage rose all the way to the upper ground before stopping. Those who were inside and outside were astounded.
"Hua Tiansheng!"
"Murong Yunshu!"
Enemies were bound to meet head-on on a narrow road.
Murong Yunshu, South, East, North, and West had complicated feelings within the cage. They have endured a thousand hardships, only to arrive in someone else's stone cage.
In contrast, Hua Tiansheng was in a much better mood. One could wear iron shoes in a fruitless search for something, and yet by a lucky chance, one might find it without even looking for it. Hua Tiansheng instructed, "Come, people. Lit the incense!"
South, East, North, and West immediately hold their breath at his word.
Hua Tiansheng laughed. "This incense penetrates into your bloodstream from your skin. It is useless to hold your breath."
Like Hua Tiansheng said, the South, East, North, and West's hands and feet soon became weak, causing them to collapse on the ground. Murong Yunshu was even passed out.
Hua Tiansheng ordered, "Tie them up."
"Yes." Several soldiers hurriedly opened the stone cage and tied up Murong Yunshu, South, East, North, and West.
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Black Belly Wife