The rogue cultivators were still whispering among themselves, stealing glances at Li Nanzhu’s group from time to time.
"Brother, do you think we should tell them...?" Zhao Wuya rubbed his hands together, his voice kept extremely low.
The old man lowered his voice in response. "That girl looks young, but she has managed to reach the Qi Condensation Great Perfection and is even walking alongside Young Master Liu. She must have an extraordinary background."
"But they are clearly rogue cultivators too," the burly man with the iron bow on his back said with a frown. "Look at their clothes; there isn't a single sect insignia on them."
Zhao Wuya wiped the sweat from his forehead. "Maybe they are disciples of some hidden family?"
"Even so, they are still outsiders," the burly man interrupted, his rough fingers tracing his bowstring. "If..."
The young female cultivator bit her lip. "But if they hadn't repaired the array, we might all be..."
"It’s true the girl repaired the array, but when it comes to opportunities... In the cultivation world, opportunities have always gone to the strong!" The old man stroked his beard, a sharp glint flashing in his cloudy eyes.
The burly man with the iron bow nodded as well. "The old man is right. The cultivation world is about every man for himself. It is a fact that they saved us, but we cannot simply hand over an opportunity."
Zhao Wuya sighed and whispered, "But isn't doing this a bit too..."
"Too what?" A sword cultivator suddenly interrupted, a ruthless look flashing in his eyes. "Brother Zhao, don't forget what those disciples from famous sects did to us in Sunset Valley. People from great families are no better than sect disciples."
The group fell into a brief silence.
The cultivation world was just that cruel. Under the crushing weight of sects and great families, the living space for rogue cultivators only continued to shrink, as did the resources they could obtain—let alone a massive opportunity like this. No one wanted to give it up.
"In the face of opportunity," another male cultivator said coldly, "kindness is naught."
"Shh!" the young female cultivator suddenly interrupted. "They're coming over."
Li Nanzhu approached slowly. Although her face was still somewhat pale, her steps were much steadier. Suisui hopped and jumped along beside her, its skeletal claws still clutching a spirit stone.
"Fellow Daoists," Li Nanzhu cupped her hands, her tone calm. "Have you decided which path to take?"
The rogue cultivators looked at each other. Finally, the old man stepped forward. "Little Friend Li, to have such courage and responsibility at such a young age, this old man is impressed." He hesitated for a moment. "I wonder what you all plan to..."
"To be honest, we are also hesitating," Li Nanzhu said frankly, her gaze sweeping over the nine nearly identical tunnel entrances. "Suisui hasn't sensed anything special either."
Suisui cooperatively tilted its skull and spread its skeletal claws in a gesture of ignorance.
Zhao Wuya breathed a sigh of relief upon hearing this. "So you aren't sure either. I thought..."
"Thought what?" Duan Xianxing interjected with a grin. "Thought we knew about some secret passage?"
The burly man with the iron bow scratched his head awkwardly. "Well, seeing as you repaired the array, we thought..."
"Repairing the array is one thing; choosing a path is another," Li Nanzhu said with a smile. "If you all have any insights, why not share them so we can consider them together?"
"Ah, about that..." The old man coughed twice. "We were planning to take the second tunnel from the left..."
"Then why doesn't this Fellow Daoist lead us down that path?" Liu Qingyang said with a half-smile.
The old man was suddenly at a loss for words, stammering, "This... this old man thinks the second one from the right isn't bad either..."
Li Nanzhu watched this, knowing full well that these rogue cultivators wanted to follow them but were also afraid of being used as pawns.
She spoke plainly. "There is no need for concern. This is our first time here as well; we really can't offer any suggestions."
The rogue cultivators looked at each other and fell into silence again until Duan Xianxing stepped forward and laughed. "How about we draw lots?"
"That’s not a bad idea," Li Nanzhu nodded solemnly.
Seeing this, the burly man with the iron bow hurriedly proposed, "Why don't we split up? More people means more ground covered; maybe we'll find more opportunities."
Drawing lots? What a joke. What if they drew a dead end? He didn't want to die with them.
"That's a good idea!" Zhao Wuya immediately agreed. "I'll take the middle one."
The young female cultivator hesitated. "But won't it be too dangerous to separate..."
"On the path of cultivation, what isn't dangerous?" The old man patted her shoulder. "This old man will take the second one on the left. Who's with me?"
The rogue cultivators quickly divided into groups. After a few hurried salutes, they impatiently rushed toward their chosen tunnels.
Before leaving, Zhao Wuya hesitated before walking up to Li Nanzhu. "Fellow Daoist Li, thank you for repairing the array. If you ever have the chance to come to Qingyun City, please be a guest at the Zhao house."
Li Nanzhu nodded slightly. "I will."
Once their figures had disappeared, Duan Xianxing sneered. "Those old foxes. Do they really think we can't see what they're plotting?"
Liu Qingyang looked at Li Nanzhu. "Should we follow them and see?"
Suisui suddenly made two clicking sounds, its skeletal claws making a peeping gesture as the blue fire in its eye sockets flickered excitedly.
Li Nanzhu shook her head. "No need. This is how it is in the cultivation world; kindness is worth nothing in the face of opportunity." She looked at the remaining tunnels. "We will walk our own path."
"So..." Duan Xianxing looked at Li Nanzhu. "Which one are we taking? We can't actually be drawing lots, right?"
Li Nanzhu stared at the tunnels in silence, suddenly remembering the strange expression on Cang Dongqing’s face when she chose her entrance earlier.
She was now completely certain that even Cang Dongqing didn't know which path was truly safe. Earlier, the other girl's gaze had lingered on another tunnel—could it be that one?
Moreover, no one else had chosen that tunnel yet. Her intuition also told her they could take it, but in matters of life and death, relying on something as ethereal as intuition was the most unreliable thing.
"Junior Sister, do you have any thoughts?" Zhu Yinxi asked, watching Li Nanzhu's pensive expression.
"I..." Li Nanzhu hesitated for a moment before eventually shaking her head. "I can't make up my mind either. However..."
Her gaze landed on the third tunnel from the right, which no one had chosen. It was deep and silent, no different from the others.
"My intuition tells me the third one on the right might..." Before Li Nanzhu could finish, she shook her head again. "But my intuition isn't necessarily accurate. I should hear your opinions."
Zhu Yinxi suddenly spoke. "Let’s choose that one."
Li Nanzhu’s eyes widened slightly, seemingly surprised that Zhu Yinxi would trust her intuition.
Liu Qingyang and Duan Xianxing had no objections. After all, to them, any path was the same since they couldn't tell the difference anyway.
"It’s not just your intuition," Zhu Yinxi pointed toward the tunnel. "There are faint cracks on the ground, damaged by sword qi when the Sword Heart Sect forced their way through the array earlier."
He then looked at Li Nanzhu. "After an array is repaired, the gate of life is often hidden in the most inconspicuous damaged areas. Junior Sister, your intuition was correct."
Li Nanzhu took a deep breath. "Then we'll take this one." She paused. "But we must be careful. Neither intuition nor markings are necessarily reliable."
"Don't worry," Liu Qingyang adjusted his headscarf. "We've been through so much; we won't let our guard down where it counts."
The four of them exchanged glances, and Suisui was the first to charge into the tunnel.
"Let's go! I have a feeling! I'm definitely going to find a huge opportunity!" Duan Xianxing followed closely behind, unwilling to be left out.
The tunnel was surprisingly spacious. Fluorescent stones were embedded in the walls, illuminating the path ahead with a translucent blue light. After repeated inspections, the four of them found no traces of other creatures or traps.
"As expected, we chose right!" Duan Xianxing chuckled. "Those people from the Sword Heart Sect must have picked wrong. Tsk tsk, intuition~"
"We have Brother Zhu and Junior Sister Li to thank, otherwise it wouldn't be this smooth," Liu Qingyang was also in a quite good mood.
However, the further they went, the more Li Nanzhu felt something was off—it was too quiet.
Li Nanzhu suddenly halted her steps. Seeing her stop, the other three immediately ceased their advance.
"Junior Sister, did you discover something? Why the sudden stop?"
Although they didn't know the reason, they instinctively went on high alert.
Li Nanzhu shook her head. "No, it's just too quiet. I feel a bit uneasy, and I feel like I've forgotten something. Maybe I'm just overthinking."
Zhu Yinxi closed his eyes, and his divine sense spread out instantly. After a moment, he said with certainty, "There are no living things within thirty feet ahead."
Liu Qingyang also used his compass to investigate. "There are indeed no traces of traps or restrictions."
Duan Xianxing patted Li Nanzhu's shoulder. "Junior Sister, you're just too tense. We've encountered narrow escapes at every turn on this journey. It's rare for things to go so smoothly, and it's making you uncomfortable."
Suisui hopped and spun in a circle, as if trying to comfort Li Nanzhu as well.
Li Nanzhu forced a smile. "Perhaps." She rubbed her temples. After all, in the original story, when Cang Dongqing took this tunnel, she indeed encountered no danger and made it smoothly to the core of the cave dwelling.
Thinking of this, she felt slightly more at ease. Perhaps she really was too tense. Since the array had been repaired this time, the events were already different from the original plot; they should have chosen the correct safe path.
"Let's go." She braced herself. "Since we've checked and everything's fine, let's not delay."
The four continued forward. The tunnel grew wider, and the fluorescent stones on the walls became more dense, lighting the way as if it were day. Suisui ran happily at the front, the bell on its tail-bone letting out a crisp ringing sound.
"It’s a pity these fluorescent stones aren't worth anything. No one even wants them when they fall on the floor, otherwise I'd definitely dig them all out."
Duan Xianxing sighed as he walked. Clearly, once his mood improved, he remembered the loss of his three highest-grade spirit stone crystals. After becoming rich overnight and then instantly returning to being a pauper, Duan Xianxing had adapted well, but he couldn't help but sigh.
"Maybe there will be more highest-grade spirit stone crystals at the end of the tunnel?" Liu Qingyang adjusted his headscarf from time to time. For some reason, he had a bad premonition.
Of course, it wasn't a sense of danger.
It was for his hair.
So ever since entering the tunnel, he had been constantly checking if his headscarf was still perfectly in place.
"You're right!" Duan Xianxing's eyes lit up. "Then we better hurry! We can't let anyone else beat us to it!"
Saying that, he directly picked up Suisui and rushed forward.
Suisui: ?
The four advanced for about another fifteen minutes before a soft light finally appeared ahead. It was a vast, circular stone hall, with nine light gates carved with different totems suspended in the air.
However, what was unsettling was that a ragged rogue cultivator was already slumped in a corner, covered in horrific wounds.
"Fellow Daoist Zhao?" Liu Qingyang frowned. "What happened to you all?"
Zhao Wuya gave a bitter smile as he held up his blood-soaked right arm. "The third tunnel on the left... it was too dangerous. I ran fast, but Fellow Daoist Liu died in there..."
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