Duan Xianxing let out a long breath. "Qingyang, I thought you were upset again because of those rogue cultivators. You're actually a bit terrifying when you get angry."
Liu Qingyang scratched his head and grinned. "My old man taught me—that's exactly how you have to deal with unreasonable people."
Duan Xianxing seemed to think of something and suddenly nudged Liu Qingyang. "You suddenly exposed your background. Won't Sect Leader Liu do something to you when you go back?"
"The old man has been annoyed with me hiding away for ages. If it weren't for that, I wouldn't have run out alone," Liu Qingyang waved his hand dismissively. "Besides..." He suddenly threw an arm around Duan Xianxing’s shoulder. "Sticking my neck out for a brother—it’s worth it!"
Suisui tried to copy them by squeezing between their frames, only to fall apart into a clattering pile of bones.
Li Nanzhu helplessly poked at Suisui's bones, watching as it reassembled itself, and let out a soft laugh. "You don't regret offending the Sword Heart Sect with your identity as the young master of the Water Moon Sect?"
"What's there to regret?" Liu Qingyang smiled. "It’s my luck to make friends like you. So what if it's the Sword Heart Sect? One or two of them are so stupid it makes the future of their sect look worrying!"
"Let's go." The corners of Zhu Yinxi's lips curved slightly. "If we delay any longer, we might run into something else."
"Oh, right!" Liu Qingyang seemed to remember something and suddenly pulled four iron plaques from his storage bag, thrusting them at the group. "Take these! In the future, just give them my name at the Refinery Sect and you'll get a twenty percent discount on all refinery fees!"
Duan Xianxing took a copper coin and looked at it; the word "Liu" was simply engraved on it. "Is this it?"
"Keep it low-key! Do you understand low-key!" Liu Qingyang hopped around. "My dad said..."
Suisui suddenly stuffed its plaque into a gap in its ribs and struck a majestic pose with its bone claws on its hips. Amidst everyone’s laughter, Li Nanzhu put the plaque into her storage bag and helped Suisui put its own away as well, planning to find a way to secure it to Suisui once they returned to the sect. "Thanks. Let's head out!"
"Mm." Zhu Yinxi's lips curled up. "Remember to use Young Master Liu's name for that twenty percent discount."
Liu Qingyang jumped up with a horrified expression. "Brother Zhu, since when did you become so wicked!"
Zhu Yinxi ignored the trio's surprised expressions and walked forward in a good mood. The three humans and one skeleton looked at each other and followed with smiles.
"So," Duan Xianxing suddenly spoke up, "why are we taking the same path as the Sword Heart Sect?"
Liu Qingyang also looked at Zhu Yinxi, clearly sharing the same question as Duan Xianxing.
Li Nanzhu didn't say anything. The path her second senior brother had chosen suited her perfectly. After all, the path the heroine took was the correct one; everything else was a dead end. Only by following the other party could they truly reach the core area of the cave dwelling, where the Dao of alchemy inheritance was located.
Since Zhu Yinxi's choice aligned with her goals, she naturally had no objections.
"The state those people from the Sword Heart Sect were in," Zhu Yinxi said without stopping, "wasn't like ours. Although they looked like they had been through a fight, they clearly hadn't faced the same level of danger we did. They must have found a shortcut."
"No way? Is their luck that good?" Duan Xianxing felt a bit dejected. "Then what was the point of us running for our lives these past two days?"
"It counts as our bad luck," Li Nanzhu said expressionlessly. As expected of the heroine—even with the same entrance, she could find a faster and safer path. When it came to them, they were even unluckier than those rogue cultivators from before.
"But their harvest definitely isn't as great as ours," Liu Qingyang comforted them with a smile.
"True!" Duan Xianxing regained his spirit.
"So if we follow the Sword Heart Sect now, we might find a path that leads directly to the core of the cave dwelling?"
Zhu Yinxi didn't answer, only giving a slight nod.
"But if we run into them again..." Duan Xianxing kicked pebbles along the way. "I feel like Cang Dongqing will definitely stir up more trouble."
"Let her stir it," Li Nanzhu said easily. "Anyway, with Second Senior Brother here, it’s not like we can't beat them."
Suisui hopped and skipped to the very front, the bell on its tailbone suddenly ringing twice in a rapid rhythm.
The group looked at the fork in the road ahead, where three deep tunnels stretched out in different directions.
The traces of the Sword Heart Sect had long since vanished, with even their footprints intentionally erased.
"Which way?" Duan Xianxing scratched his head.
Because Li Nanzhu knew the original plot, she was very clear about which path Cang Dongqing and the others had taken. However, she couldn't point it out directly, so she simply stepped forward to observe the environment.
Li Nanzhu squatted down, her fingertips touching the ground. "There are fresh scratches in the left tunnel, left behind when the Sword Heart Sect erased their tracks." She pointed to the middle. "This path has traces of crushed fluorescent moss." Finally, she pointed to the right. "Although this one shows no traces at all, the dust found in the other tunnels is completely missing here. They probably forgot about the dust when they were redoing their camouflage. We go this way."
"Little Junior Sister is so smart!" Duan Xianxing cheered and was the first to step into the right-hand tunnel, with the other three following close behind him.
As soon as they entered the tunnel, a damp, musty smell hit them.
Icy droplets of water seeped from the rock walls, making crisp sounds as they hit the stone floor. Suisui suddenly grabbed Li Nanzhu's hem, its tailbone bell vibrating slightly.
Zhu Yinxi tapped the ground with his jade flute. "Careful. There are signs of a triggered mechanism ahead."
The rock walls on both sides of the tunnel were covered with fine holes. Dozens of broken arrows were scattered on the ground, and one arrow was lodged in a crack in the floor, its tail still vibrating slightly.
"It’s a linked crossbow," Liu Qingyang squatted to inspect it. "Looking at the rust on the arrowheads... it must have been triggered recently."
"It seems we haven't gone the wrong way," Zhu Yinxi looked ahead. "The people from the Sword Heart Sect are just up ahead."
The four looked at each other and continued forward cautiously. Although the Sword Heart Sect had already triggered the trap, who knew how many rounds this mechanism had? There was also no guarantee those people hadn't tampered with anything.
Li Nanzhu was about to say something when she suddenly heard a soft click. Duan Xianxing's face froze as he slowly lifted his foot—a floor tile had slightly sunk.
"Don't move!" Li Nanzhu hissed.
However, the expected mechanism did not activate.
After a moment, Duan Xianxing let out a long breath. "It seems the Sword Heart Sect already cleared the mines for us."
Even though the trap hadn't triggered this time, the four humans and one skeleton continued forward even more cautiously after the incident.
Before long, a three-zhang wide pit appeared ahead. The bottom was filled with sharp stalagmites, but a simple wooden bridge had already been erected over it. This was clearly the handiwork of the Sword Heart Sect.
"Those people actually did something good for once." Duan Xianxing was about to step onto the wooden bridge when Zhu Yinxi stopped him.
The jade flute lightly flicked a pebble toward the center of the bridge. With a 'clack,' the bridge surface suddenly flipped over, revealing sharp blades underneath.
"Tsk, they left a little surprise," Liu Qingyang curled his lip. "Let's see if we can get across from the sides."
"Wait, let me see if I can use my sword to fly over," Duan Xianxing drew Wait a Moment and controlled it to fly toward the other side.
Wait a Moment only flew a short distance before falling directly to the ground.
"As expected, the flight restriction is still in effect." Zhu Yinxi frowned. He clearly hadn't expected the flight restriction to persist this far.
As the group pondered their next move, Suisui suddenly made a clicking sound, its bone claw pointing to an inconspicuous protrusion on the rock wall.
Li Nanzhu looked over and noticed several fresh scratches there.
"Wait, those marks..." Before she could finish, the entire tunnel shook violently.
"The mechanism has been triggered!" Zhu Yinxi barked, instantly drawing a sonic barrier in front of them with his jade flute.
In an instant, dozens of holes split open in the rock walls, and countless poisoned silver needles shot out like a torrential rain. Liu Qingyang quickly threw out four copper mirrors, forming a curtain of light around everyone. The silver needles struck the light curtain with a dense pitter-patter sound.
"We didn't trigger it!" Duan Xianxing shouted. "It must be those idiots from the Sword Heart Sect up ahead..."
Just as he finished speaking, the last of the poison needles were deflected by the light curtain. Liu Qingyang's fingers, which had just relaxed, suddenly froze—the entire tunnel fell into an eerie silence, and even the sound of water seeping from the walls vanished.
They were all too familiar with this kind of silence.
Danger!
The ground suddenly gave way. Suisui was quick, grabbing Li Nanzhu's hem with one bone claw while the other hand grabbed Duan Xianxing's waistband. Zhu Yinxi jammed his jade flute into a crack in the rock wall and caught Liu Qingyang with one hand.
The five of them hung over a suddenly appearing abyss, filled with dense spikes below. Cold sweat broke out on Li Nanzhu's forehead; this trap was even more dangerous than she had anticipated.
"Hold on tight!" Zhu Yinxi suddenly exerted force, his jade flute carving a spark against the rock wall. Using that momentum, he swung himself and Liu Qingyang to the other side. Seeing this, Suisui mimicked him, tossing Li Nanzhu and Duan Xianxing across as well.
Just as they landed, a rumbling sound came from above. A massive Dragon-Severing Stone was slowly descending, threatening to seal off the path ahead.
"Go, quick!" Liu Qingyang pulled out a handful of explosive flame sand and threw it at the Dragon-Severing Stone. The shockwave from the explosion slowed its descent.
The five took the opportunity to roll through the gap one by one. As Suisui slid in last, the bell on its tailbone was caught by the stone, letting out a sharp clink.
"Are you okay?" Li Nanzhu hurriedly checked Suisui's skeleton.
Suisui shook its skull, the blue fire in its eye sockets flickering as if it were a bit upset about its bell getting hit.
Duan Xianxing patted Suisui's head. "If it's broken, we'll get you a new one when we go back. We're rich now!"
This joke eased the tense atmosphere considerably. Just as everyone stood up, Suisui suddenly pointed forward. Faint angry curses from the Sword Heart Sect group could be heard from the end of the tunnel.
"They triggered a mechanism up ahead," Zhu Yinxi said in a low voice. "It seems this path is even more dangerous than we thought."
Liu Qingyang wiped the sweat from his forehead. "Should we..."
"Continue," Li Nanzhu interrupted him, her eyes shining with determination. "If the Sword Heart Sect can make it through, so can we."
Duan Xianxing suddenly pulled a copper coin from his robe, spinning it into a blur on his fingertip. "Blessing follows on the heels of disaster. I picked this up in Qingyun City; they said it could divine fortune and misfortune."
The copper coin slapped onto the back of his hand, revealing a blank, wordless side. "See, even the heavens are on our side!"
Liu Qingyang examined it closely before suddenly coughing violently. "That’s an imitation disaster-divining copper coin... it only ever shows omens of doom!"
The four of them fell into an instant silence. Duan Xianxing silently tucked it away, acting as if nothing had happened.
"Um, the weather today is really great, hahahaha."
"..."
Suisui looked at the four humans who had suddenly gone quiet, then pulled at Li Nanzhu's sleeve and ran forward. Its bone claws pointed excitedly at the ground, where several drops of fresh blood stretched deep into the tunnel.
"Looks like someone got hurt," Duan Xianxing grinned. "Now things are balanced."
The four humans and one skeleton regrouped and followed the blood trail cautiously.
Rounding a corner, the space ahead suddenly opened up into a naturally formed stone hall.
In the center of the hall stood nine stone pillars, each carved with different runes.
"The Nine Palaces Array." Zhu Yinxi narrowed his eyes. "The Sword Heart Sect has already broken half of it."
The runes on five of the stone pillars had already gone dark, and several shattered spirit stones were scattered on the floor. Beside the rightmost pillar, a pool of blood had not yet dried.
"They used brute force to break the array." Li Nanzhu frowned. "That will trigger a backlash..."
Before she could finish, the remaining four stone pillars suddenly lit up with a piercing red light. The entire stone hall began to shake violently, and stalactites started falling from the ceiling.
"Get back!" Zhu Yinxi swept his jade flute out, his sonic waves shattering the falling stalactites, but even more rocks began to rain down like hail.
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