Chapter 1663: Darkness
Chapter 1663: Darkness
The entire room looked completely ordinary, no different from a regular study. However, Zu An could clearly sense several spots full of killing intent, where if he was even the slightest bit inattentive, he would die on the spot.
He remembered that Zhang Zitong had mentioned these mechanisms before. With his and Yan Xuehen’s cultivation, normal mechanisms couldn't hurt them at all. However, if activating them would alert the others in the manor, that would make things troublesome.
As such, he said to Zhang Zitong, “It’s your turn to shine!”
Zhang Zitong immediately snapped to attention. She had felt as if she were about to go blind with envy from how dazzling the others Zu An brought with him were. As an Embroidered Envoy herself, how could she let other women outshine her?
It was finally her turn. She stood at the forefront, then carefully examined the layout of the room. A while later, she said, “All of you, stand there and don’t move.”
She kicked off the ground as soon as she spoke. Then, she leaped several meters away toward another position.
Zu An stared at the spot she had just jumped over. There was some killing intent concentrated in the area, clearly a trap waiting to be activated.
Then, Zhang Zitong sometimes moved and sometimes stopped. Sometimes, she took several steps forward, while at other times, she backed up a few meters. Sometimes, she jumped through the air, while other times, her back arched and she turned to one side. It was as if there was something invisible in the air that she wanted to avoid.
At first, she proceeded at a careful but steady pace. Suddenly, however, her expression changed and she bent backward all the way down, almost as if her back had broken. Her body ended up being completely supported by her arms. She then flipped backward a few times. During the entire process, her long legs were especially stunning.
Yan Xuehen thought to herself, This woman’s flexibility is quite good. If not for the fact that she had noticed a nearly-transparent thread stretched through the air, she would have thought that this woman was trying to seduce Zu An on purpose. That was because Zhang Zitong seemed to be dancing this entire time. She almost seemed to be showing off her legs in all sorts of ways.
After avoiding that potential disaster, Zhang Zitong sighed in relief. She patted her chest, then proceeded. The others could tell that she was much more careful than before. In the end, she arrived at the wall behind the desk. There was an eagle statue on the wall.
She took a deep breath. Then, as if she didn’t have any bones in her body, she twisted into a stance that was completely impossible for a normal person. One hand rested on the table to support her, while her legs split in opposite directions. One foot remained on the ground, while the other hooked upward along the wall.
Yan Xuehen’s breath caught in her throat. She could vaguely sense the many nearly-transparent threads near the statue. No wonder this woman was holding herself in such a strange position.
But…
She looked at Zu An next to her. This guy’s eyes were about to pop out of their sockets!
Finally, Zhang Zitong’s legs completely straightened. Unfortunately, the tips of her toes were still an inch from the statue. She couldn't reach it even after several attempts.
She gritted her teeth, and did her best to lower herself further. She groaned painfully, and her toe tips finally touched the falcon statue. Her body trembled as she used her tiptoes to rotate the wings of the eagle to one side. With a rumble, a slit appeared in the previously seamless floor, revealing a secret path.
Zhang Zitong sighed in relief. She then retracted her foot. Her whole body trembled, as those movements had really exhausted her greatly. She gestured toward Zu An and said, “You can come straight over now. The system has been deactivated.”
Zu An and the others walked over. Sure enough, they didn’t run into any dangers.
When he saw how she was dripping with sweat, Zu An said in amazement, “It’s a good thing we had you with us today. Otherwise, it would have been quite hard to activate this mechanism.”
Zhang Zitong’s legs were exceptionally long, and she was really flexible too. Apart from her, no one else could perform such movements.
Zhang Zitong’s eyes immediately lit up when she heard his praise. She had finally proven her worth! There was no incompetent trash among the people at Sir Eleven’s side.
Zu An couldn't help but look at Yan Xuehen. Her body was also really soft, and he had personally experienced how supple and strong it was. She should also be able to do this, right…
When she sensed his gaze, Yan Xuehen clearly realized something. She gave him an annoyed look.
…
The group slowly descended the stairs into a cave. Along the way, Zu An asked Zhang Zitong, “Why do you know so much about the traps here?”
Zhang Zitong replied, “Sir Seven previously taught me that there are only so many styles of traps in this world. As long as you can identify the source, everything else merely makes some slight alterations to the foundation.”
Zu An nodded. He thought back to his previous world’s feng shui. Even though people always made it sound mysterious and profound, it was just that the ancients had always followed the same rules when they designed imperial tombs. As such, people in the present were able to retrace that knowledge to find those tombs.
As they continued downward, the lighting dimmed more and more. Zhang Zitong clearly became nervous. She said, “Sir Eleven, we’ll soon reach the place of absolute darkness. Not only will there be no light, one’s ki senses will also be greatly reduced. I heard that even a master rank cultivator could be done in if they came to this kind of place. Have you thought of a way to deal with this?” They had already gotten this far. She really didn’t want everything to be for nothing.
“It’s fine,” Zu An said, his tone extremely calm. He continued forward just like before.
When Zhang Zitong sensed that he was prepared and recalled everything leading up to this point, she also calmed down.
Not long after, their surroundings became completely dark. ven though Zhang Zitong knew it was useless, she still reflexively took out a match to start a fire.
Still, even though it clearly lit up, the light seemed to be sucked away by something. There was only an extremely small red point at the very tip, and nothing around it could be seen.
“Put out the fire, or else we’ll be painting targets on our backs,” Zu An reminded her.
Zhang Zitong’s face heated up. She normally wouldn’t make such a mistake, but people always had an indescribable fear of darkness.
A low voice called out in front of them. “I don’t know how you arrived here, but now that you’re here, everything will end now.”
Then, an ear-splitting grinding noise filled the air; it was the sound of blades being drawn. They were deliberately drawn slowly, almost as if the wielders were trying to erode their enemies’ fighting spirits with the sound.
Zhang Zitong nervously clenched her weapon. Unfortunately, the sword ki she released seemed to completely dissipate into nothing. She couldn't sense where her enemies were at all. She could only estimate that there were eight to ten enemies from the sounds of the blades being unsheathed.
These warriors had been carefully selected. All of them were blind from birth, and they always remained in this dark room. They already knew everything within like the backs of their hands. Thus, while their enemies felt blinded, they themselves felt the same as always. If a fight broke out, it would be nothing more than a one-sided slaughter.
“Sir, what do we do?” Zhang Zitong asked, but she suddenly felt a penetrating chill. It was as if she wasn’t in an underground room of darkness, but rather amid snowy mountains full of roaring winds. Even with her cultivation, she couldn't help but shiver. She felt as if all of her blood would freeze over.
Suddenly, she was shocked to discover that the blade sounds had stopped. Cold sweat dripped down her temples. Could it be that they’ve already hidden themselves in the shadows and are waiting to attack us?
Zu An said just then, “Let’s continue.”
Zhang Zitong was stunned. She murmured, “Those people…”
“They’ve already been dealt with,” Zu An replied. This darkness might have been effective against master ranks, but what about a grandmaster?
Even though Yan Xuehen’s soul was being restricted a bit by the material used to build the space, she didn’t need to care about that at all. The room wasn’t that small, but it wasn’t that large either. All she had to do was unleash a blizzard and freeze everything apart from the three of them.
No matter how good those warriors were at hiding in the dark, they couldn't do much against an area of effect attack. They were instantly overwhelmed.
In the darkness, Yan Xuehen was walking at the forefront when she felt someone grabbing her hand. What else could that familiar feeling be but Zu An’s hand? She tried to pull her hand away while asking through ki, “What are you doing? Let go!”
Zu An replied, “This place is pitch-dark and I can’t see, so I’m scared.”
Yan Xuehen was speechless. She thought, This guy has already fought against who knows how many terrifying beings. He even dared to kill the Fiend Emperor and sleep with the Second Empress. Someone like that knows fear?
She shook his hand away with a scowl. Unfortunately, his hand seemed to be stuck to hers and he didn’t let go. However, she didn’t dare to make too much of a disturbance for fear of Zhang Zitong overhearing it.
Zu An said, “Don’t worry, no one can see right now.”
For some reason, his words carried a mysterious charm that made Yan Xuehen gradually stop struggling. In the outside world, she was the White Jade Sect Master, as well as Chuyan’s master. She had too many things to worry about, so there was simply no chance for the two of them.
However, in this place that was completely dark, no one knew who she was, nor could they see what she was doing. This thing that had always left her vexed seemed to have disappeared. In that instant, she felt as if this dark place became a bit warmer. She didn’t even really want to leave anymore.
Suddenly, Zhang Zitong called out, “Sir Eleven, it doesn’t seem as if we’ll be able to find the exit here.” She couldn't find anything even after groping around.
Normally, with their group’s resourcefulness, if they could see, it wouldn’t be too hard to find the exit at all. However, they couldn't see a thing and could only rely on touch. This space wasn’t that small either, so it wasn’t easy to find an exit. More importantly, time was of the essence. It would be really tricky if King Yan came back.