Chapter 470 - 266: The Treasure Vault (Part 2)
Chapter 470: Chapter 266: The Treasure Vault (Part 2)
If it’s really this good, then there’s no reason to deceive oneself.
"Could it be that this Cyan Simurgh Peak eats people?"
Lan Shuyi rubbed his chin, feeling somewhat puzzled. He had followed because something seemed odd, but he wasn’t persistent... If a person is gone, they’re gone. He’s done what he needed to do, so why waste time on unrelated people?
When he descended from Cyan Simurgh Peak, he overheard disciples of the Taiheng Sect discussing.
A prominent figure has arrived at the Taiheng Sect.
He casually asked who it was, and the Taiheng Sect disciple looked at him with a peculiar expression, seeming both guarded and annoyed, but finally said:
"The Manor Master of Luochun Manor, Wen Fusheng in person!"
There was a sense of pride in his words.
One must know that this great master of the South Ridge has not stepped out of the 128-mile boundary for a long time.
This time, for the Taiheng Sect’s Sword Bestowal Ceremony, he came... it certainly gave enough face.
Hearing this, Lan Shuyi’s heart was stirred:
"Oh? Such a person, it seems I must meet him... Where is he now?"
"They are all at the Sword Pavilion..."
The disciple spoke reluctantly.
Lan Shuyi nodded and headed straight for the Sword Pavilion.
Just as he arrived at the door, he heard a voice inside laughing sinisterly:
"Well, all talk and no action.
"You say the Third Young Master murdered someone, but there’s no evidence, just a witness who’s one of your own.
"You’re relying on baseless accusations to collectively attack my own daughter!?
"I think you’re courting death!!!"
"Master Wen, calm down!!"
"The ignorant are not guilty!"
Lan Shuyi was taken aback, what does this mean? Yesterday among those besieging the Taiheng Sect, was there someone who was Wen Fusheng’s own daughter?
But why was Wen Fusheng’s daughter with the Third Young Master?
Remembering some rumors in the Martial World, Lan Shuyi’s face showed a peculiar expression, wanting to watch the spectacle.
Then he heard two more voices chiming in...
"The actions of the Taiheng Sect have truly opened the eyes of us at the Iron Blood Hall!
"The Third Young Master, Yi Bo Yuntian, is a contemporary chivalrous hero. Being slandered by your idle talk, he showed magnanimity by not destroying your Taiheng Sect. How can you continue stirring up trouble before others?"
A young lady immediately followed up:
"Uncle Cheng is right! I’ve long been displeased with that lot! Helped with good intentions, only to cause trouble instead."
Lan Shuyi squeezed in by the door crack, looking in with keen interest.
Someone nudged his shoulder:
"Move aside, let me see too."
"Who are you?"
Lan Shuyi felt a thousand resentments, a million complaints, and turned his head to see it was Ye Wanqiu.
Immediately he hunched his shoulders:
"Miss, please, I’ll go over there..."
...
...
In front of the Sword Pavilion, the commotion was lively.
Over at Cyan Simurgh Peak, it remained as cold and quiet as ever, but if one looked down, they’d see a figure clinging to the sheer cliff face of the Cyan Simurgh Stone Shadow, slowly descending.
The person wore wide robes and sleeves, sporting a bald head.
It was none other than the Zen Master Xingzhi, whom Lan Shuyi had sought but not found earlier.
He now held two iron hooks, swaying in the mountain wind, which threatened to loosen his grip and send him plummeting down the abyss.
And from such a height, after reaching the ground, even a broom couldn’t sweep him up.
Even though Zen Master Xingzhi had cultivated for years, he couldn’t help but sweat profusely, his forehead wet, as the wind was not enough to dry it all.
He didn’t know how long he continued downward before he suddenly saw a mirror on the cliff face.
He let out a sigh of relief...
This was already the seventh mirror he had seen.
These mirrors were all in places a normal person couldn’t reach, and he didn’t know who had embedded them here.
Ultimately someone crafted this Cyan Simurgh Stone Shadow with a master hand.
But seeing this mirror meant his destination was not far.
Sure enough, descending a bit more, he heard a creaking sound, looked down, and saw a platform below his feet.
On the platform, embedded, was an object resembling a phoenix iron piece.
It swayed in the wind, creaking.
Seeing this, Xingzhi made a push with his foot and landed lightly on the platform, finally catching his breath.
Looking up, mirrors surrounded him.
This place, featuring the phoenix iron piece, was rigged with mechanisms. As long as the wind was strong enough, these mirrors could converge the strong light, projecting the phoenix shadow through mirrors embedded in the mountain walls to the topmost white stone wall, creating the so-called Cyan Simurgh Stone Shadow.
"The people of the Taiheng Sect never considered that there may be more to it, knowing the how but not the why, they must surely miss the treasure."
Xingzhi folded his hands together, murmuring to himself.
Turning back, he saw a cave at the platform’s end.
The cave was ablaze with light, despite who knows how many years of disuse, the flames remained undying.
Xingzhi marveled:
"Truly the work of a master, using extraordinary materials. Could these fires be fueled by Mermaid Oil Ointment that never extinguishes?
"I’ve often heard, but seldom seen... today is an eye-opener indeed."
He continued into the cave, yet found no mechanisms along the way.
Walking, he mumbled along:
"That’s right... one Cyan Simurgh Stone Shadow has already stumped so many. If the cave had more mechanisms..."
At that moment, his foot bumped into a corpse.
The body was pinned to the side walls.
The walls had circular holes, which were not originally there, and the spears within them were all pinned into the walls.
"Oh... turns out there are mechanisms, but previous visitors triggered them, so the groundbreaking has been done by others, letting me enjoy the shade. Thank you, thank you."
Saying this, he bowed with folded hands to the corpse, full of gratitude.
But he did not attend to the corpse further, continuing on.
Finally, the path ended at a stone door.
The stone door was open, and inside was as bright as day.
There were only a few things there.
In the center, there was a table. Opposite the table, there was a chair.
On the chair seemed to sit a skeleton, one hand supporting its chin, wearing a plain white mask.
Silent and unmoving, Xingzhi could not hear its breath or pulse.
Thus, he paid no attention to it, placing all his focus on the table.
The table was small, but intricate.
Beside the table, another corpse lay there, having died for unknown reasons, its body stiff, gripping the table edge as if it wished to merge with the table.
Xingzhi approached, casually pulled the corpse away, heedless of breaking bones.
He circled the table, examining it:
"Indeed, this is the ’Cang Shen Table’, one of the most outstanding works of ancient Secret Mechanism Art.
"Made entirely of Profound Iron, even if it could be forced open, it would incinerate from within once opened.
"The contents within would surely turn to ash.
"I’ve heard that this table requires the world’s smartest person to open it...
"Fortunately, they had foreseen everything here, knew every detail thoroughly.
"The Dharma Gate to unlock it is with me, I just need to follow the diagrams..."
Saying so, he took out a book from his waist, but before he could open it, it suddenly vanished from his hand.
Xingzhi looked around bewildered:
"Where is my book?"
Surveying the surroundings, noting no significant changes... well, not entirely.
The skeleton in the chair had spread open a book to read...
Xingzhi realized, heart suddenly racing with alarm:
"Not a skeleton, who are you!?"
"Oh? You didn’t even look at me once after entering, the first to completely ignore me as if I’m invisible... I intended to regard you with esteem, but it seems you’re all eyes but no insight, not discerning whether I’m dead or alive?"
Hearing this voice, Xingzhi’s expression changed dramatically:
"It’s you!?"