Chapter 110: The Pirated Knockoff

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Flower Demon Fei and the others were hardly willing to accept that. They had barely survived countless dangers to make it here—were they really supposed to take only a quick look around and grab a few souvenirs? Granted, every one of those “souvenirs” was worth a fortune.

Another internal battle seemed about to break out.

Yet Sui Yi was thinking about what A Guna had just said. What did he mean? Could there really be someone capable of stopping Leng She and the others, despite their formidable strength?

Could it be the Dharma King?

Gong Jiu’s eyes shifted as she curled her lips into a smile. “So, A Guna, are you saying we’re not allowed to take any of the treasures from the palaces up here?”

A Guna knew that among these people, Gong Jiu and Flower Demon Fei were the most cunning. Sui Yi was intelligent, but too proud to set traps for others, so he remained especially wary of the first two.

“Yes. You can’t enter any of the palaces here again. Otherwise… if the Dharma King appears, we’ll all die.”

A Guna kept mentioning the Dharma King, but Brother Ma and the others did not take it very seriously. They had already seen that terrifying monster earlier. What was there to fear from some Dharma King?

“Fine. We won’t take any treasures from the palaces above, but you must swear that you won’t interfere with anything else we do in the future. However, if we run into Leng She’s group, we’ll still form an offensive and defensive alliance. How does that sound?”

The tribal people thought the proposal seemed reasonable. After turning it over in his mind, A Guna nodded.

Flower Demon Fei and the others, however, were suspicious. They were just going to leave like this? Had that skinflint Gong Jiu finally lost her mind?

“Gong Jiu, did your menstrual blood flow backward into your brain?” Flower Demon Fei laughed.

She toyed with her firearm, but did not voice any objection. It seemed that, in this matter, she had no other way to stop A Guna and his stubborn band of believers.

“Fine. We’ll swear it in the name of your Venerable Lord.”

Gong Jiu and A Guna made their oaths to each other.

Once the oath was sealed, A Guna and his people left. They intended to hunt down Leng She and the others.

Earlier, Leng She’s group had seized the initiative and suppressed them before they could react. But now, A Guna was certain that they would not be forced into such a passive position again.

The moment they were gone, Gong Jiu immediately shouted gleefully under the others’ contemptuous stares, “Sui Yi, Sui Yi… Where the hell are you?”

Everyone turned their heads and saw Sui Yi sitting calmly in a chair nearby, wiping her Beast-Tooth Dagger.

Far too calm.

So calm it made people want to bleed.

Gong Jiu hesitated, suppressing her urge to mock the woman. In the end, she went over and wrapped herself around Sui Yi’s arm.

“Sui Yi… Sui Yi…”

Her posture and tone made her look like a sycophant, though she was clearly rather pleased with herself.

Sui Yi raised her eyes to look at her and lightly patted her on the head.

“All done? Can we leave now?”

Her tone was indulgent.

“Uh, we’re not leaving this place just yet…” Gong Jiu began, intending to explain her brilliant strategy.

“We’re going below, aren’t we?” Sui Yi stood up and glanced at her. “To the underground palace. You should know how to get there.”

Her expression clearly said that, with Gong Jiu’s intelligence, this was the extent of her little trick.

Gong Jiu fell silent.

Miss Sui Yi, you really can see everything coming!

“The underground palace!” When Brother Ma and the others heard this, they immediately understood. They all turned toward the direction in which A Guna and his people had left, their smiles dazzling.

Flower Demon Fei wore a frivolous expression. She gave the smug Gong Jiu a faint glance, then looked at Sui Yi, who had obviously already guessed the truth.

“You knew there was an underground palace below?”

Sui Yi nodded. “I entered through an underwater passage along the edge of the underground palace. However, I don’t know how to enter the inner section of the underground palace from the palace side. If you want to use the underwater passage, be prepared to die.”

After a pause, she added, “Those strange living corpses came out through the waterways.”

The moment they heard the words “living corpses,” everyone recalled the terrifying scene from earlier and shuddered in unison.

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Gong Jiu grinned. “Relax. How could I let you take such a risk? Have you forgotten that I have a map?”

Then she turned around and slipped her hand inside her clothes. Since her back was turned to them, there could be no doubt that the map had been hidden in her underwear.

Brother Ma and the others snickered.

She kept rummaging around.

At last, Miss Gong produced a map.

Flower Demon Fei and the others were speechless.

“You said you didn’t have a map and had memorized everything?”

“Ha! I was lying to you!”

“Ah… No wonder. I was wondering why your chest suddenly looked a size larger. Gong Jiu, doesn’t it bother you to have that pressing against your heart?”

Flower Demon Fei ground her teeth. If she had known, she should have searched Gong Jiu at the time. Damn it, that idiot had actually managed to fool them all!

Having successfully deceived everyone, including Sui Yi, Gong Jiu looked extremely pleased with herself. She ignored Flower Demon Fei’s sarcasm, studied the map for a few moments, then led the others forward.

“These palaces are all so clean. Their owners must have been dead for a long time. Since they’re dead, the underground palace where they were buried must contain countless treasures. Brothers and sisters, follow me! I’ll lead you safely into the underground palace so we can strike it rich!”

Behind her, Flower Demon Fei’s face darkened as though an entire bucket of ink were about to drip from it.

Shen Di asked, “Big Boss, should we kill her and take the treasure map?”

“No need. With that woman’s intelligence, even if the map is in her hands, she won’t be able to find the place. Besides, with Sui Yi, Brother Ma, and the others there, we can’t seize it from them anyway.”

Flower Demon Fei had suffered the greatest losses, so she was unwilling to clash directly with Gong Jiu’s group.

When all was said and done, her rivalry with Gong Jiu had lasted for many years, yet it had always resembled a certain kind of relationship.

“Gong Jiu and I are like Shi Feixuan of the Compassionate Voyage Sanctuary and Wanwan of the Demon Sect. We both want to suppress the other, but in the end, neither of us can bear to kill the other.”

Gong Jiu and Sui Yi, walking ahead, heard that remark as well.

Gong Jiu asked, “I’m Shi Feixuan, and you’re Wanwan?”

Sui Yi replied, “In terms of intelligence, you do not possess the qualities required to be Shi Feixuan.”

Gong Jiu was speechless.

“The entrance to the underground palace is located in every hall. Come this way.”

Gong Jiu led everyone into a side chamber within the inner section of the front hall, where they arrived in a hollow room.

It seemed to be a meditation chamber.

The six stone walls—above, below, and on all four sides—formed a perfectly square space.

Strangely, everyone could still smell the fragrance of Buddhist incense.

“This place is how many years old, and there’s still incense burning? It isn’t even completely sealed.”

“It’s probably because of these books. I’ve heard that in ancient times, aristocratic youths and members of religious sects would bathe and burn incense before reading.”

Row upon row of bookshelves stood before them, filled with countless books that all looked ancient.

There had to be at least ten thousand volumes, and every one of them was probably worth a fortune.

Flower Demon Fei and the others were itching to touch them, but none dared to act recklessly. Who knew what deadly mechanisms might be hidden in this strange place?

Gong Jiu, however, strode carelessly to one of the bookshelves and patted the books with a grin.

“There’s a secret chamber here leading to the underground palace. The mechanism is hidden among these books.”

“These books… Are you saying we have to examine every single one?” Flower Demon Fei asked with a grim expression.

“Yes!” Gong Jiu replied with an innocent smile.

Everyone fell silent.

There were more than ten thousand books. How long would that take?

Would each person have to inspect several hundred?

“If we only had to pull out a few hundred, that would be manageable… Miss Jiu, you don’t mean that we have to read all of those hundreds of books and find the words that open the passage, do you?” Brother Ma asked awkwardly.

Gong Jiu tilted her head.

“Well, I’m not sure.”

Most of the people immediately lost their nerve and began considering whether they should simply turn around and go home.

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“Um, Miss Gong, that treasure map of yours…”

Shen Di said, “A counterfeit, I bet.”

Brother Ma said, “A cheap knockoff.”

Flower Demon Fei added, “A counterfeit cheap knockoff.”

Though they complained inwardly, everyone still spread out and began examining the books. After all, with so many people searching, they might get lucky and find the mechanism.

Sui Yi walked among the bookshelves, her fingers brushing over the edges of the volumes. She paused and looked through a gap between the shelves.

Across from her, Wind Slayer had already pulled out a book.

Swish!

A narrow opening suddenly appeared in one side of the wall.

Arrows shot out from the opening!

Swish, swish, swish!

Wind Slayer dodged with extraordinary difficulty, but one arrow still pierced his arm, drawing a cry from him.

Everyone erupted in alarm. When they rushed into the gap between the bookshelves, they saw the crooked book jutting out and Wind Slayer leaning miserably against the wall.

Gong Jiu’s face turned green.

“Damn it! This place…”

It was nothing less than a killing ground.

There were more than ten thousand books. Who knew how many mechanisms were hidden among them?

“Isn’t there any other clue?” Flower Demon Fei picked up a short iron arrow from the floor. “Wind Slayer is highly skilled, yet even he couldn’t evade it completely. If it had been anyone else… only a few of us would have survived.”

As Flower Demon Fei spoke, she suddenly noticed Sui Yi across from her.

Sui Yi appeared to have pulled out a book.

“Don’t pull it out!”

“Sui Yi!”

They had only just shouted when a book was already lying quietly in Sui Yi’s hand.

Nothing happened.

Gong Jiu’s legs nearly gave way. She did not blame Sui Yi; she merely felt that this place was exceptionally strange and dangerous.

“I think we should…”

She had begun to regret coming here. The many mysteries of this place clearly exceeded what they could handle.

And there was no way forward.

She had just begun to speak when—

Clang!

In the empty space opposite the bookshelves, a small square recess opened in the wall. Inside it was a mechanical button.

Everyone froze, then turned as one toward Sui Yi, who was holding the book.

Their expressions seemed to say—

Sui Yi looked at the book in her hand and remained silent for a long while, deep in thought. Then, in an instant, she shoved it back into place and said calmly, “Good character, I suppose.”

Gong Jiu, Flower Demon Fei, and the others suddenly realized that all the mysteries of this place were less astonishing than Sui Yi herself.

“Finding it is what matters. Let me take a look.”

Gong Jiu opened the map and studied the symbols on it. The button pointed toward one of four directions, each corresponding to a different emblem. Even if someone found the right location, they would enter one of the other dangerous mechanisms if they did not know the correct emblem.

“This place is terrifyingly strange. I wonder what kind of lunatic designed such a temple…”

Flower Demon Fei came over and glanced at the map.

“Dragon head, eagle wings, lion’s body, tiger claws… The symbol on the map is…”

“Eagle wings? That’s strange. Shouldn’t it be a dragon’s head?”

Gong Jiu muttered as she pressed her palm against the mechanical button.

To be continued. If you enjoy this work, please support it with recommendations and monthly votes on the Origin platform. Your support is my greatest motivation. Mobile users may read it through the mobile site.

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