While other's eyes gleamed at the treasured cauldrons, Han Yu watched them differently, trying to analyze their placement and what was wrong about them all.
A delicate jade cauldron sat right next to a crude iron furnace. A bronze tripod that should have been suspended on a pedestal was instead shoved into a corner. It was haphazard, messy… almost intentional.
Han Yu's eyes narrowed. 'Not storage. Not preservation. These cauldrons are not being kept... they're being used.'
Just as the realization crystallized, the excited Core Condensation disciple extended his finger and brushed the lip of the bronze snake cauldron.
Han Yu's heart lurched.
He shouted without thinking, his voice cutting across the chamber like a whip.
"It's a trap! Don't touch it!"
But the warning came a second too late.
