Yuwen Yihuan was determined to achieve it.
At that moment, she was not even three cun away from Feng Xiao, the flashing item in her sleeve had shot out and was just about to pierce Feng Xiao from behind.
But something unexpected happened.
Feng Xiao, who was originally battling with Tuan Qinghe, suddenly withdrew himself and retreated.
He turned around instead and leapt upwards.
The hidden weapon pierced through the spot where Feng Xiao stood just now and hit thin air!
Yuwen Yihuan revealed an expression of shock and disbelief.
"I don't need any dirty tricks to obtain my own victory."
Tuan Qinghe's ice-cold words floated past Yuwen Yihuan's ears. She felt a piercing pain from her back and, abandoning everything, she immediately leapt out of harm's way.
But if Feng Xiao wanted to take her life, how could she escape from it? Yuwen Yihuan's body fell from the air like a kite whose string had snapped.
Even if she had formerly blocked it off with her qi and had managed to save her own life, it was unavoidable for her to spit out a few mouthfuls of blood. Her internal organs have been injured and there was nothing that could be done of it.
Yuwen Yihuan's chest raised and fell and stared deathly at Feng Xiao and Tuan Qinghe as she laboriously retreated backwards.
"Tuan Qinghe…. You betrayed my adopted brother's alliance!"
"It was Kuhezhen who formed an alliance with him, not me." Tuan Qinghe looked at her with an unwavering gaze as if he was staring at a rock or a tree.
Just as Feng Xiao wanted to annihilate all roots of his enemies, Yuwen Yihuan loudly shouted, "I know what ploys Kuhezhen assembled down there. If you want to rescue Cui Buqu, you should let me live!"
As expected, Feng Xiao's footsteps stopped.
At that moment, Yuwen Yihuan quickly cut an opening between her brows and stuffed a black coloured worm into the wound. Then, she turned to the two of them and flashed a sinister smile before flipping backwards and falling into the deep pit so quickly that even Feng Xiao was a step too late.
Feng Xiao didn't hesitate as he followed her down.
"Stop!" Tuan Qinghe's expression changed.
He had not participated in Kuhezhen's underground palace scheme, but he knew in general how much effort Kuhezhen had placed into it. He wanted to capture everyone in one fell swoop and make sure they died inside, to be locked in for eternity.
Tuan Qinghe was unwilling to watch Feng Xiao leap to his death. To him, that wasn't only his enemy, but he was also his match.
Enemies could be found everywhere, but a fitting match was hard to come by.
But he couldn't stop Feng Xiao; the latter quickly vanished from his sight.
Tuan Qinghe's gaze flickered in his eyes and finally, he followed, leaping down together!
...
A bright light flashed and vaguely lit up a scene.
Not far off from Cui Buqu and Xiao Lu, atop some bronze stairs was a copper pillar standing tall. There were plenty of patterns engraved on it and because the firestarter had flown too quickly, they hadn't been able to clearly see.
But below the pillar, gathering closely to one another, was a small number of bones. Those bones had changed colours over the years and turned ashen but such a sight was quite impactful to onlookers.
Daxingshan Temple was originally a place of Buddhist ethics. These bones should not have shown up here. Even if Kuhezhen went further, he could not have gathered so many dead people within such a short amount of time. A few years ago, this piece of land was the capital of several dynasties. It was very difficult to turn it into burial mounds. Unless all of these events took place even earlier than they had imagined.
Surrounding the bronze stage was a countless number of cracks spreading apart all the way to where they stood.
"This place must have been a sacrificial altar of our ancestors. Perhaps because the ground had sunk, it was originally intended to be built underground, and most likely, over those years their descendants didn't know about it before building this temple." Xiao Lu theorized.
"Perhaps the head of the temple knew of this place, and that is why they'd built the temple to overcome malice with kindness." Cui Buqu said, "However, there's no need to bother with these things. Why don't we focus on how we should be leaving this place."
Xiao Lu bitterly laughed, "No need to place your hopes on me. My current situation is not any better than yours. Let alone you, I'm not even confident of getting myself out of this place safely."
Cui Buqu coughed, "But you're smarter than most people, and that is enough. If I'm possessed by an evil spirit later, remember to wake me up."
Xiao Lu, "Got it."
As they were speaking, Cui Buqu once again lit a firestarter and stomached the dizziness and disgust as he forced himself to stare at the cracks on the ground.
These cracks looked layered like waves, crisscrossing one another even more beautifully than rippling waters. There was a demonic aura about it making him want to stare at it for eternity.
Not long later, these cracks moved on their own.
They stood up from the ground and lined themselves up systematically. Most of the lines were gathering themselves to form an object.
Although Cui Buqu had only seen this item for a few times, he couldn't help finding it familiar.
The Jade of Heaven's Lake.
In this world, if there was anything that could drastically prolong his life, the Jade of Heaven's Lake was the only one.
But this unique precious relic had already been used up by Xiao Lu.
Or was it trying to say that there was another?
It was impossible.
After all, this place had a history even longer than Daxingshan Temple itself. Even if someone had hidden some relics here, they would not be discovered.
It was a crystal-clear stone with flowing waves of green and blue light within it as if the light from the galaxies were flickering unpredictably within a green lake, reaching into the hearts of its watchers with every skip of time.
Even people with stronger determinations could not resist such rarely seen worldly treasures.
Cui Buqu steadily looked at the Jade of Heaven's Lake.
He closed his eyes and opened them up.
His fingers had dug deep into his palms, bringing him pain.
The Jade of Heaven's Lake had not vanished.
It was quietly sitting not far off from him. As long as he reached out with an arm, he could get it.
Cui Buqu slightly wavered and reached out to the Jade of Heaven's Lake.
With it, there was no need for him to worry that his life would constantly hang by a thread.
Perhaps he could gain ten more years of life, even if his body wouldn't be in its prime, at least he's still living.
As long as he lived, there was hope.
He could still sit beneath the sunlight, scheming after Feng Xiao and dig a few more pits for him.
He could still protect a few more people like his birth mother, people who were kind and righteous yet were too weak to protect themselves. Simply because he was Cui Buqu; his heart was tough and his methods cruel.
His sharp fingers almost touched the Jade of Heaven's Lake, and then a warning bubbles up from his chest.
Cui Buqu didn't know where this warning had come from, just like a shapeless string tying itself to his fingers and made him pause momentarily.
He bit down on his tongue and pain accompanied the scent of blood spread across his lips. His entire person was suddenly awake.
He gathered his senses back and then stared in front to see that the Jade of Heaven's Lake was gone, and instead, there was a poisonous snake staring at him. Both its eyes were glowing green and it swallowed from time to time, waiting for him to deliver himself to it.
Cui Buqu's hand froze midway and that snake didn't move, as if it was trying to see who would give in first.
He reached out with a hand into his sleeves, took something out and tossed it at the snake. At the same time, the snake also launched at him!
Sailing midair, the snake's body froze and hissed. It twisted its body to avoid the powder that Cui Buqu had tossed.
Those were sulphur. Before Cui Buqu entered the underground palace, he'd made full preparations. He and Zhangsun both were carrying pouches that carried sulphur on them so they could avoid most snakes and insects, but it was obviously insufficient to use against a poisonous snake at least a hundred years old.
Just in case, Cui Buqu had made the Vice Commander Song Liangchen seek out a special formula of cinnabar, mugwort and sulphur—none that weren't arsenic in the extremes, to use against these poisonous creatures.
These poisonous creatures had fled back into the darkness, refusing to show themselves anymore.
As danger died down from his side, Cui Buqu lit his firestarter and turned to Xiao Lu.
This look made his expression change!
Just now, when he was in danger and unaware of it, Xiao Lu hadn't woken him up.
They were enemies to begin with, and Xiao Lu would have been fine with watching him walking to his death, but to do this during such a moment was a foolish movement. It wasn't a decision Xiao Lu would make.
Xiao Lu was not next to him, nor was he anywhere at all.
It was unknown since when the other person had finished walking across all four angles of the bronze stage and just as he was walking towards the copper pillar in the centre, he raised his head and revealed a fascinated look.
From the way Cui Buqu saw it, there was nothing fascinating above that massive pillar. It was, instead, a countless number of snakes. Some of them were hissing with their head raised high, some of them were curled around one another, taking their time slithering about. Their scales were flowing under the firelight, making him feel numb just by looking at it.
But Xiao Lu appeared to not have noticed. He walked up closer.
"Xiao Lu!" Cui Buqu yelled and took a step forward, wanting to grab his shoulder.
But then he heedlessly stepped onto a mechanism in the cracks and heard a heavy grinding around them. Suddenly, arrows shot out from all four directions!
Cui Buqu could not find a place to hide.
The arrows came in a flash!
The moment he was held, Xiao Lu's body momentarily quivered and turned, leaping into the air and grabbing Cui Buqu.
Cui Buqu rose into the air with him and at the moment those arrows passed by, they narrowly avoided them.
He could feel the howls of those arrows as they wheezed through the air, brushing past their attire. One of them ripped a streak across the fabric on his arms, narrowly avoiding his skin.
Xiao Lu let go of him and Cui Buqu heavily fell down. Xiao Lu fell down next to him as well, his breaths heavy and it was a silent acknowledgement that he had no strength left to hold on to Cui Buqu.
Many snakes on top of the bronze pillar were killed by those arrows and more of them had fallen from shock and slithered around, including to where Cui Buqu and Xiao Lu were standing.
The two of them wasted no time speaking. They forced themselves to their feet and fled as they tumbled.
The firestarter had fallen to the ground and for a moment, it lit up those cracks.
Cui Buqu's heart quivered.
"Lead me and follow the directions I mentioned!" He quickly urged.
Xiao Lu grabbed his arm without hesitation and leapt into the air, the tips of his toes light as he avoided all the poisonous snakes on the ground.
Cui Buqu, "Northwest1, ten steps!"
"East, six steps!"
"Southwest, eight steps!"
Xiao Lu was wealthy in knowledge and he was familiar with arrays. One Cui Buqu began speaking, he instantly knew where he was referring to.
"North… No, not north. It's upwards, upwards in the front!"
The two of them leapt into the air and finally fell onto a cavern above the stone wall.
Xiao Lu was already completely depleted of energy. He stuck himself to an incredibly short stone wall, and couldn't care less whether they were painted with poison. Sweat poured down his temples like rain and his face was as pale as a ghost's.
Cui Buqu was nowhere better. But at the very least, he was not a practitioner of the martial arts and the one who injured his qi just a moment ago was not him.
After a while, Xiao Lu regained his strength a little and hoarsely said, "How did you know there is a cave here?"
Cui Buqu, "The picture of the river. This is a sacrificial altar and it must have been built according to the evolution of the river. Although death traps are all around here, there is bound to be an escape route. This is where nature's secret lies."
He closed his eyes and, once more, the Jade of Heaven's Lake appeared. However, that memory was fast-forwarded and the Jade of Heaven's Lake shattered, reforming itself into a picture.
A picture that was familiar to everyone who was educated in arrays.
"I managed to get a hint in the illusion just now, and realized that although these cracks appeared to be scattered messily, if they were rearranged, they would form the picture of a river."
As Xiao Lu listened to him, he remained silent, offering only a bitter smile.
"The arrays you learned were more advanced than mine. When Fan Yun taught me back then, as expected, he hadn't been fully serious."
Cui Buqu, "No. He was no different when he taught you or me. Moreover, he once valued you and he never held back the number of things he taught you. Only, your heart wasn't there."
Xiao Lu was incomparably intelligent and was born with shocking talents. However, there was a flaw to every person of ambition. They set their targets too high and martial arts to them were only stepping stones. Since they had not put in all their efforts on it, then naturally, they had not paid full attention.
"You are right." Xiao Lu didn't deny it.
Cui Buqu, "What did you see just now when you were staring at the pillar?"
Xiao Lu, "…Everything I ever wanted. Fame, power, my limbs full, birth from a noble family, raising my fortunes single-handedly, succeeding the Imperial Throne and replacing the Emperor of Southern Chen, ruling it on the other end of the world from the Sui Dynasty before finally unifying the world."
Cui Buqu coldly snorted, "You are too stubborn with your beliefs."
He no longer continued chatting with Xiao Lu. He felt his body regaining a bit of strength and surveyed his surroundings.
This was a very clean cavern, albeit small.
One side was empty, leading down to the squarish bronze platform. The other three sides were stone walls and one of them was unusually smooth as if someone had worked on it.
Cui Buqu knelt and fumbled beneath the wall and indeed, he found a slight crack.
Having found the crack, it meant that this wall wasn't made of natural cause. It was a stone door that someone had chiselled.
He wasted some efforts finding the mechanism, a stone ball in the corner which he pulled.
There was a heavy, grating sound and the stone door lifted.
Cui Buqu realized that his enemy and companion hadn't spoken for a long time.
"Xiao Lu?"
"I fear that I won't be leaving this place." Xiao Lu calmly said.
Cui Buqu, "If I can, so can you."
Xiao Lu sighed, "I'm different from you. My toxin has already infiltrated my bones. Even if I have absorbed the essence of the Jade of Heaven's Lake, it cannot help."
Cui Buqu, "Then what do you want to do?"
Xiao Lu said, "Regardless of what I do, I cannot escape heaven's mandate. Why don't I transfer the essence of the Jade of Heaven's Lake to you? Perhaps you might have a chance?"
Cui Buqu, "The Xiao Lu that I know was a person who would not give up until the last moment."
"To me, it's already the last moment. Just now, I've already expended my last strength bringing you here. Now, I can't even get to my feet. My legs are in so much pain that they've gone numb."
Xiao Lu smiled, "But, since my entire body is toxic right now, I'm not certain if it will allow me to transfer all of my remaining strength to you."
Cui Buqu frowned.
Xiao Lu, "Cui Buqu, do you dare to take the risk?"
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[1] Here, Cui Buqu was actually referring to the positions on the Bagua, but I decided to use bearings instead for sake of visual convenience.