Chapter 34 – Three Groups

The ground they stood on had already cracked, and they were about to fall through. Meanwhile, the sense of danger from behind grew ever stronger — that unknown creature was about to emerge.

They were caught between a rock and a hard place!

At the last moment, Zhan Changfeng said, “Jump down!”

“What!”

This cursed place was far too deep — jumping down would surely mean death! Was this really not a joke?!

Zhan Changfeng had already jumped.

Jiang Wei jumped after her.

Songshi Zi’s face was filled with despair. It was too high — even if the way out was below, people would die from a fall like this.

“I’m jumping — one life is all I’ve got, live or die. Do as you please!” Qiao Shan Ke leapt headlong into the abyss.

“Fine, I have to jump anyway!” Songshi Zi wiped his face, closed his eyes, and jumped.

Suddenly, a shout rang out. “Why are your eyes closed? Catch!”

Something came whistling through the air and slapped Songshi Zi in the face with a thwack. He instinctively grabbed it and realized it was a vine that had been swung over to him.

Enduring the sting, he opened his eyes and saw that the others who had gone down before him were all gripping vines growing from the cliff face, swinging on them.

Songshi Zi looked at Zhan Changfeng with gratitude. She gave a slight nod, glanced at Wu Fei Yu — who was riding her great serpent as it slithered down the cliff wall — then grabbed her vine again and swung out, this time jumping straight into the water.

“Life and death are fated. Those who can keep up with me, keep up! Those who can’t, remember — swim northwest!”

Everyone jumped into the water one after another, and only then did they understand what she had meant.

The moment they entered the water, it was as though they had gone half blind — they could barely make out anything. Rocks from above rained down into the water like hailstones, and one moment of carelessness would mean being crushed to the riverbed. There was no way to tell in which direction Zhan Changfeng was.

With no other option, they put all their strength into swimming northwest.

Zhan Changfeng twisted aside to dodge a falling rock, then in the blink of an eye she saw a large golden serpent catch up to her, with Wu Fei Yu lying against its body looking perfectly at ease.

Suddenly a powerful pulling force surged up, desperately dragging them toward a whirlpool in the water.

Wu Fei Yu’s expression grew grave. She urged the golden serpent to resist — but she saw Zhan Changfeng shake her head. In an instant, Zhan Changfeng was swept away by the whirlpool.

She had no choice but to follow suit.

Flag Mountain — Entrance to the Trap Tomb

Old Gao crouched on the ground, head in both hands, watching as two groups of people fought in a bloody frenzy.

One side wore black cloaks or were dressed as mountain folk — they had come out from inside the tomb.

The other side wore warrior attire and carried fine weapons. They had appeared out of nowhere — rather like the mantis stalking the cicada.

What in his grandfather’s name were these two sides doing here? He hoped His Highness hadn’t run into trouble.

Old Gao muttered bitterly to himself and tried to make himself as invisible as possible, incidentally catching a falling corpse to use as a shield in front of him. The body was swollen like a pig, and its eyeballs had even popped out with a plop, startling him so badly he shoved it away immediately.

The black-cloaked side was fewer in number, but every one of them was a gu practitioner. The moment they brought out their methods, those warriors who had come to play the mantis stalking the ciceat were caught completely off guard — of the hundred-odd men, more than half were poisoned to death on the spot.

Yet the remaining minority were not to be underestimated — they were all Postnatal masters, and in today’s martial world, that was the rank of a grandmaster!

One person among them was most fearsome of all. He wielded a pair of spiked gauntlets with breathtaking mastery. When his hands crossed in a killing blow, the air itself cracked, and a sharp, shrieking sound could be heard.

That was the external projection of inner force — something only a Prenatal Grandmaster who had left the ordinary world behind could achieve!

Old Gao had always imagined that a Prenatal Grandmaster would be white-haired, with wrinkles more spectacular than a chrysanthemum’s petals. But this man was tall and handsome, with skin so flawless it was painful to look at. Had he gone mad from cultivation and grown younger in reverse, or was he some once-in-a-generation genius who, at most, could only be twenty years old?

“Nobody move, or I’ll kill him!” a member of the Gaotian Tribe shouted.

The Gaotian Tribe had no need to hold a weapon to someone’s throat — their gu came and went without a trace. Without anyone knowing when, it had landed on Old Gao.

Old Gao cried out, “I don’t even know these people! What’s the point of using me as a threat!”

And yet, surprisingly, the warriors actually stopped. Old Gao felt no relief — instead, cold sweat broke out all over him.

“Didn’t expect there to be a pack of gu practitioners hiding here. I’ve been careless.” Gongsun Jing held his spiked gauntlets with an expression of amusement.

“Who are you people, and what are you doing invading our tribe’s sacred ground!” During the standoff, the Gaotian Tribe spoke up first in accusation.

“Your tribe’s sacred ground?” A cold-faced man turned and whispered to Gongsun Jing, “Third Young Master, would the item be here?”

“The Yin Dynasty has only two Sons of Heaven left. Since the Dragon Scale Divine Scripture wasn’t in the old Emperor’s hands, it must be in the young Crown Prince’s. Even if it wasn’t before, it should be now.”

Gongsun Jing trusted his own instincts — otherwise all those days of tracking would have been for nothing.

At that moment, tremors came from underfoot. Gravel around the edges of the dig tunnel cascaded downward. That was still the mild end of it — in the distance, an entire mountainside was collapsing!

“What’s happening!”

“What’s going on down there!”

“You two, guard the tunnel entrance. Everyone else, follow me and sweep the mountain!” Gongsun Jing swept his hand out and led his warriors rushing toward the crumbling mountain.

Their movement techniques were extraordinarily advanced — in just a few moments, they had all vanished. The Gaotian Tribe glanced around and realized that even Old Gao had been swept away.

“All of you, follow me!” The Gaotian Tribe wasted no time and gave immediate chase after Gongsun Jing’s group.

The mountain rocks crumbled and collapsed, the river churned and surged, and after a crack of thunder, the wind gradually picked up and rain began to slant down.

Zhan Changfeng dragged her soaked clothes up onto the riverbank. She could no longer maintain the death-form any longer — the yin chill retreated back into her bones, and her blood began to flow again.

Unfortunately, the backlash was severe. Blood poured in gushing torrents from the ruined half of her body and from the wounds on her face. In the blink of an eye, the river water within a meter of her had turned crimson.

Her abdominal organs were all convulsing in pain. She coughed up blood and recalled what she had seen at the bottom of the Cavern’s abyss.

Before, she had said that the Sons of Heaven of their lineage all shared one trait: anything they chose to hide, they would sooner destroy than allow others to obtain.

That sounded extreme and ruthless, but there was a logic behind it.

The guiding principle of a Son of Heaven was to live for the greater good. If one felt compelled to hide something away, it could only mean that the time for it to appear had not yet come.

The bottom of the abyss had been full of gold and silver — only now it was buried entirely beneath the mountain’s rubble.

It seemed the Founding Emperor had truly not wanted the Tianfu treasure trove to see the light of day.

The Founding Emperor had been skilled in divination, and it was entirely possible he had foreseen the decline of the Yin Dynasty eight hundred years hence. Furthermore, judging from the design of that great gate, he had anticipated that a descendant would come to retrieve the Dragon Scale Divine Scripture.

If that was so, why not leave the treasury for her? With those resources to support her, her plans would be so much stronger.

Zhan Changfeng couldn’t help but laugh. In truth, it was only natural that he wouldn’t give it to her — after all, she was working to overturn the very order the Founding Emperor had established.

A Son of Heaven lives for the greater good.

But the Sons of Heaven of her family lived only for the greater good as they themselves conceived it.

And she and the Founding Emperor were, quite simply, going in opposite directions.

She coughed again, the taste of rust rising in her throat, only to be swallowed back down. From behind came the sound of water, and the keen cutting of a blade through the air.

Zhan Changfeng sensed it, but had no strength left to dodge. And so that sharp blade came to rest against her back, aimed at her heart.

“Your Highness, I beg your forgiveness.” Jiang Wei said.

The third person to emerge from the water was Songshi Zi. Suddenly seeing master and servant locked in mutual violence, he froze on the spot, and his gaze instinctively searched for the serpent-raising woman.

The serpent-raising woman had long since dusted herself off and left — she hadn’t so much as surfaced from the water.

The fourth to emerge was Qiao Shan Ke. His complexion was ashen, but his eyes were bright. After “Xiao Zhao” had been killed, the gu worm on his body had died too — with no more mortal danger hanging over him, he felt as light as air.

Qiao Shan Ke walked unsteadily to Jiang Wei’s side, his gaze cold and sharp. “It wasn’t all for nothing after all.”

The female lead who is about to die again:

The author who has lost the will to live: I just wanted you to go find a treasure. Why are you dying again and again and again! How am I supposed to write my way out of this!