Chapter 34
he atmosphere had become stiff and not a single person spoke a word, but Su Xing didn’t mind because this gave him ample opportunity to appreciate the beautiful girl before him. Gong Caiwei was the first to speak, snorting, "Then is young master Su Xing willing to explore the ancient tomb together?"
"If you really solved the puzzle, I definitely wouldn’t mind."
"The ancient tomb has two iron coffins. Since this is so, we shall each complete one mechanism."
"Roger." Su Xing clapped his hands together in approval. Gong Caiwei turned and made her way into the ancient tomb without so much as glancing at the belongings of the dead cultivators that littered the ground. Su Xing felt that pillaging these items in front of a lady would appear to be too dishonorable, however, he immediately felt it was shameful enough that he himself was just a newcomer fresh off the boat. As if he could still afford to give a rat’s a.s.s about things such as honor.
When Gong Caiwei turned to go, Su Xing took the opportunity to use his Divine Intent to conduct a survey.
"Caiwei…Caiwei…" Wu Xinjie lagged behind, holding her chin as she pondered deeply.
Lin Yingmei stared at Wu Xinjie, giving her a look that asked, "Are you lovestruck?"
"That’s not it, I seemed to have heard the name Caiwei somewhere before." Wu Xinjie pulled at her hair.
Lin Yingmei did not spare Wu Xinjie another thought and followed Su Xing into the ancient tomb.
Unexpectedly, the other side was a Star Master, and she also did not need to stay within a Star Nest to cultivate. All in all, when Star Generals emerged from the Star Nest to protect their masters, a few seconds were needed. Although this time was very short, in terms of fighting strength, these few seconds could be fatal.
Entering the ancient tomb, Gong Caiwei sat on the edge of a coffin, humming a tune, her expression completely relaxed. The Leader Star stood guard by her side, and her expression was like a boulder. Even the desire to make a pa.s.s at her was lost.
"Are you ready?" Gong Caiwei’s smile was a spring breeze.
Su Xing nodded his head.
Lin Yingmei and Wu Xinjie stood to the side and watched, curious. They did not know just how their own master solved the puzzle.
"Yingmei, did you figure out the mechanism?" Wu Xinjie whispered.
"This servant isn’t interested in these sorts of things. This should be your responsibility!" Lin Yingmei said. Nevertheless, her eyes remained fixed on Su Xing’s every movement. Wu Xinjie wanted to laugh from the bottom of her heart; Yingmei’s words were empty.
Su Xing took out a pot of kerosene from within his Astral Bag and poured it into the middle of the coffin. Gong Caiwei followed by filling her coffin to the brim with water.
The behavior of these two really was a bit odd.
The coffins were not used to hold bodies, but instead water and oil?
While Wu Xinjie pondered about this oddity, Su Xing suddenly lit a Starfire, and the oil proceeded to ignite in a raging inferno, turning the coffin into something resembling a charcoal basin.1
Gong Caiwei watched Su Xing, admiration flas.h.i.+ng briefly within her eyes.
The ground then issued a m.u.f.fled rumbling sound, and between the two coffins, the floor caved in. A flight of stairs leading underneath the ancient tomb abruptly opened. Impressively, this
"You really did solve the mechanism."
Lin Yingmei exclaimed. Even till now, she still had not figured out how her master had figured out the solution in such a short amount of time. Although this already wasn’t the first time she experienced Su Xing’s ability to crack lost relics, each time caused the Majestic Star to surge from the bottom of her heart.
Her own master was practically born for Liangshan’s riddles and puzzles.
Wu Xinjie also was stunned. After all, the Knowledge Star was Maiden Mountain’s number one wisewoman. She contemplated the scene before her eyes for but a moment when she understood how Su Xing found the ancient tomb’s mechanism. "Of course, this ancient tomb’s hint is too ingenious." Wu Xinjie gasped in admiration.
"Ingenious hint?? Where?" Lin Yingmei asked.2
Wu Xinjie looked around the ancient tomb and smiled craftily: "The entire ancient tomb is the hint."
Lin Yingmei blinked.
Wu Xinjie then said that this ancient tomb’s biggest hint lay in why the coffins had an iron top. Understanding this point meant that solving the ancient tomb’s mechanism was extremely easy after that.
Seeing that Lin Yingmei still did not understand, Wu Xinjie indicated to the things Su Xing and Gong Caiwei used to open the tomb.
"Water and fire?" Lin Yingmei was astounded.
Wu Xinjie smiled: "That’s right, iron coffins and every grave wrapped in gold, wood and earth. According to the five elements theory, the hint needed to open the mechanism naturally was the remaining two elements, water and fire."
Any puzzle always feels exceptionally easy after it has been solved, however, the one stuck in the maze cannot solve the puzzle. Those other Star Cultivators would never have arrived upon the five elements.
Su Xing approached. Seeing the two whispering, he interrupted them: "We’re going down into the ancient tomb in a moment, finish making your preparations."
"Xinjie likes Young Master more and more." Wu Xinjie threw herself onto him, not caring about the others.
Su Xing smiled: "This ancient tomb’s mechanism only looked mysterious. If you think carefully, you can solve it."
"Xinjie concedes defeat.3 Even if I could solve it, I still could not do it as quickly as Young Master. You are practically an evil genius." Wu Xinjie proudly once again puffed out her impressive chest: "Young Master and Xinjie are indeed a couple matched together by Heaven and Earth."
"This Gong will be entering first." Gong Caiwei and the Leader Star Wu Zhu took the initiative to descend.
Su Xing and his companions followed them into the entrance. As soon as they walked down, the mechanism’s large door closed up behind them. Inside, there was a matchless darkness such that one could not see their own hands.
Su Xing sensed that a chilly Divine Intent had locked onto him. It seems that Gong Caiwei’s precautions have not disappeared in the slightest, yet Su Xing did not have the least bit of interest in sneak attacking her. Throwing out an already prepared Daoist Light Talisman, the talisman flashed a beam of pure light, illuminating the ancient tomb’s interior.
A winding set of stone stairs spiraled downwards, the end of which could not be seen.
"Take these!"
Su Xing extended his hand and caught several pills.
"These are Miasma Repellant Pills. They can help you resist the ancient tomb’s corpse and poison gases." Gong Caiwei said.
"Thanks." Su Xing did not recklessly take the pills after he received them. Who knew if Gong Caiwei had somehow tampered with the pills, after all, it couldn’t be said for sure what sort of good things this ancient tomb had.
Obviously, Gong Caiwei was aware of Su Xing’s thinking, and she snorted disdainfully at him.
"This princess never cared for a reason to kill."
Su Xing did not feel like retorting, so he directly fished out some pills from his person and threw them to Gong Caiwei. With a smirk on his face: "These are called Exorcism Pills. They can repel the evil spirits and curses within this ancient tomb. Dare to take them?"
Looking at these dark and swarthy pills, how would she ever ingest them. Gong Caiwei raised her eyebrows and proceeded to crush the pills into dust.
"Did you know you couldn’t take them?"
Gong Caiwei understood Su Xing changed his style to ill.u.s.trate the present situation. She smiled: "Young Master Su Xing, you really are careful."
"Caution keeps you alive."
"You’re very careful, yet you dare to descend into this tomb together with this Gong. Could it be you aren’t afraid that this ancient tomb may have some rare treasures to fight over? When that time comes, this Gong won’t be so kind as to say anything." Gong Caiwei glanced at Wu Xinjie: "Or perhaps you think your Star Generals are a match for Zhu Sha!"4
"Su naturally does not believe that a fairy as incorruptible as Lady Caiwei would think of doing something like killing a man to rob him." Su Xing’s tone was ambiguous.
Gong Caiwei stifled a smile.
"Ah, I know…" Wu Xinjie suddenly piped up at this time.
The group stopped, all directing their gazes upon her.
Su Xing asked her: "What did you discover?"
Wu Xinjie shook her head while sticking out her tongue, an incredibly cute gesture.
The group continued to follow the steps in front of them as Wu Xinjie watched Gong Caiwei, a crafty and frightening light flas.h.i.+ng through her eyes.
Author’ Note: Requesting earnestly for your ballots~~