Chapter 66: Storm Suction
“I’m just fucking baffled. We’re all entering through the same secret door, how the hell did we get separated?”
Jiang Ce was extremely depressed.
Hearing this, Liang Zhi Che also sighed: “Maybe there are some mechanisms we don’t know about that activated without us noticing, and separated us into different places.”
“Even if we didn’t notice, could Martial Uncle Xuan Qing not notice?” Jiang Ce couldn’t imagine just how lame a Heaven-Reaching Dharma Master had to be to be fooled by a mechanism.
“Probably because he was too far away and couldn’t attend to us in time.”
Liang Zhi Che looked at Jiang Ce: “Talking about this is pointless. The question is, what do we do now?”
“We can only go forward. Did you forget that the stone chamber closed after we entered? That means the builders here are luring us deeper step by step, not giving us any chance to turn back. So going down now, the best case is returning to the stone chamber and picking another secret door to enter again. The situation might not even be better than now, and we could get separated again.”
Jiang Ce’s analysis was logical and well-founded; Liang Zhi Che couldn’t find any reason to refute it.
“But below is a labyrinth, and we can’t fly. What if we’re trapped inside, or worse, if there are deadly mechanisms in there? Wouldn’t that be a big problem?”
Liang Zhi Che said suspiciously: “I even feel like we might have been sent into a death gate.”
“I don’t think it’s that serious. This labyrinth is huge, but we’re standing in a position where we can see the entire layout.”
“Oh, I get it.” Liang Zhi Che slapped his thigh: “You mean we can memorize the labyrinth’s layout here first, find the exit, memorize it well, and then go down?”
“Of course not.” Jiang Ce shook his head, looking at him like an idiot: “Do you think the builders would let us see the labyrinth from here without any countermeasures? This is pure provocation, like an open-book exam—they let you look at the book because they’re not afraid you’ll find the answers.”
“I dare say that once we go down, something will definitely disrupt all our perceptions and mislead us onto the wrong paths.”
“Then what do we do?” Liang Zhi Che felt his head spinning from Jiang Ce’s words—one moment saying it’s not serious, the next saying there are definitely dangerous setups. He didn’t know what to do anymore.
“Thinking too small, your vision is too narrow! If you can’t solve the problem, why not solve the one who posed the problem?”
Jiang Ce was exasperated, stood up, and walked downward:
“A labyrinth is only a labyrinth if you follow the paths. If you don’t follow the paths, it stops being a labyrinth, right?”
“Uh, I think… I kinda get it a little.”
Liang Zhi Che half-understood and followed Jiang Ce down the stairs.
But upon reaching the front of the labyrinth, Liang Zhi Che discovered the situation seemed even worse than imagined.
Looking down from above, they could indeed see the full layout of the labyrinth, but the platform they had just been on wasn’t on the same level as where they were now—it was offset.
Moreover, it was as if the builders had some obsession with mirrors: the labyrinth visible from the platform and the area they were about to enter were two mirrored sections. Wherever their eyes went, the walls and ceiling were firmly connected together.
“Damn, wall-climbing won’t work now.” Liang Zhi Che was somewhat desperate: “Part of the structure I just memorized has to be mirror-flipped, I can’t wrap my head around it—my brain’s gonna fry.”
Jiang Ce glanced at him, unconcerned: “No big deal. I figured they wouldn’t let us simply wall-climb in a straight line, so I never planned to do that from the start.”
“Then what do you plan to do?” Liang Zhi Che expressed confusion.
Jiang Ce smiled faintly and recited the incantation he had casually made up to cover his secrets and fool Liang Zhi Che.
“Western Ding Zhen Buddha, Southern Laughing River Heavenly Venerable, Northern Sole Cause Immortal Venerable, Eastern Doll Bodhisattva—four guardians return to position, urgently as commanded!”
The next moment, the Golden Bell Shield activated at full power again.
Watching Jiang Ce turn into a scorching white-hot lightbulb again, Liang Zhi Che was greatly shocked: “You’re a Buddhist Cultivator—how are you using a Taoist command?”
“What does a Confucian Cultivator like you know? Just watch quietly.”
Jiang Ce was furious. Am I supposed to tell you the real command relies on profanity? It’s already good that I made this up on the spot.
Immediately after, Jiang Ce didn’t even use the door—he drilled straight through the wall, leaving Liang Zhi Zhou staring in awe at the human-shaped hole he left behind.
Liang Zhi Zhou understood Jiang Ce’s intent. No wonder he didn’t care about not being able to climb walls—he planned to smash through one wall after another from the beginning.
“What a madman.”
He looked up, somewhat nervous, recalling Xuan Qing’s warning that reckless actions might cause a collapse, worrying that Jiang Ce’s antics would bring down the entire labyrinth.
Fortunately, the feared situation didn’t happen.
But just as he was about to follow Jiang Ce inside, he noticed something wrong at the edge of the human-shaped hole.
Liang Zhi Che immediately shouted anxiously: “Wait! Don’t go through the walls anymore!”
“Huh?”
Jiang Ce turned back in confusion, meeting Liang Zhi Che’s terrified gaze.
“Your face!” Liang Zhi Che backed up two steps, face full of horror.
Jiang Ce pulled out the mirror he had swiped from Qin Shen Bo and not yet returned, checking it while puzzled: “Why do I have so many rashes on my face?”
“Mercury! The walls are filled with mercury!” Liang Zhi Che yelled through the wall hole.
Jiang Ce narrowed his eyes, realizing it wasn’t simple, and asked seriously: “What’s mercury?”
Liang Zhi Che was going crazy: “It’s quicksilver! The builders injected tons of it into the walls to prevent destruction. This stuff is dangerous—inhaling even a little vapor can kill. You melted through, turning it all into steam—you’re done for!”
Hearing this, Jiang Ce refused to accept it: “Why am I the only one done for? Didn’t you inhale it too?”
Liang Zhi Che immediately recited an incantation, and thick Righteous Qi overflowed from his body. Soon, a stream of tainted qi was expelled.
Then he looked at Jiang Ce: “Now it’s gone.”
“Fuck! Playing dirty with me, huh? And here I was thinking of getting you out safely!” Jiang Ce panicked—poisoning wasn’t a joke. He wasn’t sure if it was psychological, but his mouth tasted metallic, and breathing was getting hard.
“What do you mean playing dirty with you? You created this mercury vapor yourself!”
Liang Zhi Che defended first, then said helplessly:
“Too bad you’re not a Confucian Cultivator—Righteous Qi could force out the evil toxins. Do you know what Buddhist Cultivators fear most? Poison. Once it gets in and they can’t block it, they have no way to deal with it.
Now we can only try to find Martial Uncle Xuan Qing before the poison sinks into the bones, and see if he has any solutions.”
Hearing this, Jiang Ce’s face showed struggle, but he finally sighed: “Forget it, can’t count on him. No more pretending—cards on the table: I have Righteous Qi too.”
“What did you say?”
The next moment, thick Righteous Qi emanated from Jiang Ce’s body. The only difference was that Jiang Ce’s Righteous Qi was burning with black fire.
Fortunately, he reacted quickly: “Shit! Really poisoned—my Righteous Qi is contaminated!”
“How do you…” Liang Zhi Che was so shocked he covered his mouth. He couldn’t figure out how someone of Jiang Ce’s low quality could cultivate Righteous Qi.
But Jiang Ce was busy expelling the poison and had no time for Liang Zhi Che’s reaction.
But as he tried, he noticed something off.
Not only was the poison not being expelled, he keenly sensed it merging into his Righteous Qi and being absorbed.
Not only that, even stranger, his Righteous Qi felt more solid.
“Holy shit! Storm absorption! You fucking heaven-defying evil qi, trying to trick me into sucking poison?!”
I was gonna post a single chapter yesterday begging for follow-up reading to boost Sanjiang, but after asking the editor, follow-up reading grew too slowly—probably because I’ve been holding back lately without overly wild plots. So I’m ramping it up. No hopes for Sanjiang—straight to premium for a good meal.
