Chapter 224: The Game
After the Grandmasters of the Wei Clan and Mei Clan entered, six of the seven clans had arrived, with only the Lu Clan yet to show.
The group of Grandmasters outside the tunnel couldn’t help but speculate whether anyone from the Lu Clan would appear. Although the news said the Lu Clan wouldn’t wade into this muddy water, no one believed they could hold back.
At that moment, suddenly two figures flew over their heads. Among the crowd gathered outside the tunnel, more than half were Grandmasters, yet not a single one could clearly see the appearances of those two, watching helplessly as they entered the tunnel.
There was no doubt that these two were both Heavenly Rank Grandmasters, but what was their origin? Just as everyone was discussing animatedly, they saw another two figures fly past. This time, they barely made out that it seemed to be one man and one woman, with the man carrying the woman as they flew into the cave, but no one could clearly see what these two looked like or their identities.
“This is getting interesting now.” Lin Chao’s current mentality was that there weren’t enough Grandmasters entering the tunnel, allowing the Xiahou Clan people to kill and seize at will. He would rather have as many Grandmasters enter as possible, no matter their identities—the more chaotic the situation inside, the safer the two old eunuchs would be.
“What are the origins of these last two groups?” Pei Yukou and Cui Pingzhi and the others couldn’t help but worry. There were already twelve or thirteen Grandmasters gathered in the tunnel. In such a once-in-a-decade spectacle, no one could predict what would happen!
“The first two couldn’t be seen clearly,” Cui Pingzhi said with a grave expression: “But among the last two, one seemed to be wearing a Daoist robe…”
“Wearing a Daoist robe?” Everyone couldn’t help but speculate: “Could it be the Sect Leader True Person of Heavenly Master Dao has arrived?”
“No, if it were True Person Xu, he would certainly appear openly before us and not act so secretive.” Cui Pingzhi shook his head and said firmly: “I’ve heard that Taiping Dao has also been very focused on Gaozu’s Treasure Vault recently…”
“Could it be Sun Yuanlang himself?” Everyone couldn’t help but gasp in cold air. They had been closely monitoring Taiping Dao’s movements and had long known that Taiping Dao had set its sights here.
As the saying goes, a man’s reputation is like the shadow of a tree. Just mentioning the name Sun Yuanlang would make even the most confident person feel uneasy. That was a name that could be mentioned in the same breath as Zhang Xuanyi!
“It’s possible…” After Cui Pingzhi spoke, he gave a self-mocking bitter smile: “What are we worrying blindly about? With the kind of people going in, do we really need to worry for them?”
“That’s true…” Everyone nodded in agreement. In their view, their own Grandmaster would at worst return empty-handed; retreating unscathed would be no problem at all.
After the Daoist suspected to be Sun Yuanlang entered, for a long time no more Grandmasters arrived. Just as everyone was guessing that the Lu Clan was determined not to wade into this muddy water, Lu Xian arrived gracefully with two people.
“Hey, I was right, weren’t I? The Lu Clan couldn’t possibly stay uninterested.” Cui Pingzhi looked smugly at Pei Yukou, who nodded in acknowledgment.
。
Seeing so many renowned Grandmasters gathered at the cave entrance, Lu Xian originally thought it would take some effort to get in.
Who would have thought that as soon as he approached, those people very consciously made way for him. Lin Chao even smiled broadly at him: “Vice Sect Master Lu is late; hurry and go in!”
This left Lu Xian baffled, not knowing what these guys were up to.
“Master, the others have cleared the path,” Lu Yun reminded softly: “We just need to go in.”
Lu Xian nodded and was about to take Lu Yun and Lu Xin down the tunnel. But Lu Yun said to Lu Xin: “Father, we can’t have no one from us at the cave entrance…” The implication was clear: please don’t go down the tunnel yourself.
Although Lu Xin was very worried about Lu Yun, he knew he was speaking the truth—otherwise, why would there be so many Grandmasters from various clans guarding the cave entrance. After hesitating, he had no choice but to yield to the big picture: “I’ll guard the cave entrance. You must stick close to the Vice Sect Master and absolutely not take risks.”
“Father, rest assured, I know.” Lu Yun nodded and followed Lu Xian as they leaped down the tunnel.
。
The tunnel was about the width of a well mouth. After Lu Xian and Lu Yun descended more than two zhang, their feet landed on solid ground. Looking closely, they saw a deep passage ahead, with ancient patterns carved on the four walls of the passage, in the style of the Han Dynasty.
“Stay close behind me carefully; don’t wander off.” Lu Xian knew well that in such an imperial mausoleum, the internal passages crisscrossed with countless mechanisms; any slight carelessness for an intruder would lead to a gruesome death.
Lu Yun, however, didn’t take it seriously. He didn’t think entering the cave at this time would encounter any danger. But Lu Yun didn’t contradict Lu Xian and followed him deeper into the passage. After walking a hundred steps, they saw sharp spears piercing the ground everywhere, and a corpse resembling a man’s body firmly nailed to the ground by six or seven spears.
But from the state of the corpse, it was clear it had been dead for many days, not someone who entered today.
‘This is probably that grave robber’s accomplice.’ Lu Yun thought to himself. Seeing this corpse, he couldn’t help but believe a bit more in what that grave robber had said, and he quickly calculated in his mind how to prevent the Imperial Family’s Treasure Vault from falling into others’ hands!
In Lu Yun’s view, Gaozu’s Treasure Vault should be, and could only belong to him. Ever since Gao Guangning told him of the Treasure Vault’s existence, Lu Yun had always thought this way. He firmly believed that his Imperial Grandfather’s spirit in heaven would bless him to obtain the Treasure Vault and let Great Xuan be reborn from the ashes!
But the prerequisite for all this was that while finding the Treasure Vault, no one else could take it away! So when Lu Yun heard the Treasure Vault had appeared, regardless of whether it was real or fake, he had to come explore.
If the Treasure Vault really existed, Lu Yun might have to take a desperate risk—even if he couldn’t get it, he absolutely could not let others have it.
。
On Mount Mang, in a cave several li away from the tunnel, several Grandmasters of the Xiahou Clan were vigilantly guarding two men sitting by the campfire.
One was a middle-aged scholar-like figure, none other than the Xiahou Clan’s military advisor Zhu Xiuyi; the other was a sickly-looking middle-aged man, naturally Xiahou Bupo of the Xiahou Four Heroes. Xiahou Bupo had wrapped his body in a thick fur coat, roasting by the fire while suppressing light coughs.
Zhu Xiuyi wore only a simple scholar’s robe and was listening intently to a subordinate Grandmaster’s report.
“Reporting to the military advisor and Third Master, after Zuo Yanqing and Du Hui went down, the two lords have entered, followed by Pei Bang and Pei Yuqiu, Cui Dingzhi, Xie Ding, and also Wei Yang and Mei Yu entering the tunnel one after another.” That Grandmaster, though usually high in position, didn’t dare overstep in the slightest before Zhu Xiuyi and Xiahou Bupo, showing how strict the Xiahou Clan’s rules were. “Afterward, two unidentified Heavenly Rank experts, and a Daoist suspected to be Sun Yuanlang carrying a woman, entered the tunnel. Finally, Lu Xian took a young man named Lu Yun down as well.”
After hearing the Grandmaster’s report, Zhu Xiuyi couldn’t help but bitter smile: “This is truly a case of deliberate efforts failing while unintended actions succeed.”
“Hehe…” Xiahou Bupo coughed violently for a spell, took out a handkerchief to wipe his mouth, and said casually: “Indeed, we set up this trap to eliminate most of the Royal Family’s backbone, but who would have thought His Majesty would be so cautious, sending only two old eunuchs down and refusing to commit more resources.” They had originally thought that once the Initial Emperor learned of the treasure’s location, he would immediately dispatch his trusted elites to probe the tomb, but they hadn’t expected the Initial Emperor to send only this tiny handful… well, a handful of old cats.
“Those two old eunuchs are his left and right arms; cutting them off together would sufficiently cripple the Emperor’s strength.” Zhu Xiuyi slowly shook his head: “Compared to Gao Guangning’s value to our clan, the Emperor’s loss would be ten or a hundred times greater.”
“Of course,” Xiahou Bupo nodded: “Gao Guangning is just a dog of ours, whereas Zuo Yanqing and Du Hui are His Majesty’s lions and tigers.”
“Moreover, the value of those Grandmasters is no less than that of the two old eunuchs.” Zhu Xiuyi smiled faintly: “Eliminating them would benefit our clan even more!”
