Chapter 240: Source Of Life
“There is no true creation from nothing in this world,” Su Yingxiu countered with a subtle point, smiling faintly: “The true force within martial artists’ bodies is all drawn from food and heaven and earth vital energy and converted.”
“These reasons may be profound, but what use are they right now?” Lu Yun frowned involuntarily.
“What’s the rush? Let her finish speaking.” Su Yingxiu shot him a coquettish glance and smiled: “Young Master Lu, you’ve looked for so long—didn’t you notice these rotating mechanisms are still operating?”
While Su Yingxiu spoke, a winch to their left began turning with a grinding sound, resetting a chain. Just moments before, that chain had slid out rapidly—no one knew who had triggered which mechanism.
“That mechanism is resetting.” Lu Yun had observed for a day, and it wasn’t entirely fruitless. “Unfortunately, the Dragon-Slaying Stone’s mechanism has already been destroyed. If we could repair it, we could escape to safety.”
“Young Master, don’t dream. My master examined this place and said the Dragon-Slaying Stone’s mechanism had been meticulously modified by someone—after one trigger, no one can reset it.” Su Yingxiu shook her head, revealing a bitter smile: “So, we’ve all been schemed into this.”
“Mm.” Lu Yun nodded; he knew they’d been tricked this time. But right now, there was no need to dwell on it. He cut himself off and said to Su Yingxiu: “Continue.”
“Hateful, you’ve made me forget where I was.” Su Yingxiu gave Lu Yun a glare.
“You said those rotating mechanisms are still operating.” Lu Yun said softly.
“And further ahead?” Su Yingxiu asked with a beaming smile.
“There is no true creation from nothing in this world…” As Lu Yun spoke, he suddenly realized: “You mean those rotating mechanisms must have power driving them to cycle continuously?”
“Young Master Lu is indeed clever.” Su Yingxiu clapped her hands happily and laughed: “Guess again—what power is driving these mechanisms?”
Lu Yun pondered for a moment, quickly ruling out several possibilities in his mind, then said softly: “It can’t be human power or animal power; it should be natural power.” He paused, his eyes lighting up as his tone rose slightly: “The greatest possibility is water power!”
“Young Master Lu is so confident?” Su Yingxiu looked at him with a sly smile: “Tell me the reason.”
“Simple…” Lu Yun said indifferently: “You just said there’s a way to find water…”
“Uh…” Su Yingxiu’s mouth twitched; she nodded helplessly: “Fine.” Pointing at the slowly turning winch, she said: “These winches should all be connected through a series of devices to a waterwheel nearby. The waterwheel is driven by an underground river, transmitting the power back to turn the winches.”
“So, there must be an underground river near this tomb?” Lu Yun’s eyes lit up: “If we find this underground river, won’t we find the way out?”
“It’s not that simple…” Su Yingxiu shook her head with a bitter smile: “Underground rivers mostly seep into the ground; few directly flow into rivers.” She sighed softly: “We’re very familiar with the terrain around Mount Mang—where is there any river flowing out from underground?”
“…” Lu Yun fell silent. What Su Yingxiu said was probably right; otherwise, why would Sun Yuanlang and the others leave this control room?
“Let’s find a way to get water first.” Su Yingxiu bent down to grope on the ground, glancing at Lu Yun: “Don’t just stand there—look for damp spots.”
Lu Yun nodded and, like Su Yingxiu, crouched down, touching the cold ground with his hands.
After groping for a moment, Su Yingxiu suddenly exclaimed softly: “Here!”
Lu Yun hurried over and touched the spot Su Yingxiu pointed to—sure enough, it was damp to the touch, distinctly different from elsewhere. The moisture on his fingers greatly invigorated Lu Yun; with a low shout, he said: “Dig down!” He removed a two-foot iron rod from a winch and thrust it heavily into the ground!
Sparks flew immediately, stone chips scattering.
When the dust settled, Lu Yun saw the iron rod had sunk nearly two inches into the ground; his confidence surged: “The ground is ordinary stone.” If the ground were the same material as the Dragon-Slaying Stone, he’d truly be powerless.
“We can’t just dig randomly.” Su Yingxiu observed the winches and marked several spots on the ground: “Dig down from these locations.”
“What about you?” Lu Yun looked at Su Yingxiu.
“Me?” Su Yingxiu had no intention of helping; she clasped her hands behind her back: “It would grind calluses onto my palms.”
“At a time like this, who cares about that?” Lu Yun rolled his eyes involuntarily, channeled his power into his hands, and thrust the iron rod heavily into the spot Su Yingxiu indicated. With a loud bang, the iron rod struck dead center, sinking nearly two inches into the ground.
Lu Yun gritted his teeth, gripped the iron rod with both hands, circulated his true qi throughout his body, and roared fiercely as he yanked it out.
Lu Yun roared again and thrust the iron rod down with full force! It hit unerringly into the freshly chiseled hole, sinking another nearly two inches on top of the previous depth.
Lu Yun yanked the iron rod out fiercely again, only to see the rolling-pin-thick rod now bent and unusable.
Lu Yun tossed it aside, took another from the winch, and continued on the hard-chiseled hole. After several times, most of the iron rod was embedded; no matter how hard Lu Yun pulled, it wouldn’t budge. He simply gave up, picked up a new iron rod, and thrust it down fiercely onto the deeply embedded one!
Su Yingxiu stood quietly to the side, watching Lu Yun with a complex expression. His series of crude, forceful actions seemed simple, but without opening the Ren and Du Meridians, no one could accomplish them. Thinking of how she was still stuck at Black Rank without breaking through, she felt deeply unsettled.
This thrust buried the iron rod completely into the ground, along with the previous one, vanishing entirely.
“There’s empty space below!” Su Yingxiu cheered, casting aside her complex emotions; she crouched excitedly by the hole Lu Yun had chiseled, examined it carefully, and said to him: “The ground is one foot thick.” Then she pressed her ear to the hole, listening intently—sure enough, she heard the rumbling of water…
“Underground river—there really is an underground river below!” Su Yingxiu jumped up, beaming triumphantly at Lu Yun: “How about it? Am I amazing?”
Lu Yun rubbed his sore arms and rolled his eyes at her: “You didn’t do anything, alright?”
“I told you long ago: in the jianghu, brains matter more than martial arts.” Su Yingxiu argued righteously: “Without my guidance, you’d still be standing there staring blankly!”
“…” Lu Yun didn’t bother bickering; he seized the time to circulate qi and recover his arms, preparing to enlarge the hole.
.
Soon, Lu Yun’s arms were restored; he raised the iron rod to enlarge the hole, but Su Yingxiu stopped him: “Follow the spots I marked—chisel a different place.”
“…” Lu Yun glanced at the points Su Yingxiu had marked on the ground—the nearest was still three inches from the chiseled hole—and frowned tightly: “Why chisel so many holes? Even then, we can’t get out.”
“Just do as I say; if it goes wrong, it’s on me.” Su Yingxiu was full of confidence.
“How is it on you?” Lu Yun rolled his eyes; Su Yingxiu’s words lacked sincerity.
“I already said I’d marry you.” Su Yingxiu said coyly; Lu Yun shuddered and hurriedly smashed the iron rod into the ground.
Dead center, right on another spot Su Yingxiu had marked.
