Chapter 255: Top Ten
“That’s how it is.” After Lu Yun’s vague words, he stated firmly: “Even taking detours and twists into account, the river channel is at most four li to enter the Luo River. We’ve already passed one li before, and that senior expert cleared another two li for us. As long as we open this last li, we can enter the Luo River and escape alive!”
“Moreover, this is still the worst-case scenario!” Lu Yun continued. His deep voice was powerful and persuasive: “The river channel usually widens toward the end, so we likely won’t even need half a li!”
“Mm…” Hearing Lu Yun’s words full of unwavering confidence, the grandmasters felt much more assured. They looked at each other, and from their expressions, everyone somewhat believed the young man’s words, so they successively relaxed and said: “What the young man says does make some sense.”
Escaping alive was currently the top priority in the world. Since there was no better plan, they naturally followed Lu Yun’s plan. Thus, the grandmasters began preparations to go into the water and excavate the passage.
Of course, Pei Yuqiu still couldn’t resist threatening Lu Yun: “Kid, if you’re wrong, you’ll regret it!” But with Lu Xian present, how much weight did Pei Yuqiu’s threat really carry? That was indeed a big question mark.
At this point, the grandmasters began discussing how to construct more efficiently. On this topic, they had no intention of hearing opinions from Lu Yun and Su Yingxiu, so the two could only obediently stay aside.
“Hey,” watching the grandmasters discuss heatedly, Su Yingxiu smiled with curved brows and eyes, whispering to Lu Yun: “What on earth is the Pythagorean theorem?”
“So there’s something even you don’t understand.” Lu Yun couldn’t help but smile slightly: “That’s why you need to read more. Later, look at the Nine Chapters on the Mathematical Art: ‘Multiply the legs separately, add them together, take the square root—that is the hypotenuse.'”
“Uh…” Su Yingxiu still didn’t understand, blinking her shell-like eyelashes, looking at Lu Yun somewhat blankly.
“It’s fine if you don’t understand—as long as you think I’m awesome.” Lu Yun whispered to her in a voice only Su Yingxiu could hear.
“Hey…” Su Yingxiu was so clever that she immediately understood Lu Yun was deliberately mystifying things, making those prideful grandmasters too embarrassed to admit they didn’t understand, forcing them to accept his conclusion. Su Yingxiu leaned to Lu Yun’s ear and whispered softly: “What if it’s still not through after one li?”
“Then I’ll say,” Lu Yun spread his hands with a what-can-you-do-me expression: “We’ve already put in so much effort— we can’t just let it all go to waste…”
“Pfft…” Su Yingxiu couldn’t help laughing out loud. Seeing the laughter draw glances from several grandmasters, she quickly covered her mouth apologetically, indicating she wouldn’t make noise again. Once they turned away, Su Yingxiu whispered admiringly to Lu Yun: “Daring to lead nine grandmasters around like livestock—you’re absolutely the first since the dawn of time.”
“No, ten.” Lu Yun said flatly.
“Oh?” Su Yingxiu was stunned: “You mean my master?”
“If Sect Leader Sun doesn’t show up, do you think they’d dare act freely?” Lu Yun nodded and whispered softly.
“That’s true…” Su Yingxiu nodded in agreement, then buried her head between her knees, saying no more.
.
The grandmasters quickly finished discussing and, instead of acting immediately, sat cross-legged on the spot to regulate their breathing and meditate.
Su Yingxiu couldn’t help glancing at Lu Yun, thinking to herself that the young man had guessed right again…
The two stayed silent, sitting quietly. For a moment, the cave was extremely quiet, with only the constant rushing of water filling people’s ears.
Time passed bit by bit like this. After the time it takes to eat a meal, foam-covered water suddenly burst with a splash, and a middle-aged Daoist priest holding a whisk appeared, stepping on the water!
“Hahaha, sorry to keep you all waiting!” After being chased by the nine grandmasters for days, Sun Yuanlang still looked full of vigor, though his Daoist robes were badly torn, and his whisk was half bald, naturally diminishing his air of an enlightened immortal.
“Mas…” Seeing Sun Yuanlang appear, Su Yingxiu excitedly called out, but immediately after, her throat seemed stuck, and her gaze toward Sun Yuanlang clearly dimmed.
Sun Yuanlang didn’t know what Su Yingxiu had been through, assuming she was taken hostage by these shameless grandmasters, and he burned with anger. But as an old veteran, he knew very well that the more he cared about someone, the more he had to act indifferent, or he’d bring greater danger to the saintess.
In Sun Yuanlang’s view, Su Yingxiu likely thought the same. So he only glanced at the saintess from the corner of his eye before fixing his full gaze on the grandmasters.
Seeing Sun Yuanlang appear, the grandmasters subtly formed a fan-shaped encirclement, ready to attack him at a word.
“Knew you’d definitely be following behind.” Pei Yuqiu looked at Sun Yuanlang, who faced the nine grandmasters fearlessly, and said coldly: “You probably heard what we said, right?”
“Heh, heard some.” Sun Yuanlang stood on the water, smiling casually: “You’re planning to dig a tunnel out. The Foolish Old Man Moving the Mountain may be foolish, but it can’t be called wrong.”
“No need for nonsense.” Pei Bang said coldly: “Join or not? If not, we’ll take you down first!”
“Don’t brag—it’s been days, and this poor Daoist is still alive and well?” Sun Yuanlang laughed: “I planned to show up after the tunnel was dug, but you won’t eat the slightest loss.” Pausing, he scanned the crowd: “As long as you promise to let my disciple and me leave safely after success, this poor Daoist will act as a laborer.”
“Fine.” The grandmasters nodded in unison upon hearing this—clearly, they’d anticipated Sun Yuanlang’s condition.
“But you have to leave the Imperial Seal!” Pei Yuqiu added unnecessarily.
“No wonder they say your Pei Clan are a bunch of brainless brutes.” Sun Yuanlang glanced mockingly at Pei Yuqiu and smiled: “Even if your Pei Clan gets the Imperial Seal, would you really hand it to the Xiahou Clan? If not, with so many grandmasters watching, do you dare pocket it?”
“This…” Pei Yuqiu flushed red at Sun Yuanlang’s mockery but refused to yield: “How we handle the Imperial Seal is our business—just hand it over!”
“Then there’s nothing to talk about.” Sun Yuanlang sneered, hand on his whisk, in a come-at-me stance.
“Enough.” Zuo Yanqing finally couldn’t stand it and said in a deep voice: “The Imperial Seal is the Son of Heaven’s possession. You ministers openly coveting it will only bring disaster on yourselves. Better to let Sect Leader Sun take it back, and strive for it later by your own abilities—that’s the prudent way.”
“The eunuch speaks wisely.” Cui Dingzhi nodded upon hearing this and said to Pei Yuqiu: “Brother Pei, the eunuch has put it so plainly—let’s yield for now. Nothing is more important than escaping this hellish place.”
“Sigh, alright.” Seeing everyone’s attitude, the Pei uncle and nephew could only yield.
“Good.” Seeing the grandmasters all nod in agreement, Sun Yuanlang then walked ashore on the water surface. He smiled faintly at the crowd: “How do you all plan to proceed?”
“Sect Leader Sun, it’s like this.” Zuo Yanqing said in a deep voice: “Sect Leader Sun, we ten divide into two groups—one blocks the water flow, the other goes deep into the cave to open the passage! What do you think?”
“Fine.” Sun Yuanlang smiled and nodded, rubbing his hands eagerly: “Then let’s begin!”
“Mm!” The nine grandmasters nodded together.
