Chapter 66 Chapter 66 I, my wife, Xun...Yin...
Chapter 66
Shen Suining and Shen Fengyu disguised themselves and left the city. After being about a few miles away from the city gate, they put on the green copper masks of Bifeng Hall and rode their horses towards Fuhu Cliff.
Before leaving the city, Shen Suining sent a message to Lan Zhu, instructing her to disguise herself and remain in the city to avoid giving others cause for gossip.
The two traveled without stopping, and by the time they reached the entrance to Fuhu Cliff, it was already late at night.
Those guarding nearby saw the two and immediately lit torches, appeared, and respectfully greeted them: "Young Master, Hall Master Shen."
Shen Suining jumped off his horse, grabbed a torch, and took a few steps forward. Then he stepped back, returned the torch, and said, "We'll enter the valley to search for people after dawn. You all stay here and don't allow anyone to enter or leave at will, understand?"
"Understood."
“And…” Shen Suining looked up at the mountain wall in the night. This place was part of the Taihang Mountains, with steep terrain and overlapping mountains, which was extremely oppressive. After a moment of pause, she calmly said, “If we don’t come back, just consider this lead broken and don’t bother to investigate any further.”
About an hour later, dawn gradually broke on the horizon. Shen Suining and Shen Fengyu exchanged a glance and prepared to enter the valley.
"Young Master!" The Right Protector of Qianji Pavilion suddenly called out to her, bowing solemnly with his hands folded in front of him, and said, "We have been loitering in this area for many days and know how dangerous this mountain is. If Young Master's only purpose is to find Protectors Ling Rui and Yan Zhen, then... please reconsider, Young Master!"
Upon hearing this, Shen Fengyu immediately chimed in, "Yes, young master, I'll go alone!"
"Shut up," Shen Suining glanced at her and immediately stopped her, then looked at the Right Protector, "You all need to be extra careful while guarding this place."
After saying that, she didn't even look at Shen Fengyu, and plunged into the valley without turning back.
Helpless, Shen Fengyu could only sigh heavily and quickly follow.
As Wei Zhao said, the terrain around Fuhu Cliff is extremely dangerous. Not only are the roads narrow, but they are also almost all uphill mountain paths, making it very difficult to walk.
The two men, one in front of the other, carried torches and held onto the mountainside with one hand, making their way uphill. By the time they reached the entrance of the Broken Head Valley, it was already broad daylight.
Shen Suining extinguished the torch and touched the side of the cliff. She noticed some messy marks on it. After examining it closely, she frowned and said, "There are traces of weapons here."
Not only on the cliff face, but also on the ground, this place was quite a distance from where He Changxin's troops were ambushed, and only infantry could pass through; cavalry had no chance of getting in.
Shen Fengyu also found it strange: "I've been paying attention all the way here, and it seems that these signs of a fight have only appeared here."
The two put away their torches and gripped their weapons. Shen Fengyu saw a stone tablet with the words "Headless Valley" engraved on it, which was entangled in withered vines. Following it forward, they would find the "dead end" that Wei Zhao had mentioned, which was getting narrower and narrower.
Her expression was serious, and she lowered her voice: "Young Master, the Valley of Headless Solitude is just ahead."
Shen Suining paused for a moment, adjusted her breathing, and did not immediately move forward.
According to the map provided by Wei Zhao, the road ahead is not a road at all, but a deceptive illusion. If there really is a road leading elsewhere, it is probably not ahead, but nearby.
Shen Fengyu's idea coincided with hers, and the two of them searched around the stone tablet at the entrance of the valley.
Finally, Shen Fengyu noticed something unusual behind the stone tablet. She pressed her ear against the stone wall and tapped it several times with her sword sheath, confirming her suspicion: "Young Master, there's nothing behind this wall!"
Upon hearing this, Shen Suining immediately stepped forward.
Although the mountain is mostly rocky, many vines grow at the entrance of the valley. They have been neglected for years and are almost ankle-deep, so that you can easily get caught if you are not careful.
Shen Suining accidentally got her foot tangled in the vines. She didn't notice that as she walked forward, the vines also pulled on the withered vines on the stone tablet. After the vines fell, they somehow triggered a mechanism, and suddenly countless short arrows shot out from the stone walls on all sides.
"Young Master, be careful!" Shen Fengyu immediately swung his sword and leaped to Shen Suining's side, blocking the sudden barrage of traps and hidden weapons.
Shen Suining quickly drew her sword and cut the vines off her feet. The two stood back to back, looking around warily.
The deflected arrow struck the stone wall with a resounding clang, leaving some marks on the hard rock. The two suddenly realized, "So that's how those scratches came about."
At this moment, the area on the side of the Deadheaded Valley that had just been entangled by withered vines was exposed, revealing several large characters—
Unauthorized trespassers shall be executed.
In that instant, the ground beneath their feet suddenly cracked open, and the vines, soil, and pebbles on the ground all fell down into darkness.
As the two landed, Shen Fengyu, who was underneath, groaned in pain. The lion heads on the surrounding stone walls instantly spewed fire, illuminating the scene before them.
"There's actually an underground palace here." Shen Fengyu, ignoring her own pain, quickly helped Shen Suining up.
The underground palace was extremely cold and dark, with almost no light except for the faint flames emitted by the lions on the stone walls.
The two dared not make any rash moves, but simply relit the torches.
"It looks like some kind of mechanism or formation." Shen Suining had fallen quite hard and was still a little dizzy. She noticed some patterns carved on the wall and gestured for Shen Fengyu to take a look.
Shen Fengyu understood and held up her torch to get a closer look. However, she accidentally stepped on a mechanism, and the walls and pillars in the underground palace moved with a loud bang. In just a moment, the layout of the underground palace was completely different from before. Even the wall in front of Shen Fengyu was replaced, and the pattern disappeared.
"..." Shen Suining remained silent for a moment, then asked, unwilling to give up, "Did you see it clearly?"
Shen Fengyu smiled awkwardly and shook her head, "I only saw a few lines..."
As soon as he finished speaking, the wall moved again, causing the ground to shake. The two of them knelt on the ground, supporting themselves with their swords. When the shaking stopped, the scene before them changed again.
Shen Suining had never seen such a large-scale mechanism and formation before. This place was several feet deep from where they had just fallen, and there was no way to retreat now.
Shen Suining has always been the type to act decisively when things don't go his way. Seeing that the formation kept changing and he couldn't figure it out from the outside, he simply strode into the underground palace.
Shen Fengyu quickly followed.
As soon as the two entered the underground palace, the wall moved, blocking their way back, while another path appeared in front of them.
“The path in this underground palace can change at any time, so you have to stay close to me,” Shen Suining reminded Shen Fengyu.
Shen Fengyu nodded in agreement, holding a torch and following Shen Suining into the secret passage.
Fire-breathing lions are scattered across the stone walls. In the dimly lit secret passage, various darts and hidden weapons can be seen on the walls and the ground, along with many animal carcasses. A foul, fishy stench lingers in the air, like damp soil mixed with blood and the smell of something rotting.
Shen Fengyu held a Qing Dan in her mouth, suppressing the urge to vomit. After adjusting her internal energy, she asked Shen Suining, "Do you know what kind of formation this is?"
Shen Suining calmly replied, "I don't know."
Shen Fengyu: "..."
She stopped in her tracks instinctively, and the next moment, the two heard the sound of a mechanism being activated.
Suddenly, countless short darts spewed from the mouths of the stone lions on the wall, extinguishing all the firelight in the secret passage. The two frantically swung their swords to defend themselves, but in their panic, they triggered some mechanism, causing the walls on both sides to move rapidly toward the center. Seeing that the two were about to be crushed into a meat pie, Shen Suining quickly pulled Shen Fengyu back to the underground palace they had just been in.
Still shaken, Shen Fengyu leaned on the ground, panting heavily. Suppressing the urge to curse, she said, "Young Master, no offense, but can you tone down your impulsive nature a little? You dared to force your way through without even knowing what kind of formation it was! You wouldn't have had enough lives to survive that—"
“The Seven Palaces Eight Trigrams Formation,” Shen Suining interrupted her, stating the name of a formation.
Shen Fengyu choked for a moment, half believing and half doubting, "You're not just making this up to fool me, are you? I've never even heard of this formation before."
"Why would I lie to you?" Shen Suining rolled her eyes at her, caught her breath, and stood up. "The pattern on that wall was the Big Dipper, and the stone lions on the secret passage wall were also arranged according to the Seven Star Formation. If I'm not mistaken, there should be seven similar underground palaces along this path, each of which is full of hidden dangers, and only one leads to the exit."
Shen Fengyu had heard of the Big Dipper constellation formation before; such formations were often used in military applications and were extremely difficult to break.
"And where did the Eight Trigrams come from?"
"Didn't you notice that the direction these walls move each time is regular?" Shen Suining glanced at her, silently picked up a short arrow, and drew on the ground by the torchlight. "The Big Dipper's seven palaces, each palace subtly corresponds to the Tai Chi Bagua, which means that each secret passage is different, and the next underground palace it connects to will also be different. This path keeps changing, so even if we know where the key to breaking the formation is, it will be very difficult to get out of this formation."
After finishing drawing the formation diagram, Shen Suining broke the arrow in half with one hand and gritted his teeth, saying, "We can only fight to the death and see how things go."
These words are pessimistic, tantamount to "we can only wait to die here," which is not at all like Shen Suining's character.
Shen Fengyu scratched her head. She had never understood anything about formations or mechanisms, but right now, the most important thing was morale. They not only had to break through the formation themselves, but also bring Ling Rui and Yan Zhen back with them.
So she massaged Shen Suining's shoulders and legs, and said with a smile, "Young Master, cheer up! If we get trapped and die in this godforsaken place, not only will the young marquis become a widower in the future, but the martial arts world will also laugh at us! If we can't even break this formation, then the master and lord will have nowhere to put their faces!"
The provocation tactic usually worked on Shen Suining without fail, but today she was deflated, admitting, "I've heard my father mention that this Seven Palaces Eight Trigrams Formation was once used in military affairs and was almost invincible. Among all the heroes in the world, only he and the Marquis of Yong'an could break this formation; even my mother was helpless. Besides, we fell from the sky and don't even know which palace we're in now, let alone how to break through this formation to find the correct route out."
No sooner had she finished speaking than Shen Fengyu, with her sharp eyes, spotted what appeared to be writing on the stone wall not far away. She shone her torch on it and exclaimed excitedly, "Young Master! I've got it!"
Shen Suining looked in the direction of the sound and saw two large characters carved with a sword on the stone wall: Yuheng.
She paused for a moment, then stood up. "These words don't seem to have been left by the person who set up this formation."
Moreover, judging from the strength and vigor of the characters, each stroke penetrating to the bone, with a free and unrestrained style, almost completed in one breath, the person must be a highly skilled martial artist and a composed individual.
Shen Suining immediately saw hope. She picked up another arrow and started drawing on the ground, drawing the seven palaces of the Big Dipper and the Bagua formation surrounding each palace. She pointed to the location of the Jade Balance Palace where they were and gestured back and forth, saying, "Next, we should go to Kaiyang or Tianquan."
Although the secret passages connecting the palaces are equipped with mechanisms, if the correct passage is found, it should be unobstructed. However, Shen Suining is unable to identify the correct direction using the Bagua (Eight Trigrams) and is temporarily stuck in a stalemate.
Just then, Shen Fengyu, who was searching around, saw some horizontal lines of varying lengths on the ground, which seemed to be different divination symbols. She quickly called Shen Suining over to take a look.
After examining the divination symbols on the ground, Shen Suining quickly clarified the direction and found the direction leading to the Tianquan Palace, which should be due east, the direction of the Li trigram.
However, there was no road to the due east. Shen Suining and Shen Fengyu exchanged a glance and simultaneously took out their swords to pry it open.
Sure enough, when the two swords found the crevice, the stone wall began to move, revealing a new secret passage.
Just to be on the safe side, Shen Suining picked up a stone from the ground and threw it in. After confirming that there were no traps or hidden weapons, the two of them, carrying their weapons, stepped into the secret passage side by side and successfully entered the Tianquan Palace.
The Tianquan Palace belongs to the Wenqu Star Lord, and the person who set up this mechanism is in accordance with the law. Like the Yuheng Palace just now, the Tianquan Palace did not have too many traps and hidden weapons. The two of them safely passed through the secret passage and arrived at the Tianji Palace through the divination.
As the next secret passage opened, a foul stench assaulted their nostrils. The two immediately put cleansing pills in their mouths, covered their noses and mouths with face towels, and used the Turtle Breathing Technique to hold their breath, barely managing to endure the discomfort and continue on their way. Scattered throughout the passage were white bones, whether human or animal, it was unclear. Some of the bones had not yet completely decomposed, and were crawling with corpse worms.
Shen Suining saw it clearly and felt nauseous. The two of them quickly quickened their pace.
After emerging from the secret passage, the two were stunned by the sight before them.
The underground palace was littered with corpses, as if a horrific battle had taken place there. The dust on the ground had long since solidified and stuck to the rocks, and there were traces of blood splatter on the walls, making it an exceptionally shocking sight.
We are nearing the exit. Light shines through the surrounding stone walls, carrying a few wisps of breeze. Through the cracks, we can occasionally see branches swaying gently on the cliff face, seemingly indicating the hope of life.
Among the mountain of corpses, Shen Suining noticed a skeleton to the due north. The skeleton was kneeling on the ground, holding a long sword, its back straight, the sword pointing to the ground. Its armor was pierced by several arrows, the arrow shafts covered with dust and bloodstains.
A great deal of time had passed, and his body had long since dried up, even revealing his bones, making it impossible to see his face clearly. However, one could tell from his proud, kneeling posture that he must have been a man of unyielding integrity in life.
The point where his sword was pointed was a powerful "hate" character, the handwriting of which was very similar to the clues left on the walls of the underground palace. Shen Suining caught a glimpse of the half-jade pendant hanging precariously on his waist, the Xuanwu pattern on it clearly visible.
Her heart skipped a beat. She took a deep breath and walked forward in disbelief, half-squatting on the ground. She saw that he was tightly clutching a tattered letter in his other hand.
There were a few words written on the envelope, which can now only be vaguely recognized.
“My wife, Xun… Yin…” Shen Suining murmured, her body almost collapsing under immense shock and grief. “This is… the Princess’s name!”
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