On the south side of Lingxiao Peak, a woman's voice was complaining incessantly. The voice was so loud that it could not be drowned out by the torrential rain.
"Li Molin, this road is so difficult to walk on, and this awful weather is just awful!"
"Ah...I don't want to go anymore, I want to go home, home!"
"I want to go back to the inn and sleep!"
"..."
"To hell with that Imperial Seal of the State! I'm not looking for it anymore!"
"..."
Liuli carried Ahua across the muddy ground, releasing a white aura to completely cover her body. Although she wouldn't get wet, she still looked unhappy. The mud on the ground had long since stained her white embroidered shoes, and even her legs were splattered with mud.
Ignoring the difficult terrain, Li Molin stared intently at the mountainside, carefully searching for any unusual features.
Ji Jue, Yu Ke, and Lang Yuan walked forward in silence, so in the quiet night, apart from the sound of rain and wind, there was only Liu Li's complaining.
After a long while, Li Molin got annoyed. He frowned and said unhappily, "That's enough, Liuli. If you really want to go back, then go back."
Liuli stopped in her tracks, her eyes darting around, hesitant. On one hand, she truly hated this kind of weather, but on the other hand, she was curious about where the Imperial Seal was hidden. She had only been venting her frustrations; she wasn't willing to leave if she really had to.
After hesitating for a while, she ran a few steps forward to catch up with Li Molin and the others, muttering, "Forget it, if I go back and leave you guys here, I'd be so disloyal."
Li Molin turned to look at her, shook his head and chuckled.
"Young Master, look!" Yu Ke paused, pointing to a large blue stone about the height of a person in front of him, and said in a deep voice, "There's something strange about this stone!"
At that time, the rain had washed away all the soil from the bluestone, revealing its smooth surface. If it weren't for today's heavy rain, the stone, which was originally completely covered by soil and covered by vines, would have been completely hidden. Behind the stone, the sound of the rain flowing down was too rapid and sounded very abnormal.
Li Molin reached out and released a ball of black demonic energy that rushed towards the rock, instantly shattering it into pieces of varying sizes that scattered across the ground. The boulder dispersed, revealing a cave entrance. Rainwater gathered at the cave entrance, forming a curtain that cascaded down to the ground like a waterfall.
Li Molin was overjoyed and said, "Found it, let's go!"
With a shout, Liuli followed closely behind Li Molin and ran towards the cave entrance.
Yu Ke, Ji Jue, and Lang Yuan also filed over.
Upon entering the cave, they were met with complete darkness, except for a glimmer of light about ten feet ahead. Li Molin, Liu Li, and the other two demons carefully traversed the ground and reached the source of the light. There, they saw three dark entrances leading to three passageways that stretched out into the distance. At the entrance of each passageway were lamp holders on either side, each topped with a fist-sized luminous pearl.
If one could see this mountain from the sky, one would see that there are cave entrances in the east, west, south, and north. After walking a dozen or so feet inside the caves, the passages begin to branch out, extending like the veins of a leaf. Some of these passages curve forward and are passable, while others are dead ends. The passages meander and twist at the very bottom of the mountain, winding in all four directions. Among the densely packed passages, only one winding path leads directly to the center of the earth, to a hidden underground palace at the foot of the mountain.
Under the cold, eerie light of the luminous pearl, several words were carved above the three openings in front of them: "Danger lies ahead; those who stray into this path shall be turned back."
"Let's go." Li Molin withdrew his gaze from those eight words and walked into the central cave.
The cave was deep and secluded, about ten feet high and half a foot wide. Every ten feet along the cave walls, a luminous pearl was embedded in each side, illuminating the path that stretched forward. The sheer number of luminous pearls in these numerous passages was considerable, and this extravagant display only strengthened Li Molin's belief that the Imperial Seal of the State was likely located within.
"Tap, tap"...
A series of footsteps echoed throughout the silent cave. The three humans and three demons walked cautiously through the narrow, dark passage, watching for any potential dangers in all directions, moving extremely slowly.
As Liuli walked, she tiptoed and looked ahead, but the cave ahead was deep and dark, and she couldn't see where the end was.
Suddenly, Ji Jue, who was walking on the left ahead, stepped on a protruding rock. The square rock, about the size of a fist, sank deep into the ground with a crisp "crack".
Along with this faint sound, a series of "crackling" sounds came from the cave walls on either side of the three people and three demons. Numerous fist-sized openings appeared on the smooth cave walls, each emitting a sharp whistling sound as it shot through the air. "Whoosh, whoosh!" One after another, jet-black feathered arrows shot out from these numerous openings, their range completely covering Li Molin, Liuli, and the other two demons.
The black arrow wounds on both sides of the cave walls seemed to have spread to an unknown destination. Seeing that there was nowhere to hide, Li Molin took out his skull staff and knocked down the numerous arrows one by one. As he did this, he shielded Liuli to his chest. Liuli took the opportunity to hug Ahua tightly, protecting Ahua firmly.
With Li Molin protecting Liuli, she didn't need to make a move. Ji Jue, Yu Ke, and Lang Yuan took out their weapons one after another and knocked the arrows on both sides to the ground.
After about fifteen minutes, the dense array of arrows finally stopped shooting arrows, but a "clicking" sound could still be heard from within, as if the crossbows inside were being reloaded.
"Hurry up!" Li Molin glanced at the black feathered arrows scattered on the ground and pulled Liuli forward first.
The remaining princesses and their men also seized the opportunity and ran forward quickly.
The three humans and three demons ran forward for more than ten feet before finally leaving the area covered by the dense arrows. At this point, the passage had come to an end, and there were two cave entrances ahead for them to choose from.
Looking at the two cave entrances before him, Li Molin pondered which path to take and said softly, "It seems that although this cave is dangerous, the restrictions here are made by human means, so it is not a big deal."
Yu Ke's expression softened considerably, and he nodded, saying, "Not bad."
Wolf Source chimed in, "But this passage has too many branches, making it difficult to reach the end. Besides, there should be other entrances to this passage, otherwise the Buddhist and Taoist factions would have already come looking for us. Let's hurry up and leave."
Li Molin nodded and said, "Okay, let's go."
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