Chapter 100 Exhausted by Clever Schemes
Deep within the Hidden Dragon Abyss, blocking everyone's way, stood a towering, three-zhang-high stone gate, seemingly broken by a dragon.
The stone door was entirely black, covered with moss and the marks of time, but intricate star charts and Bagua diagrams were still faintly visible carved on it. A chilling aura emanated from the cracks in the door, as if a thousand-year-old secret was sealed behind it.
“Your Highness,” Yingyi stepped forward and examined the door, looking troubled, “this door… has no keyhole. Moreover, it weighs ten thousand jin, and there are quicksand traps all around, so it’s impossible to push it open with force.”
Shen Jin stepped forward, his slender fingers gently tracing the patterns on the door.
"This is the 'Nine Palaces Eight Trigrams Lock'."
Chen Jin said in a deep voice, his eyes becoming focused and profound, "The pinnacle of craftsmanship from the previous dynasty. To open the door, one must press the nine mechanisms on the door in sequence according to the rules of the Heavenly Stems and Earthly Branches and the Five Elements. One wrong step, and a barrage of arrows will be fired; two wrong steps, and the quicksand will collapse; three wrong steps..."
He glanced back at the crowd behind him and said, "We're all going to be buried with this former crown prince."
Everyone instantly felt a chill on their necks and instinctively took two steps back.
[So ruthless?]
Jiang Mianmian, holding a half-eaten apple core, also came over.
[Isn't this too complicated? Do I have to calculate the Five Elements? Do I have to memorize the Heavenly Stems and Earthly Branches?]
[Does this former crown prince have OCD? He has to do an advanced math problem before he can even enter the house? Isn't he afraid of wetting himself if he needs to?]
Hearing her inner monologue, Shen Jin almost lost his composure, his previously serious expression crumbling.
Olympiad math problems? Wetting your pants?
This woman's thought process is always so peculiar.
"Don't make a sound."
Chen Jin said softly, beginning to concentrate on the calculations, "Jiazi corresponds to the Heavenly Stem, Bingyin corresponds to the Li position... the Life Gate is in the southwest, the Death Gate is in the northeast..."
His brain was racing, and he had rehearsed every step countless times in his mind.
Time passed by, second by second.
A quarter of an hour.
Two quarters of an hour.
Half an hour.
Shen Jin remained standing there, staring at the stone gate like a statue, occasionally gesturing with his fingers in the air, his brows furrowing deeper and deeper.
Jiang Mianmian squatted on the ground, aimlessly drawing circles with a twig.
I'm so hungry...
So sleepy...
Is Chen Jin even capable? We've been calculating for ages and still haven't figured it out? Maybe I should just take a nap?
Just as she was about to fall asleep, Shen Jin finally stirred.
"Found it."
A glint flashed in his eyes, and he moved like lightning, instantly striking the stone door seven times.
"Slap! Slap! Slap..."
As the final strike landed on the "Dui" position, a dull creak of machinery turning echoed from deep within the stone gate.
"Clang—clang—"
The sound was harsh and grating, like rusty gears struggling to mesh.
Everyone held their breath, looking at the stone gate with anticipation.
However.
The sound lasted for a while, then suddenly—
"Gabong".
The sound stopped abruptly, as if something was blocking it.
The stone gate remained completely still.
Shen Jin was stunned.
"What's going on?" Yingyi asked anxiously. "Your Highness, is there a mistake in the calculation?"
"impossible."
Shen Jin had absolute confidence in himself. "The steps are absolutely correct. This sound... is because the internal mechanism is rusty, or it's been in disrepair for years and is stuck."
This is awkward.
The password is correct, but the lock cylinder is broken.
It's like you bring your keys home, only to find the keyhole is blocked with glue.
"Then...what should we do?"
Yingyi stared at the unmoving Dragon-Slaying Stone. "This is a massive boulder weighing tens of thousands of pounds! Even a thousand armies couldn't break it! Are we going to be stuck here?"
Shen Jin frowned, beginning to consider whether to use his internal force to forcibly shatter the mechanism, but that would most likely trigger the self-destruct device, burying everyone together.
Just when everyone was at a loss.
A lazy voice rang out.
"Make way, make way."
Jiang Mianmian threw down the branch in her hand, patted the dirt off her bottom, and stood up.
"Since the soft approach isn't working, let's try the hard approach."
She walked to Shen Jin's side, stuffed the dragon-patterned jade disc into her bosom, and then stretched her wrists and neck, making a series of crisp "crackling" sounds.
"Your Highness?" Shen Jin looked at her. "What are you trying to do? This door has a backlash force; the stronger your internal energy, the heavier the backlash..."
"Who said I was going to use my internal energy?"
Jiang Mianmian rolled her eyes. [I'm a physics major, okay?]
Even the most sophisticated mechanisms are utterly useless before absolute power!
Rusty? Stuck? Let's unclog it!
She took a deep breath, spread her feet apart, and assumed a less-than-perfect horse stance. Then, she extended her seemingly slender and delicate right hand and gently placed it on the heavy stone door.
"Chen Jin, lead everyone back ten steps," Jiang Mianmian said, turning around.
Shen Jin hesitated for a moment, but out of trust in her "superhuman strength," he waved for everyone to step back.
"Step back a bit further! Be careful not to get splattered with blood!"
The group retreated another ten steps.
Jiang Mianmian turned her head and looked at the huge stumbling block in front of her, her eyes becoming sharp.
[Superpower - Full Power!]
Break it!!!
She didn't use any fancy moves, just a simple, extreme, and brute force—push!
"Drink it—!!!"
With a crisp, delicate shout, the muscles in Jiang Mianmian's arm tensed instantly, and a terrifying force, powerful enough to shake mountains, erupted from her palm.
"Squeak—creak—"
The massive, heavy stone, its mechanisms jammed and which should have remained perfectly still, let out a mournful cry of unbearable strain.
Immediately afterwards.
"BOOM—!!!"
A deafening roar shook the earth!
The stone door wasn't pushed open, it was... completely knocked down!
Yes, it was toppled.
The hinges connecting the stone gate and the jammed mechanisms all snapped in that instant. The entire massive stone gate, like a toppled domino, crashed into the passageway inside, kicking up clouds of dust.
"Cough cough cough!"
Everyone coughed from the smoke and dust, but their eyes were wide open, bigger than copper bells.
"The door...the door fell down?"
"The princess knocked down the Dragon-Slaying Stone?"
"Is...is this even human?"
Shen Jin stood amidst the smoke and dust, watching the woman standing on the ruins, calmly patting the dust off her hands, her lips twitching uncontrollably.
He spent half an hour calculating the Five Elements and Eight Trigrams, deducing countless possibilities.
So she went up and pushed him, and that was it?
Is this the legendary... violent aesthetics?
"Done!"
Jiang Mianmian turned around, grinned at Shen Jin, revealing a set of small white teeth, "How was my 'good start'?"
[Hmph, all your scheming and plotting is nothing compared to your sister's fists!]
[What a waste of my time! Why didn't you just let me come earlier?]
Shen Jin walked over helplessly and helped her brush the dust off her head.
"OK."
"Your Highness... possesses unparalleled divine power."
“However…” He glanced at the dark passage inside, “This commotion was too loud; the mechanisms inside have probably been awakened.”
"What are you afraid of?"
Jiang Mianmian waved her hand with heroic spirit, "Bring it on, we'll block it! With me here, we'll kill gods and Buddhas if they stand in our way!"
"Let's go! Let's go buy some goods... oh no, let's go treasure hunting!"
The group stepped through the collapsed stone gate and entered the passageway of the ancient tomb.
Just as Shen Jin had predicted, that sudden "violent demolition" had opened the door, but it had also completely activated the tomb's defense system.
They had only taken a couple of steps.
"Crack".
Yingyi's foot sank.
"Watch out!" Shen Jin shouted.
Suddenly, countless dark holes appeared on both sides of the wall.
"call--!"
Dozens of eerie blue flames shot out, instantly sealing off the entire passage!
It's the fierce fire oil from the Western Regions!
"Ah! Fire!" the guards exclaimed in alarm.
Get out of the way!
Shen Jin grabbed Jiang Mianmian, stepped on the wall, and slid along the ceiling, narrowly avoiding the flames.
But the flames were too intense, and the path ahead was blocked.
"We can't get through!" Shadow shouted. "This fire can't be put out!"
Shen Jin frowned, looking for a way to shut off the fire.
Suddenly, Jiang Mianmian broke free from his arms and pulled a red tin can from her sleeve.
"Make way! Make way! The fire extinguisher is here!"
"Sizzle—!!!"
A plume of white, dry powdery mist shot out, spraying wildly at the fierce flames.
While flammable oil is powerful, it's no match for modern dry powder fire extinguishers.
In the blink of an eye, the fire was extinguished.
All that remained was a floor covered in white ash and a group of bewildered people.
"What...what kind of magic weapon is this?"
"It can actually spray snow to extinguish fires?"
Jiang Mianmian put away the fire extinguisher, keeping her good deed hidden.
[You've never seen anything like this before. This is called technology!]
"Keep going!"
The rest of the journey was practically a personal showcase for Shen Jin and Jiang Mianmian.
Encountering a series of trapdoors? Chen Jin, with his superb lightness skill, carried Jiang Mianmian and flew over.
Encountering a rolling boulder? Jiang Mianmian smashed it with a single punch.
Encountering a poisonous gas maze? Jiang Mianmian took out a gas mask and handed one to each person.
Encountering a complex Sudoku lock? Take three seconds to solve it.
This husband-and-wife team, possessing "high intelligence, high combat skills, and advanced technology," is practically a demolition crew from an ancient tomb. Wherever they go, mechanisms are destroyed and traps are rendered useless.
The terrifying tomb, originally designed to annihilate thousands of soldiers, was turned into their private garden by them.
finally.
After smashing down the last bronze door blocking their way, they arrived at a huge underground palace.
There are no mountains of gold and silver here, nor are there mountains of weapons.
There was only one huge, frigid ice pool.
In the center of the ice pool, there sat a lone, seemingly ordinary wooden box.
"This is... the treasure?"
Jiang Mianmian was a little disappointed.
That's it?
Where is my gold? Where are my jewels? This former crown prince is far too poor!
He was calm and composed, but his expression was solemn.
"careful."
He pointed to the ice pool, "There's something in this water."
Before he could finish speaking...
"Splash—!"
The ice pool shattered.
A giant python, pure white and as thick as a water bucket, slowly emerged from the water, its scarlet tongue flicking out as it coldly stared at the intruders.
It is the last guardian of this treasure—
A white dragon in a cold pool.
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