Chapter 17: No Way to Defend Yourself
A scream echoed from the other end of the corridor, then quickly faded away. Then, a chilling, shredding sound followed. Chu Yun, Li Ge, and Mo Li froze in place. "Another...another dead?" Mo Li's voice trembled uncontrollably. She couldn't imagine such a thing happening again and again in the defenses she had designed, which she had supposedly built to be impenetrable. It felt like someone had broken into your bedroom and suffocated your guest with your pillow, and you were completely unaware. It was a profound, bone-deep humiliation. "Looks like we have a new 'guest,'" Li Ge's tone was devoid of emotion. She turned and walked back toward the corridor they had just emerged from. "What are you doing? Going back to die?" Chu Yun immediately stopped her. "Let's go check it out," Li Ge said without turning back. "The dead sometimes tell us more than the living." Chu Yun frowned, glanced at the pale-faced Mo Li beside her, and followed. Mo Li hesitated for a moment, then gritted his teeth and followed at the end. The three of them returned to the long corridor filled with a scorching aura. The corridor was in shambles, the walls and floor covered in melted marks from the fire dragon cannons. At the corridor's entrance lay two more bodies. Like the first, they were dressed like jianghu (martial arts) figures, and their deaths were equally bizarre. Their bodies had been cut into countless neatly arranged squares and stacked into two strange, altar-like shapes. Their faces also retained the expression of utter terror before death, without a single drop of blood. "How could... How could this happen..." Mo Li muttered to himself as he took in the scene before him. "When did they get in? I clearly... didn't open any entrances..." "Clearly, that 'manipulator' has his own 'door,'" Li Ge crouched down and began to examine the two new bodies. Just then, a rush of footsteps echoed from further down the corridor. Immediately afterwards, seven or eight men and women, also dressed like jianghu (martial arts) figures, rushed out from around the corner. The moment they saw the scene in the hallway and the three bodies arranged in a bizarre formation, they erupted in panic. "It's Lao San! And Wu!" A bearded man looked at the bodies on the ground and roared in grief. "Who... who did this?!" "It's them! It must be those three!" A young woman screamed, pointing her finger at Chu Yun and the other two standing beside the bodies. Everyone's eyes instantly focused on them...
A scream echoed from the other end of the corridor, then quickly faded away. Then, a series of hair-raising, piercing sounds followed. Chu Yun, Li Ge, and Mo Li froze in place.
"Another...another dead?" Mo Li's voice trembled uncontrollably. She couldn't imagine such things happening again and again in the defenses she had designed, which she thought were impenetrable. It felt like someone had broken into your bedroom and suffocated your guest with your pillow, and you were completely unaware. It was a profound, bone-deep humiliation.
"It seems that we have a new 'guest'." There was no emotion in Li Ge's tone. She turned around and walked back to the corridor she had just rushed out of.
"What are you doing? Are you going back to die?" Chu Yun immediately stopped her.
"Let's go and have a look." Li Ge said without turning his head, "The dead can sometimes tell us more than the living."
Chu Yun frowned, glanced at the pale-faced Mo Li beside him, and could only follow. Mo Li hesitated for a moment, and finally gritted his teeth and followed at the back.
The three of them returned to the long corridor filled with a scorching aura. The corridor was in shambles, its walls and floor covered in melted marks from the fire dragon cannon's bombardment. At the corridor's entrance lay two more bodies. Like the first, they were dressed like jianghu warriors, and their deaths were equally bizarre. Their bodies had been cut into countless neatly arranged squares and then stacked into two strange, altar-like shapes. Their faces also retained the same expression of utter terror before their death, and not a drop of blood remained.
"How could this happen... How could this happen..." Mo Li muttered to himself as he looked at the scene before him, "When did they get in? I clearly... didn't open any entrance..."
"Obviously, that 'operator' has his own 'door'." Li Ge squatted down and began to examine the two new bodies.
At that moment, a burst of hurried footsteps echoed from the depths of the corridor. Immediately afterwards, seven or eight men and women, also dressed like guild masters, rushed out from around the corner. Upon seeing the scene in the corridor and the three bodies arranged in strange shapes, they were instantly in an uproar.
"It's the third brother! And Awu!" A bearded man looked at the corpses on the ground and let out a sad roar.
“Who…who did this?!”
"It's them! It must be those three!" A young woman screamed, pointing her finger at Chu Yun and the other two standing next to the corpse. Everyone's eyes instantly focused on them, filled with anger and murderous intent.
"That's her!" The bearded man stared at Mo Li intently, his eyes bloodshot. "I recognize her! She's the little witch who calls herself the 'heir of the Mo family'! This is her territory. Who else but her could kill people with such unpredictable means?!"
"That's right! It must be her!"
"Kill her! Avenge our brothers!" The group of people were very excited. They drew their weapons in an instant and surrounded Chu Yun and the other two.
"I didn't!" Mo Li's face turned pale in an instant. "I didn't kill them! I didn't kill them!" Although she was proud, she disdained to use such cruel means to kill innocent people. The anger of being wronged and having her family's reputation tarnished made her tremble with anger.
"You dare to quibble!" The bearded man roared, raised the big knife in his hand and was about to rush forward.
"Stop!" Chu Yun suddenly stepped forward, blocking Mo Li's way. His cold gaze swept over everyone present: "Why do you conclude that she was the one who killed him?"
"Boy, are you in cahoots with her?" The bearded man sneered at Chu Yun, "Who else is here besides her? Are we going to kill ourselves?"
"That's right! Stop talking nonsense with him and chop him together!"
"Let me ask you," Chu Yun ignored their shouting. His voice was not loud, but it reached everyone's ears clearly. "How did you get in?"
Everyone was stunned by his question.
"We...we came in through the city gate, of course," the bearded man replied. "We heard there were treasures from the previous dynasty here, so we came together to search for them. Who knew we'd be trapped the moment we entered, with deadly traps everywhere?"
"Did you see her when you entered the city?" Chu Yun pointed at Mo Li behind him.
"That...that's not the case."
"Since you are here to look for treasure, you must be discerning people." Chu Yun continued, "You can come up and take a closer look at these corpses."
The bearded man approached with a skeptical look. He squatted down and looked at his brother's body, the anger in his eyes gradually giving way to surprise and suspicion.
"This...this cut..." he muttered to himself, "It's so smooth...smoother than the sharpest knife I could use..."
"Look at their hearts again." Chu Yun reminded.
The bearded man lowered his head and looked carefully. He saw that on the hearts of the three corpses, there was a dark rune like a prying eye.
"What is this?" he asked subconsciously.
"I don't know." Chu Yun shook his head, "But I can be sure that this thing doesn't belong to the Mo family's mechanical technology." He turned his head to look at Mo Li and ordered in an unquestionable tone: "Take out everything on you that represents your Mo family identity."
Mo Li was taken aback by his sudden command. Though reluctant, she still pulled out an ancient bronze token from her bosom, seeing the tense situation before her. On one side was the Chinese character "Mo," while on the other was an incredibly intricate pattern made up of countless gears and levers.
"Look carefully." Chu Yun pointed at the token. "The energy contained in it is cold, precise, and pure 'artifact' power." Then, he pointed at the black mark on the corpse's chest. "And this thing exudes a deadly aura, filled with malice. It's a pure 'will' power. These two are completely different things."
His words were clear and logical, and those originally excited Jianghu people gradually calmed down. They were not fools and could feel that what Chu Yun said seemed to make sense.
Mo Li stood behind Chu Yun, watching the man who had just recently fought her to the death now fiercely defending her. A complex mix of emotions welled up within her. Surprise, confusion, and a strange feeling she couldn't quite articulate. But she remained unyielding, "I don't need you, a remnant of the Evil Suppression Division, playing hypocritical games here! I will uncover the truth and clear my Mo family's name!"
Chu Yun didn't look back, but said calmly: "Now we are all trapped here, and the truth concerns the life and death of each of us."
His words silenced everyone present. Yes, now wasn't the time to find out who the murderer was, but rather how to survive.
"Then...what should we do now?" the young woman asked in a trembling voice, "We can't get out, there are killing traps everywhere, and now there's an invisible murderer..." Her voice was filled with tears, and an emotion called despair began to spread among the crowd.
At this moment, Li Ge, who had been silent all this time, suddenly spoke: "There is a place that may be safe."
Everyone's eyes were focused on her.
"Tianshu Tower," Li Ge said slowly, "that's the power core of the entire Mechanical City. Whether that enemy hiding in the shadows wants to seize control or frame Mo Li, his ultimate goal must be there."
"Go to Tianshu Tower?" The bearded man's expression changed again and again. "That's the very center of the city, and also the most dangerous place! How can we possibly get through?"
"We have no choice." Li Ge's tone was unquestionable. "If we stay here, we will be slowly consumed by those out-of-control mechanisms and that invisible murderer. Going to Tianshu Tower may give us a glimmer of hope."
Her words were like a boulder dropped into a calm lake, and everyone began to hesitate and struggle. To go or not to go? This was a matter of life and death.
In the end, it was the bearded man who gritted his teeth and made a decision: "Okay! I'll go with you!" He looked at Li Ge and said in a deep voice, "I don't care who you three are, but what you said makes sense. We're going to die anyway, so we might as well give it a try!"
"I'm going too!"
"Count me in!"
With the first person taking the lead, the others followed suit. A fragile, loosely knit makeshift team, comprised of three groups with three different objectives, was formally formed at that moment. Their shared goal was a single one: to reach Tianshu Tower alive.
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