harleyscars Page 69
Page 69
Ahead, the view suddenly opened up to a more spacious circular stone chamber.
Several torches were stuck on the iron frame on the wall, their flickering flames illuminating the stone chamber in an alternating light and shadow, casting ghostly shadows.
At the end of the stone chamber was a huge, perfectly sealed stone door.
Before the stone gate, Wang Yuyan's shrewish, green-clad figure appeared isolated and helpless.
With her back to them, she nervously manipulated something on a stone disc embedded in the stone door, covered with countless intricate mechanisms, with trembling, slender fingers.
Her face was pale, her forehead was covered with fine beads of sweat, and a few strands of her hair were damp with sweat, clinging to her snow-white cheeks, making her look pitiful and endearing.
Murong Fu stood beside her, one hand on her shoulder, gently comforting her, while the other hand gripped the hilt of his sword, assuming a posture of being ready to fight at any moment, protecting his cousin behind him.
Around them, five figures dressed in black, wearing masks, and wielding gleaming katanas, tightly surrounded them.
Four of them were exceptionally slender and delicate, and even though they were wearing loose night clothes, their feminine, supple, and shapely figures were still clearly visible—they were the maids from Mantuo Manor!
The fifth person was extremely short, like an underdeveloped child, but the chilling murderous aura emanating from him was the strongest among the five.
But what made Wang Meng and Huang Rong's pupils shrink the most was the sixth person standing beside that short Japanese pirate—Wu Ma!
She had also changed into a sharp black outfit, her face still displaying that chilling coldness and indifference.
The strange-looking long sword in her hand was gone, replaced by a standard katana identical to those held by the maids.
She stood there quietly, as if supervising or enjoying a good show.
This scene perfectly corroborated the conversation I had just heard—the two cousins were being coerced by the vicious Japanese pirates to break through a trap, their lives hanging by a thread.
However, just as Huang Rong's rationality told her that all of this was reasonable, she saw that when Wang Yuyan's fingers paused for a moment due to nervousness, Murong Fu's "concerned" face, from an angle she couldn't see, furrowed his brow quickly and impatiently.
It was an extremely subtle, fleeting expression.
But Huang Rong's eyes caught it precisely.
In that instant, in order to get a better view, Wang Meng's arms around her waist tightened by half a point very "naturally".
This action caused him to penetrate even deeper, as if punishing her, into the depths of her already overburdened, wet, and muddy buttocks.
"Well!"
Huang Rong's body stiffened as if struck by an invisible lightning bolt, and she almost let out a groan that would condemn her to eternal damnation.
"Click!"
A crisp, almost audible sound came from the center of the complex stone slab.
Wang Yuyan's pale, jade-like fingers fell limply after she turned the last mechanism bead.
Her whole body was trembling slightly, as if she had exhausted all her energy. If Murong Fu hadn't caught her in time, she probably would have collapsed to the ground.
The air inside the stone chamber seemed to freeze for a moment.
All eyes were fixed on the massive stone door.
A look of ecstatic joy and relief instantly appeared on Murong Fu's face. He excitedly hugged his cousin tightly and shouted, "Yu Yan!"
You did it!
You really did it!
His voice was unusually abrupt, as if he were giving a secret signal.
But deep within those bright eyes, a fierce glint, more intense than firelight and filled with greed and possessiveness, flashed by in an instant.
The four slender maids and the short Japanese pirate unconsciously tightened their grip on the hilts of their swords, and their breathing became heavier.
Only Wu Ma remained expressionless, coldly staring at the stone gate, as if waiting for a predetermined outcome.
The next instant, a deep, thunderous "clattering" sound came from deep inside the stone gate, the sound of countless huge gears starting to turn.
Boom! Rumble! Rumble!
With a slight tremor in the ground, the massive, perfectly sealed stone door slowly, inch by inch, sank inward.
Large plumes of dust fell through the cracks in the door, forming a hazy cloud of smoke in the flickering firelight.
An ancient, dry scent, carrying the unique fragrance of aged paper and ink, wafted from the darkness behind the door, instantly filling the entire stone chamber.
When the stone gate sank completely underground, the scene behind it was finally revealed to everyone in its entirety.
Behind the door was a huge, bottomless cave.
Inside the grotto stood rows and rows of enormous bookshelves that reached to the ceiling! Those bookshelves were made of some kind of precious dark wood, I don't know.
On the shelves, countless thread-bound ancient books and parchment scrolls were neatly stacked, piled up from the ground to the dark heights beyond sight.
Densely packed, as vast as the sea!
This is the legendary Langhuan Jade Cave, which contains the martial arts secrets of all schools and sects in the world!
This magnificent and solemn scene.
Everyone was momentarily stunned.
But Wu Ma, that woman who remained silent and uninvolved, as if she had long since distanced herself from the matter.
But he did something that surprised everyone.
She didn't even turn around to look at the Langhuan Jade Cave.
Instead, it slowly, very slowly turned around.
She was incredibly precise.
His gaze was fixed on the rocky corner where Wang Meng and Huang Rong were hiding.
Her face showed no surprise, no doubt, only a cold and mocking certainty, like a cat playing with a mouse.
"Come out!"
Her voice, though not loud, was like an ice-cold awl, instantly piercing the scorching air in the room, thick with greed and shock.
"I've found you!"
These words were like a bucket of cold water poured into a calm pan of oil, causing the entire stone chamber to explode instantly!
Chapter Thirty-Seven: Fierce Battle (Part Two)
Almost the instant Wu Ma finished speaking, the four slender ninjas and the short Japanese pirates all involuntarily turned their gazes toward the rocky corner that Wu Ma was looking at.
Even Murong Fu and Wang Yuyan's gazes were drawn to it.
But just as everyone's attention was drawn to that false target, something unexpected happened!
"bass--!"
A piercing screech of a blade tore through the frozen air.
In an instant, the katana in Wu Ma's hand transformed into a silver lightning bolt and left her hand!
But the deadly blade did not strike the place where Huang Rong and Wang Meng were hiding, as everyone had expected.
Instead, Thunder turned the tables!
Wu Ma's body, in a twisted and swift motion, rushed in the completely opposite direction!
Her target was none other than the short, unsuspecting Japanese pirate leader standing beside her! Mei was thinking, "I don't have time, Lin isn't here yet..."
This strike was as fast as a ghost and as ruthless as a knife!
"Mizu Nanako!"
A scream, a mixture of terror and rage, burst from the throat of the short Japanese pirate.
He never expected that "Aunt Wu" would turn on him with a knife at this moment!
The shock in his eyes lasted for less than a blink of an eye before being replaced by the instinct for survival.
At the same time, he reached for the katana at his waist, attempting to parry.
But it was too late.
Because he was half a step too slow, his sword didn't even have time to be fully drawn. "Clang!!"
There was a sharp sound of metal clashing.
Wu Ma's powerful slash landed squarely on the blade that had been partially pulled out.
The immense force instantly shattered his fragile parry, and the blade's momentum continued, carving a deep, horrific wound across his chest that revealed the bone!
Fresh blood gushed out like a fountain.
"kill!"
Almost at the same moment that Wu Ma made her move, the four black-clad ninjas who had been surrounding Murong Fu and Wang Yuyan did not hesitate at all.
With a sharp cry, they moved like four black shadows and rushed toward the wounded Japanese pirate leader, their katana aimed straight at Wu Ma's vitals!
This sudden internal strife plunged the entire stone chamber into utter chaos.
Murong Fu, the elegant young man who had always played the role of "victim," made a move in the blink of an eye when everyone was blinded by bloodshed and betrayal.
His "concerned" face instantly revealed a sinister smile of triumph.
He shoved Wang Yuyan, who was still in a daze, away from his arms with a fierce and merciless move!
Then, with a twist of his waist, he shot forward like an arrow, without the slightest hesitation, and plunged directly into the newly opened stone door leading to the Langhuan Jade Cave!
His movements were incredibly fast; there was no trace of the weakness he had shown after his shoulder blade was pierced by the iron hook.
In the blink of an eye, his figure completely disappeared among the towering bookshelves.
"Cousin...cousin?"
Wang Yuyan was completely dumbfounded.
She had originally thought that her cousin would help her escape this dangerous situation.
But she never imagined that what awaited her would be such a brutal and heartless shove.
She staggered backward, losing her balance, and in her panic, she stepped on something cold and hard.
The thing poked her soles with a sharp pain.
She instinctively lowered her head and looked down at her feet in the flickering, faint firelight.