Chapter 177: Encountering a Clear Day Chapter 155 I Dare

·

·

·

Protagonist:

Shaowei

Liu Qi

Gaps split open in the floor tiles like unknown chasms, and the pitch-black underground chamber slowly took shape before everyone's eyes.

Shaowei stared fixedly at the entrance, her pupils contracting silently.

Everyone looked toward the entrance, only Liu Qi looked at Shaowei.

Her pitch-black eyes could actually be lit up by an equally pitch-black tunnel; she seemed to have even forgotten to breathe.

During that brief gap while waiting for the mechanism to fully open, Liu Qi thought that today she had found this place by means of a fly, not by heavenly protection, but by her own merit; that she could maintain sharp awareness and willpower amidst a thousand worries and ten thousand anxieties meant she was destined not to miss any clue hidden even in a single breeze or fly.

Even without that fly leading the way, by the time he searched here, he would not easily overlook the corpse of a rat that had died of poisoning; merely telling her of this suspicion, she too could break through the obstacles all the way and stand here.

This was not coincidence, but inevitability.

Like a divine creature of the mountain forest entering the mortal world to cultivate, blocked by a thousand layers of mountains, shedding its shell and growing strong through struggle, while her original intention for entering the mortal world was now written fully in her eyes.

She harbored a sliver of undisputable hope, impatient to step into the unknown underground chamber.

He twirled the short knife in his hand, the blade tip pointing toward himself, the hilt handed back to her; besides the short knife she took, he also followed down, but she moved swiftly and still took the lead.

Shaowei was used to being in front; now, first, she was extremely anxious, and second, stepping into such a dangerous and unknown place, she firmly believed she was the most experienced and outstanding fierce beast.

The entrance steps were narrow, unable to accommodate two people side by side; Shaowei held the short knife horizontally in front, Liu Qi held his sword and guarded closely behind her, then behind them Deng Hu, who had lit a fire stick, led the remaining four forward, while the other six stayed above by Liu Qi's order, not to let anyone approach this place without permission.

Several fire sticks flickered with faint light; Deng Hu and the others looked ahead as they advanced, only seeing the silhouette of Your Highness holding a sword.

The youth's figure was upright and slender, his shadow like a black eagle lowering its feathers, shielding and protecting the girl before him, while the girl's aura was like a restrained tiger, clearing the way for everyone behind her.

Amidst dead silence, the only things blocking the path were rat corpses; Shaowei kicked several aside one after another, frowning and saying in a low voice, "It seems those few outside crawled out from here."

No matter how hidden a secret chamber is, as long as people enter and exit, it cannot be made into an airtight copper wall and iron room; over time, insects and rats will inevitably dig holes.

Precisely because there were holes, the poison gas had gradually dispersed and could no longer threaten those who came now.

Ahead there was a vague sense of openness, accompanied by an extremely strong stench of decay; Liu Qi said to Shaowei, "Be careful," and first ordered Deng Hu and the others who had fire in hand to go light the oil lamps in the chamber.

In this moment, Liu Qi used the faint sight to vigilantly survey the surroundings, saying, "This underground chamber is deep and solid; it could not be built without a year's work. Judging by the traces of use, it has existed for at least three years."

Shaowei gripped the short knife in her hand, understanding in her heart that this underground chamber existed before Jiang Fu was captured, showing that Chiyang had already been making secret preparations since the beginning of entering the capital.

As soon as Liu Qi finished speaking, the two oil lamps in the room flickered and suddenly became much brighter; the surroundings leaped into view with the firelight, and Deng Hu and the others all changed color at once.

Dark red traces, new and old overlapping, filled the sight; four empty iron cages; three corpses of sturdy men.

The three died horribly; before death they should have resisted desperately, all covered in bloodstains; someone had their throat cut, someone was struck by hidden weapons with limbs twisted, and another seemed to want to crawl toward the exit before dying, with eyeballs bulging wide.

The bodies of several people had all changed color and swollen, even oozing bodily fluids; under the stench of corpses, Shaowei pulled down the mask on her face again, passed the corpses, and quickly walked forward to search.

Judging by these people's physiques and clothing, they should have been responsible for guarding this underground chamber, but were silenced.

"The corpses should be about ten days old." Deng Hu covered his mouth and nose to examine the bodies and drew a conclusion.

Ten days; hearing these words, Shaowei's mind automatically began to speculate; at that time she had just captured Shunzhen not long ago, and Chiyang had left the city for Lingxing Terrace only a few days... So at that time, Chiyang had already been arranging to clean up this place.

Keeping this place was not because the people who came to clean were careless; such a secret room could not be moved, and if set on fire, with air holes it would inevitably affect the houses above, and neither the iron cages nor the bones could be burned clean; the commotion from a large fire would only expose the secret.

Timely silencing was the other party's only way to clean up.

When Chiyang left the capital, because of Liu Chun's disappearance, the Brocade Guard and Imperial Guard patrols and searches in the city continued day and night without stopping, and Liu Qi's men were also searching secretly; the other party could cleverly avoid all eyes, skillfully infiltrate this underground chamber with an illusion array to silence them...

Shaowei could only think of one person: Song Ya, who had once appeared in Chiyang's residence, was hard to catch due to extremely fast movement, and was skilled in hidden weapons.

But those three sturdy men obviously were not willing to die just like that; there were blades in this underground chamber, and they probably had resisted madly; seeing the bloodstains at the scene spreading toward the entrance, it showed Song Ya was probably also injured, or because of this, before leaving she added poison smoke again to ensure the plan would absolutely not fail.

Shaowei speculated in her mind, her eyes never stopping their search; she knew what she was hoping for, even if extremely slim.

Liu Qi did not stop her; under these circumstances, it was better for her to find it to the end.

And thinking of a possibility, Liu Qi's mood was not easy either.

Soon, Deng Hu and the others made a discovery; there was something buried in the corner of the underground chamber; after knives and swords dug it open, it turned out to be bones, and many fragmented, fragile bones.

Liu Qi squatted down, one knee on the ground, picked up a small half-section of nameless bone, then gently put it back.

Not far from this buried pile of bones, there was a stone ladle; inside the bottom of the stone ladle remained gray-white bone residue.

Deng Hu considered himself accustomed to bloody slaughter, but at this moment still felt shocked.

After several more steps, several wooden barrels could be seen; the color of all the barrels was soaked with an unusual red; Liu Qi looked back, at the sharp carving knives beside the two sturdy corpses.

In the unknown dark underground, Purgatory indeed existed; this prison was dug and controlled by evil ghosts, hidden beneath the brocade Chang'an.

The remaining items were mostly the three people's simple utensils; there were also two iron furnaces; judging by their size, they were thought to be used not only for cooking but also for burning things to erase traces.

Liu Qi stood up and walked toward where the iron furnace was; only to see there were still some unburned things inside the furnace.

After a moment, he took out one thing from it; it was a child's silk shoe, burned black and only half left.

Shaowei did not pay attention to other things; her state at this moment was somewhat detached; what she saw before her was not without anger, but all emotions seemed to wander outside of illusions; she was covered within illusions, all her heart and mind on that illusory and vague thought.

Not there?

The person is not here, not even a trace?

The secret chamber was not boundless; looking with one glance, there was no place left to search.

But at this moment, Shaowei blankly stepped over a messily placed broken mat, yet felt something unusual under her foot.

Under a corner of the messy mat was an iron plate; Shaowei squatted down, touching and probing the iron plate; it was actually seamlessly inlaid on the ground; and at the moment she squatted down, she clearly heard a faint but hurried breathing sound!

Someone, alive, hidden!

Without any hesitation, Shaowei lifted the mask on her face with one hand, and suddenly lifted the iron plate with the other.

Dim light leaked into the not very large hole; between alternating light and dark, Shaowei's wide-open eyes suddenly met the pair of eyes raised from inside the hole.

The held breath slowly relaxed, and the wide-open eyes also lowered along with the eyebrows.

Not her, but a child.

How could it be her? Someone had already cleaned the place—how could they leave behind someone as important as her?

Yet this vague hope brought only immense disappointment. Shaowei looked at the person in the cave, paused for a moment, then managed to speak: "Have you seen a young Female Monarch of ethereal bearing and dashing grace?"

The shadow curled up in the cave spoke softly: "Only children were taken, no young Female Monarch..."

The greater disappointment instead restored her composure. Shaowei asked again: "Have you seen a round-faced boy of seven or eight years, with delicate skin and hair?"

The shadow nodded: "I saw him. He is dead..."

He died on the first day he was captured. He never entered the cage. Those who caught him said he was different, and that he was to be "used" that very day.

Shaowei's hands, pressed against the edge of the cave mouth, tightened into fists.

That night, Liu Chun survived the Imperial Banquet. She had thought she had indirectly changed this child's fate, but in truth he had merely lived a short while longer, and ultimately left the world in such a cruel manner.

In an instant, Shaowei absurdly thought: on the Fifth Day of the Fifth Month in the palace, during the epidemic-expelling rite, when Liu Chun joyfully ran over to ask for the water to be sprinkled, she should have sprinkled the exorcism water on him instead.

Her chest felt stifled. The bubble had burst, and genuine anger gathered and swelled once more.

The shadow in the cave shrank soundlessly into a ball, yet still tilted its head to look up at the person above.

A strange girl suddenly appeared, wearing a gold-eyed mask on her head and a rainbow feather mantle on her shoulders, bright and colorful, but her eyes were dim and pitch-black. Turning from immense disappointment to immense anger.

Thus the weak shadow in the cave did not believe it had any chance of living.

Indeed, the strange girl no longer looked or asked further. She turned to one side and called out a name: "Liu Qi."

Liu Qi stood behind her, his face hidden beneath layers of dim shadow.

Their eyes met. Without a sound, he had already received the order. He turned back and said to Deng Hu: "Let them pass. Let everyone pass."

"Acknowledged!"

After this resounding response, the shadow in the cave saw that the girl above had not left, but was looking back into the cave.

In those eyes looking down surged a storm of revenge, yet her tone was clear and steady: "I am the current Great Witch God. Now, in the name of ghosts and gods, I borrow your tongue to expose a shocking truth with lies and nonsense—do you dare speak?"

The shadow's small voice: "I dare."

As the words fell, a hand reached down from above.

The shadow trembled as it extended its hand upward.

This shadow was a girl of about ten years.

She was trapped here, like a dirty, thin clothing belt, utterly forlorn. Shaowei easily pulled her up.

But because she was too weak and too forlorn, as if any force would dislocate that arm, Shaowei had to use both hands, slipping them under her armpits to lift and carry her out.

No matter how forlorn a person is, they have bones and flesh, and there is still weight when held. Holding that weight in her hands, Shaowei felt a moment of confusion.

Not seeing the person she wanted to see in the cave, she was disappointed to the extreme. Not finding the living Liu Chun, she also felt defeated.

But this nameless, worthless girl still had heavy bones and blood. This is fate, this is a person, and they have their own weight, unchanged by her disappointment or defeat, stubbornly living here still.

And as long as one is human, one can speak. Just as flies can show the way, ant holes collapse dikes, and tiny insects gnaw wood. When the dike breaks and the beam falls, even the so-called Son of Heaven is forced to change his route and refrain from stepping.

Shaowei once again pulled the divine mask down from the top of her head, covering her face.

The principles of the world are domineering and baseless. Why should she maintain order? Since those who knew the truth were silenced and those involved died, the truth would be decided by her.

With the mask properly worn, Shaowei rose, lowered a hand, and led this nameless, forlorn life. Liu Qi held a sword in one hand and half a burnt shoe in the other. The shadow overlapped as they walked together past several huge iron cages.

The crowd was surging in.

Hua Li had been gone for a long time and had not returned. Yu Si Wu was anxious, leading a group of witches into the courtyard to search.

The commander of the Imperial Guard searching the Immortal Master's Mansion, secretly tasked with monitoring Liu Qi's search progress, saw that Liu Qi had not returned for a long time. In the name of protecting Your Highness's safety, he led the Imperial Guard to follow and investigate.

The Witch God entered the haunted house to expel the epidemic, and the witches lingered around. Many commoners were attracted. Quite a few came to the broken little gate, poked their heads in but dared not enter. I don't know who pushed whom, but that person was just pushed inside, and immediately someone followed. The commoners behind surged in one after another.

Human voices surged with human figures, piling up in layers like waves, until the Witch God reappeared.

Beside the Witch God in dark clothes and red lower garments stood a youth in blue-gold robes, like a sacrificial vessel guarding the god on left and right.

With the ghost god and the sacrificial vessel both present, the dilapidated, filthy courtyard seemed to become an altar just like that.

Behind the Witch God stumbled out a girl with disheveled hair, coarse clothes and a dirty face, thin to the point of being unrecognizable.

Under the gaze of all, the girl trembled as she loudly exposed the truth: "Immortal Master Chiyang has for years imprisoned and killed countless boys and girls here, bleeding them! Flaying them! Crushing their bones! Practicing evil techniques to harm people, seeking to overthrow the Great Qian realm!"

The girl's voice, strained to the utmost, faintly carried a sob. Under everyone's shocked gaze, it spread from this courtyard, to the alley entrance, into Xian Tai Gong, and before the Son of Heaven.

The Emperor sitting behind the chessboard turned to look at the kneeling Imperial Guard delivering the message.

Kneeling opposite the chessboard was Yan Mian. The Emperor was in a very good mood today and insisted on playing chess with him, but at this moment...

Yan Mian had changed color, tossing down the black stone in his hand, and also looked at that Imperial Guard.

Prince Liang, on one side being served melon and fruit by a maidservant, was greatly alarmed. Melon juice flowed from the corner of his mouth. He pointed at the Imperial Guard with one hand and looked at the Emperor: "Evil technique... Imperial Brother, Imperial Brother!"

That Imperial Guard kowtowed again: "The Sixth Highness also found Prince Zhao's heir's shoes in that dark chamber..."

The Emperor's face stiffened.

Guo Shi heard this in his ears, and his thoughts were in turmoil for a moment. As far as the Emperor was concerned, whether Prince Zhao's heir existed or not was no longer of great importance in this matter. Based solely on the words "practicing evil techniques to harm people, seeking to overthrow the Great Qian realm"... this Chiyang was destined to never be trusted again! He could not be used in secret either. How could he still be used with peace of mind!

Even discussing whether to use him or not, the significance was no longer great.

The news spread with incredible speed. The populace was indignant. Outside the city, human figures were like clouds and thunder, bustling and clamorous, booming and rumbling, surrounding Lingxing Shan overnight.

?? Everyone good night.

? Six hundred thousand words written, hoping to conclude around New Year's Day. Today continuing to ask for a monthly ticket!