Chapter 1756

Hu Xiaotian still remembers how, back then, a Lan-clothed person wearing a gold mask rode a black giant eagle and abducted Xi Yan, who was impersonating Long Xi Yue; he must be the Rong Shi before him, whose abilities should surpass Xi Yan's. Hu Xiaotian originally wanted to admit it, but on second thought, this person had saved Xi Yan multiple times from danger—perhaps it was more than just a fellow sect relationship. If this scoundrel had secretly developed feelings for Xi Yan, then if he knew Hu Xiaotian had come looking for Xi Yan, would he create obstacles? Entering the Wuxian Sect's headquarters alone is naturally nerve-wracking; he must guard against anyone. With this thought, Hu Xiaotian naturally would not lay bare his purpose; he smiled lightly and said, "I have come to discuss important matters with your sect leader." His tone was as casual as possible, wanting to give Rong Shi the impression that he was a person with lofty ambitions, not caring about romantic entanglements. Before meeting the Wuxian Sect leader, there was no need to make too many enemies.

Rong Shi led him to the second room on the right side of the first floor of the small pavilion at the southeast corner; the pavilion was entirely carved from white marble, even its tables, chairs, niches, and beds were made of stone. Rong Shi said, "Mr. Hu, you may rest here for tonight; after I report to my master tomorrow, I will immediately take you to see her."

Hu Xiaotian smiled and said, "Thank you for the trouble, Brother Rong."

Rong Shi turned and left, casually closing the door behind him; before departing, he again warned Hu Xiaotian not to leave privately, otherwise if any mishap occurred, nobody would look good.

Hu Xiaotian acted quite cooperatively; after Rong Shi left, he went to the table, felt thirsty, picked up the teapot and poured a cup of water, saw the water was black, lifted the lid to look inside, and found scorpions, centipedes, and other poisonous insects steeping in it. Hu Xiaotian frowned, set the pot down, picked up his own waterskin—fortunately he still had half a pouch of supplies—and drank a few mouthfuls. He looked around; aside from a painting of the Five Immortals Vying for the Cauldron hanging on the wall opposite the bed, there was no other decoration.

He sat by the bed; the stone bed felt slightly cool to the touch, and from its feel and texture he judged it to be made of cold jade. Hu Xiaotian lay spread-eagled on the bed; although he had arrived at the Wuxian Sect's lair, his future was uncertain and he could not predict what would happen next. After a while, he got up, blew out the candle, then went to the window, quietly drew back a corner of the curtain, and peered out through the window lattice—there was no one outside.

After listening carefully for a while, he was convinced there was no movement around the house, and thus preliminarily concluded that the Wuxian Sect had not stationed anyone to monitor his residence.

Hu Xiaotian lay back on the bed, but being in an unfamiliar place he could not fall asleep, so he simply sat up; absentmindedly looking up, he saw the Five Immortals Vying for the Cauldron painting on the wall emitting a faint blue glow, likely because the pigment contained white phosphorus or similar substance. He relit the candle, walked over, and curiously lifted the scroll; behind it was the stone wall, yet on the wall there was a palm print.

Hu Xiaotian looked at his own hand, then raised it to compare with the palm print; they were almost the same size. After a moment's hesitation, he placed his palm on the print—his palm felt icy against it, the stone's texture differed from that of the cold jade bed, seeming even colder. Moreover, as soon as his palm touched the print, it rapidly turned red. Seeing this strange phenomenon, he worried it might be poisonous and withdrew his hand.

At that moment he heard the sound of something sliding; turning, he saw the cold jade bed shift to one side, revealing a dark opening beneath it.

Unintentionally, Hu Xiaotian had discovered a hidden mechanism; he approached the opening and looked down—there was a stairway leading downward, unknown where it went. He mused that Rong Shi clearly knew there was a mechanism here, yet had arranged for him to stay in this room; perhaps he had deliberately set up this series of traps to lure him into a snare. Hu Xiaotian turned back to look at the palm print on the wall; its bright red hue was gradually fading. He turned to examine the cold jade bed again and found it had not returned to its original position.

Hu Xiaotian waited a while, but the bed showed no movement; then a faint voice came from the underground cavity, soft yet Hu Xiaotian heard it clearly.

"Master, why are you so ruthless!"

Hu Xiaotian moved closer to the cavity; the voice sounded exactly like Xi Yan's, the palm print on the wall had completely vanished, yet the cavity remained unchanged. Xi Yan's voice came again, and Hu Xiaotian could almost conclude that from the moment Rong Shi led him into this room, every arrangement had been a trap.

On the seven-story jade pavilion not far away, Meizhuang sat cross-legged on a lotus platform, her white robes pure as snow and spotless.

Rong Shi stood respectfully below and gave her a detailed report of what had just happened.

Meizhuang chuckled and said, "Rong Shi, you placed him in the Sorrow Tower—what is your purpose?"

Rong Shi smiled faintly and said, "Hu Xiaotian is putting on an air of bargaining with the master, seeming overconfident; therefore I decided to give him a lesson, dampen his spirit, and let him know what kind of place this is?"

Meizhuang raised her long brows slightly and said, "Do you think he would fall for your trap so easily?"

Rong Shi replied, "I have already made thorough preparations."

"Your so-called thorough preparations will likely have no effect on Hu Xiaotian."

Rong Shi said, "Everyone has curiosity; moreover, his purpose in coming to the headquarters is to see the junior sister. As soon as he notices any clue about her, he will investigate it thoroughly."

Meizhuang's deep eyes glanced at him, and she said meaningfully, "You aren't intending to settle a personal grudge under the guise of public duty, are you?"

Rong Shi said, "Master, I have no personal grudge against him!"

Meizhuang said, "Since he's here, let's just investigate his background and see what treasures he has to bargain with me!"

The trap Rong Shi set cannot deceive Hu Xiaotian; he can determine that the cries for help coming from below are certainly not Xi Yan's, for the Wuxian Sect excels at disguise and mimicking voices is one of its specialties—Hu Xiaotian has personally witnessed Xi Yan's superb disguise and voice-altering skills; since Xi Yan can imitate others, others can imitate her just as well.

Hu Xiaotian originally did not want to pay attention to the voice, but on second thought, if the Wuxian Sect leader truly intended to meet him sincerely, she would not deliberately avoid him; since a trap had been set, if her plan succeeded she would reveal herself voluntarily—better to go along with it. Hu Xiaotian is naturally bold, and his personality has always favored daring moves. After some consideration, he decided to go down and investigate.

Having made up his mind, he entered the cavity and walked down the sloping stairs twenty or thirty steps; hearing the sound of something moving overhead, Hu Xiaotian knew without looking that the cold jade bed had returned to its place. He did not believe the palm print on the wall could activate the mechanism; surely someone was manipulating it from the shadows, possibly Rong Shi.

In the dark passageway, a soft yellow glow suddenly emanated—it was Hu Xiaotian producing a Night Pearl, which illuminated the walls on either side, revealing carvings of various poisonous creatures, some he recognized, others he could not name.

Continuing down the stairs to the lowest point, ahead lay a long corridor; after walking another ten or so steps, he found the surrounding stone walls had turned into colorless transparent crystal, with fish swimming back and forth—he had arrived at an underwater world. It seemed this passage led directly to the lake bottom; the Wuxian Sect's headquarters was indeed extraordinary, the architecture of this lake-island alone being a marvel of ingenuity.

Hu Xiaotian reached out and tapped the crystal wall; judging by the feedback, its thickness was over four feet. Though he held a light sword, he need not fear the crystal wall—he could cut it open with the sword and then swim freely into the lake to escape. As he was contemplating an escape route, more than ten fierce big fish surged toward him, the same kind he had slain in the dugout canoe earlier; those large fish likely possessed night vision, repeatedly ramming their heads against the crystal wall, yet they could not shift it in the slightest, further proving its thickness.

Hu Xiaotian tapped the wall lightly again and continued forward; after traversing a crystal passage about twenty zhang long, the sides turned into rock layers, indicating he had entered the lake bottom. He could no longer hear Xi Yan's voice, but he was not anxious—having come, he would make the best of it. He carefully observed his surroundings; the stone walls on either side displayed a different scene: first, a long dragon devouring a woman, but on closer look it was not a dragon but a gigantic centipede. Subsequent images were all related to poisonous creatures: a toad as large as a bull, a scorpion the size of a war chariot, and geckos and snakes enormous beyond imagination—that gecko was clearly a giant lizard, and the snake resembled an Amazon anaconda in size.

Hu Xiaotian originally thought these were merely artistic imagination and exaggeration, but looking further he felt something was off: the mural showed a person riding a giant lizard, receiving the worship of a crowd of devotees; the figure was burly with an oversized head, resembling the extraterrestrial visitors he had seen in murals within the Dakang Imperial Palace's Dragon Ling Shengjing. He wondered whether, among the extraterrestrials who had fled years ago, one had wandered here and founded the Wuxian Sect. Yet the sect's history is ancient, surely spanning more than 150 years.

Hu Xiaotian examined the man riding the lizard closely, snorted, and said, "Playing tricks!" He then called out loudly, "Is anyone in there?"

His voice echoed in the cavern; Hu Xiaotian shook his head and muttered, "You've set all these traps to trick me down here—bring out whatever tricks you have!" By the light of the Night Pearl, he looked ahead and saw the ground ahead rippling with water.

Two updates delivered (To be continued~^~)