Chapter 693: Treasure Island

The other side had three ships altogether.

Several of them leaned out to look; under the moonlight, they barely made out the two banners hanging on the flags: "Great Ming" and "Chen."

Only then did she let the Three Treasures Cauldron descend.

The deck was empty—no, there was one person.

Following Pan Yun's instructions, Chen Wen ordered all soldiers to stay inside the cabin; he himself stood before the cabin door, sensing something was amiss, yet still wanting to see how Pan Yun would arrive.

When he saw the pot descending from the sky, Chen Wen's pupils shrank, and his entire body went numb.

Pan Yun had already stuffed the radish into her sleeve, patted its head soothingly, and leapt out of the cauldron with a hand push.

The others also jumped out of the cauldron; the Three Treasures Cauldron shrank and hung from Pan Yun's waist.

Chen Wen slowly closed his gaping mouth and approached with clumsy, stumbling steps to pay his respects: "Master Pan!"

Pan Yun gave him a slight nod: "Let's go."

Chen Wen ordered the sails raised and speed increased.

After receiving Pan Yun's message in the afternoon, he immediately assembled his troops and set out; they had agreed to meet halfway, and he only needed to head full speed toward the island—she would catch up.

He didn't know how she would catch up, so he unconsciously slowed down.

Now that they had reunited, they naturally pressed forward at full speed.

When they reached the island, the moon had just sunk from the zenith and hung in the western sky.

Pan Yun looked up at the bright, silver-disk moon and said to Chen Wen: "We must find the treasure before sunrise."

Chen Wen: "Why the hurry?"

Pan Yun: "I can't be away too long, and I don't intend to hide the fact that the treasure has been taken for long."

Chen Wen's temple twitched: "What do you mean? Are you going to make it public? Master Pan, are you trying to get me in trouble?"

Pan Yun: "The treasure matter involves other innocent people, so there must be a resolution. You can easily blame this on the martial heroes who participated in this anti-piracy campaign."

Chen Wen's mouth opened slightly: "Won't that drag in even more people?"

"No," Pan Yun said, "soon enough, this treasure will appear among the common folk. Once the money is all spent, who will care who took it or who scattered it?"

Chen Wen was a soldier; though stationed on the island, he knew what happened on land: "Are you going to use the treasure to aid the disaster victims?"

Pan Yun nodded.

Chen Wen pursed his lips and asked: "Where?"

"Yushan County, Jiangxi."

Chen Wen frowned: "But there are also many disaster-stricken people in Fujian, and most of this treasure was taken from Fujian's civilians…"

Pan Yun replied coldly: "Yushan County is where I cultivate. If not for Yushan County's affairs, I would have used this treasure for Fujian. Now, just say I'm acting out of selfishness."

Chen Wen fell silent. After a long while, he glanced at the soldiers he had brought and said gravely: "I understand. Let's go."

The men from the three ships gradually went ashore.

Chen Wen had brought few men—only a hundred in total—and left twenty to guard the ships.

At Chen Wen's command, the soldiers lit torches; on the lonely island, fire dragons instantly blazed to life, drawing immediate attention.

A faint footstep sounded; Pan Yun raised her brows and tossed Pan Xiaohei off her shoulder.

Pan Xiaohei landed lightly and swiftly chased after the sound, mentally cursing Pan Yun: 【Why can't you warn me before you act?】

Pan Yun: 【Meow!】

Pan Xiaohei grumbled as he chased the hidden figure.

The figure moved extremely fast, could see clearly in darkness, and knew the area intimately; in moments, he left the fire dragons far behind, and Pan Xiaohei pursued him inland.

Seeing Miao Zhen was divining; she casually folded a leaf, sensed the wind's direction, and pointed southwest: "That way."

It was exactly the direction Pan Xiaohei had gone.

Pan Yun raised an eyebrow and said to Chen Wen: "Let's go."

Chen Wen: "Should we split up and search?"

"No," Pan Yun said, "gold, silver, jewels, and silk have specific storage requirements—they must avoid dampness, direct sunlight, and wind. This is feng shui knowledge. Trust my disciple. And…"

Pan Yun looked toward the southwest: "Someone was watching us just now."

Chen Wen was startled: "What?"

Pan Yun: "I already have a companion chasing after them. No need to rush—we'll follow right behind them."

Out of concern for Pan Xiaohei's safety, Pan Yun released Xiao Hong, though Chen Wen couldn't see her—only felt a sudden chill.

He frowned and looked up at the sky: "Is the weather about to change?"

Pan Yun pretended not to hear and pointed to where Xiao Hong had drifted: "This way."

From now on, Seeing Miao Zhen no longer needed to divine the path, but she still held her compass to verify the accuracy of her predictions.

When they spotted Pan Xiaohei crouched atop a rocky hill, nearly indistinguishable from the stone and darkness, Seeing Miao Zhen happily tucked away her compass and proudly told Pan Yun: "Little Uncle, I've figured it all out!"

Pan Yun gave her a thumbs-up: "Keep it up. Next time, even if Pan Xiaohei isn't with us, you can lead the way."

Pan Xiaohei gave a cold meow.

Chen Wen and the soldiers jumped in surprise, scanning everywhere; it took them a long while to spot Pan Xiaohei crouched on the rocky hill.

They instantly recognized it—the black cat that always sat on Pan Yun's shoulder.

Indeed, a divine person has divine creatures—even their cats can track people.

Pan Yun waved at Pan Xiaohei.

Pan Xiaohei, with great reluctance, leapt into her arms, raised a paw, and pointed in one direction, meowing repeatedly…

"Not far now. Xiao Hong took over the chase. You'd better extinguish your torches."

Pan Yun turned to Chen Wen: "Put out the fire."

Chen Wen agreed and ordered: "Keep close, brothers. Form teams of three who know each other, watch each other's backs, and call out at the first sign of trouble."

The soldiers responded in low voices.

The torches went out; the group stood still for three breaths, their eyes adjusted to the dark, and when they opened them again, everything was bathed in pale white light.

The sixteenth moon was perfectly round and brilliantly bright; if one stared closely, one could see the raised stones and tree knots on the ground.

The soldiers were accustomed to this.

Under such moonlight, the farther one moved from the sea, the brighter the moonlight became.

The group moved forward together.

The path on the island was hard to walk on, especially here, where only a narrow trail had been cleared—just wide enough for one person to pass.

Pan Yun walked at the front, Chen Wen followed behind her, while Miao Zhen and the others lagged behind.

The two moved with great speed, circling around the stone hill and reaching its opposite side, where faint lights began to appear.

Whether or not they had heard the noise, the lights flickered once, then went out with a soft *puff*.

Pan Yun raised an eyebrow, her form flashing forward as she rushed in first.

Chen Wen took two quick steps after her—then a crisp *crack* sounded under his foot. He gasped in alarm and immediately retreated. *Puff-puff! * Two long spears, a zhang in length, slammed into the spot where he had just stood, piercing two bowl-sized holes.

Chen Wen swallowed hard—if he hadn't pulled back in time…

Miao Zhen and the other two pushed forward, glanced once, and said: "All traps. Wait a moment."

The soldiers halted and waited.

But Miao Zhen and the others stood motionless. Chen Wen urged: "Master Miao Zhen, are you going to dismantle the traps?"

Miao Zhen: "No rush. Wait."

"Wait for what?" The words had barely left his mouth when two large dark shapes shot out from the pitch-black cave—*thump-thump! *—crashing at Chen Wen's feet.

Two young men in gray robes, clutching their stomachs in pain, their bodies curled into shrimp-like shapes.

Chen Wen: …

Pan Yun floated above the ground, stepping lightly on the tips of grass, not triggering a single trap.

She planted her foot on one of the young men and said: "Disable all the traps!"

The gray-robed man replied in Japanese: "I won't."

Pan Yun scowled and ground her foot harder: "I speak Chinese, and you reply in Japanese? Will you disable them or not? If not, I'll use your body to disable them!"

The gray-robed man snorted, his face filled with disdain—he was certain Pan Yun wouldn't dare.

Then Pan Yun kicked him hard, sending him flying.

The gray-robed man's eyes widened instantly; he tried to control his body—but still crashed down with a *thud*.

He reacted swiftly: upon landing, he shoved off with his arms and leapt upward, his feet leaving the exact spot he'd just hit.

The cliffs on both sides shifted—*puff-puff-puff! *—dozens of slender arrows, palm-length, rained down like scattered flowers onto the spot where he had just fallen.

Pan Yun raised an eyebrow, casually kicked up two stones, and hurled them toward the open mechanism holes.

The stones struck true—*crack-crack-crack! *—the inner mechanisms shattered clearly audible.

The arrow rain ceased. The left mechanism hole, in its dying moment, fired one final arrow—but it had been damaged, weak, and the small arrow barely exited the hole before falling uselessly to the ground.

The soldiers stared wide-eyed.

The gray-robed youth tried to flee after landing, but after only two steps, a stone struck the back of his knee. He stumbled and fell—right onto the trap he had just avoided. The ground *thumped* downward. The gray-robed youth screamed, twisting midair, barely grabbing the edge and scrambling up with frantic speed.

Pan Yun spotted a massive boulder nearby. Without hesitation, she swung it hard—it shot through the air with a *whoosh*, grazing the gray-robed youth's body before smashing into the spot where he had just pushed off. *Bang! * The hidden mechanism connector beneath the grass shattered into pieces. The impact was so violent it triggered every trap at once.

*Shhh-shhh-shhh! * Arrows, stones, horizontal logs, and six-star hidden weapons erupted simultaneously. The gray-robed youth, swift, skilled in martial arts, and deeply familiar with traps—was instantly pierced like a hedgehog. He glared at Pan Yun with bitter resentment, then *plop! * knelt on the ground. Blood flowed for a moment, then his head sagged helplessly.

Meanwhile, Pan Yun took advantage of the triggered traps, smashing stones—crashing every visible mechanism she could see.

Miao Zhen, Miao He, and Tao Yan Bai excitedly joined in smashing.

Chen Wen and the soldiers behind them silently gathered stones for them, occasionally tossing extra stones into the mechanism holes.

Ten breaths later, the scene was a mess.

All so-called traps were reduced to rubble.

Pan Yun brushed the dust off her hands with satisfaction: "I told you—traps are hard to maintain. A little lack of oil and they jam. I don't believe they'll still work after being smashed."

Chen Wen had learned something: "Master Pan is truly formidable."

Pan Yun kicked the other gray-robed man at her feet: "Stop pretending. Get up and lead us. If you don't obey, your companion is your fate."

His companion had died horribly—now kneeling facing them, his body bristling with traps and hidden weapons.

The gray-robed man trembled as he rose, leading them forward. (End of Chapter)