I don’t know. I don’t know what the stiff expression on my face was. I don’t know how long I stood there for, but one thing was for sure: she was still as perfect as I rembered her. I never thought - or maybe just didn’t have the courage to - I’d see her again.
The crystal said, “The deeper love is, the more painful parting is.” My heart said, “There’s so much I want to say that I don’t know where to start.” Nevertheless, for the mont, I just wanted to watch her gently play with the water and smile at from the other side of the boat.
Deep down, I knew that she couldn’t hear , couldn’t see and couldn’t respond to . Still, her appearance had petrified . I had enough awareness to crush the crystal and knew how to escape, but I didn’t want to. I can only assu that anyone who t soone they knew they’d never get to see again no matter how much they desired it would react as I did.
“Feizhen, wake up, or I’ll start.”
The voice reverberating in my head caused the clarity of my mory to ripple and fizzle out. Replacing the lake and autumn leaves was Boss’ face shaking due to her shaking my shoulders.
“Finally.”
“Boss? Y-you escaped already?” I looked side to side. “How did you wake ?”
“I just got out. The formation isn’t harmful, but it can keep your mind enthralled. I tried to wake you after I escaped. I was going to shoulder throw you six tis, but you woke up just as I got into position.”
Don’t shoulder throw soone asleep six tis! You a monster?!
Judging from how easy it was to overco it and the attention to detail, the formation isn’t intended for intruders.
I was stuffing Emotion Barrier Stone into my shirt - because I still clung to the mory of her - when an ominous approached my mind. I had this feeling that the stone might bring bad luck, prompting to stop.
“We don’t have ti to dither,” Boss stated. “We’ve wasted enough ti. I think… we turned this place inside out by accident when we were caught in the formation.”
Correction: that was trying to find the crystal…
“He’ll have to tidy himself because we’re out of ti. We have yet to fully explore the secret passage. This exit leads elsewhere, and we need to keep exploring to get to the bottom of Luo Ming’s plans.”
“Roger that.”
I didn’t think the passage was very deep after walking several kilotres. The secret library weighed on my mind as it sat dead centre of the passage. It wouldn’t be built there if it wasn’t an important place.
When I saw a stone door at the end of the passage, I sped ahead to open it before Boss could. She didn’t take issue with since she was occupied with inspecting her surroundings.
So rooms were armouries. So were for rations. So were for water. So were for soldiers to rest. The room at the centre was most probably a place for leaders to convene. I’d imagine this secret passage was also where Luo Sword Manor would retreat to if they couldn’t drive an invader off and to plan their return.
“Unlike the previous room, this one is quaint and formal instead of being murky.”
I sneaked over to the stone chair at the centre of the council room for the patriarch.
Scouting the outer periter of the council room, Boss stopped in front of a room and mumbled, “There’s poison mist travelling outside from here. Soone without martial arts would die if they caught a whiff. It’s not safe here with all the poison linger-”
“Boss, check this out. There are signs of a fight taking place here, and they seem to be from around ten days ago.”
Boss looked as though she couldn’t be bothered reproaching . “… Careful. There’s poison mist in here.”
“Is there? I don’t notice it.”
Boss scurried over to . “Oh, this really is the only spot in the room without any poison. But why?”
That’s because I breathed it in!
By no ans am I immune to poison. I just happen to be more resistant. I’m fine as long as I can expel it from my body while trying to contain it. While I was probing around, I occasionally touched things to transfer the poison to those objects.
Boss quietly read the text etched onto a wall behind the chair.
“If I’m not wrong, this is a secret chamber Luo Clan’s ancestors have passed down for the purpose of sheltering clan mbers during disasters. The text here says that this place is considered out of bounds unless the clan patriarch explicitly grants permission to enter. All trespassers will be executed.” I flashed Boss an eye gesture to show understanding and then continued reading, “Outsiders who trespass into Luo Clan’s secret chamber and desecrate our place shall stay here with eternal rock forever. What’s eternal rock?”
“A type of stone that can’t be broken. If you want to shave it, you need to steep it in a specific formula for half a year or longer to have any chance. Should the formula dry out before it takes effect, there won’t be any ans of damaging it, so you only have one chance. It’s the sa type of material used in the imperial family’s cetery. It’s supposed to be illegal for commoners to have it; anyone caught with it is sentenced to death. Therefore, I surmise Luo Clan obtained it prior to the current dynasty’s establishnt. Feizhen, careful not to set off any traps. The text clearly states not to vandalise their place, or the stone door will fall.”
I thumped my chest: “It’s always been a principle of mine to respect predecessors.”
Rumble! Rumble! Bang!
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