"Hyah!"
The horses and riders converged, everyone staring at one another in a tense standoff.
Chu Ruo looked at the assembled crowd, stunned by how quickly they had all arrived. Despite her surprise, a sense of guilt washed over her, as if she’d been caught red-handed. she gave a few dry coughs. "Uh, well... everyone's here. What a coincidence."
"A coincidence indeed," Bai Zhi'er said with a playful, knowing look. "Ruo'er, sneaking off ahead on your own without telling us?"
*Cough...*
As Chu Ruo stood there in awkward silence, Lin Jianghong spoke up. "Exactly! We agreed to move as a group, yet you two tried to steal a march on us. That’s not very honorable!"
Nan Muxue replied coldly, "Ruo'er may leave whenever she pleases. There is no need to explain ourselves to irrelevant people."
"You...!"
"Besides," Nan Muxue continued, "does anyone here not have their own hidden agenda?"
Lin Jianghong was left speechless. Fortunately, her horse grew restless at that moment, forcing her to focus on gripping the reins.
"My, my," Shen Ruoxuan chuckled, his voice so oily it made one's skin crawl. "Little Ruo, Little Xue, it really wasn't very nice of you to abandon us all like that."
Nan Muxue remained expressionless. "Since you have all appeared here, is your purpose not the same as ours?"
"Enough," Tu Ao'zhi said with a sharp wave of his hand. "Since we are all here, there’s no point in bickering. Prepare yourselves; we are going for the treasure."
The group scanned the surroundings, but there was no sign of an entrance. Bai Zhi'er asked, "Foster Father, how exactly do we get in?"
He simply tilted his head back, watching the moon grow brighter by the second. "Soon."
Finally, the full moon hung high in the sky. As the moonlight flooded the earth, a mountain peak in the distance suddenly reflected a strange, eerie glow, so bright it was almost blinding. "There it is! Move, before the moonlight fades!"
"Hyah!"
The horses galloped at full speed toward the source of the light.
Upon reaching the foot of the mountain, the group—all possessing formidable martial arts—used their lightness skills and specialized grappling hooks to easily scale the cliffs toward their destination.
When Chu Ruo finally reached the ledge, she realized the peak was terrifyingly high. They were roughly halfway up the mountain. From a distance, it had looked like a flat cliff face, but up close, she saw a small entrance leading into a vast, hollowed-out space. It was large enough to hold their entire party. Further in, however, was another tunnel—pitch black and seemingly bottomless. This, it seemed, was the true entrance to the treasure vault.
"Foster Father, is this it?"
"Mhm." Tu Ao'zhi tossed two torches inside. Countless bats came screeching out, but the group was prepared. "Get your gear ready. We’ll rest for a moment until the bats have cleared, then we head in."
As the group scattered to prepare, Chu Ruo pulled Nan Muxue aside. "Xue'er."
Nan Muxue smiled at her. "What is it? Are you ready? Check your soft armor and your hidden weapons carefully..."
"This is the Heart-Clearing Dew Zhi'er gave me a while back. Take a pill," Chu Ruo insisted. "We don't know what's down there. Be careful."
Nan Muxue caressed Chu Ruo's face. "Don't you usually treasure this stuff? There are only four pills in total. Keep them."
"They were meant to be used when they're needed. Zhi'er said they can neutralize almost any poison except for very specific ones. Be good and take one. If something happens to me, you can save me. But if something happens to you, I... I..."
"Are you trying to say that if I'm the one in trouble, you won't be able to save me?"
"I..."
"Listen well, my Ruo'er. You are not that useless. Besides," Nan Muxue cupped her face, her gaze incredibly firm, "we live together, and we shall share the same grave."
Ignoring the others, Chu Ruo pulled her into a tight embrace. "Yes. In life or death, we stay together."
"Pah, pah, pah!" Duan Ning spat on the ground and stomped her foot nearby. "We haven't even gone in yet and you two are already talking about graves. I actually plan on coming out alive!"
"Shoo! I'm talking to Xue'er. Oh, by the way, how did you guys catch up so fast?"
Duan Ning rolled her eyes. "We rode horses."
"You know that's not what I meant. I mean—"
Yin Liuli, unable to watch the bickering any longer, interjected. "Is there anyone in this group without an ulterior motive? No one trusts anyone else; we've all been watching each other like hawks. As soon as one person moved, the rest followed immediately."
"Then you must have noticed when Xue'er and I left..."
Yin Liuli shook her head. "Not necessarily. Let's just say," she glanced toward Bai Shan and Tu Ao'zhi, "you all had the same idea at the same time."
Chu Ruo figured Bai Zhi'er wouldn't have kept secrets from her, so it was likely Bai Shan acting on her own initiative. As for Tu Ao'zhi, he was the only one who knew the location; if he hadn't wanted them here, he wouldn't have told them in the first place. Nan Yunshuang was cunning enough to have been monitoring everyone's movements from the start, and Shen Ruoxuan was no simpleton either. She hadn't expected Lin Jianghong to be so sharp, though. *Tsk, I really can't be careless,* Chu Ruo thought. No wonder her "Little Scorpion" had insisted on leaving early. These people were all harboring their own dark designs.
"What are you dazing off for now?"
Hearing that tender tone, Chu Ruo snapped out of it and squeezed Nan Muxue's hand. "I just feel like you're working too hard. In this world, if you don't scheme against others, they'll scheme against you. I'm just lucky to have you."
"Ruo'er~" Nan Muxue smiled, then teased, "The situation inside is unknown. Are you being so sweet and flattering now because you're afraid your Master won't look after you if things get dangerous?"
"You!"
"Don't be afraid. No matter what happens, your Master is here."
Chu Ruo remembered those words. It was what Nan Muxue had said to reassure her long ago when they encountered Liu Shaopeng after leaving the palace. Moved, she gripped her hand tightly. "No. No matter how dangerous the path ahead, I will walk it by your side."
After a brief rest, the group finally set off into the entrance together.
Since the bats had been driven out and Bai Zhi'er had scattered some insect-repelling powder, the path was relatively easy to navigate. From the marks on the walls, it was clear many years had passed, but so far, they hadn't seen any skeletons.
Chu Ruo cautiously held Nan Muxue's hand, scanning their surroundings. She was tense to the point of snapping. Seeing this, Nan Muxue patted her hand comfortingly. "It's alright. No need to be so nervous."
Chu Ruo moved to shield Nan Muxue with her own body. "I'm wearing soft armor. If anything happens, just get behind me. I feel like this is all going a bit too smoothly. Has no one really found this place in all these years?" The tunnel was not only free of traps and mechanisms, but the path was also quite easy to walk, aside from a few steep turns. How could it be this simple? Moreover, martial artists had been searching for this for years, and the founders of the Four Great Villas were originally the guardians. How was it that only Tu Ao'zhi found it after all this time? *Can he really be trusted?*
"In any case," Nan Muxue said, "we will meet whatever comes."
As they spoke, the space ahead suddenly widened. Chu Ruo looked around in awe. "Did they hollow out the entire mountain? This place is massive."
Tu Ao'zhi stood before two massive, closed stone doors. "This should be it. The token is the key. Insert it here, and the doors will open."
Chu Ruo had briefly returned the real token to Lin Jianghong, but she had swapped it back later. She pulled it out and was about to step forward when Nan Muxue subtly blocked her. "Careful. It might be a trap."
Chu Ruo nodded. She still intended to place the token in the slot, but Bai Zhi'er reached out and took it. "Let me do it."
"Zhi'er, you..."
The other woman gave a faint smile. "Ruo'er, don't worry. If anything happens, Shan'er and Foster Father will save me."
Chu Ruo understood. No one trusted anyone else with the token, yet everyone feared a trap. This woman was using herself as a shield for them. Chu Ruo's nose crinkled with a sudden sting of emotion, but she quickly turned her head away.
"There now," Bai Zhi'er said with her usual gentleness. "I'll be fine. Don't worry."
*Click—clack—*
As the token turned, the sound of a series of mechanisms activating echoed through the cavern. Seconds later, the stone doors slowly ground open. Even before they were fully open, the sight was enough to leave them breathless.
Though there were no torches inside, the room was filled with countless night pearls. On the sconces in the corners hung rare shark pearls, which glowed as brightly as the strongest fire, illuminating the vault in a dazzling, radiant light.
Unfortunately, before they could celebrate, a hauntingly familiar voice rang out.
"So many people... why didn't anyone invite me?"
*Dammit.*
Chu Ruo wanted to curse out loud. How on earth had Nan Menghua caught up so quickly?
***
