Unexpectedly, there was such a place in the back mountain. In a mountain hollow, there was a huge stone gate. The stone gate was dilapidated, but the stone was carved with intricate patterns, which was very peculiar.
An Xin raised her hand and touched the stone pattern, her brows furrowing slightly. All the knowledge she had learned in her previous life was nonsense here. Heaven knows if the history here is different from the history of her original world. If we look at the history of her original world, this stone is quite old, probably more than three thousand years old.
How could a stone gate from over three thousand years ago stand here?
Just as An Xin was about to walk through the stone gate, someone pulled her back. An Xin was startled and turned around, asking, "What's wrong?"
Yan Zhen raised his eyelashes and stared into the stone gate for a long time before saying, "Be careful."
An Xin wanted to retort that she knew she needed to be careful and didn't need him to tell her, but instead, she just said "Oh." An Xin slapped her forehead. When did this insincere emotion of hers appear?
The scenery inside the stone gate looked strange. An Xin didn't dare to move around recklessly. She glanced at Yan Zhen and said, "There seems to be a formation here."
Yan Zhen raised an eyebrow; this girl knew quite a lot.
“You stay with me. It would be troublesome if we got separated in the formation.” An Xin had studied the Five Elements and Eight Trigrams Formation to some extent, but the formation in front of her was obviously extraordinary. She was not confident that she could break it, but it was still much better than Yan Zhen knowing nothing.
Yan Zhen smiled and said, "Okay. Just make sure you don't go astray while following you."
An Xin twitched her lips: "You talk as if you wouldn't get lost."
Yan Zhen shook his folding fan and smiled, "Let's go."
An Xin carefully observed the distribution of the trees, then reached out and grabbed Yan Zhen's wrist.
Yan Zhen was somewhat stunned for some reason. The person in front of him was probably just trying to keep him from getting lost, but he hoped that she had ulterior motives.
An Xin took a few steps forward, then suddenly stopped and looked back.
The path behind them had been blocked by a dense thicket of thorns, and the scenery before them had changed drastically.
It really is a formation.
Although An Xin had studied this thing, this was the first time she had actually encountered it, and her expression became much more solemn.
The ancients loved playing with this kind of thing. In modern times, a single bomb could obliterate even the most elaborate formation.
However, she has to admit that if she wants to leave this broken formation, she must find a way to break it; otherwise, she will probably have to live and die with this Young Master Yan!
Yan Zhen shook his folding fan, a mysterious glint flashing in his eyes. This formation was not simple, and breaking it would likely take a lot of effort. Just as he was pondering this, he heard the little girl beside him mutter, "If I had known this would happen, I should have prepared some water and food."
Yan Zhen smiled and said, "Don't worry, I'm here."
An Xin glared at him: "When have I ever been afraid? What can you do to me?!"
Yan Zhen's eyes sparkled with brilliance, her smile fading: "If you're thirsty, you can drink my blood; if you're hungry, you can eat my flesh. It won't kill you."
An Xin stared at him with a sour feeling in her teeth, then finally found it funny and couldn't help but chuckle, "Do you look delicious?"
Yan Zhen gazed at her smiling face, a fleeting tenderness, unknown to him, spreading across his eyes: "Try it sometime."
An Xin, however, had a mischievous thought and said, "Then I need to think about where we should start eating."
Yan Zhen glanced around, but said with a smile, "Let's eat first, the meat is tender."
An Xin's ears inexplicably turned red, and she glared at him: "Shameless!" After thinking for a moment, she felt that it still couldn't describe that strange feeling, so she added, "You're so indecent!"
Yan Zhen raised the corners of his lips in a pleased smile, and with a flick of his palm, he pulled her hand back, saying, "The formation has changed, be careful."
An Xin suddenly focused her mind, and a row of peach blossom stakes appeared in front of her, blocking her way. The stakes were covered with barbs, which looked quite terrifying.
An Xin frowned slightly. Judging from the stone gate, this place was incredibly ancient. The fact that this formation had remained intact for a thousand years was already a miracle. But had no one discovered it all this time?
She pondered the stone door carefully, something seemed off about it, but she couldn't quite put her finger on it.
His eyes lit up when his gaze fell on the soil beneath the peach blossom stake, and he exclaimed, "Has this stone gate only appeared recently?"
Yan Zhen replied, "Yes."
An Xin's brows relaxed. "That's it then. The stone gate appeared for some reason, thus triggering the formation here. In other words, there was no formation here before the stone gate appeared. But what does this have to do with the Ancient Spirit Jade?"
Yan Zhen tightened his grip on her hand and said, "Perhaps, the appearance of the stone gate is what led to the discovery of the Ancient Spirit Jade."
An Xin wholeheartedly agreed: "A few days ago, Feng Yi and I encountered quite a few strange people in the restaurant. How should I put it? Their strangeness was manifested in their demeanor, just like Jing Lan, whom you just met..."
Jing Lan, thinking of her, An Xin felt a strange and peculiar emotion welling up in her heart again.
"Oh?" Yan Zhen's gaze fell on her, a cryptic smile playing on her lips. "Do you know what those two words mean?"
An Xin was taken aback: "Is it really because his identity is unusual? No wonder I always feel uneasy, and my heart beats a little fast when I think of him."
Yan Zhen's gaze suddenly changed.
“I’ve never felt this way before… Could he be someone I know?” An Xin seemed to be asking herself, but Yan Zhen answered for her, “It’s just an intuition. When an intuition strikes, your heart races, you know?”
An Xin raised an eyebrow and turned her head to look at him.
Yan Zhen raised the corner of her lips: "If you don't believe me, you can try making my heart beat faster."
An Xin looked at him as if he were a ghost and said, "I have no intuition about you! Why is your heart racing? Let's go!"
Yan Zhen's long eyelashes trembled, then drooped, concealing certain emotions in her eyes...
Chapter 40: Mechanisms
Strangely enough, the peach blossom stakes changed with their steps, and each time they changed, they would block their way to death.
At the same time, a shrill scream suddenly rang out, startling countless sparrows in the forest. An Xin abruptly looked up and forward.
"There's someone here!" An Xin's scalp tingled at the scream; it must have been a woman who had suddenly been fatally attacked.
"It seems we're not the only ones..." Yan Zhen seemed unsurprised, saying casually, "That is quite unexpected."
An Xin's heart sank slightly. The cold and aloof man who suddenly appeared in the restaurant, the woman wearing a bamboo hat, and the white-clad ghost she caught a glimpse of on the street... Could it be that all these people were after the Ancient Jade?
"No matter what, we must find the Ancient Spirit Jade first!" An Xin suddenly clenched her fist, her gaze falling on the peach blossom stakes, and began to ponder the formation of the plum blossom stakes.
Yan Zhen's eyes flashed with youthful brilliance, but she pulled her up and said, "Let me help you."
After saying that, he turned and walked forward with a strange gait.
An Xin was taken aback. The seemingly complicated formation gradually became clear under his strange steps.
This person is truly not to be underestimated!
What kind of person is Jing Lan?
"..." An Xin hadn't expected him to ask this question at such a time, especially since it seemed like she should be the one asking him.
"How should I know! I'm not familiar with him!" An Xin followed his steps cautiously, but her mind was somewhat unsettled. The reason she felt something strange about those two words was probably because they represented a lingering sense of guilt from her past life.
The workings of fate in this world are so coincidental, so wondrous.
In a foreign land, it's not so strange to encounter someone with the same name. After all, there are people who look alike, let alone those with the same name.
Thinking of that handsome young man in white from back then, An Xin felt a pang of sadness. Such beauty could not withstand the sands of fate.
"I am very familiar with him." Yan Zhen turned around and smiled, her eyebrows and eyes were extremely beautiful, a smile that could topple cities.
An Xin raised an eyebrow: "You? If I'm not mistaken, then Jing Lan must be wearing a mask. After all, someone with such a good temperament shouldn't only have such an ordinary face."
"Lotus in the clouds, flowers on the roadside, the moon rises in the southern border, and the sunset glows in the western region. Those with such titles should be quite beautiful." His gaze fell on her face, and he smiled gently, "Clouds, mist, moon, snow on lotus, and jade-like scenery that brings joy to the world."
An Xin stared at Yan Zhen for a long time before saying, "Are you saying that Jing Lan is the Left Prime Minister known as the Lotus in the Clouds?!"
She was momentarily shocked, but as someone who was always good at disguising her emotions, her expression remained completely calm and composed.
"perhaps……"
“The Left Prime Minister has come too, so the Right Prime Minister must be coming soon!” An Xin interrupted him, giving him a mysterious look. “My father was wronged, and I heard it was all the Right Prime Minister’s doing. He’s so powerful in the court that he doesn’t care about the lives of others. I’d better not run into such a wicked and cruel person who treats human life like dirt, otherwise…” An Xin stared at him, gritting her teeth.
Yan Zhen suddenly smiled and said, "Otherwise, what?"
An Xin shook off his hand and said, "Those who walk different paths cannot make plans together. I will repay those who have wronged me a hundredfold."
Yan Zhen seemed to have a headache as he said, "As far as I know, that Right Chancellor is actually a decent person..."
An Xin rolled her eyes at him: "Between me and the Right Prime Minister, who would you choose?"
Yan Zhen smiled faintly and said, "Of course I'll choose you!"
An Xin raised an eyebrow and said, "Since you chose me, don't keep praising that scoundrel... You wouldn't happen to be that Right Chancellor, would you!?"
Yan Zhen suddenly covered her face with her folding fan and said with a smile, "Do I look like it?"
An Xin said, "It looks like it."
Yan Zhen's eyes shone brightly, their fleeting beauty captivating. He sighed, "Am I really that wicked?"
An Xin frowned and stared at him for a long time before saying, "You gave me the Dust-Avoiding Pearl, so I already owe you a debt of gratitude. Fine, as a return gift, I'll trust you."
Yan Zhen: "..."
An Xin inexplicably suppressed the intuition that she couldn't control in her heart. Thinking of Jing Lan, she felt inexplicably irritated. The Left Prime Minister... Jing Lan... it's better not to think about it anymore. It's better to avoid getting involved with people in the court. How could she, an ordinary person, possibly think about those people?
Suddenly, the ground trembled.
An Xin lost her balance and was caught by Yan Zhen.
Then the ground began to tremble again.
An Xin's expression changed drastically. Had there been an earthquake?!
"Hey... Yan Zhen, don't you think the ground has sunk a bit?"
Yan Zhen's eyes turned cold. He grabbed her waist and suddenly leaped up. With a loud "boom," the spot where they had just been standing suddenly sank into a huge black hole.
"Zzz—" A burst of arrows suddenly shot out from inside the cave. Yan Zhen darted forward, stepping on a peach wood stake to gain leverage and narrowly avoid the attack.
An Xin was already covered in a cold sweat. The incident happened so suddenly that if Yan Zhen hadn't reacted quickly, she would probably be covered in needles by now!
What kind of place is this? It even has hidden traps!?
Suddenly, the peach wood stake split in the middle, and a sharp barb shot towards Yan Zhen. An Xin exclaimed, "Watch out!"
Yan Zhen swiftly pointed at a row of peach wood stakes in front of him, and with a flash, he disappeared behind a huge ancient tree. With a few "plop plop plop" sounds, all the peach wood stakes that had been pointed at suddenly sprouted barbs and deeply embedded themselves into the ancient tree behind them!
Even though An Xin was calm, she had never seen such a scene before. She felt cold sweat all over her head, but she was completely unaware that she was being held in someone's arms.
"That was close." An Xin couldn't help but peek at the thorn stuck in the ancient tree, her teeth ached, but Yan Zhen pulled her back.