Trésor de Jianghu

Chapitre 31

A mind like mine couldn't fathom how a table could be designed to control the cave entrance, which was several feet away, within this seemingly natural cave. If we hadn't happened to be at the table, we might never have known this secret.

After I finished cleaning, it took me a while to calm down before I followed Yi Ge closer to the cave entrance.

The cave entrance could only accommodate two people at a time. There was an oil lamp in the cave, but since we had the luminous pearl, we didn't light it.

It was still a passageway, but now there were steps leading upwards, only seven or eight.

At the end of the steps was a natural archway, not very wide. Yi Ge walked ahead of me, carefully examining the ground and the ceiling, and gestured for me to follow.

After passing through the doorway, the first thing you see is a huge stalagmite that stands tall and divides the space behind it into two halves. Each half is interspersed with stalactites and stalagmites, resembling a natural screen.

We first went left around the smaller stalagmites, and then discovered a small stone chamber behind them. The floor was uneven, but it seemed to contain something. We both instinctively brought our luminous pearls together to see what was inside. Along the rough stone walls, we saw several old wooden boxes of various sizes, some locked, others empty. We walked over and casually opened a wooden box about the size of a floor tile. As soon as we lifted the lid, a glittering light appeared. Upon closer inspection, we found it was mostly filled with round pearls, some already strung into chains, while the larger, more unusual ones were scattered in the center.

Is there really such a legendary treasure? But we don't seem as excited as we imagined.

I lifted the lid of a half-sized box next to me, which contained ingots of silver. I turned my head to look at Yi Ge, and saw my own wide-open eyes and parted lips reflected in his dark pupils.

He said, "Let's take another look."

We naturally wouldn't touch the locked items, but those that weren't locked, once opened, indeed contained precious jewels and gems, including top-quality nephrite and agate. There was also a large box filled with silks, which I recognized as the Heavenly Brocade of the Fang family of Nanjun. Thin yet resilient, only a small amount could be woven in a year; it was purely a tribute, entering the imperial palace of Yunyang, and sometimes presented as a national gift to neighboring countries. This seemed to truly confirm the identity of the Ghost Palace Master; even ordinary wealthy merchants couldn't see Heavenly Brocade, only the powerful and noble could have access to it. Because the craftsmanship was so difficult, the number of people who could weave this silk was dwindling, and the skill was gradually being lost. Now, they could only weave one bolt a year, yet here was such a large box.

Just as one can see the whole leopard through a tube, one can know the whole from a single spot. Who knows how many treasures are hidden in these other chests? Although there are only about twenty chests here, their value far exceeds that of ordinary gold and silver.

Wealth that rivals that of a nation is indeed won not by sheer numbers but by quality.

Yi Ge said to me, "There should be another small room across the street. Let's go take a look."

The small room opposite had been renovated, with shelves set up holding small boxes, the largest no bigger than a square brick. The contents, however, were exceptionally exquisite. Although I often frequented the palace, I only admired the beauty of jewelry, never delving into its value. I thought that if my father were here, he could surely explain its intricacies. Among them was a phoenix crown, particularly magnificent. The golden phoenix in the center was crafted from gold wire, meticulously intricately woven, its form lifelike. Its body was inlaid with turquoise and rubies, and it held a perfectly round, little red coral in its beak. The rest of the crown was inlaid with pearls and jade, layer upon layer, each piece of pearl and jade identical in size and luster. To select such pieces would require immense effort and money. Even the phoenix crown of the Empress of the Northern Di Palace could not match its exquisite luxury.

I looked for a long time, but Yi Ge only glanced at it briefly. He walked to the other side, and I then noticed that the shelves there were different from this side; they were weapon racks. Yi Ge looked at them carefully, and I suddenly knew what he was looking for. I felt a little touched.

But there, there were only swords, and not a single knife.

I sighed: Perhaps Zhu Hong really is just a legend.

Yi Ge said, "Wu Bao, since we don't have a knife, what do you like? Why don't you take some?"

I shook my head: "What's the point of taking it? I'd rather there was a steamer full of buns hidden here."

Because today, our treasure trove has finally run dry. We still have agarwood, but if we drink too much of it, how will we ever get out of here?

He gently put his arm around me and said, "We'll find Baozi. There's still a road ahead, shall we walk a little further?"

The passage ahead led upwards, with occasional steps, and wasn't very wide. But suddenly I felt a breeze blowing on my head, and it gradually became brighter. When we reached a certain point, there was a bright white circle on the ground in front of us. Upon closer inspection, it was a play of light and shadow. We looked up and saw a small, fist-sized opening among the stalactites of various shapes on the cave ceiling, like a tiny window, perhaps the source of the wind.

Although it was impossible to get out of here, I received a small encouragement.

We walked a little further and came to another set of stairs, about ten steps in total, but at the top was a rock wall. Yi Ge shone the light through the luminous pearl and said, "It's not a rock wall, it's a door."

The mechanism for this door was easy to find, just like the doors in the underground hall in front of the Crimson Demon Palace. We found a stone hammer on the ground in front of the door, but unlike before, it wasn't something that could be turned left or right repeatedly. Yi Ge held it and kept turning it to the right until it couldn't be turned any further, and then we heard the sound of the stone door opening. However, the sound was very rough, suggesting that the mechanism hadn't been opened for many years.

As soon as the door opened, sunlight and wind rushed in. The light was so bright that we squinted. But when we opened our eyes again, we found ourselves surrounded by intertwined vines, some of them quite thick. Yi Ge drew his deer-slaying knife and hacked at them, revealing that there was another cave outside, shallower and wider, filled with some grass and small shrubs, but mostly vines. The door we had come out through was hidden among the vines.

After we emerged from the tangled vines, we heard a creaking sound coming from the stone door behind us. Looking back, we saw it slowly closing, suggesting it was another door that could only be used to exit, not enter. We searched the vicinity but found no mechanism to open it.

We finally emerged from the underground palace. The sun was blazing, and it looked like noon, but we didn't know how many days had passed.

The feeling of seeing the light of day again made us feel relieved, but unfortunately, we couldn't feel relieved when we saw where we were.

It is indeed a shallow cave, and it is located in a valley, where you can see the lush mountain peaks on the other side.

However, this shallow cave is located high on a cliff, making it difficult to go up and dizzying to look down.

Yi Ge said that with our current physical strength, going down would be easier.

Fortunately, there are plenty of trees in Lingnan. No matter how high the mountain is, it is covered with trees. Even though it is a cliff, there are tall pine trees on the steep cliff. Although the distance is not very close, we should be able to use the trees to get down if we take a breath.

Yi Ge put his arm around my waist and said, "With the two of us working together, and with the Deer-Slaying Blade and your Swift Shadow power, we can definitely do it."

I nodded firmly at him: "I'm ready."

He hurled the deer-slaying knife at the rocks outside the cave. With a spin, the knife embedded itself in a crevice below. We both spotted the hilt and leaped out. He lightly touched the hilt with his foot to slow his descent. As we passed the knife, I unleashed my Swift Shadow technique, which wrapped around the hilt. Using the force of Swift Shadow to slow our fall, we found a pine tree on the nearby cliff and began to descend towards it. Just as we were about to land, Swift Shadow forcefully wrapped around the deer-slaying knife and pulled it backward. The knife flew out and was caught by Yi Ge.

Our first step was perfectly coordinated, which boosted our confidence. Seeing a long gap between two trees, Yi Ge simply took over from Ji Ying, forcefully slamming the sword into the rock face. When leaping down, he used the sword hilt to apply slight pressure, making it easier for Ji Ying to pull the sword out. When we encountered larger pine trees, we rested in their canopies. Taking this stop-and-go approach, it took us about an hour and a half to finally reach the bottom of the valley.

When we reached the bottom of the valley, we were both exhausted. Actually, we had been holding our breath all the way down, but now that we were at the bottom, we were completely drained. I plopped down under a tree and didn't want to move an inch.

The wind at the bottom of the valley was a bit cool. Yi Ge was worried that I would catch a cold, so he turned his back and hugged me tightly.

After resting for a while, he said, "There should be some edible fruit in these mountains. You sit here, and I'll go find some water and fruit."

I didn't want to leave him, so I struggled to my feet and said, "I think I heard the sound of flowing water. There should be some nearby. Why don't we go together?"

He looked at me with pity, but said nothing more. He simply placed his arm under my armpit and helped me walk forward.

Following the sound of water, we walked through the dense forest for a while and came to a waterfall. There was a small pool at the bottom of the waterfall, with shallow beaches and wide, flat rocks by the pool. I wanted to lie down right there.

After drinking the water with their hands, they finally felt their energy restored, and the two leaned against each other and dozed off for a while in the shade of the tree.

After a short while, Yi Ge said, "I see some wild fruit ahead that looks edible. You wait here."

The wild berries he brought back were ones I'd never seen before, but they were a lovely red, and tasted sweet and sour. After washing and eating one, I asked, "Aren't they poisonous?"

He smiled slightly: "No, I chose some with insect scars and bird peck marks. These things are very reliable; they won't eat poisonous ones. I just watched a bird finish eating one before I picked them."

He added, "I saw fish in the water when I was washing fruit by the pool just now, so I caught some. Luckily, I also had a tinderbox to start a fire."

After eating the wild fruit, I had some strength left, so I nodded and said, "I'll go gather some dry branches to start a fire."

He went to the side and cut off a branch, easily whittling it into a harpoon. He slowly waded into the shallow water to spear fish. I gathered dry branches nearby, quickly assembling a large pile, and sat on a rock with my knees drawn up, watching him roll up his trousers and intently stare at the water. Suddenly, the harpoon shot out with lightning speed; with a swift thrust and a pull, a large, fat fish was embedded in the wooden fork. I couldn't help but let out a small cheer. He turned to look at me, his eyes full of smiles.

The fish here seemed rather dull; in no time, he had speared up four or five of them.

I'm not good at cooking, but I can help. I used to help Granny Mei kill chickens and gut fish. When I saw her spearing the fish, I took the deer-cutting knife and started gutting the fish in the small pond.

After I gutted, scaled, and cleaned the fish, Yi Ge had already lit a fire and chopped down some branches to skewer the fish before grilling them over the fire. The knife was in my hand, but the branches Yi Ge chopped with his palm had surprisingly clean and sharp cuts; it seemed his "Tongda Palm" technique was quite effective.

Yi Ge took on the task of grilling the fish all by himself. Only halfway through did I ask him to take some seasonings for a while. He returned shortly after, picking some leaves and telling me they were perilla leaves, which he used to grill with the fish to remove some of the fishy smell. I was very impressed: "How do you know all this?" He smiled and said that living alone for a long time inevitably leads to knowing a little bit.

The two leisurely ate the fish, and seeing that the sun was already setting, they decided to walk out along the valley floor.

As they were discussing, they suddenly heard a rustling sound coming from the woods behind them. Turning around, they saw a person slowly emerging from the woods.

Author's note: Next update on May 18th.

Chapter Fifty-One Meeting

The person who emerged from the forest looked rather disheveled, as if he had been chased, so we didn't recognize him at first. But when he got closer and we took a closer look, we were startled to find that he was none other than Master Sun of the Famen sect.

His hair was somewhat disheveled, and several pieces of his clothes were torn off and hanging down. His face was also somewhat haggard, almost like ours after being trapped for several days. Only his eyes still shone brightly.

He was quite surprised to see us. His eyes fixed on Yi Ge, he said, "Young Master, you've come out of the underground palace? Princess, you're alright too. You're all together?"

Yi Ge took a small step forward, shielding me behind him, and said calmly, "Why is Sect Leader Sun here alone?"

I could see that he was secretly worried, and at that moment he couldn't help but hold Yi Ge's hand from behind.

Sect Leader Sun chuckled and said, "Young Master escaped unscathed from the underground palace, it seems you were well-prepared and reaped considerable rewards there. I just wonder how you will honor the agreement made when you entered the underground palace?"

Yi Ge coldly said, "Before entering the underground palace, it was said that all those from each sect who entered the underground palace and survived would receive a share. However, no one from the Fa Sect entered the underground palace, so even if there are treasures in the underground palace, it will not affect the Fa Sect."

Sect Master Sun said, "I simply cannot believe that there is no treasure in the underground palace. I heard that a few days ago, the Southern Fort Master of Nanfeng Fort was rescued and mentioned that the underground palace contained jade, which was inconvenient to move. Moreover, the former Palace Master also brought Nandan's wealth with him, otherwise the four kingdoms would not have stationed troops on the small Yitian Ridge."

I said, "You know all this, so were the Nandan soldiers brought in by you?"

He did not answer my question, but said, "Nan Dan led the troops only to recover the stolen property."

His tone suggested that the Ghost Palace had absolutely nothing to do with him. I couldn't help but reply, "But there's no stolen property inside. Even if there were, how can you prove it belongs to Nandan, not Yunyang, not the Western Yi, and not the Northern Di? Otherwise, why would all four kingdoms have stationed troops here?"

He said coldly, "Princess, that's just sophistry. The Ghost Palace Master is from Nandan, so what he stole was naturally from Nandan. As for the claim that there's no treasure inside, I don't believe it either. Perhaps the two of you also brought some out; why don't you take them out and let us see?"

Yi Ge stared at him coldly: "Sect Leader Sun, who exactly are you?"

I coldly replied, "Don't say we didn't get anything. Even if we did, do you think you can just search it whenever you want? No matter where it came from, it now belongs to the Ghost Palace. For Sect Leader Sun to forcibly take it is somewhat like robbery, isn't it?"

His expression clearly showed disbelief, so he said, "In that case, I'll have to go through the underground palace with you again. The original agreement also mentioned that all six sects could enter with the Ghost Palace. I had something to do before and couldn't go with you. My disciple was unwise, but the sect's share should not be missed, right?"

He wants to return to the underground palace.

I glanced at Yi Ge and said, "Alright, we were just wondering how to get back to Yitian Ridge. Since Sect Leader Sun came from there, we'll go back with you."

Sect Leader Sun hesitated for a moment: "There are soldiers guarding that side, so it's not easy to get in. Besides, didn't we hear that the entrance was destroyed? It would be better to follow the young master and the princess back through the exit."

He has a guilty conscience; his current appearance suggests he's being hunted down by martial arts practitioners.

I put on a very sincere expression and said, "The road we came out of is only for exiting, not for entering. Soldiers guarding it? Don't worry, with me, the princess, leading the way, how could they not let us in? The entrance is destroyed? It's been several days now, my brother will surely dig a passage out when he sees me trapped inside, so Sect Leader Sun, there's no need to worry."

These are the truths, not a single bit of them are false.

But Sect Leader Sun's expression changed: "Princess, I don't believe the saying that you can only leave and not enter. Besides, this place is quite a distance from Yitian Ridge. Returning to the underground palace is naturally closer to your original route. Your refusal is quite unreasonable. The treasures hidden in the underground palace are indeed very attractive."

Hmph, is he trying to accuse me of being greedy? Like master, like disciple.

Yi Ge said coldly, "What the princess said is the truth. We can no longer go back down that road."

Suddenly, a sharp glint appeared in Sect Leader Sun's eyes. He said, "Whether we can go back this time or not is not up to you. Young Master, please don't blame me for being rude."

Does he mean he's going to make a move? My mind raced with thoughts.

We've never seen him fight, so we don't know the extent of his martial arts skills. But I know his disciple, Sun Jing, is somewhere between Bai Yifei and Nan Cong in skill. My skills are probably similar to Nan Cong's, and I have no chance against Bai Yifei. Against Sun Jing, a direct confrontation might not be enough, but a clever trick might work. As for Yi Ge, although he was stabbed twice by Bai Yifei last time, his internal strength and lightness skill are superior. Furthermore, when we jumped down from that cliff, although we used each other's strength, the skill with which he threw his knife into the rock and the force with which he threw the knife in the Swift Shadow Fist move showed that he is actually quite skilled, probably no less than Bai Yifei.

If Fang hadn't come down from the cave, exhausted, they might not have lost in a two-on-one situation. But now... fortunately, we met him when he wasn't at his weakest.

While my mind was still racing, Yi Ge had already firmly adopted a defensive stance.

Alright, then I won't stand on ceremony. Fighting isn't like inviting someone to dinner. I stepped forward, stood next to Yi Ge, and drew my Swift Shadow.

That Sect Leader Sun was indeed a straightforward man, unlike the others in the Yunyang martial arts world who were full of empty formalities. He swiftly drew a strange weapon, pointing it directly at Yi Ge. It looked like a sword, but it had a barb. Yi Ge, however, was only using his bare hands. I somewhat regretted not taking a sword from the weapon rack earlier. The Ghost Palace's collection must be extraordinary. Why was I so stubborn, only wanting Zhu Hong?

Sect Leader Sun laughed and said, "Alright, I haven't yet had the pleasure of learning from the young master and the princess's skills, so let Citian have a go."

So his monster was called Thorn Sky. So this man, who was supposed to be handsome, had such an ugly smile. Or maybe it wasn't a proper smile. Could I call it a sinister smile?

Before I could even find a word to describe his laughter, his piercing sword went straight for Yi Ge.

My shadow was long enough, and my movements were fast enough, so I deflected the Heavenly Thorn. As it slid away, Sect Leader Sun exclaimed in surprise, "Eh!" I had used quite a bit of force, although I didn't have much strength left.

Yi Ge was unarmed, while I was armed with a long weapon. It was actually quite difficult to coordinate with him. At first, I was always afraid that Ji Ying would accidentally hurt him. But later we became more skilled. He was fast, so when he attacked me at close range, I would harass him from a distance. This forced Sect Master Sun to use Ci Tian to deal with me, while using his palm against Yi Ge.

But I know neither of us can last forever. If I lose my strength, his Thorn Sky will have a chance to deal with Yi Ge. And now I can only grit my teeth and persevere. Once, Swift Shadow got tangled in Thorn Sky's barb. Sect Master Sun wanted to cut Swift Shadow, but Swift Shadow was too flexible and could not be cut. So he tried to drag me closer with his strength. I used the lightness of Thousand Mountain Flying Snow to deal with him and managed to untangle Swift Shadow.

But in reality, I was gradually drawn closer by Sect Leader Sun. As I got closer, Yi Ge would attack more fiercely, giving me time to retreat further before continuing the fight. Gradually, the three of us became locked in a stalemate, all slightly out of breath. Perhaps it wasn't a matter of superior martial arts skills, but rather who could hold out the longest and win.

Just as I gritted my teeth and mustered my last bit of strength, I suddenly heard footsteps behind me, and there was more than one person. My heart skipped a beat. I didn't know if it was the rest of the Famen arriving. If it was Sun Jing, we had no chance of winning. Death was unlikely, but I was afraid I would really end up as a hostage.

The newcomer's voice rang out calmly, and I almost burst into tears upon hearing it. The man said, "Who goes there, daring to bully my daughter?"

Upon hearing the sound, Sect Leader Sun abruptly slapped Yi Ge away, then aimed his Heavenly Thorn at my chest. I parried with my whip, but he suddenly withdrew the Heavenly Thorn and leaped out of the battle. I knew I should give chase, but I was utterly exhausted, and I bent over, supporting myself on my knees. Yi Ge hesitated for a moment, then turned and helped me up.