Nine Chapters of Strange Cases

Chapter 77 Nosebleeds
Zhou Zhao quickly sheathed his dagger and, together with Su Changying, chose the nearest dark tunnel and crawled inside.

Su Changying grabbed her waist and leaped lightly. This time, the two were lucky; there was a protruding, dark spot at the top of the tunnel that was perfect for hiding someone.

"Every night, we just keep circling down there until dawn?"

Hearing Tianquan's familiar voice, Zhou Zhao looked around and noticed a thin crack in the rock wall. He suddenly turned around and clung to the rock wall like a gecko.

"Can't nap? Can't drink water? Can't relieve yourself?" Tianquan kept nagging, and as if annoyed by his questions, the last of the group of blue-robed men couldn't help but speak up, "If you want to rest, you can rest, but you can only rest where there are mechanism pillars."

"You'll see the place to relieve yourself if you walk a little further."

Tianquan got the answer, glanced at the mechanism pillar, saw the dark red giant tree that seemed to grow out of the world, and looked at the tightly fitted mechanism structure on it. He couldn't help but darken his eyes.

He didn't ask any more questions, but silently followed behind the group, like a night wanderer heading towards a dark passageway.

After they left, Zhou Zhao and Su Changying returned to the mechanical pillar.

Su Changying raised her longsword and thrust it sharply into the gap between the two checkpoints. The sword bent, but the mechanism pillar remained unharmed.

The two exchanged a glance, their expressions unusually solemn.

“There should be seven pillars like this. Six are on the outer perimeter, just like this one. The seventh one should be the key to controlling the mechanism. The seventh pillar is the head of a person, and the rest are the limbs and body. Even if we can't smash their heads, we should at least break their arms and legs.”

"If things go as we expect, on July 15th, Qin Tianying intends to slaughter everyone in Tianying City in a blood sacrifice..."

"Then think about it, what kind of mechanism can accomplish all this in an instant?"

Su Changying's eyes flickered as he recalled the traps they had encountered these past few days. His heart sank. "The ground collapses, and sharp spikes emerge from the tunnels, capable of impaling and killing people. Blood then flows down the tunnels, and falling from a height will kill and bury the person..."

Tianying City was as if the earth had collapsed, the entire city was destroyed and no longer existed.

Zhou Zhao listened and sighed softly. If it was just a guess before, seeing such exquisite mechanisms made it seem entirely possible.

As she was thinking, she saw Su Changying sheath his longsword. He drew a strange shape in the air with his hand, then stretched out a finger and poked it hard at one of the small mechanical fragments. With a crack, the fragment, which was about half the size of a palm, was dented and then fell to the ground.

Just as the fragment was about to hit the ground, Zhou Zhao lifted his foot, placed it under the fragment, kicked it up, and grabbed it in his hand.

The moment Zhou Zhao held the piece of wood in her hand, its coolness sent a shiver down her spine. But she didn't care much, stuffing the piece of wood into the pocket at her waist, and then looked at Su Changying with bright, sparkling eyes.

"So you can move it with your internal energy?"

Su Changying shook her head. "It can't be done in a day. There might not be enough time. Besides, we can't come and poke around every day. If we poke around for a day, we might be discovered, and if we come back the next day, we'll be trapped."

Zhou Zhao frowned. Indeed, this method wouldn't work.

She took a deep breath and thought, "You keep watch for me. I need to memorize all the fragments on this pillar and see if I can find a pattern in them."

Su Changying was taken aback. Such a large pillar, full of mechanisms and traps, many of which were strange and unusual shapes. Zhou Zhao was going to memorize them all?
Is this even a human brain?
But he said nothing, slowly backing away, gripping his longsword and listening intently to what was happening around him.

Zhou Zhao circled the pillar, initially very slowly, moving only one foot at a time, but then suddenly her pace quickened. Su Changying watched as she circled the pillar higher and higher, until she reached the top.

"Zhou Zhao." Hearing the approaching footsteps, Su Changying immediately called out to remind him.

Zhou Zhao lightly kicked the pillar, and like an arrow released from a bow, she shot towards Su Changying. Su Changying's pupils contracted sharply. She reached out and grabbed Zhou Zhao, turning her around to dissipate the impact. Then, she chose an empty passageway, grabbed her, and sped away.

Only when the surroundings returned to silence did he release the little girl from his arms.

"You have a nosebleed."

Zhou Zhao let out a bewildered "Ah," and reached up to touch the area below her nose. Sure enough, her hand was covered in crimson blood. Just as she was about to wipe it haphazardly with her sleeve, a handkerchief was handed to her. The handkerchief was pure white, with an almost imperceptible osmanthus flower embroidered in the lower right corner.

There was only one flower, with petals the size of rice grains and a pale yellow color.

Zhou Zhao looked at it, a smile playing on her lips. She covered her nose and looked at Su Changying, "Did you embroider this?"

Su Changying blushed and awkwardly looked away; he did not answer.

He didn't know why, but this martial arts master could also embroider.

Moreover, the flowers embroidered are real flowers.

He didn't understand before, but now he probably does.

“I’ve remembered everything. We won’t be able to get out until dawn anyway. Let’s go look at another pillar and see if it’s the same. Then let’s go look at the place I mentioned before, the wall that connects to the tunnel to Xuanwu Hall.”

Su Changying did not refute, but nodded slightly.

Zhou Zhao closed his eyes, thought about the map in his mind, and pointed, "Let's go this way, this is the shortest."

As soon as she finished speaking, the two of them transformed into two black shadows and shot out in a flash, this time seeing the second mechanism pillar even faster than before.

Su Changying was still keeping watch, while Zhou Zhao circled the pillar. This time, Zhou Zhao only glanced around casually before jumping down. "Same here, keep following me."

She took a step forward and soon arrived at her destination.

Behind that wall in front should be the passageway to Xuanwu Hall, Zhou Zhao thought, and suddenly stopped. He could hear a pattering sound and the sound of people talking coming from the other end of the passageway.

"I was so suffocated. It's better to patrol with Yuheng. She can let us brothers relieve ourselves and catch our breath."

Upon hearing this, Zhou Zhao's vision went black.

She finally understood why she had vaguely heard voices when she pressed herself against the stone wall at the end of the underground passage of Xuanwu Hall that day. Just moments before, when Tianquan was on patrol, those blue-robed men had ignored him and remained silent as they marched.

After all that, it turns out this is the latrine.

Luckily, she didn't force her way in that day, otherwise she would have stepped right into the latrine!

"I really don't understand. They patrol every day, every day, but there isn't a single mouse, let alone outsiders. I don't know why they patrol at all."

"Why worry about so much? We lowly minions should be blind to the danger and blind to the truth. Just do whatever the city lord tells you to do. The city lord said that there is a mole in Tianying City, in the Inner Seven Hall. That mole will definitely come here. If we catch him, we'll never have to worry about anything again."