A Scroll of Infinite Glory

Chapter 112 The Bearded Stranger's Hometown

As soon as Guan Luoyang stepped through the gate, he was greeted by a dimly lit passageway.

Before he even entered the room, he had already strained his ears to listen carefully for any ambushes and to find out where the enemy was.

With his current abilities, once he concentrates, he can hear the conversations of people within two or three kilometers, unless they are deliberately concealing themselves.

Within a hundred meters, you can hear your heartbeat, breathing, and even the sound of your footsteps clearly.

However, as Guan Luoyang slowly walked a distance through the passageway, all he could hear were extremely faint, fragmented sounds.

It sounded like people were talking, and there was even a faint metallic clang, but it was so faint and indistinct that when it reached this place, it was harder to discern than ants crawling, and it was impossible to pinpoint its location.

The possibility of an underground palace built among the mountains and forests of an island having a diameter exceeding three kilometers is extremely slim.

Most likely, there was some special arrangement when this place was built that could weaken or isolate sound.

Bai Tong, standing beside him, was not idle either. He had already put away his flying carpet and bow and arrows, leaving only a purple crystal arrowhead, which he held in his hand like a pen, dotting and drawing.

Purple specks of light drifted into the air, but soon returned to the white bronze body from the front of the passageway.

Bai Tong's expression darkened: "This technique can detect the presence of living people within a certain range, but there may be formations set up in this underground palace that could interfere with such techniques."

"Then, there shouldn't be any enemies nearby, right?"

Lu Chunhua observed their reactions, took out a glow stick from her backpack, and held it in her hand, bending it slightly.

When the glass tube inside the glow stick is broken, the chemical reagents leak out and react with the fluorescent dyes inside, emitting a light that is no less bright than that of ordinary household energy-saving lamps.

Guan Luoyang and Bai Tong did not need any lighting; their eyesight was sufficient to see everything around them even in this level of darkness.

But for Lu Chunhua, it was only with this potentially conspicuous light source that everything she saw became clear.

The passageway faced each other, and as it opened up ahead, it was divided into two roads.

A huge, colorful painting lies across the boulder, separating the entrances to the two roads.

Lu Chunhua held up the glow stick and moved a little closer.

The colors on the mural appear slightly lighter, not because of the presence of pigments, but as if they were foils made of different colored metals and pasted onto the boulder.

Large and small, exquisitely crafted, it takes thousands or tens of thousands of pieces, and the painstaking efforts of countless craftsmen, to create such a picture.

The painting depicts a scene that appears to take place in an inn.

A stunningly beautiful woman with delicate eyebrows sat inside the house, combing her long, black hair that reached the ground.

Not far from the doorway, there was a man with a full beard, a burly build, and crudely dressed, lying on his side, holding a round wooden pillow, watching her comb her hair.

Beside the bearded man was a line of thick footprints, stretching from outside the door to his feet, as if he had braved the elements and had just entered the room before lying down on a pillow.

Outside, the sun shone brightly, and several towering ancient trees stood by the roadside. A refined man with his sleeves rolled up was washing a fine horse.

The artist's skill was superb; the metal-painted picture seemed to capture the subtle anger and displeasure in the refined man's expression as he looked into the room.

The graceful demeanor of the woman with her hair combed, and the rough and rude manner of the bearded man, are both vividly portrayed.

Lu Chunhua approached the painting, examined it carefully by the light, then stepped back two paces to see the whole picture, muttering, "Just as I thought."

Guan Luoyang looked at the painting and his gaze fell on a few strands of red hair that were faintly visible at the hem of the long dress of the beautiful woman with her hair combed. Upon closer inspection, they looked like a red whisk.

A thought flashed through his mind, and he exclaimed, "Could this be... Hong Fu Nu, one of the Three Heroes of the Wind and Dust?"

"That's right."

Lu Chunhua said, "This should be the scene when the Three Heroes of the Wind and Dust first met."

When Li Jing was young, he was unappreciated despite his talents. He visited Yang Su, but Yang Su was too old to employ him. Hong Fu, a singer in Yang Su's household, recognized the hero and ran away from the mansion at night to find Li Jing, entrusting her life to him.

Later, Li Jing and Hong Fu were traveling when they encountered Qiu Ran Ke. Qiu Ran Ke saw that Hong Fu was beautiful and rudely stared at her while she was dressing up. Li Jing was angry, but Hong Fu gently defused the situation. The three of them became sworn brothers and were known as the Three Heroes of the Wind and Dust.

It was the end of the Sui Dynasty, with thirty-six rebel kings and seventy-two wars raging across the land. Qiu Ran Ke originally had the ambition to contend for the world, but after meeting Li Shimin, he admired his spirit and demeanor and admitted that he was inferior to him.

At that time, the incredibly wealthy Qiu Ran Ke gave all his wealth to his sworn brother and sister, Li Jing and Hong Fu, so that they could assist Li Shimin in establishing the dynasty.

Guan Luoyang thought to himself: If the legend of the Three Heroes of the Wind and Dust in this world is similar to what he had heard, then the story of Qiu Ran Ke later sailing thousands of miles to rule the islands at sea and becoming the ruler of Fuyu Kingdom is somewhat related to the underground palace in the western Pacific islands.

Lu Chunhua said with some regret, "It's a pity it's Qiu Ran Ke, not Li Jing, and not within the territory of the Donghua Ancient Kingdom. Otherwise, I would have reported him directly, and I would have had a large number of powerful reinforcements..."

While the two of them were talking, Bai Tong had already gone into the two roads and explored them one by one.

"There were no signs of anyone walking on either of those roads, but the ground and ceiling were covered with marks of being swept horizontally over a large area."

"Those are traces left when the mechanism was activated, the wall was moved, the old road was covered, and a new route was planned."

Lu Chunhua seemed to have expected this, and said, "I have thoroughly searched for books related to Qiu Ran Ke in Tang Qi Xia Zhuan, Jian Xia Zhuan, Fu Yu Cang Dian, and Wu Dai Hai Guo Mi Lu, and compiled a list of the types of formations that Qiu Ran Ke is good at."

"If I'm not mistaken, there are actually sixteen different ways to switch and combine these two paths at the entrance. They are completely reversed and confused. Once someone enters and triggers the mechanism, the paths will be switched once."

Bai Tong asked, "Then how can we find the route that Luo Bense and the others took before?"

His goal was very clear: to invite Guan Luoyang to come and take revenge. It was a straightforward and simple matter, and even though it involved the underground palace, his goal remained unwavering.

He cared nothing for anything else, focusing solely on hunting down his enemy.

Moreover, if we could find the route that Luo Bense's group took, then since that group had traversed the path before, the danger might be less.

"This is not difficult."

Lu Chunhua held up her glow stick and shone it on both sides of the road, saying, "There should be four hidden compartments in each of these two roads, which are used to control the movement of the walls."

"You two, each choose a path. If you can jump back from the furthest hidden compartment to the nearest one, you can reverse the mechanism and adjust the route back to the way it was in the previous round."

Both roads were paved with square stone bricks, flat and even, with tiny gaps that made it impossible to see anything.

"But be careful, besides the hidden compartments that control the movement of the walls, there are definitely many other traps here designed to kill or injure people."

Lu Chunhua cautioned, "Destructive mechanisms are lighter and easier to trigger, while hidden mechanisms are more cumbersome, probably requiring at least several tens of kilograms of weight to activate."

Since there is a clear difference in severity, things become easier.

While Bai Tong was still hesitating, Guan Luoyang had already used his lightness skill and chosen the path on the left.

With his superb sense of touch and hearing, his figure swept across the air, and as the airflow filled the passage, it blew through different hidden compartments at the same time, bringing out echoes that were difficult to distinguish.

He could clearly hear whether the ground beneath each brick was solid, sluggish, or light.

After counting out four sluggish hidden compartments, he rubbed his palm against the wall and darted back, his feet never touching the ground.

Then, he did the same thing again, walking into the passage on the right.

"The one on the left, counting from closest to furthest, the first hidden compartment is in the fifth row, third column..."

After pointing out the four hidden compartments, Guan Luoyang said to Bai Tong, "Let's work together."

Bai Tong shook his head: "No need, just tell me the other four as well."

As he spoke, Bai Tong took out his bow and arrows. After listening to Guan Luoyang finish speaking, he pondered for a moment and then stood a little further away.

Guan Luoyang and Lu Chunhua stood behind him.

He fired two arrows at a time, each hitting one of the two passages on the left and right. He fired four rounds in a row, and all eight hidden compartments were affected by the heavy force of the arrows.

Dull sounds emanated from the walls and floor of both passageways, indicating the operation of large mechanisms, but the vibrations were very slight.

This underground palace has a history of at least a thousand years, and its mechanisms still operate so smoothly.

Bai Tong asked, "Should we take those arrows back?"

Lu Chunhua said, "It's harmless; it would be best if we could accept it."

Bai Tong nodded, and the spiritual energy he had previously stored on the arrows, guided by the incantation, propelled the arrows back.

The walls of the two roads moved in the same direction, briefly blocking the entrance, but soon a new entrance appeared and the walls moved to their proper place.

The road on the right was still empty, but the road on the left had been filled with a lot of debris, all of which had been pushed over by the moved wall.

There were scorched grappling hooks, glow sticks, and two corpses carrying bullet belts and holding submachine guns.

One had purple skin, possibly indicating death from poisoning, while the other had a small crossbow bolt embedded in the back of its head.

Luo Bense and his group obviously took this route. They didn't know what the differences in the importance of the traps meant, nor could they distinguish or avoid them. They obviously paid a price to get through.

Bai Tong then took out a flying carpet, allowing the three of them to fly through this mechanical passage.

The entrance to this underground palace is in a narrow mountain crevice, but it widens as you go further in; the passage is three meters wide.

Lu Chunhua carefully examined the wall from the side of the flying carpet, making sure she didn't miss any clues.

Guan Luoyang was also observing these walls, but he was paying attention to another aspect.

There was a lot of black ash on the walls, which seemed to have been added recently, as well as many messy scratches. If you smelled it carefully, you could smell a trace of gunpowder.

It's unclear what their motives were, but Luo Bense and his group probably planted some bombs here beforehand, presumably to destroy the mechanism, and they weren't even afraid of collapsing the passage.

But the truth is, they couldn't even destroy the mechanism.

These walls, which appear to be made from local materials and carved from mountain rocks, are actually exceptionally sturdy and extraordinary.

Guan Luoyang tapped the wall with his knuckles, wondering if he could break through these obstacles if he went all out.

I'm afraid that won't work.

If they could break through, Luo Bense and his men would also have three-star level fighters, so why would they have to lose their men so many times?

After passing through this passage, the flying carpet arrived at a spacious stone chamber.

The four-meter-tall, armored statue made of black stone stands guard in the stone chamber, leaning on a sword.

The surrounding area is symmetrically arranged with many ancient statues, most of which are only two meters high. There are statues of people riding lions and dancing with snakes, playing music and holding umbrellas, and bronze elephants with curled trunks. There are all kinds of statues and figures.

They seem to be the masters of this underground palace, welcoming guests from a thousand years later. Even though they are made of bronze and iron, they show little rust after the long passage of time.

However, some of the statues have now fallen to the ground, and others appear to be missing parts.

Looking at the bronze elephant with its curled trunk, Lu Chunhua noticed a slight scratch on its long, curled trunk and shook her head, saying, "There should have been a precious pearl inside, probably also cast in bronze, but it must have been carved with the utmost skill and ingenuity, the very essence of this statue."

"I remember that a similar bronze elephant with a rolled-up ball appeared in the Nanzhao region a few years ago, and it was auctioned off for a total of 1.28 million US dollars."

"It's a pity that it was forcibly taken away like this, greatly diminishing its value. The person who did it was someone who knew its worth but didn't appreciate it. They were probably afraid they wouldn't be able to return to this stone chamber, so they took everything they could."

Bai Tong, completely unconcerned, said impatiently, "Just how big is this underground palace? How come we still can't sense a trace of them?!"

"This underground palace has at least five levels."

Lu Chunhua suppressed her regret over the waste of resources and said, "It should be arranged in a concentric circle pattern. We have only just entered the first level."

"The bearded man and Li Jing once discussed military strategy and mastered four formations: Windless, Cloud Nest, Dragon Coil, and Bird Divination. Apart from the core layer, the four outer layers of this underground palace should each randomly correspond to one of these formations."

"The four-layered formation each has its own capabilities. They may have been circled to other places. Our best course of action now is to go straight to the core area of ​​Tianyuan and wait for them to come to us."

Her words were certainly partly driven by personal motives, but they also made sense.

Guan Luoyang asked, "What are the characteristics of these four formations?"

"Although the main principles of each formation remain the same, the actual changes they exhibit are too numerous to explain in a day or two. Only when I see the signs of the formation's operation can I know which effect the bearded man chose."

Lu Chunhua looked around the room, then at the path between the two armored statues leading deeper into the room, and said, "I'm just an ordinary person, my senses aren't very sharp. You can also pay more attention and notify me immediately if anything seems amiss."

"By the way, Qiu Ran Ke was the most learned master among the outlaws of the East Sea back then. In his underground palace, besides ordinary antiques, there may also be some magical artifacts."

"Although your goal is revenge, you might as well keep an eye out. If you can get your hands on one or two items, it will give you some advantages."

The flying carpet floated between the two armored statues.

Suddenly, Bai Tong raised his hand, drew his bow, and shot an arrow. The arrowhead was faster than the sound, leaving a whistling sound, and instantly disappeared into the passage, piercing through a silent, fluttering white shadow.

The white figure was pierced by an arrow but was completely unaffected. It rushed over, the small shadow flying in the air at a speed almost as fast as the arrow, yet making no sound.

Guan Luoyang straightened up behind the white bronze statue, his long arm reaching over his head, and a surge of azure flames erupted from his palm.

The white figure paused for a moment after being struck by the green energy, like a strange fish with wings, its head sharp as a javelin, its body half real and half fake, hazy and illusory.

With a flick of his wrist, Bai Tong unleashed a purple beam of light from his fingernail, piercing the strange fish once more. This time, the attack shattered it into tiny specks of white mist.

"It's Cloud Nest!"

Lu Chunhua hurriedly said, "There are cloud nests beneath the sea, and the twilight stirs like the tide. These things always come out in groups, be careful!"

Before she could finish speaking, Guan Luoyang had already seen it.

Like clouds and mist, like waves, white flying fish surged silently from the end of the passage.

(End of this chapter)