Calamity Messenger

Chapter 125 - 101: Royal Secret Vault

The two of them made their way to the center of the square, where the carvings were, and Yan Qing hesitated slightly.

Although he knew the Secret Vault was directly below, how did one actually enter?

"You really haven’t studied the Secret Vault," Shang Xinlei couldn’t help but laugh, "So you really can’t just leave me behind."

She drew out the flying ring, which hopped back and forth on the carvings, hitting the tiles where the Cyan Dragon, Vermilion Bird, White Tiger, and Black Tortoise patterns were located. As the tiles of the Four Divine Beasts slowly sank, the sun in the center emitted a crisp sound of vibration, shaking out dust from the crevices before rotating along the central axis to reveal two crescent-shaped entrances.

Yan Qing peered into the opening and discovered there was light inside, most likely from Everlasting Lamps produced in the Secret Realm, illuminating a nearly abyssal vertical passage.

"How do we go down?"

"There are handles on the passage walls you can climb to reach the side door..." Shang Xinlei paused in mid-sentence.

Yan Qing asked, puzzled, "Side door? But this is the middle door."

"So here you just jump," Shang Xinlei looked at him, "After all, it’s the main city, you won’t die from the fall. They’ve only prepared a path to climb back up from inside. The outside mechanism only opens the middle door, the inside mechanism only opens the side door."

Since you won’t die from the fall, just jump straight down.

Yan Qing patted his forehead. He hadn’t lived in the main city, so he couldn’t fathom this logic. No, this wasn’t main city logic; it’s the logic of the strong—Messengers have defensive tokens; they’re not afraid of falling damage. Like how he just jumped from a twenty-zhang high palace wall, jumping thirty-some zhang now wouldn’t kill him, would it?

At this moment, a team of guards emerged from the distant palace gates, seemingly planning to pass along the edge and cross the central square; they might spot them. Yan Qing said, "I’ll go down first; you remember to close the door later."

"Okay."

Yan Qing grabbed the edge of the crescent-shaped opening, ready to leap down, but at that moment, he saw Shang Xinlei standing motionlessly and instantly realized, "Where’s your defensive token?"

"...It was shattered by Layman Yu Li with one blow." Shang Xinlei retrieved a broken jade pendant from her chest. As a Second-Turn Messenger, she wasn’t yet eligible to use a Heart-Protecting Mirror: "I can’t go down."

Without the main city’s protection, without a defensive token, jumping down would mean confronting the earth with mere flesh, with only one outcome: a mangled, crushed body. A Foundation Establishment Messenger is indeed powerful; even if they can withstand a random blow from an opponent, it doesn’t mean they can escape unscathed.

Yan Qing fell silent, picking up a stone from the roadside and hurling it high in what seemed to be an expression of anger.

Shang Xinlei had already mentally prepared herself; escape was unlikely, but she didn’t necessarily have to be captured as ’Thief Red Snake.’ She could completely pretend to be visiting the Imperial Palace for the excitement and to find her father. Punishment was inevitable, but it would be far better than—

"Once I jump down, if you trust me, jump down and let me catch you."

Shang Xinlei looked at Yan Qing in shock, but Yan Qing had no intention of explaining to her as he leaped into the crescent-shaped opening, landing steadily after five breaths.

The footsteps of the guards were drawing nearer, and their lantern light was about to shine over; Shang Xinlei had to make a decision immediately: should she close the entrance and revert to Shang Xinlei’s identity, or jump down as Thief Red Snake? Shang Xinlei would surely face punishment, but Red Snake could end up as a smear of blood.

Gambling life and death on a stranger is the most foolish bet possible, she thought.

"Hmm?"

The guards abruptly turned their lantern, looking toward the central square.

"What’s going on?"

"Nothing, maybe it was just the wind."

While the guards were talking, Shang Xinlei was plummeting, leaving a ripple in the stagnant air, her clothes fluttering like butterflies, her hair entwining with the wind like strings. This wasn’t her first plunge from a height, but it was the first time she rushed toward the earth without the protection of a defensive token. She closed her eyes tightly, unable to face the impending echo of fate, perhaps the harshest mockery of her life, serving as a footnote to her foolishness.

One second, two seconds, three seconds... Since learning from Jiang Shi that this was akin to a unit of breath, she had become accustomed to describing very short spans of time with countdowns.

"How long are you going to pretend to be asleep?"

Shang Xinlei opened her eyes, revealing Yan Qing’s Yellow Dog mask. Behind the mask, his eyes were filled with disdain, as if witnessing a childish girl pretending to be a grown-up.

"Why... why is there no sound?" Shang Xinlei was pleasantly surprised to find that she wasn’t hurt at all, not even feeling the impact, as if she hadn’t jumped from over thirty yards high, but rather had leaped into Yan Qing’s embrace through a window.

"Such fuss over nothing." Yan Qing’s face was calm, though inwardly he was immensely pleased.

Given that he dared to boast about catching Shang Xinlei, he naturally had his preparations.

"Mountain Heart-Protecting Mirror"

"Grade: Third-Turned Precious"

"Durability: 81/100"

"Equipment Requirement: 15 Qi Blood, 15 Spiritual Soul"

"Effect: Sevenfold Mirror Surface: After activating this effect, you’ll be guarded by seven mirror surfaces; the mirror defense is 0, and the life value is linearly related to the number of mirrors. Every added mirror surface increases life value by 200; with all seven mirrors, each mirror’s life value is 1400; with only one mirror, the life value is 200. Activating and replenishing mirrors consume 12 points/mirror, and after all mirrors are shattered, a five-second cooldown is required before reactivation."

"Effect: Mountain Mirror: When guarded by seven mirror surfaces, all non-token kinetic force you endure becomes zero; you cannot be moved, nor can you move others."

"Evaluation: The mirror’s back has four words inscribed, ’Steady as a Mountain.’"

The first defensive token Yan Qing fortified with blood tool materials was the Heart-Protecting Mirror he found most functional. The previous Heart-Protecting Mirror was good, but it required 70 points of Spiritual Power to activate, which Yan Qing could not possibly achieve before his Third-Turn.

After fortification, the Spiritual Power for each mirror in the Mountain Heart-Protecting Mirror increased to 12 points, but in return, the life value of the mirror doubled, eliminating the need to activate all mirrors at once. Yan Qing could slowly activate the seven mirror surfaces, enjoying the three-turn rare treasure token defenses with a first-turn strength, which was why he could block the casual strike from a Foundation Establishment Messenger just now.

As for the Mountain Mirror’s secondary empowerment, he initially thought it was merely an add-on, as it only immunized kinetic damage not caused by tokens—which equaled a meaningless immunity. Until he jumped from the twenty-yard-high palace wall and found he landed noiselessly, he realized the profundity of this empowerment.

Of course, even so, Yan Qing wouldn’t dare let Shang Xinlei risk her life; he conducted a final test before jumping: tossing a stone. He caught the stone on the back of his hand, noticing it stopped completely upon touching his skin.

Given the stone’s irregular contour, falling vertically should inevitably cause bouncing collisions, not to mention his hand wasn’t level with a slant angle. This phenomenon could only mean that the stone’s kinetic energy was entirely absorbed by the Mountain Mirror’s empowerment at the instant of contact.

Shang Xinlei was essentially just a bigger, taller, heavier stone.

Undoubtedly, in case of an accident, Yan Qing wasn’t without a plan—the Heaven-Covering from Bingzi Pepper Forest could heal all wounds; as long as Shang Xinlei survived, she could be revived with the Legendary Token. With Yan Qing cushioning below and Shang Xinlei’s second-turn level of Qi Blood, there’s always a chance of rescue.

Recalling the incident now, Yan Qing felt he was truly bold, letting someone bet their life on him.

And the bolder one was Shang Xinlei, who bet her life.

One dared to speak, the other dared to trust.

Their eyes met, realizing they both felt a bit foolish. Yan Qing went over and helped her up, this time Shang Xinlei didn’t refuse, staying close to him as if treating him like a crutch. Yan Qing thought this woman was so unapologetic, undoubtedly pushy by nature, perhaps he should keep his distance.

The secret vault’s doors were rather peculiar, entirely made of gold, with two five-clawed golden dragons on either side holding two balls made of Spiritual Jade—appearing extravagantly radiant. However, Yan Qing knew in this world where gold and silver serve only as construction materials, decoration, and small currency for commoners, the truly valuable entity was the four Spirit Jade Balls.

Together, they pushed open the door, revealing a vault quite different from the luxurious exterior, resembling more a showroom. Besides the corner-filled bookshelves, chests, and artworks, the majority and most valued space in the vault was occupied by sixty-four glazed platforms, each displaying tokens or treasures of equivalent worth.

Possibly absorbed by the allure of treasures, they failed to notice the subtle sound of the secret vault doors closing automatically.

Yan Qing immediately left Shang Xinlei, rushing over to the platforms, trying to figure out how to unlock them. The foremost platform exhibited a Secret Technique Book titled "Super Solution", although ignorant of the specific weapon’s technique, obtaining it was a gain.

Yet, the glazed platforms were not so easily unlocked; the mechanism wasn’t even displayed in the sand table. Yan Qing first attempted slashing the platforms but couldn’t even chip the edges, leaving him no choice but to calmly study how to unlock them. He quickly noticed a turquoise plate beneath the platform, bearing eight images with a line of words very familiar to him—"Please click on all images containing ’tokens.’"

Yan Qing blinked; before he acted, the turquoise plate had transformed, the words changing to "Please click on all images containing ’demons.’"

He managed to click two images this time, but the turquoise plate transformed every two seconds. He finally recognized the plate’s rapid shifts offered no time for proper observation and judgment!

Damn it, from where did Liang Kingdom come by such a thing, after traversing worlds, must I endure this torture of mind-bending verification?