Calamity Messenger

Chapter 137 - 110: Entry and Exit Mechanism

"Do you know the Reward Good and Punish Evil Order?"

Yan Qing truly did not know. He had only heard people discussing it while in Mansu Forest Land and never delved deeper: "I just know it’s very precious."

Shang Xinlei looked at him deeply and said, "If a messenger wishes to enter the Divine Marquis Mansion in the Third-Turn Secret Realm, they must possess the Reward Good and Punish Evil Order. From ancient times to now, this has been the only way. Of course, it’s not the only way now; other messengers can also kill us to get the chance to enter the Divine Marquis Mansion for a reward."

Yan Qing vaguely understood her meaning: "In some Secret Realms, you must hand over corresponding items to enter?"

Shang Xinlei nodded: "It is said that the Jie Family’s Third-Turn Secret Realm, the Jinghua Dream Theater, also requires a dancer’s shoes to enter, and the dancer’s skill level must approach the path, meaning they must be proficient in basic dance steps to qualify. Consequently, the Jie Family fostered the largest dance troupe in the Central Plains, and there are festivals for dancers all year round locally. Any child with talent for dancing can be adopted by the Jie Family, all to cultivate enough dancers to collect their shoes."

"The scholar, tailor, and gambler mentioned by this door also probably cannot be ordinary folks; they must be the elite in their respective fields."

"Whatever the Secret Realm entrance demands, it must be that; no one can deceive the Secret Realm." She looked at the golden gate before her, her eyes filled with admiration, fear, but mostly confusion: "Did Liang Taizu move this door here? Can a Foundation Establishment Messenger achieve such a feat? How on earth did he dismantle the Secret Realm entrance?"

Yan Qing wasn’t as surprised as Shang Xinlei since even the turquoise plate used as a human-machine verification could be taken down as a safe switch. It’s no wonder Liang Taizu disassembled the Secret Realm entrance to use as a door. If Liang Taizu were a thief, his theft style could be described as ’utterly thorough,’ showing no courtesy to the Secret Realm.

"If cheating isn’t possible..." Yan Qing glanced back at the Secret Vault: "This place doesn’t seem like it would store a scholar’s pen, a tailor’s needle..."

"We can’t get out."

Shang Xinlei slid down against the stone wall to sit on the ground, tightly fitted night trousers outlining the curved shape of her hips and plump thighs. She bowed her head and straightforwardly stated this cruel fact: "How could the Imperial Family be so foolish as to put items needed to unlock the vault inside the Secret Vault? If they wanted to enter the Secret Vault, they’d certainly collect these items in advance, and they aren’t hard to find; where in Jiangnan City would there be a shortage of scholars, dancers, tailors, gamblers?"

"I should have realized... Regardless, the Royal Secret Vault is a place for storing precious items. Even ordinary warehouses have early warning and anti-theft mechanisms; the Royal Secret Vault can’t possibly be without. Because the Secret Vault is discreet enough, it can’t be staffed with guards; having no early warning mechanism is understandable, but being without anti-theft mechanisms is impossible."

"What a brilliant anti-theft measure... To the Imperial Family, it’s as good as non-existent. They certainly prepare the necessary items before entering, but for thieves, it’s a disaster. Thieves can’t prepare so thoroughly in advance, nor can they contact outside, not even manage a cry for help. There’s no food here, not even Blood Replenishing Pills."

"Unrecognized, unheard, unrescueable - this is Liang Taizu’s punishment for thieves, who, driven by despair and silence, can only watch the treasures of the Secret Vault until hunger claims them."

"And here I was always scheming to enter the Secret Vault, thinking the Shao Royal Family was too arrogant to leave it underground without supervision." Shang Xinlei raised her head, self-mockingly saying, "It turns out our entry into the Secret Vault also meant entering a tomb prepared for us egotists a century ago."

The Secret Vault fell silent, and Shang Xinlei, though breathing deeply, couldn’t calm the fear within her heart.

She was obviously afraid of dying, extremely so. Having been pampered and never truly faced hardship, how could she not fear death? Especially the most terrifying death from starvation, she would rather die by her own hand than be driven mad by hunger.

If she couldn’t choose the place of her demise, she would at least choose a painless method, ideally remaining beautiful.

She opened her eyes, saw Yan Qing still standing before the Secret Vault door. Perhaps due to death looming near, she suddenly felt curious about trivial matters: "Yellow Dog, where are you from? Jiangnan? Chang’an? Northern Territory?"

"I’ve already removed my mask, why don’t you take yours off and have a look too? Anyway, we’re stuck here unless the Imperial Family suddenly comes down to check, otherwise, we’re not getting out."

"I bet you’re certainly ugly, that’s why you don’t dare to remove your mask."

Seeing Yan Qing remain unresponsive, Shang Xinlei’s voice gradually grew softer.

She watched the man in front of her, cold and motherly, thinking he probably couldn’t accept this reality, right? He had so many loyal subordinates, like the leaders of those assassin organizations or intelligence networks in fables, hidden in the shadows stirring up storms, harboring ambitions to overturn the world. A protagonist must face countless hardships to meet him, alive as a hero, dead as a heroic ghost - he ought to be someone like that. Yet he was going to die here, neither preserving a famous legacy nor leaving a notorious infamy, merely decomposing as a failed thief, unnoticed underground.

Moreover, someone as beautiful as Jiang Shi is waiting for him outside. Is he thinking of Jiang Shi now? But I’m also thinking, if it were Jiang Shi trapped with me, even if we’re hungry, it would feel blissful.

Shang Xinlei actually felt a bit guilty, after all, Yan Qing ended up in this situation because of her. Yet, there was also a faint but unspeakable thrill, like a bizarre flower blooming in the muck - fortunately, he was here, sparing her loneliness on the journey toward the Yellow Springs.

She carefully stood up and walked behind Yan Qing, hesitated for a long time and said: "Actually, there isn’t necessarily no hope. With such a commotion tonight, the Imperial Family might send people down to inspect the Secret Vault, then there will be a chance to escape..."

"The Imperial Family checks the Secret Vault periodically too; perhaps we can hold out until then..."

As she spoke, Shang Xinlei was encouraged herself, most of her fear dissipated. After all, if someone came down to inspect the Secret Vault, they would surely be saved. However, Yan Qing then said, "Even if someone comes down, we won’t be able to escape. They only need to seal off the entrance hole to catch us, and even if we can escape the entrance, how would we escape from the Palace City with a Foundation Establishment Messenger sitting there? Our identities would be exposed."

Exposure.

Fear gripped Shang Xinlei’s heart like a demonic claw, causing her whole body to tremble.

She couldn’t imagine the consequences of her identity being revealed. Sneaking into the Palace City, stealing from the Secret Vault, assassinating the Emperor - any matter tied to her would wreak havoc on the Shang Family. Perhaps the family would still exist, but her father, mother, and brother...her closest kin would be implicated by her, even though she never did anything for them, on the contrary, always under their care.

For a moment, Shang Xinlei felt her breath halt, she wanted to comfort Yan Qing, but she couldn’t even comfort herself. She wasn’t willing to die like this, but the cost to keep living was something she couldn’t afford; dying might even be happier, at least she wouldn’t live to be resented by her family.

Slowly, she slumped to the ground, her vision gradually obscured, she tried to wipe away her tears, but the more she wiped, the more tears came, even her breathing turned to sobs.

The Royal Secret Vault might not be a tomb; she forced herself onto a dead end.

A roll of coarse paper was handed to her, misty-eyed, Shang Xinlei looked up at Yan Qing glancing again at the paper in hand. She randomly wiped her face and asked in disbelief: "Where did you get the paper from?"

"I bring it with me everywhere, in case I need it." Yan Qing glanced at her: "Your eyes are peeing, don’t hesitate to use it."

Shang Xinlei was choked by his words, unsure whether to laugh or cry, she let out a whimper, even her snot flowed out, her mask turned sticky. She hurriedly used the paper to clean up, but it was truly coarse, having delicate skin she wasn’t used to such low-grade items, after wiping for a while, her face turned red and hot, looking like a little cat.

Yan Qing chuckled at her appearance, and couldn’t hold back, and burst into laughter, hands on his chest. Shang Xinlei was just grieving, now venting her anger and resentment, she couldn’t help but throw a punch at him, but Yan Qing dodged it, "Next time your eyes pee, can you wear your mask? You look so ugly crying, haha."

"Mind your own business!" Shang Xinlei continued to attack, "Besides, I don’t look ugly when I cry, I checked in the mirror!"

"Really? Even with snot flowing, you don’t look ugly?"

"You see wrong!"

After several failed attempts, Shang Xinlei gave up. This commotion dispersed much of the regret in her heart, leaving behind the shame of showing her ugly side and anger toward Yan Qing.

Seeing Yan Qing, always composed and unworried, she suddenly thought of a possibility.

"Do you have a Return Order?"

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