Calamity Messenger

Chapter 142 - 114: Convergence

In the Royal Secret Vault, Shang Xinlei watched as items appeared out of thin air, her expression quite complex.

Yan Qing could understand, after all, in her mind, the mastermind behind the trading board should be a powerful entity as formidable as a god or demon, at the very least a world-class conspirator, not an ordinary person who hasn’t even reached Foundation Establishment, and certainly not someone trapped in a vault thirty or so feet underground with her.

He observed Shang Xinlei’s eyes carefully, trying to catch any emotion she might reveal. In fact, he wasn’t afraid that Shang Xinlei would leak this secret, since he had no connections in this world. In the Thief’s House under the covers, nobody cares about you. He was more afraid that Shang Xinlei might become greedy.

He didn’t like testing human nature, just like no player would test if a computer case can still run after water damage; he only hoped the computer would keep running games forever, and similarly, he only hoped this brief friendship with Shang Xinlei could extend as long as possible, until he no longer valued this woman at all.

"Do we really need to use the Heart-Protecting Mirror for the exchange?"

Unexpectedly, Shang Xinlei first expressed skepticism towards Yan Qing’s extravagance: "There are quite a few stacked Second-Turn Tokens here, can’t they be used for exchange? The Third-Turn Heart-Protecting Mirror could clearly be sold for a high price, using it for these door-opening items is such a waste."

"It has to be the Heart-Protecting Mirror." Since it was already exposed, Yan Qing also didn’t mind saying a bit about the Treasure Hunting Order, trying his best to quell Shang Xinlei’s greed: "Not all items can be listed in the Treasure Pavilion."

"But this is too wasteful, I could buy them for less than five Spiritual Jades in Jiangnan City, yet you spent five Third-Turned Rare Tokens."

"Escaping is more important than anything else, not to mention it’s just five Third-Turned Rare Tokens."

"What do you mean by ’just’? You’re being too extravagant."

Seeing Shang Xinlei’s face full of distress, Yan Qing thought this thief woman was too greedy, these were obviously his items, why was she so concerned? Could it be she was planning to betray him, already considering his property as her own? Indeed, fate is unpredictable and humans deceitful, fortunately, she accidentally revealed her intentions; he would need to be more vigilant in the future.

Shang Xinlei curiously asked the next question: "By the way, what are the restrictions for listing items in the Treasure Pavilion?"

"Not telling you."

"What’s the big deal." Shang Xinlei puffed her cheeks: "I found this Token in a chest in Mansu Forest Land, if I had known how useful the Treasure Hunting Order was, you wouldn’t be the only one disposing of loot in the Treasure Pavilion now."

"If you knew back then, you would’ve taken a big loss; you can’t use the Treasure Hunting Order at all."

"Why? Is there no one else in the world who can use it but you?"

"Because using the Treasure Hunting Order requires knowing a particular trick, and this condition has nothing to do with strength, status, or background. It doesn’t matter if you’re a Foundation Establishment Messenger or a legendary Immortal God, without knowing the trick, you can’t unlock the Treasure Hunting Order."

Yan Qing didn’t think the Treasure Hunting Order he had was the first in history. After all, apart from event rewards, there were many places in "The Messenger" where one could earn a Treasure Hunting Order. But even if people had acquired the Treasure Hunting Order before, they couldn’t list items because they were unaware of the items’ system information, and at most, they could buy his items.

There might be countless potential buyers in the Treasure Pavilion, but the seller had always been only him.

"What’s the trick?" Shang Xinlei immediately pursued, but then answered herself: "You’re not going to tell me, are you? Keeping so many secrets will give you pimples, you ugly monster afraid to take off your mask."

"That’s better than being a nose picker who’s curious about everything. Grab the door-opening items and follow me."

Yan Qing turned and walked towards the center of the vault, while Shang Xinlei gritted her teeth behind him, complaining: "Why don’t you pick it up yourself?"

"I don’t like touching other people’s shoes."

Shang Xinlei made a face behind him, looking down in surprise: "This dancing shoe is quite beautiful, doesn’t seem like a Jiangnan weave, and it’s gold-plated with diamonds, it looks like its owner was quite prestigious."

"A dancer of high status?" Yan Qing questioned.

"Who knows, a lot of messengers like to dance. Maybe it’s a Foundation Establishment Messenger’s dance shoe, why don’t you take a sniff?"

"Get that away!"

Yan Qing reached the glazed counter storing the Hand of Melting Hundred Forms again, Shang Xinlei observed curiously: "Have you not given up yet? We only have about two quarters of an hour to get back to the Thief’s House, can you crack this counter in such a short time?"

"Maybe no need to crack."

Yan Qing took out a Scholar’s pen from her arms, he had listed five Heart-Protecting Mirrors, exchanging them for four door-opening items, and deliberately an extra Scholar’s pen to test a hypothesis.

He located the scratch mark beneath the turquoise plate and pressed the pen against it. The turquoise plate, despite having no indentation, absorbed the Scholar’s pen.

With a clattering sound, the glazed counter silently opened, and the Foundation Establishment Token used by Liang Taizu, a six-turn messenger a hundred years ago, re-entered this world of conflict.

It was indeed practical!

Previously, Yan Qing found that the scratch under the turquoise plate was very similar to the items required by the Secret Realm gate, and he suspected they might be from the same unlocking system. The objects under the turquoise plate didn’t have any hints, guessing was the only option, and fortunately, the counter for the Hand of Melting Hundred Forms also required a Scholar’s pen to unlock, so he hadn’t wasted his effort.

Watching Yan Qing carefully store the pair of gloves, Shang Xinlei was thoughtful; after all, the gloves were already damaged, and if it wasn’t for collection purposes, it meant Yan Qing had a way to restore them to their original state.

First, the Treasure Hunting Order, now the restoration of the token, this bastard... He’s got way too many secrets!?

"Someday, I’ll make you willingly disclose all your secrets..."

"Hmm?" Yan Qing heard Shang Xinlei muttering something and looked back at her.

"I said it’s time to leave, right?" Shang Xinlei nonchalantly put on her mask, ready to resume the Red Snake disguise: "You’re not planning to continue opening counters, are you?"

Yan Qing shook his head: "Of course not, leaving one second later increases the risk of exposure."

Actually, using the Treasure Hunting Order to obtain door-opening items was risky. Though others did not know the significance of these items, the Liang Royal Family certainly did. Once they saw the combination of ’pen, shoe, needle, dice’, they would immediately realize someone had breached the Secret Vault, and exiting might lead to a Foundation Establishment Messenger lying in wait.

But tonight was already too lively, with explosions and assassinations, Yan Qing gambled that the Palace City was currently under lockdown, inside and out, and not many in the Liang Royal family knew the Secret Vault’s unlocking secret. Seizing this time gap, they could retreat to the Thief’s House unscathed!

Fitting the four Spirit Jade Balls at the Vault door with their corresponding items, under the two’s tense watch, the Vault door roared open once more. Perhaps it was an illusion, but the first breath of air outside felt exceptionally fresh.

Ascending wasn’t difficult. From the sand table, they could see that there were stairways on both sides of the vertical passage. But as they were leaving, they encountered one small problem: their hands were full.

Having looted the Vault, both of them carried a lot of items. Even if they tied things to their bodies, Yan Qing could only free up one hand, and Shang Xinlei couldn’t free either hand. They both had Storage Rings, but those counted by slots; Yan Qing’s ring was already full with the Spirit Jade Treasure Hunting Order, Return Order, and a spare Flame Pattern Long Saber. He hadn’t planned on coming to the Vault for a zero-cost purchase.

Under such circumstances, except for painfully discarding some spoils, the duo of thieves seemed to have no other choice.

At this moment, a continuously echoing voice called from above:

"Hey——"

The two looked up in astonishment, only to see a round moon opening on the ceiling high above, with two familiar Wolf Fox masks peering down from dozens of floors above them.

"Seems like someone needs a little help?" Pharmacist’s Wish held the Snake Pattern Rope in his hand, speaking in a tone as lofty as an Immortal Emperor saving common folk.

Yan Qing and Shang Xinlei exchanged glances, calling out to Pharmacist’s Wish with precise synchronization: "Black Wolf, save us!"

"It’s so lucky to have such a strong teammate like you, otherwise we’d be in big trouble!"

At this moment, Pharmacist’s Wish felt an unprecedented sense of superiority!