novelraw Chapter 183 - 124: Celestial Secret Net Array (2)
Chapter 183 - 124: Celestial Secret Net Array (2)
Si Ye shook his head:
"No, this place isn’t hidden, it doesn’t count as a trap.
"Star Guards, each of them with exceptional Martial Arts, wouldn’t fall down... Even if one did fall, they wouldn’t all fall together.
"Someone would always return to report."
"None returned, which means they’ve found the way down."
Chu Qing didn’t search himself but looked at Gentle.
Gentle understood what Chu Qing meant, sniffed the air, then pointed downward and said:
"They are below."
Tie Chuming was astounded:
"Miss Gentle, even if your nose is good, it can’t be like this, right?"
Chu Qing didn’t intend to explain to her but asked Gentle:
"How far?"
"Thirty to fifty feet."
Gentle answered without hesitation.
Chu Qing nodded and went over to the rock wall for a closer look, discovering traces of artificial carving on it.
These were indentations embedded in the mountain wall.
There were two rows, spaced about five feet apart, arranged meticulously.
Immediately, he leaped and followed those indentations downward.
In no time, he descended about fifty feet and, looking down, found another mountain cave within the cliff.
Chu Qing twisted his foot and landed in that cave, looking up and said:
"You can come down."
The people above came down one by one, with Si Ye entering last, lighting up the cave with fire, his gaze falling onto a part of the mountain wall.
There he saw a star-like carving.
"It’s the traces they left behind; indeed they were here."
Si Ye breathed a sigh of relief.
Chu Qing then asked Gentle:
"What about the scent?"
"Just follow the cave forward," Gentle said blandly.
Tie Chuming’s eyes widened:
"Your nose is really sharp!"
Chu Qing ignored her surprise:
"Let’s go."
The group immediately continued forward, with more and more traces confirming one thing.
"Someone once lived in this cave."
Si Ye pointed to the indentations on the rock wall:
"The previous ones can be considered coincidence, but it’s impossible for every place to have such indentations.
"Obviously, someone lived here for years, intentionally leaving these marks on the mountain wall to facilitate movement up and down."
"Yet, as we walked here, we didn’t even see a ghost, let alone a person."
Tie Chuming rubbed her forehead, feeling a headache... a real one.
Earlier, she stumbled in the dark, accidentally hitting a stalagmite, the pain nearly bringing tears to her eyes.
However, Chu Qing didn’t show concern for her but checked if the stalagmite was okay, while her head seemed less important than a stone!
What an absurdity!
No one continued discussing the issue but added an extra layer of caution.
Heading downward, as time ticked by, they didn’t know how deep underground they were, only feeling that the caverns lay nested within the mountain but not chaotic, descending along a hollow mountain crevice.
It’s uncertain if they’ve reached the bottom of Celestial Star Mountain, but they’ve obviously gone down a significant distance.
At this moment, Chu Qing suddenly said:
"There’s movement ahead."
Si Ye immediately perked up, holding the torch to lead the way.
Chu Qing’s group followed behind, going another thirty feet further down, arriving at a winding passage leading in two directions.
This passage was also naturally formed, without signs of artificial carving.
Gentle sniffed the air and pointed in a direction.
She was like a guiding light, acting naturally with ease in such an environment.
Moments later, the view ahead opened up.
Here lay yet another hollow space, but densely packed with stone forests.
Around the stone forests, numerous web traps lay hidden, and before the stone forests stood a stone stele.
It inscribed five large characters: Celestial Secret Net Array!
Looking up, they found three people hanging from the cave wall.
These three were covered in webs, their hands and feet immobile, resembling fallen spider eggs, silently staring at Chu Qing’s group.
"You..."
Si Ye breathed a sigh of relief upon seeing them.
Cultivating Star Guards was difficult, and he previously thought these three were dead... Fortunately, they only fell into the mechanism, their lives still intact.
Immediately, he tapped a foot, perched on a giant stone, intending to rescue those three.
To his surprise, as he jumped up, webs flew toward them suddenly.
Presents a posture of all directions, surrounding it.
Si Ye’s expression changed, he swung his palm to attack, intending to use the palm wind to retreat this web.
Unexpectedly, the web was soft and gentle, the palm wind couldn’t move it, and as he was about to fall into the net, a chill force suddenly pulled him back.
Before Si Ye could be caught in the web, it pulled him back.
"He usually seems like a pretty calm person."
Chu Qing looked at Si Ye speechlessly:
"Why are you so reckless now? Didn’t you see the side where it’s written ’Celestial Secret Net Array’?
"The three of them were clearly caught hanging there after triggering the array...
"You still rushed up without looking?"
He couldn’t believe it; the seemingly calm, black-clad young man turned out to be impulsive.
Si Ye was left speechless by Chu Qing, and could only lower his head in shame.
Chu Qing raised an eyebrow, looking at the three hanging above, then asked:
"Array... does anyone understand it?"
Upon hearing this, Gentle was the first to step back.
If she understood arrays, she wouldn’t have been trapped in Qingxi Village back then.
Si Ye then said:
"I know a little about it...
"But whether I can break the array is hard to say."
"Hmph, can’t do it, can you?"
Tie Chuming placed her hands on her hips:
"All of you move aside, I am the real array master!!"
Chu Qing looked at her in a new light:
"You really can’t judge a book by its cover, are you really an array master?"
Tie Chuming snorted:
"What? Just because I look like this, I can’t be... Hey!
"What do I look like? Why can’t I be judged by appearance?"
Her forehead veined with blue tendons, subconsciously about to jump up and fight Chu Qing.
Gentle hugged her by the waist, and she could only struggle and kick her legs in Gentle’s embrace, but getting farther away from Chu Qing.
"Since Miss Tie understands the array, then you and Si Ye should plan and see if you can break this array."
He said, looking up at the three heroes hanging above:
"But before that, we must first get them down."
With a thought, he had three flying sabers in his hand.
With a flick of the wrist, the three sabers pierced the void, three consecutive swishes, directly cutting the webs hanging them.
He didn’t use the Little Li Flying Saber technique.
Just an ordinary hidden weapon technique, but with the Little Li Flying Saber skill, even ordinary hidden weapon techniques are never off target.
Shh, shh, shh!
Three more sounds, the webs responded and snapped, and three figures immediately fell towards the Stone Forest Array in panic.
At this moment, Chu Qing reached out, the Mingyu Scripture Inner Breath turned, forcibly pulling these three over.
After landing, Si Ye quickly stepped forward to remove the webs from them.
The three had escaped a great difficulty, immediately clasping their fists to Chu Qing:
"Thank you, sir."
Chu Qing waved his hand:
"No need for thanks... since you three are freed, go up and report your safety."
His words paused here, glancing at Si Ye:
"Since Si Ye has come down, someone will definitely convey a message to Second Master.
"When you meet him, tell Second Master that matters here must be kept confidential, and also find two more array-skilled people to come down...
"Miss Tie may not be reliable, it’s always good to have a backup plan."
The three Star Guards looked at each other and quickly promised.
Despite feeling their limbs sore from hanging for so long, they immediately followed the path out.
Tie Chuming was again angered by Chu Qing, almost twisting her mouth.
She clearly said she was an array master, yet this guy still didn’t believe it?
Still needs to find someone else, a backup plan? Truly outrageous!
Si Ye frowned slightly:
"Sir, what do you think is mysterious about this place?"
Chu Qing pointed to the stone stele:
"What does it say?"
This was a question Si Ye could answer, as Chu Qing had mentioned earlier:
"Celestial Secret Net Array."
"Why is Luochun Manor so chaotic now? At this time... the words ’Celestial Secret’ appearing here, I believe it’s no coincidence.
"Si Ye, do you think Celestial Secret Valley might be under Celestial Star Mountain?"
...
...
ps: The author bursting with survival instincts says that the first Chapter opens tomorrow, it’s not intentionally delayed, there truly was no time...