"White mouse?"
Liu Jiangfusheng’s shoulders felt lighter as it landed nimbly on the ground.
What was it doing?
He watched it lift its front paws on the stone brick floor, its posture quite imposing. *Pat, pat, pat* – its little feet blurred into afterimages, a snowball rolled past, and then it must have pressed some hidden mechanism. A deafening rumble echoed, shaking the heavens and earth.
Liu Jiangfusheng and Ziying suddenly looked up. Two arch bridges rose from either side of the ice and fire of the pool. The bridges were narrow and long, like rainbows or moons, crossing the body coiled by the “Ice-Fire Twin-headed Flood Dragon” and reaching a floating platform behind it.
Bridges?
For cultivators, using bridges to cross the pool held little significance.
Cultivators could use their cultivation to control artifacts or fly, unhindered by distance. Yet, before Liu Jiangfusheng could move, the little white mouse had preemptively triggered the mechanism, erecting two bridges hidden beneath the pool’s surface for him.
It wouldn’t act without reason… Was this its warning to him that he could only cross the pool by walking on the bridges, and not by flying using spiritual energy?
What Liu Jiangfusheng could think of, the quick-witted Ziying could naturally also grasp.
She narrowed her eyes slightly and hesitated, "What should we do? Should we go on the bridge?"
Although Ziying was usually a calculating "green tea" (manipulative girl), due to her young age, she hadn't experienced much of the world. Thus, when faced with a situation she couldn't grasp, she instinctively sought others' opinions.
Liu Jiangfusheng bent down, the corner of his white Lan robe gliding across the ground. He scooped up the little white mouse and placed it back on his shoulder. It turned its head to look at him, and then he heard himself say to Ziying in a calm and ruthless tone, "Since there are two bridges, pick one."
The "Treasure Hunting Mouse" tilted, nearly slipping and losing its footing.
Ziying also looked at him in astonishment, her eyes appearing somewhat vacant. wap.kanshu伍.net
"Wh-why would we go separately? Isn't it safer to go together?"
"Since there's a choice, why go together?" he retorted unhurriedly, as if genuinely not understanding her words.
"..." Ziying was defeated by his formidable logic.
His implication was that only when there was no choice would he walk with her… Had she dug up his ancestral graves, or stolen people from his home, that he looked down on her so much?
She forced a smile, her eyes darting around, and said through gritted teeth, "Fine, I choose... the ice bridge."
Choosing the ice bridge wasn't random. If there was danger on the bridge, at least falling onto the ice surface would offer some cushioning. But falling into the magma would mean instant engulfment.
Liu Jiangfusheng nodded, showing surprising courtesy this time, and then walked towards the fire bridge.
Ziying also tried to prepare herself mentally and stood on the ice bridge's side.
The "Treasure Hunting Mouse" watched the pair, who had agreed to part ways, with speechless exasperation.
The scene in the original plot, where they harmoniously walked across one bridge – were they completely unwilling to cooperate even a little?
Walking across both the ice and fire bridges – were these two planning to collectively poke a dynamite stick?
"Wait—"
As she prepared to step onto the bridge, Ziying's nerves throbbed painfully, and she suddenly had a bad premonition.
She felt that a person's heart was very resilient. It wasn't the first time he had disliked or belittled her, after all. Her life was more important; there was no need to contend with him.
She quickly said, "Why don't we analyze the situation first? Although nothing dangerous seems to be happening right now, it might happen the moment we step onto the bridge. Look at this pool, divided into yin and yang extremes. It's clear one bridge could be used for passage, yet they’ve split into two, built over ice and fire. There must be a reason. And this slumbering beast, the surrounding gloomy ice coffins, stone coffins – there are definitely traps..."
"If there are traps, should we just stop moving forward?" Liu Jiangfusheng asked.
Ziying frowned. At this moment, the little white mouse looked at her, its bright, spirited eyes seeming to convey something. Then, her mind suddenly cleared, and she blurted out, "Of course not. I think the most important thing is for us to first figure out what this place is."
Having walked this far, Liu Jiangfusheng pieced together the clues collected in his mind to form a conclusion: "Laishan, secret passages, a beast pen, and this pool with twenty coffins, guarded by a beast. This should be the place where Daoist Dusheng once secluded himself for cultivation."
The beast pen that imprisoned the beast was undoubtedly a training ground for actual combat. And the coffins here each bore corresponding Daoist inscriptions, indicating that people with Daoist names were interred within.
The beast was bound and restricted in its movements, yet it wasn't confined with other beasts. This suggested someone needed it to remain here, guarding something important for him.
The secluded cultivation places of powerful cultivators were typically very hidden and fortified with numerous restrictions and defenses. This was to prevent external interference from causing qi deviation during cultivation.
"I guess so. Do you think we can get out?"
To be honest, at the Great Evolution Sect, they might have been geniuses praised by everyone, blessed by fortune. But in the true outside world where strength reigned supreme, they were, at best, a Golden Core stage Heavenly Spirit Root and a Foundation Establishment stage Wood Spirit Root.
If this was truly Daoist Dusheng's secluded cultivation site, it was a private space isolated from outsiders. Even if he was kind and compassionate by nature, there was no reason for him to allow people to freely enter and exit his "home."
Compared to Ziying's unease, Liu Jiangfusheng's eyes were resolute: "I will definitely get out."
Because his beloved A Yi was waiting for him outside, and he had promised he would return to her.
The "Treasure Hunting Mouse," hearing their discussion, seized the opportunity and shot out a beam of snow, landing on the ice bridge's pillar. It ran along, and then the ice surface of the pool showed movement, emitting cracking sounds. Ice shards like whips rushed towards it.
"Little white mouse!"
Liu Jiangfusheng was the first to notice the situation, his expression tightening.
He realized it was risking danger to test the bridge for them. Once people stepped onto these two bridges, they would have to endure the ice and fire attacks from within the pool.
Choose one, endure only one.
He pursed his scarlet lips, his eyes clear and sharp. He summoned his immortal sword, the wind stirred up cold currents and misty fog, and he lunged forward—
Ziying was also surprised by the little white mouse's actions. Seeing Liu Jiangfusheng make a move, she immediately summoned her Golden Bismuth Twin Rings, pushed them with her arms, and they spun into a vortex, blasting apart the pursuing ice shards.
However, at this moment, the lid of the foremost ice coffin among the ten began to shake violently. Ghostly energy, red like thick black oil, flowed out. The one hundred and eight bloodthirsty nails were slowly pulled out by an invisible force.
*Ding—*
The metal continuously dropped onto the ice surface, making crisp clinking sounds.
With a "bang," the coffin lid was kicked open from within.
The heavy coffin lid smashed the ice surface, tumbling and dragging for over ten meters before coming to a halt.
Following that, a powerful and suffocating aura of chilling cold permeated the entire enclosed space. The temperature, where water dripped and froze, almost suppressed the aggressive flames of the fire pool on the other side.
A figure, obscured by black energy, floated out.
The "Treasure Hunting Mouse," sensing something, turned its head and let out a "squeak~" the next moment.
It turned out that the corpse that had forced Daoist Dusheng to accompany him with nineteen coffins and set up a vast formation to seal it... was him.