Chapter 674: Chapter 673 The Last Step
"Indeed, a Taoist Inheritor, being able to comprehend an Ancient Rune in such a short time, remarkable indeed,"
Zhuge Cang whispered softly, yet a sharp light burst forth from his profound eyes as he continued to talk to himself, "Be a little faster, kid, you certainly won’t disappoint us."
As he spoke, Zhuge Cang pushed the door and walked out.
The depth and vicissitudes in his eyes were no longer visible, and his entire demeanor gave off an exceedingly ordinary impression, causing one to feel that no matter how long one looked at him, they couldn’t retain a lasting impression of him in their mind.
Soon, Zhuge Cang found Chu Tianshu.
"Shall we take a walk?" Chu Tianshu met Zhuge Cang’s gaze and understood the old man’s thoughts.
Zhuge Cang nodded.
His original identity was Chu Ling, a member of the Imperial City Chu Family, though from a collateral branch. Because of his decent Martial Arts talent, he was valued by the Imperial City Chu Family and was one of the first to join the Military Department.
Twenty days ago, Zhuge Cang appeared, replacing Chu Ling’s position.
At first, Chu Tianshu was very worried, but as time passed and Zhuge Cang’s identity remained undiscovered, he let his guard down.
Indeed, this senior’s Disguise Technique was simply too potent. Even he didn’t recognize him at first.
Add to that the real Chu Ling’s tendency to be reticent and his minimal communication with others, which made him a rather low-profile type, his absence was not noticed by outsiders at Yunwu Mountain’s Base.
Zhuge Cang did not respond, but Chu Tianshu understood his meaning. He led the way, pretending to patrol the valley.
Zhuge Cang, disguised as Chu Ling, followed behind Chu Tianshu just as usual.
Outside, as Chu Tianshu was about to stroll around the valley, he heard Zhuge Cang’s telepathic message, "Go near the Array Eye."
Chu Tianshu was startled and reminded, "Orders have been issued from above, that without Minister Qin’s permission, no one is allowed to approach the Array Eye Secret Chamber these days."
"There’s no need to enter the secret chamber where the Array Eye is, just stay nearby for a while," Zhuge Cang said.
Seeing him insisting, Chu Tianshu did not dare object.
After all, when the other party first came, they had gone together to the chamber where the Array Eye was, and Zhuge Cang even managed to enter it while Hu Lizhong stepped out for a breath of air.
Chu Tianshu still remembered that moment and was terrified.
If exposed, not only would he be suppressed by the Martial Arts experts left here by Qin Yanyang, but the Chu Family could also be implicated because of this.
Yet strangely enough, Zhuge Cang clearly entered the Array Eye Secret Chamber right before his eyes that day, and yet Hu Lizhong, as if possessed, had not noticed.
Even the other elite members of the Military Department stationed around that building did not detect anything unusual.
Chu Tianshu had great reverence for this mysterious and powerful individual from the Hidden Sect, and now that the other party had made this request, he dared not refuse and began to lead him towards the building.
As high-ranking members of the Military Department stationed there, Chu Tianshu’s patrol around the base building with Chu Ling did not arouse suspicion from others.
And even regarding the surveillance equipment visible everywhere, Chu Tianshu and his companion made no effort to avoid them.
But this time, as they approached the room where the Array Eye was located and their figures appeared on the surveillance screens, they were unaware that Qin Yanyang was watching them silently from the shadows.
Qin Yanyang spotted Chu Ling at first glance.
She recognized him, knew his background, so her gaze merely swept over him before moving on, focusing more on Chu Tianshu.
Just like in the surveillance footage she had seen before, although Chu Tianshu appeared in these areas of her suspicion, he did nothing and patrolled and guarded these important places for the Spirit Gathering Array with the diligence of a loyal soldier.
Suddenly, Qin Yanyang’s eyelids twitched violently.
She hurriedly shifted her attention, her eyes falling on Chu Ling.
Just then, it seemed to her that Chu Ling made an unusual gesture.
But when her gaze landed on him, she didn’t notice anything out of the ordinary.
Was it an illusion?
Qin Yanyang furrowed her brow slightly, thought for a moment, and clicked to replay the video, rewinding it a bit.
There it was.
Chu Ling had indeed made a peculiar gesture.
But he moved so swiftly that even the surveillance footage, slowed down many times by the nation’s most advanced technology, could only capture his hand moving slightly as if he had pinched some unusual spell gesture.
Yet, what that gesture was could not be clearly seen.
It was just a fleeting moment in the footage.
Qin Yanyang was full of doubt.
She even wondered if she was being too sensitive, overly suspicious.
This Chu Ling was merely a collateral descendant of the Chu Family, his cultivation far inferior to that of Chu Tianshu. If the Chu Family intended to play tricks here, it would be Chu Tianshu, not Chu Ling, who was the prime suspect worth surveilling.
However, Qin Yanyang was someone who took her work very seriously.
With such a significant matter at hand, she would not overlook even the slightest scope of suspicion.
She stared intently at the surveillance, watching every move made by Chu Tianshu and Chu Ling.
About four or five minutes passed before the two men left.
During that time, they did nothing out of the ordinary—just the regular patrolling and brief conversations with some elders.
Watching as they walked away to patrol other areas, Qin Yanyang thought for a moment before sending a message to a trusted colleague in the communications department to send her all the previous surveillance footage featuring Chu Tianshu and Chu Ling.
She wanted to go through it all again, especially the footage concerning Chu Ling.
...
In the mountains, days passed without trace, and in the blink of an eye, twenty days had gone by.
It had been twenty-four days since Yang Fei’s arrival at Yunwu Mountain’s Base.
During this time, he had stayed in the secret chamber where the Array Eye was located without stepping out.
When hungry, he drank Genetic Liquid Medicine, an enhanced version that he had concocted himself.
All his time was devoted to studying and comprehending the six Ancient Runes on the wooden box.
In fact, he had already deciphered five of the runes a week prior.
As he had surmised, those five runes related to the Yin Yang Five Elements, each one profound and embodying a deep understanding of the powers of the five elemental forces of metal, wood, water, fire, and earth.
But the problem was the sixth rune, which had left him in a quandary.
This rune appeared quite ordinary, nothing special when compared to the other five, but only after Yang Fei comprehended those five Five Elements Runes did he realize the profoundness of the sixth rune.
It gave off a deceivingly familiar feeling. At first glance, it seemed easy to penetrate and unravel, but once delving into it, one would realize that every direction of comprehension was wrong.
It acted like a massive trap, making you think you had found the right path each time you pondered it, but as you probed deeper, you’d only ever reach the wrong conclusions.
This was an Ancient Talisman that could deceive.
Several times, Yang Fei nearly went mad, hardly able to resist the urge to violently tear it apart.
As Yang Fei was left to decipher the final rune, Hu Lizhong was extremely excited.
While he couldn’t be of any help, he proved adept as a counselor, calming Yang Fei whenever he became irritable and frustrated.
Three more days passed like this, with Yang Fei spending a full ten days on the last rune, marking the sixth time he realized he had been misled by it.
"Fuck this shit!" Yang Fei stood up and, in a burst of irritation, kicked the wooden box across the room.
Hu Lizhong jumped in surprise and hurriedly picked it up to examine it.
Fortunately, the wooden box was made of a unique material and, protected by the six-rune Array, showed no sign of damage even after being kicked casually by a Foundation Establishment Expert.
"Ahem, well, let’s take a break; there’s no rush, is there? Since you’ve already deciphered the other five runes, why not rest awhile? Perhaps you’ll have a breakthrough when you least expect it. I truly believe in your talent in this area," Hu Lizhong eagerly consoled him.
He had become quite skilled at this sort of thing over the days.
Yang Fei wanted to retort sarcastically—do you think this is easy?
I’m nearly at my wit’s end.
But seeing the smile on Hu Lizhong’s face, he tried hard to control his own emotions.
His gaze returned to the wooden box, looking at the five runes that he had deciphered, and an idea struck him.
With a surge of Telekinesis, he released beams of light from those runes, in diverse and vivid colors.
Each rune seemed as if it came to life.
Yang Fei walked over and, holding the wooden box in one hand, pinched one of the runes, trying to shift it onto the sixth, dim and lifeless rune.
It worked!
Hu Lizhong’s eyes brightened as he exclaimed in surprise, "Eh, it can be done this way?"
Yang Fei was also thrilled, quickly dragging over the second rune.
It worked as well.
Furthermore, the sixth dim and lifeless rune seemed to be infused with a certain vitality after the metal and wood attribute runes were placed on it.