Chapter Fifty-Seven: Scheming

"Alright."

Su Yuanbai simply nodded calmly, then pushed open the pitch-black door. Lowering his gaze to the dark, winding steps descending before him, he took a step inside.

Whoosh, whoosh.

Two furious claws tore through the air from both sides, their target clear—the very spot where Su Yuanbai had just entered the dungeon’s threshold.

An ordinary person would have found it near impossible to evade these meticulously planned attacks, especially as one came from the front, the other from behind—blocking both advance and retreat. To remain stationary meant to be caught in a deadly pincer between those two razor-sharp strikes.

With the darkness swallowing all light, most people wouldn’t even have been able to tell where the attacks originated, only catching the urgent swish and hiss as they sliced through the air.

Unfortunately for the ambushers, Su Yuanbai was neither ordinary nor common. He was unaware that monsters lay in wait the moment he stepped through the dungeon door, nor did he spare any heed to the whistling claws. The drumming rain outside was far louder than these muted whispers of violence.

Su Yuanbai’s hearing was excellent—but with so much clamoring for his attention, he rarely bothered to focus on these subtle disturbances.

Because he simply didn’t need to.

Fortunately, the old monster had borne the brunt of the attack for him.

Thus, it was Youzhong, ever vigilant beyond the doors, who first noticed the unusual commotion within the dungeon. Yet he made no move to warn the old monster. Nor did the old monster seem bothered; when he finally stepped back out through the black doors, he held in each hand a monstrous beast, their fur thick and bristling with violence.

In his left hand, he grasped a beast with dense crimson fur that trailed along the ground, its form dainty as a hound and claws sharp as blades.

In his right, he held another beast, its shorter, fiery red fur bristling like a porcupine, equally equipped with deadly talons.

Most telling of all, neither creature’s eyes showed a spark of life—only a single indigo talismanic mark glowed faintly on their brows.

They’d been controlled.

Youzhong noticed this detail at once, his heart giving a sudden shudder. If he and Nanming had entered, it would have been their doom.

According to the intelligence from Cloudvault Tower, there was supposed to be no danger in this dungeon beneath the black doors.

Wait!

Youzhong’s pupils shrank violently as he saw the indigo marks in the beasts’ eyes begin to shatter. Their bodies started to swell grotesquely.

Bang.

Fire erupted with a thunderous explosion, charred fur, flesh, and viscera splattering into the pooled rainwater.

Even though Youzhong had already retreated a fair distance, a wave of heat roared over his back, burning as if he’d been thrust above a blazing furnace.

Slowly, he returned to the dungeon entrance, gazing down at the unmoving form of Nanming, who had failed to escape in time. The man who had shouted in the temple, “Let’s take the risk!” was now a mangled corpse.

The filthy water on the ground was now stained a deep crimson, and even the torrential rain could not wash the blood away for the moment.

“Time to find another companion,” Youzhong muttered, not a trace of grief on his face, only a hint of regret.

He craned his neck to peer into the dungeon’s darkness, but abandoned thoughts of retrieving his magical implement. Though it was a middling magical weapon, his life was more precious.

Nanming’s weapon, however, was of the highest grade.

“Survival comes first,” Youzhong sighed heavily, hesitating for a moment before turning and leaving, braving the downpour.

The explosion at the dungeon entrance echoed down below.

Here, the underground corridor was not shrouded in darkness. Torches burned along both walls, their yellow light illuminating the way.

“I wonder what profit two beast-control talismans can bring,” a woman murmured, seated cross-legged in the corridor’s center, carefully polishing a lotus-shaped glass lantern with a vine-yellow handkerchief. She glanced in the direction of the blast.

She wore a sky-blue Daoist robe, a silken sash at her waist, moon-white hair messily pinned with a jasper hairpin. Her features were unremarkable, her face sprinkled with a few freckles, but her skin was pale and delicate.

“Hmm? Someone’s already broken in?”

With a flick of her pinky, a pale thread appeared in midair, slowly snapping in two.

The woman tucked the handkerchief away and tossed the seemingly fragile glass lantern onto a flower-patterned cloth spread before her.

The cloth was cluttered with all manner of objects: blades and staves, cups and kettles, talismans of every hue.

“Time to pack up,” she said cheerfully, gathering one corner of the cloth and rolling it up with a flourish, her expression pleased.

Despite the sheer number of items, the cloth wrapped them all without a single clatter or tear. Even more curiously, the cloth began to shrink, becoming no larger than her palm before finally stopping.

“Time to make my escape,” she said, tucking a moon-white lock behind her ear and weighing the bundle in her hand as she rose to her feet, a note of pride in her voice.

But her delight quickly froze on her face.

A stranger had appeared before her.

Only then did the sounds of her traps being dismantled reach her ears—the commotion of barriers being broken, stone spikes shooting up from the stairs, boulders crashing down from the arched doorway above.

And all along the corridor, thunder and fire roared as talismans blazed to life, lightning and flame filling the air in a riot of chaos.

Yet the one who should have been caught in these traps had already slipped through them all, now standing right before her.

“Care to make a friend?” the woman in the sky-blue robe extended her left hand towards Su Yuanbai, her earlier smugness replaced by a dazzling, warm smile. She tilted her head, her tone playfully inviting.

Su Yuanbai gazed at her calmly, making no move to take her hand.

Had he seen through her trick?

Her left hand curled slightly; in her palm was a paralyzing talisman. Once struck by it, most people would be immobilized for at least twelve hours—those of higher cultivation for less, but even a Spirit Realm adept would be frozen for a moment.

“In that case, perhaps friendship isn’t necessary,” she replied with a slight smile, hooking her finger. Another pale thread appeared in the air, though this one did not break.

With a crash, the cell doors on either side of the corridor were flung open. Two ferocious beasts, their auras wild as lions or tigers, charged forth, snapping their jaws at Su Yuanbai’s neck from both sides.