The central tomb passage leads to the core area of the entire burial site. To prevent the intrusion of grave robbers from affecting the crucial matter of ascending to immortality after death, Li Quan made quite a few arrangements in the tomb passage. The beautiful murals and the firefly illusion were just appetizers. Moving forward, more trap mechanisms were blocking the way.
There were many square stone tiles scattered on the ground. Third Thief, shining a flashlight, had already identified the images of various mythical creatures such as the Azure Dragon, White Tiger, Vermilion Bird, and Black Tortoise, commonly seen in ancient artifacts. These tiles were dyed in corresponding colors according to the directions of east, west, south, and north, arranged in a disordered yet systematic manner, giving off a mysterious feeling.
These kinds of trap passages were quite common in tombs. Third Thief instinctively started contemplating the meanings behind these mythical creatures and how they corresponded to the four directions, attempting to find a safe path.
While deeply pondering, Third Thief suddenly caught sight of Xu Yintang and Shi Yuebai whispering to each other. Both of their voices were hushed, mostly Xu Yintang speaking while Shi Yuebai nodded silently. Third Thief instinctively wondered if they had figured something out. Before he could ask, he saw both of them step forward and directly onto the stone tiles.
“Click-click,” two faint sounds of triggers echoed. Fierce flames spewed out from the walls while large stones flipped over, revealing a deep pit filled with dozens of mummified bodies, their desiccated skin wrapping around skeletons with hollow eye sockets that sent chills down one’s spine.
Back at the rear, clever Little Darling swiftly used the tendrils wrapped around Xu Yintang’s waist to pull him back when the triggers clicked, ensuring no speck of flame touched Xu Yintang’s clothes.
On the other hand, Shi Yuebai moved forward against the odds, seemingly stepping onto invisible platforms, skillfully evading the flames’ attacks. He swiftly stepped on another tile a short distance ahead, causing sharp spikes to burst forth, intending to skewer him like a candy skewer.
Unperturbed, Shi Yuebai leaped sideways, using a spike as leverage to propel himself several meters forward. As he landed, billowing black smoke emanated from the gaps between the tiles, swiftly engulfing his figure.
Third Thief, alarmed, protected Boss Zhao, continuously retreating until they were out of reach of the spreading smoke. The pungent fumes irritated their eyes, causing tears to flow. Annoyed, he interrogated Xu Yintang, “Are you both insane?! This way, no one can pass through!”
“No, this is the only way through,” Xu Yintang smirked faintly, squinting at the faint figure in the smoke. “This path requires a direct approach; there’s no safe route.”
Li Quan wasn’t foolish. The traps designed to kill grave robbers were specifically crafted without an escape route. The seemingly patterned mythical creatures implying the location of a safe passage were merely a deceptive formation, luring overconfident tomb raiders into a dead end.
Third Thief’s heart skipped a beat. He licked his lips, swallowing the words he was about to say, and turned his gaze to the passage.
The thick smoke dissipated after about ten seconds, revealing Shi Yuebai standing steadily in place. His expression remained composed, albeit wrinkling his brow due to the unpleasant smell. When his gaze shifted to Xu Yintang, he relaxed, returning to his usual calm demeanor.
The walls continued making clicking noises, indicating that the poisonous smoke likely had a limited supply and needed time to replenish.
We’re sorry for MTLers or people who like using reading mode, but our translations keep getting stolen by aggregators so we’re going to bring back the copy protection. If you need to MTL please retype the gibberish parts.
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However, Shi Yuebai had no such concerns, maneuvering unbelievably agile under the storm of attacks. Truth be told, if it weren’t for worrying about damaging his clothes in front of Xu Yintang, he wouldn’t have bothered dodging and merely let those blades come at him. In the end, it wouldn’t be his flesh and blood with the gaping wounds.
Surviving that round brought him to the end of the tiles. Shi Yuebai tested the ground in front, confirming no traps, then signaled Xu Yintang with an ‘OK’ gesture.
Receiving the signal, Xu Yintang followed without hesitation and stepped onto the tiles again. This time, he precisely stepped on several tiles and moved forward swiftly. As the tiles were stepped on, terrifying roars echoed from deep within the passage.
How could Third Thief not recognize that these were the directions the duo had deduced for safe passage? He immediately concentrated and followed Xu Yintang’s steps. On the other side, Boss Zhao, carrying sobering items, reacted even faster. He rushed forward, asking Ah Wei to protect him while keeping his eyes fixed on Xu Yintang’s footsteps, afraid of stepping on the wrong tiles.
“Chiwen, Suan Ni, Qilin, Bifang…”
Deafening howls echoed through the passage alongside the heavy and intense hoofbeats. In the blink of an eye, a nauseating stench assaulted the senses as over a dozen riders, both men and horses clad in heavy armor and wearing eerie masks, thundered forth from the depths of the passage. They brandished long knives held high, emitting intimidating roars. Before the glint of the blades could reach, the strong gusts had already hit, and despite their small number, the riders carried the imposing aura of a massive army.
Shi Yuebai charged forward, meeting the assault of the cavalry head-on. Meanwhile, shadows fluttered from within the darkness as butterflies swarmed like a storm, consuming the ominous aura surrounding the riders.
“Faster!” Xu Yintang, holding the cub securely, pushed forward, urging Boss Zhao and the others who were either slowed by the shock or on the verge of stumbling due to the sudden appearance of the riders. Little Darling extended its tendrils, grabbing the waists of several individuals who couldn’t keep up or were about to step on the wrong tiles, preventing them from falling into the traps.
Third Flora fluttered its wings above the correct tiles, casting colorful phosphorescence. Negotiating this nerve-wracking maze of traps seemed as simple as a game of stepping on tiles within these several tens of meters.
Originally, Third Flora couldn’t enter this sealed-off trap mechanism, but the instant Xu Yintang and Shi Yuebai triggered the trap, a slit of light appeared within the mechanism. Within moments, Third Flora’s butterflies surged in, understanding the trap’s structure completely.
As Xu Yintang had mentioned earlier, there was no such thing as a safe path in this passage. No matter which stone tile was stepped on, it would trigger the trap mechanism.
So, they had devised this plan with Shi Yuebai. Each stone tile Xu Yintang stepped on released guardians from deep within the passage. For them, dealing with these guardians, who should have been the most formidable defenders, was much easier than handling the smoke and fire. With just Shi Yuebai, they could hold off all of them, not to mention Third Flora providing support from the side.
Xu Yintang was responsible for leading Boss Zhao and the others safely out during this opening. Besides dealing with the psychological pressure of dashing towards the guards, the difficulty of this path had been reduced to just having legs.
Even without legs, when Boss Zhao nearly stumbled after missing a step, Little Darling swiftly lifted him and floated over the remaining ten meters. With Boss Zhao’s weight, it took three tendrils to secure Boss Zhao. Once they reached the ground, Little Darling immediately let go, swinging its tendrils in a manner that suggested fatigue.
When Third Thief also crossed the finish line, the previously menacing guards were reduced to a pile of broken bones. Shi Yuebai squatted amidst the wreckage, meticulously rummaging through the guards’ skulls and retrieving several luminescent blue corpse beads. He carefully wiped the blood and dirt onto the guards’ clothes before casually handing them to Xu Yintang. “These are for the cubs.”
“Good for their health.”
Yes, Shi Yuebai effortlessly switched to calling them “cubs.” His tone had shifted as if he had transformed from a male mistress into the legitimate wife of the Xu family. This enraged Second Treasure, who began a series of furious but futile attacks. The young ones didn’t even know how to use dirty words, and their assault couldn’t break through Shi Yuebai’s outer defenses.
“Is it hungry?” Shi Yuebai asked Xu Yintang, placing a tiny blue ball into Second Treasure’s mouth. Compared to the size of the red ball Second Treasure was about to swallow, the blue one was much smaller, about the size of a cold capsule, perfectly fitting into Second Treasure’s mouth.
Initially, Second Treasure attempted to voice its grievances to its mother about this male mistress’s misdeeds while holding the blue ball in its mouth, but after a few hums, it gradually became engrossed in the deliciousness of the blue ball. The little one turned soft and droopy, its eyes glazed over as drool dripped, now resembling a baby mesmerized by catnip.
The cunning male mistress… The clever Second Treasure wouldn’t succumb to sugar-coated temptations…
“Want more? Have some more.” Shi Yuebai offered another one, a semi-transparent icy sweet scent wafting from the sweet milk-flavored ball, enticing the young one further.
Damn it… Second Treasure wants to persist…
Persist…
Smack… smack, smack, smack…
By the time Second Treasure snapped out of the deliciousness, he had splattered saliva all over his mom’s collar while that young man pretended to offer help by saying, ‘Let me wipe it for you,’ but actually took advantage of the situation to touch his mom inappropriately. Second Treasure swore with his five big eyes that he saw the curve of satisfaction at the corners of the man’s mouth.
Realizing that he had once again fallen for the young man’s trickery, Second Treasure felt like lightning had struck, crying right there on the spot due to the young man’s cunning.
Shi Yuebai chuckled happily, “This cub is really cute. If only Casey Cat could be this well-behaved.”
He genuinely praised Second Treasure and subtly criticized the cat, Casey Cat, while casually wiping away the tears from Second Treasure’s eyes.
Xu Yintang, with Second Treasure all sticky in his arms, looked deeply at Shi Yuebai, who seemed to genuinely think that Second Treasure was both well-behaved and sweet. He felt that Shi Yuebai was the one who had overestimated the sweetness of the situation.
You see, in Xu Yintang’s mind, Second Treasure was throwing a tantrum, crying and making a fuss, shouting not to drive away the young man who was, in his mind, a vixen. It made his head throb and ache, unable to figure out where he had gone wrong.
They had only known each other for less than 24 hours — excluding their childhood, which Xu Yintang hadn’t remembered yet which one of the 1800 children Shi Yuebai was.
It was only because Shi Yuebai couldn’t hear that he was deceived by this cub’s seemingly soft and gentle appearance.
Shi [in fact, he could hear everything] Yuebai smiled and wiped the last trace of Second Treasure’s saliva from Xu Yintang’s chest with a handkerchief, and stuffed the handkerchief into his system backpack as if nothing had happened.
Completely ignoring Second Treasure’s furious glare and the dangerous chill emanating from the shadows, he calmly and dignifiedly talked about business with Xu Yintang, “If we’re almost done resting, let’s continue moving forward.”
Author’s Note –
Shi Yuebai said that Second Treasure is indeed a considerate and good cub.
The difficulty of this section is actually very high. Without Shi Yuebai pulling the monsters in front, Little Darling would have had a hard time carrying three fishes.
The main problem is still that the cub is too young, and has insufficient physical strength [nodding head].
The little ones are cute
Stop fighting with Second Treasure ah, he’s just a cub! 🥺
Second treasure vs shi yuebai will never not be funny.
SY will always win against Second Treasure as long as he just thinks he is a cute and ferocious cub 🤭 thanks for the chapter!
Hahaha, Sho Yuebai is going to win this, I’m sorry, he’s too good
Thank you for the chapter! ❤❤
Am I the only one who is think about second treasure Dad (God father the one in 1 Arc) meeting with shi yuebai?? 😀
I think the God would approve – SY is strong, has a strong attachment for the mother, and is already providing for kids with tasty but powerful food!
Second Treasure, just give in gracefully. You’ll not win this one lol
Thank you for the update ❤️💯
Thank you for the chapter
Second Treasure: I’ll fight you!
Shi Yuebai: uh huh, okay, have a snack.
It’s not even a fight; Second Treasure just thinks they’re fighting. Shi Yuebai’s just happy to be reunited with his crush! He’s not even lying, the kids do seem more behaved than Casey!
😅
Yeah u seem right! Those cubs r so pitiful they r experiencing how a stepfather behave to stepchild
Thank you for the chapter!!
The cubs are just so cute 🥰
I feel for the mom headache…lmao! Thanks for the update 🤣❤️
Babies are growing so fast
Thank you for your translation 💚💚💚💚💚💚💚💚💚💚💚💚💚💚💚💚💚💚💚💚💚💚💚💚💚💚💚💚💚💚💚💚💚💚💚💚💚