Translator-Rhapsodite
Editor-Pierce, Proofreader-adjective
Time passed by and every second was a matter of life and death for the seven participants.
Nevertheless, the exquisite jade key was still attached to the lock. Therefore, Ji Xiao’niao and the Fan siblings couldn’t do anything about it for a while.
Meanwhile, a series of guesses flew through Ji Dong’s mind. Finally, his eyes rested on the key.
He was the one who inserted and turned the key just now. And when he did, he sensed that the key was partially inserted and only a small section of it had entered the lock.
Looking at it now, the blooming petals were like engineered trestles, ingenious and unrivaled. They were latched on the rear half of the key, perfectly secured in between the blue-gold rings at a horizontal angle.
Whereas, the other half which was not inserted into the core mechanism had fascinating and unique circular patterns engraved into it. It also had Yin Yang techniques inscribed into it.
Ji Dong’s heart skipped a beat.
He reached out toward the key and pushed it further in.
When the key went deeper, the two rings in the center began rotating simultaneously—one clockwise and the other counterclockwise—consuming the fine details on the key, section by section.
When Ji Dong completely pressed the key all the way to the bottom, the pair of rings split into two, the lock falling to the ground.
Quick to notice, Ji Dong ducked down and grabbed the lock before it hit the ground.
“Wow!”
Fan Luming exclaimed in surprise.
He would have liked to applaud classmate Xiao’niao if the moment wasn’t untimely.
“Okay. Okay. Let’s go inside!”
Fan Hemian raised her hand and patted her brother on the back of his head, indicating that everyone shouldn’t waste time and promptly find what they needed inside.
Ji Dong hurriedly opened the door and the three of them rushed inside, backhandedly closing the door.
The room was pitch black; even the windows were sealed up so that no light could penetrate.
Ji Dong groped around and found an oil lamp by the door. He hastily lit it and held it up to shine into the room.
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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“The pen, ink, paper, and ink stone!”
Ji Dong turned the light to its brightest, placed it on the table in the middle of the room, and said to the Fan siblings, “Let’s split up and look for them!”
With the siblings expressing their agreement, under the dim light, they started their search inside the treasury.
However, an unforeseen change came all of a sudden.
Fan Hemian had just opened a brocade box she found in one of the drawers when the two Pixiu outside suddenly raised their heads, opened their mouths, and started screeching.
The cry was so loud it was as if two metal pieces collided. The three people inside even felt their eardrums buzz.
Fan Hemian was so shocked she nearly dropped the box she was holding. When she came to her senses, she knew something bad was about to happen.
“Shit!”
She exclaimed.
“The sound will alert the guards in the mansion!”
In addition to the lock that must be opened with the jade key, the two Pixiu monsters set outside the room were anti-theft measures for the warehouse. If someone trespassed and touched the treasures inside the room, they would let out a roar, attracting anyone’s attention.
Sure enough, after a few seconds, a squeak sounded from the door. The door was pushed open a slit and a figure peeked from outside.
Ji Dong looked at the gap, drew his bow, and set an arrow. With a swoosh, the monster outside the door fell.
It’s just that more than one came.
Seeing that their companion who pushed open the door was hit by an arrow, a female voice screamed miserably and shouted, “Murder! Someone is trespassing in the treasury!”
When Ji Dong was about to lunge forward, Fan Hemian called out:
“Wait a minute!”
The girl tightened the hem of her skirt and pulled off her hairpin.
“I’ll go outside and block those demons. You guys hurry and find those treasures!”
Ji Dong felt that his fighting power was not weak and was skilled at long-distance combat. He should be more suitable for this task than the girl. Just when he was about to disagree, the sister of the Fan family shouted:
“Cut the crap!”
She glared at Ji Dong.
“My ability is far more suitable for group combat than you!”
After she spoke, Fan Hemian stopped their needless talking, turned around, and rushed out of the treasury. She stood in front of the door like an unbreakable fortress.
In less than two minutes, the female demon who ran away screaming before was back with four demons dressed as guards.
The leader of the group saw the girl standing in front of the door and immediately shouted.
“Who are you? And how did you get into the treasury?
Fan Hemian sneered in her heart, thinking that this was the standard setting for the villains and minions. Really, the lines were too cliché!
“Oh, do you still need to ask? Of course, the door was opened with a key!”
It was obvious she was delaying them. More importantly, if she wanted to effectively utilize her power, she had to get a head start. So with a raised eyebrow, she replied in a loud voice:
“As for how I got the key? It’s obvious—even if you think with your knees—it must be because Emperor Wutongshen ordered me to come to the treasury to fetch some items!”
The tone of her voice was so righteous that the four guards were stunned for a moment. They unconsciously stopped themselves a few meters away and stared at each other, not knowing whether they should go forward or not.
But they soon noticed the corpse of the small demon lying outside the entrance, still in its original appearance. They also reflected on the night’s neverending pandemonium happening throughout the Zhilan Xianfu Mansion. Gradually, they realized that something was wrong. Moreover, this was Wutongshen’s treasury. If anything happened to it, they would have to face severe punishment.
Hence, the leader of the group clenched his teeth and waved his hand, “Don’t talk nonsense. Take her down first!”
Before the demon’s words fell, Fan Hemian flicked her wrist vigorously, and the golden hairpin between his fingers instantly turned into a snow-white long knife without its sheath.
Decisively, she took a step ahead and rushed toward the four guards.
The four demons were startled and hurriedly drew their weapons to fight.
When the demon in the forefront was still a meter or so away, Fan Hemian fiercely swung her sword.
Her saber brushed past the leader’s shoulder, missing by an inch. However, there was a splotch of blood and a mysterious red light gleaming on the blade. It seemed she had partially extended her sword, slashing the guard’s clothes open and leaving a bloodstain on his arm.
But the wound was shallow and thin so it didn’t bleed much. The wounded monster didn’t care about the tiny wound that scratched his slimy skin. Howling, he raised his sword and swiped at Fan Hemian’s face.
Avoiding the approaching sharp blade, she did a sidestep and changed directions. The long sword then swept towards another monster.
This time, she was far off from the target; the tip of her sword was more than an inch and a half away from the target’s location. Surprisingly—after the flicker of red light passed—the guard let out a startling cry and lowered his head in horror, only to see a long and narrow gash on his arm.
The Fan family’s eldest sister retreated and dodged, ruthlessly wielding her long sword. She parried against their attacks and made seven consecutive cuts at the four monsters.
Each time she swung her saber, the blade actually did not land on the enemy’s body. Instead, each time the saber glinted with red light, it would leave a wound on the other party, and the wounds would get longer and deeper.
This was Fan Hemian’s ability: [Deadly Extension]. The “knife energy” would encase itself to the blade, imperceptibly increasing the length and lethality of the blade.
However, the power of the “knife energy” was extremely limited when the first strike was made. Based on the experimental data Fan Hemian did in the [Peach Blossom Spring], it could only increase the attack distance by about 12 millimeters. Furthermore, when using qi to hurt a person, the feeling was similar to a scalpel slicing the skin, leaving only a thin, bloody line.
But as long as the first strike was successful, the succeeding strike’s attack range and power would increase by about 70% from the original.
Following that, if the attack did not miss, she could receive a bonus equivalent to 1.7 times the prior attack power in each round.
In the end, the four guards watched in horror as she relentlessly brandished her sword toward the void. And a dazzling red light burst out, slicing off half of the leader’s arm instantly.
“Ahhhhhhh!”
The gravely hurt leader yelled, backing up several steps. He looked down and saw the end of his injured arm was scorched black and smoking. The emanating foul-smelling scent of charred flesh caused his legs and stomach to quiver with dread.
The remaining three demons were not as badly injured as their leader but had also more or less suffered a few blows. When their gaze turned to Fan Hemian who stood proudly with her sword, they only felt horrified.
Right away, the guards were completely intimidated.
They all believed that the girl before them possessed unfathomable magic and could casually injure people with her awe-inspiring blade.
Moreover, the monsters were clueless about Fan Hemian’s attack range so they didn’t dare to step forward easily. They couldn’t help but huddle together and cautiously retreated, one step at a time. And soon, they distanced themselves from her by at least seven to eight meters.
“Anyone else dares to come up?!”
Fan Hemian sternly yelled, standing unflinchingly in front of the treasury’s door. At the same time, she revealed a frosty and grim smile as the snow-white sword in her hand glinted coldly.
Although she appeared to be a cold-blooded killer, Miss Fan was actually feeling a bit anxious in her heart.
Though her ability did not sound weak and was suitable for group combat, it has a fatal flaw. It could not be activated in succession. There was an interval of at least five minutes for each use.
If these monsters rushed up to take her down now, while her ability was still in the cool down, she would be powerless against them. She could only turn around and escape, hiding in the warehouse and letting Ji Xiao’niao come and fight against these monsters.
Fan Hemian tried to maintain a vicious, defiant, and sinister smile on her face while her heart frantically urged:
——Brother, Xiao’niao , what’s going on with you?!
——I can’t hold out any longer. Have you found anything or not?!
Thank you for the chapter🤗