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Chapter 48: Connecting The Clues and Yue Qiang’s Hidden Strength?
Yin continued to add, “The moment I woke up, there were corpses everywhere around me, which was why I didn’t see what was outside. But this does not obstruct me from making my deduction. Looking at this hall and the artificial marks above the cave walls, this was obviously a place where human lived in, and likely not a tiger’s den from the beginning. You came from outside, so tell me: are my assumptions correct?”
Yue Qiang did not know what to say any longer. He had a feeling that Yin would know everything without needing him to say anything at all. He was the real blind person compared to this girl who had shut her eyes all this time.
Still, he answered after a moment of silence, “The exterior of this place looked like it was manmade. There were also the four words ‘School of Mo’s Great Camp’.”
“That’s good. The School of Mo. This is School of Mo we’re talking about. Do you know what the words ‘School of Mo’ mean?
“During the warring states period, their philosophy of logic and rational thought aside, the School of Mo’s craftsmanship was more or less at the same level as specialised craftsmen. According to my assumption, this School of Mo’s Great Camp we’re at right now has most likely been abandoned! After it was abandoned, this place was used by the tigers and turned into a tiger’s den, and these dead soldiers on the floor should have come to seize a certain research findings. As a result, they discovered that the School of Mo’s Great Camp was abandoned a long time ago, and while they were camping here and searching for its remaining secrets, they ran into the tigers who had made this place their homes instead. That is why… they were all met with this tragic death!”
Yue Qiang closed his eyes and slowly recalled everything she said one more time.
It’s connected. Everything has been connected. It was as she said. Only her version of explanation could’ve perfectly explained everything that had appeared before him right now!
Yin’s words had connected everything into one string of events.
The School of Mo’s Great Camp had always been this place. Moreover, they were guarding a valuable treasure that might very well be at the same level or higher than the Ring of Earth in his hands right now. This treasure’s function might be the ability to ‘avoid death’ that he had guessed earlier. Later on, for some unknown reason the people of the School of Mo’s Great Camp had abandoned this place, and so this place slowly fell apart and was later taken over by the tigers and got turned into a tiger’s den.
On the other side of things, the Zhao Soldiers’ attacks had obviously happened at the same time: Zhao Yan had led his men to assault Yue Village, successfully obtained victory and gained the Ring of Earth. There should also be another Zhao Army that was attacking the School of Mo’s Great Camp during this time. It was just that the people sent by the Zhao State to this place weren’t strong, and were possibly led by only two or three sergeants. When they saw that this place was already abandoned, they grew careless and were all killed by the tiger.
Yue Qiang rearranged the thoughts in his mind before saying, “Now there are two problems we have to face. Where is the treasure the Zhao people were looking for? And how are we going to take out that more powerful tiger?”
“These are both one problem, actually.” Yin said, “Haven’t I told you earlier? We just go inside.”
Yue Qiang circled around the area while touching the stone walls. He said doubtfully, “How? Everywhere’s a stone wall…”
Before he could finish, Yin, who was holding herself up against a wall earlier, stood up and slapped at an unknown part, opening up a passage from a completely unassuming tough stone wall. The passage opened slowly while making creaking noises. There was a tiny dot of flame very far away inside the passage. It looked a little like an eternal flame*.
*a flame, lamp or torch that burns continuously for an indefinite period.
Yue Qiang was completely dumbfounded by the sight.
“How did you know there’s a switch around here?”
“There are some ancient books that recorded in detail the layouts and patterns of the School of Mo’s discipline of mechanical engineering.” Yin shrugged, “I have read more books than most.”
With Yue Qiang at the front and Yin at the back, they moved into the passage.
Compared to the front hall of the mountain cave, this passage was a lot more refined. Not only were there more wooden supports in the surroundings, there were also some simple patterns and images on some of the wooden beams. These images were obviously structured; they should be certain markings unique to the School of Mo. Some places not only had pattern engravings, but also unusual colorings.
The duo walked inside this passage and did not speak. Yue Qiang walked at the front of the group, but all he thought of was Yin at the back.
This girl was outrageously beautiful. She was very calm, and her rational thinking was very good. She was completely fearless of death. Her eyes were eternally closed, and yet she could see everything around her. Is she really a player? If she is, then why is she so different from him, the real player? Why is Ai Qian not a player then? Why do they both have a Memory Unlock Rate, but not me?
The girl walking behind him suddenly extended a hand and pulled Yue Qiang’s character.
“I’ll be holding onto you while walking. I can no longer see the path ahead of us.” Yin said, her voice as calm as ever, “Hitting that female tiger just now has taken me too much strength. I need to rest a little and recover some strength to find the mechanism.”
Hearing her words, Yue Qiang’s pulled his thoughts back to the imminent danger. They were still in danger. Even if they entered the passage, the male tiger would return at any moment.
He was most definitely not a match for the male tiger. In fact, the reason he managed to defeat the female tiger was largely thanks to Yin, whose skill had blinded the tiger’s eyes.
“That skill of yours earlier, the one where you open your eyes and shoot something from it to blind the tiger. Can you use it another time?”
“Skill? You mean to say the Eye of Truth?” Yin said, “Absolutely not. I can barely see the path right now. My current strength can only be used to find the mechanism. If I can find that mechanism, then we may yet have a chance at killing this stronger tiger. This definitely has a much higher success rate than your idea of running right out of the cave.”
Yin said while leaning against Yue Qiang and walking with great difficulty. Her legs were injured in the first place, and because she had to tear a large piece of her bed sheet to create some noise earlier, she looked a little shabby. However, her expression was as faint as ever, lacking any sort of awkwardness or difficulty whatsoever. She grabbed onto the bed sheet on her body with one hand to keep it from falling, and held onto Yue Qiang with the other to continue walking. Suddenly, she seemed to realize something and came to a stop.
The hand that was holding to Yue Qiang was withdrew and placed onto a jutted spot on the cave.
“This should be it. This is a switch. If I press this, then the place we passed through where its color was different would drop down an extremely heavy huge rock that will be sufficient to squash that tiger to death!”
Yue Qiang looked at the jutted switch and began quietly calculating the probability that this device was active.
“Of course.” Yin said, “if this device doesn’t work, we will have to depend on you beating the tiger to death in close combat.”
While the duo was facing each other quietly, they heard yet another sudden tiger roar. As compared to the previous roar, this one was obviously a lot closer. As the distance closed, the pressure and threat brought by the tiger’s roar also became a lot stronger.
If the mechanism did not work, and Yin’s skill could not be used, then the idea of killing the male tiger that was even more ferocious than the female tiger in melee was absolutely nothing but a pipe dream.
Yin turned her head around with her closed eyes facing towards Yue Qiang’s direction. She said, “If I’m sensing this correctly… you should have some hidden strength in you?”
Thanks!
. ∧__∧ Thanks!!
/⌒ (`･ω･) Nepu!!
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{Copied from Yunchii}