Chapter 509 (1/2)

The Underwater Kiss (2)

Ye Lang did not have to think long, for he saw a pattern. The colourful tiles each represented a number.

The rules were as such: these numbers were supposed to be in a specific sequence. It was like a Lo Shu square but quite different.

The more layers to the puzzle, the more difficult it would be to solve it. Three-layered puzzles were easy but this had nine. It was very, very complex.

“It’s not difficult at all! Just tell me what number each tile represents and we’ll be fine,” said Zhao Yarou breezily upon Ye Lang’s description.

“??” Ye Lang thought he’d have to crack his head for this one, he hadn’t expected her to volunteer.

Therefore, after he told her what number each represented, Zhao Yarou solved the puzzle in two minutes. She leapt from stone to stone across the hallway, and when she was done, a stone door opened at the end.

She was an absolute madwoman indeed, to have solved the puzzle in two minutes. A master would still need at least a few hours!

Ye Lang stared at her. He felt like her being able to keep her position as the empress was not based on luck at all.

The tiles on the ground faded back into the same colours as the puzzle had been solved. Ye Lang, still carrying Li Yue, walked over to enter the next room.

“Zhao Yarou…” called Ye Lang.

“Hmmph, please don’t tell me you want to send me to test for traps again…” she frowned, knowing Ye Lang had nothing nice to say to her.

He shook his head. “No, I’m just telling you to be careful. The thing you’re touching is poisonous!”

“...” Zhao Yarou stared in horror as her hand was already turning black. She did the only thing she could think of- she grabbed Ye Lang’s hand.

“Fuck! What are you doing, you’ll spread the poison to me!” Ye Lang did not dodge in time.

“It’s your fault for not telling me sooner! Then we’ll die together!”

“...Please stop talking about dying. The puzzle for this room is to cure yourself of the poison! There are many ingredients here, we’ll be fine as long as we can make the antidote!”

“I know this one too, it’s simple! Just tell me what’s in this poison,” said Zhao Yarou once again.

“Uh….” Ye Lang was silent.

This woman seems to know everything! Looks like she knows alchemy too and I think she must be quite good at it. The previous puzzle was math, this is medicine, will the next room be an alchemy formation, or something else?

Ye Lang was right. The next few rooms would be related to alchemy- they were very difficult puzzles too. The average alchemist would be unable to solve them, even the empire’s royal alchemists might fail.

As they passed different rooms, Ye Lang was shocked at the ease in which Zhao Yarou cracked the puzzles. At this point, he could confirm that her alchemy abilities far exceeded her royal alchemists.

However, he had never heard of anyone talking about her alchemy abilities. That meant she’d kept them well hidden. Perhaps she had other skills too. Ye Lang knew he had been underestimating this person.