Chapter 175 (1/2)

Chapter 175: Trial

Click! Something was triggered. Nan Xun reflexively pulled Jun Huang behind him and turned around. The stone door they had gone through slammed shut on its own. The torches crackled and the fire flickered. A strange wind swept through the narrow tunnel, but there was no exit to be seen.

Nan Xun narrowed his sharp eyes and looked over at the writings on the wall. He turned to Jun Huang. She was already going through the text.

”This is probably the history of the House of Heavenly Fiends,” Jun Huang said when she felt his gaze.

”Be careful,” Nan Xun said seriously. ”Something is not as it seems here.”

He felt around the wall, but didn't notice any triggers or traps. He let out a relieved sigh.

He must keep his guard up, however. The tension in his body caused sweat to stream down his cheeks. The tea house owner had called this a trial, which meant that they were not safe. Oftentimes dangers lurked in the shadow. It would take someone competent to notice them beforehand and avoid getting hurt.

Jun Huang looked through the writings and the paintings on the wall, but she couldn't find anything useful. The language used here belonged to a different dynasty. She recognized only some of the characters and failed to identify a logical throughline.

The torches cast dim light on the side of her face. Her calm eyes were like a bottomless pond, keeping her emotions hidden. Nan Xun, though, could tell that she was confused.

”If you can't understand it, we might as well go forward,” Nan Xun said after waiting for Jun Huang for a while. ”Maybe we'll find something useful.”

Jun Huang nodded absentmindedly, looking away from the wall. They moved forward. The tunnel opened up into a wider s.p.a.ce. They were faced with the entrance to a hidden building.

The building looked perfectly normal, but the normality itself was what made Jun Huang wary. She had a feeling that someone was watching them from the dark. Her heart pounded against her ribcage and her breathing quickened. She whirled around and stared at a single point in the distance.

”What's wrong?” Nan Xun asked. He followed her gaze but didn't notice anything out of place.

Jun Huang shook her head and let out a deep breath. ”Nothing,” she said with a smile, rubbing at her forehead. ”I'm probably being overly sensitive.”

Nan Xun nodded, keeping his hand on the hilt of his sword as he escorted Jun Huang into the building. Inside was a winding wooden staircase. There was barely any source of light, making it difficult to see where the stairs led to.

The wooden stairs squeaked under their feet. Many parts of the stairs had been damaged over the years. Some of the steps were missing altogether. Nan Xun kept an arm around Jun Huang, worried that she would get hurt.

The sound of gears turning came from within the wall. Mechanisms such as this had disappeared since a hundred years ago. No one used gears to set up traps anymore. Nan Xun only recognized the sound because of a westerner he ran into when he was at the border. The westerner had in his possession a gla.s.s lamp powered by gears. He was curious and asked to check the lamp himself. He remembered the sound to this day.

His eyes went cold. The westerner had told him that a trap door could be constructed through the use of gears as pulleys. No one would be able to escape once the door was shut.

Jun Huang had noticed the change in Nan Xun's expression, but her foot landed on an elevated pane before she could ask what was wrong. A click, and the trap was triggered.

Despite her lack of knowledge in mechanisms such as this, Jun Huang was able to figure out what was happening quickly. Before she could react, however, Nan Xun had pulled her into his arms.

Three arrows shot out of the holes on the wall and came at Jun Huang. Nan Xun had been quick enough to prevent her from getting hurt, but his hand was sc.r.a.ped by the arrows. His torn sleeve revealed a bleeding wound along his palm.

Jun Huang startled and took Nan Xun's wrist. ”You – are you alright?”

Her voice trembled in fear. Nan Xun, on the other hand, didn't pay that much attention to his injury. He nodded and gently petted Jun Huang's head. ”Don't forget that I'm the chief general of Northern Qi. I won't be intimidated by a little injury like this, or my soldiers are going to laugh at me.”

Nan Xun's tone was casual. It was as if he truly didn't care. Jun Huang, however, knew that he must be in more pain than he let on. The arrows were old and were covered in rust. She knew without looking that the rust must have been sc.r.a.ped off when the arrow cut through Nan Xun's flesh.