Chapter 100: Chapter 100: He Gently Shields Everyone Behind Him
"Uh... is this okay?" Lin Feng looked at the turtle shell, somewhat unsure.
"No problem at all, when I get lost, I always do the same," Bai Xiaochun patted his chest, making a promise.
"My hometown is near the West Continent. I remember the Barbarians in the west used to navigate by tossing shoes, so this turtle shell method should have something in common with it," Wang Ma thought there was nothing wrong with the turtle shell.
Anyway, it’s definitely better than shoe tossing.
"It’s said that in ancient times, our Human Race relied on turtle shells for divination and calculation," Li Feiyu said.
"I once ran into an old Taoist priest, and I remember seeing a similar record in the Tao Scripture he gave me," Wang Lin added to Li Feiyu’s remark.
With these two mentions, Lin Feng also seemed to recall such an event and immediately started discussing it with them.
The expertise in turtle shell navigation became increasingly reliable through the trio’s repeated deductions and demonstrations.
As the only sane person, Li Jue felt that these people all had some issues.
If tossing shoes and spinning pots could really work for navigation and treasure hunting, then Dragon Tiger Mountain might as well disband.
Being a disciple of the Beast Taming Sect, he had the most acute senses, and in his opinion, the middle road seemed the most dangerous.
Unfortunately, the minority must submit to the majority, rendering Li Jue’s doubts meaningless.
"No problem taking the middle path," the two schemers and three lucky ones reached a consensus.
Thus, Li Jue was dragged along by them into the most dangerous and trap-filled route of the entire Gourd Cave.
After they left, Li and Zhang Ze emerged from the ground.
Zhang Ze pondered, feeling that he didn’t really need to take action; these people would likely get themselves into trouble on their own.
"Let’s keep watching." Zhang Ze burrowed back into the ground to stealthily follow them.
As expected by Zhang Ze, Lin Feng’s and Wang Lin’s team soon fell apart.
It wasn’t that they lacked strength, but the team’s composition had issues.
Rule number one of the Underground City guidelines:
[A stable team cannot have two schemers at the same time.]
In this team, Wang Ma and Bai Xiaochun were clearly the two schemers.
Rule number two of the Underground City guidelines:
[A team should avoid having too many members who look like the protagonist.]
And this team indeed had too many fortunate boys.
After easily fending off the first wave of Foundation Establishment Stage Sword Spirits, Wang Ma and Bai Xiaochun discovered a secret door under a stone table in a stone house.
Inside the secret door, they found a beast head.
Bai Xiaochun, using some bizarre method, pried open the mouth of the beast head and found a button inside.
The button was painted red, with a white crystalline ’X’ on top.
"What’s this?" Wang Ma asked.
"It should be a button, right? Being hidden so deep, I think it could be a reward," Bai Xiaochun made an unprofessional judgement.
"Why not press it and see?" Wang Ma, who loved to create a stir, got an idea.
"Sure," the two schemers reached a consensus.
Pa, the two of them simultaneously pressed the button hidden in the beast’s mouth.
In the dark, Zhang Ze, who was preparing to make a move, couldn’t help but want to applaud when he saw this scene.
"Genius."
That mechanism wasn’t some special reward; it was meant for staff use.
Upon being pressed, the difficulty of this little checkpoint would rise to Golden Core Stage, which hadn’t been tested yet.
Theoretically, opening that beast head required authentication using a special Token from the Thousand Mechanism Pavilion.
But Bai Xiaochun and Lin Feng were birds of a feather.
For people like them, mere restrictions could always be bypassed when necessary.
Zhang Ze ticked off their names.
"These are all at the Mid-period of Foundation Establishment.
"Lin Feng, Wang Lin, and Li Feiyu can each easily handle a Half-Step Golden Core.
"Bai Xiaochun should also be able to handle one by himself.
"Li Jue and Wang Ma together could probably manage one too.
"So here’s the problem, who will handle the remaining seven Golden Core Stage Sword Spirits?"
This was Zhang Ze’s dilemma.
Outside the stone house, arrays activated, and mechanisms behind the stone walls began to operate.
Before Lin Feng and the others could react, the Escape Armor Five Elements Technique here was sealed.
Inspired by Brother Gou, a total of twelve Black Armored Warriors with human bodies and dog heads appeared before them.
Seven Golden Core Stage kobolds planted their heavy swords in front of them, howling at the sky, releasing the Golden Core Stage pressure.
Meanwhile, the remaining five Half-Step Golden Core kobolds took a step back, each wielding a large bow.
Their bows drawn to a full moon, whoever they shot at would surely die.
Li Jue, "?"
Li Jue didn’t understand where these things came from.
Just as he was about to inquire, he suddenly realized there was no one beside him.
Bai Xiaochun and Wang Ma, the culprits, were still hiding in the stone house, not coming out.
Li Feiyu slipped a step, habitually shielding everyone gently in front of him.
Wang Lin, cautious, stepped back half a step, a divine glow appearing faintly in his hand.
Lin Feng pulled out his Black Sword, lurking in the shadows like an emotionless assassin.
Before Li Jue could curse, he felt the ground shake, and from the corner of his eye, he saw the seven heavy swords flying towards his head.
"I’m fighting twelve of them alone?" Li Jue thought he was doomed.
Fortunately, Zhang Ze was kind-hearted.
He just didn’t want them to clear the level, not actually play them to death here.
If these Golden Core Stage Sword Spirits didn’t strike with no mercy, he wouldn’t have had to bring Li Yueqi and the others to personally play the role of the boss.
Zhang Ze crushed the talisman in his hand.
"Emergency escape device activated."
In the moment the Escape Technique formation was unsealed, Li Feiyu disappeared without a trace.
With shimmering light in his hand, Lin Feng dashed toward Li Jue, seemingly intending to take him along to escape.
Wang Lin also reached out to grab Li Jue, trying to save him from those seven swords.
However, before Lin Feng and Wang Lin could reach Li Jue, a green light flashed under each of their feet, teleporting all of them to other levels of the Underground City.
At that moment, the actions of the twelve Dog-headed Sword Spirits also came to a halt.
Seeing it was safe, Wang Ma and Bai Xiaochun finally poked their heads out from the door.
"Did we get into trouble?"
"Probably?"
"What should we do now?"
"Run?"
Just as the two schemers were planning to escape responsibility, a third schemer appeared.
Zhang Ze, wearing the Night Demon Emperor’s head, once again transformed into the headless Underground City staff member Gao, appearing before them.
"Oi! You two made a mistake, you know?"
Zhang Ze took out the Underground City Code of Conduct and showed it to the two.
Seeing their defiance, Zhang Ze called over the VIP customer service Fuji.
After a series of friendly exchanges and amiable discussions, the four finally reached a consensus.
Wang Ma and Bai Xiaochun acknowledged their mistake and promised not to randomly press buttons next time.
Under Zhang Ze and Fuji’s escort, the two were led out of the Underground City.
On their return journey, as they reached the entrance, Wang Ma suddenly asked, looking at Mirror Lake on his right.
"Are there fish in there?"
Fuji nodded.
"Yes, the lake connects to underground water, and there’s a school of long-bearded whitefish in it."
Wang Ma looked at Zhang Ze and Fuji.
"Can I fish here for a while? We have to wait for the others to come out anyway."
Zhang Ze thought for a moment, feeling there was no issue in fulfilling this angler’s request.
With approval, Wang Ma pulled Bai Xiaochun to the lake, took out a fishing rod, and started fishing.
Meanwhile, Zhang Ze found himself in a dilemma, whether he should join them in fishing or return to the Underground City to keep an eye on Lin Feng and the others.
However, someone soon made the decision for him as his Sound Transmission Jade rang.
It was Lily.
"Boss, hurry up, I overheard something I shouldn’t have, and Li Yueqi is going to silence me!"
Zhang Ze, "..."
Listening to such absurdity, Zhang Ze thought he should add a rule to the Underground City Code of Conduct.
[Lily is forbidden to appear in the Underground City.]