Chapter 525 - 395: Monsters in the Secret Chamber
A chill ran up from the soles of everyone's feet, and they all looked at each other in dismay.
"Wen Xu, what exactly is going on here! Why would Chairman Xiahou die in Beiqing's Xingxiu Cave!" Chou Alchemist angrily demanded an explanation from Wen Xu.
"Brother Chou, questioning me is pointless. Chairman Xiahou was my elder, and when he entered the Xingxiu Cave, I was just a nobody at Dan Palace." Judging by Wen Xu's reaction, he genuinely didn't know why Chairman Xiahou would die here.
Besides, he wasn't wrong—more than twenty years ago, when Wen Xu was at Dan Palace, he was probably just a minor disciple. How would he know what happened inside Xingxiu Cave?
"Regardless, we should first bury Chairman Xiahou."
Ye Lingyue felt a wave of emotion. Although she had never met Chairman Xiahou, he was after all a person from Daxia Alchemist Tower, and as a member of Alchemist Tower, it was her duty to bury an ancestor.
Ye Lingyue and Chou Alchemist collected Chairman Xiahou's remains with care, bowed several times, and then Chou Alchemist lit the fire to burn the corpse. After returning to Xia Capital, they would place his ashes in the Alchemist Tower.
While Ye Lingyue and Chou Alchemist were paying their respects to Xiahou Alchemist, other people were checking around the stone chamber for the presence of other secret rooms or mechanisms.
"There's a mechanism here."
"And here too!"
Soon, the group successively discovered that on the east, west, south, and north walls, there were movable walls.
The crowd was overjoyed; they pressed the mechanisms.
Accompanied by the rumbling sound of shifting walls, waves of dust came face on.
It was obvious that the walls hadn't been moved by anyone for a long time.
Behind the movable walls, several spacious Dark Pavilions were revealed.
Upon seeing the Dark Pavilions, everyone's gaze changed.
Behind the east, west, south, and north movable walls, countless treasures were concealed.
"It's a Martial Arts Stone Carving!"
"Spiritual Artifacts, all of them are above Dark Level!"
"Elixir Pills, Fifth-grade and above!"
"Heavenly Materials and Earthly Treasures!"
At least Fifth Tier Martial Arts, Earth-level Spiritual Artifacts, Seventh Grade Reincarnation Elixirs, and the elusive Nirvana Iron—all of it was stimulating greed and nerves in people.
Even the usually calmest individuals were now on the brink of madness. They were like bandits with bloodshot eyes, rushing toward the Dark Pavilions, hastily stuffing these rare treasures into their bosoms and sleeves, one after another.
They didn't notice that as they touched these treasures, their eyes became even redder, and their breathing, more frantic like that of a Wild Beast.
The siblings Hong Yuying and Hong Yulang were no exception.
Hong Yuying clutched an Elixir that was the color of peach blossoms, utterly entranced.
"Youthful Elixir, it's a Sixth-grade Youthful Elixir, with this I will forever retain my youthfulness."
Hong Yulang, on the other hand, grabbed several pieces of Martial Arts stone carvings, his eyes gleaming with an obsessive light.
"Once I've mastered them, I will be invincible in this world. The number one spot in the Imperial Examination is mine."
Zhuge Yi also seized a piece of Nirvana Iron.
"Nirvana Iron, I shall forge you into a Heaven Rank Spiritual Artifact. What is Heavenly Armor Sect compared to me? By then, even the Three Sects will have to bow down and serve me."
"Don't touch these things!"
Seeing everyone's frenzy, Ye Lingyue suddenly remembered the last few words left by Chairman Xiahou before his death.
Don't... Don't what, don't touch those things!
Chairman Xiahou had no extra treasures beside him when he died.
A senior expert like him, how could he have failed to notice those hidden weapon mechanisms.
Ye Lingyue's thoughts coincided with the others.
Among the thirty-one people, some had already rushed into several Dark Pavilions, while many remained motionless.
Ye Lingyue stood alongside Feng Xun and Sword Slave, still as stone. Naturally, if Ye Lingyue didn't move, neither would Feng Xun.
Without orders from their master, Sword Slave wouldn't act rashly either.
Within the Daxia Delegation, Hong Mingyue and Luo Song, coming from Three-Life Valley, were stunned by the treasures, yet they remained high on alert and were waiting for the reactions of others.
The Beiqing Delegation, with Cong Lv and Wen Xu, wore solemn expressions. Their demeanors had been such since they discovered Chairman Xiahou's corpse. As for Princess Qing Bi, she was stopped by Cong Lv, who wouldn't allow her to step forward.
Kaijiang Prince Manor didn't move at all; all their guards followed closely behind Chen Minzhi.
Among these people, Chen Minzhi surprised Ye Lingyue the most.
Chen Minzhi's reaction in the Ancient Forest previously and today in Xingxiu Cave were completely different.
Moreover, the reactions of Chen Minzhi's guards were also too strange. Ordinary guards, upon seeing so many treasures, how could they remain completely indifferent.
This made Ye Lingyue even more certain that Chen Minzhi was no longer the Chen Minzhi from before.
Ye Lingyue's warning was clearly not heeded by those people.
"Ye Lingyue, why shouldn't I touch it, I know you're jealous of me. Once I take the Youthful Elixir, I will become more beautiful than you, and Prince Feng will change his heart, he will definitely fall in love with me." Hong Yuying laughed, her face trembling with delight.
"Sister, don't touch that Elixir Pill." Hong Mingyue also noticed that something was off with Hong Yuying.
"Even you want to stop me, Ming Yue, don't think I don't know, you have always been envious. Ever since we were kids, you thought you were more beautiful and more talented than me, and that all the eyes in the world should revolve around you." Hong Yuying became more and more agitated as she spoke. "I won't do as you wish."
Hong Mingyue's expression grew increasingly ugly; she had little sisterly affection for Hong Yuying to begin with. She had already tried to stop her. If Hong Yuying wouldn't listen, then it was her business.
Having said that, Hong Yuying swallowed the Youthful Elixir.
"Ha ha, I will soon become as beautiful as a Heavenly Immortal, beyond compare in this world." Hong Yuying danced with joy, but suddenly, her delicate body trembled, and she doubled over. She felt something moving inside her abdomen.
Joy instantly dissipated like smoke, and Hong Yuying gazed in horror.
"Ming Yue, Yulang, save me. There's something in my stomach... it's trying to burrow out!"
Hong Yuying's face turned ashen, and her body tremored violently.
Suddenly, she began to vomit violently.
With a series of clicking sounds, Hong Yuying's face stiffened; an increasingly intense itch was spreading from her throat.
A bizarre insect with a body covered in yellow-green mottles crawled out alive from her throat.
As the demon insect crawled, it gnawed at Hong Yuying's body, and within just a few breaths, Hong Yuying was consumed by the slime-covered creature.
"!!"
Everyone was so frightened that they stepped back.
Chen Minzhi watched the demon insect, his eyes flickering with a bewitching light.
"What kind of monster is that, what monster!" Hong Yulang saw his twin sister being devoured before his very eyes, terrified out of his wits.
"Corpse Snake, a parasitic demon insect. Once ingested, the eggs hatch and it comes to life." Chen Minzhi's indifferent voice reached everyone's ears.