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墨書 Inktalez
In the Dry Earth Formation, there are several black dots, and if I'm not mistaken, they should be Lin Zhao and the others.
"Shaoming, put this on." I handed a radio to Shaoming. It was military-grade, which I specifically got from Jiang Shao before entering the tomb. However, it was one-to-one, meaning it could only connect with one person.
"Are you asking me to lead the people still in the tomb out?" Shaoming, being very clever, immediately understood my intention. However, she sniffed a bit, seemingly very displeased with my decision to push her out.
"I would prefer to go myself," I shrugged and said helplessly, "but unfortunately, would you be able to understand this formation if I went?"
There was actually one more thing I didn't say. The other two were Zhang Fan and Xia Liyi. Although Xia Liyi was a Sister studying to be an Archaeologist and came from a scholarly family, she was unfortunately a complete novice. Just guiding her would be too much; if she got scared, that would be a sign of her strong will.
As for Zhang Fan, I estimated that even with my guidance, he would still take the wrong path. The risk was too high; it wouldn't be advisable to insure him as it could easily lead to bankruptcy for the insurance company.
"You're the only one left." I said to Shaoming.
Shaoming took two steps back, then looked at Zhang Fan and Xia Liyi. She sighed lightly, as if lamenting her misfortune in meeting people like us. Then she obediently complied, put on the radio, and walked toward where the initial group was.
According to the formation diagram, there were a total of twelve main tomb passages, each containing twelve star points, resulting in one hundred forty-four possible variations. After each variation, the tomb passage would change. This change was merely a simple alteration in the order of star points; however, to those unaware, it appeared as if the changes were repeatedly Wuchang.
Fortunately, a formation diagram appeared here, and even more fortunate was that I could actually decipher this kind of formation.
In fact, this large formation isn't truly a Dry Earth Formation; accurately speaking, it should just be a maze formation built on dry ground foundations. If it weren't for the complex variations involved, it would actually be quite easy to solve. My previous guesses while in the large formation were already very close.
"Take three steps forward, stop, turn around and move." I directed Shaoming's actions while keeping my eyes fixed on the black dot representing her. At the same time, I silently hoped that the person I was targeting wouldn't move at all.
After all, if he moved even slightly, who knows where he would end up being transported? If it were nearby, that would be fine; but what if he ran off very far? We could only let it be!
"Damn it! That guy has been moved again; it seems he has been transported quite far," Zhang Fan suddenly reminded us as he watched our target.
"Don't talk nonsense if you can't calculate," I shot a glance at Zhang Fan. Although my target seemed to be getting further away, with the right calculations, it was actually getting closer. As long as we were transferred once more, we could find the first person.
Before long, all the black dots in the tomb passage had gathered together.
I had brought in six people: myself, Zhang Fan, Xia Liyi, Earthwalker, mechanical expert Lin Ming, and ability user Li Ping. Later, we added Shaoming. Following Lin Zhao down should have been Li Su and two experienced Special Forces members.
A total of eight black dots had been accounted for.
"Shift four steps," I instructed. "This will take us directly back to the initial tomb passage. As long as we don't look back and walk straight to me, we'll clear the level."
Fortunately, I had played enough maze games; otherwise, we would have been completely lost. Shaoming and I were becoming increasingly in sync; she could meticulously execute any instructions I gave.
"Bang!" The stone door was pushed open, and a man stumbled in, panting heavily.
"Lin Zhao? Instructor Lin?" Zhang Fan looked at the man in surprise; he hadn't forgotten the fear of being dominated by Lin Zhao during Military Training.
"Brother Yin," Lin Zhao gasped. "Sorry for troubling you; I made you come all this way."
"It's fine, but are you okay? You seem a bit weak," I said, resting one hand on the table where the chessboard had been placed, watching Lin Zhao catch his breath.
"I don't even know how long I've been running. This tomb is strange; I can't get out," Lin Zhao said. "By the way, Brother Yin, how did you solve this maze?"
"Oh, I have a god's eye view," I pointed to the formation diagram on the table. "This maze is set up on a large formation based on the Earthly Branches, so it's quite difficult to unravel. Luckily, I happen to know how to solve it."
At that moment, Li Su and the others also emerged from the tomb passage, followed by a large group of people. Shaoming was at the back; after entering, she immediately closed the stone door behind her.
"Yin Dao Brother," Li Su said as he unloaded his pack. "Thank you."
"What are you being polite for?" I asked. "How is everyone? Any injuries or discomfort?"
"Not really," Shaoming replied for the group. "Most of them just have external wounds; a simple bandage will do."
"That's good to hear."
I took out some water and dry rations from the Seed Bag.
"This room should be relatively safe; let's rest here for a bit," I said. "As for the next course of action, I'll take charge from here. Lin Zhao, you, Lin Ming, and these two brothers should refrain from participating in the upcoming operations."
"Why?" Lin Zhao asked, biting into a piece of bread, confused.
"It's nothing; it's just that you all aren't suited to continue participating in what's coming next," I replied calmly.
Throughout our journey, we encountered many dangers, but thinking from another perspective, most of what we faced was more alarming than truly dangerous. However, this sense of safety applies to us Cultivators; for Lin Zhao and the others, it could still be fatal.
Moreover, this Demon Tomb might involve many secrets related to the demon race, and it's better that Lin Zhao and the others remain unaware of those matters.
"I'm going to outline the next steps now," I called Zhang Fan and the others over. "Whether or not you participate in the upcoming actions is entirely voluntary. However, this place is likely used by the demon race to cultivate their juniors; there may be great opportunities here, but they won't let us obtain these opportunities too easily."
The new entrance that appeared earlier should lead to the next burial chamber.
"So, whether you join is up to your own decision." This was directed at Earthwalker, Li Ping, and Li Su.
After all, Zhang Fan and Shaoming are definitely going to continue with me, while Xia Liyi is someone I never considered bringing along. We're not playing a haunted house adventure; this place can be deadly if we're not careful!
"Think it over," I said.
That’s all there is to it; whether they agree or not doesn’t really matter much.
Although Earthwalker is an expert in Tomb Raiding, this is also a Demon Tomb, and what he learned before won’t be of much use here. Li Ping's abilities are very useful, but his own strength is too weak, and we would have to divert our energy to protect him.
The key player here is Li Su. Li Su is a descendant of Laoshan and should have mastered quite a few Taoist Arts that are different from mine. These skills might come in handy, especially since Li Su's combat ability should be on par with Zhang Fan's.
The most suitable team composition would actually be me, Zhang Fan, Shaoming, and Li Su. If Earthwalker and Li Ping join us, it would be a bonus; if they don’t come, it won’t significantly affect us.
"Boss," the first to approach me was Earthwalker. "I'm not going down there. This tomb is unlike any I've ever seen. Bringing you all down means I've already broken the rules of the trade. I don’t want to be like you; I’m just an ordinary person, so I won’t go down."
"Okay," I replied calmly, feeling no surprise at all.
People tend to fear the unknown. Even though Earthwalker has a relatively larger courage, he is still just an ordinary person. Moreover, his previous experiences in the tomb have already given him enough insight into the dangers involved, so I wasn’t surprised by his decision to back out.
"Um, Captain Yin, I'm not going either," Li Ping said. "If you want to stay in touch, you can use this."
Li Ping handed me a few headsets.
"What are these?"
"I can use my abilities to connect these headsets together, but the effective range is only one hundred meters, and they can only maintain one connection."
"One? That should be enough." I took the headphones. "Thanks, brother."
"Yeah." Li Ping nodded, patting my shoulder with a sense of melancholy. "Captain, I can't be of much help, so I won't drag you down."
"What are you talking about?" I countered. "You've already been a great help. These things were never your responsibility, so there's no need to worry about it."
I turned to Li Su. "Friend, have you made up your mind?"
"You called me friend." Li Su stood up, resting his umbrella on his shoulder. "I also want to see what this Demon Tomb is all about."
"Alright, then our formation is decided." I stated firmly. "I'll lead the way, Shaoming will follow behind me, and then it's Bother You and Friend Li Su."
Four people should be enough. If necessary, I can call a few helpers from the Underworld.
"What about me? What about me?" Xia Liyi jumped up. "Who will protect me this time?"
"You can't go," I said. "This isn't a picnic. You still want to hold hands? We need to focus on getting back alive; this is serious!"
"I am also a descendant of Longhu Mountain; exorcising demons and upholding justice has always been our tradition!" Xia Liyi retorted defiantly.
"Oh really?" I was waiting for that line. "Then prove it with a spell or something. Otherwise, with so many people on the street, just because one claims to be a disciple of Buddha and another claims to be the Jade Emperor's relative, does that mean I should believe them?"
Actually, I didn't doubt Xia Liyi's authenticity; I was just deliberately making it difficult for her because I didn't want her to join us. After all, I didn't know what the situation below would be like. Li Su and the others had some ability to protect themselves, but how could I take a weak girl like Xia Liyi into such a dangerous adventure?
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