Book Synopsis
Book Tags
Donation Rankings
Comment
0 Comments
You May Also Like
墨書 Inktalez
Chapter: The Fine Line in the Painting
Everyone present was unable to see how Cheng Gangzhu had injured Mad Bull. Cheng Gangzhu was merely teaching Mad Bull a lesson and did not intend to take his life. Mad Bull groaned softly while clutching his abdomen, but he was already getting back on his feet. Cheng Gangzhu looked at Mad Bull, his eyes filled with pity, and said word by word, "Mad Bull, you have helped me a lot in the past. This time is just a warning, but there won't be a next time."
Mad Bull remained silent upon hearing this, his face ashen.
Xinfeng slyly smiled at Fire Lion and said, "Master, did you see our leader's skills? Do you still think you don't need our help?"
Fire Lion's face turned pale. He thought to himself, "If Cheng Gangzhu were not teaching Mad Bull a lesson but instead aiming for my life, I would already be dead."
Although it was Mad Bull who bore the brunt of the lesson, it undoubtedly served as a warning to Fire Lion as well.
However, it was too late to back down now. Fire Lion snorted coldly, "Cheng Gangzhu has good skills."
Cheng Gangzhu noticed the tension in Fire Lion's eyes. The fact that he could make Fire Lion feel nervous pleased him greatly. Cheng Gangzhu smiled slightly and said, "You flatter me."
At this moment, Cheng Gangzhu raised his cup and said, "Master, let us toast to a pleasant cooperation."
Fire Lion did not raise his cup immediately because he was calculating in his mind that drinking this wine would signify compromise. He replied, "Cheng Gangzhu, there's no rush to drink this wine."
Fire Lion rejected Cheng Gangzhu's proposal without showing any anger. Cheng Gangzhu smiled lightly and asked, "Does Master still have any concerns?"
Fire Lion seemed to want to buy some time, trying to find an opportunity to escape. He feigned concern and glanced at Mad Bull before asking, "Mad Bull, are you alright?"
Fire Lion was probing into Mad Bull's condition; he needed to confirm whether Mad Bull still had the ability to fight back.
Mad Bull caught on to Fire Lion's insinuation and took a deep breath before replying, "Thank you for your concern, Master. I'm fine, and I also appreciate the leader's mercy."
Though the latter part of Mad Bull's statement was directed at Cheng Gangzhu, it simultaneously conveyed to Fire Lion that he was not seriously harmed.
Cheng Gangzhu could see through Fire Lion's thoughts but pretended not to notice. He turned to the guards beside him and instructed, "Go let the brothers come in and take a break. The staff at Fire Cloud Residence are no longer here; if the brothers are hungry, let them cook for themselves."
A guard immediately left upon receiving the order.
Cheng Gangzhu then turned to Fire Lion and said, "Master, I hope you don't mind?"
Fire Lion sneered, "I don't mind. Cheng Gangzhu, feel free."
Cheng Gangzhu was applying pressure on Fire Lion, intending to let the Sand Bandits in and cut off all of Fire Lion's escape routes.
At that moment, Cheng Gangzhu said, "Master, I came here this time to have a serious talk with you. If you keep avoiding the topic, I'm afraid we won't be able to discuss anything."
Fire Lion wasn't foolish; he understood what Cheng Gangzhu meant by ordering his subordinates to come in. The pretense of resting and eating was just that—a pretense. The real intention was to search for the whereabouts of the ruins. However, Fire Lion would never willingly share such wealth with anyone.
Downstairs, noisy footsteps could be heard. After a while, there were sounds of things being overturned, as if someone was rummaging through drawers.
Xia Zhou heard the commotion downstairs and remarked, "What are they doing? Do they want to tear down the building?"
Ji Zichen also recognized Cheng Gangzhu's intentions and replied, "Tear down what? They are looking for something."
Xia Zhou paused and asked, "Looking for something? What are they looking for?"
Lin Chuyu added, "Brother Xia, have you forgotten what the Master mentioned earlier? The Master has Madam Jiang's Diary. Those people are looking for that diary."
Xia Zhou finally understood and looked at Lin Chuyu in surprise. "Lin Chuyu, you're quite clever."
Lin Chuyu chuckled lightly. "That's because you're too slow."
Xia Zhou sighed, "Ah, you humans think too much; how could I possibly guess?"
Ji Zichen remarked, "I don't think they'll find the diary."
Lin Chuyu opened her eyes wide and looked at Ji Zichen, saying, "Brother Ji, why are you so..."
Ji Zichen slightly nodded, signaling them to look at Fire Lion. Ji Zichen said, "Look at him sitting there so confidently; this shows he is very sure that no one else will find the diary."
Xia Zhou nodded in agreement with Ji Zichen's reasoning. Xia Zhou said, "That's true. If it were me, I wouldn't keep something so important in Fire Cloud Residence either."
Xia Zhou glanced out the window and continued, "Look how vast it is outside; you could bury it anywhere and no one would find it."
Ji Zichen smiled and replied, "You might not consider Madam Jiang's Diary a treasure, but he does. It's not the diary itself that's important; it's the information inside that matters. Burying the diary outside isn't a good idea."
Xia Zhou exclaimed, "Burying it isn't a good idea? Should we keep it on us instead?"
Ji Zichen chuckled and said, "Keeping it on you is an even worse idea. If it were me, I would just remember the location of the ruins and destroy Madam Jiang's Diary. Keeping it in my mind is safer than any other method."
Xia Zhou suddenly realized, "Oh! How did I not think of that? That really is the best solution."
Fire Lion knew that dragging this out was pointless. It seemed he had already compromised. At that moment, he turned to Mad Bull and said, "Mad Bull, Cheng Gangzhu has come from afar; I can't let him leave empty-handed. I can't consume all the wealth from the ruins alone. It seems I have no choice but to cooperate. Mad Bull, go get the diary and hand it over to Cheng Gangzhu."
Everyone was taken aback; no one expected Fire Lion to willingly give in like this. Xinfeng was also stunned for a moment but then smiled and said, "That's right! We can cooperate. Mad Bull, hurry up and bring the diary!"
Xia Zhou glanced back at Ji Zichen and remarked, "Oh? You guessed wrong; they do have the diary."
At that moment, Ji Zichen suddenly became alert and warned, "Be careful; they're about to make a move."
On the right side of the second-floor hall against the wall was a decorative landscape painting. Just as Mad Bull was three steps away from touching the painting, Cheng Gangzhu suddenly moved. In the blink of an eye, Cheng Gangzhu was behind Mad Bull and struck out with a palm toward him. Mad Bull had been on high alert all along and sensed the wind from Cheng Gangzhu's attack.
Mad Bull stepped forward and swiftly dodged aside. Just as he regained his footing, he glared at Cheng Gangzhu and shouted, "Leader! Why did you sneak attack me!"
Cheng Gangzhu stood in front of the painting; he only needed to reach out to touch it. However, his hands remained still as he coldly smiled. The warmth that had been on his face earlier was now gone.
Cheng Gangzhu looked at Mad Bull coldly and said, "You think you can play tricks in front of me? You're still too inexperienced."
Mad Bull felt a surge of anxiety but pretended to be confused. "What tricks? I'm just handing you the diary."
Cheng Gangzhu's expression remained icy. "Handing me the diary? Do you take me for a three-year-old? Mad Bull, given your nature, if you knew where the diary was, you would have claimed it for yourself long ago. Why would you be here groveling like a guard? Someone like Master wouldn’t tell you the location of the diary."
Mad Bull insisted, "I'm not lying to you; the diary is right behind that painting."
Cheng Gangzhu scoffed, "I once told you that there's no need to lie if your deception can be seen through immediately!"
With that, Cheng Gangzhu's fingers suddenly reached toward the landscape painting. The painting depicted a simple scene dominated by a large waterfall, with water cascading down powerfully. Nearby on a hill stood a pavilion, beside which grew a large elm tree, its branches draped with numerous vines. Cheng Gangzhu's fingers were directed toward this elm tree.
The branches of the elm were quite intricate. Cheng Gangzhu's fingers pinched one of the hanging branches on the right side of the tree in the painting and managed to grasp a thin black thread. Ji Zichen gasped in surprise but was also impressed by Cheng Gangzhu's keen eyesight; this black thread was hidden among the dark branches and would have been nearly impossible to spot without exceptional attention.
Cheng Gangzhu pulled on the thin thread, which seemed to control some kind of switch. Suddenly, vents flipped open along all four walls of the hall, each wall revealing twenty small openings. As these openings activated, white smoke began to spew forth.
In an instant, the white smoke filled the entire second-floor hall. Ji Zichen shouted, "Hold your breath!"
Quickly, Ji Zichen pulled Xia Zhou and Lin Chuyu back onto the platform. Looking inside from the edge of the platform, Ji Zichen saw mist swirling in the hall as if it were a cloud-covered paradise.
Ji Zichen didn’t hear any sounds of fighting inside, but several Sand Bandits under Killer were suddenly thrown out by an unseen force. Their bodies crashed through the window and collided with the railing of the platform before screaming as they fell below.
At that moment, Killer’s voice emerged from within the white mist. "Trying to escape? Not a chance!"
Hearing Killer speak through the mist reassured Ji Zichen that it wasn’t toxic; perhaps she had overthought things earlier. Just as Killer finished speaking, sounds of combat erupted from above on the third floor.
Ji Zichen looked up from the platform toward the third floor. "They've gone upstairs; we should follow!"
With that, Ji Zichen pulled Xia Zhou and Lin Chuyu along and leaped gracefully from the second-floor platform to land on the eaves of the third floor. There was no extended platform up there, but there were windows leading into private rooms. The three of them broke through a window just as someone kicked open the wooden door to one of the private rooms, sending half of it flying toward Ji Zichen and her companions.
Ji Zichen pushed Xia Zhou and Lin Chuyu to the sides, shrinking his body as a half-section of the wooden door flew over his head and escaped through the back window.
Ji Zichen quickly scanned Xia Zhou and Lin Chuyu, asking, "Are you okay?"
Xia Zhou and Lin Chuyu each got up. Xia Zhou, drenched in cold sweat, exclaimed, "That half door almost took my head off! That was close!"
Lin Chuyu was also shaken, her breath still uneven. She asked nervously, "Who was that just now?"
With the door kicked in, the Private Room was essentially wide open. Ji Zichen said, "Let's go take a look."
As Lin Chuyu approached the door and was about to step outside, Ji Zichen reacted quickly and pulled her back. In his haste, he ended up holding Lin Chuyu in his arms.
Feeling the warmth of Ji Zichen's chest, Lin Chuyu's face turned beet red as she shyly said, "Brother Ji, what are you doing...?"
Realizing his actions were abrupt, Ji Zichen felt embarrassed. He released Lin Chuyu and pointed outside, saying, "Look."
Lin Chuyu glanced at the doorway and saw a large hole in the floor outside.
She gasped in surprise, "It's that hole from the flower board!"
This hole was created earlier when the Fire Lion clashed with that assassin on the third floor.
Ji Zichen remarked, "So they came up to the third floor through this hole. Let's go out, but be careful not to fall."
Comment 0 Comment Count