201: Master Wu! I don’t want it!

"Qian-Three-Continuous, Kun-Six-Broken..."

"Zhen-Upright-Bowl..."

"Gen-Overturned-Bowl, Li-Hollow-Middle!"

Huo Nanfeng's brow furrowed. He then looked up at the people around him and asked with a frown,

"Isn't this..."

"The Bagua Mnemonic?"

"It's just a simple way to teach people how to distinguish the trigram directions. In ancient times, this stuff was literally just introductory reading for children!"

"This map is at least several hundred years old!"

"Could the secret on a treasure map..."

"Be solved so easily?"

The more Huo Nanfeng spoke, the more confused he became. Without waiting for a response, he lowered his head again.

He began to observe the basically assembled map once more, hoping to find more clues on it.

"..."

"Not necessarily."

Wu Tian slowly shook his head.

"Simple? The mnemonics themselves are simple, but do you see any connection between these mnemonics and the place we're looking for?"

"On the surface..."

"There is no connection at all!"

"I suspect..."

Wu Tian pointed his finger at the six small dot clusters on the map, analyzing them for the six family heads sitting beside him.

"If we estimate these six directions starting from the original positions of these dots, it's very likely that the characters formed by each cluster don't refer to any specific trigram in the Bagua, but rather to directions!"

"..."

A single stone stirred up a thousand waves!

None of the six families from the Nine Gates were pushovers, especially since those present today were the current heads of their respective families. With just a hint from Wu Tian, they naturally understood his meaning.

"You mean..."

Chen Jie pressed his finger onto a cluster of dots. The characters above it happened to be 'Qian-Three-Continuous'!

"This 'Qian-Three-Continuous' represents a direction?"

"A direction on the map?!"

"..."

"Yes!"

Wu Tian asked the soldiers following behind him for a pencil.

His eyes fixed on the map, he said calmly,

"'Qian-Three-Continuous' means that in the Bagua diagram, the symbol representing the Qian position is three continuous horizontal lines, hence the mnemonic 'Qian-Three-Continuous!'"

"It represents the position of qian heaven!"

"And the geographical direction of qian heaven is..."

Wu Tian held the pencil between his fingers.

Applying steady pressure with his arm, he used the point where his finger pressed as the center and drew a straight ray along the northwest direction.

"Northwest!"

Swish!

Under Wu Tian's control, the pencil in his hand made a phantom stroke!

Then!

A straight, gray dashed line appeared on the map!

When everyone saw this ray... their eyes lit up.

This line actually cut from the southeast to the northwest, traversing the entire map. Furthermore, on this line that spanned the map, it passed through the peaks of three mountains with unerring precision.

Witnessing this scene,

everyone's eyes brightened instantly.

"This..."

"This couldn't be a coincidence, right?"

Chen Jie was slightly stunned.

He then muttered to himself.

"Coincidence?"

Huo Nanfeng shook his head firmly.

"I don't believe such a coincidence exists in this world. Moreover, this so-called 'coincidence' of a connecting line appeared on a map where we've already found clues!"

"The probability of it being a coincidence is infinitely close to zero."

"So..."

An excited light flickered in Huo Nanfeng's eyes.

"What we need to do now is draw out all the thin lines for the directions indicated by these six dot clusters!"

"At that time..."

"Perhaps we'll be able to get even more clues!"

"..."

"Yeah!"

Chen Jie nodded. He also took a pencil from his subordinate behind him and helped Huo Nanfeng connect the lines.

Wu Tian and the other four family heads watched their every move without blinking.

Watching the lines being drawn one by one across the map,

their brows furrowed deeper and deeper!

"..."

"This..."

"All the lines actually intersect at the southwest position of this map. It looks..."

"Like it's been divided into triangles by these lines!"

Zhao Wu frowned, using the handle of his heavy saber to point at several triangles on the map divided by the lines as he spoke.

"However..."

"These lines are still not enough."

"There are only two triangles, and a third one is just starting to take shape!"

"Besides!"

Zhao Wu's frown deepened further.

Looking at the other family heads and Wu Tian, he said,

"No matter how I look at it, why do I feel like this thing doesn't look like a tomb?"

"Damn it!"

Zhao Wu grinned and cursed crudely.

"According to the information I've received, currently only two people's tombs are confirmed to be inside this Soul-Bewitching Cave: one is Zhang Daoling's and the other is Li Xiong's!"

"Then tell me, whose tombs are in the remaining two triangles?"

"Who the hell would want to build their tomb right next to someone else's?"

"Are they trying to get enough people for a game of mahjong?"

"..."

As Zhao Wu finished speaking, everyone frowned simultaneously.

What Zhao Wu said was absolutely right.

Building a tomb for eternal rest was a matter of great significance!

Not to mention that ordinary people would try their best to avoid placing their tombs next to others in terms of layout; even if they were forced to be close, they would calculate extensively to pick the most suitable spot.

Furthermore, one of the two known figures passed away during the Eastern Han Dynasty, a period that placed the utmost importance on burial etiquette.

The other was the founding emperor of Cheng Han during the Sixteen Kingdoms period!

Even if we take a step back!

Even if the 'tomb neighbor' was Zhang Daoling, and even if someone bit the bullet and buried themselves next to Zhang Daoling's tomb to soak up some auspicious energy,

would those who came later still build their tombs in that same place?

Not to mention that Zhang Daoling was a legendary figure in history, shrouded in layers of mystery. This Soul-Bewitching Cave... might even have been set up with formations by him to prevent outsiders from entering!

Therefore... the central area on the map that should have four triangles once the lines were completed,

was very likely... not where the tombs were located!

"..."

"You're right!"

Li Xiaotie nodded.

"But the current clues are only what we have in front of us. There's no way to be more certain!"

"How about this..."

An impatient light flickered in Li Xiaotie's eyes.

He spoke to everyone in a highly seductive tone.

"Tomb raiding isn't something you do just on paper!"

"Don't we happen to have some clues now?"

"At worst, we'll just dig up all four of these triangles!"

"I don't believe it!"

"Out of four, there wouldn't be two real ones!?"

"..."

"Give it a rest!"

Thinking Li Xiaotie was suggesting a good idea, Fatty immediately pointed at Li Xiaotie's nose and cursed loudly when he heard it.

"I thought you were someone important, but it turns out you're just a damn brute!"

"Dig up all four tombs?"

"Kid, your family has been raiding tombs for generations. Do you have any common sense?"

"Anything with more than three tombs can be called a 'Suspect Mound' or even a 'Deceptive Mound'!"

"Damn it!"

"Do I even need to say more about how dangerous that is?"

As he spoke, Fatty glared at Li Xiaotie again and said with disdain,

"No wonder people from the other families say you're unreliable. This suggestion of yours is just pushing everyone into a fire pit!"

"Kid!"

"If you don't have a brain, shut your mouth!"

"Stay to the side!"

"..."

"You!"

"Dead Fatty, what did you say?"

"When it comes to tomb raiding, do you know more than we do? Shut your mouth! You're just an outsider. Be careful, or I'll sew your mouth shut!"

"..."

"Heh..."

Fatty wasn't intimidated by him at all.

He directly hooked his finger at Li Xiaotie.

"Come try it!"

"See if I don't sew up both your 'gates'!"

"..."

"Fuck!"

Upon hearing this, Li Xiaotie's eyes turned red instantly.

Struggling, he stepped his right foot directly onto the table, about to lung at Fatty on the other side.

"..."

"Luo Que!"

Suddenly,

Wu Tian calmly called out to the gray-haired youth beside him.

Swish!

Bang!

A dull thud!

Luo Que's right hand, which had been behind his back, appeared in front of Li Xiaotie at some unknown point, striking the latter's calf—which was already on the table—with a fishing rod!

Thump!

"Argh!"

"You..."

Li Xiaotie's right leg, which had just stepped onto the table, didn't stay there for even a second before being struck down by Luo Que.

Now... he was clutching his calf, grimacing as he glared at Luo Que and Wu Tian.

"What do you mean by this?"

"Using your power to bully others?"

"..."

"Yes!"

Wu Tian nodded. Under Li Xiaotie's somewhat dazed expression, he directly admitted it.

"I am using my power to bully you!"

"What of it?"

"If you can't stomach it, you can leave!"

"Of course..."

Wu Tian tapped the parchment map in front of him with two fingers and said with a smile,

"Before you leave, you can take a photo of this map and then head to the Soul-Bewitching Cave yourself to find that thing you say you must get!"

As he spoke,

Wu Tian smiled and pointed toward the door.

He gave a faint smile.

"I won't see you out!"

"..."

Li Xiaotie glanced at the other five family heads, who had simultaneously begun to look away and distance themselves from the situation. He thought twice!

Then, gritting his teeth and clenching his fists, he forced a laugh.

"Hehe..."

"General Wu, those words are too distant!"

"I was just joking with Brother Fatty just now!"

"I hadn't even moved before Brother Luo Que struck first. It really hurt, so my mood was a bit off just now."

"I'm not leaving, not leaving..."

Suppressing a stomach full of anger, Li Xiaotie smiled obsequiously at Wu Tian.

"We are all one entity now!"

"Anyone leaving would be a loss of strength!"

"We need to be united!"

"Hehe..."

"Mm."

Wu Tian nodded.

He shot a sidelong glance at Li Xiaotie and then advised the latter with feigned earnestness,

"Having such large mood swings that come and go so quickly is a disease!"

"It needs to be treated!"

"Otherwise..."

"You're going to get liver cancer one of these days, kid!"

"..."

Li Xiaotie: ... The surrounding five family heads were stunned, then their mouths twitched as they suppressed laughter. They quickly composed themselves, looking down at the map with serious expressions as if deep in thought.

Although everyone seemed to be trying very hard to pretend,

in Li Xiaotie's eyes, this was the greatest insult to him!

"..."

Swallowing his inner rage, Li Xiaotie wisely chose to remain silent.

His eyes swept across everyone's faces.

In his heart, he was plotting... once they entered the tomb... he must find an opportunity to kill every single one of these people inside!

... "Actually, I think..."

"Something General Wu said just now reminded us. According to the clues we've derived, there might be four tombs very close to each other in this mountain range of the Soul-Bewitching Cave. Among these four, we only know of Celestial Master Zhang Daoling's and the Cheng Han founding emperor Li Xiong's!"

"Then..."

Huo Nanfeng said with a solemn expression,

"Do we have reason to suspect that at least two of these four triangles are Suspect Mounds?"

"..."

"That makes sense!"

Chen Jie replied with a grave look on his face.

"And I think this guess of yours is likely spot on!"

"If that's the case..."

Chen Jie rubbed his thumb and index finger together heavily.

He felt a surge of anxiety.

"It might be a bit difficult for us this time!"

"..."

"What's so difficult?"

Glancing at the worried Chen Jie, Huo Nanfeng raised his eyes toward Wu Tian, who sat opposite them without saying a word.

He said with a smile,

"Perhaps it would indeed be difficult if we were doing this before, but don't we have General Wu now?"

"With him here!"

"What's so difficult about it?"

"..."

"Hey!"

Hearing Huo Nanfeng's words, Wu Tian immediately shot him a look.

"What kind of talk is that?"

"Miss Huo..."

"Are you using me as a tool?"

"..."

"No, no, no!"

Huo Nanfeng chuckled.

"General Wu, please don't overinterpret my words. My point is that with you here, our safety factor is much higher, and the possibility of us truly finding what we want is also much greater!"

"That is all!"

"Please don't overthink it!"

"..."

"You don't need to say that."

Wu Tian chuckled.

"Right now, you Nine Gates have nine clues in total, and only six have been gathered so far!"

"The clues are incomplete, the candidates from the Nine Gates to go together haven't been determined, and there isn't even a unified command among the candidates. Before then..."

"I will not act lightly."

"Now..."

Wu Tian chuckled.

He gently pushed the map on the table in front of him toward everyone.

"Take photos if you need to."

"Record what needs to be recorded!"

"I'll be heading back in a moment!"

"As for the candidates to enter the tomb, select them and give me a list. As for us..."

Wu Tian slowly stood up and smiled slightly at the family heads.

"When the time is right..."

"See you again!"

"..."

"Wait!"

Pant, pant... Woof!

Woof, woof!

Just as everyone was stunned and about to take out their phones to photograph the map on the table, a powerful voice and several deep barks came from outside the secret room again.

"General Wu, I am truly sorry!"

"My dog had to eat and relieve itself on the way, which delayed us a bit."

"Our Wu Family is late!"

"Please forgive us!"

"..."

Step!

As the voice faded, a clean-cut figure suddenly appeared at the entrance of the secret room.

This person was roughly under thirty years old, tall, and wore sunglasses that covered half his face.

He wore black leather gloves on both hands and held the leashes of two dogs.

One was a Tibetan Mastiff, and the other was a purebred Malinois.

At this moment, both dogs were barking fiercely at Li Xiaotie!

"Woof!"

"Woof, woof, woof!"

"..."

"Shh!"

The young man slowly took off his sunglasses, crouched down to pet the two dogs, and looked up at the grim-faced Li Xiaotie, smiling as he spoke to the dogs.

"You must have smelled the scent of scum, right?"

"Hehe..."

"Stop barking!"

"The scum has already ruined everyone's mood; you can't do the same!"

"Even though you are beasts, you must know..."

"You are beasts with class, unlike him!"

"..."

"Damn it!"

"Wu Xie, what did you say?"

"Who the hell are you insulting indirectly? Are you calling me names?"

"..."

"I'll insult whoever speaks up!"

"My dogs are the most spiritual; they can distinguish good from evil and recognize loyalty from treachery. Humans might lie, but dogs won't!"

"Li Xiaotie!"

Wu Xie gave an unrestrained smile.

"Why don't you reflect on yourself?"

"Why pick a fight with a dog?"

"How petty!"

"You..."

Li Xiaotie's eyes widened, and just as he was about to speak again...

Wu Xie directly led the two dogs by their leashes, a cold smile on his lips as he walked quickly toward Li Xiaotie.

The two fierce, large dogs, which were almost as tall as a person when standing, lunged toward Li Xiaotie while barking.

This frightened the latter into quickly shutting his mouth.

His body couldn't help but retreat a few steps.

"Heh..."

Wu Xie gave a disdainful smile.

"Look at your pathetic state; you're really a disgrace to your Li Family."

As he spoke, Wu Xie pulled the two dogs and brushed past Li Xiaotie. As they passed, the two dogs seemed to suddenly lose interest in Li Xiaotie, not even looking at him as they moved past.

Wu Tian's voice rang in his ear as they passed each other.

"That's right!"

"Little Black, Little Red, you two..."

"You should still look for powerful people to challenge. There's no need for us to act against a coward who loses his nerve before even fighting!"

Li Xiaotie: ... "Enough!"

Wu Xie smiled slightly and turned to walk directly to the table where Wu Tian was sitting.

He placed the item in his hand in front of Wu Tian.

"Here!"

"General Wu!"

"This map fragment belongs to our Wu Family. I heard that the ultimate secret of the Zhang Family is hidden inside the Soul-Bewitching Cave, so I thought I'd join in too!"

"After all..."

"My 'Little Brother' is always losing his memory, and no one knows what's really going on inside!"

"Furthermore!"

Wu Xie smiled slightly.

He slowly sat down next to Wu Tian and said calmly.

"I'm very interested in everything 'Little Brother' has experienced!"

"Even though I can't repay the debt..."

"I'm still very interested in going to see and experience it for myself!"

"..."

"Oh?"

Wu Tian felt some goodwill toward this young man who shared his surname. He smiled and took the map handed over by the latter, then passed it to Huo Nanfeng beside him.

He said calmly.

"Piece it together!"

"..."

"Fine!"

After a moment of daze, Huo Nanfeng slowly nodded and reached out to take the map Wu Tian handed over, muttering a sentence.

"Hmph!"

"You really aren't polite at all when it comes to using me!"

"I have the life of a laborer..."

"..."

"I see that the people brought by other families are all surrounded by retinues. Why did you only bring two dogs? Are you the only one for this operation?"

Wu Tian asked with a smile.

"Yes!"

Wu Xie also replied with a smile.

"Since my grandfather's generation, dogs have been an indispensable part of our family."

"As for why I like bringing dogs..."

Wu Xie grinned.

"General Wu."

"Don't you think that dogs are more reliable than people?"

"..."

"Oh?"

Wu Tian raised an eyebrow.

He then said to Wu Xie with a look of agreement.

"Brother Wu Xie, those are well-spoken words!"

"I fear ghosts and gods, yet I have never seen them harm me. I do not fear humans, yet they have left me covered in wounds!"

"Indeed!"

"In a treacherous place like a tomb, dogs are indeed more reliable than people!"

"..."

"Great minds think alike!"

Wu Xie smiled slightly.

He reached out and rubbed the two dogs crouching at his feet.

Feeling Wu Xie's touch, the two giant dogs comfortably raised their heads and wagged their tails incessantly.

Wu Tian grinned.

"Good boys!"

Immediately... he reached out his hand to pet the heads of the two dogs.

However... a sudden change occurred!

Just as Wu Tian's palm reached for the crowns of their heads, the two majestic and powerful dogs instantly sensed something and tucked their tails. As Wu Tian's palm pressed down, the dogs' heads lowered further and further!

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They remained crouched on the ground until finally, with nowhere left to hide...

Wu Tian's hand finally covered the top of the Tibetan Mastiff's head.

As Wu Tian gently stroked it again and again, the Tibetan Mastiff whimpered a few times and then lay flat on the ground with its eyes closed. No matter how Wu Tian petted it, the fierce Tibetan Mastiff remained motionless!

Or rather... it didn't dare to move!

The other Malinois was no better!

It also lay on the ground, motionless.

Closing its eyes, it didn't even dare to steal a glance at Wu Tian.

"This..."

Wu Xie was stunned.

Then, his eyes turned solemn as he looked at Wu Tian, who was smiling and petting his dogs' heads.

When he saw the soaring killing intent and nobility between Wu Tian's brows, Wu Xie's heart skipped a beat.

But soon... Wu Xie adjusted his mindset.

He looked at Wu Tian and chuckled.

He said jokingly,

"General Wu Tian!"

"You have a fate with my dogs; in other words, you have a fate with me!"

"I'll be all alone for the upcoming operation!"

"Help me out a bit!"

"..."

"Tch!"

Seeing Wu Xie actually asking Wu Tian for help and care, the family heads present all gave disdainful smiles.

What a joke.

Who was Wu Tian?

He was a ruthless man who had traversed the country and the world, exploring places where survival was nearly impossible, and could even face ghosts and monsters head-on, returning unscathed every time!

Help and care?

Was Wu Xie even worthy?!

"Sure!"

However... to everyone's surprise, Wu Tian actually smiled slightly and directly agreed to Wu Xie's request, speaking very kindly to him.

"What are you saying?"

"We all shared the same surname five hundred years ago. When one of our own helps another, do we even call it 'help'?"

"But..."

Wu Tian smiled slightly at Wu Xie.

"My help doesn't come without conditions..."

"You!"

Wu Tian said with a smile.

"Must give something in return!"

"..."

As expected!

See that!

There's no such thing as a free lunch, and no good things just fall from the sky!

Look... he just finished saying he'd help, and now he's setting conditions!

Tsk tsk... this was exactly what they expected!

This was very Wu Tian!

Upon hearing Wu Tian's words, the crowd immediately exchanged looks and smiled at each other with tacit understanding.

They pricked up their ears, waiting to hear what kind of demand Wu Tian would make.

"..."

However... Wu Tian's next words disappointed them again!

"Give something?"

Wu Xie was stunned.

Then he asked Wu Tian seriously,

"Brother, I see we get along. Just say it!"

"As long as you don't want my body!"

"Anything goes!"

"Hehe..."

"Oh, right!"

Wu Xie chuckled.

He pointed at the dogs at his feet and added,

"These two dogs are off-limits too!"

"..."

"Sigh!"

Wu Tian glared at Wu Xie.

"Who wants your body or your dogs!"

"I'm saying, I can't help you for nothing, right? This Changsha is your territory, and since I've come to your turf, shouldn't you at least treat me to a round of drinks or a meal?"

"Consider that my payment for helping you!"

"..."

"Deal!"

Wu Xie was stunned for a moment.

Then he nodded vigorously at Wu Tian.

"Once this is over, I'll take you to the most authentic Copper Pot Hot Pot place around here. I guarantee you'll eat your fill!"

"..."

"Fine!"

Wu Tian chuckled.

"Then I won't be polite!"

"..."

Listening to the conversation between Wu Tian and Wu Xie, the family heads sitting around suddenly felt a sense of mental exhaustion!

What kind of temperament did this Wu Tian have?

Sometimes... if a single word was wrong, he would resort to killing.

Yet sometimes...

Even when someone jokingly made excessive requests, this man wouldn't hesitate to agree, and he wouldn't even ask for real compensation.

He was truly impossible to see through!

However... now was not the time for this!

Just as everyone recovered from their focus on Wu Tian and Wu Xie, Huo Nanfeng pushed the parchment treasure map toward the center of the table with both hands.

She let out a long breath.

"Alright!"

"I've found the seventh clue!"

"General Wu Tian, come and identify it!"

"What are these characters?"

"..."

Before Wu Tian could even lean over, Wu Xie, who was closest, turned his head first. Looking at the three characters formed by connected dots of varying depths, he only pondered for a few seconds.

He frowned and said directly,

"These three characters are... Kan-in-the-middle-full!"

"Kan!"

"Kan should be one of the Eight Trigrams!"

"The meaning of 'Kan-in-the-middle-full' is that the symbol for the Kan Trigram consists of three parallel lines, where the top and bottom ones are broken, and the middle one is continuous; that is called Kan-in-the-middle-full."

"But..."

"What does this 'Kan-in-the-middle-full' mean?"

Wu Xie had arrived late and hadn't heard the results of the previous discussion between Wu Tian and the others.

He frowned slightly as he looked at these three characters.

Then... just as Wu Tian was about to explain...

Wu Xie's eyes suddenly lit up.

He pointed to several lines that had already been drawn in pencil on the map and asked Wu Tian,

"Did you draw these lines on the map according to the direction of each trigram?"

"..."

Wu Tian was taken aback.

Then he smiled and nodded at Wu Xie.

"Indeed!"

"It is so!"

"..."

"Very well!"

Wu Xie nodded, memorized a few lines of the mnemonic in his heart for a few seconds, and then reached out his hand toward Wu Tian with a serious expression, speaking to the latter without ceremony.

"Give me a pencil!"

"Quick!"

"Fatty!"

Wu Tian tilted his head toward Fatty.

He said with a smile.

"Give it to him!"

"..."

"Alright!"

Fatty immediately nodded, then reached out and stuffed the pencil into Wu Xie's hand, watching as the latter pressed the pencil tip onto the cluster of dots labeled 'Kan-in-the-middle-full'.

Then he whispered a soft murmur.

"'Kan-in-the-middle-full, Kan is Water, pointing due north!'"

"In that case..."

Wu Xie's eyes narrowed.

Immediately, his wrist moved, manipulating the pencil in his hand to draw a ray in the direction of due north!

Swish!

Following the soft sound of the pencil tip.

On the ancient sheepskin map, a symmetrical image instantly appeared, with four shapes merged in pairs, their corners facing each other.

Thump thump!

Wu Xie's eyes lit up.

He gently tapped the place on the map where the triangles appeared.

He said in a low voice.

"It's done!"

"It should be the triangle enclosed by these lines, right?"

"However..."

Speaking to this point.

Wu Xie also had the same question as the previous heads of the families.

"How the hell are there four of these triangles?"

"This isn't right!"

"How is this possible?"

"Who would be willing to build their tomb right next to someone else's, practically touching!"

"Damn it!"

"Is this a game of Mahjong?"

"..."

"They are Suspect Mounds or Deceptive Mounds!"

Huo Nanfeng said solemnly.

"Based on the information provided on the map, although these four locations are all highly likely to be the tomb chambers, throughout history, there has never been a case where four large tombs were built together."

"So for now, we guess."

"They should be Suspect Mounds or Deceptive Mounds!"

"..."

"Hmm..."

Hearing Huo Nanfeng's reminder, Wu Xie frowned, then reached out his palm and waved it at the latter.

"Not necessarily!"

"If..."

"I mean if, the maps in each of our hands are incomplete information, or rather, information that is temporarily useless?"

"Suspect Mounds aren't built this way!"

Wu Xie said with confidence.

"Xun Wind, Zhen Wood, qian heaven, Dui Marsh!"

"These four are naturally incompatible!"

"Let me ask everyone!"

"If you were to build a tomb for your family, regardless of whether it's a decoy or not, real or fake!"

Wu Tian's eyes shone.

He asked everyone word by word.

"Would you be willing to build it like this?"

"Who the hell would dare to build a tomb this way!"

"I guarantee!"

Wu Xie smiled and held up a finger, looking at everyone's faces with his head lowered... and said word by word!

"Within thirty years, the person in the tomb will turn into a Zongzi."

"Within fifty years, this family will be torn apart and their fortunes will decline!"

"This damn thing..."

"As long as one's brain isn't broken, they wouldn't build it like this!"

"..."

"That makes sense..."

Wu Tian nodded.

Then, looking at Wu Xie with even more satisfaction, he directly invited the latter to head to the Soul-Bewitching Cave together.

"Brother Wu Xie."

"I see you have extraordinary speech and a deep understanding of the Yin-Yang and Five Elements. What do you say?"

"For this trip to the Soul-Bewitching Cave, shall we go together?"

"..."

"Oh?"

Wu Xie smiled slightly.

"Didn't we agree to go together before?"

"..."

"Haha..."

Wu Tian gave a faint smile.

"The 'together' from before simply meant traveling to the same place. The 'together' now means we travel as one, entering the Soul-Bewitching Cave as partners!"

"The kind where we can entrust our backs and our lives to each other!"

"What do you think?"

"Do you dare?"

"..."

Wu Xie was stunned.

Then the look in his eyes became dazed for a moment. In his trance, he seemed to see Wu Tian as that silent man who always protected him with the Black Gold Ancient Blade, and Rice as that damn Fatty who always laughed and talked with him through thick and thin.

Even Zhang Meng's face shifted in his blurred vision.

Vaguely... Wu Xie seemed to see a pool of water behind Zhang Meng. Zhang Meng was smiling at him, as if asking him a question.

The next second!

Whoosh!

A venomous snake, entirely crimson, rose from the water and bit directly into Zhang Meng's neck.

As her expression twisted in pain.

Wu Xie's heart suffered a huge shock!

Then... the illusion before him receded slowly like a tide, and his vision became clear again.

Then... Wu Xie looked at Wu Tian and the other two with a chuckle.

He extended his right hand.

"It's been a long time since I've heard such an invitation, General Wu Tian..."

"With the greatest of pleasure!"

"..."

Clap!

Two hands met in mid-air.

Wu Tian chuckled.

"The honor is mine!"

"..."

...At this time... while Wu Tian and the other seven gates, excluding the Qi Family who had been nearly wiped out, were analyzing the fishy business on this sheepskin map... in a very inconspicuous antique shop in Changsha.

A middle-aged man drinking tea picked up the phone.

"Hello?"

"What's the situation now?"

"Have that Wu Tian and the Huo family's group come out yet?"

Master Xie the Fourth frowned.

He asked into the phone.

"That... Fourth Master!"

"Not only have they not come out!"

"Adjutant Zhang also sent someone to deliver a sub-map to Wu Tian, and the Wu Family's Little Third Master went too!"

"They are still inside plotting right now!"

The subordinate on the other end of the line was somewhat panicked.

He asked Master Xie the Fourth.

"Fourth Master!"

"What should we do now?"

"Should we..."

"Should we also make a trip over?"

"We're the only ones missing!"

"..."

"Sigh..."

Master Xie the Fourth took a deep breath, clutching the phone receiver tightly with one hand, and turned to speak to the Third Master beside him in an urgent tone.

"Third Brother!"

"There's a problem!"

"Adjutant Zhang also gave a sub-map to Wu Tian, and that Little Third Master from the Wu Family went too!"

"Only we haven't made a move yet!"

"What should we do?"

"Are we moving or not?"

"..."

"Hmm..."

Third Master Xie pondered for a moment, then said to Master Xie the Fourth.

"Let's move!"

"It's time. First, have your subordinate stall Wu Tian and the others. We will set off personally now, bringing the two sub-maps from our family and the Hong Family to the Qi Family's suburban manor!"

"Hehe..."

Third Master chuckled.

"At this time, we're the only ones left!"

"We..."

"Appearing as the most crucial link at this moment will get everyone's attention. At the same time... it will allow us to gain more benefits in the upcoming actions!"

"Old Fourth!"

"Have you learned?"

"..."

"Hehe..."

"Third Brother is truly as wise as a demon!"

"I've learned, I've learned!"

Master Xie the Fourth laughed, immediately piling flattery onto his good Third Brother, before coughing lightly and moving his hand away from the receiver.

He spoke to the subordinate on the other end of the line.

"Alright, I roughly know the situation!"

"Listen!"

"You don't need to hide anymore. Go out directly and find Wu Tian and the others!"

"Tell them the remaining two sub-maps are in our hands and we'll be there soon!"

"We have things to discuss with them!"

"..."

"Okay!"

The subordinate, who had been waiting and lurking for a long time, immediately had his eyes light up.

He instantly accepted Master Xie the Fourth's order.

After hanging up the phone, he stood up from his hiding place.

He walked toward the Qi Family's secret room.

As he walked, a faint smile played on his lips.

Relying on the Xie Family was indeed the right choice!

The Xie Family people were smart and their work was reliable.

More importantly... he was being put to good use, able to speak up in a scene where big shots gathered today. Tsk tsk... what a great honor that was!

Thinking this, the Xie Family subordinate's steps became even lighter. Within a few minutes, he crossed the Qi Family's manor and arrived directly in front of the secret room door.

"Ahem..."

He cleared his throat.

The Xie Family subordinate raised his hand, about to knock.

Suddenly... Woof!

Woof woof woof!

A series of deep barks suddenly came from the secret room, followed by!

Two huge, fierce dogs squeezed through the door of the secret room without warning, tilting their heads to look at the Xie Family subordinate standing at the door with his hand in mid-air.

Suddenly... six eyes met!

The atmosphere became tense and silent!

Then... Woof!

Woof woof!

Whoosh!

The two fierce dogs instantly squeezed through the door of the secret room and pounced on the nearby Xie Family subordinate, pinning him down and beginning to maul him frantically!

"Ah!"

"Where did these dogs come from!"

"Stop biting!"

"Stop biting, damn it, my clothes..."

"F*ck!"

"My chest, why are you brutes biting everywhere?"

"Ah!"

"It hurts!"

"It hurts!"

"Is anyone there? Whose dogs are these?"

"Hurry up and pull them off me!"

"Otherwise, I'm going to kill these dogs!"

"..."

"I'm really going to kill them!"

"..."

Creak!

With a soft sound, the door of the secret room was pushed open from the inside. Wu Xie walked out with a frown and gave a soft call to the two dogs mauling the Xie Family subordinate's body.

"Come back!"

"..."

Growl growl... the two dogs immediately stopped their mauling and gave a growl toward the miserable Xie Family subordinate on the ground.

Then they turned and came to Wu Xie's feet.

While licking their paws, they watched the Xie Family servant like tigers watching their prey.

Their ferocity was fully revealed.

"Who are you?"

"Trespassing into someone else's residence and threatening to kill my dogs?"

"Kid..."

"Are you tired of living?"

"..."

Ptooey!

The subordinate spat to the side and struggled to stand up.

He said coldly.

"What bad luck!"

"I'm from the Xie Family. I came here to notify you that the remaining two sub-maps are in the hands of our heads. Just wait!"

"Our heads will be here soon!"

"Hehe..."

"They will negotiate terms with you then!"

"..."

Looking at Wu Xie, whose expression hadn't changed much, the Xie Family subordinate emphasized to him again.

"Did you hear me?"

"We have the other two sub-maps!"

"If you want to know the secrets of the map, you..."

"You can't do it without us!"

"..."

At this, Wu Xie reacted.

He smiled slightly.

He tilted his head and asked Wu Tian inside the secret room.

"General Wu, the Xie Family person says they have the other two sub-maps. What do you think?"

"Do we want them?"

"..."

"No!"

Wu Tian's indifferent voice came from inside the secret room!

"Useless things!"

"Let them keep them for themselves!"

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