202: Chapter 200
"Did you hear me?"
Wu Tian squinted with disdain at the subordinate from the Xie Family standing before him, waving a hand impatiently at the latter.
"We don't need your sub-maps!"
"Useless!"
"Get lost!"
"Don't make a fool of yourself here!"
"..."
"Wha... what do you mean?"
The Xie Family subordinate was instantly bewildered, looking at Wu Xie, who appeared completely serious and not joking in the slightest. He began to stutter.
"You... you are from the Wu Family, I recognize you!"
"I am from the Xie Family!"
"We have two sub-maps in our hands, one is ours, and the other is the Hong Family's!"
"What?"
"You don't want them anymore?"
"..."
"Correct!"
Wu Xie nodded with a smile.
"Perhaps five minutes ago, these two sub-maps would have been useful to us, but now..."
Wu Tian spread his hands.
"Useless!"
"..."
"You..."
The Xie Family subordinate grew anxious and shouted at Wu Xie.
"How is that possible?"
"That Wu Tian must have lied to you, right... that must be it!"
"Little Third Master!"
"You are a member of our Nine Gates; you know how great the risk is if we rashly enter the tomb without fully deciphering the ancient treasure map, right?"
"Little Third Master!"
"You are a leader in our profession; you must not be deceived by that Wu Tian!"
"..."
Wu Xie frowned slightly.
Then, he looked coldly at the Xie Family servant and said,
"Kid!"
"Sometimes, you shouldn't speak nonsense. I know my own worth, and I can judge right from wrong, truth from falsehood myself."
"It's not for you to decide!"
"Get lost!"
"Say one more word, and I'll cut out your tongue!"
"..."
"But!"
The Xie Family subordinate didn't dare to leave easily.
Even if he was really going to have his tongue cut out by Wu Xie...
He couldn't leave!
He didn't dare to leave!
"Little Third Master, our master is already on his way, and... this treasure map is set up with nine sub-maps, which means every single one is indispensable!"
"Think about it!"
"Think about it!"
"Can we afford to be missing one?"
"If one is missing, it will truly be ominous!"
"..."
"Heh..."
Wu Xie chuckled.
He slowly lowered his body, leaned toward the Xie Family lackey with a cold sneer, and gently patted the latter's shoulder.
Pat, pat...
"Hurry up and say a few more words; you won't have the chance soon!"
Cling!
As he spoke,
Wu Xie deftly drew the dagger from the sheath on his outer thigh, while his other hand reached directly for the latter's chin.
Swish!
The Xie Family servant's expression changed instantly, and he quickly leaned back, dodging in panic.
However...
Click!
With a soft sound,
Wu Xie's right hand clamped onto the latter's chin with lightning speed, and then his two fingers exerted a slight force!
"Click..."
A muffled sound!
The Xie Family servant's jawbone dislocated instantly.
Then, Wu Xie reached into the latter's mouth, quickly rummaged around, and with a flick, the tongue, which had almost lost sensation, was pulled out by Wu Xie's two fingers.
Cling!
The cold light on the blade flashed.
A sharp dagger was held against the subordinate's tongue.
"Hehe..."
Wu Xie smiled lightly.
"I hope you grow a few more tongues in heaven, brother..."
"Say goodbye to your tongue!"
Swish!
A cold light flashed, and the dagger in Wu Xie's hand was about to slice down onto the subordinate's tongue!
Suddenly!
"Wait!"
Wu Tian's voice came from inside the secret room.
"Leave his tongue for now; I still have some things I need to find out from him."
"..."
Wu Xie paused.
Then, the cold-glinting dagger stopped right on the subordinate's tongue.
He chuckled.
"Fine!"
"Since that's the case, I'll leave his tongue in his mouth for now!"
Thud!
With that,
Wu Xie kicked the Xie Family subordinate.
He gestured toward the direction of the secret room door with his head.
"Go!"
"General Wu is calling for you!"
"Go answer his questions first, and when you're done... hehe..."
Wu Xie gave the latter a cruel smile.
"I'll cut out your tongue then!"
"..."
The Xie Family subordinate was startled, trembling as he retracted his tongue back into his mouth, repeatedly rubbing it against his teeth to confirm that his tongue was truly still there.
Then, trembling with fear, he climbed up from the ground.
He walked into the secret room.
"..."
Entering the secret room,
The Xie Family subordinate looked up and saw an expensive-looking table placed in the very center of the room. Six people were sitting around the table, and behind them stood several fierce-looking henchmen.
At this moment...
Everyone in the room turned their gaze toward him!
This caused a tremendous pressure to surge in his heart for no reason.
Cling!
A string in his mind snapped taut.
"..."
"Hmm..."
One minute slowly passed. Just as the Xie Family subordinate felt the atmosphere becoming increasingly heavy and suffocating...
Wu Tian nodded slowly toward him.
He asked calmly,
"Little brother, what is your name?"
"..."
"Huh?"
"I... I am called Mo Qiu."
"Mo Qiu?"
Wu Tian raised an eyebrow and said with a smile,
"That's a nice name. What kind of work do you usually do for the Xie Family, and how is your pay and benefits?"
"..."
Mo Qiu was stunned.
While nervous, he was also somewhat puzzled.
What exactly did this person, whom even the Wu Family's Little Third Master called General Wu, want to do?
Why did he ask such strange questions as soon as he opened his mouth?
Could this person really not be anxious at all?
But there was no way...
Now that he was under someone else's roof, he had to bow his head. Mo Qiu's Adam's apple bobbed. After swallowing a mouthful of saliva, he had no choice but to answer Wu Tian truthfully.
"I usually do odd jobs for the Xie Family, and occasionally I go out to perform tasks like gathering information or surveillance. As for the pay and benefits..."
"It's barely enough to make ends meet."
"Sometimes, if the work is done well, I can get more money."
"..."
"Oh?"
"Doing so much, such dangerous work, and they only give you this little bit of money?"
Wu Tian frowned.
"These Xie Family people are really too awful, aren't they?"
"..."
Mo Qiu didn't respond.
The string in his brain was taut at all times, constantly guarding against Wu Tian's sudden questions.
"How about this!"
"You come work for me, and no matter how much the Xie Family pays you, I'll triple it!"
"How about it?"
"Stop working for those stingy people!"
"Think about it."
Wu Tian reasoned with him, trying to persuade him.
"The work you do is so dangerous, just like today!"
Wu Tian became more and more excited as he spoke.
His tone became more and more impassioned!
He stood up directly from his seat, pointed at Wu Xie outside the door, and roared loudly at this Xie Family subordinate.
"You almost had your tongue cut out just for delivering a message!"
"Little brother!"
"This..."
"You're only just barely making ends meet!"
"Do you think it's worth it?"
"Is it worth it?"
"..."
Mo Qiu was stunned. Listening to Wu Tian's voice and thinking about what Wu Tian had just said to him, his eyes widened, and unconsciously...
These words began to echo in his mind.
It seemed...
What this Wu Tian said made a lot of sense!
He was risking his life doing the hardest and most exhausting work, yet he was receiving a pittance of a wage!
This...
Was indeed very unreasonable!
Correct!
The more Mo Qiu thought about it, the more he felt that what Wu Tian said was right. He didn't have much loyalty to the Xie Family, and for so many years, his input and his rewards had indeed not been proportional.
If...
Mo Qiu silently told himself in his heart that these thoughts were all ifs!
But if...
If Wu Tian was serious about asking him to work as his subordinate...
Wouldn't he have a better path?
A brighter future?
"..."
While Mo Qiu was letting his imagination run wild...
Wu Tian suddenly asked him out of the blue.
"Did the Xie Family come late on purpose?"
"..."
"Yes!"
Mo Qiu, still in his fantasy, didn't even think and nodded directly at Wu Tian. The word "Yes" slipped out directly!
"...Hmm?!"
However!
After the word "Yes" slipped out...
Mo Qiu froze.
Then, looking at Wu Tian with a pale face, he shouted loudly.
"You tricked me?!"
"..."
"No!"
Wu Tian smiled slightly, revealing an intriguing smile at Mo Qiu.
"This is your proof of loyalty for joining us."
"Come on!"
"I will definitely not break my promise of triple the salary. Now you are my subordinate!"
"So no matter what I ask you, you should answer very seriously, right?"
"..."
After the words fell.
Wu Tian looked at Mo Qiu not far away with cold killing intent in his eyes.
It looked like a question.
But it was actually a statement.
This question...
Mo Qiu had to answer!
"...Alright..."
After some struggle...
Mo Qiu looked at Wu Tian and nodded slowly. After organizing his words in his mind, Mo Qiu opened his mouth and said,
"After you, General Wu, arrived here and wiped out the Qi Family, Third Master Xie approached Fourth Master Xie, and then the two of them discussed this matter at the Changsha marketplace."
"At first..."
"Fourth Master's idea was to see if we should make contact, because the other big families were moving very quickly, and we couldn't lag behind!"
"Then..."
Mo Qiu continued.
"Third Master proposed a different opinion."
"Third Master felt that we shouldn't act so early, because all the families were still watching, and we couldn't be the first to stick our necks out. Furthermore, we had two sub-maps in our hands, so we had a huge advantage."
"Since cooperation was inevitable!"
"Then..."
"Third Master felt that we should appear at the climax, to be the one who delivers charcoal in snow—the one who is finally called upon—that would be more valuable!"
"And we could also propose better conditions!"
"But..."
Mo Qiu looked at Wu Tian when he said this.
"Third Master and Fourth Master calculated everything but didn't expect that the seven families had already gathered at the Qi Family's suburban manor!"
"And even less did they expect..."
"You have basically deciphered the secret of this treasure map by relying on the sub-maps of the other seven families!"
"So..."
Mo Qiu smiled awkwardly.
"Third Master and Fourth Master let me turn from dark to light, to come out and hold you back!"
"So that the two sub-maps in our hands could play their due role!"
"But..."
"I don't need to say what happened next, right?"
"Hehe..."
Mo Qiu smiled awkwardly.
Then he closed his mouth.
"..."
"Oh!"
After hearing Mo Qiu's account, Wu Tian nodded slowly.
He roughly understood the specific situation of this matter.
"So that means..."
"The Xie Family, having two sub-maps, originally intended to cooperate, but just wanted to get more benefits from it?"
"But they didn't expect that the two maps in their hands were actually of little significance to us now."
"So you got anxious!"
"Panicked!"
"You were told to hold us back so they could hurry over?"
"And then negotiate terms with me?"
"..."
"Yes!"
Mo Qiu nodded.
"That's about it."
"..."
"Emmmm..."
After hearing Mo Qiu's narration, Wu Tian fell into deep thought.
Honestly...
Based on previous experience, Wu Tian didn't feel that he had completely deciphered the secret of the treasure map in his hands, because he had always looked at these things involving exploration and deciphering with a perspective that they were not simple.
And...
Wu Tian was not a hothead.
He wouldn't naively think that these two extra sub-maps were completely useless!
Because in the Eight Trigrams, the eight directions are opposites in pairs. If the duplicate sub-maps in the same direction were useless, why design eight sub-maps and repeat the directions that were already there!
Just designing four sub-maps, wouldn't that be simple?
Wouldn't that be convenient?
Wouldn't that be saving trouble?
And...
There was one most important question!
That is...
The Eight Trigrams only have eight directions, but the Nine Gates... had nine sub-maps!
Could one of the sub-maps be fake?
Was it there to confuse everyone's line of sight?
No!
Wu Tian shook his head lightly.
He glanced at Mo Qiu in front of him, dark divine light flashing in his eyes.
Then the divine light receded.
Wu Tian chuckled at the latter.
Then he looked toward the various family heads beside him.
"Mo Qiu has finished speaking, what do you think?"
"Do you think it's doable?"
"Bring in the Xie Family."
"..."
Everyone looked at each other, and then Wu Xie, who had a closer relationship, spoke first.
The latter stood leaning against the wall with his arms crossed.
While gently tapping his arm with his two fingers, he lowered his head and analyzed calmly.
"The Xie Family still has two maps."
"Plus the two sub-maps in their hands, we now have nine sub-maps!"
"And the Eight Trigrams only have eight orientations!"
"Hehe..."
Wu Xie smiled faintly at everyone.
"Everyone should understand what I mean by saying this!"
"These last two maps..."
"Are indispensable!"
"It's just that..."
"We cannot give the Xie Family any more benefits!"
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"I think so!"
"You guys say it!"
"..."
"I think Little Third Master is right!"
"Although the Xie Family might not have bad intentions, everyone is the same, they just represent the Hong Family!"
"One family, one map!"
"No special treatment!"
"Us being able to bring them along is already out of consideration for past relations!"
"Special treatment..."
"Impossible!"
Huo Nanfeng nodded and said with a frown.
"Correct!"
"Everyone is the same, at worst we can distribute according to labor!"
"More work, more gain!"
"The more you contribute, the more you get!"
"If they have the ability, then that is indisputable!"
Chen Jie nodded.
"No problem!"
"Just do as Little Third Master said!"
"..."
"Do as Little Third Master said!"
"I have no opinion."
"I have no opinion either!"
"..."
"Good!"
Seeing that everyone had no objections, Wu Tian nodded.
"Since everyone unanimously agrees with what Little Third Master said, then that's what we'll do!"
"If the Xie Family is reasonable, we will reach a cooperation."
"If they are unreasonable..."
Cold light flashed in Wu Tian's eyes.
"Then I'm sorry!"
"What we are doing cannot have any mistakes!"
"Everyone..."
"Get ready!"
"..."
...
Half an hour later, Third Master Xie brought Fourth Master Xie to the Qi Family's suburban manor.
Third Master Xie and Fourth Master Xie did not know what the situation was like in the manor at this moment.
They were still looking down on everyone with their noses in the air.
The two walked into the manor's courtyard while talking and laughing.
"I say, Third Brother."
"Do you think these people have been waiting anxiously for us?"
"Hehe..."
"After all, we have two sub-maps in our hands. To them, we should be like saviors, right?"
"..."
"Hehe..."
The Third Master, who hid his whole body under a black robe, chuckled and said to the Fourth Master beside him.
"I can't guarantee about being a savior, but they must have been waiting anxiously."
"After all..."
The Third Master, hidden under the black robe, said again.
"For us, the ultimate secret is optional to find, but for these people, the ultimate secret has been troubling them for a long time."
"Especially this Wu Tian..."
"Do you know why Wu Tian wants to find this ultimate secret and is so actively cooperating with the other eight families?"
"..."
Master Xie the Fourth looked at Third Master Xie, who had turned his head toward him, and was momentarily stunned.
Then he asked Third Master Xie beside him.
"Could it be?"
"Because the state is also interested in this matter."
"Does the state already know about the ultimate secret too?"
"Do they also want to obtain it? Do their people want to be reborn?"
"No way, is that really possible?"
Master Xie the Fourth asked Third Master Xie in disbelief.
"Heh, who can say for sure about such things? Haven't emperors and generals throughout history all had a near-pathological pursuit of immortality?"
"Let's go, we're almost there."
After saying this to Master Xie the Fourth, Third Master Xie stepped into the Xie Family manor.
"..."
Then, the two walked straight through the Qi Family's backyard, which was littered with corpses, and arrived directly at the Qi Family's secret chamber, knocking gently on the door.
"Clang, clang."
After a soft sound, the door to the secret chamber was not actually closed; it was pushed open gently by Third Master Xie's knocking.
Third Master Xie, under his black robe, was visibly stunned.
But without overthinking it, he pushed the door open and walked in.
Only after he walked in did he see the situation inside.
In the middle of the secret chamber sat a huge table, and the heads of the six families were seated around it.
Sitting in the main seat was that long-renowned young man.
"Hello!"
Third Master Xie, under his black robe, chuckled softly at Wu Tian in the main seat.
"You must be General Wu, right?"
"They say seeing is believing; meeting you today, you truly are a hero among the youth."
"Heh."
"It seems our operation this time should be smooth sailing."
Hearing the words of the black-robed man in the quiet secret chamber, everyone cast their gaze toward him, while Wu Tian looked at the latter with a calm expression.
After a long while.
A faint ripple appeared in Wu Tian's eyes. He looked at Third Master Xie beneath the black robe and asked softly.
"You are the last ones to arrive, so you must be the Xie Family."
"We have been waiting for you for a long time."
"How about it?"
A faint smile hung on Wu Tian's face as he joked with the two.
"Did you get stuck in a flight delay or a traffic jam on the way?"
"Why did everyone else arrive, but we had to wait so long for you?"
"The most powerful person has the most airs?"
Third Master Xie, under the black robe, was taken aback by this, then smiled and said to Wu Tian.
"I wouldn't dare, I wouldn't dare."
"It's just that there were some issues when looking for two of the sub-maps in our possession, so we arrived late. Please forgive us, Little General Wu."
"..."
"Oh?"
Wu Tian smiled slightly.
"May I ask how to address this gentleman?"
Third Master Xie, under the black robe, smiled slightly.
"You are too polite, Little General Wu. You can just call me Third Master Xie."
"Oh?"
Wu Tian smiled slightly.
He looked at the other person behind Third Master Xie and joked.
"Then the person behind you must be Master Xie the Fourth."
"Heh."
"I wonder if Liu Neng from your family came today?"
"..."
Third Master Xie was taken aback by these words.
Then, understanding Wu Tian's meaning, he smiled somewhat reluctantly and continued to speak to Wu Tian.
"Little General Wu, you are joking."
"The person behind me is indeed my clansman; you can call him Master Xie the Fourth, but we don't have a Liu Neng in our family. This isn't a village romance story."
"Since we have arrived today, let's not hide anything. Let's speak plainly. We have two maps in our hands, and you already have seven sub-maps."
"It's very simple."
The black-robed man scanned the expressions of the crowd and said proudly to Wu Tian.
"We want to cooperate in exploring the secrets of the Soul-Bewitching Cave, but we are not in a hurry."
"However, looking at everyone's appearance, it seems you are quite anxious."
"How about this."
The black-robed man grinned, reached up, and pulled off his black robe.
He looked at the crowd with a proud expression and said.
"We will reluctantly contribute our two maps and explore the secrets of the Soul-Bewitching Cave with you. Of course, we have one condition."
"Because we contributed two maps, I believe our share of the rewards should be higher."
"Heh."
"I trust Little General Wu understands, right?"
...
As the words of the Xie Family's Third Master Xie fell, the expressions of the other seven families became somewhat unnatural.
But as secondary figures in this conversation, they all cast their gazes toward Wu Tian, who was sitting in the main seat, waiting for his response to Third Master Xie.
A few seconds later.
Wu Tian looked at Third Master Xie and chuckled.
Amidst the latter's proud and confident expression, he said.
"Sorry, I never passed my Chinese reading comprehension tests back in the day."
"I cannot understand you."
"But if I heard you correctly, you mean that since you contributed more maps, you want a larger share, and that you are not in a hurry to explore the secrets of the Soul-Bewitching Cave, and that the Xie Family is not in a hurry for the ultimate secret either."
"Is my understanding correct?"
Third Master Xie frowned.
"That is correct, but..."
Third Master Xie opened his mouth to say something more, but was directly interrupted by Wu Tian.
Wu Tian, sitting in the main seat, yawned and waved his hand at him.
"You cannot increase your price, but if you want to leave, you are welcome to."
"The world is vast, we shall never meet again."
"However."
Deep light flickered in Wu Tian's eyes as he looked at Third Master Xie and Master Xie the Fourth.
"If you walk out the door of this secret chamber, it means you are already our enemies. We need the maps you hold, and in order to obtain them, I'm afraid we might do some things that no one wants to see."
"I hope the two of you will forgive us when that time comes."
As Wu Tian's words fell, Third Master Xie's eyes immediately narrowed. He pointed at Wu Tian and shouted.
"Wu Tian, what do you mean by this?"
"Are you threatening our Xie Family?"
"If we step out this door, you are going to attack us?"
"Heh."
Wu Tian smiled slightly, noncommittally.
He just said calmly.
"You can try it."
...
Third Master Xie was stunned, then exchanged a glance with Master Xie the Fourth beside him; they both saw gravity in each other's eyes.
Judging from the attitude of Wu Tian and the remaining seven families toward them, Wu Tian's words were likely not empty.
As long as they dared to walk out of this secret chamber, Wu Tian and the others would definitely attack them.
Thinking of this, Third Master Xie and Master Xie the Fourth finally felt that something was wrong, and cold sweat gradually slid down their foreheads.
In their hearts... weren't these people anxiously waiting for their arrival, waiting for the maps in their hands?
Couldn't they make any demands they wanted while holding these two maps?
How was it completely different from what they had anticipated? This Wu Tian didn't play by the rules!
He was preparing to rob them directly without even negotiating; what kind of logic was this?
Instead, they, holding the maps, had become the prized catch.
They had become the meat on the chopping block, eyed covetously by everyone.
"How about it? Have you considered it?"
Wu Tian looked at Third Master Xie and Master Xie the Fourth, whose eyes were shifting, and smiled faintly.
He continued to ask the two.
"I won't give you any special treatment, but we can still cooperate."
"I will treat you the same as the other families."
"I will select two young people from each family to go to the Soul-Bewitching Cave with me. You get what you want, and I get what I want. We each take what we need."
"We won't hinder each other."
"Of course."
Wu Tian smiled slightly.
"You can also choose to leave with the two maps, but as for... whether you can successfully take the two maps away, that is an unknown."
Listening to Wu Tian's threatening voice and looking at the cold gazes of the families around them, Third Master Xie and Master Xie the Fourth began to hesitate.
After a long while, the two finally recognized reality after a difficult psychological struggle.
Looking at Wu Tian in the main seat, Third Master Xie sighed and said softly.
"Fine, we accept."
"But since we contributed two maps, I have one small request."
Third Master Xie looked at Wu Tian with a firm expression.
"Now, my Xie Family and the Hong Family... compared to other families, our family is very short on money, meaning the funerary objects in the tomb. If we encounter valuable funerary objects, I hope our two families can take more."
"How about it? This request isn't excessive, right?"
"Not excessive, not excessive, heh, money is like dirt to me, Wu Tian."
Wu Tian chuckled at Third Master Xie and Master Xie the Fourth.
"Once we enter the tomb, take whatever funerary objects you encounter."
Wu Tian said generously with a smile.
But inwardly he muttered.
"Of course you can take whatever you want, but I'm livestreaming. In the end, it all has to be handed over to the state. Thanks for bringing the goods."
...
"Good!"
Hearing Wu Tian's affirmative answer, Third Master Xie and Master Xie the Fourth exchanged a glance, then nodded, agreeing to Wu Tian's request.
Then, without waiting for Wu Tian to urge them, they consciously took out the two maps from their bodies and handed them to Wu Tian in the main seat.
"These are the last two maps from our two families. See if you can find any clues?"
Wu Tian nodded and took the two maps. After taking a look, he handed them directly to Huo Nanfeng beside him, smiling and saying.
"Same old rules."
Huo Nanfeng was stunned, and finally gritted her teeth, inwardly complaining.
"Old your mother, aren't you just using me as a tool? Damn it, I have such a hard-working life."
Sighing, Huo Nanfeng wasn't one to waste words. She took out a pencil and drew a line connecting the overlapping parts of the map and the sub-map, then finally handed the connected part to Wu Tian.
"Here, it's connected. Come take a look, what are these characters?"
Wu Tian didn't speak; he reached out and took the map handed over by Huo Nanfeng, fixing his gaze on the map.
A few seconds later, Wu Tian slowly raised his head.
After taking a deep breath, he said to the crowd.
"Sure enough, this is the last sentence of the Eight Trigrams Formula: 'Xun is broken below.'"
"The position of Xun is in the southeast, representing wind. So this final clue connects with Qian and Kun, forming the lines for all eight directions."
"Come."
As he spoke, Wu Tian placed the map in the middle of the crowd and pointed to the 8 lines on the map, saying to the crowd.
"Everyone can see these 8 lines intersecting on the map, dividing into 4 diagonal triangular patterns."
"According to our previous guesses, at least two of these 4 triangles are confirmed tombs."
"One is the tomb of Zhang Daoling, the founder of the Orthodox One Way of the Eastern Han Dynasty, and the other is the tomb of Li Xiong, the founding emperor of Cheng Han during the Sixteen Kingdoms period."
"Then, without a doubt, the remaining two triangular tombs should be the Suspect Mounds."
"Now there is another problem before us."
Wu Tian said seriously.
"Obviously, this is just a guess of ours."
"Because 8 directions cannot give us 8 lines, since every two lines will overlap into the same direction; 8 lines are a bit too cumbersome."
"I suspect that among the clues given here, there must be something we haven't thought of."
"Right."
Wu Tian asked Huo Nanfeng beside him.
"Didn't I just give you two maps? How come only one sentence was deciphered? What about the other maps? Is there any information?"
Huo Nanfeng was slightly stunned when asked.
Then she also lowered her head and looked at the map.
Then she pointed to a few very inconspicuous characters in a place where a tomb was divided out and said to Wu Tian.
"Isn't this... come take a look at what this sentence says?"
Wu Tian nodded, then lowered his head and looked in the direction Huo Nanfeng's finger was pointing. Sure enough, Wu Tian found a line of characters under her finger. This line of characters was different from the three characters in each previous clue. Instead, there were exactly 8 characters.
Frowning, Wu Tian quickly analyzed these 8 characters, then muttered in a low voice.
"Qian and Kun reversed, heaven and earth turned upside down!"
"..."
"Qian and Kun reversed, heaven and earth turned upside down?"
Huo Nanfeng, who was on the side, was stunned. She turned her head and looked at Wu Tian, asking.
"What does this mean? What 'reversing Qian and Kun', what 'heaven and earth turned upside down'? Why don't I understand?"
"Does it mean reversing the two directions of Qian and Kun?"
Finally, Huo Nanfeng shook her head and denied her own guess.
Only Wu Tian said.
"No, if Qian and Kun are reversed, their directions would still be the same, and the lines would also overlap together. This is completely meaningless."
"..."
"Hmm."
Wu Xie, who was watching from the side, also nodded, agreeing with Huo Nanfeng's statement.
Indeed, reversing Qian and Kun really didn't seem useful.
But shouldn't the latter part, "heaven and earth turned upside down," also be interpreted?
How to interpret it?
Hearing Wu Xie's words, Li Xiaotie, who was sitting on the side, couldn't help but interject.
"This is completely a flat plane. What difference does it make whether it's reversed or not? Isn't it all the same?"
"Wait, what did you say?"
Wu Xie was stunned, seemingly having grasped a detail in Li Xiaotie's words just now.
"..."
Li Xiaotie was also stunned, then immediately repeated to Wu Xie.
"Re... reversing or not, what's the difference? Anyway, it's all on one plane, I think they're all the same."
"Slap!"
As Li Xiaotie's voice fell, a flash of excitement instantly crossed Wu Xie's eyes. He slapped his hand down hard.
He said to Wu Tian beside him.
"I've got it!"
"Since reversing Qian and Kun on a flat plane is useless, and 'heaven and earth turned upside down' is also useless, can't we put the Eight Trigrams diagram in 3D?"
Wu Xie became more and more excited as he spoke.
"If it's in a 3D stereoscopic image, then this 'reversing Qian and Kun' and 'heaven and earth turned upside down' would be useful."
"If..."
While talking, Wu Xie took out a pencil and found a blank sheet of paper to draw lines on.
"If we reverse Qian and Kun and turn heaven and earth upside down on the 3D image, you will find that the two lines that originally formed a cross shape now become four parallel lines."
"And on these 4 parallel lines and a cross-shaped intersection line pointing true north and south, two diagonal triangles are formed. And because of the 3D imaging, the positions of these two triangles have also changed somewhat from their previous positions."
Wu Xie's expression was exceptionally excited.
He continued.
"Then the answer is very obvious."
"The two triangles now shown on the image are built opposite to each other; it is very likely that they are Zhang Daoling's tomb and Li Xiong's tomb."
"How about it?"
Wu Xie chuckled.
"My analysis is flawless, right?"
"Slap!"
After being stunned for a moment, Wu Tian immediately came to his senses. He reached out and slapped Wu Xie on the back.
He laughed loudly at the latter.
"Not bad! As expected, your brain is very sharp. I didn't misjudge you. Specialization has its merits, not bad."
"Alright then."
Looking at the map that had basically been deciphered, Wu Tian smiled slightly.
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