Chapter 12: The Stone Wall Mechanism

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After dealing with the corpse of Black Maojiang, Zhang Wuxun hurried over to check the coffin, wanting to see if Little Tianzhen had been dragged inside.

Seeing only the foreigner inside the coffin, Zhang Wuxun breathed a heavy sigh of relief—it was fortunate that Little Tianzhen was not there.

However, there were still quite a few valuable items in that black den.

Zhang Wuxun picked out a few good things for himself and took all the rest, planning to give them to Fatty as a favor once the Iron Triangle regrouped. Then he slung the bag holding the large jade bottle into his storage space.

"Which ear chamber did Little Tianzhen go into before? Oh, the right side," Zhang Wuxun muttered to himself as he returned to the right ear chamber, where he indeed found some clues.

Following the traces, he discovered another secret tunnel behind a broken urn.

"Damn it!" Zhang Wuxun was stunned.

He had suspected that Little Tianzhen couldn't have disappeared without reason, which had worried him for a long time. Now he understood the secret lay here.

On the right wall of the secret tunnel was a slender, ancient script character meaning “evil,” probably a remnant from Little Tianzhen’s extended practice of the slender gold style.

Zhang Wuxun carved the character “fish” beside the “evil” character with his dagger, frowned, and crawled into the tunnel.

As he crawled, he cursed inwardly, thinking if it weren’t for searching for Little Tianzhen, he would never crawl through such a filthy, dust-filled tunnel.

Grumbling silently, he continued crawling forward along the passage.

Ahead, a fork appeared. Shining his light, he found a mark on the left path.

He carved another “fish” character as usual and pressed on.

After crawling for what felt like ages, Zhang Wuxun suspected he had worn his knees raw, but the tunnel seemed endless, with no exit in sight.

The worst part was that he still hadn’t seen any sign of Little Tianzhen or any markings.

"Damn it," Zhang Wuxun stopped and sat against the wall, rubbing his knees. "This damn place is a maze."

Covered in dirt from head to toe, he had given up on cleanliness—what was the point now?

[Dog system, quickly guide your master. If he keeps crawling, he’ll go mad.]

[System does not have navigation functions.]

"Damn..." Zhang Wuxun scowled. [What use are you then?]

[System prompt: Trap.]

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"Hmm?" Zhang Wuxun was momentarily stunned, then suddenly realized.

Damn! That explained it. With Little Tianzhen’s stamina, there was no way he could have crawled so far.

Knowing the problem, Zhang Wuxun redoubled his efforts and turned back, crawling in the opposite direction.

After some distance, he stopped.

There was a section of wall made of stone, clearly suspicious.

Earlier, he had been so focused on finding someone that he had overlooked this.

He scolded himself lightly, then extended his left hand’s index and middle fingers to carefully feel along the uneven stone wall.

By the way, Zhang Wuxun was left-handed. He had practiced the Fa Qiu finger technique with his left hand, while Xiao Ge used his right. No one ever stared at someone’s left hand for no reason, so Zhang Wuxun’s unusually long left fingers had gone unnoticed by Wu Sanye and the others.

Back to the topic.

When his fingers touched a protrusion, he keenly detected a slight looseness.

Bracing himself with his backpack and box, ready for a sudden drop beneath his feet, Zhang Wuxun pressed down forcefully with his fingertip.

Then…

"Hmm?" Zhang Wuxun frowned. Why was there no response? This shouldn’t happen!

He moved closer to inspect the small pit he pressed and tried again with more force.

Crack—a faint sound of a small mechanism activating echoed above.

Zhang Wuxun’s heart leapt with joy. Now it was certain.

The trigger wasn’t underfoot, but above his head.

Happily, Zhang Wuxun waited for the stone wall overhead to open so he could climb up.

Suddenly, his ears twitched and he quickly moved backward.

The next moment, the stone slab above opened, and with a wail, a huge figure fell, kicking up dust and shaking the entire tunnel three times.

Zhang Wuxun held his breath, wrinkling his nose, drew his dagger, and stealthily approached.

"Is that you?!"

The massive lump before him was not a monster, but Fatty, who had escaped through a jade door crack after failing to scare anyone.

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"Cough cough..." Wang Fatty was stunned by the heavy fall, coughing as he got up and shook his head. "Who... who the hell ambushed your Fatty?"

Suddenly feeling a cold touch on his neck, his voice cut off abruptly. "Brother, let’s talk this out..."

Zhang Wuxun covered his nose with the back of his hand, suppressing the itch in his throat. His voice was hoarse. "Who are you? What are you doing here?"

Wang Fatty’s eyes darted around as he opened his mouth to bluff.

Zhang Wuxun shone his light directly on his face, avoiding the eyes, and moved his dagger closer, lowering his voice, "Be honest."

Squinting against the light, Wang Fatty studied his threatener carefully. Judging by his outfit, he knew this was a fellow practitioner. Quickly, he put on a broad smile. "No misunderstanding, brother, we’re on the same side. I’m Wang Yueban, nickname Fatty, Northern School tomb raider. What’s your name?"

Zhang Wuxun sheathed his dagger, waved away the dust before his eyes, and coughed. "Surname Zhang. Just call me Wooden Fish."

"You’re the one who pretended to be a ghost in the main tomb chamber to scare us, huh? Bold move," Zhang Wuxun glanced at him sideways and turned to feel along another stone wall.

"Wooden Fish little brother, that was all a misunderstanding, hehe," Wang Fatty laughed awkwardly, changing the subject. "Hey? Why are you alone? Where are the others?"

"We ran into a blood corpse and got separated," Zhang Wuxun replied casually. "Before you fell from above, did you see anyone?"

Wang Fatty shook his head. "No, it was just me. I was crawling through that maze-like dirt passage when suddenly the ground gave way beneath me, and I fell here."

Zhang Wuxun nodded without further comment and continued searching the stone wall for a mechanism.

The mechanism had closed automatically after Fatty fell. Since Fatty said there was no one above, he had to find another way.

Wang Fatty was quite the chatterbox. Seeing Zhang Wuxun silent and focused on the wall, he leaned in and asked, "Wooden Fish little brother, what are you looking for?"

"A mechanism," Zhang Wuxun answered.

"Oh~" Wang Fatty suddenly understood. "So you’re the one who made Fatty fall just now!"

Zhang Wuxun glanced at him. "What, do you have a problem with that?"

Wang Fatty laughed heartily. "How could I? If not for you, I’d still be stumbling around somewhere."

"Enough with the chatter," Zhang Wuxun’s fingers paused on a spot. He warned Fatty, "Get ready. You might fall again soon."

Fatty was startled and before he could say anything, the ground suddenly gave way beneath him, and the sensation of weightlessness swept over him.

"Ah—Fatty’s butt!"