Urban Martial Saint

Discovering that this was the den of Long-toothed Rats gave the four of them quite a surprise. However, they decided to continue forward, as Big Beard and the others believed there were no more Long-toothed Rats inside the cave.

Yet, Ye Qing dared not be careless at all along the way, because he felt that everything was becoming increasingly strange.

After seeing those skeletons able to move at the foot of the mountain earlier, Ye Qing began to suspect that the Long-toothed Rats might not have entirely left the mountain. Therefore, he suspected that the cave might still hold some Long-toothed Rats.

Moreover, seeing that road outside earlier proved that someone lived in the valley. Leaving aside who lived here, let’s talk about the environment on this mountain. This cave periodically emits a golden light, under which people turn into mobile skeletons and attack humans. But ironically, the person living in this valley can survive here—who exactly is this person, and how can they live under this golden light?

Furthermore, speaking of the Long-toothed Rats, it seems this cave is their habitat. In other words, the Long-toothed Rats’ living environment is actually in this valley. How can the person live here with them? Also, why have the Long-toothed Rats shown signs of migration and moved toward the outskirts of Xiliang Mountain?

For some reason, after discovering these things, Ye Qing felt uneasy, as if a major conspiracy might be hiding behind all of this.

These questions filled Ye Qing’s mind, but for now, he couldn’t solve them. It seemed that only by finding Shijia could he understand what was really going on inside the cave.

The four of them continued along the cave for about half an hour. Everything remained the same inside the cave, with no signs of anything unusual. The cave seemed endlessly deep, with tiny holes lining the stone walls on all sides, showing just how many Long-toothed Rats there could be, an utterly astonishing number. If that many Long-toothed Rats were let loose together, they might completely wipe out a whole town within half an hour!

However, during this half-hour, they made a discovery. They found a gigantic disc on the ground, lying flat like a massive plate—extremely strange.

”What is this thing?” Fat Wang curiously approached, circled the disc, and gave it a pat before exclaiming, ”Wow, this thing is metal!”

The disc’s surface was covered in layers of dust, making it appear like stone, completely concealing its metallic nature. After Fat Wang’s revelation, the group quickly brushed away the dust covering the disc, only to find it’s not only metal but also engraved with designs.

The disc was in two colors: one side was black, the other white. Within the black side was a white circular hole, and within the white side was a black circular hole—it looked very odd.

”This... this thing looks like...” Fat Wang stepped back a few paces and, after closely examining the disc, said, ”Doesn’t this thing look like a Tai Chi?”

”Tai Chi!?” Everyone was taken aback, stepping back a few paces to examine it closely. Indeed, the disc resembled a Tai Chi symbol, with yin and yang clearly divided into black and white. Though the extra pair of circular holes made this Tai Chi look somewhat peculiar.

”If this is a Tai Chi, then these two holes should contain something!” Big Beard pointed at the circular holes.

Upon hearing this, Ye Qing and the others looked around. Indeed, the two circular holes were too strange, and couldn’t be just simple holes. According to the Tai Chi Diagram, the circular holes should contain two spherical beads, completing a Tai Chi Diagram. And if that’s indeed the case, finding two spherical beads could complete the whole Tai Chi Diagram. What might happen once the Tai Chi Diagram is assembled?

The four of them said no more, immediately turning to search for the spheres. The cave seemed endless, and who knew when they would reach its depths. Perhaps the Tai Chi had some special significance.

They searched the cave for a while, but found nothing. In fact, they hadn’t spotted anything resembling a sphere along the way.

”Could someone have taken those two spheres?” Fat Wang muttered under his breath.

Big Beard and Ye Qing exchanged looks, acknowledging the possibility. But if someone had indeed taken the Tai Chi’s two spheres, it would be troublesome. The Tai Chi might be a mechanism, which, without being unlocked, could trap them here.

”Why don’t we find a random stone to put on top and see if anything happens?” Fat Wang suggested.

”Alright!” Ye Qing nodded, as there seemed no other option but to try it this way.

Fat Wang quickly ran to the side, returning shortly with a wobbly stone in his arms.

”Give me a hand!” Fat Wang shouted from afar.

”Damn it, I told you to get a stone, and you bring back such a big one?” Big Beard cursed but nevertheless helped Fat Wang move the stone over.

”Nonsense, look around, do you see any small stones here?” Fat Wang retorted, ”Enough chit-chat, let’s lift this stone together!”

As Fat Wang spoke, he and Big Beard heaved the stone onto the Tai Chi, placing it over the white section’s circular hole, intending to block it. However, Fat Wang underestimated the size of the hole. The stone fell straight through the hole, failing to fill it.

”This... this...” Fat Wang widened his eyes, then turned to Big Beard, saying, ”I suggested getting a bigger one, and you made me grab a smaller one—now see what happened!”

”I...” Big Beard was equally wide-eyed. The hole didn’t look that big; how couldn’t such a large stone fill it?

”Seriously, get a bigger one; I refuse to believe it won’t work!” Fat Wang said irritably.

Big Beard, having no choice, went over with Fat Wang. Soon, the two of them returned carrying a significantly larger stone. Shakily lifting it, they again attempted to cover the hole. Yet this time, they were wrong again, as the large stone fell through the hole once more.

”Damn it!” Fat Wang panted and cursed, ”Just how ****** big is this hole? Why can’t we fill it?”

”Let’s find an even bigger one; I refuse to give up!” Big Beard gestured at another man, ”Come help us; the three of us will lift it together!”

The man nodded and moved to help, but at this moment, Ye Qing spoke up: ”Stop!”

”What’s wrong?” The three turned to look at Ye Qing.

Ye Qing remained silent, slowly bending down to inspect the bottom of the Tai Chi circle. After a while, he suddenly said, ”Have you noticed the two stones we just brought are gone!”

”Gone?” Big Beard and Fat Wang exchanged glances, immediately rushing over to crouch beside Ye Qing and peering over. The Tai Chi circle below was entirely empty, with not a single stone. The two stones they had thrown in earlier were nowhere to be seen!

”How could this be?” Fat Wang immediately exclaimed.

”My goodness, what the heck is going on?” Big Beard also widened his eyes, ”We clearly brought over two huge stones, so why aren’t they here?”

”What... what’s going on?” The other man was equally shocked.

Ye Qing slowly stood up, circled the Tai Chi circle while examining it. After a detailed look, he suddenly leaped onto the Tai Chi circle. Approaching the white section’s hole, he observed it intently before saying, ”This hole is the mechanism; there’s a hidden chamber below!”

”A hidden chamber?” Big Beard crouched again to check, ”No way? It’s empty down here!”

Fat Wang took a deep breath. He had entered more tombs than Big Beard, and after exploring several with Ye Qing, he’d seen many blinding methods. Could it be that under this Tai Chi circle, there’s truly something special?

”One can enter through this hole; the real mechanism is inside!” Ye Qing said seriously. He had seen the formation of Qimen Dunjia in the Gate of Life of the Tomb of Ghost Valley Master, realizing the marvel of Qi Men Formation. At that time, Old Chen could step out casually and be a hundred meters away due to the Taoist Formation. Ye Qing suspected that beneath this Tai Chi circle lay a similar blinding formation, with secrets unknown.

”What should we do now? Do we all go in?” Fat Wang looked around, ”There are two holes; which one should we enter?”

Ye Qing pondered for a moment, staring at the white area’s hole, took a deep breath, and said, ”You guys stay here; I’ll go down alone and have a look first!”

”How could that be?” Both Big Beard and Fat Wang jumped up immediately; Fat Wang said, ”Young Ye, do you think the Fat Lord would let his brother face the risk alone, like he’s scared to die?”

One had to admit that Fat Wang was indeed a loyal friend. His words warmed Ye Qing’s heart. He waved at Fat Wang and said, ”You stay here, I’ll tie a rope to myself. If something really happens, I’ll pull the rope and you can quickly pull me back up!”