Chapter 68

Cheng Duo had actually been considering entering that underground palace for a while, but he had been busy preparing for his marriage and couldn't spare the time.

(T/N: He is talking about the place where they were stuck whilst escaping from wolves.)

Now that the wedding was over, and he had his wife with him, he had the idea of going into the mountains again.

Cheng Duo didn't want to delay until autumn or winter when the fields would be busy, and the cold mountain winds would be bone-chilling, and the wild beasts more ferocious than usual.

Besides, with Yong Ge accompanying him, they could have treated it as a honeymoon trip in the summer, but in the cold weather, it would be pure suffering.

Fortunately, he had stored a lot of food in his space in preparation for his wedding. After a simple discussion with Yong Ge, they steamed two large pots of steamed buns and cooked several dishes to keep in the space. If they couldn't make a fire later, they would have something to eat.

Before departing, Yong Ge thought about the horses and chickens at home, so he went to Shanzi's house and asked him to take care of them.

Shanzi looked enviously at Yong Ge, wearing imposing leather wrist guards and belts, carrying an ironwood longbow on his back. He wanted to volunteer, but they were going to explore the underground palace, and the dangers were uncertain. Moreover, Cheng Duo's space couldn't be exposed, so Yong Ge could only promise Shanzi that if he caught a wild chicken or rabbit, he could have one, and Shanzi reluctantly agreed.

Unlike the last time they fled in a sorry state, this time, as they entered the mountains, Yong Ge felt a sense of familiarity. Passing by the pond where they camped last time, he recognized it and said, "So, it's not far from the village. Last time, it took us three hours to get here!"

Cheng Duo laughed and explained that last time, he had to be supported by Yong Ge, which made the journey three times longer.

This time, they traveled light and reached the entrance of the underground palace before sunset. Cheng Duo even took the time to teach Yong Ge how to hunt a wild goose.

So their dinner became the roasted wild goose, its skin and feathers peeled, cooked over the fire until golden, and beside the lively and bustling fire, against the gradually dimming night, there was a sense of joyful contentment.

After a while, Cheng Duo took out a clean wooden basin, poured half a bucket of water into it, and called Yong Ge over, saying, "Come and wash your hands and face."

Yong Ge obediently came over, although his face was covered in sweat from the fire, his eyes were especially bright. Cheng Duo couldn't help but kiss him on the lips and asked, "Are you this happy?"

"Yes!"

Yong Ge didn't know why, even though it wasn't the first time spending the night outside with Cheng Duo, this time, he felt particularly excited.

Cheng Duo knew why. This time, they were married, Yong Ge had no more restraints, and he had always been taught to be an obedient and well-behaved little brother. So he rarely spent the night outside.

It was like a little child who had never spent the night outside, suddenly experiencing a night under the open sky.

After they finished their meal and protected themselves from mosquitoes with wormwood, Yong Ge lay down to rest with Cheng Duo. The sleeping mat was just enough for the two of them, and after a while, Yong Ge felt something hard, "Cheng, Cheng Duo… If you want, I can…"

Even though the night sky was above them, and there was no cover, it was deep in the mountains late at night, so no one should come, right?

Coughing slightly, Cheng Duo said, a bit embarrassed, "It's fine, just go to sleep." He had considered today's long journey and hadn't touched Yong Ge last night. They were newlyweds, and he didn't want to be too hasty.

But this time, Yong Ge didn't obediently listen; he moved to sit up.

Cheng Duo held him down, saying, "Be good, go to sleep."

Yong Ge couldn't move and simply leaned in to kiss him. At first, it was too dark to see, and he only kissed his chin, but gradually, he moved to his lips…

Cheng Duo had no choice but to kiss his wife for a while, then moved slightly away. His Adam's apple moved, and in a muffled voice in the dark night, he asked, "Aren't you tired?"

"Not tired."

It's been a whole day of walking; of course, they're tired. But in this situation, if they don't do something, Yong Ge won't be able to sleep.

Cheng Duo held Yong Ge's hand and continued down the path…

>>> 

The next day, the two of them woke up feeling refreshed and prepared themselves. Holding torches, they descended into the underground palace through the passageway on the ground.

It was still the same place, and even the two stone statues at the entrance of the underground palace had not changed.

Cheng Duo studied the tightly closed stone door for a while and discovered a stone disc on the door. The positions on the disc seemed to correspond to the Chinese zodiac, and there was a hole in the center, probably where a key should be inserted.

Yong Ge also noticed it, "We don't have the key. How do we get in?"

He thought about searching around to see if there was another entrance.

But Cheng Duo didn't want to bother with that. He handed the torch to Yong Ge and asked him to stand back. Then, he stood in front of the five to six meters high stone door and pushed with all his strength.

Cheng Duo estimated that each of the two stone doors weighed at least a thousand kilograms, and with the mechanism locking them, it would take at least two thousand kilograms of force to open them.

Fortunately, Cheng Duo had superhuman strength due to his ability. As he activated his crystal nucleus, his strength gradually increased, and fragments of the stone door fell to the ground.

This stone door was the heaviest thing Cheng Duo had encountered since coming to this world. His face turned red as he exerted his strength and with a loud shout, the stone door finally made a cracking sound.

Suddenly, something behind the door shone with the light of Yong Ge's torch. Cheng Duo was prepared and quickly rolled to avoid the incoming arrow rain attack.

"Clang clang clang!" Numerous metal arrowheads densely pierced into the ground in front of the door. If it had been a group of people opening the door, they would have been pierced like hedgehogs.

"Cheng Duo, are you okay?" Yong Ge was worried and rushed over after the arrow rain stopped, afraid of disturbing Cheng Duo.

"I'm fine," Cheng Duo waved his hand, pulled out an iron arrow, and found that it was shimmering with a green light, indicating that it was poisoned.

He quickly warned Yong Ge, "Be careful, don't touch these arrows; they might be poisonous."

Yong Ge quickly agreed, but he noticed that the arrowheads were poisonous, not the arrow shafts, so they plucked out the arrowheads and cleared the arrows from the ground.

Cheng Duo could tell that this underground tomb was not simple. So he discussed with Yong Ge, suggesting that he should go down alone, and Yong Ge should wait for him above.

However, Yong Ge would never agree to that. He said they should go down together, in case he couldn't wait and decided to go in to find him.

Yong Ge was not an impatient person, but Cheng Duo knew he was expressing that he wouldn't survive alone if something happened to him.

That made sense; Yong Ge even jumped off a cliff with him, facing certain death. Why would he be afraid of a mere underground palace?

"Okay, let's go in together," Cheng Duo nodded. They had come this far, and it didn't make sense to be scared off by a small arrow formation. That wouldn't be his style.

But soon, Cheng Duo realized he had overthought it. The mechanisms in this underground tomb were quite tricky for people from ancient times. For someone who had seen and experienced many things like a modern person, it was similar to a decryption game—

For example, there was a row of neatly arranged floor tiles ahead, and one of them was cracked on all sides, which made it stand out from the others. Cheng Duo was sure that stepping on that floor tile would be a bad idea.

To be cautious, Cheng Duo and Yong Ge still stood far away from each other, with Yong Ge shooting an arrow at that floor tile.

Lately, Yong Ge's archery skills had improved significantly, and as the arrow hit the tile, it sank, causing a yellow powder to shower down from above the passage.

The powder landed right within a two-meter radius of the tile, and if they were standing there, they would have been covered in it.

Cheng Duo quickly covered his mouth and nose, signaling Yong Ge to do the same and leading him to step back. Before they could figure out what the yellow powder was, rustling sounds emerged from all directions.

"Oh no, it's snakes!" Yong Ge's expression changed, and Cheng Duo also looked uneasy. A single snake wouldn't bother them, but this commotion indicated a large group of snakes!

However, it was too late to retreat now, so Cheng Duo had to place the torch behind him, take out his iron spear, and stand guard with Yong Ge.

The first black snake emerged, but Yong Ge swiftly shot it through with an arrow. Unfortunately, more snakes appeared, one after another.

A multitude of snakes appeared before their eyes. Cheng Duo and Yong Ge killed many of them, but these snakes seemed uninterested in them and eagerly crawled into the area covered in the yellow powder, entangling and rolling around.

"…" Cheng Duo and Yong Ge exchanged glances. Yong Ge asked, "So, the powder lured the snakes?"

Observing the tangled mess of snakes on the ground, Cheng Duo thought for a moment, took out a large basket from his spatial storage, and used his iron spear to push the snakes into the basket. He then placed the basket into the spatial storage, where the tangled snakes died.

He continued to do this several times, and soon all the snakes in the tomb were dead.

Yong Ge felt a bit regretful seeing so many snakes and suggested taking them with them, considering how thick some of them were and how delicious snake soup would be.

"Let's not. We don't know what these snakes might have eaten in the tomb," Cheng Duo replied. It was a tomb after all, and they didn't want the snakes to crawl into a coffin – that would be too disgusting.

Yong Ge agreed after thinking about it and shivered, saying, "You're right. Let's leave quickly."

To be on the safe side, they backed away from that section of the tunnel, with one holding a spear and the other holding a bow and arrow, almost back to back.

Cheng Duo initially thought that the mechanisms would be the most challenging part, but they ended up wandering around the outer area of the tomb for a whole day and night. Yong Ge realized that having a map would be helpful, as they were likely to encounter more mechanisms inside.

Given the vast size of the place, they wondered where to find the mechanisms.

Then, Cheng Duo suddenly realized how foolish they were – he had already forcibly pushed open the main gate, so why follow the passages anymore?

He took out a prepared hammer from his spatial storage and told Yong Ge to stand back.

Yong Ge replied, "Okay."

While exploring the depths of the mountain tomb, they unexpectedly received a message from Li Wang. After reaching Yu Fang Mountain, Li Wang faced numerous difficulties and was nearly chased off a cliff by a blind bear. Nevertheless, he successfully found Li Da and Li Er and managed to make a living by brewing herbal soups for those constructing the city wall.

Li Wang had previous experience gathering herbs for a living, and he knew how to make simple medicinal soups for relieving headaches and fever. As the prisoners and soldiers building the wall had to endure the scorching sun, many of them fell ill and couldn't recover.

Hence, Li Wang's medicinal soups became a lifesaver for many, especially when there were no doctors in that remote location. They would buy Li Wang's soups for just two copper coins per bowl, as life was more precious than money.

Both prisoners and soldiers eagerly bought his soups, and later, Li Wang even prepared some cooling tea for relief from the heat. This helped support the livelihood of his family of three and left them with some savings.

Li Wang had no choice but to stay at the border initially, as Li Da had broken his leg, and Li Er was critically ill. If it weren't for Li Wang's timely arrival, they might not have survived.

Li Changgui recovered after resting for about half a month, but Li Changrong's leg required a few more months of rest. Life at the border was not too bad for Li Wang, but he faced difficulties sending messages.

He had to wait for a soldier delivering supplies to pass on his message to Cheng Duo. However, this time, the soldier had to leave hastily and only managed to leave a message for "Li San Ye".