Volume Five: Heaven-Shaking Wealth Underground Terror
Zhang Xingfeng frowned deeply. Why was this happening?
Zhang Xingfeng was puzzled because so many people hadn't been discovered at all. Could it be that the Mountain Bandits in the Taihang Mountain were all asleep at night? But how could there be no one patrolling at night? Could it be that they had become complacent because there hadn't been any military attacks for many years, and therefore hadn't patrolled?
Although Zhang Xingfeng found it strange, he still had no choice but to believe in his last judgment.
In this way, 1,000 people actually reached the canyon where the treasure was hidden.
The three leaders immediately gathered together, Zhu Deng took out the treasure map, saying, "Looking at this treasure map, it seems the entrance is in the area to the north!"
Zhang Xingfeng looked at it and nodded. It was indeed that location; the area was less than 100 square meters, so it was relatively easy to find.
"Alright, everyone, let's find the entrance!" said the Li Family Head. With Zhu Li absent, the Li Family Head seemed to think he was the one who spoke, and Zhang Xingfeng and Zhu Deng didn't seem to mind.
The Li Family and the royal family each sent ten people to begin searching that area.
However, even after searching such a small area for the time it takes to brew a cup of tea, twenty experts found nothing. Zhu Deng was the first to lose his temper and said, "Gentlemen, what should we do? We need to hurry. If the Taihang Mountain bandits discover us, our operation will probably be a complete failure."
The Li Family Head laughed and said, "No need to rush. There's still a while until dawn, and we have people guarding the canyon. If Mountain Bandits from the Taihang Mountain come, we can just kill them. Besides, this place is so remote."
Zhang Xingfeng didn't say anything to them, and began to carefully search the area with his Spiritual Sense. "Nothing?" Zhang Xingfeng frowned, even his Spiritual Sense couldn't detect any entrance.
A glint of silver light flashed in Zhang Xingfeng's eyes, and his Spiritual Sense immediately penetrated deep beneath the ground. Nothing could hide from him. A smile appeared on Zhang Xingfeng's face; he had found the passage. But just then, the Li Family expert searching for the entrance shouted, "Found it! Found it! It's here!"
Zhang Xingfeng glanced at the guy, smiled, and thought to himself, "Li Tianxiang, you really can hold back. You've held back for the time it takes to drink a cup of tea." Zhang Xingfeng knew that as long as Li Tianxiang used his Spiritual Sense to search carefully, he would soon find the entrance once he went deep underground, but Li Tianxiang stubbornly held back for the time it takes to drink a cup of tea before revealing it.
Upon hearing this, Zhu Deng and the others immediately went over excitedly. The Li Family Head was also beaming, because it was the Li Family who had discovered this entrance.
When the Li Family Head stepped forward, a deep, pitch-black hole appeared before him. He not only frowned, but the pitch-black hole, from which no one could see the bottom, truly made him shudder.
"Get down!" Zhu Deng ordered.
The heroes of the Vanguard Camp, accustomed to life and death, were not afraid of this bottomless black hole. Following Zhu Deng's command, they immediately began to enter the cave.
Seeing this, the Li Family Head realized something was wrong. He couldn't let the royals go first, so he immediately ordered the Li Family experts standing nearby, "You all get down!"
Zhang Xingfeng didn't move, but his Spiritual Sense had already spread out. Below was a cave nearly ten meters deep, with a passage at the bottom that was over a hundred meters long... and beyond that...
Zhang Xingfeng frowned: he was surprised to find that his Spiritual Sense could not perceive what was behind the passage. "A restriction, it must be a restriction, only a restriction can disrupt my Spiritual Sense!" Zhang Xingfeng thought.
"Second Prince, something terrible has happened..."
"Master, something terrible has happened..."
Zhu Deng and the Li Family Head both changed their expressions. A burly man from the Vanguard Camp crawled out of the cave and said, "Second Prince, all the brothers in front are dead. There are no more powerful arrows, not even a few!"
A master from the Li Family crawled out and said, "Master... powerful arrows..." He then collapsed, two iron arrows lodged in his back! The burly men of the Vanguard Camp, seeing the Li Family master's death, broke out in a cold sweat. If they hadn't constantly struggled on the brink of death, they probably would have been killed by those powerful arrows themselves!
Zhu Deng and the Li Family Head immediately went to the surviving giant. Zhu Deng anxiously asked, "Explain clearly, what exactly happened down there?" The Li Family Head was also extremely eager to know what had happened, but this giant was from the Vanguard Camp. Thinking of this, the Li Family Head turned back and looked at the Li Family expert who had died at the cave entrance, his eyes filled with disdain.
"My brothers and I just went in. As soon as we reached the bottom of the cave, we saw a passage ahead. But the entrance to the passage was riddled with traps. We had only taken a few steps when countless powerful arrows began to fire from both sides of the passage. We didn't have a chance to react at all. I was on the outermost edge, and that's how I escaped with my life! All my brothers are dead, not a single one of them is left!" Tears streamed down the face of the burly man from the Vanguard Camp. Those brothers had gone through countless life-and-death situations with him, and now they were all dead. For this steel-willed man, it was an unbearable blow.
Zhu Deng patted the big man's shoulder reassuringly and said, "Go back and rest first!" Zhu Deng had been in the army for a long time and loved the heroes of the Vanguard Camp the most. A general naturally prefers obedient and fearless soldiers. Now that so many had died, he was also feeling bad.
Zhu Deng was a general who also wanted to be emperor. This small setback meant nothing to him. He looked at Zhang Xingfeng and the Li Family Head and asked, "Gentlemen, what should we do now?"
Zhang Xingfeng shook his head. He knew that there was only one passage leading to the treasure, and there were no other passages. What could he do? There was only one way: force his way through!
The Li Family Head was also helpless, but he quickly regained the composure of a family head and said, "What other way is there? Charge forward! I refuse to believe that his arrows are endless."
Zhu Deng clenched his fist and said, "Alright, charge!" But in his heart he thought, "At worst, all 500 soldiers will die. What is this compared to the millions of soldiers in my Great Ming?" Of course, he dared not say this out loud, otherwise, no one knew what his brothers in the Vanguard Camp might do.
Zhang Xingfeng was the most frank, secretly laughing to himself, "I'm all alone. I'll agree to whatever you two do, isn't that enough?"
This time, it seems the Li Family and the imperial court are starting to show their power, sending in one expert after another. Screams of agony echoed up from above.
Finally, a joyful shout rang out, "Second Prince, there are no more arrows down there!"
Upon hearing this, Zhu Deng, Zhang Xingfeng, and the Li Family Head immediately descended into the cave, followed quickly by a large group of experts. In the blink of an eye, everyone was inside.
Looking at the corpses in the passage, Zhang Xingfeng sighed inwardly, "Just because of the decision of those in power, they have to come here to die like this. How pathetic!" But Zhang Xingfeng felt no unease, because that's just how the world is.
"Patriarch, a total of 87 of our brothers have died. No one was injured!" A Li Family expert reported to the Li Family Head.
"Second Prince, 66 of our brothers in the Vanguard Camp have died! 15 are wounded!" A burly man walked up to Zhu Deng and reported.
It's clear that the members of the Vanguard Camp were better off surviving in this environment, as both sides were taking turns going in to their deaths. All 87 members of the Li Family perished, while 6 of the 87 members of the Vanguard Camp escaped unharmed, and 15 were wounded but survived. The difference is obvious.
Upon hearing this data, the Li Family Head, who always believed that his Li Family was the most powerful, turned pale and roared, "Continue to advance!"
The Second Prince waved his arm and continued forward. Everyone began to move forward, but their pace was very slow, as they were all afraid of encountering another trap. And what they feared most came to pass! They had only walked about fifty meters when suddenly the passage shook.
"Boom!"
Those walking in front immediately turned around and saw a scene that shocked them!
Blood splattered!
The screams before death are chilling!
Everyone was stunned. The first fifty meters of the passage had completely collapsed! Actually, it wasn't a collapse, but a gigantic boulder, 50 meters long, had fallen and crushed everyone behind it. That boulder must have weighed over a million pounds! Even a first-rank expert would have been killed!
Zhang Xingfeng's heart skipped a beat, and a light suddenly shone in his eyes, but it vanished in an instant. Zhang Xingfeng sighed helplessly; what had happened was already done, and nothing could be undone.
The scene just now was truly horrific; that giant boulder completely crushed those warriors and experts into mincemeat, and blood flowed throughout the passage...
"Go!" Zhu Deng's voice was flat and cold.
They had anticipated all of this; this treasure trove wouldn't be entered so easily, especially since it was left by Temujin for his descendants. Temujin surely had ways to determine if the visitors were his descendants. Zhu Deng and his group had prepared for traps and obstacles! But they never expected such a terrifying 50-meter-long boulder to come crashing down!
There was no turning back, only forward. What terrifying traps awaited these guys in the endless passage? When would that amazing treasure finally appear?
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