The Viper's Test

He didn't rush the tired soldiers to get moving. Perhaps it was because Gu Mo didn't yet have the mindset and awareness of a capitalist, and he didn't see them as working for him.

So, he thoughtfully let the soldiers rest well. Only after they had recovered their energy and it was afternoon did he have them begin the task of clearing the entire mansion... After all, there's strength in numbers, which was much better than the three of them searching around aimlessly.

—It wasn't even three people; it should be said that only he himself was consciously paying attention to this matter, but it was truly difficult to explain to the other two.

As for Tokichiro, he naturally didn't know. And although Hidechiyo could sense Yokai Energy still present within the mountain, she didn't know that the hidden passage leading into the mountain was hidden somewhere deep within her father's mansion and didn't give it much thought... So, only Gu Mo himself was certain about this, but he had no way to explain it to them.

It wasn't even suitable for him to search too obviously when he was doing it himself, and the workload was huge.

Therefore, he could only hope that the soldiers' thorough search, if there were enough people and they conducted a carpet search in a logical manner, should be able to find the location of the hidden door and passage.

This matter actually went more smoothly than he had imagined. Deep inside what seemed like an ordinary room, a small squad of arquebusiers discovered a wall that had been violently damaged, as well as a hidden passage behind the wall... It looked quite obvious; you could see it as long as you entered the room. However, if there was only one person, they would probably have to wander around the mansion for a long time.

After hearing the report, the three of them rushed to this room and also saw the damaged wall.

It seemed like there was originally an ingenious mechanism design. By simply turning the torch in the corner of the wall, the wall would directly rotate, allowing entry into the hidden passage...

—However, all of this design was now meaningless.

Perhaps it was the work of the Yokai, this room was also in disarray. The mechanism wall itself had been breached, revealing the pitch-blackness behind it. It was an artificially dug tunnel, with thick rock walls on both sides, so narrow that it only allowed two people to walk side by side, with almost no extra space.

The tunnel was long and narrow, and they didn't know where it led, and there was no light at all.

"Something deep inside the mountain is drawing them in..."

Tokichiro volunteered, pushing back against dissenting opinions to seize an opportunity to prove himself. He held a torch and, accompanied by his Guardian Spirit, poked his head in and walked inside, but came back out after a moment, saying with a very solemn expression,

"The Yokai on this mountain are probably all being attracted by that thing, whether they have brains or not... It's just too deep inside, bigger than I thought, and I don't dare go too far by myself."

Whether they had brains or not, those things could be attracted by the location within the mountain and instinctively find this place, finding the path leading deep into the rock mountain that was sealed off by the entire mansion. This indicated that the thing held a naturally great significance for them.

Tokichiro faintly thought of something. He had already had some suspicions before, but it was ultimately not good to say too much, and even if he knew, he wouldn't say it directly. He was a truly clever person, not someone who seemed shrewd but was actually very foolish, so of course he understood that arbitrarily judging the intentions of those above was not a good thing, and acting carelessly and even showing off what he knew was even more foolish.

In that case, whether he guessed correctly or incorrectly, there would be no good outcome.

"Finding the source is a good thing. It's much better than us wandering around aimlessly on the mountain outside like headless flies..."

Gu Mo examined the dark tunnel behind the wall, nodded, and then spoke.

"That's right..." Tokichiro said dryly, trying hard to force a smile. He hesitated slightly, then looked outside. The soldiers were patrolling or standing guard outside, and only the three of them were in this room. So he took a step closer and lowered his voice—

"Brother Gu Mo, Miss Axiu... I think it's best not to bring too many people with us when we act here."

"?"

Gu Mo's expression didn't change, but Hidechiyo, who was examining the hidden door and passage, shifted her gaze slightly and raised her delicate eyebrows.

"It's like this, think about it, this must have been secretly built by Lord Dosan, right? This shows that Lord Dosan didn't want others to know. Whatever is hidden deep inside the mountain, this must be a very important matter..." Tokichiro struggled to organize his words. He felt that he was truly having a difficult time.

He clearly knew, but he had to pretend not to know.

While pretending not to know, he also had to find a way to cover for his superior and clean up his mess... Furthermore, this matter was originally unrelated to him; it was a complete unexpected disaster. He had originally thought that he had finally waited for a great opportunity to make a name for himself, and that coming here would give him a chance to show off his skills.

But, the reality often differed from the ideal situation.

In the past half month, he hadn't had any opportunity to show off his skills. The expected situation of being unfamiliar with the place, being ambushed and deliberately obstructed by local interest groups, and finally getting to demonstrate his methods and value didn't appear. The city was managed in an orderly manner, and it seemed to be the same whether he was there or not.

Because he felt that he wasn't indispensable and was afraid that his value wouldn't be recognized and appreciated, he was also desperately trying his best, but he still couldn't find any good methods. And at this time, a big problem arose at the worst possible moment, and he might even be implicated because he happened to be serving here.

"That makes sense. He probably did it so secretly because he didn't want others to know..."

Gu Mo leisurely nodded and said, agreeing with the reason Tokichiro gave.

Because this explanation was also plausible. Since it was a secret that the Viper had painstakingly tried to hide, it was naturally not suitable for too many people to know... These soldiers helping to find the hidden door was the limit. It would not be a good thing for them to know more clearly.

Hidechiyo pondered for a moment and also nodded. She felt that if that was the case, then there was no need to cause trouble for her old father.

Anyway, although the Yokai Energy inside was mixed, there were no powerful individuals, and she could deal with them herself if she took some time... Besides, even if there was danger, a problem she couldn't handle, would it really help to bring in a group of ordinary soldiers?

The more people, the more of a burden they would be, that was the logic.

"Then the three of us will just go in." Gu Mo raised a fist to his mouth and lightly coughed, saying so.

Tokichiro's expression changed slightly again. He gave an awkward but polite dry laugh, trying hard to make a very simple and honest smile, scratching the back of his head: "How about I don't go either? I'll stay outside with them and clear out the other Yokai on the mountain... I won't be much help anyway."

He said all this to distance himself.

The secret inside was so significant, and Lord Dosan had even deliberately built the mansion to hide it, so it wasn't suitable for outsiders to know... It wasn't just about the soldiers not being able to go in, he didn't plan to risk his life like that either. And if none of the soldiers went in, but he followed them in...

With just him, an outsider, wouldn't that be even more conspicuous?

That was the thinking, but would it make him seem like he was backing down, as if he was very afraid of death? The monkey was worried, feeling that he was truly unlucky. While making polite excuses, he cautiously peeked at the other person's expression, afraid that he would leave a bad impression.

However, Gu Mo nodded very readily, seemingly without any dissatisfaction—

"Okay! Then I'll leave the outside to you. Axiu and I can just go in ourselves."

Hidechiyo was the real powerhouse. Even in the game, the monkey was always just an NPC who triggered quests and plotlines. Gu Mo hadn't relied on him in the first place.

A moment later.

Walking along the tunnel behind the wall, moving along the narrow, artificially dug path, Gu Mo and the black-haired girl walked quietly within the range illuminated by the torchlight. He was very careful and cautious, watching his steps. The further they went, the rougher and simpler the artificial traces became, eventually disappearing altogether.

The inside of the mountain was originally hollow, containing a large natural cave. The artificially dug passage only cut through a path, allowing connection from the mansion to the internal space of the mountain. The rest was all the miraculous work of nature...

After all, it's highly unlikely Saito Dosan himself had it hollowed out; that scale of engineering is unimaginable.

Gu Mo held up the torch, and he could vaguely see winding rock steps ahead, descending along the stone wall and disappearing into the deep, dark depths below. On the path he was walking, one side was the solid mountain body, and the other was a bottomless abyss, with natural stalactites of varying sizes hanging upside down.

Cold, damp, dim.

The torch's illumination range was limited after all. The shadows dragged strangely in the firelight, as if monstrous figures with bared fangs and claws were lurking in the darkness, indistinct and flickering. The atmosphere unconsciously became eerie, giving him a slightly unsettling feeling.

Perhaps it's because that feeling of group pioneering and the noisy, lively voice chat atmosphere is gone?

Gu Mo thought this. There was no longer a large crowd following behind him, and he didn't hear their heavy footsteps or the clanging and scraping of armor and weapons. Naturally, there was no "strength in numbers" buff... Axiu was great, she was just too quiet.

She basically didn't make any sound. By "doesn't make any sound," he meant all her actions; even her walking was completely silent—

If he couldn't see her, Gu Mo would have couldn't help but feel like he was walking alone in this ghost of a place... Hmm, and the big fox.

The black-haired girl, whose steps were light and who seemed to walk on this treacherous terrain as if it were flat ground, suddenly stopped. She took the longbow from her back, drew the bow, and shot an arrow directly. The whole process was very fast; it seemed she didn't even need to aim, skipping that step entirely.

A hissing sound came, followed by the dull thud of a heavy object hitting the ground hard.

A large snake, five or six meters long, suddenly fell from the inverted stalactite above. Its upper body was also that of a woman with long hair reaching the ground and completely wet. The arrow accurately pierced its forehead, and the fatal penetrating blow had taken its life.

However, although it was a fatal wound, a centipede dies but never falls, and its strong vitality caused its heavy, enormous body to thrash wildly on the spot. Its tail slammed heavily against the ground or the nearby stone pillars, making dull thuds and displaying astonishing force.

It bounced around like this for a short while before gradually becoming still.

The black-haired girl walked gracefully past the corpse without even looking at it. To her, this was just a very ordinary interlude. Gu Mo also followed closely. He saw the Nurarihyon's Health Bar drop to zero and disappear, but there was no gathering light, clearly indicating no drops. Naturally, he didn't linger either.

The rest of the way was the same. Because the path was rugged and winding, twisting and turning incredibly, and combined with the cliff on one side where a single misstep would be a different story, Gu Mo couldn't snatch any kills. Knowing that there was no room for him to show off here, he naturally didn't ask Hidechiyo to give him a chance to fight.

In this situation, the efficiency of their progress became incredibly high.

Whether it was a Nurarihyon coiled on the stalactites above or a Yokai hidden within the Tokoyo, regardless of whether Gu Mo noticed it or not, Axiu could always accurately locate them and easily instantly kill them.

They advanced like a hot knife through butter, as if they hadn't encountered any obstacles.

"Axiu, look there. There's a shrine... It should be your father who built it here, right?"

After walking down a dangerously steep slope, Gu Mo found that he could finally see the scene below. It seemed they were approaching the bottom. Some strange light was flickering, dimly illuminating the entire underground space. It was the faint golden-yellow light of Essence.

He didn't know why, but it seemed that many scattered Spirit Stones were lying all over the ground. These crystals, containing strange energy, varied in size, and the radiance they emitted was the main light source in the underground space.

A small river crisscrossed, with countless branches spreading out like a spider web...

But it wasn't underground water. It was a viscous, green liquid throughout, with bubbles constantly rising to the surface and emitting a green aura visible to the naked eye. The visual effect alone made it seem corrosive, reminding him of some chemical reagent.

It should be the Yatagarasu's venom that had formed this small underground river over the years. That giant snake's poison was also part of guarding this place; Gu Mo was well aware of this. And on the river formed by the converged venom, there were traces of construction again. Boardwalks connected to form a path, ensuring they weren't blocked.

At the end of that path, a building was vaguely visible, hidden behind dense stalactites. It had a torii gate, a sando path, and shimenawa ropes... It was actually a shrine built in this underground mountain space, never seeing the light of day.

Hidechiyo withdrew her gaze and softly hummed in affirmation. She also felt it was the case because her eyesight was better; she could see not only the outline but also many details.

The shrine looked quite new; it wasn't an ancient ruin left from some time in the past. It should have been built within the last two years, perhaps at the same time as the beautiful mansion above. Of course, it could only be her father's work.

What was hidden seems to have an answer now...

This strong Spirit Stone energy fluctuation...

She withdrew her gaze from the scattered golden-yellow crystal fragments of various sizes on the ground below and looked towards the shrine again. There was extremely strong and mixed Yokai Energy there. A large number of Yokai had gathered, and there was a strong smell of blood.

"Lord Dosan, they're here, just above..."

"Yes, I know."

In the secret passage, Saito Dosan listened to the report from his most trusted retainer, gently raised his hand, and had a complex expression. His test was coming, so his mood was a bit conflicted. Although he strongly disliked the repulsive guy who had "abducted" his beloved daughter, he didn't want the other party to fail this test even more.

It wasn't a test of combat strength; Yokai were never the focus.

The focus was all the Spirit Stones he had collected over the years, which were placed above. The quantity was so vast it was unimaginable to ordinary people.

"Kid, don't disappoint me..." Saito Dosan sighed, muttering to himself, then turned his gaze to the black-haired girl beside him. "Yoshitatsu, you also take a good look. Just like Oda Nobunaga, I consulted your opinion. Now this kid is no exception."

Black long hair, a tear-mole near the corner of her eye, clear, ruby-like crimson eyes...

A girl identical to Hidechiyo.

She nodded flatly, lowering her eyelids: "Yes, Father."