As they delved deeper into the cave, it became darker.
“Torches,” Minister Luo Wei said.
The soldiers immediately lit torches.
Yan Ge also took out the night pearl that Huangfu Yuchen had given him. This night pearl had a diameter of about four centimeters. It was round and translucent, not the largest among the five night pearls in the palace treasury, but it was the brightest. It was said that Empress Dowager Cixi held a night pearl in her mouth after death, and it could illuminate her hair within a hundred steps at night. Yan Ge’s night pearl was even more powerful. It made the surroundings within a hundred paces as bright as day, making the light from the torches seem like candlelight.
As Minister Luo Wei and the others walked forward, they observed the ground, searching for useful clues.
Huangfu Yuchen also looked around and frowned slightly.
“Is there a problem?” Yan Ge asked.
Huangfu Yuchen said, “This cave doesn’t show any signs of being artificially carved, but the walls are unusually smooth. It’s quite peculiar.”
Minister Luo Wei nodded. “I noticed this too, Your Majesty. If it’s naturally formed, it can truly be considered a miracle.”
Yan Ge raised his head and looked around, feeling the same way. By accident, he noticed some golden dots flickering on the wall, and approached suspiciously for a close look.
“Baby, what did you find?” Huangfu Yuchen walked over and called out Yan Ge’s term of endearment out of habit.
There was a moment of silence in the cave, and everyone turned their heads in embarrassment, avoiding Yan Ge and Huangfu Yuchen’s direction.
Yan Ge stared at him meaningfully.
Huangfu Yuchen casually hugged him and asked again, “Did you find something?”
“Do you see some extremely small golden dots on the walls?” Yan Ge pointed to a spot on the wall. “Here.”
Minister Luo Wei squinted his eyes but didn’t see anything.
Huangfu Yuchen nodded. “Indeed.” He reached out and gently touched the wall, then brought his fingertip close to the night pearl. The golden dots were extremely tiny and difficult to notice for those with less sharp eyesight.
The golden dots were too small to determine what they were. Everyone didn’t pay much attention and continued walking forward. The cave began to twist and turn, with multiple branching paths, and they followed the rope and entered one cave after another. Strangely, all the caves were about two feet high and could accommodate a carriage. Even the curvature was almost identical to the initial cave they entered, as if they were copies.
Everyone felt a bit uneasy. Even if it was artificially carved, it wouldn’t be possible to achieve such a degree.
“Things are getting stranger,” Huangfu Yuchen said.
Yan Ge asked, “What do you mean?”
Huangfu Yuchen said, “According to General Wei Chi’s account, the first batch of one thousand soldiers and horses were forced into the valley by the people of Youji Kingdom. There is no trace of blood in this cave, indicating that Youji’s forces did not pursue them. If that’s the case, why didn’t the soldiers wait until Youji’s forces left and then return the same way? Instead, they chose to venture deeper into the cave. It doesn’t make sense.”
Minister Luo Wei said, “I was also thinking about that just now. If that’s the case, there is only one possibility: something made the soldiers to go deeper into the cave. Either they discovered something important, or there was something that forced them further…”
A dreadful silence fell in the cave. ‘Something that forced them further..’
What could it be? This assumption was too terrifying.
Everyone looked at Minister Luo Wei with complicated expressions.
Minister Luo Wei felt helpless. He was just expressing his thoughts.
Gao Feng reminded them, “The rope has reached its end.”
“What?!” Minister Luo Wei was shocked. There was no sign of Ah Fei and the others, but the rope had reached its end. How were they going to find the others in this complex labyrinth of caves?
“Gao Feng, shout a few times,” Huangfu Yuchen said.
Gao Feng immediately shouted, “Lu Fei, soldiers, where are you?”
A clear and loud voice echoed through several caves, and everyone held their breath, waiting for a response. In this underground maze, it seemed like only their group existed.
“Lu Fei, soldiers, where are you?”
Still, there was no response.
“Your Majesty, what should we do now?” Minister Luo Wei asked.
Huangfu Yuchen said decisively, “Bring the spare rope and connect it to Ah Fei’s rope. Gao Feng, hold the rope and continue forward, and the others follow. Everyone, don’t separate.”
“Yes!”
Yan Ge sent out several strands of his spiritual consciousness into different caves. The strands proceeded forward but encountered several caves leading in different directions. He had no choice but to retract his spiritual consciousness.
“Your Majesty!” Gao Feng suddenly exclaimed.
Yan Ge and Huangfu Yuchen quickly walked over and looked at a rope a few steps away in surprise. There was a knot on the rope that they had connected not long ago—they had returned to the starting point.
“This…” Everyone looked at each other. Now they finally understood why Ah Fei and the others had gone missing. They must have gotten lost in this intricate cave system.
Yan Ge transmitted his voice to Huangfu Yuchen, “Should we let the Zhantian Vine search for them?”
Huangfu Yuchen answered back, “Not for now. If this issue is not handled well, it will raise suspicions.” Only a few people knew about the existence of the Zhantian Vine.
Yan Ge nodded and asked aloud, “What time is it now?”
The soldier in charge of holding the hourglass answered, “Reporting to Yan Caiqing, it has been nearly an hour since we descended into the valley.”
Huangfu Yuchen said, “Gao Feng, untie your rope and keep it. All the soldiers should rest where they are, let me think.”
“Yes!”
The soldiers sat down against the cave wall and took a drink of water.
Huangfu Yuchen walked to the wall and swept his sharp eyes over the surface, examining the right wall and then carefully inspecting the left.
Yan Ge followed his gaze and said, “Oh, there are also many golden dots here. It seems like they’re increasing the deeper we go.”
Huangfu Yuchen pondered for a moment and said, “Let’s follow these golden dots and see where they lead.”
Minister Luo Wei understood and immediately responded, “Yes! Someone, carefully examine all the cave walls and find the one with the most golden dots.”
“Yes!”
Once they determined which cave wall had the most golden dots, the soldiers resumed their journey.
Huangfu Yuchen took a few steps forward and noticed someone hadn’t caught up. He turned around and saw Yan Ge tilting his head, holding the night pearl between his shoulder and neck, and digging at the wall with a small iron shovel he somehow acquired.
He rubbed his forehead and walked back, saying helplessly, “Baby, there can’t be a gold mine here.”
Yan Ge turned his head and asked curiously, “How did you know I thought there might be a gold mine here?” Because of his actions, the night pearl rolled off his shoulder.
Huangfu Yuchen reached out and caught it, and couldn’t help laughing. “Otherwise, why would you be digging? What are you looking for?”
Yan Ge shrugged. “I know the possibility of a gold mine here is low, but if these golden dots aren’t gold sand, what could they be?”
Huangfu Yuchen was at a loss and held onto his hand. “Let’s follow these golden dots and see. We shouldn’t lose sight of each other.”
“Your Majesty, Yan Caiqing, please come this way,” Minister Luo Wei called from the front.
Fortunately, they brought enough rope and after another hour of walking, the cave suddenly widened.
“Look! What is that?” one of the soldiers at the front exclaimed, sounding shocked.
“That’s gold!”
“Heavens, it’s really gold!”
Yan Ge, who was at the back of the crowd, overheard their words and grabbed Huangfu Yuchen’s wrist excitedly. “There really is gold? I told you these golden dots were strange!”
Huangfu Yuchen was skeptical. First, they discovered iron ore here, and now they found gold ore. Was Heaven truly favoring them to such an extent?
Before he could speak, a shrill scream came from ahead. “Ah—”
The two looked up and saw a golden object resembling a bolt of lightning soaring through the air, sweeping horizontally and knocking down five or six soldiers in front of them.
The bodies of the six soldiers were severed in half at the waist, and the sight was really gruesome.
“Hiss—” The object stopped after the strike, then “whoosh,” it landed on the ground, its head held high. It coldly looked down at everyone, opened its mouth, and shot out a long and slender tongue like a golden arrow, repeatedly retracting and shooting it out. It was terrifying.
It turned out to be a golden python! Its entire body was glistening with golden skin, as if made of pure gold. The python was incredibly thick, just like the caves they had encountered along the way.
At this moment, everyone finally realized: no wonder the size of these caves was exactly the same, as if they were duplicates. It must be this strange python that burrowed through. What they had seen earlier was not gold but the golden python’s coiling body that resembled a mountain of gold. It was motionless, so it’s no wonder the soldiers had been mistaken.
No one dared to breathe.
“W-what… what kind of creature is this?” Minister Luo Wei whispered in fear.
Gao Yun swallowed his saliva and lowered his voice. “Could it be that the people who entered before us were already…?”
Everyone’s hearts sank.
“Yuchen, what is that?” Despite his profound cultivation, Yan Ge was also nervous upon seeing such a creature for the first time.
Huangfu Yuchen hugged his waist and lightly patted his shoulder with his other hand. His eyes also held a look of astonishment. “If my guess is correct, it’s a Golden Python.”
Yan Ge said, “I know about Golden Pythons. They’re a type of snake with golden-colored skin, and it’s said that the longest one can grow up to twenty feet. But they can’t be this thick, and their skin shouldn’t look like real gold.”
Huangfu Yuchen explained, “This Golden Python is not the same as the ordinary Golden Python. I read about it in some anecdotes. The Golden Python is a type of python that feeds on gold. Its entire body, inside and out, is golden. Its flesh and skin are true gold, and because of this, people from every kingdom consider it a great threat. It is said that about a thousand years ago, several kingdoms on this continent united to exterminate all Golden Pythons. So, the Golden Python is already extinct.”
Yan Ge found it hard to believe. “Is it true?”
