Volume Three: Rising Fame - Chapter 73: Scavenging for Treasures

“Damn it!”

Ning Ankang’s gaze fell upon the one remaining man among those he had intimidated into staying. The man was trembling like a leaf.

“This is getting far too bloody. We might as well forget about it and leave!” Xiang Yadan said delicately, a trace of pity flashing through her beautiful eyes.

The men around her nodded repeatedly.

“Let’s go! We’ll look for some other treasures!”

“If we’re afraid, then there’s no need to keep watching. The Snowblown Ghost Crystals may be rare, but there are plenty of substitutes. We don’t need to hang ourselves here!”

Amid the chorus of agreement from the men, Xiang Yadan was escorted away as well.

Ying Feiguang said nothing and led his people away too.

“What?”

Ning Ankang was stunned. How had everything become so interconnected? One person left, and suddenly they all left with him?

“Big brother, what do we do now?” someone beside him asked in a low voice.

“What else can we do? If they want to leave, let them! We’ve already figured out the way in. Once we go inside and take the treasures, won’t that be good enough?” Ning Ankang roared. He stared at the last man still surrounded by them. “You! Come out and scout the way!”

Although Xiang Yadan did not come from a great clan, all those surrounding her were members of powerful clans.

As a prince of the Great Ming imperial family, Ying Feiguang’s identity went without saying.

Even Li Yu, though he bore a different surname, had clearly been pushed forward by the Qing Clan as its representative. He could be considered one of them as well.

Now that Ning Ankang thought about it, there had been so many people capable of going ahead. He refused to believe that any of them would remain unmoved before such treasures. So why had he rushed in headlong and insisted on being the one to step forward so conspicuously?

Now he was forcing several clan members to scout the path. This was no different from sending them to their deaths. If the clans learned of this after they returned…

He did not dare imagine the consequences. At this point, he could only obtain the treasures and find some way to account for himself afterward.

“Are we really leaving?” Wen Xiangxuan asked as she watched Li Yu walking ahead, apparently intending to depart for real. She was somewhat astonished.

“Of course not. I merely wanted to see whether they would give up if I put it that way.” Li Yu smiled. He glanced back, but saw neither the others nor any sign of the remaining four teams. Turning around, he took a wide route to the other side of the hill.

“There must be other clever people who noticed it too. I simply don’t know whether they said anything.” Seeing that the others still did not understand, Li Yu offered no explanation and continued leading the way.

“Clever people… Did I miss something just now?” Wen Xiangxuan wondered. She racked her brains, trying to determine what she had overlooked, but no matter how she thought about it, she could not figure out what she had missed.

Still, she understood that Li Yu must have discovered a way to enter the hill.

“Xiuer, did you notice anything just now?” Li Yu asked softly, looking toward Xiong Xiuer on the other side.

“Brother Yu, I didn’t notice anything unusual either.” Xiong Xiuer’s little face flushed slightly.

She swore that she had been paying close attention, but she truly had not discovered a thing.

“Alas…” Li Yu shook his head. “With people like you around, you’d never be able to avoid any danger.”

As he spoke, the group arrived at a secluded place. It was quiet on every side, and no one from the other clans could be seen.

Li Yu noticed that Xing Chengping seemed to be pondering something, so he asked, “Have you noticed something?”

“I’m not entirely sure.”

Xing Chengping had not expected Li Yu to ask him. After thinking for a moment, he cautiously said, “I feel that all the places where people met with disaster shared something in common. My instincts tell me it has something to do with their feet, but I don’t know exactly what.”

“You’re very close.” Li Yu nodded slightly.

Wen Xiangxuan and the others all looked at Xing Chengping. Who would have thought that beneath that thick beard lay such keen powers of observation?

What danger could there be beneath their feet?

Wen Xiangxuan had paid particular attention to the ground. After all, everyone entering this place had to make contact with it, so naturally it had been the main focus of their observations.

Yet they could not understand what was wrong with the ground.

Still, since Li Yu had said so, the answer must be closely related to what Xing Chengping had guessed. None of them believed that Li Yu could be wrong.

Looking at the outer region, where only a thin veil of mist remained, Li Yu decided to stop speaking in riddles.

“Strictly speaking, the problem is not with their feet, but with the ground their feet come into contact with.”

“The ground?” Wen Xiangxuan asked. “If the problem really lies in the ground, doesn’t that mean only those of the fifth rank can enter?”

The mist-covered region stretched a considerable distance. Unless one had reached the fifth rank, no one could guarantee that they would be able to cross such a wide area.

“No, no. As long as you have eyes, you can avoid the danger.” Li Yu casually picked up a small stone from the ground. Squinting slightly, he took aim and threw it.

Smack!

The stone struck the ground with great force.

“What did you see?” Li Yu asked with interest.

The group exchanged glances before looking back at him.

Was he expecting them to praise his throwing technique and his precise control of strength?

Most ordinary people could not throw a stone hard enough to strike the ground without leaving a mark or disturbing the terrain.

“It’s the mist?” Xing Chengping said in a deep voice.

The others exchanged confused looks.

Li Yu looked at the only person who had given the answer and nodded. “Correct. The mist.”

Turning toward the area ahead, where the mist still lingered faintly, he said calmly, “From what I’ve observed, the mist here is harmless unless it reaches a certain density. The reason those people died so suddenly was that they stepped on places they should not have stepped on—places where dense mist still remained.”

The ground was not perfectly level. There were many hollows and depressions. Before those people died, most of them had stepped into one of those sunken areas, after which they had suddenly perished.

Li Yu therefore concluded that the mist dispersed at different rates. Dense mist remained in some depressions and similar places. When someone passed over them, it was stirred up and wrapped itself around them, causing instant death.

“As long as we avoid the depressions, there won’t be any danger,” Li Yu said. “Let’s go in.”

The others exchanged glances. Xing Chengping reacted the fastest, stepping forward first and following Li Yu into the misty region. The rest trailed after them in scattered groups.

…

“So that’s how it is!”

Xiang Yadan looked at the man beside her, astonishment in her eyes. Her reaction pleased him greatly, and he smiled.

“If you had observed carefully, you would have discovered that it was caused by the mist too.”

“But I didn’t discover it. Since you were the first to notice, that means you’re the best.” Xiang Yadan then looked toward another young man who had already crossed the misty region and called sweetly, “Brother Zilong, wait for us! We’ll be there in a moment!”

Zhao Zilong waved from the other side. “Hurry over, Yadan. I tested it myself. It really is safe!”

…

By the time Li Yu and the others had all crossed over, Xiang Yadan’s group had also entered the interior of the mountain.

“So it really was like that. Young Master, you’re amazing!” Wen Xiangxuan said in amazement.

“Brother Yu, what do we do now? Should we go straight for the Snowblown Ghost Crystals?” Xiong Xiuer asked.

As soon as she said this, several pairs of ears pricked up as they waited for Li Yu’s answer.

Previously, Li Yu had generously divided the points among them. Would he do the same this time and share some of these treasures with them?

“Split up. We’ll collect them faster that way. There may be clever people from the other teams who have figured it out as well. If they all come in, we won’t have the advantage in numbers.” Li Yu pondered for a moment before continuing, “But don’t spread out too far. Stay within a distance where I can reach you quickly.”

“Good!”

“Yes!”

The group answered in scattered voices before dispersing to collect the exposed Snowblown Ghost Crystals.

Li Yu moved as well, with Can Yishuang following him as they searched the surrounding area.

“You noticed the reason earlier. Why didn’t you tell everyone?” Can Yishuang asked. “Aren’t you unable to bear seeing those people sent to their deaths?”

“Are you the Ten Thousand Whys?”

“What is the Ten Thousand Whys?”

Li Yu’s hand paused. Only then did he look at Can Yishuang.

“If I had said it, everyone would have come inside, and there would inevitably have been a struggle over the treasures. I do care about other people’s lives, but I can’t put myself in danger for their sake.”

“I’m not that noble, especially when it comes to strangers. Sometimes people can only blame themselves for being weaker than others. Since they chose to participate, they should have been prepared to face danger. Relying on someone else won’t save them. If they are weak and bullied, there’s nothing more to say.”

In short, I can show compassion and save someone once, but I cannot keep sacrificing myself to save people again and again. I have my own matters and goals to pursue.

Li Yu picked up a Snowblown Ghost Crystal and examined it carefully.

It was a somewhat translucent white stone. On closer inspection, faint light seemed to emanate from within. When held up against the sun, its interior became even more visible, almost as though it were liquid, with something flowing inside.

“How strange…”

Li Yu murmured a few words, put away the fist-sized crystal, and continued searching the surrounding area to see whether anything had been left behind.

“What’s so difficult to understand? Think about it. If your transformation were complete, would anyone dare to target you?” Seeing Can Yishuang staring blankly beside him, Li Yu thought for a moment before explaining, “When I saw that young man die, I was actually confused. I couldn’t understand why death had occurred right beside me.”

“When I asked about it, the answers Wen Xiangxuan and Xing Chengping gave me seemed different, but in truth, they shared something in common. Often, the path is one we choose for ourselves. If I can walk my own path well and still have strength to spare, I’ll help others and lend them a hand. But when I’m barely able to look after myself, I can only give up.”

“Weren’t you capable of defeating those four?” Can Yishuang nodded, then asked in return.

“If a sheep is about to be eaten by a wolf and I pity the sheep and save it, then who will pity the wolf? It only wanted to fill its belly.”

“I can’t kill everyone else just to save a few people. That wouldn’t make any sense. Besides, if I don’t kill them and still intervene, all four of them would have joined forces against me.”

As the two spoke, Li Yu’s expression suddenly changed. He had heard a cry for help in the distance.

“Wen Xiangxuan? Let’s go!”

Li Yu leapt forward first.