They didn't know what kind of death trap the patriarch had set up, or what kind of mechanisms were inside.
As they slowly ventured deeper, the number of bones increased, making everyone extremely cautious.
Every step was taken with utmost care, for fear of triggering a mechanism.
As they continued their descent, they discovered a large number of jars buried in the sand.
“Why are there so many jars here? What are they for?”
Zhang Nian knelt before one of the jars and asked.
He was about to reach out to examine the contents.
“Don't touch them! These jars are used to suppress something below. I don't know what it is, but I saw the patriarch bringing these jars down. They can't be ordinary things.”
The young man hurriedly stopped him.
Zhang Nian scratched his nose, trying to hide his embarrassment.
“Don't you think there might be treasure down there?” Zhang Hai Xing couldn’t help but say.
Zhang Nian said, “I don't know, do I?”
“Everyone be careful. Don't kick over these jars.” The young man reminded them again.
Naturally, they dared not be careless, and they all proceeded with caution.
“How brutal the battle must have been!”
The deeper they went, the more bones they encountered. The entire riverbed of the valley was covered with dry corpses and bones.
Combined with the countless jars, the scene sent shivers down their spines.
The young man's warning made them even more cautious.
Finally, after an unknown amount of time, they reached the end of the valley.
A massive rock blocked their path.
They raised their lanterns and looked up, only to find a massive wooden ship perched atop the boulder.
Sadly, the ship was broken into two pieces.
One section appeared relatively stable, while the other had a significant tilt.
The entire ship had been split in half, as if it had been thrown from the sky and shattered upon impact.
“If the old patriarch set a death trap, it must be this broken ship. Be careful!” the young man said.
With those words, the young man pushed off with his feet, his incredible jumping ability launching him five or six meters into the air.
He effortlessly leaped onto the edge of the boulder, then leaped again, grabbing the broken edge of the ship.
With another leap, the young man landed on the broken ship.
Zhang Hai Ke and the others exchanged glances and immediately retrieved their grappling hooks from their bamboo baskets.
They didn't possess the young man's terrifying jumping ability, so they had to rely on their grappling hooks.
However, their equipment wasn't complete, as they hadn't brought Zhang Bei's.
“We'll go first. You follow later,” Zhang Hai Xing said.
Zhang Bei shook his head. “No need!”
He mimicked the young man's movements and quickly jumped onto the ship.
The four exchanged glances. Although they had previously suffered a defeat at Zhang Bei's hands, they were still surprised to see him leap onto the ship. Was this the same good-for-nothing they had known?
But they had no time to dwell on that. They quickly used their grappling hooks to climb aboard the ship.
The ship looked extremely old. Many of the planks on the deck were rotten, and the entire ship was covered in a thick layer of dust, showing that it hadn't been used in a long time.
There were also several chests stacked on the deck, which seemed to be the “treasured scriptures” the young man had mentioned.
There were also a number of corpses lying on the deck, in various positions.
“This ship doesn't look like it has any mechanisms,” Zhang Hai Ke asked.
The young man shook his head. “Be careful.”
Even without his reminder, they knew this was a trap set by their old patriarch.
And the young man had said it was a death trap, so they naturally wouldn't be careless.
“Do you think the old patriarch is here?” Zhang Hai Xing asked.
The young man replied, “Not necessarily, but he must be somewhere nearby.”
“Let's all search to see if we can find the patriarch's body,” Zhang Jiu Ri said.
If they could find the old patriarch's body, they would find the half-moon staff.
Zhang Bei didn't seem to care about this, but instead, he approached a broken chest.
He carefully removed the contents.
Sure enough, he found a tattered book inside.
Zhang Bei opened it and discovered it was a manual for a hard qigong technique: Powerful Vajra Palm.
Although it was tattered, he could still make out the writing and illustrations.
“It's actually the legendary technique of the Mountain Moving Daoist. The Zhang family is truly terrifying. They even possess other people's secret techniques.”
Zhang Bei couldn't help but exclaim.
Naturally, he claimed the Powerful Vajra Palm for himself.
With this find, Zhang Bei began searching for other scriptures.
“Any discoveries?”
While Zhang Bei searched for scriptures, the others looked for clues. The young man was crouching near a corpse.
Zhang Hai Ke approached him and asked.
“These corpses have no visible external injuries. Their bones are black. It looks like poisoning or self-poisoning.”
The young man pointed to the corpses on the ground and spoke.
Zhang Hai Ke's brow furrowed. He knew that ordinary people wouldn't commit suicide by poisoning.
Therefore, the people who died here must have been poisoned.
“I've found something!”
At this moment, Zhang Hai Xing suddenly shouted.
Upon hearing this, everyone, including Zhang Bei, rushed towards Zhang Hai Xing.
In front of the ship's cabin, there were three corpses, and behind them was a covered object, seemingly a small tent.
The three corpses appeared to have been killed while attempting to open the cover.
“Be careful!” Zhang Hai Ke warned.
Zhang Hai Xing nodded and drew a dagger, carefully cutting a large opening in the canvas.
“Whoosh!”
At that moment, a silver light suddenly appeared, flying straight at Zhang Hai Xing.
Zhang Hai Xing was caught completely off guard, but the silver light grazed her hair, snapping a single strand.
But Zhang Hai Ke behind her couldn't dodge it.
Just as disaster loomed, a hand stretched out in front of Zhang Hai Ke, blocking the path of the silver light.
It was the young man, his two fingers holding a long silver needle.
The needle was only a centimeter away from Zhang Hai Ke's brow.
Zhang Hai Ke was so terrified that he broke out in a cold sweat. He knew how close he had come to death.
Their skills were not enough to dodge such a swift attack. The thought sent a chill down his spine!
“Gulp!”
Unable to contain his fear, Zhang Hai Ke took two steps backward.
“What incredible speed!” Zhang Jiu Ri couldn't help but exclaim.
Zhang Bei was filled with disdain. Didn’t they look down upon him and the young man just moments ago? Now they're speechless!
“This needle is poisoned. Everyone be careful,” the young man warned.
How could they dare be careless now? They had already been very cautious.
But the silver needle was too fast, too fast for them to react.
And it was silent, impossible to guard against.
“Do you hear that?” Zhang Bei suddenly said.
Everyone listened carefully, and they realized that there was a sound of machinery turning.
“No good! We've been tricked! It's a mechanism!” the young man hurriedly exclaimed.
Everyone quickly took a few steps back. It was then that they noticed the ship, which had been steady until now, was suddenly swaying.
“It’s a balance mechanism! The mechanism has been triggered. Hurry!”
The young man urged everyone to leave, but they were already too late.
…