bestfiction Chapter 236 Trap
Chapter 236 Trap
Long Chuqing looked up at the cave entrance and took a step back, accidentally tripping over something and making a strange noise.
She looked down and saw that it was an earthenware vessel.
There was a pile of burnt firewood and ash nearby, along with several sheets of oil paper used to wrap food, and other utensils of various shapes.
Moreover, the bonfire and the oil paper look relatively new, indicating that someone had lived there recently.
At this moment, Lu Beizhou also came in. After seeing the things on the ground, he squatted down and examined them carefully.
In a corner not far away, there was a thin, tattered cotton quilt.
Seeing these everyday items proves that thieves could indeed be hiding here.
Standing on the side, you can see the entire cave at a glance, and there is also a passageway leading inwards along the wall.
The passageway inside is much wider than the one outside; you can walk through it by simply bending down slightly.
The two guards hesitated for a moment outside before following them in.
"Lord Lu..."
"How did you get in? Weren't you supposed to be guarding outside?"
One of the guards spoke up: "I was worried about leaving you alone inside, so I followed you in."
Lu Beizhou sighed softly, "Now that we're here, let's look around and see if there are any useful clues."
"But be careful, the thief might be hiding inside," Lu Beizhou said, pointing to the hole in the wall.
The two guards nodded in agreement.
Long Chuqing walked towards the cave entrance, but Lu Beizhou called out to her again: "Miss, if you want to continue going in, you should be more careful this time."
"The commotion outside the cave entrance was so great just now. If the thief is really hiding inside, he must already know we are here and may have set a trap inside."
Judging from the ventilation in the cave, there must be another exit inside, or like this cave, there must be a lighting opening in the ceiling.
Judging from the width of the opening, it is wide enough for a person to enter and exit, and one can easily leap over it using light-footed skills.
If the thief was indeed hiding here, he might have already escaped after hearing the commotion.
"It's alright," Long Chuqing replied. "I'll just be careful."
"This passage looks rather long and dark, so let Lu go first this time!"
Lu Beizhou took a tinderbox from the guard and then walked at the front.
The faint firelight cast the shadows of several people onto the rock wall in the narrow passage.
Lu Beizhou shone the tinderbox on the ground and found footprints left by shoes on the muddy ground.
Moreover, judging from the depth of the footprints, they were freshly made. Judging from the direction and density of the footprints, this person must have traveled back and forth in this passage many times.
"Watch your step, everyone," Lu Beizhou said to the group, turning around. "It's a bit slippery here."
"Mm." Long Chuqing nodded in response, lifting the hem of her dress as she continued walking forward.
As Long Chuqing passed a muddy patch of ground, his gaze swept over the rock wall beside him. In the dim light, he could see some sticky moss growing on it.
After navigating two bends and continuing deeper into the road, the smell began to become rather unpleasant.
The cave had a unique damp, musty smell mixed with a putrid stench and a faint fishy odor.
Gradually, the opening of the cave became much wider, and they could walk upright without having to bend over anymore.
Soon they saw a glimmer of light at the cave entrance ahead, and they quickened their pace.
Just as Lu Beizhou was about to step out of the passage, he suddenly stopped and raised his hand to indicate, "Wait a minute..."
Lu Beizhou slowly squatted down, holding a tinderbox in his hand. "Look!"
Upon hearing this, Long Chuqing stepped forward, squatted down, and looked in the direction Lu Beizhou was pointing.
About two inches above the ground, there were several fine, silk-like threads lying across both ends of the passage.
The tinderbox is only clearly visible when you get close; you can't even notice it if you don't look closely.
"Is it a trap?" one of the guards asked.
"Hmm." Lu Beizhou nodded slightly in response. "It's just that this trap doesn't seem to be designed very meticulously."
Long Chuqing slowly stood up, supporting himself on his knees. "It must have been set up hastily, perhaps because of the rush, so there wasn't time to perfect it!"
"It's not that it's not precise enough," Lu Beizhou replied meticulously. "If a careless person comes here and steps on it directly, we don't even know how powerful it is!"
Long Chuqing pointed to the beam of light refracting down from the ceiling outside the passage. "I wonder if he left through the entrance after hastily activating the trap."
Lu Beizhou looked up at the top of the room: "If he really gets away, we'll probably have returned empty-handed again today."
"Lord Lu," a guard said, "how should we break through this trap? Or should we just charge right in?"
Another guard said, "How about we climb up the mountain, find the cave entrance, and come down from there? I wonder if that's feasible?"
“There’s no need for such trouble,” Long Chuqing said calmly.
She took a step forward, turned around, and said calmly, "You all step back a bit."
After saying that, she raised her right foot and kicked the silk threads on the ground.
The two guards were so frightened that their eyes widened. They looked at each other and thought to themselves: How could this girl be so dangerous!
They raised their swords to protect themselves and took several steps back. If they weren't strong enough, preserving their lives was the priority.
“Girl…” Lu Beizhou was also startled by her actions.
We don't know what kind of traps are set up inside, nor what kind of attacks might occur. It would be too dangerous to trigger the traps so rashly.
But it was too late for him to stop her. A soft "clang" rang out, and Long Chuqing had already kicked the silk threads off.
The moment the thread snapped, a "click-clack" sound came from inside the cave—the sound of the mechanism being triggered.
Lu Beizhou also took two steps back as instructed. Since she had already triggered the mechanism, she must be confident in dealing with it. Staying by her side would only affect her.
Two or three seconds later, a series of "whoosh" and "whoosh" sounds rang out simultaneously as countless hidden weapons shot from the darkness toward the passage entrance.
Long Chuqing took two more steps forward, reaching the cave entrance and raising the phoenix feather whip in her hand to deflect the flying hidden weapons. The whip spun and danced in the air.
Among the hidden weapons were not only short arrows but also various types of throwing darts. After a burst of intense weapon clashes ceased, Long Chuqing flicked the two short arrows coiled on his whip toward the stone walls on either side.
Two loud explosions rang out as two mechanisms hidden in the wall were destroyed by short arrows.
After waiting a while and confirming that no more hidden weapons were being fired, Long Chuqing squatted down to examine the short arrows and hidden weapons that had fallen to the ground. The edges of the short arrows and hidden weapons were blackened, indicating that they had been poisoned.
Some of the hidden weapons were exactly the same as the one she had picked up earlier.