Chapter 206 - Getting To Know The Group Before Entering The Catacomb
Yun Jian was able to guess Ling Tianhao and Ye Yunting’s relationship with just a glimpse. She did not care about Ye Yunting’s overbearing words but told Ling Tianhao, “I’ve never minded a dog’s barks.”
She was not here to argue, so she naturally did not mind Ye Yunting’s stint.
The latter who was still hot headed fumed. Pointing at Yun Jian with the intention to approach her, she rolled up her sleeves like she was going to fight. “Did you call me a dog? How dare you call me a dog! You…”
“Enough! Do you still want to go to the tomb with us! That’s enough from you. If i hear one more word you can pack up and go home!” Ling Tianhao bellowed at Ye Yunting in the next second.
To prevent the argument from heating up, he simultaneously dragged the indignant woman away.
The remaining people exchanged awkward looks but they were similarly unhappy with Ye Yunting.
After Ling Tianhao hauled the girl away, Yun Jian got to know the others, understanding that they came together with Ling Tianhao.
“We’re actually from the Special Forces. The man who went over there just now was from our team. He’s Ling Tianhao. We’re going into the catacomb this time for a mission, being instructed to go in there and check things out.”
The upright looking man who spoke chuckled humorlessly. This man exuding the air of a militant was Sun Jianxiong. He waved his hand with the same chuckle and made a gesture toward the direction Ling Tianhao and Ye Yunting had left toward. He lamented, “Sigh… Tianhao is such a good man but this is what befalls him. When Old Ye passed, he really shouldn’t have entrusted his sister to…”
While Sun Jianxiong sighed, a muscular man beside him nudged the former’s stomach with his elbow to cut him off.
“Quit it, Old Sun. If Ye Yunting hears that, we won’t see the end to it!”
“Yes yes, no good with more talk. I’ll stop here!” Sun Jianxiong let out a dry laugh and turned to ask Yun Jian, “Right, young girl, why are you going down the crypt too? One mustn’t go down unless required to. It’s dangerous inside, you…”
Sun Jianxiong meant well but Yun Jian smiled and cut him off, continuing. “I’m Yun Jian. I have a compelling reason to go in.”
Since she said so, the men could not further question.
Yun Jian took the opportunity to understand the group formation.
Bo Zhan and Fu Xin were together. They were members of the Feilong Archaeological Team and friends of Yu Bufan. Both of them heard about the danger in the crypt and had gathered people here to enter the adventure together. That was how they ran into Ling Tianhao, Sun Jianxiong and the others.
Other than Ye Yunting who forcefully attached herself to the group, Ling Tianhao and the other men were members of Country Z’s Special Forces and were going to the crypt for a mission.
Yun Jian knew that Country Z had a lot of Special Forces, but there were few who could be enlisted to the Advanced Special Forces. As for whether the men were related to Ge Junjian, she had no idea.
Ye Yunting and Ling Tianhao came back when the sky darkened. Who knew how he had placated Ye Yunting as both of them were significantly cooled down when they were back.
A few of them erected a tent for Yun Jian and went away to pack their belongings, preparing items that were necessary for tomorrow’s catacomb adventure.
Yun Jian pulled out her things from her backpack as well to check.
“Hey look, there’s another car coming from there.” A sturdy SUV sped over the soil and past the group. There was a large unique skull shape in front of the car that caught a few of the men’s attention.
The one who spoke up just now was Sun Jianxiong while Bo Zhan widened his eyes when he saw the vehicle that drove past.
Pointing at the SUV’s trail, he made a soft gasp, “That’s – Isn’t that a Gu Sha Mercenaries’ car! I won’t mistake the logo on the car! No one dares imitate it!”
The group was on edge from the words.
Bo Zhan was a tomb-raiding expert. It was natural that he knew such things.
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Chapter 207 - Nonsense. I’ll Go First
Gu Sha Mercenaries! It was that internationally renowned mercenary organization!
Bo Zhan’s words appalled Ling Tianhao, Sun Jianxiong, and their comrades.
Yun Jian raised her brow. She saw the logo on the car too. There was no doubt it was her Mercenary. It was just that it was too dark and she could not distinguish who was in the car.
“What Gu Sha Mercenaries? Ye Yunting asked with a disdainful arch of her brow.
“Must be a small group and look how frightened you guys are. It’s not like we’re in a sci-fi movie!” she muttered again.
She was the typical young miss who was taken care of. Having grown up in her childhood home without any awareness of the assassination and mercenary organizations that operated on a global scale.
It explained why she scoffed at the terror-stricken faces of the group when Gu Sha Mercenaries were mentioned.
When Sun Jianxiong and others heard her, they nearly gave her a slap.
It was fine that Ye Yunting said what she did among themselves. If she had said it in front of the Gu Sha members, it would not just be her, everyone else here would die with her!
“Ye Yunting, shut up!” It was the first time Sun Jianxiong had roared at Ye Yunting who had nothing to do with him.
“Gu Sha Mercenaries are not people we can afford to offend! You better keep yourself in check, Ye Yunting. Otherwise, don’t come with us,” Fu Xin who had always kept to himself warned her as well.
In spite of it, no one explained the reason to her.
Ye Yunting did keep her mouth clamped after being shot down by the men as she was worried for Bo Zhan and Fu Xin refusing to take her along. Even if Ling Tianhao insisted on bringing her, it would still be a futile effort. Nevertheless, she did not truly let it slip.
She felt wronged, gritting her teeth to herself.
What Gu Sha Mercenaries? How good could they be? Please, she did not believe it!
“Pack up and sleep early. We’ll go down the catacomb first thing in the morning,” Bo Zhan said with creased brows.
The group dispersed to do their own activity after that.
Yun Jian pursed her lips together, wondering who from Gu Sha was in the SUV. Perhaps she would see the person when they were in the crypt. After she checked all her belongings, she returned to the tent.
The night passed peacefully.
When the next day came, the sun had yet to rise at between four-five in the morning. It was currently fall, transitioning into winter. The sky was a wash of black still.
Yun Jian turned and got up.
When Bo Zhan and the rest woke up, she was already done with her morning training and put on all her gears.
“Gather round and we’ll depart,” Bo Zhan announced when everyone else got up.
He then said his goodbye with Yu Bufan and others before the group headed for the catacomb.
Yun Jian walked last, observing the surroundings along her way. When they arrived at the entrance of the catacomb, it was already half past eight in the morning.
What greeted the group was an ancient well.
When the catacomb was discovered, it was through this dried up well. It was also the only way in, going down this deep withered well.
“Who’s going first?” Bo Zhan asked after securing the ropes.
“Ye Yunting, since you’re so good, why don’t you hop down first?” Sun Jianxiong suggested his dislike toward the girl.
“I – I…” Ye Yunting shuddered, taking two steps back when she looked apprehensively at the well. She would never be the first one to go down.
Suddenly, she was struck with an idea and pointed at Yun Jian. “You’re the last to join us. You go down first!”
There was no logic behind her words.
The first person to enter the crypt might trigger the secret mechanism accidentally, so Ye Yunting dared not take the risk regardless.
“I’ll go down first then,” Bo Zhan said after that.
“I’ll go first.” Yun Jian blinked. She walked over to pull on the rope and hopped off and down into the well without any hesitation, acting fast and lithe.
The group was stunned. After all, their minds were still replaying the advice of “no survivors upon entry in the catacomb”. Who knew if those people before them were killed directly by the secret mechanism once they went down into the crypt?
Yun Jian was only – fifteen or sixteen years of age. Was she not afraid of dying?
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Chapter 208 - : No Way Out. Here’s The Mechanism
Despite their disbelief, one by one with Bo Zhan leading, they went into the underground tomb after Yun Jian.
Ye Yunting was pushed down by Ling Tianhao. She was already reeling back upon witnessing how deep the well was, but she was later mercilessly dragged by him and went down as well too.
Yun Jian who got down first switched on her flashlight with a snap. Observing her surroundings, there was a secret passage in the bottom of the well. When she looked up toward the mouth of the well, it was pitch black as the sun could not even reach where she was.
She could not see Bo Zhan and others who were standing outside the dried well either, let alone hear their voices.
It felt eerie.
In spite of it, the group came down one after another before long.
“How is it? Is there a way?” Bo Zhan asked Yun Jian when he came down while toying with the communication device in his hands. The signal was at full bars.
“There’s only one way,” Yun Jian said pointing at the only available passage in front of them.
“Everyone’s here. Let’s go then.” Bo Zhan turned his flashlight on and had Yun Jian keep hers off before he led the way in front.
Not intending to be a show-off, Yun Jian acted accordingly and followed behind the man.
“Are – are we really going? It’s so dark here… and so narrow and small…” Ye Yunting swallowed fearfully as she looked around in caution.
“You’re scared now? You were the one asking to come along and confidently declaring that you aren’t afraid of anything. Now? It’s too late!” Sun Jianxiong scorned at Ye Yunting.
“Alright, enough from the both of you. Let’s just keep up with them.” Ling Tianhao mediated the situation and without waiting for the girl, he joined the group.
When Ye Yunting saw him leaving, she quickly followed.
The passageway was narrow and tiny, merely fitting one person through it while keeping a hunched position.
Someone who was bigger in size would find it hard to squeeze through. Fu Xin was fat but it was not too much of a challenge yet.
“Follow closely.” The fluttering sound of wind swept past the ears as Bo Zhan reminded the people at the back.
They were stepping on thick soil, observing plenty of other footsteps trailed on it, as they trudged further into the tomb.
It was plain that there were many people entering the catacomb but not one pair of footsteps has headed the way out.
Over ten minutes of walking later, Yun Jian realized that the narrow path began to gain width the deeper they traveled inside. Toward the end, not only could they stand up, it was still spacious with their arms stretched.
“Hold on, there’s no way in anymore.” Bo Zhan was greeted with walls made up of mud and rocks on all sides in the end. There was no path that they could continue going.
“What? we came in through the only entrance here – how could there be no path anymore? Did you guys take the wrong turn? Are you messing around?” Ye Yunting yapped at the top of her lungs.
“There’s surely a hidden mechanism.” Bo Zhan narrowed his brows and turned to his partner, Fu Xin.
“Old Xin, find it with me.” Speaking, he uncovered plenty of tools from his backpack.
Both Bo Zhan and Fu Xin were professional grave robbers, so they were familiar with searching for hidden mechanisms.
Ling Tianhao, Sun Jianxiong, and the others stood on their spot waiting patiently as they were not well versed in this task.
Before Bo Zhen could brandish all his tools, a melodious girly voice rang, “No need to find it.”
Yun Jian said, approached the corner in front and continued. “The mechanism is here.”
“Like you’d know where the mechanism is. Hah, stop disrupting the flow. Who do you think you are? You…”
Since Ye Yunting held prejudice against Yun Jian from the beginning, it was like she had caught her blunder now as she began her verbal attack like a machine gun.
“Boom…”
Yun Jian had already reached the corner by then. Tapping away the sand on the ground, a small mechanism was revealed. With a press, the center of the ground, where there had been no path ahead suddenly sank. Looking back again, a pathway leading to the passage downward appeared before everyone.
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Chapter 209 - Under The Stairwell. The Skull Marking
The activated mechanism revealed the path.
Ye Yunting who was just bashing Yun Jian turned silent. She was basically clowning with herself. What a joke.
“Yun Jian, how did you know that the mechanism is here?” Bo Zhan was the first to ask Yun Jian with shock written on his face.
“The soil looks loose. Someone probably activated it before us, so it was not hard to spot it,” Yun Jian explained before sweeping the sand back to cover the mechanism up.
“Since someone’s activated it, why’d they conceal it? And why are you doing the same too?” Ling Tianhao who stood on the side asked in puzzlement.
“Those who came here naturally don’t wish for anyone else to come after them and snatch the treasure in the catacomb away.” Yun Jian cracked a toothy grin before she pursed her lips together and continued carelessly. “Me too.”
She actually did not do that for this reason.
Bo Zhan and Fu Xin who were experts in tomb raiding were also fans of studying various mechanisms of the catacombs.
Although it was Yun Jian’s answer that kept them surprised.
The mechanisms in a catacomb were linked to each other. If the person who went in covered up the mechanism here, there must be a reason behind it. Copying the actions would at least ensure that they would not trigger other dangerous ones.
As for Yun Jian’s smart reply, they could not help doing a double take at her.
This fifteen-year-old young lady whom they assumed to be the weakest link in the group was not a simple character!
“Cough, let’s head down now.” Bo Zhan led the way with his flashlight.
Yun Jian followed and the group continued in their previous manner.
“Boom…”
Oddly, the mechanism behind them closed automatically after Ye Yunting, who was the last one, walked into the downward passage.
“Ah! It closed on its own! Why is it doing that? It closed automatically! How are we supposed to go out then? The rumor must be true! Those who come in cannot exit! Oh no, what do we do? Are we dying here…”
Ye Yunting was yowling as she trembled, her voice increasingly piercing and panicky.
“Shut up! One more sound and I’ll kill you first!” Yun Jian suddenly turned around and glared daggers at the girl from the wide staircase.
The intensity of her glare in addition to the eeriness of the inky black underground passageway gave Ye Yunting the chills, too scared to make any more noise.
The reason Yun Jian was suddenly savage was that she heard voices somewhere below the stairwell. – Yes, human voices.
That was why she snapped at Ye Yunting, who was making too many unnecessary shrieks, to shut up.
“What is it? Did you discover anything?” Bo Zhan asked, turning back to look at Yun Jian.
After Yun Jian’s instant unearthing of the mechanism, Bo Zhan no longer treated her like a child. The mechanism had been obvious but he who was famed for raiding graves could not discern it in just a glance too. It was apparent that Yun Jian was not an ordinary girl.
“There are people down there,” Yun Jian said with her eyes cast down and went past Bo Zhan to hurriedly head down.
Was he down there?
“People down there? Why didn’t we hear a thing?” Sun Jianxiong was stunned.
“That’s cause your hearing is going bad,” A muscly man beside him retorted with a chuckle.
The group continued their way down until they arrived at an empty plot of land.
As one trekked forward and down the stairs after activating the mechanism, who would have imagined that there was a space as large as a quarter of a basketball court under the withered well?
Currently, there were two groups gathered here.
Yun Jian scanned the mass but failed to find the person she had been dying to see. Instead, she espied the skull marking on the arms of one of the group’s members. It was so very salient.
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Chapter 210 - Bear.Might’s Wrath. Send You Along
Yun Jian was flooded with disappointment.
It was expected that she would encounter these people who had skulls tattooed on their arms. They were Gu Sha Mercenaries’ members, those who drove past Yun Jian and the group in the SUV last night.
In spite of it, Yun Jian knew none of them after taking a glimpse.
Not that it was puzzling.
Yun Jian was Gu Sha’s boss. Other than Snake.Lizard, Tiger.Leopard and other high-ranking executives of Gu Sha whom she came across in her past life, she did not know of any other members.
Just like how she did not know Xu Zetian despite his identity as Longmen City’s mafia boss and his significant influence there. He might not even get into the ranking in Gu Sha, forget about Yun Jian knowing of him.
In spite of it, the fact that these people had the skull markings on them as proof that they were indeed from Gu Sha Mercenaries. It was the reality.
What was certain, however, was that they were not high-ranking members of the organization.
As for the other group there, they were men in their prime who were all robust and brawny. Their background was unidentifiable.
In comparison to Yun Jian, the group of men, and her group with Bo Zhan were horrified when they saw the Gu Sha group with the skull markings.
They had actually bumped into Gu Sha Mercenaries!
“Tsk, how merry…” The man who stood in front of them all with a skull tattoo on his arm chuckled but his sharp eyes were unforgiving.
This man was a member of Gu Sha with the moniker Bear.Might.
Every member of Gu Sha had their own pseudonym. They never identified themselves in public with their real names.
Bear.Might was not Gu Sha’s high-ranking executives nor was he ranked top in any chart, but he was top ninety-ninth in the organization!
This was enough capital for him to boast around in the field.
Each member of Gu Sha Mercenaries would be ranked according to their competence. The top twenty spots were usually taken up by the high-ranked executives, while the top fifty were Gu Sha’s super elites. Therefore, if one could be ranked within a hundred in Gu Sha, it was something worth bragging about.
Someone like Xu Zetian was only ranked tens of thousandth in Gu Sha. It was only imaginable that Bear.Might’s rank was truly sufficient for his swaggering, as long as he did not run into some tougher figures.
“Where are you guys from?” Bear.Might scanned the vicinity. His belligerence caused everyone else to lower their head feeling slightly cowered and meek.
“We…” Even Bo Zhan and Fu Xin could not help yielding under his intimidation.
Nonetheless, Ye Yunting’s dauntless voice boomed again.
“So they’re those Gu Sha Mercenaries? I don’t see anything so impressive about them! They’re just humans like us, a pair of eyes, a nose and a mouth!”
Ye Yunting had not been able to vent since before. Now that she saw everyone so scared of the mercenaries, she actually forgot all about the warnings she was given from Sun Jianxiong, Fu Xin, and others.
She had voiced it all out to snag the spotlight.
Yun Jian narrowed her eyes, keeping quiet on the side.
Bear.Might who looked rather pleased glowered as soon as he heard Ye Yunting’s disparagement.
He was arrogant but he was not one to hear someone belittling Gu Sha Mercenaries.
He hooked out a Browning pistol from his pocket right away and growled at Ye Yunting, “F*ck you, how dare you insult Gu Sha Mercenaries!”
Bear.Might’s retrieval of the pistol made Bo Zhan and others gasp. They were cussing at how Ye Yunting was insensible and regretting their decision to allow someone as stupid as her to join them.
Suddenly, Ye Yunting’s legs gave up on her as she kneeled on the ground. She was shaking like a leaf when she saw the authentic pistol in Bear.Might’s grip. She finally understood what trouble she had caused from her spew of nonsense.
“Ah! A gun! A gun!” She blanched as she staggered back.
“For insulting Gu Sha Mercenaries, I shall send the bunch of you along with this b*tch!” Bear.Might loaded a few bullets and threatened looking at Yun Jian, Bo Zhan, Fu Xin, Ling Tianhao, and the rest of the group.
Ye Yunting’s individual mistake had cost everyone else! This was the bare reason why it was a taboo and fear of everyone to have provoked anyone from Gu Sha.
People from Gu Sha Mercenaries took lives like it was a game. They would kill anyone just for the sake of it.
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Chapter 211 - No Mercy To Those Who Insult Me
Just when everyone was panicking from the situation, thinking all of them were going to be dragged into the predicament by the despicable Ye Yunting, an airy female voice waltzed in.
“It’s up to you to kill Ye Yunting or not, but don’t even think about laying a finger on the others.” Yun Jian met Bear.Might’s gaze directly, completely unhindered by his intimidating aura.
Bo Zhan and the others were not Bear.Might’s worthy opponents. Despite not being able to be ranked on the international assassin chart, he was still an assassin after all. It was still a walk in the park for him to kill people like Bo Zhan and the group.
This was the strength of the Gu Sha Mercenaries. It was never just talk for the members to kill a group of people single-handedly.
“Yun Jian, how dare you want him to kill me! How could you be so vicious! Do you have any conscience! If we didn’t take you in, you probably couldn’t even enter this place and you’re abandoning me right now!” Ye Yunting lambasted Yun Jian from genuine fear, forgetting how she had previously harassed the latter when she could not retaliate against her.
“Who are you?” Bear.Might ignored Ye Yunting as he looked directly at Yun Jian. His instinct told him that she was not an ordinary girl.
Held at gunpoint, grown men like Bo Zhan and the rest of his group were quivering in fear yet Yun Jian was unfazed. Instead, she had stepped up to defend the others.
Bear.Might was brazen but he constantly reminded himself that he was a Gu Sha member. To be able to squeeze himself into the top hundredth, he was not someone who simply killed someone before investigating the person’s background. Otherwise, he would not have been able to survive to this day.
“We’re not enemies,” Yun Jian replied with a squint, facing Bear.Might with her pretty side profile.
She turned away after that to walk toward Ye Yunting while everyone else watched on.
“You – what do you want…” Ye Yunting stumbled back, looking anxiously at Yun Jian who was walking toward her with belligerence.
As she stepped back continuously, she eventually trapped to a corner, no longer able to retreat.
“Has anyone ever told you that you can’t provoke the Gu Sha Mercenaries?” Yun Jian’s smirk was unnerving. It was eerie.
Ye Yunting shook her head in fear. Looking at Bear.Might’s pistol, she called out in apprehension, “I’m wrong, I’ve done wrong. Yun Jian, plead my case for me! Help me, I can’t die…”
Ye Yunting thought that Yun Jian was going to sacrifice her to save herself and the rest of their group, as she was the one who had offended Bear.Might and the other Gu Sha members with her words.
It was only now that she was struck with the realization that anyone from Gu Sha could easily brandish a pistol and kill somebody. The organization was nothing like the insignificant group she had referred to earlier.
“Help you? Is my Gu Sha’s pride simply for you to insult?” Yun Jian’s smirk grew wider as she narrowed her eyes at Ye Yunting who was trembling.
“My Gu Sha”? Was Yun Jian one of Gu Sha Mercenaries too?
Those around widened their eyes and stared at Yun Jian in aghast and shock when they heard her. She was – she was… a Gu Sha member?!
But she was so young!
Even Bear.Might and his group were dumbstruck.
Yet, Yun Jian was heard asking him, “Tell us. What’s the repercussion for an outsider who insults Gu Sha Mercenaries?”
It was an unquestionable command. Yun Jian had an innate sense of a king.
Even the fierce Bear.Might submit without knowing Yun Jian’s identity and status. He looked at her in disbelief but it came naturally to him as he answered, “The organization states that anyone who insults the Gu Sha Mercenaries is to be killed!”
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Chapter 212 - Not Worthy Of Knowing. Was She…
“Anyone who insults the Gu Sha Mercenaries is to be killed!” Yun Jian repeated. Her piercing gaze landed on Ye Yunting like a sharp sword with brimming killing intent.
She was the one who set this rule.
“Why aren’t you doing anything yet?” Yun Jian turned to order Bear.Might.
He and his men were stupefied.
According to the current scenario, Yun Jian was supposed to be on the same side as Ye Yunting.
Now that the latter insulted the Gu Sha Mercenaries, this young girl had not only referred to herself as one of the Gu Sha members, she was asking him to kill the woman who had entered the crypt with her?
Ye Yunting, on the other side, was thoroughly terrified. It never crossed her mind that Yun Jian was actually from the Gu Sha Mercenaries.
In spite of it, she did not forget to ask for help. Since pleading Yun Jian was futile, she scrambled to Ling Tianhao and grabbed the hem of his pants, wailing, “Tianhao, save me, help me… They have a gun. They’re going to kill me! I don’t have my brother anymore, you said that you’re going to protect me…”
Ye Yunting’s elder brother had died to save Ling Tianhao. Before his demise, he had asked the latter to take care of his younger sister in his place. This had always been a cause Ye Yunting held against Ling Tianhao.
Nonetheless, the man did not spare her a glance.
“Of all the people you could offend, you provoked one from the Gu Sha Mercenaries! They’re the top international assassination group! And you’re still thinking about staying alive after insulting them?” Sun Jianxiong hollered at Ye Yunting in resentment. He disliked the woman from the bottom of his heart.
If Old Ye who had sacrificed himself to save Ling Tianhao was not Ye Yunting’s elder brother, these men, Ling Tianhao and Sun Jianxiong included would not even be bothered with her.
The top assassination group! Gu Sha Mercenaries was actually an assassin organization!
When she heard this, Ye Yunting’s quavering body slumped at once.
The killers and relevant organizations that she had only ever seen in movies and films existed in real life. The key point, she had offended them!
Bear.Might who was ordered by Yun Jian hesitated to act. His gaze toward her was no longer hostile but he asked in a probing manner, “May I know your moniker in the organization?”
There had always been an unstated rule in Gu Sha Mercenaries. A person’s pseudonym represented them as a whole. At the same time, the higher you ranked incompetence, the higher your status in Gu Sha was.
Bear.Might’s intention in asking the question was obvious.
If Yun Jian’s position was higher than his, he would be reverent toward her. However, if her status was lower than his in Gu Sha, he would not heed her instruction.
When Bo Zhan and the others eventually accepted Yun Jian’s identity, her flippant tone from her conversation with Bear.Might drifted to them.
“You’re not worthy of knowing.” Yun Jian looked at Bear.Might with her lips pressed together and her arms crossed in front of her.
He actually did not deserve to know.
Yun Jian was Gu Sha’s biggest boss. Even the super elites who were ranked between the top twenty to fifty were not qualified to see her, what was more, Bear.Might had barely got into the hundredth.
“F*ck, this kiddo is egoistic huh? You probably aren’t even born yet when a few of us joined Gu Sha!” A man who stood beside Bear.Might finally lashed out, hurling a fist toward Yun Jian as he spoke, but he was stopped by Bear.Might.
The latter was somehow more perceptive. He was, after all, someone who could push himself into the top hundred ranking. It was undeniable that he was skilled.
Yun Jian quite admired Bear.Might’s ability to hold himself back. With her rosy lips curled up into a smile as she gazed at Bear.Might’s group, it finally stopped on said man. “You’re working under Liz?”
Snake.Lizard’s status in Gu Sha was apparent.
For Yun Jian to call her Liz, was this young girl ranked much higher than someone so prominent like Snake.Lizard! Then she was…
The fluctuating changes of Bear.Might’s expression took Bo Zhan and others who were watching on a tour. When the final unimaginable thought popped into his head, he froze like a thunderbolt struck him.
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Chapter 213 - Incapacitating Ye Yunting. There Was No Way Ahead
Yun Jian wiped off her smile when she saw Bear.Might’s fleeting emotions. She said looking at him, “No need to make wild guesses at my identity. You just have to tell me now, if you are Liz’s underling.”
With his thoughts exposed, Bear.Might put away his hesitation and turned to Yun Jian respectfully with a nod. “Yes. I’m working under the venerable Snake.Lizard.”
Bear.Might was working for Snake.Lizard but he was only one of her many underlings, one who rarely got to meet her. His position was inevitably lower than Civet who sent Yun Jian her sports car previously.
“Mm.” Yun Jian nodded with a squint.
“I’m done with my questioning. You can continue with what you were about to do,” Yun Jian told Bear.Might as she stood aside, revealing Ye Yunting who was shaking in the corner.
She was reminding Bear.Might about killing the woman who dared insult Gu Sha Mercenaries.
“Mm.” Bear,Might and his group had acquiesced in Yun Jian. With his finger on Browning’s trigger, Bear.Might pointed the pistol at Ye Yunting.
“Ah! Ah!” Ye Yunting covered her eyes as she mumbled incessantly, “Don’t kill me, don’t kill me – I’ve done wrong, I’ve done wrong, no…”
“Wait!” Ling Tianhao was ultimately unable to hold back. Watching the younger sister of his comrade who had died saving him, he could let her be killed before himself. This was his promise to his comrade.
Ling Tianhao was a clever man. After watching what happened just now, he knew that the decision-maker of Ye Yunting’s life fell on Yun Jian who they had underestimated since the start.
He looked toward her pleadingly, “Yun Jian, girl, can you… let her go for me?”
Ling Tianhao was entrusted to take care of Ye Yunting by her brother’s last words. He did not want to break the promise. Otherwise, he would not even bat an eye if Ye Yunting were to die a thousand times in front of him.
“Oh?” Yun Jian raised a brow at Ling Tianhao.
Knowing the man’s relationship with Ye Yunting, she had expected that he would ask her to have mercy on the latter.
Bear.Might halted pulling the trigger when he saw Yun Jian responding to Ling Tianhao.
“Why should I let her go for you? Who are you to me?” Yun Jian’s words that followed jolted Ling Tianhao and his friends.
This was the brutal truth. Since when would people from Gu Sha let anyone go for anyone else?
“Never mind. It’s a hassle to take care of the corpse if she’s killed here anyway,” Yun Jian talked to herself before she looked at Bear.Might and told him, “Do what you see fit. Keep her alive but someone who’s insulted Gu Sha, she won’t escape from suffering even if she escapes death!”
There was an absolute submission from Bear.Might toward Yun Jian’s command.
He nodded. “Yes.”
“Let’s go on.” Yun Jian narrowed her eyes into a crescent shape, grinning bright and pretty like an average young girl.
Once the others recalled how nonchalant she was to kill Ye Yunting, however, they felt goosebumps racking through their bodies.
What did Bear.Might do to Ye Yunting, one asked. He incapacitated her limbs.
Ye Yunting wailed and screamed in pain before she passed out, but no one cared. She was lucky that she was at least alive.
“There’s no way ahead. We’ve been looking here for a long time,” Bear.Might told Yun Jian reverently after he was done with Ye Yunting.
He thought that he had more or less guessed Yun Jian’s identity. Other than that person, who else could possess such a kingly aura!
Just thinking about it made him shudder as he was filled with both deference and thrill.
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Chapter 214 - No Way Out, Blow It Up
“No way ahead?” Yun Jian pressed her lips together, observing the surroundings whilst wearing a small smile.
She had long noticed that they were confined in mud walls without any way out. It was a dead end.
“Even the exit above is sealed,” Bear.Might explained once more.
He then elaborated, “It’ll only open when there are people coming in from the outside, but it’ll reseal itself automatically after a while. This way, we’ll stay trapped here until our death.”
If Ye Yunting had yet to faint now, she was surely going to make a scene shrieking and wailing from the update. Nonetheless, she was stripped of the ability to even stand up.
“No way out? Then we blow one out.” Yun Jian smirked.
She turned to stare at Bear.Might’s stuffed backpack. “You’ve got a bomb in there?”
Bo Zhan and the others were stunned hearing Yun Jian’s odd question. They were here to raid the tomb. Who would bring a bomb on them to do that?
They did not know Gu Sha’s members well enough. Any Gu Sha assassin would carry a big backpack with them when they were on a mission or barging into dangerous territories.
The backpack must consist of explosives. Given, the explosive was not too powerful and would not kill everyone around it once erupted.
Despite everyone’s stupefied stare, Bear.Might did retrieve a mini bomb from his backpack and passed it to Yun Jian. “Yup.”
The rest of the group was flabbergasted.
Gu Sha Mercenaries carried bombs with them all the time!
“What are you going to do with it?” Bo Zhan asked as he stood beside Yun Jian.
His question was valid. They were in a catacomb and were supposed to look for the mechanism. Why was she whipping out a bomb suddenly? Was she bombing the place? Was everyone supposed to forget about escaping alive?
“There’s the sound of wind blowing from the opposite side. It means that there’s a way behind this wall. But it’s currently blocking our way,” Yun Jian pointed at an opening and explained.
It was responded with further puzzlement.
The sound of wind? Why did they not hear a thing?
“Hmm, that’s strange. If this is the case, there should be a mechanism here, right? Will it be detrimental if we just blow it up like this?” Sun Jianxiong asked doubtfully.
He continued to analyze the situation. “Besides, there were supposedly many people who found the mechanism and went through the wall before us. Why are we bombing it straightaway?”
“Because I don’t want to waste time finding the mechanism with all of you. And, I have a bomb. Isn’t it more convenient to just blow it up?” Yun Jian arched her brow as Sun Jianxiong, before she snapped her fingers and wagged the bomb in her hand with an idle look.
She was dying to look for him.
Her explanation rendered everyone else speechless.
Yun Jian then warned, “Stay back.”
When everyone else increased their distance, Yun Jian lit the bomb and threw it toward the wall. Without looking hasty or panicked, she ducked herself down on the ground.
“Boom!” A thunderous noise accompanied by a shower of dust and sand, the group used their flashlight to illuminate the small hole that was made. What was opposite on the hole was the back of the wall. It was really a passage.
“There’s really a way!” Sun Jianxiong exclaimed in delight.
As he turned around, he could not help swallowing when he saw Yun Jian who looked like she had long been expecting this.
She had actually heard the wind despite the thick wall…
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Chapter 215 - His Whereabouts – Passing The Stone Gate
“Let’s go.” Yun Jian stood up and patted down her clothes that were covered in dust, before leading the way to the hole she just blew up.
The rest of the group followed as they saw her moving.
Even when Ling Tianhao did not want to be bothered by Ye Yunting who had passed out, he could only stay to look after her.
Other than the two of them, the others moved on.
There was no way out now. What they could do was only to keep moving forward.
“Clack, clack, clack.”
It was silent, only the sound of their footsteps was heard, as well as the never-ending darkness that seemed to engulf them.
“Shaa, Shaa…” Farther away, it sounded like water flowing.
“Sounds like water flowing over there!” The group hastened their steps forward in delight.
“Also sounds like people,” Yun Jian squinted, abruptly speaking while she led the way.
The group was still stunned, as usual, – no one heard anything that sounded remotely like human voices except for Yun Jian. However, after her forthright bombing of the wall, which made a passageway, all of them had opted to believe her words subconsciously.
About four to five minutes of walking later, a faint clamor of people could be heard from the other end of the passage.
Yun Jian and her companions felt the gradual widening of the aisle as well.
Toward the end, a cave with land as wide as a basketball court greeted their sight.
There were groups of people gathered on the plot. Some had even erected tents here.
The group soon discovered that these people were the ones who had gone into the catacomb and never got out!
There was a stream beside the huge cave, its source unknown, as it flowed in from the corner and out through the opposite corner of this area. What was remarkable was the fish and shrimp swimming vivaciously in the water. There were plenty of them, too.
This was like a world of its own underground!
It was not just Bo Zhan and the group, even Yun Jian could not help the tugging of the corners of her lips.
Simultaneously, Sun Jianxiong and his pals saw someone they knew among the settling crowds.
“Professor Su!” They rushed forward.
“You guys are here too?” The man addressed as Professor Su looked full of life, a sprightly old man in his fifties to sixties. He was surprised to see Sun Jianxiong and his friends too.
It was apparent that Sun Jianxiong and comrades were sent to the catacomb by the country to look for Professor Su who had also entered the crypt. The latter’s status in Country Z was evidence that he held significance.
“Professor Su, what’s going on here? Why didn’t anyone who came in come out?” Sun Jianxiong asked.
Yun Jian and others stood listening faraway.
Professor Su pointed at a stone gate nearby that was carved with dragons and phoenixes. He sighed forlornly with his gaze cast down before saying, “It’s not that we can’t go back. No one wants to!”
The group was stupefied.
Professor Su then recounted all that happened.
The first people who had come into the catacomb did not want to leave after finding out the spot. The reason was the ancient script engraved on the stone gate that was carved with dragons and phoenixes.
The experts took a few days to study it and finally interpreted the script.
The translation of the words on the gate was “You shall know all the secrets about the sandalwood box when you pass this stone gate! Of course, one who wishes to enter the stone gate needs to stay here for a whole year!”
Everyone in the cave had come for the secrets of the sandalwood box. It was inevitable that none wanted to leave. Moreover, there was water and abundant fish and shrimps. They did not have to worry about starving as they could catch some and cook them over a fire and feed themselves.
Yet to the outsiders, these people who had gone into the crypt were already corpses or even skeletons.
“Professor Su, since you’re here, why didn’t you contact the outside world?” Sun Jianxiong hit the nail on its head.
The old man shook his head and answered with a smile, “There’s no connection here.”
As he mentioned it, the group checked their communication devices and true to his words, there was no connection in this place!
Yun Jian stepped out from the group’s surprise and asked looking at the professor, “Excuse me, have you seen a guy around nineteen years old, 185cm in height, handsome, and has two men following him?”
She was obviously asking about Si Yi. She could not help feeling uneasy when she did not see him after scanning the vicinity.
What she did not expect, however, was Professor Su’s bulging eyes at her question. He spoke in an amazed tone, “It’s that young man who had two underlings with him! He’s the only one among us who went through the stone gate and got in!”
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