Chapter 339 - 171: Golden Bell and Silver Thread (Part 2)

In the blink of an eye, they had drawn near. They heard Dao Wuming say in a low voice:

"From the looks of it, that person is undoubtedly from the legendary ’Golden Bell and Silver Thread’!"

"’Golden Bell and Silver Thread’?"

Cheng Tianyang froze, then asked instinctively:

"The ’Golden Bell and Silver Thread’ you mentioned... are they the infamous tomb raiders who ran amok years ago?"

"Chief Cheng has arrived."

"Greetings, Chief Cheng."

Hearing Cheng Tianyang speak, the crowd immediately greeted him one after another.

After exchanging a few pleasantries, Dao Wuming spoke up:

"You are correct, Chief Cheng. Watching that old man’s techniques just now, the only person who came to mind was Mr. Yin Xian.

"He uses thread as a blade, and his techniques are viciously sharp. Many years ago, a great tomb was discovered in Beihuai Land.

"The Court immediately sent men to guard it, but who would have thought it would still be paid a visit by that bunch of moles.

"And that group was led by Golden Bell and Silver Thread.

"They slaughtered all the Court soldiers on duty, looted the tomb... and even set up a ’Thousand Bells and Ten Thousand Cliffs Array’ around it.

"For three whole years, no one could completely dismantle it. I’ve heard that even today, small animals in the mountains are sometimes wounded by the silver threads laid back then... losing a limb for no reason."

Cheng Tianyang came to a sudden realization:

"The Thousand Bells and Ten Thousand Cliffs Array... No wonder it’s so powerful.

"I’ve also heard of this duo, but weren’t they executed ten years ago?"

Dao Wuming shook his head gently. He spoke as he led the group forward:

"I might not know about other matters.

"But I have heard something about this.

"They weren’t executed back then. Instead, they submitted to the Court.

"It was all because Lady Golden Bell was with child..."

"Pregnant?"

Tang Huayi’s eyebrows shot up. "What does that have to do with surrendering to the Court?"

"Ah, Brother Li, you wouldn’t know."

Dao Wuming glanced at his fellow practitioner and chuckled softly:

"Golden Bell and Silver Thread robbed tombs for years, which is ruinous to one’s spiritual virtue. Moreover, the corpse qi within ancient tombs is incredibly dense. After spending so many years working underground, how could any of that possibly be good for a child?

"So, when the child was born, it was frail and on the verge of death.

"At that time, the only way to save the child was to obtain the great treasure, the ’Falling Star Pearl,’ which could barely sustain its life.

"However, the ’Falling Star Pearl’ has been enshrined for generations within the Astronomical Bureau. Forget the fact that they were a pair of tomb raiders—even if they had been relatives of the Emperor, there would have been absolutely no reason for the Bureau to lend it to them.

"Therefore, the only solution they could think of was to surrender to the Court.

"Those two were of extraordinary origin, and their knowledge of geomancy was unparalleled in the world.

"In addition, the late Emperor was ill at the time and was planning his imperial mausoleum... so their skills were exactly what was needed.

"It was likely through this opportunity that they successfully surrendered.

"But as for what happened after that, no one else knows.

"Who would have thought that ten years later, Mr. Yin Xian would appear here."

Tang Huayi and the others fell silent upon hearing this.

They knew that even if Golden Bell and Silver Thread had surrendered to the Court, obtaining the Falling Star Pearl would not have been so easy.

But a parent’s love for their child knows no bounds. They would naturally move heaven and earth, trying every conceivable method to overcome such challenges.

But time had passed, and now Mr. Yin Xian had drifted to this place. His reasons for coming were not something they could deduce just by thinking about it here and now.

"It’s here!"

Scholar Jingtan suddenly spoke up:

"From what I can see, this Thousand Bells and Ten Thousand Cliffs Array wasn’t built in a day, but was accumulated over many years.

"The core of the array is right here... There must be a mechanism nearby."

Man Shengming’s gaze swept the area. He suddenly stepped forward, his hand feeling around gently on one of the walls.

A moment later, his fingers suddenly probed and then gripped something.

With a CLICK, a secret door instantly swung open on the cliff face.

Everyone exchanged a glance:

"Let’s go in."

Tang Huayi, however, glanced back at the Blood Saber Hall disciples trapped in the Thousand Bells and Ten Thousand Cliffs Array.

She didn’t see Xuanyuan One Slash... nor did she see Chi Lin of the Thunderbolt Hall.

She pondered for a moment, then said to Li Tianyu:

"Celestial Feather, don’t follow us in. Stay here and keep watch.

"The Thousand Bells and Ten Thousand Cliffs Array is all around us. It won’t be easy for them to break through the array and get here.

"If you see anyone you don’t like, just shoot them dead.

"And anyone who dares to come within ten zhang of this place, no matter who they are, is to be killed without mercy."

"Yes."

Li Tianyu agreed at once, unslung the longbow from her back, and watched the area like a tiger stalking its prey.

After arranging this, Tang Huayi felt a little more at ease.

Tonight, aside from Mr. Yin Xian in the posthouse, the most critical factors were the Thunderbolt Hall and the Blood Saber Hall.

The Blood Saber Hall’s malice was blatant; they just wanted to snatch Jiang Ran’s Jiaowei zither.

The Thunderbolt Hall, on the other hand, employed sneaky tactics.

She had to guard against them both.

Now, the Thousand Bells and Ten Thousand Cliffs Array served as a natural defense, and on top of that, they had Li Tianyu and her Moon Chasing Arrow.

With this setup, she was confident that even if those two halls possessed heaven-defying skills, they would struggle to break through.

’Besides, to consider the worst-case scenario... even if they do manage to break through and kill Li Tianyu, it won’t be a major loss for Jiang Ran and me.’

Having calculated this in her mind, she stopped overthinking it and followed the others into the secret passage.

The secret passage was not very winding; it just led straight down.

They had not gone far when the sounds of low roars and miserable screams reached their ears.

Everyone froze at the sound, then quickened their pace to see. The view before them suddenly opened up.