Chapter 41 Part 1

Are we going to fight, or just keep going like this?

Zhu Ming stared at her blankly for a moment, then reached out and hooked her arm around Yin Yu’s waist, pressing her close. In a swift motion, their positions reversed.

Yin Yu leaned against the tree. A few tender leaves, shaken loose, brushed past her shoulders as they fell. The perfectly measured smile on her face finally showed a trace of genuine emotion.

Bright sunlight cast dappled spots of light through the dense forest canopy. Zhu Ming pressed closer to Yin Yu, her back to the shadows, her lowered voice making her sound even more menacing: “You don’t actually think I can’t do anything to you, do you?”

The woman trapped against the tree swayed like a dodder plant in the breeze. She adjusted her position against the trunk, making herself more comfortable. Instead of shrinking back, she tilted her face up as if in welcome, her smile ambiguous. “Then what do you want to do to me?”

Fine. Excellent.

Zhu Ming’s competitive spirit was successfully ignited. Her hand slid upward along the exquisite curve of Yin Yu’s waist, and then… Zhu Ming, expressionless, launched a furious tickle attack.

“Pfft…” Yin Yu couldn’t even manage surprise before she clamped a hand over her mouth, laughing involuntarily. She tried to dodge instinctively, but the space was too limited; there was nowhere to escape.

She never imagined Zhu Ming would resort to tickling her. Probably not even a god could definitively judge that as an act of aggression.

“Alright, alright, you win. I admit defeat.” Yin Yu had always been someone who knew when to fold, and she quickly conceded.

But Zhu Ming had finally seized an opportunity; how could she let it go so easily? She sneered inwardly, her face remaining deadpan. She cursed silently: Let you stir up trouble all day!

Yin Yu was helpless. She laughed so hard she trembled, her face flushing red. Seeing that Zhu Ming was determined to bully her to the end, her glistening eyes blinked.

She chose to repeat her old trick.

Since she couldn’t dodge, she might as well proactively meet the advance. She just didn’t know if Zhu Ming could handle it.

Yin Yu, who had been curled up, suddenly straightened her chest and lifted her head, stepping forward to brush against Zhu Ming. The smooth fabric of her cheongsam slid past Zhu Ming, and along with it, her soft, amused chuckle entered her ear, the lingering sound trailing off.

In that instant, Zhu Ming recoiled violently backward, instantly widening the distance. When she steadied herself and looked again, she saw Yin Yu leaning against the tree, watching her with amusement.

Instantly, a fiery blush spread across Zhu Ming’s face. She pressed her lips tightly together, her expression both flushed and cold: “You… have no shame!”

Yet no matter how Zhu Ming treated Yin Yu, even when scolding her, the other woman never got angry. It was as if she lacked a normal person’s emotional wiring, possessing no ordinary desires, nor capable of feeling ordinary pain.

Perhaps because of this, she didn’t perceive her actions as having real consequences. She was merely utilizing every tool at her disposal, including herself.

Just thinking about this made Zhu Ming’s heart feel prickly. She looked into Yin Yu’s clear, desireless eyes. There was no malice, no hostility in them, only pure amusement.

The motes of colorful light danced like butterflies. Watching the blush from their laughter fade from Yin Yu’s face, watching her revert to that exquisitely crafted, doll-like facade, Zhu Ming’s turbulent emotions cooled accordingly.

That thing called Yin Yu… she wasn’t human. No matter how much she resembled one, she wasn’t.

“Was it fun?” Zhu Ming stepped back, scoffing. “Fine, you’re ruthless. Let’s see if you can keep playing this game.”

With that, she turned and left.

“Nice new weapon,” Yin Yu said from behind her.

Zhu Ming’s footsteps didn’t falter, as if she hadn’t heard. But she understood Yin Yu’s implication: being able to bring a weapon in meant this dungeon would eventually give the participants opportunities to fight.

…

Zhu Ming returned to the front of the temple and placed the clay pot back.

“Where’s your water?” Deng Yan asked, puzzled to see Zhu Ming return empty-handed. The other two groups had successfully brought water back. They’d all headed in the same direction, so how come Zhu Ming didn’t bring any?

Zhu Ming said, “Ran into a little trouble. Let’s look for other clues first.”

Deng Yan was a bit dissatisfied, but didn’t press it. She said, “Then you look. These murals are quite simple, probably related to the poem’s answers. Nothing else seems important. I searched the dormitory; it was plain at a glance. The bed placements follow a specific pattern, but I’m not quite sure what it represents. I didn’t enter the other groups’ rooms, so I don’t know if they’re the same. However…”

She lowered her voice and said, “I found an underground passageway in our dormitory.”

Zhu Ming asked, “Did you go in?”

Deng Yan said, “I didn’t dare go alone. I was waiting for you all.”

Zhu Ming replied, “Alright. Let’s go down and check it out together in a bit.”

“Mm, okay.”

After that, they had little else to say to each other. They just stared awkwardly. They weren’t really familiar with each other, forced into a group out of circumstance.

Zhu Ming turned to look at the smaller deity statue inside the chamber. She walked around it, examining it from all angles. This small statue, though called small, was still as tall as a person. And because it was indoors, sheltered from rain, wind, and sand, it was noticeably more exquisite than the one outside. Offerings surrounded it, piled up like a small mountain, nearly burying the statue entirely.

The Six-Armed Goddess Statue mirrored the posture of the large one, but at its feet were four additional stone carvings: a frog, a snake, an owl, and a human. These four small stone figures were all positioned in a reverent, kneeling posture around the goddess statue, complementing the murals on either side.

The content of the murals was straightforward. The left side depicted an army of snakes, frogs, owls, and humans besieging the Six-Armed Goddess, while the goddess sent forth giant, long-legged birds and creatures resembling apes or monkeys to battle them. After the goddess’s victory, the snake was severed, the frog bled, the owl was cast into flames, and the humans completely submitted, becoming the goddess’s most devout believers.

Zhu Ming then looked at the right mural. Its content was much more peaceful than the left side, depicting the harmony and joy after the goddess became the master of all living beings.

The goddess’s Sword and Shield were invincible. She held the moon aloft to illuminate the night, used a ruler to direct everyone’s work, and employed books and a harp to enlighten her followers with knowledge and art. Simple little figures, holding flowers and fruits, sang and danced around the goddess. Behind them, the snakes, frogs, and owls also became the goddess’s new believers. The giant birds and beasts that initially fought for the goddess still stood by her side, receiving the believers’ offerings together. All living beings were in harmony.

Zhu Ming moved closer to examine the left mural. The giant bird with its long beak and slender legs looked exactly like the gigantic egrets in the lake. She pondered for a moment and roughly understood how to collect the water.

She took the clay pot and left again, returning shortly after with a pot of clear water.

Seeing only water, no soil, Yun Zouchuan couldn’t help but be puzzled. “Is it all sand outside?”

Zhu Ming shook her head. “There is soil, but I have a feeling we can’t use that. Let’s wait a bit longer. I want to find clean soil.”

Yun Zouchuan then said, “By the way, someone from the Sword and Shield Group came over earlier wanting to ask me how to plant flowers. I said bury the seed in soil, remember to water it daily, not too much, not too little. No idea if they understood.”

“Let them be.”

…

Outside the temple, the Sword and Shield Group.

The triplet brothers were digging soil in a damp spot.

The eldest, Zhao Shanhai, asked his brothers, “Well? Did you manage it?”

The most clever of the three, Third Brother Zhao, shook his head. “That little girl watched it way too closely. No chance to make a move.”

In this world, the group generally perceived as easiest to bully was undoubtedly women. Especially the group next door, which was entirely female, and one of their members was highly skilled at the first task.

This was a perfect target. Initially, the brothers planned to have the Moon Group help them complete the first task. But Third Brother Zhao had a sudden idea, recalling Examiner Crowcrow’s words: Friendly reminder everyone, the Goddess’s Favor is a fixed quota. The lower your scores on the first three questions, the harder the final task will be, caw!

Third Brother Zhao pulled his two brothers aside to a secluded spot and shared his analysis: “Actually, the dungeon’s nature is already obvious. It’s a competition. The higher a group’s score, the more rewards they get. Since rewards are a fixed quota, if one group gets more, the others get less. Even if all four groups get full marks, we ultimately only get a quarter of the rewards. And rewards are linked to whether we can clear the dungeon in the end. So we must secure the most rewards!”

The eldest brother, Zhao, cuffed him. “Get to the point!”

Third Brother Zhao rubbed his head. “Our group has no one good at these tasks. No matter what we do, our score will be low. But that doesn’t dictate the final reward split. As long as the other groups score even lower, we get the most rewards.”

Second Brother Zhao suddenly saw the light. “Little brother, you’re the smart one.”

The three brothers, identical in appearance and style, huddled together whispering for a while, deciding to target the Moon Group first. Third Brother Zhao conceived a brilliant plan. It would allow the Sword and Shield Group to boost their score, lower the Moon Group’s score, and wouldn’t blatantly expose their intentions, prompting retaliation.

After all, the exam lasted several days. If the others harbored grudges and came to sabotage the Sword and Shield Group’s work, that would be terrible.

The plan was: swap the two group’s seeds.

Third Brother Zhao had observed that each group got one seed, all looking identical on the outside.