Seeing the frivolous expression on Chen Qing’s face, Su Mu realized what was going on.
The wounds from the arrows didn’t hurt Chen Qing at all. The reason she’d asked Su Mu to blow on them earlier was just to trick her.
The moment Su Mu realized she’d been played by Chen Qing again, she grew annoyed and tried to push the other woman away.
But Su Mu’s strength was no match for Chen Qing, who had her wrapped in a tight embrace.
Chen Qing looked at Silly Shizun’s annoyed glare and pinched her waist even harder before slowly letting go.
Though Chen Qing was tempted to give this Silly Shizun a proper lesson, they were deep in the White Lotus Cult Lair right now, surrounded by dangers everywhere. That could wait until they got out.
Seeing Chen Qing release her waist, Su Mu unclenched her teeth for the moment.
If Chen Qing dared to take any more liberties, Su Mu would sink her teeth into the woman’s shoulder and add another wound to her collection.
Though she’d temporarily shelved the idea of biting her, Su Mu’s anger toward this detestable Villain for deceiving her hadn’t faded one bit.
If they weren’t in these dangerous tunnels, Su Mu would make sure this awful Villain paid for it.
After venting inwardly, Su Mu still timidly kept Chen Qing shielded behind her.
They had no idea what mechanism they’d triggered earlier, but it had unleashed such a vicious barrage.
If Chen Qing hadn’t been strong enough, the two of them would’ve been turned into pincushions.
Chen Qing’s thoughts differed from Su Mu’s, however. If they’d accidentally triggered some mechanism, Chen Qing’s senses would’ve picked it up well in advance.
But the trap had activated directly against them without any prior contact.
There was only one possibility: someone had deliberately triggered it from the shadows.
It seemed their infiltration had been discovered. And whoever was hiding in the dark, remotely controlling the traps, was no small fry—they even had a grasp of her and Silly Shizun’s movements through the tunnels.
Seeing Chen Qing standing still for so long made Su Mu’s heart race with anxiety.
“What’s wrong? Is there danger?”
“There is. And it’s not minor.”
Hearing Chen Qing’s affirmative answer, the nervous Su Mu quickly shrank back further.
“C-Can you handle it?”
“If it’s just protecting myself, I should manage.”
Chen Qing’s words left Su Mu dumbfounded.
Didn’t that mean she couldn’t protect Su Mu along with herself?
“Why don’t you send me back to that cell where those girls were locked up? It felt safer there.”
Seeing how scared Silly Shizun was, Chen Qing stopped teasing her.
With the arrows finally ceasing, Chen Qing stepped out from around the tunnel corner.
Su Mu, trailing behind, was still mulling over the idea of being sent back.
But as Chen Qing pressed onward, Su Mu hurried to catch up.
From Chen Qing’s attitude, it was clear she wasn’t going back—so Su Mu had no choice but to stick with her through the danger.
The ground was littered with arrows, making each step crunch unpleasantly.
Su Mu paid no mind to the discomfort now. She tiptoed carefully to avoid the sharp arrowheads.
With so many scattered across the floor, it was like walking on a carpet of razor blades.
Chen Qing approached the wall that had fired the arrows. A thick layer of soil dust had piled up at its base, clearly shaken loose by the barrage.
She placed her hand on the pockmarked earthen wall and knocked firmly. The clear, hollow echo made it obvious the other side was empty.
After all, that many arrows couldn’t have appeared out of thin air. There had to be a sizable space behind it.
Raising her fist, Chen Qing smashed it straight into the wall under Su Mu’s stunned gaze.
The punch blasted a large hole right through.
Su Mu stared in shock at Chen Qing’s fist. She knew Chen Qing was strong, but she hadn’t expected her punches to be this devastating.
Not even a scratch on her fingers—she looked completely unfazed.
If that fist had landed on Su Mu… She didn’t even want to imagine it.
It seemed her grand plan of turning the tables on the Villain was going to be a long, arduous road.
Chen Qing could tell from Silly Shizun’s wide-eyed look that her bare-handed wall-smashing had scared the woman witless.
That was exactly the point—she’d done it on purpose to intimidate her and curb any little schemes she might have.
After prying away a few more bricks to enlarge the hole, Chen Qing led Su Mu through into the space beyond.
The chamber was even larger than Chen Qing had anticipated.
But aside from quivers full of arrows, it was empty. No doors leading outward either—it was completely sealed.
Why build such a huge space just to store arrows?
Chen Qing prowled around the chamber, searching for anything unusual.
Being in this enclosed space eased Su Mu’s tension a little.
Imitating Chen Qing, Su Mu wandered around aimlessly.
Chen Qing inspected the surrounding walls and found nothing amiss.
That left only the earthen tiles underfoot.
Seeing Chen Qing tap the floor with her sword hilt here and there, Su Mu mimicked her, knocking her own sword hilt against the ground.
To her surprise, the tile right beneath her feet produced a different sound.
Chen Qing hadn’t expected Silly Shizun’s luck to be this good—stumbling onto the anomalous tile in such a vast space.
She walked over and tapped the surrounding tiles, confirming that the cluster where Su Mu had stood all sounded off.
Su Mu quickly stepped away from them. For some reason, she had a bad feeling about standing on those tiles.
Using her sword, Chen Qing pried them up.
Halfway through, a grinding of gears echoed as part of the wall shifted.
Chen Qing immediately dropped the tiles and pulled Su Mu behind her protectively.
After a prolonged rumble, a stone door materialized on the wall.
The two held still for a moment. Seeing the door remain inert with no new threats emerging, they relaxed slightly.
With Su Mu guarded behind her, Chen Qing approached the stone door and cautiously pushed it open.
It was heavy, but with a bit of effort, Chen Qing swung it open easily.
Beyond lay a long stone staircase descending into darkness.
She tossed a loose earthen tile ahead as a test—no traps triggered. Reassured, they stepped onto the stairs.
The staircase led down into pitch blackness.
Chen Qing was about to retreat to fetch oil lamps from the tunnel when lamps along both sides of the stairs flickered to life.
Each step was flanked by warm orange glows stretching downward—an eerie sight.
Staring at the creepy staircase, Su Mu felt her heart sink.
This staircase was too suspicious. Maybe they should head back and explore the tunnels instead.
But a resounding boom behind them announced the stone door’s disappearance, leaving Su Mu and Chen Qing with no choice but to press on.
