Chapter 18: Calculations

As soon as Li Miao spoke these words, the crowd fell into a sudden silence.

Lao Qifeng walked over, examined the wound on the corpse, stood back up, and nodded toward the others.

"The wound is shallow, but it hasn't scabbed over yet. Judging by the condition, the injury must have been sustained after we entered."

The Sect Leader of Qingcheng visibly relaxed, but the expressions of the others turned grim as their gazes darted toward one another.

An inescapable trap, ever-present danger, dwindling food supplies, a sudden death... and a group of people with no foundation of trust.

What was supposed to be a grand martial arts event—entering a secret realm to compete for legendary manuals—had devolved into a martial arts version of a game of werewolf.

Taking advantage of the general panic, Li Miao stepped aside.

Yin Minjun approached and whispered, "My lord, that wound?"

Li Miao chuckled softly. "It was my doing. Did you see it?"

"Yes..." Yin Minjun replied in a low voice.

When they were in the tunnel leading to the main hall, she and Li Miao had been at the very back. Aside from her, no one had seen Li Miao make a move.

At the exact moment the stone door burst open, while everyone else's attention was drawn by the screams, she had seen Li Miao flick his hand, releasing a sharp, thin strand of internal energy.

She hadn't known where that energy went, but upon seeing the wound on the back of the corpse, she realized what had happened. However, she could not understand why Li Miao would do such a thing.

Li Miao did not keep her in suspense. Using his internal energy to focus his voice, he whispered to Yin Minjun, "Be careful of those from the Qingcheng Sect later; they all have Gu insects inside them. This Tomb of the Miao King was not discovered by accident."

"As for the sorcerer who manipulated that Qingcheng disciple into stepping on the platform, I can't tell who it is yet, so stay alert."

Li Miao’s actions appeared impulsive, but he never acted without a reason. He had serious business in the Miao territory; no matter how relaxed he seemed, he wouldn't waste time on trivial matters.

His insistence on exploring this tomb was, naturally, for a reason.

It was quite simple: the timing of this tomb’s appearance was far too coincidental.

With the Gu sorcery crisis in Tai'an City just resolved, the imperial court was bound to conduct a purge of the Miao territory; this was obvious. The fact that Bu Lei of the Northern Guard Office appeared in these Huguang lands was likely for that very purpose.

Whether it was Li Miao, Zhu Zai, the Embroidered Uniform Guards, the imperial court, or even the Emperor himself, once they knew what Gu sorcery was capable of, they would never allow its legacy to survive.

At such a critical juncture, a "Miao King's Tomb" suddenly appears, "accidentally discovered," with "news leaked by chance," and baited with the "Divine Skill of the Wedding Dress"—a legendary technique lost for decades. The news spread across the martial arts world, drawing all the major southern sects to this place.

Could it really be a coincidence?

Last night, Li Miao had deliberately remained in the camp, seemingly just eating a meal and introducing himself. In reality, while he appeared to be resting with his eyes closed, he was using his hearing to monitor everyone’s breathing, heartbeats, and the flow of their internal energy. He had indeed discovered that the Qingcheng Sect members had restricted energy flow near their hearts and slower-than-average heart rates.

It was somewhat similar to the five hundred Gu-soldiers he had killed outside Tai'an City.

The situation was now largely clear. The tomb was a trap, and the Qingcheng Sect were the insiders, intended to lure these major sects in.

Who the culprit was and what their ultimate goal remained to be tested. But as long as Li Miao was here, the matter would only end when he decided it should; no one else would be able to stir up trouble.

As for why Li Miao had left a wound on someone already infested with Gu, or why he had intentionally pointed it out to sow chaos, or why he was hiding his true strength—it could only be said that it wasn't just the mastermind behind the tomb who had their eyes on these martial artists; Li Miao did as well.

He intended to use these people for his own purposes. He was currently laying the groundwork.

Even for the monk Yongjie, Li Miao had his own plans, though that was currently just a secondary move.

Setting aside Li Miao’s calculations for the moment, let us look at the situation at hand.

After much bickering, the crowd collectively turned their suspicion toward a lone sword expert. This man, named Yuan Yuang, was a first-class swordsman with no sect or affiliation.

He stood with his hand on his sword hilt, coldly scanning the crowd, ready to fight at any moment.

"The Qingcheng disciple had a problem, so why don't you question Sect Leader Liu instead of coming after me?"

"There are plenty of people here who use swords. Are you picking on me just because I have no sect to back me up?" he said coldly.

No one spoke, but their footsteps shifted, closing the circle tighter.

That was exactly right—they were picking on him because he was an easy target. What else were they supposed to do? Report it to the authorities?

He was the only lone swordsman; accusing someone from a major sect was equivalent to accusing five experts of second-rate skill or higher simultaneously. Who else but him could they pick?

The situation was simple: regardless of whether he was the culprit, it would be difficult to prove anything right now. If they didn't kill someone, morale would crumble, suspicion would continue, and they would be unable to cooperate. If they killed him, it would at least stabilize the crowd; everyone would tacitly agree that the murderer was dead and maintain the current status quo.

Everyone present was a veteran of the martial arts world and a clever person.

Clever people are very good at being generous with other people's sacrifices.

Yuan Yuang looked at the cold, murderous gazes before him and smiled helplessly.

"Damn it, I shouldn't have waded into these muddy waters. 'Men die for wealth, birds die for food'—how true that is."

Realizing the crowd’s intentions, he stopped hesitating, drew his sword, and prepared to fight for his life.

Just then, a voice rang out clearly.

"Everyone, don't be hasty. I think I've found a mechanism."

The crowd turned to look. It was Li Miao, crouching under the platform, seemingly examining something.

Bang!

He struck the ground with his fist. Stone chips flew, the ground collapsed, and a dark, gaping hole was revealed.

Lao Qifeng immediately darted forward to peer into the pit.

"A torch," he called out, and a Beggar Sect disciple handed him a bundle of torches.

Lao Qifeng threw a torch into the hole, held his breath, and began to calculate in his mind.

A moment later, he looked up. "It's about eighty zhang deep. By using the rock walls for leverage, anyone with basic light-foot skills can make it down."

"The torch has gone out; there should be a body of water below. With water, we won't have any problems for at least a dozen days."

He turned to the crowd surrounding Yuan Yuang and waved his hand.

"Put aside the matter of the Gu sorcery for now. Since we have a way out, don't waste your energy here."

"As long as we can get out, we can settle things on the outside."

The crowd dispersed. Yuan Yuang let out a long breath, wiped the sweat from his forehead, and drifted toward them.

"Give me a torch," Lao Qifeng said.

"I'll go down first. If it's safe, I'll draw a character with the torch below. After three times, if it goes out, you can all come down."

With that, he jumped directly into the hole.

A short while later, they saw the torch waving below. The group hesitated no longer, and one by one, using their light-foot skills, they leaped into the darkness.