“Hey… could it be that the Xuanfeng Token isn’t even here?”
Meng Xiaoyu couldn’t help but doubt as she watched Ling Yuer nearly turn the entire secret chamber upside down without finding the Xuanfeng Token.
“Impossible, the Xuanfeng Token must be here, I just haven’t found it yet!”
Ling Yuer turned around with a serious expression and stared at Meng Xiaoyu after hearing her doubtful tone.
“Oh? You’re that sure?”
Meng Xiaoyu became interested upon seeing Ling Yuer’s confident look.
“Of course, my information is always accurate,” Ling Yuer said with a bit of pride.
“But you haven’t found the Xuanfeng Token yet!”
Meng Xiaoyu couldn’t help but tease upon seeing Ling Yuer’s proud expression.
“That’s just because I haven’t found it yet. The Xuanfeng Token is definitely here, there must be something I’ve overlooked, so I need to keep searching,” Ling Yuer said, turning back to continue her search.
“Sigh!”
Meng Xiaoyu sighed and bent down to help Ling Yuer search again.
Half an hour later, “Yuer, wait, stop searching for a moment,” Meng Xiaoyu called out to Ling Yuer, who was still busy searching.
“What’s up?”
Ling Yuer looked up at Meng Xiaoyu with a puzzled expression.
“I think we’ve almost turned this place upside down, but we still haven’t found the Xuanfeng Token.
Do you think maybe…”
Meng Xiaoyu’s words were interrupted by Ling Yuer.
“Xiaoyu, my information can’t be wrong, trust me.”
Ling Yuer interrupted, thinking Meng Xiaoyu was about to suggest the Xuanfeng Token might not be here.
Meng Xiaoyu rolled her eyes in exasperation and said, “Can you let me finish?”
Then, seeing Ling Yuer’s puzzled look, she continued, “I mean, we’ve been searching for so long without finding it, and you’re sure your information is correct.
So, do you think there might be some hidden mechanism or secret compartment in this chamber that’s keeping the Xuanfeng Token out of sight?”
Meng Xiaoyu thought of some novels and TV shows from her past life where valuable items were often hidden in secret compartments.
Could the owner of this place have done the same?
“You mean…”
Ling Yuer’s eyes lit up at Meng Xiaoyu’s suggestion.
How could she not have thought of that?
The Xuanfeng Token is a martial arts treasure; Zhao Tianyu wouldn’t just leave it lying around with ordinary items. There must be some hidden mechanism or secret compartment they hadn’t discovered.
She had been so muddled earlier to overlook such a simple idea.
“Yeah,” Meng Xiaoyu nodded at Ling Yuer’s expression.
The two of them tacitly began searching the chamber for any hidden mechanisms. Finally, after nearly another half hour, Ling Yuer found a dark red button under an antique vase.
Ling Yuer glanced back at Meng Xiaoyu before slowly pressing the button.
As expected, with a rumbling sound, they saw a wooden shelf filled with antique vases and large jade ornaments slowly move aside, revealing a small secret chamber behind it.
“Let’s go in!”
Ling Yuer took Meng Xiaoyu’s hand and, holding a lit candle, walked into the small secret chamber.
However, once inside, Ling Yuer was stunned, and Meng Xiaoyu was puzzled.
“Hey! Snap out of it,” Meng Xiaoyu waved a hand in front of Ling Yuer’s eyes, wondering why she suddenly zoned out.
After Ling Yuer came back to her senses, Meng Xiaoyu curiously asked, “What happened to you just now?”
“Oh!
It’s nothing, I was just surprised that the long-lost Ziyun Twin Swords of Jianghu would appear here,” Ling Yuer said, pointing to the crossed swords on the wall.
“Ziyun Twin Swords? Are they powerful?”
Meng Xiaoyu curiously walked over, took one of the ancient-looking swords, unsheathed it, and said, “Doesn’t seem special!
It doesn’t look sharper than my Qingyue Sword.”
Seeing Meng Xiaoyu’s lack of appreciation, Ling Yuer chuckled and began explaining the history of the Ziyun Twin Swords.
“These Ziyun Twin Swords, one named ‘Ziyue’ and the other ‘Zhuiyun,’ were crafted by the master swordsmith Long Aotian a hundred years ago. He spent nearly ten years using the rarest black iron to forge this pair of sister swords…”
“Sister swords? Why not lover swords?”
Meng Xiaoyu interrupted before Ling Yuer could finish.
“Because they were specially made as a coming-of-age gift for his twin daughters, so they’re sister swords,” Ling Yuer explained.
“Oh! Got it, go on,” Meng Xiaoyu said, enlightened by Ling Yuer’s explanation.
“Although the Ziyun Twin Swords are sister swords, they have different characteristics. The one in your hand is the Zhuiyun Sword, the sword of the younger sister Long Yunran. Long Yunran was fiery and straightforward, and the Zhuiyun Sword is just like her personality, fierce and unstoppable. The elder sister Long Yueran was calm and gentle, so her Ziyue Sword is a soft sword with hidden sharpness.”
“Soft sword?”
Meng Xiaoyu put down the Zhuiyun Sword and took the Ziyue Sword from the wall.
She unsheathed it, discarded the scabbard, and gently bent the blade, which easily flexed and then snapped back when she released it.
“It really is a soft sword! But can such a soft sword really have any attack power?”
Meng Xiaoyu was skeptical.
Ling Yuer didn’t say anything in response to Meng Xiaoyu’s doubt.
She turned and left the small chamber, returning in less than a minute with two large gold ingots.
Meng Xiaoyu was puzzled by Ling Yuer’s actions.
“Why did you bring two gold ingots?”
Ling Yuer remained silent, took the Ziyue Sword from Meng Xiaoyu, tossed the gold ingots into the air, and quickly swung the sword, creating a flourish.
Before the gold ingots hit the ground, they were sliced into four pieces.
Bending down to pick up the quartered gold, Meng Xiaoyu was amazed.
“This is gold! And it was sliced into four pieces with just a couple of swings?”
She looked at the Ziyue Sword in Ling Yuer’s hand and the Zhuiyun Sword discarded to the side.
“We have to take these. Such sharp swords are wasted in a secret chamber; we must take them when we leave,” Meng Xiaoyu thought, nodding firmly.
Seeing Meng Xiaoyu’s expression, Ling Yuer guessed her thoughts.
She sheathed the Ziyue Sword and handed it to Meng Xiaoyu, then resumed searching for the Xuanfeng Token.
Meng Xiaoyu understood Ling Yuer’s actions and didn’t say anything.
She stood up and began looking around on her own.
However…
“Hey Yuer, what’s this?”
Meng Xiaoyu asked, holding a silver-white vest-like garment, as she approached Ling Yuer.
“Snow Silk Soft Armor,” Ling Yuer replied, glancing at the item in Meng Xiaoyu’s hand.
“Oh! What’s it for?”
“Impenetrable by blades and arrows.”
“Oh! Such a good item is wasted in a secret chamber, I’ll take it.”
“Hey, what’s this?”
“Fiery Toad.”
“What does it do?”
“A holy medicine for healing.”
“Oh! Such a good item is wasted in a secret chamber, I’ll take it.”
“And this…”
“Thousand-Year Snow Ginseng, it can prolong life.”
“Really? I’ll take it.”
“In that case, let’s take this too!”
Ling Yuer said, handing a small wooden box to Meng Xiaoyu.
“What’s this?”
Meng Xiaoyu asked curiously, looking at the box Ling Yuer gave her.
“Cold Jade Cicada, it can cure all poisons,” Ling Yuer said with a smile.
“Oh! We must take it,” Meng Xiaoyu said, taking the Cold Jade Cicada from the box and tucking it into her clothes.
At this point, Meng Xiaoyu was adorned with treasures: wearing the Chihun Pendant, carrying the Fiery Toad and Cold Jade Cicada, wearing the Snow Silk Soft Armor, and holding the Ziyun Twin Swords and a carved gold-inlaid sandalwood box containing the Thousand-Year Snow Ginseng.
She was practically a walking treasure trove!
Seeing Meng Xiaoyu grinning from ear to ear, Ling Yuer shook her head with amusement and tugged on Meng Xiaoyu’s sleeve.
“Alright, now that we have the treasures, we should leave.”
“Huh? We’re leaving already?
Didn’t you say you haven’t found the Xuanfeng Token yet?”
Meng Xiaoyu asked, puzzled.
“I found it, it’s this,” Ling Yuer said, pulling out a palm-sized, round, pitch-black iron token with strange engravings from her pocket.
“Is this it? Are you sure?”
Meng Xiaoyu really couldn’t see what was so special about this ordinary iron tag.
“I’m sure this is it. Can we go now?”
Ling Yuer said with a chuckle as she carefully tucked the Xuanfeng Token into her bosom.
