Chapter 48: The Choice

The Nine Heavens Hidden Dragon Tome, claimed to be the ultimate creation that seizes the fortune of heaven and earth, the paramount treasure of the Taoist Five Arts, and renowned as the study of emperors, was actually hidden here in the Fourteenth Ming Tomb.

Even as I held the book in my hands, I found it hard to believe. This was the most profound secret manual among the Taoist Five Arts; rumor had it that whoever mastered it would pierce the secrets of heaven and earth, achieve immortality, and foresee the future.

Empress Wu Zetian and Shangguan Wan'er had only penetrated its surface and yet remained ageless for a millennium. If someone were to grasp the very essence of this book, there would likely be no match for them in this mortal world.

I opened the Nine Heavens Hidden Dragon Tome. The text inside was vast and profound. Although I had stumbled upon the Taoist Five Arts secrets within the Eight Dragons Embracing the Pearl and possessed extraordinary talent, I still could not fathom the mysteries of the Nine Heavens Hidden Dragon Tome. Reading through the entire book left me as clueless as ever, finding it as incomprehensible as a heavenly script.

Suddenly, crisp applause echoed through the quiet Fourteenth Ming Tomb. I raised my head, my brows furrowing slightly.

Wei Yong walked slowly forward, a calm and profound smile on his face, clapping his hands.

"I certainly didn't judge you wrongly. You have lived up to your mission and really helped me find this book!"

I was not surprised by Wei Yong's appearance here. I believed that every move I made had been under his constant surveillance. However, now that I had actually found the Nine Heavens Hidden Dragon Tome, I knew very well that I could not hand this book over to him under any circumstances.

Kong Guan and Wei Yu stepped forward to block Wei Yong's path, which eased my mind slightly. Yue Qianling and the others also gathered around me.

Wei Yong took off his gloves, stopped in his tracks, and looked at me with a relaxed expression.

"You don't need to be so tense. I came alone. What... are all of you afraid of just little old me?"

Clutching the Nine Heavens Hidden Dragon Tome tightly, I spoke without a trace of inferiority or arrogance.

"The Fourteenth Ming Tomb is right before you. Back then, I promised Brother Ting that once the Fourteenth Ming Tomb was found, everything would belong to you. Now, we are even."

Wei Yong shook his head with a faint smile and slowly raised three fingers.

"Three days! I'll give you three days..."

Wei Yong paused to think, then raised two more fingers, speaking with a very relaxed expression.

"Five days! I will give you five days. No matter what method you use, take whatever you want from everything here, as much as you can carry!"

Let alone five days, even a single minute spent carrying away just one item from this Fourteenth Ming Tomb would be enough to sustain a lifetime of luxury. Wei Yong was indeed generous, granting five days to take whatever one pleased. I was certain that anyone given five days to scavenge here would emerge with wealth rivaling a nation.

Maintaining a blank expression, I stood motionless, looking at Wei Yong and speaking calmly.

"And the condition is that I hand the book over to you?"

Wei Yong nodded cheerfully, neither confirming nor denying in a noncommittal tone.

"You are a smart person, and I have always liked doing business with smart people because it makes things simple and straightforward. Keeping this book is of little use to you; on the contrary, the gold and jewels here can grant you generations of glory and wealth. I don't need to teach you how to read the situation; you should know very well how to weigh the priorities."

I gave a cold laugh, took a deep breath, and asked.

"And what if I refuse to hand the book over?"

"Then it's even simpler!" Wei Yong spread his hands and smiled. "The Fourteenth Ming Tomb is so vast; surely it wouldn't mind a few more skeletons."

Xianshanshan glared at Wei Yong with utter disdain.

"I must say, your tone is quite arrogant! Counting heads, there are seven of us here, and just one of you. By the sound of it, you plan to take care of all seven of us right here? Have you ever considered that the one lying down here might end up being you?"

Wei Yong still smiled easily, his tone remaining entirely peaceful.

"You are certainly free to think that, but sometimes having more people isn't a good thing. If you don't believe me, you can give it a try."

I thoroughly disliked the smile on Wei Yong's face—an expression entirely unreadable. In truth, I had never truly understood Wei Yong from beginning to end.

A man like Wei Yong would not be foolish enough to walk into danger alone unless he was supremely confident. Yet, given the current situation, powerful and influential though Wei Yong might be, either of the two men standing before him—Wei Yu and Kong Guan—could easily take his life in an instant.

And yet, I could not detect a single trace of fear or hesitation in Wei Yong's smile.

Clearly, Wei Yong was waiting for my final decision. I took a deep breath, looked at Yue Qianling, Gu Anqi, and Qiunuo beside me, and finally let my gaze rest on Xiao Lianshan.

I had tried every possible means to prevent them from coming along precisely because I feared accidents might happen in the end. Now that Wei Yong was pressing me step by step right before my eyes, I deeply regretted not leaving them behind.

Seeing the worried look on my face, Xiao Lianshan did not hesitate for a second; he threw the gold bar he had been tightly clutching right onto the ground.

"Brother, wherever you decide, I'll follow. Money doesn't matter; I've never been rich anyway, and I've been getting along just fine."

The other young women nearby put down the items they were holding, their eyes showing not the slightest hint of reluctance.

I nodded in gratitude, speechless for a moment. Gritting my teeth, I said to Wei Yong.

"We won't take a single thing from the Fourteenth Ming Tomb, but I won't give you the Nine Heavens Hidden Dragon Tome either."

"It seems you've made your decision!" Wei Yong showed no surprise at all, as if he had anticipated this outcome all along, and slowly stepped forward. "Then you can all stay and guard the Fourteenth Ming Tomb."

Wei Yong's final sentence turned gloomy and resolute. Standing in front of him were Wei Yu and Kong Guan, and I noticed a pinch of white powder had suddenly appeared in Kong Guan's palm.

Thousand-Corpse Powder! The most sinister and venomous Gu poison!

I believed that if Kong Guan made a move, even without the Thousand-Corpse Powder, Wei Yong would undoubtedly die. Yet I could never understand why Wei Yong's pace remained as steady and confident as ever, acting as though he didn't even notice Wei Yu and Kong Guan.

Wei Yong was less than half a step away from Kong Guan. I was certain that with a mere flick of Kong Guan's hand, Wei Yong would be left writhing in agony on the floor. Although I had no desire to see such an outcome, it might currently be the only—and best—solution.

Except...!

Kong Guan did not make a move; he didn't even twitch. Wei Yong calmly walked right past between Kong Guan and Wei Yu. A flicker of hard-to-detect panic crossed my eyes as I watched Kong Guan and Wei Yu slowly turn around and stand in dead silence directly behind Wei Yong.

Kong Guan's hollow right eye was as bottomless as his person, and the Thousand-Corpse Powder in his hand turned my complexion ashen.

Beside him, Wei Yu slowly revealed a bizarre smile, staring straight at Xiao Lianshan. The words spoken from that mouth—which possessed only half a tongue—were muffled and indistinct, echoing through the deep, shadowy Fourteenth Ming Tomb in a particularly eerie and terrifying manner.

"Now, count how many people there are."

Wei Yong was still smiling, his expression relaxed and calm.

"I said before that having more people isn't necessarily a good thing. Back then, I only mentioned the first half and forgot the second: while having more people isn't necessarily good, you also have to see how many of them are actually your own people!"

A chill ran straight down my spine. At last, I understood the true meaning behind the smile on Wei Yong's face. He wasn't afraid of Wei Yu and Kong Guan because neither of them was his enemy—it was simply that I had realized it far too late.

In a state of panic, I stared intently at Kong Guan and Wei Yu and asked anxiously.

"Brother Ting... what have you done to Brother Ting?"

Hearing my question, Yue Qianling also snapped out of her shock, asking with a heart-burning urgency.

"Where is my dad? What on earth have you done to my dad?"

"Yue Leiting is living quite well, with Lan Qing by his side to keep him company," Kong Guan replied expressionlessly, his voice ice-cold. "However, how much longer he gets to live is not up to me... it's up to you!"

"You two old bastards! Colluding with outsiders behind Uncle Gu's back—if Uncle Gu finds out, he will never let you off!" Yue Qianling pointed at them, shouting angrily.

"Brother Gu will certainly not let people off, but it's not us—it's Yue Leiting and Lan Qing." Kong Guan stared at me coldly. "Brother Gu asked me to bring you a message: hand over the book in exchange for the lives of Yue Leiting and Lan Qing."

"Gu... Gu Xiaotian is your man too?!" I asked, dumbfounded.

"Gu Xiaotian has nothing to do with me," Wei Yong replied cheerfully, shaking his head with a faint smile. "However, Gu Xiaotian has a favor to ask of me, and only I can help him achieve it. Therefore, he has no choice but to obey me!"

My breathing grew heavy. I exchanged a glance with Xiao Lianshan beside me and saw that his fists were clenched tightly. Yet, facing Wei Yu and Kong Guan, Xiao Lianshan's fists seemed utterly useless.

"I'll give you one more chance. Hand over the book, and not only will I let you leave, but my previous promise still stands: within five days, take whatever you like from in here." Wei Yong stepped closer, his voice turning gloomy. "In fact, I have another much more straightforward method—kill all of you, and I can still get the book anyway. Heh."

Kong Guan had already raised his hand. I stepped to the very front. If I hadn't already exhausted my summoning of the Five Directions Yin Soldiers, I might have been able to match Kong Guan and Wei Yu. But now, with my cultivation recovery incomplete, dealing with Kong Guan alone was already beyond my strength, let alone facing the unfathomable Wei Yu standing beside him.

If Kong Guan unleashed the Thousand-Corpse Powder, I might manage to dodge it, but the others behind me would surely meet a grim fate.

Wei Yong slowly extended his hand, a calm smile on his face.

"It seems you don't have many choices left. Either you hand it over to me now, or I kill you and take it from your corpse. This multiple-choice question shouldn't be too hard, right? Heh."

I took a deep breath and suddenly gave a faint smile.

"Actually, I have one more choice!"

"Oh?!" Wei Yong paused, asking with a look of surprise. "What other choice could you possibly have?"

The burning whale oil illuminated the entire Fourteenth Ming Tomb, its flickering flames casting a glow across my cheeks.

I slowly raised my hand. The Nine Heavens Hidden Dragon Tome was right there in my grasp. Directly beneath it burned a raging fire; just a slight drop lower, and the divine book—hailed as the culmination of heaven and earth's creation—would be reduced to ashes.