allonlinenovel Chapter 324 Mechanism
Chapter 324 Mechanism
The plum rain season in Jiangnan arrives exceptionally early, with fine rain curtains hanging from the black tiles of the bluestone alley.
Xiao Jingchuan leaned against the carved window of the inn, watching the raindrops fall down the eaves.
Water splashed up on the bluestone slabs.
On the desk lay a newly written letter, the ink still wet between the lines.
Hidden within him was his longing for a secluded life: "Liuli, during this trip to Jiangnan, I found the scenery here beautiful and the people simple and honest, which suits my taste much better than any secluded place..."
Before the words were finished, the wooden door was suddenly pushed open. Gu Liuli burst in, her clothes damp with sweat.
The pearl hairpin in her hair was still dripping water, and dark water stains were visible on the hem of her dark skirt: "Xiao Jingchuan, what are you up to now?"
Nine-Tails just sent a message saying you bought a three-courtyard house in Suzhou?
She slammed the soaked oil paper package she was holding onto the table, the oil paper tearing open to reveal two pieces of Suzhou-style pastry.
"Are you still planning to lock Su Mingyue and me in our boudoir, forcing us to gaze at each other with tearful eyes every day?"
Xiao Jingchuan turned and grasped his wife's hand, finding it icy cold to the touch: "Liuli, we have been secretly protecting Nanzhao for decades. Now Jun'er is standing on his own, and Qicheng is exceptionally intelligent..."
He gazed at the misty pavilions that appeared and disappeared in the distance.
"In Jiangnan, there are winding streams for drinking games and Suzhou storytelling."
Why can't we find a quiet, secluded place and live a carefree life like the hermits of the mountains?
In the next room, Jiang Liushen was carefully pouring tea for Jia Xiaoyan.
The Biluochun tea leaves floated in the celadon cup as he carefully chose his words: "Xiaoyan, look at the gardens of Jiangnan..."
"Stop!" Jia Xiaoyan slammed the teacup down.
Tea spilled, leaving dark stains on the mahogany table. "Did you discuss this with Xiao Jingchuan? Jiu Li Mao told me everything, saying you want to emulate Fan Li and Xi Shi's boating on Taihu Lake?"
She suddenly leaned closer, her fingertip pointing at her husband's chest.
"Let me ask you this: if the remnants of the Netherworld Pavilion rise again, the people of Nanzhao will suffer terribly."
Can you really listen to music in peace on a pleasure boat?
A thunderclap outside the window illuminated Jiang Liushen's instantly pale face.
He recalled the great battle twenty years ago, when he held his blood-soaked comrade and watched him breathe his last.
The mingled scent of blood from his memory with the aroma of tea before him made his throat tighten: "I just... I just wanted to spare you from further danger..."
"Ridiculous!" Jia Xiaoyan grabbed the soft sword from the wall; the scabbard struck the blue bricks with a crisp sound.
"Back in Miao territory, who was trapped on the altar by the poisonous fog of the Netherworld Pavilion?"
If I hadn't used my family's acupuncture technique to protect your heart meridian, you would have been a wandering ghost by now!
Her eyes were red-rimmed.
You want to live a life of leisure? I'm determined to stay in the capital, watch Qicheng grow up, and see the Nanzhao Kingdom peaceful and prosperous!
In the midst of the argument, the Nine-Tails suddenly leaped in through the window, its nine tails drooping wetly: "Are you still arguing? An urgent report just arrived from Xijing Kingdom!"
A caravan bearing the mark of the Netherworld Pavilion was discovered on the Ancient Tea Horse Road!
It shook its fur, splashing water droplets everywhere.
"Xiao Jingchuan, Gu Liuli, if you really want to live a peaceful life..."
Let's deal with these slip-ups first!
Gu Liuli sneered and took out a spatial key from her sleeve: "Did you hear that? Your dream of retiring will have to be postponed for another ten or eight years."
As she turned around, the silver bells in her hair jingled softly.
"Furthermore, Su Mingyue wrote that Qi Cheng has recently become obsessed with mechanical arts."
He kept insisting that we teach him how to make a 'flying kite'.
Are you willing to disappoint that child?
As Xiao Jingchuan watched his wife's resolute back, a pang of sorrow welled up in his heart.
He recalled their first encounter, Gu Liuli's figure appearing like a fleeting glimpse of a swan in the rift of time.
At that time, her eyes were full of longing for the unknown world.
Now, as the years have passed, all that remains in her eyes is her concern for her homeland and country.
"That's enough." He stepped forward and draped the cloak over his wife's shoulders.
His fingertips brushed against her slightly damp temples.
"Once this storm has passed, we will seek out the misty rain of Jiangnan again."
But next time, I'll bring Jun'er's family, and Nine-Tails too.
Nine-Tanuki Cat bristled upon hearing this: "Who wants to squeeze into the courtyard with you guys!"
"I still need to go to the northern desert to find the thousand-year-old snow lotus to help Qi Cheng refine his body..." Before he could finish speaking...
Gu Liuli grabbed him by the back of the neck: "Let's resolve the Tea Horse Road issue first!"
Before the rain in Jiangnan had even stopped, an urgent confidential letter was already on Xiao Jingchuan's desk.
On the yellowed Xuan paper, the ghost face totem drawn with cinnabar is shocking—it is the mark of the Netherworld Pavilion.
The letter, written in hasty handwriting, reads: "A massive mechanical device has been discovered along the Ancient Tea Horse Road; caravans and wagons are all engraved with ghost-face patterns; and people and livestock have mysteriously disappeared from villages along the route..."
"A massive mechanical machine?"
Gu Liuli unfolded the map, her fingertips tracing the winding ancient road. "Twenty years ago, when we besieged the Netherworld Pavilion, we found half a scroll of 'The Secret Arts of Heavenly Craftsmanship' in their lair. It recorded mechanical techniques that could destroy cities and villages."
Could it be...? Before she could finish speaking, a piercing metallic scraping sound suddenly came from outside the window. Nine-Tails bristled and smashed open the window, followed closely by three strange men covered in iron armor.
The strange man's joints were spinning rapidly, and his eyes were inlaid with scarlet glass.
His every move carried the eerie aura of the corpse puppets from "The Record of the Strange Things of Tai Su".
Xiao Jingchuan instantly drew his black iron bow to its full draw, and the arrow shot through the air, only to be deflected by sparks upon striking the strange man's chest.
Watch out! Their weakness is the gear behind their neck! "Nine-tailed cat leaped onto Gu Liuli's shoulder, its nine tails transforming into sharp blades, aiming straight for the back of the monster's neck.
In the heat of battle, Jia Xiaoyan suddenly leaped down from the roof, her soft sword flashing with dazzling sword flowers.
She seized the opportunity and used the tip of her sword to sever the transmission chain of one of them.
The armored vehicle crashed to the ground, revealing a huddled, desiccated corpse inside—the missing guards of the Xijing Kingdom's merchant caravan. "These people have been turned into puppets!"
Jia Xiaoyan's face turned pale. "What exactly is the Netherworld Pavilion plotting?"
That night, the four disguised themselves and sneaked into an abandoned post station beside the Ancient Tea Horse Road. Moonlight shone through the broken window and onto the ground, illuminating the copper rings engraved with incantations scattered on the floor.
Xiao Jingchuan picked one up and discovered a miniature mechanism engraved inside the ring: "This is a chain detonation device. If three are triggered simultaneously, an area within a ten-mile radius will be engulfed in flames."
His pupils suddenly contracted. "Oh no! These copper rings are connected to the mountainside; they're trying to trigger a landslide!"
Before she finished speaking, a rumbling sound came from deep within the mountain. Gu Liuli formed hand seals, and spatial power condensed into a protective shield above her head.
Nine-Tanuki was jumping up and down in panic: "We must find the central control center! Otherwise, all the people in the valley will perish!" Qi Cheng's safety...
The tranquility of Xijing in Nanzhao flashed through everyone's minds, urging them to race against time.
Jia Xiaoyan discovered a hidden door in a corner, behind which was a spiraling stone staircase leading downwards. The further down she went, the more complex the mechanisms became: bronze crossbows on the walls were poised to fire, and quicksand traps were hidden in the ground. Jiang Liushen took out a set of mechanical diagrams he had brought from the Nanzhao Palace, his fingers rapidly tapping on the stone wall, deciphering the codes one by one. "Found it!" He suddenly lifted a floor tile, revealing a control panel covered in gears.
However, as he tried to turn the main gear, the surrounding walls suddenly closed in. Jia Xiaoyan reacted quickly, inserting her soft sword into the gap to temporarily block the pressure. Gu Liuli's forehead was beaded with cold sweat; cracks were already appearing in the spatial protective shield: "Jingchuan, you and Xiaoyan take Jiu Li Mao out first! I'll use my spatial power to buy time!"
"What nonsense are you spouting!" Xiao Jingchuan pressed the Xuan Tie Bow against the wall. "Remember when we first fought side by side? It'll be the same this time!" He turned to Jiang Liushen. "How much longer until we can crack it?"
"Three breaths!" Jiang Liushen's fingertip was cut by the gears, and his blood dripped onto the control panel, unexpectedly activating the mechanism. As the gears turned, the rumbling of the mountain abruptly stopped. Just as everyone breathed a sigh of relief, a loud crash of something heavy falling to the ground came from above. A huge bronze human face emerged from the ceiling, its eyes shooting out purple laser beams, sending stone chips flying wherever it went.
Suddenly, the Nine-Tails transformed into a streak of light and pierced the eye sockets of the bronze human face. Moments later, the face collapsed with a crash, revealing the black-robed figure operating the mechanism—none other than the long-lost younger brother of the Vice Minister of Rites! "You think killing my brother means the end for the Netherworld Pavilion?" he roared with maniacal laughter, pressing a red button at his waist. "This is just the beginning!"
The ground cracked open, and countless mechanical spiders surged forth. Xiao Jingchuan drew his bow and arrow, the arrow crackling with the power of thunder and fire; Jia Xiaoyan's soft sword danced like a silver snake, specifically targeting mechanical joints; Gu Liuli continuously used spatial power to redirect her attacks. Taking advantage of the situation, the Nine-Tails leaped to a high place, its nine tails coalescing into beams of light, striking directly at the black-robed man's brow.
As the battle ended, dawn broke. Everyone looked at the wreckage, utterly exhausted. Nine-Tails shook off the engine oil, a half-roll of "The Secret Arts of Heavenly Crafts" dangling from its mouth: "That's good. The Netherworld Pavilion's conspiracy has been thwarted again." It suddenly turned to Xiao Jingchuan, "But in my opinion, Jiangnan is no longer a safe place. Those remnants of the mechanisms might cause new trouble any day now."
Gu Liuli wiped her sword and smiled gently. "It seems my dream of retiring to seclusion will have to be postponed again. But..." She looked north, "Qicheng is obsessed with mechanical arts. Why don't we go back to Nanzhao and open a mechanical arts academy?"
Jia Xiaoyan sheathed her soft sword and nodded, saying, "That suits me perfectly. I also want to teach Qi Cheng some self-defense acupuncture techniques." Jiang Liushen silently organized the damaged mechanical diagrams, his eyes gleaming: "If we can combine the 'Heavenly Craftsmanship Secrets' with the Nanzhao mechanical arts, we might be able to create a truly divine weapon to protect the people."
Looking into the determined eyes of his companions, Xiao Jingchuan's thoughts of retiring gradually dissipated.