Chapter 61: Traps in the Cave, The Hardest Part is Saying Goodbye

If a person falls in love with someone, no matter who that person is, it shouldn’t be considered her fault. (Gu Long)
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The Great Sword King seemed not to hear clearly and asked, “What did you say just now? Are those four guardians of the Demon Sect behind that girl?”
The Wolf King waved his fan and said, “Then who do you think could easily dodge the punches of the Top Ten Heroes and your divine sword?”
The Great Sword King nodded and said, “That girl is quite formidable.”
Liu Yi glanced at the two of them and said, “Let’s hurry. It’s almost dark. We need to enter the cave before it gets completely dark; otherwise, it will be hard to find the entrance.”
The Wolf King waved his fan and said, “Follow me. I just came out of there to pick you up. Everyone else has been inside for hours—you’re the slowest.”
As Liu Yi followed the Wolf King, he asked, “How did you get out?”
The Wolf King pointed at his nose and said, “This. It’s very useful.”
Ah Jiu suddenly said, “How about this? Let the Wolf King be our guide. He’s much better than using markers.”
The Top Ten Heroes nodded and said, “That makes sense. His nose is quite useful. We won’t have to worry about getting lost.”
After some persuasion from Ah Jiu, the Wolf King finally joined Liu Yi’s group on their treasure hunt. Thus, the group formed a long line—seemingly quite large in number.
After walking for about half an hour, they finally stopped in a basin surrounded by high mountains. The Wolf King slowly pointed in directions: “East, south, west… one, two, three.”
Suddenly, he pointed at a mountain and said, “It’s up there.”
Everyone headed toward that mountain and indeed found a cave in the dense forest at the foot of the mountain. At the entrance of the cave stood a large sign with four red characters: “Death to those who enter recklessly.”
The Wolf King said, “Ignore it. Let’s go in.”
They lit torches and followed the Wolf King inside. The cave was spacious but pitch black and damp. As they moved forward, they felt as though the path was sloping downward—each step seemed to take them lower. It seemed the cave led underground…
Jili’s small hand tightly grasped Liu Yi’s, as if afraid he might fly away.
After walking for an unknown amount of time, suddenly the cave became bright. Before them appeared a large hall, illuminated by a night pearl hanging above, making it as bright as day.
But then came the problem: the hall was circular, with eighty-one entrances around it. There were no signs in front of any of them. Liu Yi quickly asked the Wolf King, “Which way should we go?”
The Wolf King pointed at his nose and said, “I’ll smell where no one has been. We’ll go that way. There are plenty of forks inside anyway. And remember, don’t get separated, or we won’t be able to get out.”
Everyone nodded.
The Wolf King circled the hall for about thirty minutes before stopping at one entrance and saying, “No one has been here. Let’s go this way.”
Liu Yi nodded and said, “Okay!”
They held hands, afraid of making a mistake by choosing the wrong entrance.

Entering this small cave, they found it not very spacious—only two people could walk side by side. The wolf king leading the way and the Great Sword King at the back each carried a torch to illuminate the surroundings.

As they walked, the Ten Heroes said, “I feel like we’re going deeper and deeper. After walking for so long, have we reached underground?”

Liu Yi shook his head and said, “I’m not sure either. Let’s keep going.”

It was unclear how long they walked before they saw light ahead—a smaller, oval-shaped hall with nine doors in total. If it weren’t for the wolf king’s keen sense of smell, they would have had no way of finding which door they came in through after coming out.

The wolf king pointed to the middle door and said, “No one has been through this one. Let’s go in.” With that, he led the group into the middle door.

This process repeated over and over. No one knew how long they had walked, how many halls they had passed, or how many doors they had chosen. But one thing was certain—everyone was very tired.

Finally, in an oval hall, the wolf king said, “Let’s rest for a while, eat some dry food, and then sleep here for a while. Once everyone’s rested enough, we’ll continue on our journey.”

The Great Sword King immediately sat down, took out a flatbread, and started eating. “It was time to rest. I think we’ve been walking for five or six hours. It seems like we keep going in circles and can’t get out.”

The wolf king also shook his head and said, “I really admire the person who carved this cave. He just won’t release this treasure. I guess he must be a remarkable person. With such a huge underground labyrinth, he’s undoubtedly the only one capable of doing this.”

As they ate and chatted, Ajiu, unable to stay still, went to each door to take a look, studying the cave while eating. But after several rounds, he was disappointed—the caves all looked the same, with nothing special about them.

Annoyed, Ajiu returned to the Great Sword King, leaned on him, and looked up at the ceiling, ready to sleep. But then he noticed the night pearl above and thought it was extremely special. The pearl itself was ordinary; what was special was the protective ring around it!

Ajiu sat up abruptly and said, “Uncle Wolf, look at the night pearl above!”

At his words, everyone quickly looked up. There seemed nothing special… Ajiu continued, “Look next to the pearl, not at the pearl itself. I think that circular ring can move.”

The wolf king quickly put down his things and stood up. “It seems so,” he said, then stepped onto his folding fan and flew upward. He examined the ring closely—it was deeply embedded in the cave, with only half exposed. He tried turning it with his hand, and indeed, the ring moved slightly…

Then there was a loud rumble, followed by strange occurrences. All nine entrances suddenly lit up and began spinning rapidly. Then, a hurricane seemingly appeared out of nowhere, blowing toward the group. Before anyone could react, another strange thing happened—each entrance emitted a suction force, as if trying to pull the people in the hall into an endless abyss.

In that instant, everyone was sucked into different caves. The wolf king shouted in the air, “This is bad! This might be a trap left by that damned remarkable person…” Before he could finish speaking, he too was sucked into a cave.

Only Liu Yi and Jili’er remained in the hall. Liu Yi grabbed Jili’er’s hand, and the two floated in mid-air. Jili’er was drawn backward, and Liu Yi too, so in the end they held each other’s hands and were not sucked in, remaining suspended in the air. Liu Yi thought to himself, “So there’s no suction here in the middle—that’s why I and Jili’er are like this.”

Jili’er looked at Liu Yi and suddenly burst into tears, shouting, “Scholar, will we be buried in this dark cave forever? Will we never be able to see each other again?”

Liu Yi looked at Jili’er’s face and exclaimed, “Why does fate tease us like this? Why didn’t it let us enter the same cave?”

They were both drawn backward. Clearly, it was impossible for them to enter the same cave.

Jili’er tightly held onto Liu Yi’s hand and said, “Scholar, I’m so scared. I’m afraid of the dark, and I’m afraid I’ll never see you again.”

Seeing Jili’er’s sad expression, Liu Yi felt a sharp pain in his heart… Suddenly, he felt Jili’er’s grip loosen. He hurriedly said, “Jili’er, hold my hand—never let go.”

Jili’er shook her head and said, “I can’t hold on anymore, Scholar. Do you remember what we said by the sea of falling snow? If you live, please live happily. If you die, the ‘love poison’ in my heart will wither, and I will follow you to the netherworld.”

Liu Yi’s eyes reddened. He wanted to hold Jili’er tightly, to hold onto his love, but he couldn’t. He felt his strength fading little by little, and Jili’er’s hand was slowly loosening.

Liu Yi looked at Jili’er and cried out in anguish, “You’re so cruel! Leaving me to suffer endless emptiness and heartache—how can there be happiness?”

Jili’er looked at Liu Yi as tears streamed down her face. “Scholar, I can’t hold on much longer. Although our time together was short, I was very happy. If there’s an afterlife, I will definitely be your wife again.”

Liu Yi tried to hold Jili’er, but he no longer had the strength. His hand gradually loosened. Suddenly, a force pulled him backward, and Jili’er quickly disappeared from his sight…

From this bottomless cave came a heart-wrenching scream: “You wretched heavens! Why treat me like this? One day, I, Liu Yi, will draw my sword and strike the heavens!”