Chapter 25: The Duan Clan of Dali (Continued)

"But my surname is not Duan," Chen Yuchong replied, "nor is there anyone surnamed Duan among my maternal relatives within three generations."

When the founding emperor of the Great Ming, Zhu Yuanzhang, had exiled the descendants of the Dali Duan clan to the Central Plains, it was likely during that time that the bloodline of these Duan royals had drifted into the common populace.

"All phenomena arise from conditions; I say they are empty, also known as provisional names, and also known as the Middle Way."

Chen Yuchong heard a faint chuckle followed by the Buddhist verse. The mysterious voice continued: "I sense the blood of the Dali Duan clan within you; there must be a karmic convergence. Without a doubt, you are the direct descendant of me, Duan Zhengyan, Emperor Xuanren of the Dali Kingdom."

The mysterious voice uttered words that sent a tremor through Chen Yuchong's spirit.

"Do you... crave power?"

Elsewhere, Yun Zheng and his party had begun their exploration of the mysterious palace.

Once Yun Zheng made the decision to explore the mysterious palace, the members of the Yun Clan Army naturally raised no objections, and the Earth-element commanders Jin Kaijia and Mu Chuansheng offered no dissent.

However, the two chieftains, Wumeng and Wusa, tentatively raised a different perspective:

"This palace serves as the sacred altar where the first Duke of Qian sealed the national fortune of an ancient kingdom. Putting aside whether it contains earth-shaking power capable of manipulating ley lines, the mere complexity of its mechanisms and hidden arrows constitutes a life-or-death barrier that is difficult to surmount. It would be unwise for us to enter rashly without permission."

Although Mu Ying was enfeoffed as the Prince of Qianning, his descendants only inherited the title of Duke of Qian. The so-called "Prince Mu's Mansion" was, in reality, a common term for the "Mansion of the Duke of Qian."

The two chieftains certainly had their own selfish motives in saying this.

On one hand, they felt guilty, knowing the palace possessed mysterious mechanisms specifically designed to target anti-Ming elements. Heaven only knew if some terrifying entity capable of reading minds was sealed inside. Perhaps the Yun Zheng party could walk the path safely, while they might face eighty-one tribulations, exhausting their luck for the next several lifetimes without any guarantee of survival.

On the other hand, the two chieftains still harbored hopes of finding Chen Yuchong and escaping with him. They had already developed the sentiment that "this boy cannot be left alive" regarding Yun Zheng, and they wished for nothing more than for him to die here. This, however, was not something to be spoken of to outsiders.

Yet, Yun Zheng's response was so dignified that they found it impossible to refuse:

"I believe that rather than sitting here waiting for death, it is better to take the initiative and unravel the mysteries of this palace. We are all loyal subjects of the Great Ming; I trust that if the spirit of Prince Mu remains, he will not make things difficult for us."

The two chieftains cursed inwardly. But there was no choice; the situation was stronger than the people. They had only brought a few guards, and lacked the leverage to bargain with Yun Zheng.

They had no choice but to order their men to support the unconscious Chieftain of Yongshun and follow Yun Zheng's party into the walkway at the entrance of the palace.

The walkway was narrow and long, with no end in sight, as if to foreshadow that the path would not be peaceful.

However, contrary to most expectations, the group did not trigger a single mechanism along the way.

Occasionally, they could see crossbow bolts that had already been fired and were embedded deep into the stone walls, with tattered silk threads still hanging from the fletchings.

In some places, the floor was littered with fine fragments of mechanisms, clearly showing that someone had accidentally triggered traps during a previous exploration, causing the devices to break.

At some complex corners, they even discovered mechanical doors that had been forcibly breached; the hinges were broken and wood chips were scattered everywhere, clearly opened by brute force or specialized tools.

The two chieftains were secretly astonished: not only were there no triggers, but there were signs that many mechanisms had already been set off?

Yun Zheng, however, was completely unfazed, as if he had expected this all along. As he walked, he even had the leisure to appreciate the reliefs on both sides of the corridor.

Pointing to a relief, Yun Zheng said, "This relief tells the story of the Battle of Dingbian. In that battle, Prince Mu shattered the elite war elephant troops of the Luchuan Kingdom, dealing a devastating blow to this powerful nation that once dominated the Southwest. It is likely that this palace seals the fortune of the Luchuan Kingdom."

On the relief, elephants were shown galloping, trunks raised, roaring in vivid detail. In front of the elephant formation, Ming musketeers and crossbowmen were mixed into three platoons, firing in rotation, with tongues of fire spraying like rain.

In the center of the elephant formation, upon the largest white elephant, the general in the elephant palanquin was struck by thirty-seven arrows, blood streaming from his body.

The Chieftain of Wumeng could not help but ask, "Lord Yun, I have a question, and I hope the General will enlighten me."

"Speak freely."

"How did Lord Yun know that the mechanisms of this palace had already been sabotaged?"

Yun Zheng said calmly, "Have you two chieftains ever considered a question—through what channels did the mastermind who lured us into Dahuang City obtain information about the city, and the means to enter it?"

The Chieftain of Wumeng pondered for a moment, then realized, "The An clan of Shuixi!"

"Correct. The existence of this underground city could not have been unknown to either the Yang family, who once ruled Bozhou, or the Ye family, who developed Chishui City into a thriving hub. But the Yang family has long been purged, and they could not have had such means. The Ye family, loyal for generations, would never have handed the keys to Dahuang City to those who would engage in such petty machinations. Therefore, the only explanation is that the An clan of Shuixi, who once occupied Chishui City, obtained the keys to Dahuang City from the Ye family."

The group suddenly understood; it seemed that after the An clan of Shuixi conquered Chishui City, they discovered the secret of Dahuang City.

Yun Zheng's certainty that the palace's mechanisms had been sabotaged was based on simple, sound logic: "Once the Shuixi army obtained the means to enter the labyrinth, they must have sent troops to explore and sabotage Dahuang City, hoping to break the seal Prince Mu placed on the fortune of the ancient Southwestern kingdom."

This reasoning was simple in hindsight, but in the midst of a chaotic predicament shrouded in fog, using keen insight to pierce through layers of suspicion and peeling back the truth like silk from a cocoon to reveal it with such clarity and order was an entirely different matter.

The Chieftain of Wumeng mused, "According to this logic, the Shuixi rebel army's plan to destroy the underground palace must have failed."

The Chieftain of Wusa, as if having a sudden breakthrough, added, "But it did not fail completely, otherwise the mastermind's act of drawing us into this palace would be entirely meaningless."

By now, the group had reached the end of the corridor, and the silhouette of an altar reflecting a faint golden light in the spacious hall ahead became clear.

Under Yun Zheng's smiling gaze, the Chieftain of Wumeng's face turned pale, and he said with difficulty, "The Shuixi rebel army must have triggered some ultimate defense mechanism after entering this palace. This defense is an indiscriminate attack that does not distinguish between friend and foe; the mastermind intends to use this to kill us."

The mastermind had undoubtedly used a blatant scheme; to leave the underground palace, one had to explore these ruins, and thus, one was bound to fall into this pre-set trap.

The two chieftains began to regret why they had entered this place.

Staying outside would not necessarily have meant being silenced by Yun Zheng; looking at it now, this Assistant General Yun was actually quite principled in his actions.

If he were truly unscrupulous, he would have directly led his famous Tanlang and Qiongxuan battalions into Chishui to capture Chen Yuchong alive.