The Mechanism Wall, a Death!

Soaring through the air, Li Guanqi cautiously observed his surroundings. He had once heard his grandfather speak of the Mohist lineage, so he dared not let down his guard in the slightest. Even though the Mohist lineage had fallen who knew how many years ago, a ruin of such immense scale had to belong to an extraordinarily powerful branch, if not the main clan itself. Yet just as Li Guanqi flew past an enormous manor, he sensed a faint ripple of spiritual energy. Flitting into the residence and following that subtle ripple, he found a hidden chamber. However, the chamber's entrance bore three grooves of different shapes. He had no intention of wasting time searching for matching keys. Exhaling a breath of turbid air, he struck three lightning-fast sword thrusts at the grooves in rapid succession. Yet the stone door before him did not budge. Recalling the slight hitch in his rhythm as he thrust, Li Guanqi curled his lip. Striking with his right hand was still incapable of triggering this hidden chamber's mechanism; the interval between his thrusts was still too long. He switched the longsword to his left hand, his gaze turning razor-sharp. *Swish, swish, swish!* The mechanisms beneath the three grooves were triggered in the exact same instant. With a low rumble, the heavy stone door slowly ground open. Inside, the racks held a number of crossbow mechanisms, but their strings had snapped long ago, and the wood had rotted beyond recognition. Yet on the very top shelf lay an object emitting a faint glow. Li Guanqi picked it up and examined it closely, whispering in surprise, "A sleeve arrow?" Looking at the device, barely half the size of a palm, surprise filled his eyes. The craftsmanship was astonishingly delicate. Its surface gleamed with a metallic luster, cast entirely in antique bronze. Loaded upon the sleeve arrow were two tiny silver bolts no longer than a pinky finger, strung by a bowstring of unknown material. Worn around his wrist, it felt weightless, not hindering his movements in the slightest. With a thought, Li Guanqi gave his wrist a slight flick. *Bang!!* A streak of silver light burst forth without making a sound! A stone wall three zhang away exploded with a deafening crash! The silver bolt's tip had detonated the moment it struck stone. Staring at the collapsed stone wall, Li Guanqi could not help but gulp. "Such power... At close range, not even a late Foundation Establishment cultivator could block this. "A Foundation Establishment cultivator's origin power barrier wouldn't stand a chance! "Tsk, tsk, what a treasure." He searched the entire chamber several times, but found no spare bolts. Just as he was about to leave, he habitually swept the area with his divine sense and discovered a stray rhombus-shaped object behind one of the racks. When he picked it up, it felt icy cold. The front was engraved with the character *Di*, while the reverse displayed an openwork relief of mechanical gears. Slipping it into his storage ring with a flick of his wrist, Li Guanqi took to the air and departed. After an unknown amount of time, Li Guanqi finally drew near the massive, towering city. Curiously, he had not run into a single soul along the way, nor had he heard so much as a shout. This eerie, utter stillness put him instinctively on high alert. *What is going on? No matter how vast this ruin is, it should be impossible not to run into anyone...* Looking up, the terrifying mechanism that had buried the entire ruin underground was completely motionless now, yet it still left him shaken with lingering dread. Even from a distance, the towering city walls radiated a cold metallic sheen. By his estimate, the wall stood nearly eighty zhang tall! What did that mean? Li Guanqi was currently nearly six chi tall, on the taller side even among grown adults. Yet standing before the wall, he could hardly see the top. Gazing up at the colossal wall, Li Guanqi reached out and laid his hand upon its surface. Suddenly! A subtle tremor vibrated from within the wall, and Li Guanqi threw himself backward! Hundreds of recesses abruptly opened across the once-smooth stone surface! Wooden rods shot out from within. Amid a flurry of mechanical clicks, the rods transformed in the blink of an eye into massive crossbows! The massive ballistas swiveled, locking their angles directly onto Li Guanqi before firing! Bolts gleaming with chilling light rained down upon his position. *Clang, clang, clang!!* *Clang, clang!!* Swift as the wind, Li Guanqi dodged and leaped across the distance. *Bang!!* A bolt as thick as two fingers shot straight through a stone wall in front of him. A moment later, all the massive crossbows retracted back into the wall. Li Guanqi's face was pale as he swallowed hard. His entire right arm trembled slightly, marred by a few shallow scratches where the flesh had already turned black. Without hesitation, Li Guanqi raised his blade and carved the poisoned flesh away! With an expression of utter solemnity, he looked toward the city before him. "Just how many mechanisms are hidden here...? "If I hadn't gone through that illusion realm, I would have died under that hail of arrows!" Merely touching the wall had nearly cost him his life! Suddenly, Li Guanqi turned his head toward another street ten zhang away. His brow furrowed and his nose twitched slightly. His sharp senses caught the faint scent of blood lingering in the air! Shifting his weight, Li Guanqi leaped into the air and immediately spotted a collapsed building on the adjacent street. Looking down at the breathless young man lying on the ground, Li Guanqi's expression shifted. The dead youth was a disciple of the Great Xia Sword Sect, seemingly from Tiantu Peak. Moreover, he had entered the sect two years earlier than Li Guanqi; they had crossed paths once at the Mission Pavilion on Tianzhu Peak. Now, a blood dart was buried deep within his caved-in chest! A faint footprint was stamped over his clothes—the killer must have driven the weapon home with a stomp after the dart lodged in his ribs! Li Guanqi crouched down and extended his divine sense, but found no clues nearby. Measuring the footprint with his hand, he deduced that the culprit was at least his own height. He lifted his foot to inspect the pattern on his own soles, and his confusion deepened. The imprint on the victim's clothes matched the exact tread of the shoes issued by the Great Xia Sword Sect. Li Guanqi reached out to close the young man's eyes and stowed the corpse into his storage ring. Gazing at the blood dart in his hand, Li Guanqi furrowed his brows and muttered under his breath, "Did disciples turn on each other over some treasure? "Reason dictates that disciples of our sect would never do such a thing! "Either the treasure they found was far too tempting, or..." He could not help but recall the mysterious figures from a few days ago. Putting away the blood dart, Li Guanqi's expression gradually turned frigid. Narrowing his eyes, he muttered softly, "You had better hope I don't catch you." Then, he sped toward the entrance on the western side of the city.