#144 - Ning Yuke's Choice
“Princess, after entering the cave, you will encounter five forked paths. The leftmost one is life, and the rest are death.”
“Following the path of life will lead you to an ancient cave dwelling. Ignore everything else. At the innermost part, there is a Bagua Formation, with the eight gates of Qian, Kun, Zhen, Xun, Kan, Li, Gen, and Dui. Each gate has a long sword inserted into it.”
“Of the eight swords, four represent life and four represent death. Drawing the correct sword will grant you treasure, but drawing the wrong one will trigger a mechanism that pierces you with countless arrows.”
“Qian, Li, and Xun are death gates, leaving one more death gate. The young master didn't say which one.”
The night was as dark as ink, and the mountains and forests were silent, with only the rustling of leaves and Zhang San's calm narration.
Ning Yu Ke glanced at the pitch-black cave entrance, which seemed to swallow everything, and softly confirmed:
“So, among the five trigrams of Kun, Zhen, Kan, Gen, and Dui, four are life and one is death. I only need to avoid the single death gate, and I'll be fine?”
“Yes.”
Zhang San nodded: “If the princess chooses correctly, she should be able to see what the young master desires manifest. At that time, just take it out.”
“Alright, I understand.”
Ning Yu Ke smiled, took the luminous pearl Zhang San handed over, tied a long rope around her waist, and stepped towards the cave entrance.
The luminous pearl was naturally for illumination, but the rope was not to save her, but to pull out her body if she died in the cave.
Pale moonlight filtered through the gaps in the leaves, falling on everyone. Compared to the somewhat nervous members of the Freemasons, Ning Yu Ke's face showed no sign of retreat.
Before coming, she had prepared herself for a one-way trip, so she wasn't afraid at this moment, only slightly regretting one thing—
Young Master Wei really didn't come.
She gently shook her head and slowly stepped into the cave entrance.
The light of the luminous pearl grew weaker and weaker, soon disappearing from everyone's sight.
And not long after she went in, Wei Changtian also slowly emerged from the darkness of the forest, his expression calm.
“Young Master.”
Zhang San approached and reported in a low voice: “The people from the Prince's Mansion haven't noticed yet. Our people have been very careful along the way, so there shouldn't be any problems.”
“Mm.”
Wei Changtian calmly ordered: “Send a few more quick-footed people to keep an eye on the movements of the Prince's Mansion. Once they discover that Ning Yu Ke is missing, they will definitely take action. Notify me immediately when that happens.”
“Understood.”
According to the original story, Xiao Feng drew four wrong swords in this Bagua Formation, but he survived the numerous traps with his extraordinary “strength” and ultimately obtained the “Myriad Blades Attraction” and the “Starry Sky Scabbard.”
Ning Yu Ke undoubtedly did not have the ability to survive after triggering the traps, so she had to choose the life gate.
Although Wei Changtian had repeatedly read the original story several times, such details were really difficult to remember.
He had already racked his brains just to eliminate the three wrong answers of “Qian, Li, and Xun.” He couldn't remember which of the remaining trigrams was the death gate no matter what.
Alas, he could only rely on Ning Yu Ke's luck.
Inside the cave.
This cave was much larger than Ning Yu Ke had imagined.
Although the cave entrance was only half a person tall, it instantly widened considerably after entering. The ground was not made of gravel and soil, but of tightly fitted stone steps.
However, the steps were covered with bones left behind by the deaths of various animals, which looked quite terrifying.
Is this the ancient cave dwelling? Why are so many animals dying here?
What exactly is Young Master Wei looking for?
It would be a lie to say she wasn't afraid. Ning Yu Ke could only distract herself by thinking wildly while quickening her pace and continuing to walk deeper along the stone steps.
The road became wider and wider, and the surrounding bones became fewer and fewer.
After walking for an unknown amount of time, she finally stopped for the first time. The luminous pearl illuminated the five forked paths in front of her.
The five paths were almost identical except for leading in different directions. Ning Yu Ke remembered what Zhang San had said and prepared to step onto the leftmost “path of life.”
But at this moment, she suddenly noticed that a line of small characters seemed to be engraved on the stone slab beneath her feet.
“Heaven and earth combine to create all things; yin and yang connect to initiate change.”
This saying...
Ning Yu Ke was stunned for a moment and subconsciously began to think about its meaning.
She somewhat understood, feeling that the words seemed to make sense, but also didn't.
After a long while, Ning Yu Ke hesitated slightly and stepped in front of the second path.
Sure enough, the same sentence was engraved on the ground—
“As the world changes, so do events; as events change, so must preparations.”
The third path also had one—
“All things are one with me.”
The fourth—
“When the eyes open, the flowers are bright; when the eyes close, the flowers are still.”
The last one—
“Life and death are destined; wealth and honor are determined by heaven.”
A total of five paths, a total of five sentences with different meanings.
If Ning Yu Ke were to choose herself, she would probably take the last path, which is from "The Analects" and represents the objective idealistic view of "Life and death are destined; wealth and honor are determined by heaven."
But if it were Wei Changtian, even without knowing the answer in advance, he would most likely walk the leftmost “path of life” without hesitation.
The reason is very simple, because this sentence is the closest to the values of “objective materialism” that he had established through modern education.
“Da, da, da.”
The slight sound of footsteps rang out again. Ning Yu Ke did not act on her own will, but returned to the leftmost forked path and stepped onto it.
There were no abnormalities, indicating that this path was indeed the only path of life.
All around was silent, and the stone walls were as smooth as a mirror.
Holding the luminous pearl, she continued forward along the path for about an incense stick's worth of time. When Ning Yu Ke stopped for the second time, a huge stone cave, tens of feet long and wide, suddenly appeared before her eyes.
The stone cave was shaped like an overturned bowl. The stone walls and ground were all cyan-gray, smooth and bright, without a trace of stains or dust, and it even looked a bit like jade.
In the center of the stone cave was the Bagua Formation that Zhang San had mentioned.
Qian, Kun, Zhen, Xun, Kan, Li, Gen, Dui.
Each of the eight trigram positions had a wooden sword inserted into it. The appearance and shape were completely identical. It could be said that there was no difference except for the different positions.
The forked path just now still had five sentences to remind her, but now...
Ning Yu Ke took a deep breath, placed the luminous pearl on the ground, and walked around the Bagua Formation, remembering what Zhang San had said.
Qian, Li, and Xun are death gates, and the remaining five gates have four life and one death.
Kun, Zhen, Kan, Gen, Dui, represent Earth, Thunder, Water, Mountain, and Lake in the Bagua...
Four lives and one death...
That is to say, even if she chooses randomly, there is only a 20% chance of choosing the death gate!
Ning Yu Ke didn't think for too long, or rather, it seemed like she didn't think at all.
She just walked around the formation once, then stopped at the Gen position, which represents “Mountain”, and then reached out to grip the sword hilt, pulling it outwards with force.
“Creak... Whoosh!!!”
The sound of the mechanism operating suddenly grew louder, instantly echoing throughout the stone cave.
