Gilbert was lucky to have left early, otherwise he would have met the same fate as his grandfather. It was also because of Gilbert's lucky escape that Han Shuo was able to learn the way to the third layer of the underground world.
With Han Shuo leading the way, Donna and the group followed in silence. They all had strange expressions on their faces and just stared at Han Shuo in confusion.
The group of godly experts from the high-level material planes had become quite interested in Han Shuo, as they were surprised that an inferior god from such a low-level material plane could perform such a miraculous feat.
Li Wei, who had been cunning all along, had been making endless indirect inquiries to Han Shuo, trying to extract some clues from him. She had suddenly become very interested in Han Shuo. However, with the massacre of the dark dragons, Han Shuo was in a terrible mood and did not respond to her at all. He wore a straight face and kept his mouth shut no matter how many questions she asked.
Later, when Li Wei finally lost interest, she stopped her relentless nagging of Han Shuo and went to Donna to exchange whispers. From time to time they would cast puzzled glances at Han Shuo. It was obvious that the topic of their discussion had to do with Han Shuo.
After the Brook Brothers recovered from their astonishment, their glances towards Han Shuo still carried a thin trace of hostility. Perhaps these spoilt youngsters were not happy to see the two ladies showing such interest in Han Shuo.
Along the way, Han Shuo slowly regained his composure. After a while, he managed to regain his composure. In the realm of the Nine Changes, Han Shuo's control over his heart and mind had greatly improved. Gilbert's fortuitous escape from the disaster also contributed to the quick recovery.
According to the information provided by Gilbert, Han Shuo led the five godly experts around the countless dangers in the second layer of the underground world. They headed towards a dark and damp area.
In this layer of the subterranean world, besides the former dark dragons, there were many high-level magical beasts with advanced intelligence. All along the way, not a single super-ranked magical beast dared approach them, sensing the abnormality in the space around them.
As they ventured deeper and closer to the secret path, Han Shuo discovered that there was no longer any presence of life around them. After entering a narrow canyon of humid air, there were no longer any glowing stones above their heads to illuminate their surroundings.
Han Shuo, who had been moving fast, suddenly slowed down. Those behind him immediately adjusted their pace to match Han Shuo's.
"Is something wrong?" Donna stepped forward and asked in a whisper.
"We are nearing our destination. The ones from the Shrine of Ice must be ahead of us. I think we need to be vigilant from here, lest we fall into their ambush," Han Shuo replied without turning around. Focusing only on his surroundings, he moved forward cautiously.
"Everyone be careful!" Donna immediately understood Han Shuo's words and hastily instructed the rest of them sternly.
"What are you so afraid of? Eriksson and his group slaughtered the entire race of dark dragons. Maybe they think we won't find our way in!" Bolten said as he trudged on. He didn't seem worried at all.
"Yes, don't get upset over nothing. They would have rushed in for sure. Why would they waste time with a sneak attack against us?" Li Wei agreed. She was rather annoyed that Han Shuo had completely ignored her on the way here.
"You three, stay behind!" Donna, as the leader, instructed at this critical moment.
When Li Wei, Bolten and Bowen did not dare to rebuke Donna's orders. They slowed down and followed behind Donna, Han Shuo and Colbert.
Donna and Han Shuo were at the front, marching shoulder to shoulder. Behind them was Li Wei. Colbert was beside Li Wei, but slightly behind him. At the back of the group were the Brook brothers.
"You have to be careful too. These guys might not try to ambush us, but they will probably use some hidden seals and boundaries. Kaiser and Eriksson are Midgod . Any traps they set aren't ones you want to fall into," Donna said softly to Han Shuo, her slender eyebrows slightly furrowed.
The two of them walked in close proximity, so close that Han Shuo could even smell her faint but sweet scent, which was similar to the scent of orchids. It was a delight to his sense of smell. However, at such moments, Han Shuo did not let his mind wander. His attention was fully focused on observing his surroundings.
Suddenly, Donna reached out with one hand and grabbed Han Shuo's right arm. She forcefully pulled Han Shuo back from stepping forward.
Han Shuo staggered. He quickly turned his head to look at Donna with confused eyes.
"Don't take another step. This guy must have set traps just in case we found the way. They certainly had the advantage of being ahead of us!" Donna said lightly. She motioned for Han Shuo to take a few steps back. To continue, she held out a hand with the palm facing outwards. Absolute darkness suddenly enveloped the entire gorge.
Han Shuo could not see what was going on around him with his naked eyes. But with his other senses, he could tell that the temperature of the ground he was about to step on had suddenly dropped to absolute zero. It seemed that a water barrier, Eriksson had set up had been triggered.
The absolute darkness dissipated as quickly as it had appeared. In an instant, the gorge returned to normal.
""Alright. For the rest of the journey, you give me the directions and I will take the lead," Donna gave Han Shuo a sweet smile and walked ahead of him.
"Ok!" With the experience of almost walking into Eriksson's trap and realising that Donna had superior strength and was therefore a better expert in this aspect, he immediately agreed to the suggestion.
Han Shuo later noticed that Donna was carrying a crystal compass covered in magical symbols. She pointed the crystal compass around as she walked forward. She seemed to be measuring something with the instrument.
Donna did not turn her head, but she seemed to have noticed Han Shuo's interest in the crystal compass. As she continued to march forward, she explained to Han Shuo, "This crystal compass in my hand is a device for detecting elemental energy. It can detect fluctuations in elemental energy within a certain range. Many seals and boundaries require the use of elemental energy, which always results in fluctuations. With this crystal compass, I can detect hidden dangers in the environment."
"Sure comes in handy," Han Shuo replied quietly.
"Hmph, unenlightened one, you have no idea how valuable this crystal compass is!" Li Wei said contemptuously.
Han Shuo was too lazy to argue with her. He silently followed Donna without even turning to look at Li Wei.
"This crystal compass is indeed very precious. It's made of very rare materials and there aren't many who know how to make one," Donna said smiling as she kept her focus forward.
Han Shuo and his party were only a few thousand metres away from the entrance to the third layer of the underground world, but they were proceeding very carefully. Thanks to Donna's crystal compass, they managed to find three more traps set by Emperor and Eriksson within that short distance.
After half an hour, the gods finally reached the entrance.
The secret entrance was actually a cave mouth covered by a thick layer of vines. Without knowing the exact location, it would be very difficult to figure out that behind the dense layer of vines was a cave mouth that led to the final layer of the underground world.
Upon arrival, Han Shuo made a quick observation and noticed that some of the vines had been snapped off. He guessed that Eriksson and his party must have entered the cave before them.
"It's right here. See if there are any traps at the entrance," Han Shuo pointed to the mouth of the cave and said to Donna.
Donna scanned the area with her crystal compass and told Han Shuo, "Nope. They haven't set a trap at the entrance, probably because they don't want us to find out the location of the entrance through the trap."
Han Shuo immediately pushed the vines aside to reveal the seemingly bottomless cave.
Han Shuo turned to look at the group and motioned for them to follow before stepping into the cave.
The last person to enter the cave, make sure the vines are put back in place!" Donna instructed before her lovely figure shot into the cave.
Bolten and Bowen entered the cave immediately after, with Li Wei following closely behind. Colbert deliberately entered the cave last and meticulously put the vines back in place.
The moment the thick layer of vines sealed the mouth of the cave, the already dim cave immediately turned pitch black.
In this lightless cave, only Donna and Han Shuo, who cultivated the elemental energy of darkness and the miraculous demonic arts respectively, could clearly see their surroundings without any external light source.
Donna, who was holding the crystal compass in her hand, suddenly looked at it in astonishment. With Han Shuo right behind her, he noticed that one of the crystal compass' dials was jittering. He immediately froze every muscle in his body.
Sure enough, Donna suddenly warned, "There is a light barrier set up by Emperor right ahead. As the cave is impossibly narrow, I fear that removing the trap will cause the cave to collapse and block our way forward. We will have to pass it in the dark. Do not use any lights. Even a single ray of light will trigger this boundary.
At her words, those who were about to pull out their torches to illuminate the path immediately stopped what they were doing. They cautiously moved forward in complete darkness.
Han Shuo turned around and took a look. He discovered that in this kind of complete darkness, the rest of the group, except for Donna, had their vision affected. They all seemed disoriented and moved forward cautiously.
"Don't worry too much. As long as there is no light, the boundary will not be triggered. Right, just keep moving forward and try not to trip on any rocks," Donna couldn't help but advise as she saw her group becoming overly cautious.
"Oi, you in front, don't block the path," Li Wei, who was following behind Han Shuo, said deliberately.
When Han Shuo saw that Li Wei was still acting obnoxiously towards him, even though she was disoriented and trying to find her way in the dark, he laughed grimly in his heart. He stepped aside and kicked a decent sized stone right in front of Li Wei's foot.
In the total darkness, without a trace of light and unable to see, there was no way for the disadvantaged Li Wei to escape Han Shuo's mischief. Every few steps she would surely trip over a stone in her path. Disconcerted by the constant stumbling, she cursed in a low voice, "Ugh, why are there so many stones in the way!"
The others walking behind Li Wei would often repeat the same misfortune after Li Wei. They staggered and stumbled every few steps, forcing her to curse the whole way.
Donna, who was right in front of them, was stunned to hear those behind her cursing and swearing. All along the way, although there were stones all around them, most of them were on the sides. Logically, they shouldn't have stumbled so often.
Wondering what was wrong, Donna turned around to take a look. She noticed that Han Shuo, walking behind her, had a composed look on his face and showed no sign of disorientation. Then, as she watched closely, Donna saw that mocking smile on Han Shuo's lips. She understood immediately what was going on.
In fact, Han Shuo did not try to hide it from Donna. In fact, when he saw Donna turn around in confusion, he even smiled at her - that smile you would give after a successful prank.
Donna came to her senses immediately and shook her head with a smile. She thought to herself that Han Shuo had certainly gotten his revenge on Li Wei and the others. Mischief as petty as placing stumbling blocks in their path wouldn't do them any real harm. Donna thought it wouldn't be outrageous to let them taste a little pain. She might as well have tacitly approved of Han Shuo's actions.
Suddenly, Donna was struck by a realisation. She herself was cultivating in the elemental energy of darkness and it was perfectly normal for her to be able to see in the dark. But how was it that Han Shuo could do the same? As if it were possible, Donna became even more curious about Han Shuo.
Noticing Donna's approval of his actions, Han Shuo became even more bold. With a malicious smile on his face, he placed more stumbling blocks in her path, causing her to whimper and whine in utter misery!
"Eh? Bryan, how is it that you are doing so well?" Bolten suddenly exclaimed as he spotted the anomaly.
"I don't stumble any less than you, but they feel more like tickles to me, not painful enough to make me make so much noise," Han Shuo replied. As he walked away, he turned to look at them with a broad smile.
"Ouch!" Han Shuo stumbled and even unconsciously let out a small cry. He was embarrassed as he remembered what he had said just a second ago.
"Hehe! Who was it who just screamed in pain? Did I hear that right?" Li Wei obviously heard Han Shuo's soft cry and immediately mocked him. With that, the young people put to rest their suspicions that it was Han Shuo who was giving them hell.
Han Shuo, who had managed to humiliate himself, was rather confused. I'm sure I didn't see a stone in front of me, so how could I have stumbled over one?
A thought crossed his mind. He lifted his head to look at Donna, who was walking ahead of him. When she turned a corner and one side of her face was visible, Han Shuo noticed that the corner of her lips was slightly pursed in a smile that one would make after a successful prank.
Han Shuo was at a loss for words. He had not expected that Donna, who appeared to be serious and dignified, was actually someone who would play a prank on others. Han Shuo was left between laughter and tears.