Everyone in the group, except for Rui Ming, who stood guard near the blockage, gathered near the stone wall that Tu Qiang identified.
"Are you sure that there's something inside?" Yao Nang asked.
"This stone was tampered with. It doesn't seem like a natural occurrence."
"Could it be... an elemental?" Murong Zhan asked.
"Yes, but if they lived here, we'd have more places like this." Tu Qiang scowled.
"I am telling you, guys! It's a hidden treasure! It's right between the two markings I found. Almost equal distance. This tunnel is long as fuck, think it's a coincidence?" Wu Lei was agitated.
"What do you want us to do, then?"
"Remove this fucking stone! Get the treasure!"
Xin scratched his temple.
"Master Qiang, do you have any stone mending methods?"
"Yes, but it won't be enough to just remove this wall."
"Murong Zhan?"
"I can feel the iron veins, and have some scanning abilities, but nothing that would just damage the stones."
"Hey, people, you have me!" Yao Nang raised her hand.
"Why are you raising your hand?" Xin raised his eyebrow instead.
"Because I can also help, dummy. How about Tu Qiang does his thing, and then I just mine with the pickaxe we found?"
"How long would it take you?" Right. Somehow, Xin found himself tunnel visioned and ignored the physical cultivator in their ranks, only thinking about the elemental abilities that they had. A lesson for the future. Tunnel. Visioned. Hehehe.
"Why are you smiling, Xin?"
"You wouldn't get it." He got embarrassed. "Look, how about you take my bracer? It will give you more stamina. How are your wounds?"
"I took care of them. Mostly." Wu Xiaoyun said.
"Good job." Xin nodded in approval. Everyone was contributing in their own way, that's a good dynamic.
"You sure enjoy bossing the girls around, brother." Lei smiled. "Just get the treasure out!"
"Don't get your hopes up." Xin sighed. It could be anything. Could be nothing, even.
Suddenly, they heard Rui Ming's horn in the distance.
"Let's rush back!" No one was stupid enough to dig up the seeming treasure in this situation. They quickly rushed back to the main entrance.
"Shit, quite a run!" Several minutes later, Lei was catching his breath.
Clang! Clang! Clang! Something was hitting the blockage stones.
"I'll reinforce the blockage immediately!" Tu Qiang started picking up the stones and connecting them to the main blockage with his qi, making it harder to just manually move them away.
Clang! Clang! Clang!
"Can you people hear me?" A muffled voice called out from the outside.
"Yes!" Xin answered before everyone did. These past few days gave him a lot of confidence.
"Listen, kids! Your master is dead, I could let you go, I've got no use for you! Let's make a pact!" His ringing voice echoed through the cave.
Interesting. He's lying, obviously.
"What do you want? And who told you he's dead, you fool?" Xin asked.
"Xin, the fuck? We aren't making a deal with him!" Murong Zhan said. Xin raised a finger, as if saying "wait".
"You people should hand over all the valuables, lay down your weapons and leave the forest! It is not too late for my mercy, but you have to accept now!"
"Who are you, even? Why did you attack us?"
"This forest is my territory, and you invaded it! Now you are my prey, it's quite simple."
Clang. Clang. Clang. Xin could hear the sounds of the stones cracking and crashing on the ground after some of the clangs. That mantis is progressing quite fast. Curses.
"We can't just hand down the weapons, you'll kill us! Are you with the beast tide?" He remembered the tiger yaoguai, compelled to come to Tealstone for some reason. Maybe he could find an answer here?
"Huh? I rejected the call, I've got my own stuff to do! How is this relevant, kid?"
"The plant woman, is she your friend?"
"Oh, that old hag? Haha, no, I fucking despise her. Look, guys. I know your abilities already, and I am stronger than you. By far. How about another deal? Give me the fire spitter and the crossbow guy, and everyone else can leave. No strings attached. What do you think?"
"That's a trick, obviously." Rui Ming said. "Divide and conquer. He's pretending to be angry about Xin and Lei to justify why he wants them dead. In reality, he wants to kill us all. No deals."
"Listen, beast. Unless you provide a realistic scenario, we'll have to decline." Xin answered.
"I don't have to provide you shit! I offer you my mercy, if you don't take it, you perish! It's that simple!"
"I'll send you to hell, mark my words, beast." Xin's martial spirit surged. He was determined to go down fighting, if it came to that.
"Are you that crossbow metal path guy? Listen, you are rank one, and I am rank two, I'll wipe the floor with you."
Xin was about to correct him, but suppressed the urge.
"This is pointless. Keep drilling, and let's meet on the field of battle."
Tu Qiang was reinforcing the blockage, while everyone else retreated a bit to make sure they could talk without being heard.
"Xin, your hearing is the best, what do you think of the blockage?" Lei asked.
"Think it's fucking melting. This creature is very strong."
"Is the tunnel big enough for it to fit?"
"Well, the way I see it, the first several steps after the blockage, it will also have to drill through to give itself some space, afterwards the tunnel expands and it could advance pretty comfortably."
"What if we unleashed all of our attacking methods into that gap when the mantis is still exposed but can't attack us?" Rui Ming offered an idea.
"Listen." Murong Zhan spoke up. "We can't meaningfully hurt it. We waste all our qi on it, the other bugs just kill us. Oh, and that thing shoots ranged techniques, so we can't exactly poke it with a spear."
"Curses." Xin felt his mind grasp for straws. "Can we make another barricade?"
"Nothing that would hold it. Let's prepare to defend." Lei sighed. He wanted to excavate what he thought was a treasure, but it was probably not a good idea, given the situation.
"Guys." Tu Qiang called up from behind. "I am out of qi. I'll take some spirit stones and reinforce some more after I rest a bit. We should also work manually, but there aren't that many stones left. We'll have to mine the new ones if we are to reinforce."
"That's ineffective and the returns are little. We need to understand the limits of this creature before we start mining and exhaust ourselves." Xin was strategizing, but it felt like every option they had was suboptimal.
"Think me and Tu Qiang could deal minor damage to it if we used blunt weapons." Yao Nang said.
"Well, you'll also get torn to shreds with one metal sting. It sliced through master Taowei's defense like it was butter."
"I can redirect the projectiles it launches." Rui Ming said. "But we'll also have to face a rank two master. This doesn't feel enough." He sounded quite calm. Even if his judgement was pessimistic, he was determined to face his death with dignity.
Several minutes later, the clanging stopped.
"What happened, bugman boy?" Xin taunted him.
"You know what happened. The mantis needs to rest for a bit, but don't worry, I left just enough stones to open the tunnel next time. So, last chance, do you people agree to my deal?"
Xin just ignored the yaoguai. He sounds like a drama queen, this should piss him off.
"Hello? You there? Shat your pants? Still hoping to find an exit? Forget it."
"You were cooler when you didn't speak. Fuck off." Oh, how I want to crush that smug cunt under my boot!
"Listen, Xin. Can I take Yao Nang with me? And could you give us the bracer? I still want to check that stone out." Lei asked.
"Sure." It's not like we have any other options.
Lei went back to the hub together with Yao Nang.
"Brother Lei, you think it's worth it? I am not sure."
"We'll never know if we don't try. So how about we try?"
"Who's there?" Someone called out from the dark, near the campfire.
"Master Taowei, you woke up!" Yao Nang was delighted.
"Fuck, it hurts so much." He grabbed a medicine pouch near him, and ate several painkiller pills in one mouthful. "I don't want to risk it by probing, how are my meridians? They feel weird."
"Xin broke down your core, master. You'd die otherwise." Lei sighed. A long pause followed.
"Understood…" There was a lot of sorrow in his voice, but he kept a stoic demeanour. "What's the state of things?"
"We have all the necessary supplies, but we are running low on firewood. The mantis destroyed most of the blockage you created, Tu Qiang reinforced it a bit, but it's hard to beat a rank two entity, being a rank one. That master is outside, trying to get us to surrender. Xin told him to fuck off."
"Good, this boy. Good. Why are you here?"
"There is a stone of a man-made origin deeper in the tunnels, I think it might be hiding a treasure."
"A treasure, you say? Sounds like wishful thinking. Help me get up, boy. I'll see what I can do." Master Taowei groaned.
Lei helped him stand up, ignoring the smell. It was disgusting and invaded his nostrils, but it wasn't his biggest concern, given the situation. Master Taowei pushed Lei away, then leaned on a wall.
"Head's spinning. You said we've got water, give me some."
"Of course, master." Yao Nang gave him her flask.
"Can you walk? Follow me." Lei looked at the man again. His insecurity, his drills, his stupid insults, both of the formation incidents — none of these mattered now. In Lei's eyes, he fully redeemed himself. And he respected the fact master Taowei didn't bring the last fight up even more. That's some composure.
Eventually, they reached the area where the big smooth wall was situated.
"This one?" Master Taowei instantly noticed it without Lei pointing it out.
"Yes." Lei smiled. That's a good sign.
"Let me touch it. Ah. Earth mending dao shard. Given the work's quality, I guess the master's qi capacity rivaled mine, if he worked alone, that. So, rank two at least."
"Could you break this wall?"
"Not at my current level. Look, I have a rank two stone toss shard, bring Tu Qiang here, I'll help him use it. Me and Yao Nang will work on weakening the stone."
Lei returned to the group.
"How's the bugman?"
"No signs. The mantis is also resting. You?"
"Master Taowei is back. He asked me to bring Tu Qiang to that stone. He's with Yao Nang."
"Is he in the condition to think properly? Was it his call?" Tu Qiang asked.
"Sounds accusatory." Lei grinned. "Let's go, master. Do you know how to use the stone toss dao shard?"
"Yes, of course. It's just not my favourite."
"His dao shards are in his pocket. I put them there after the procedure." Xin said. Interesting, will they try to get Tu Qiang, who is rank one, to activate a rank two dao shard? That's not easy to do.
"He didn't ask about them, probably already found them."
They returned to master Taowei. Yao Nang was already working with a pickaxe. Lei held a lamp up, and was mesmerised by her motions. Her defined shoulders, her sinewy arms, the veins bulging from her wrists, yet her figure was still strikingly feminine in all the right places — she looked like a statue in motion. Lei found one more reason to survive this whole ordeal.
"Disciple Nang has weakened the stone for you, Master Qiang. You only have one try to activate this rank two dao shard, otherwise we're in trouble."
"Can we also ask Xin and Xiaoyun to deliver some wood path attacks?" Lei suggested.
"Good idea, but their wood path attacking methods are lacking. Master Qiang, my order is to do it on the first try. Get your shit together."
Tu Qiang held a stone toss dao shard in his arms. It looked like a round, polished stone, akin to those used in catapults, but smaller and covered in golden ornaments. He rubbed it and tried attuning to it. It vibrated.
"I removed my will from it. It's yours for now."
"How long does it regenerate if I fail the activation?" Tu Qiang asked.
"I don't want you to think about this stuff. Stand here." He pointed at a patch of land five steps away from where Yao Nang worked. "This is the crack that you need to hit. I want you to relax, stand firm, focus and toss a stone right here. Make sure that you don't suddenly direct the stone's energy inwards. The stone itself, along with the kinetic force, is only secondary. What I need is a good earth qi spread along the crack."
"Understood. I'll do my best." He mumbled a prayer under his nose.
"Who are you praying to?" Lei asked.
"The Earthseeker."
Lei shrugged. Never heard of him. Some local god from where Qiang is from?
Tu Qiang breathed out.
"Brother Qiang, no matter what, I believe in you." Yao Nang was standing nearby, trying to catch her breath. Lei got jealous. For a moment, he even wished that Tu Qiang failed.
Tu Qiang picked a head-sized boulder from the ground, but also held the dao shard in his palm.
"Push with your body, not with your arm. Remember." Master Taowei repeated the basic instructions, probably just to calm down his disciple.
"Yes, master." Tu Qiang prepared, and...
Smash! He pushed the rock from his shoulder, and it was launched with the strength of a catapult, crashing into the stone. Lei heard a loud crack. When the dust settled, he realised that the rock they were working on was broken in half.
"Grab the crowbar and the ropes, let's move one of the halves away!" master Taowei commanded.
"I did it! I did it!" Tu Qiang was delighted.
"Well, you activated a dao shard, it's not like you used a technique." Lei rolled his eyes. "Let's see what's behind the stone!"
The group pulled the stone out, and in front of their eyes emerged the treasure — a small jewelry box.