Chapter 42 The Initial Display of Divine Ability (1)

  Only the front hall, a large room, shook with a deafening rumble, and in an instant, it sank straight into the ground, disappearing from sight. Dust filled the sky, and the aftershocks were intense, causing both Water Youling and Fire Xiaoxie to take a step back.

  Huǒ Xiǎo Xié let out a cry of alarm and fell to the ground. Shuǐ Yāo ér shouted, "It's Jiù Kēng Shā Xiàng! Monkey! Run quickly!" He pulled Huǒ Xiǎo Xié up and they desperately ran towards the back mountain slope of the courtyard.

  Huǒ Xiǎo Yā carried the table, closely following Shuǐ Yāo ér. The sound of explosions behind him was incessant. He turned his head back to look and was frightened to the point of losing all color in his face. Only to see that the houses in the backyard were also making loud cracking sounds, one by one falling into the ground. Even the empty land without any houses suddenly appeared a pitch-black bottomless pit with a deafening crash.

  The water demon didn't even look back, pulling Fire Xiao Xie to rush forward. Fire Xiao Xie's brutal strength surged, and he desperately carried the table as he rushed forward. If they slowed down, they might also fall into the pit.

  The two of them ran for a while and finally reached the hillside in the backyard, where the shaking beneath their feet had just subsided. Shuiyao'er and Huoxiao'e hid behind a rock, turned back to look, and saw that only a few houses were left standing alone, with the entire Luma Inn gone without a trace. The dust rolled up, rushing into the air, blocking out the sun, but vaguely visible were over a dozen huge caves covering the ground where the Luma Inn once stood.

  His face turned green with shock, his mouth agape for half a day before he could utter the words: "What! What's going on here?!"

  Shuiyao'er's mischievous energy had long since dissipated, her expression was stern and icy to the extreme, gritting her teeth as she said: "This is terrible! No matter how much I thought about it, I never guessed that this inn would be a front for the Giant Pit Array! Brother Yan and the others are probably trapped in the pit!"

  Huǒ Xiǎo Yé wiped his sweat and asked: "Jù Kēng Zhèn? What is it exactly?"

  The water demon hummed and pointed to the large pit on the ground in the distance, saying: "The giant pit array is an ancient battle tactic, also known as the giant pit elephant killing. It involves digging a vertical large pit underground, generally reaching a depth of ten zhang, and then using a large wooden frame to support a huge cover at the bottom of the pit to conceal the entrance. Under normal circumstances, it is extremely difficult to detect, and once activated, this cover also falls into the pit. We see that the houses in front have fallen into the ground because they were originally built on top of these covers. This tactic does have an effect, but it's really time-consuming and labor-intensive, with massive engineering required, so it slowly exited the battlefield! It has been over a hundred years since anyone has truly seen this!"

  At this time, the dust slowly dispersed, and the large holes on the ground of the fallen inn became more apparent. These large holes were not round, but rectangular, and their size was almost consistent with the collapsed houses. Huo Xiaoyao said: "What a magnificent pit array! Are there only over ten pits?"

  "Absolutely not! A real giant pit trap for elephants should have at least hundreds of pits, and it should be located where the two armies are facing each other. This Fallen Horse Inn is in a remote wilderness area with inconvenient transportation, so it can't be a real giant pit group. It seems that someone has studied this formation carefully and only dug a dozen or so pits!"

  Huǒ Xiǎo Yé exclaimed: "Shuǐ Yāo ér, you know so much! If I can understand even a tenth of it, I'll be completely satisfied!"

  Shuiyao'er didn't smile at all, and her whole person had already changed into a cold beauty's appearance. She said lightly: "I've only heard about it, but I haven't actually seen it myself. How this giant pit array is activated, what's inside the pit, I don't know anything."

  Hu Xiao Xie said: "Yan Jing Tian and the other three, with the Hu family's skills, even if they fell into a pit with their house, they should be able to climb out, right?"

  Shuiyao'er said: "You're quite optimistic! If the bottom of the pit is poisonous water with sharp thorns, specifically designed to take people's lives, then Sheng and his brothers are probably in danger too!"

  Huǒ Xiǎo's eyebrows furrowed tightly as he said, "What can we do? We have to go rescue them! We can't just hide here!"

  "Consider yourself a decent person! However, the situation is unclear at present. Let's hide here for now and observe the outside before making our move. By the way, I'll also untie your rope..." Shuiyao'er said as she pulled out a small knife from her waist and handed it to Huoxiao Xie, saying "Don't cut the rope, just cut through the bottom beam of the table."

  Huǒ Xiǎo Xié took the knife, which was very exquisite, with a length of about a palm, and a copper scabbard with rolling wave patterns engraved on it. Huǒ Xiǎo Xié drew out the knife, and the bright blade shone dazzlingly. Huǒ Xiǎo Xié secretly exclaimed: "Good knife!" With a swift motion, he chopped at the bottom beam of the table.

  This small knife is exceptionally sharp, and wherever the blade passes, pieces of wood rise with it. With just two cups of tea time, cutting a few hundred knives can cut off the bottom beam and untie the rope!

  The dust on the table was blown away, and the dust above the fallen inn gradually settled, becoming clearer and clearer. In the gradually fading dust, people's shadows were swaying.

  Did Yan Jing Tian and others fall into the giant pit? Let's go back to when Zheng Daquan was shouting for Qian Zhuang to pour tea.

  Zheng Dachuan stared at Yan Jingtian and said: "Boss Qian, these few friends, I'm inviting them to have tea! Bring the tea quickly!"

  Qian Zhanggui hastily said: "Uncle Zheng, gentlemen, please don't get angry, I'll be right there! I'll be right there!"

  Qian Zhanggui took a look at Yan Jingtian's side and muttered to himself, "Why are there only four of them? What about the young wife and the half-grown kid? This is terrible! It seems we can't wait any longer. Let's catch these four men first!"

  Qian Zhanggui remained calm and quickly retreated to the back kitchen.

  In the kitchen, a giant of similar height and build to Jia Chunzi, but even fatter, was squatting by the stove. Qian Zhanggui came in and called out in a low voice: "Jia Qingzi!" The giant quickly stood up, and it could be seen that he looked almost identical to Jia Chunzi, except for his full beard, as if they were born from the same mold. This giant was wearing a short jacket stained with oil, and his eyes also had a similar foolish look to Jia Chunzi's.

  Jia Qingzi replied, "Money Grandfather, my brother has already gone down. I also want to go down and play." Indeed, Jia Qingzi moved his body, and at his feet was a hole big enough for one person to crawl into.

  Qian Zhanggui said: "Jia Qingzi, you go down too! Help your brother to tighten the turntable as soon as possible! Don't delay! Remember?"

  Jia Qingzi smiled and said: "Remember! Remember! Then, then I'll go?"

  Qian Zhanggui waved his hand and said, "Go quickly!"

  Jia Qingzi nodded slightly, his massive body swayed, and he surprisingly darted out of the cave with great agility.

  "Alas! It's been nearly ten years! My humble abode should have sunk long ago! Hehe!"

  In the lobby of the Luoma Inn, Yan Jing Tian and Zheng Da Chuan's two groups were silent, only hearing the sound of Yan Jing Tian and his men chewing on broad beans.

  Zheng Dakuan's bald head was bulging with veins, his hand resting on the gun at his waist. Zhao Yangu knew Zheng Dakuan was looking for an opportunity and also calmed down, sitting steadily in the chair beside Zheng Dakuan.

  "Hey, brothers on the opposite side, what's going on? You're acting like you're about to start a fight!" Zheng Daquan burst out laughing.

  Yan Jing Tian chuckled and said: "This brother, it's not that we want to fight, but rather you think we're easy to bully, right?"

  Zheng Daquan burst out laughing and said, "When you're away from home, it's friends that you can rely on! You brothers look like you have a grand air about you, just one glance tells me that you've been through thick and thin in the jianghu. Why don't we exchange names, so we can get to know each other?"

  Yan Jing Tian said: "I am Yan Jing Tian, and the other three are my sworn brothers!"

  "Ah! Brother Yan! My name is Zheng Dakuan, a courier from the Liao West region. Where are you coming from and where are you headed? I'm quite familiar with this area, maybe I can show Brother Yan a shortcut!"

  Yan Jing Tian said: "We left from Fengtian and went back to Shanxi."

  "War-torn and chaotic, several brothers traveled thousands of miles, what great courage! Hehe, hehe!"

  Zheng Dakuan stood up and shouted towards the back kitchen: "Qian Zhanggui! What took you so long?"

  Yan Jing Tian also slightly tilted his head back to look towards the kitchen, but no one came out.

  With only a loud "bang" of gunfire, Zheng Daquan took advantage of the brief moment to draw his gun and fire at Yan Jingtian.