great-warnovel Chapter 289 The Extra Footprints
Chapter 289 The Extra Footprints
The first squad of seven people walking within the formation, plus Yang Jian and Nezha, make a total of nine.
After taking twenty steps, nine sets of footprints were lined up on the battle line.
The numbers match.
Shen Xinglin squatted at the end of the line, using his lance to measure the distance between the footprints.
One set of footprints crossed the finish line of the procession, taking three more steps behind.
Those three steps led towards the Ash Sea Heavenly Well.
The depth of the footprints, the pattern on the sole, and the residual magic all belong to Lu Yan.
The real Lu Yan stood in front, his combat boots remaining in place.
Zhao Leiguang lowered his head and compared the measurements.
"Captain, your feet are quite assertive."
Lu Yan turned around to check the distance of three steps.
The first step is 70 centimeters, the second step is 82 centimeters, and the third step is only 40 centimeters.
Someone copied his walking data, but they couldn't get the landing information for the last step.
"It didn't follow us."
Lu Yan stepped on the fake footprint.
"It reads the records at the front and then sends the results back into the array."
Fine silver powder squeezed out from the edge of the shoe sole and seeped into the rock wall on the right.
Nezha raised his Fire-Tipped Spear, and the tip of the spear pierced the spot where the fine powder had disappeared.
The rock wall was cracked half a foot wide, but there were no layers of stone inside.
A layer of silver film was pasted deep in the crevice, with rows of human faces pressed on its surface.
Engineers, patrolmen, guards of Yuxu Palace, and three Dragon Guards who had already died in battle.
Each face repeats the words left behind before death.
The silver membrane read their memories, leaving behind footsteps, voiceprints, and identity permissions, before injecting them into the team's perception.
The old man's recordings were also included.
Nezha used the tip of his spear to lift the edge of the silver film.
Dozens of crystal lines penetrating the rock strata are exposed below.
"It uses the dead as a pass."
The fire-tipped spear emitted a burst of flame.
Lu Yan pressed down on the gun barrel.
"Don't burn it yet."
Nezha stopped the fire, and the tip of his spear was only half an inch away from the silver membrane.
Wen Yue had already moved to the other side.
Two rows of scatter grenades were laid out along the rock face, and high-explosive arrows were loaded into the crossbows.
"That's enough coverage."
Lu Yan pulled aside a rock, and the Void Disc read the structure behind the wall.
Behind the silver membrane are seventeen miasma sacs, which are connected to each other by thin tubes.
The grenade detonated, and the capsule ruptured as well.
The entire passage will be filled with divine miasma.
"Withdraw the bombs."
Wen Yue did not argue and retrieved the grenades one by one.
As she stuffed the last bullet back into the ammunition box, Zhao Leiguang had already sealed the silver membrane with his double shields.
"Can't we just flatten it?"
"The force on the silver film will shift to both sides."
Lu Yan checked the thickness of the wall.
"If we deal with it directly, it will feed the miasma with the power we send back."
Lin Chuxue hoisted the staff back onto her shoulder.
"You can't burn it, you can't hit it, and you can't breastfeed it."
"This place has a pretty comprehensive system of occupational discrimination."
Su Yunqing inspected the crystal lines that had spilled out of the silver film.
She had to safeguard the core professionalism of her team members, but the treatment would become food for the miasma, so she could only take action after the contamination was exposed.
How wide is the mezzanine?
Xiao Qianyu nailed a beacon above the silver film.
Yang Jian activated his Heavenly Eye, and the golden light lingered within the rock wall for two breaths.
"It is two feet wide at its widest point, and there is a cavity at the back."
Xiao Qianyu stepped onto the road sign.
She entered the wall cavity and cut down the back of the silver membrane with the Dragon King's Halberd.
The halberd only advanced half a foot before the space inside the wall changed direction.
The mezzanine that was originally moving forward turned to the rear of the formation, and the landing point was also sent to another beacon.
Xiao Qianyu emerged from behind Zhao Leiguang, her halberd untouched by the silver coating.
The right shoulder armor, however, has nine layers of lotus patterns.
The lotus pattern is exactly the same as the nine-lotus lamp on the rubbing.
"Don't move."
Su Yunqing pressed the gift of Yao Guang onto her shoulder armor.
The shield closed from Xiao Qianyu's shoulder, locking the lotus pattern onto the surface of the armor.
A silver line extends from the center of the lotus pattern, passes through the seam of the armor plate, and drills towards the core of her profession.
Xiao Qianyu raised her hand to remove her shoulder armor.
The silver thread changed course with her movements and had already attached itself to the side of her neck.
Shen Xinglin used his lance to jam the armor fasteners.
"Removing the armor will cause the stitching to break."
"It'll be more troublesome if it's broken."
Lu Yan walked to Xiao Qianyu's side, and the Void Disc pressed into the lotus pattern.
The silver line is divided into nine segments, each containing a set of spatial data.
It needs to be written into Xiao Qianyu's core profession, using her spatial beacon to complete the coordinate projection.
Lu Yan did not erase it directly.
He needs the true coordinates of the Ember Sea Well. Since the Silver Mask has delivered the entrance, he must leave an exit.
The Void Disc disassembles the lotus pattern layer by layer, extracting nine segments of data from the career path.
Su Yunqing controlled the shield to retract outwards, pressing the detached silver wire into the storage box.
Xiao Qianyu moved her right shoulder and drew the Dragon King Halberd.
"Next time, I'll chop someone up first."
"I didn't stop you this time either."
Wen Yue removed the lotus pattern imprint from her shoulder armor.
"The wall won by half a foot."
Xiao Qianyu retrieved the road sign.
"Keep accounts."
The analysis results are uploaded to the offline terminal.
The Jinhai Heavenly Court is located 920 meters ahead, with its entrance hidden at the seventh break in the Lotus Pattern Fire Path.
Yang Jian, however, looked at the ground.
The real lotus-patterned fire trail extends towards the rear of the formation.
The coordinates point forward, and the fire path points backward.
The two paths do not intersect.
Yang Jian used the handle of his knife to scrape away the layer of stone at his feet, revealing lotus patterns underneath that showed signs of several alterations.
"The nine fire routes have been repositioned."
He took out the rubbing left by the old man who guarded the palace and compared it with the four layers of lotus petals.
The engraved lines on the rubbing are also changing.
The three positions of Kunlun, Chang'an, and Donghai were rotated, and even the results previously read by the Void Disc were rearranged accordingly.
"The rubbings handed over by the elderly man have been disposed of."
Yang Jian put away the rubbing.
"He guarded the Jade Void Palace for many years, and even on his deathbed, he was still leading people astray."
Nezha tapped the silver membrane with the butt of his spear.
"Remove this layer first."
"Don't follow the road."
Qin Wuyi launched all the remaining array plates.
He continued to follow the coordinates given by the silver-masked man, and the formation was dragged along by the man.
Qin Zheng was still waiting for him in front of the seventh gate.
He wants to reclaim this area and then find the direction that belongs to Kunlun.
"Set up and down."
The twelve array plates sank to the ground.
"Determine the direction."
Sixteen array plates covered the surrounding area.
"Determine spatial coordinates".
The remaining array plates rose above everyone's heads, sealing off the entire passage with the Heaven and Earth Determination.
The rock face began to shift.
The faces on the silver film were crowded into several rows, and the recorded content jumped back and forth.
The lotus-patterned fire path beneath their feet was broken into nine segments, each pointing in a different direction.
Qin Wuyi rotated the main disk.
"Within the formation, there is no distinction between front and back, only the positions I have determined."
"Return to your place."
The rock strata on both sides receded.
The top of the passageway rises, while the ground sinks down.
The three-kilometer path we had previously traversed overlapped layer by layer, circling the same bone cavity seven times.
From the moment they entered the underground area, the group never left that section.
There was no stone path underfoot.
A spine stretched across the mountainside, its joints wider than the engineering platform, and the medullary cavity excavated inside accommodated the entire team.
The silver membrane was applied to the outer layer of the bone wall, creating the illusion of rocks, paths, and lotus-patterned fire trails for them.
Zhao Lei raised his shield and tapped the bone wall.
Five short sounds echoed from deep within the bone cavity.
Nezha stepped forward and struck again with the end of his Fire-Tipped Spear.
Three long, two short.
The same rhythm returned from deeper within.
Nezha took off the copper whistle from his waist.
"hideous."
Yang Jian placed his hand on the bone wall and read the remaining Jade Void Army patterns within.
According to old records from the North Gate of Kunlun, Zheng once led ten thousand beasts to guard the mountain pass.
After its name disappeared from the military register, the Cave of Ten Thousand Beasts was also sealed off.
Everyone originally thought it died the year the cave was sealed.
Nezha put the bronze whistle back inside the armor.
"It's still alive."
"This spine is a passage it left itself."
The miasma sacs on the outer side of the bone wall pressed against the bone layer, preventing it from entering the medullary cavity.
The Zheng used its spine to separate the miasma and trapped the silver membrane between its bones and skin.
The silver-masked man rewrote the path, borrowing the protection left behind by Zheng.
Zhao Leiguang put away his two shields.
"How can someone still have bones laid out this long?"
Lin Chuxue tapped the bone wall with her staff.
"If you take a piece of the shield, it counts as keeping equipment."
"The shield can be repaired."
"A person can also do it; find Su Yunqing."
Su Yunqing did not accept this business.
An entrance opened in front of the medullary cavity, and old military markings lit up segment by segment along the bone wall.
The faces on the silver film all closed their mouths.
The recording has also stopped.
Lu Yan took the lead and went deeper into the area.
The coordinates of the Ember Sea Heavenly Well have been obtained, but the Nine Lotus Lantern is not at the coordinate endpoint.
The fact that the silver-masked man went to great lengths to forge the route indicates that the true entrance is still guarded by the monstrous beast.
It cannot avoid the ferocity of the Zhen, which is why it needs the first squad to clear the way for it.
Qin Wuyi put away the main board and followed Lu Yan.
Before the formation was dispelled, he glanced back at the three fake footprints.
The location of the third step has changed.
The pattern on the sole no longer belongs to Lu Yan.
Those were Qin Zheng's military boots.
A deep voice came from inside the bone marrow cavity.
Each word traveled through the bone wall to reach everyone.
"The lamp is inside the beast king's belly."
"Whoever takes the lamp must first kill it."