Crown Prince of the Empire, I quit!

The closer they got to the cave entrance, the stronger the smell of blood and a pungent mixture of sulfur and exotic plants filled the air. The bodies of the Shenmu soldiers who had died by triggering the traps at the edge of the cave entrance had begun to stiffen, their faces frozen in fear and pain.

As I entered the cave, the light suddenly dimmed. A downward-sloping passage, clearly widened by human intervention, appeared before me. The stone walls were rough, revealing traces of excavation. Though the ground had been cleaned, scattered arrowheads and suspicious dark stains remained. The air was filled with dust and the dull hum of machinery.

The light from Ying Qi's torch flickered, illuminating the path ahead. Branches of the corridor appeared from time to time, but most were blocked by boulders or heavy fences. Only the main passage led all the way down, bottomless, as if it led to the center of the earth.

In the silence, there were only the sounds of people's footsteps, the slight friction of armor, the crackling of burning torches, and the disturbing sound of mechanisms coming faintly from the depths.

After walking down for about an incense stick's time, the sound of flowing water came from the front, and the space seemed to become wider.

A massive stone hall, reconstructed from a natural cave, appeared before my eyes! The walls bore visible marks of axework and fire, supported by thick wooden pillars and even simple windlasses and rails. A sudden, icy underground river flowed through the center of the hall. On the other side, higher up, a fortification constructed of massive stones resembled a small fortress! Crenels and firing embrasures were visible, and the silence shone with a chilling, murderous aura.

In front of the closed stone gate of the fortification, a figure was standing there alone.

It’s Hua Yunhong!

He still wore his dark green dragon robe, though now it was stained with dust and even torn in several places. His hair was disheveled, and his face was weary and worn, but his narrow eyes burned with a near-mad obsession and unwillingness. In his hand, he clutched an unsheathed longsword, its tip pointed diagonally toward the ground.

Seeing Qin Ming appear under the protection of a group of elite guards, Hua Yunhong did not show any surprise. Instead, he let out a hoarse and sarcastic sneer.

"You've finally come, Qin Ming." His voice was hoarse with exhaustion, yet still tinged with deep resentment. "You're stepping on the corpses of my soldiers to witness my final, miserable state?"

Qin Ming stopped by the underground river, his cold eyes swept across the sturdy stone fortifications, and finally fell on Hua Yunhong.

"Your stubborn resistance only adds to the ridicule." Qin Ming's voice was steady, yet it carried a heavy weight. "Open the door and surrender. I may spare your body."

"Surrender? With an intact body?" Hua Yunhong laughed as if he had heard a huge joke. His laughter echoed in the empty stone hall, sounding extremely desolate and crazy. "Qin Ming! I am the King of the Divine Tree! How can I die at the hands of another?! Let alone you!"

He suddenly stopped laughing, pointed his sword at the huge stone fortification behind him, and his eyes flashed with a final glint of madness: "You think this is just a stone fort? Wrong! Inside, there is the final gift that Kaligon prepared for me! It is enough to keep you, the so-called 'General of Heavenly Strategy'... in this dark place forever!"

"I may die, but I... will make you pay an unprecedented price! I want you, the Daqian Iron Cavalry, to always remember Shenmu's last bit of courage!"

With a roar, Hua Yunhong suddenly retreated backward, and his figure quickly disappeared behind the stone gate of the fortification!

Next!

Rumble, rumble—! ! !

The huge stone door made a heavy friction sound and suddenly closed!

At the same time, a series of crisp sounds of mechanisms being activated suddenly rang out from all over the stone hall!

Whoosh, whoosh, whoosh——!!!

From the darkness of the stone walls and fortifications on both sides, a dense rain of crossbow arrows instantly shot out! The arrowheads flashed with a faint blue light, obviously tempered with a deadly poison!

"Raise your shield!" Ying Qi's shout rang out almost simultaneously with the sound of the mechanism!

The well-trained Tingfeng Guards instantly retracted their shields, layering them up to protect Qin Ming in the center! Crossbow arrows clanged and shot at the shields with great force!

But this is just the beginning!

A heavier mechanical noise came from overhead! From the dark holes in the cave ceiling, several huge, sharpened battering rams suddenly emerged and slammed down hard! Simultaneously, several stone slabs on the ground suddenly collapsed, revealing a dark pit filled with sharp wooden stakes below!

"Protect His Majesty and retreat!" Ying Qi's voice was cold. He accurately chopped off several poisonous arrows with the short blade in his hand. His figure shuttled back and forth like a ghost, avoiding falling battering rams and collapsed ground.

Qin Ming, escorted by his personal guards, retreated with steady steps, his gaze from beneath the eaves of his black iron helmet still fixed coldly on the tightly closed stone gate. Hua Yunhong's desperate struggle was indeed vicious and meticulous.

However, just as the elite of Daqian tried to hold their ground and resist this wave of deadly traps—

From within the fortifications, there seemed to be a certain... extremely dull sound, like huge rocks rubbing and crushing against each other! It even drowned out the clatter of machinery and the shouts of killing outside! Then, there was a teeth-grinding cracking sound, as if coming from deep underground!

Then, all the sounds of the mechanisms came to an abrupt halt.

The crossbow arrows were exhausted, the battering ram was stuck in mid-air, and the pit was exposed.

The entire stone hall fell into an eerie silence.

Only the sound of the underground river's rushing water was particularly clear.

Ying Qi frowned slightly and gestured. Two Tingfeng Guards immediately stepped forward cautiously, using their spears to tentatively approach the tightly closed stone gate.

Nothing happens.

Despite pushing hard, the stone door didn't budge at all, as if it was completely sealed from the inside.

"Your Majesty," Ying Qi retreated to Qin Ming's side and whispered, "Something seems to have changed inside. The mechanisms...all stopped suddenly."

Qin Ming stared at the stone door with a deep gaze, as if he could see through the stone and see the scene behind it. Hua Yunhong's final frantic shout, the unusual loud noises and cracking sounds coming from within the fortifications...

"Either, knowing he was hopeless, he activated the self-destruct mechanism, burying himself completely." Qin Ming's voice sounded coldly, with a hint of indifference that seemed to see through everything. "Or, the so-called 'final gift' left by Carrigon was itself... a trap that got out of control."

He turned slowly and stopped looking at the silent fortifications.

"Dig." Qin Ming's voice left no room for doubt. "Alive or dead, I want to see the body."

"Here!"

The black-armored soldiers immediately stepped forward and used all the tools they had to begin digging and prying the heavy stone door with great difficulty.

Whether it was Hua Yunhong's cold corpse behind the door, or a deceptive scheme that would end in mutual destruction, Qin Ming demanded a definitive answer. The chaos in the northern border must come to a complete end at this moment.

The wind in Snow God Valley was still cold, carrying the scent of gunpowder and blood. On the beacon tower at the valley entrance, Helian Tieshu's figure, suspended high above, swayed weakly in the wind.