Maiden Of The Splitting Moon

With Ming Yue joining the search, the process was much quicker but the result was not great. 

"Apart from that book, there isn't much else. Let's move to the next room then!"

Niu Hong gestured for everyone to go before leading them to the next closed room. It was another few minutes before Yu Tu cracked it open and they all entered. The search was just as quick ending with documents that the Four Claws took and a few trinkets. And then they reached the third room which was a thick door different from the others. 

"This is the room that the other groups noted, there might be something interesting here. It's much too thick for Yu Tu to crack so She Xing..."

After speaking, he gestured for the snake woman to join her. As She Xing walked forward to Niu Hong, everyone else moved back.

The pair raised their weapons before chopping down, crossing blades, and cutting through the door. It was a very clean attack as the blades seemed to cut through the door like nothing. But the pair revealed surprised expressions as they looked at their weap9ns and then back at the door. 

"This door... we can't cut through it!"

Both of them exclaimed out loud and walked up to touch it, finding that it was indeed a solid door but there wasn't even a mark.

And then, Qiang Rong clicked his tongue and walked forward with a grin. Scratching the back of his ear before staring at the door, his eyes glowed with a golden fire as he touched the door with his hand, moving it around. 

He then stopped randomly at a point near the bottom of the door. 

"There we are!"

He hooted out, gathering his power and moving it into his palm. What came was a melodious hum as a golden circle pulsed out, causing the door to strangely melt away and reveal the contents it protected. 

As all of them peered into this room, their eyes widened at the sight of it all. 

"What is all of this?"

She Xing couldn't help but ask out loud and Ming Yue was surprised as well. 

Within this room were weapons, not just any normal weapons but ones used by an army. Crossbows, swords, shields, and armor, a fully stocked room of equipment, it was practically untouched, not even a speck of dust on them. The Four Claws then moved, placing all of it into their spatial rings. 

"To think they would abandon all of this, how strange."

 Holding up a sword, Niu Hong inspected ut whilst pondering his question.

"Whatever the reason, this would do well for us! I'm sure the blacksmiths will be happy to see this!"

Qiang Rong chuckled while putting away the room's inventory. 

Giving a quick look at everything, Ming Yue noticed a chest in the corner of the room, approaching it cautiously. Hei Yue cme to it first, sniffing it before taking a step back as if the fox was wary of the chest's contents. There was no lock on it or anything truly unique about it but she felt a strange aura coming from the chest

"What could be inside?" 

She knelt down and studied it before moving to open the chest. 

Placing her hand on top of it, Ming Yue pushed it open to find a pile of elemental cores with what seemed like a small cannon, large enough that it had to be held with two arms. She reached for it, trying to lift it up. 

"This is heavy!"

She had to use both arms, grasping it tightly and as she stood up. Although she was not a body cultivator or someone that focused on strength, Ming Yue was still a step away from the Sky Realm. 

"How much does this weigh? Is it a small boulder?" she muttered to herself. 

"What's that?"

Yu Tu saw her carrying the rifle and moved up to study the little cannon. Having spoken out loud, she caught the attention of others. When they saw it, there was a strange look on their faces, they had the same question as her. 

"What is that?" they asked.

Ming Yue looked at them all before glancing at the little cannon.

"I'm... not too sure what you call this but I have seen other people use it. It's pretty much a small cannon."

She then turned to the chest and pointed at the cores, each of which was dormant and untouched. 

"You grab one of those and put it into this." 

Gesturing at the empty slot in the cannon, Ming Yue explained it although she wasn't too sure as to whether this was right. With a curious look, Qiang Rong walked forward with his arms out. 

"Could I try?" he asked. 

She looked at him and moved to hand it over, warning him as the exchange was made. 

"It is very heavy, so be careful."

"Alright, alri- urgh."

As Ming Yue left it in his arms, his body seemed to bend as he wrapped his arms around the little cannon. 

His breathing turned heavy as he held it up, steadying himself. The other three looked at him with a shocked look. 

"Is it really that heavy?"

He couldn't even utter the words to answer, just nodding before dropping it onto the chest of cores. 

"That is just insane how heavy it is!" he exclaimed. 

"It must be a very powerful weapon then! I'm sure the Reclamation Division will take it."

She Xing looked at the chest before moving it into her spatial ring. 

The snake woman then looked at the ring. 

"I'm nearly full, I don't think I can carry anymore", she told the others. 

"Alright."

Niu Hong nodded, taking note before talking.

"This was the last room, we head underground now."

Following his lead, they descended after cleaning out the two floors, approaching the stairs that led down to the lower levels. 

Standing before it, the Four Claws couldn't help shiver down to their spine. 

"The reports said they couldn't descend the stairs, stopped by strange, shadowy figures."

Hearing those words, Qiang Rong walked forward staring with his glowing eyes but revealed a strange look. 

"Although, there's some strange aura, that's it. There doesn't seem to be anything else."

As these four individuals looked strangely at it. Ming Yue showed a confused look as she studied the stairs. 

"There's... nothing!" she thought to herself. 

After thinking about it, the cultivator moved forward and took a single step down the stairs. Xiao Yin and Hei Yue followed closely, sticking to her and the trio began their descent. In an instant, the Four Claws reached for their weapons, ready to fight! 

But to their surprise, nothing happened. 

No shadowy figures came out or deadly traps of any sort. 

The Four Claws looked at her, stunned by what had just or had just not happened. 

"Was the report wrong? Or is it because she's a human?" Niu Hong muttered. 

"Oh look, that strange feeling is gone and the stairs seem completely ordinary!"

Qiang Rong pointed it out as he checked the stairs once more. 

"You're right..." 

The others found it to be true, the strange feeling was gone. 

Staring at the steps, the leader of the Four Claws took a breath and rested a hand on his axe before taking that first step. And when he did, nothing happened. 

Then Qiang Rong walked down, followed by She Xing and finally Yu Tu. With all of them on these stairs, there wasn't a whisper or even a trembling in the air. Absolutely nothing happened. 

Sharing a look between one another, the group began to descend to the lower levels. Both Hei Yue and Xiao Yin were on high alert, scouting ahead whilst everyone else followed.. It was quite a descent as they climbed down over a hundred steps before reaching the underground floor. 

THIS CHAPTER UPLOAD FIRST AT NOVELBIN.COM