Dao of Money

Chapter 105: Array traping

As they walked, Chen Ren slowly realized the place was much larger than he had anticipated.

The narrow stone corridors opened up to wider halls, cracked but still standing after who knew how many decades. He spotted the remains of broken pottery, decayed wooden racks, and shattered tiles—signs of life that had once filled these ruins long ago.

Unable to hide his curiosity any longer, he glanced sideways at Anji. “This… looks a lot bigger than just a simple sect vault.”

Anji nodded. She had no reason to hide the truth from him now. “It was more than a vault. Like I said, cultivators used to live here. Back then, before the Kalian Empire expanded this far, the Void Blade Sect ruled these lands. Them, and a few others that didn’t survive the passage of time.”

She paused, stepping carefully over a fallen beam. “This was one of their outposts. A small one—but important enough to fortify. Library, training grounds, food storage, barracks... everything a cultivator force needed to sustain itself away from their main sect grounds. When the sect got assimilated in the empire, they didn’t destroy it—they turned it into a vault to protect what was left.”

Chen Ren nodded thoughtfully, his mind immediately drifting toward the one thing that mattered most. “The library... Is it still intact?”

Anji smiled faintly. “It should be. That’s where you’ll find the manuals. Once we secure the inheritance, I can help you locate it. It should be near the vault.”

Chen Ren’s fingers unconsciously tightened into a fist before he relaxed them. Just the thought of it—the knowledge stored there—was enough to make his heart beat faster. That library alone could fulfill the vows he had made to his sect.

The conversation drifted into silence after that, each of them focusing on the path ahead. Chen Ren kept his gaze low, following the trail of footsteps left in the dust. A small reassurance that they were still on the right path.

Then, faintly, he heard it.

Voices. Low, but distinct. Coming from just ahead.

Anji must have caught it too because she stiffened beside him. Without a word, they moved faster, sticking to the shadows until the narrow corridor finally opened up into a wide room.

They slipped behind a broken stone pillar, Chen Ren carefully peeking around its edge.

The room was large—wide enough to house dozens. Beds, or what remained of them, were scattered across the floor. Some lay in splinters, others rotted beyond recognition. This must have been the quarters Anji had mentioned. A place for the outpost's cultivators to rest.

But he didn’t waste much time on the scenery. His focus snapped to the two figures standing inside.

The first was a young woman, short and wiry, with a slim build that looked made for speed. Her arms and legs were lean, packed with tight muscle. She wore light leather armor that clung close to her body, probably allowing easy movement. A short sword hung at her hip alongside a bow on her back, and her brown hair was tied back tightly, keeping it out of her sharp, narrow face.

The second was a large, bald, with no facial hair and no eyebrows, broad-shouldered man, thick with heavy muscle. His arms were bulky, covered in old scars, and he carried a massive hammer slung over one shoulder like it weighed nothing. His chest and shoulders were wrapped in thick, reinforced armor, giving him a hulking, almost wall-like appearance. His movements were slower, heavier, but full of raw strength, like a beast ready to crush anything that got too close.

Chen Ren’s eyes narrowed slightly as he noticed the faint gleam of rings on the man’s fingers. A spatial ring. That explained how he had carried such a heavy weapon through the narrow halls.

Fortunately, neither of them had bothered to suppress their qi.

It leaked off their bodies in faint, steady waves—enough for Chen Ren to judge their strength. Early-star qi refinement realm, both of them. Exactly as he had hoped.

He focused harder, trying to peer deeper into the structure of their energy. Both of them had fire-aspected qi—which wasn’t surprising, given their sect—but he couldn’t tell if they had a secondary aspect. His qi perception wasn’t good enough to be sure.

Still, it didn’t matter. They were strong—but manageable.

His mind began to race, mapping out possibilities. The puppet, though sturdy, was only at the body forging realm. It wouldn’t last long in a direct clash, but it could serve as a distraction.

The real problem was their synergy.

Even without watching them fight, Chen Ren could tell—their roles were well-matched. The man would charge and pin the enemy down, drawing attention with sheer brute force, while the girl moved swiftly around the edges, striking precise, lethal blows when the enemy’s guard dropped.

A classic hammer-and-needle tactic. If he wasn’t careful, he could be overwhelmed before he even realized it.

Chen Ren exhaled slowly, feeling the tension settle into his limbs. He had an opening. But whether he could turn it into a victory would depend entirely on how he moved next. If he wanted to win, there was only one real path forward—finish one of them quickly, then take on the other alone.

But how?

Chen Ren’s mind raced, thinking risks, angles, timings. He was on a clock—the woman was already scouring the room,

He hurled more [Stone Lance Talismans], sharp rocks slamming into her battered form, puncturing her armor and sending her reeling. And then, with a final surge of his qi, he unleashed a [Lightning Frenzy]—a barrage of crackling, furious energy that struck her in a relentless rhythm.

Flames, earth, and lightning. Three elements battering her at once.

Jin Xue’s body slammed into the far wall with a sickening crunch. She slid down, leaving a smear of blood behind, her body limp and unmoving. Chen Ren kept the lightning crackling around his hands, waiting—ready to strike again if she showed any sign of life.

Seconds passed.

A minute.

Two minutes.

Still nothing.

Finally, Chen Ren let the lightning fade, exhaustion hitting him like a crashing wave. He stumbled back, dropping to the ground, breathing hard.

Across the room, Jin Xue’s eyes—dull, unfocused—met his for the briefest moment before her head slumped forward, unconscious or dead, he couldn't yet tell.

But the fight was over. For now.

He waited for the guilt to come—the heavy, sinking feeling he thought any normal person from Earth would feel after taking a life.

After all, this wasn’t like killing a monster. These were people. Cultivators, yes, and enemies standing in his way, but not murderers or demonic beasts. There was no personal hatred between them. No blood feud. Only the unfortunate fact that they had been on opposite sides.

He thought back to Gu Tian—the first person he had personally killed in this world.

But Gu Tian had been different. A demonic cultivator, a serial killer, a man whose death felt more like cleaning filth from the world than anything else. When Gu Tian had fallen, Chen Ren hadn’t felt guilt. Only a grim satisfaction.

And now, with Jin Xue and Rong lying still in front of him, he expected something.

Regret, remorse, anything.

But there was nothing. Nothing pressing down on his heart. No tremble in his fingers. Only the steady, cold realization that they had tried to kill him—and he had killed them first.

Before he could dwell on it longer, footsteps echoed through the silent room.

Anji appeared from the shadows, her expression taut until she saw him standing there, unharmed. A soft sigh of relief escaped her lips. Then her gaze shifted to Jin Xue’s bloodied form, and the cold detachment in her eyes returned.

"I guess that's two of them," she said simply, voice devoid of emotion.

Chen Ren blinked once, shaking off the strange stupor that had settled over him. He nodded. "Yes."

He turned back toward the ruined room, scanning the scattered remnants of ancient life.

"Let’s check the area quickly," he said. "See if there’s anything useful. After that, we need to hurry back to Yalan and Hong Yi." He cleared his throat. "They’ll need our help... especially against the strongest of the enemies."

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