Chapter 1 The Surrender

The moment Liu Yong stood his ground, Commander Qin’s heart sank. He, too, was responsible for guarding the royal palace and knew the various protocols for protecting important figures. He hadn’t initially discerned Liu Yong’s depth, merely noting that the middle-aged man moved nimbly, suggesting some martial arts training. However, Liu Yong’s stance, coupled with Jin Ze shielding Sisi and Zhou Rui and Guan Huan guarding the flanks, clearly indicated they were experienced in protecting VIPs. The fact that he hadn’t been able to see through their façade filled Commander Qin with despair. How could they possibly fight? He couldn’t defeat any one of them, let alone his subordinates. Dispersing to explore the underground palace meant that even the largest team had only eleven men. And Commander Qin had to protect four important individuals, including the Third Princess… After careful consideration, Commander Qin yielded.

Commander Qin stepped forward, holding up his hands in a gesture of surrender. “I don’t know who you are, but this underground palace is fraught with danger. It’s best not to start a conflict at this time.”

Ye Tao replied with a smile, “Indeed, I don’t want to start a conflict. That’s why you need to listen to us. Otherwise, it’s already difficult to get out, and if you mess things up, it won’t be fun at all. I don’t know whose bad luck it is to run into us here.”

“You…you are…?” The Third Princess, sensing something amiss, asked.

“I am Lü Zhen… from the Third Division of the Yunzhou Pacification Commissioner’s Office’s Civil Affairs Bureau,” Ye Tao introduced casually.

“What a joke! How could a petty official command such great experts?” Commander Qin muttered.

“Believe it or not. Of course, whether I’m telling the truth or a lie doesn’t really matter here. I was originally quite confident in escaping the maze and disappearing without a trace, but now, some unlucky ghost, or perhaps several unlucky ghosts together, have changed this maze. I’ll have to put some thought into it now, as I don’t want to die here either. And I can’t wait too long. Let’s find the central mechanism first,” Ye Tao said with a shrug, seemingly unconcerned.

In this situation, it was obvious that the other party’s strength was so overwhelming that they could disregard them completely. The Third Princess and the others couldn’t muster any resistance. They could only watch as Zhou Rui and Jin Ze tied up the guards and left them where they were. As for Commander Qin, Liu Yong didn’t plan to do anything to him, but kept a close watch on his every move. Under the surveillance of four experts, Commander Qin couldn’t pull off any tricks.

Since it was a maze, it must have certain patterns. Ye Tao was less concerned with the maze’s design than with the location of the moving walls. As they walked, he marked these changing walls on the maze map, gradually gaining a clearer picture. The raising and lowering of these walls required the assistance of very large mechanical mechanisms. Not only were power and mechanics involved, but also designs to ensure that these mechanisms wouldn’t get stuck due to long-term migration. Although the construction of such a sophisticated underground palace hundreds of years ago was indeed amazing, technological development took time. The bulky mechanical mechanisms installed in the underground palace, whether in terms of volume distribution or weight arrangement, would have a series of counterweights. Understanding this and doing some calculations, Ye Tao realized that Suo Yong and his group had completed their mission with that treasure map, although there were many twists and turns. Overall, they had been very lucky.

Many parts of the maze weren’t marked on the map at all. Perhaps it wasn’t necessary, or perhaps the Chen family, although knowing how to enter and exit the underground palace, had a very limited understanding of its complete structure. Ye Tao estimated that the Chen family only knew about the bottom level where the treasure was stored and a small part of the maze level. There was plenty of space in between that they hadn’t explored. Ye Tao estimated that in addition to the technical level housing the various power mechanisms, there should be another level. And Ye Tao was now very interested in this level.

Ye Tao was also an architect. Although he always admired architectural design concepts and didn’t adhere strictly to architectural styles, that didn’t mean he didn’t understand them. Before violating established architectural traditions, one must first understand what those traditions were and why they existed, and then adjust them according to one’s own design requirements. Otherwise, it would truly be a case of ignorance is bliss. If Ye Tao really knew nothing about traditional architectural styles and the political and ethical functions contained in architectural design, he would never be able to undertake the task of designing the new capital of Dongping. Ye Tao could see that although the entire underground palace was full of mechanisms on the maze level, the style was still dignified and solemn, with an air of solemnity. Clearly, this was not a purely treasure-hiding or refuge-seeking underground palace, but an imperial tomb that had never been used. It took so much effort to build the underground palace, and then even more effort to build a super large "natural park" on the ground that resembled a fairyland. Ye Tao felt that he could never do such a thing with his petty style. Moreover, this series of projects lasted for decades, requiring countless manpower and material resources, and the secrecy had to be maintained. This was even more admirable and sigh-worthy.

But now, Ye Tao was getting closer and closer to what should be the imperial tomb level. After carefully studying the map for a while, Ye Tao estimated that it was already dawn, but his understanding of the maze level was enough for them to start exploring. After eating some of the dry rations they had brought and drinking some water, everyone set off together.

Many of the mechanisms in the maze level weren’t a problem for Ye Tao. At least, they hadn’t encountered anything that made Ye Tao scratch his head. Although Ye Tao’s skill in deciphering mechanisms was certainly not as good as Suo Yong’s, who had put a lot of effort into it, the brothers often communicated with each other. Many experiences were written down and referred to each other. At least some basic principles and methods were known. Moreover, this maze was already hundreds of years old. Although anti-corrosion designs had been added, the elastic deformation of the crossbow mechanisms had become plastic deformation. Things launched by gravity hammers made a lot of noise, and the likelihood of sandblasting and fire-spraying mechanisms working was even lower. The danger of the design and construction at the time only added a little fun to Ye Tao’s walk in the maze now.

Leaving Guan Huan and Jin Ze to protect Tan Weixin and the others and monitor Commander Qin, Liu Yong kept closely following Ye Tao’s footsteps, fearing that he would encounter some sudden mechanism that would hurt Ye Tao. After being on full alert for a long time, Liu Yong was also a little tired. After all, he was a middle-aged man, and his energy couldn’t compare with that of young people.

Seeing Liu Yong’s fatigue, Ye Tao felt a little embarrassed and said, “Uncle Liu, let’s take a break.”

Liu Yong smiled and asked everyone to sit down against the walls on both sides to recover their energy. At this time, the Third Princess asked again, “Who exactly are you?”

Ye Tao ignored her and continued to study the maze map. Many new marks had been added, and the area covered by the map had also expanded. From the time they had started until now, they had been walking in areas that were not marked on the original map. And Ye Tao and the others were heading towards the very center of the maze.

Seeing that Ye Tao ignored her, the Third Princess didn’t dare to get angry. She now knew that this "Lü Zhen" was definitely not an ordinary person. She could be considered a princess, and Commander Qin’s rank and combat power were definitely not low, but he was actually not as good as any of the other party’s guards. And the calmness with which "Lü Zhen" deciphered the mechanisms along the way and discussed architectural principles with Liu Yong and the others was even more shocking. They had really never heard of such a person. Thinking about the originally somewhat desolate Zhenbei Military Command, it would not be difficult to produce a business genius to make profits for the family; it would be even more natural to produce a brave general. But architecture was something that was built on money. One couldn’t see anything from just reading books. Without presiding over the construction of any major projects, it was impossible to become a first-class architect. Among them, one had to count the failures, mistakes, construction accidents, and a series of things that could ruin a potential architect. The Third Princess knew something about the top architects in Xiling, but compared to those old men who were often over fifty years old, the oldest being over seventy, Lü Zhen’s level was obviously only higher.

Based on this understanding, the names of some people were already faintly emerging in the minds of these Xiling people. There was no way around it. Ye Tao had to show his ability in the maze and couldn’t care about exposing his identity. Of course, Ye Tao had also made up his mind to abduct these people and prevent them from returning to Xiling for at least several years. Anyway, it would take the Xiling ruler some time to figure out how many people this maze had swallowed.

Soon, Ye Tao finally breathed a sigh of relief. Before them, in the very center of the maze, there was actually something like an altar, a little higher than the surrounding ground. Due to the limited floor height of the underground building, the three steps were only ceremonial, each only two inches high, but the style was very well done.

Ye Tao carefully stepped onto the altar and saw a stone platform in the middle. On the stone platform was a huge dragon-head combination lock, very similar in appearance to the combination lock on the gate they had entered the underground palace through earlier.

Ye Tao looked at the combination lock, closed his eyes, took a deep breath, and then turned to everyone and said, “Give me some time. If I break this thing open, we should be able to go down to the next level.”