As the saying goes, no matter how skilled one is, a knife can be deadly. Yue Hai, no matter how strong, was not impervious to blades and spears. If it were a laser-like trap, she would have turned to ash in an instant.
Upon realizing this, Li Chonglou became instantly nervous.
"Cough, it's not the kind of trap you're thinking of."
Qing Lin seemed to sense Li Chonglou's worry, though her expression remained odd.
"What do you mean? Speak quickly!"
Li Chonglou was truly anxious now, his tone instinctively becoming demanding. Qing Lin's expression immediately turned stern.
"You're yelling at me!"
Uh...
"Speak quickly, I'm not in the mood for jokes right now."
"Hmph."
Qing Lin pouted before explaining, "No one will die, don't worry. Think about it, what kind of place is this? How could there be a trap that kills people."
"It's a secret room with a hallucinogen. The mist inside is enough to make one lose consciousness within three seconds. This was primarily set up to deal with disciples who want to sneak out and slack off during training. I built it myself!"
Qing Lin even had a hint of pride in her voice as she said this. Li Chonglou's brow furrowed.
"Then why did you have that expression just now? You made me think it was..."
Qing Lin suddenly coughed twice. "Actually, there's another device inside that strips the clothes off anyone who's knocked out and hangs them outside..."
Li Chonglou's eyes widened.
"Completely undressed?"
"Pah! What filthy thoughts are you having! It only takes off the outer garments!"
Qing Lin cast a disdainful look at Li Chonglou.
"You scared me! I thought they'd be completely naked and hung outside." Li Chonglou breathed a sigh of relief, adding with some exasperation, "Can you speak your mind at once next time."
"Tsk."
Qing Lin's lips curled. Li Chonglou didn't argue with her further and urged,
"Then hurry up and take me there. Even if it's not completely naked, being hung up for others to see is still embarrassing. My friend just entered society, and I'm afraid he can't handle such stimulation."
"Just entered society? Could your friend not be an adult yet?"
"Not necessarily. He's older than you. It's just that for some special reasons, he's been living in the mountains before."
Qing Lin's small face suddenly creased. At this moment, an image of a poor child appeared in her mind. She also conjured a scene of a poor child, fresh from the mountains, who hadn't even had time to adapt to society before experiencing the harsh realities of the world – a typical idol drama plot.
In an instant, Qing Lin's sympathy surged.
"Follow me!"
Without further hesitation, Qing Lin tossed out a sentence and turned to walk out of the training room. Li Chonglou then dispelled the soul fusion and quickly followed.
Qing Lin, who was now more anxious than Li Chonglou, directly climbed over the railing and jumped down from the second floor. Only then did she realize that Li Chonglou was still walking down the stairs.
"Didn't you say you were going to save your friend? Why are you so slow?"
Qing Lin looked at Li Chonglou with dissatisfaction. He naturally couldn't explain this matter, so he casually made up a reason: "Besides combat, I prefer to conserve my strength. I don't like being too high-profile."
Qing Lin was speechless. "What time is it, and you still want to show off? Isn't showing off to me enough?"
Li Chonglou directly ignored her words. Qing Lin's martial arts talent was indeed nearly monstrous, but as a beauty, she had none of the demeanor expected of one.
Her attacks were fierce, and her words were crude. If not for her good looks and a change of gender, she would have been a genuine hooligan.
However, Li Chonglou could understand. He could sense that Qing Lin was the type of person who was straightforward and direct, so she didn't pay much attention to her image.
The best approach for such a person was to communicate less.
As expected, seeing Li Chonglou not respond, Qing Lin stopped talking and led him back towards the narrow path.
The distance wasn't far, and the two only took a few minutes to return to the dark alley.
"Where is the secret room you mentioned?"
Li Chonglou curiously surveyed their surroundings. He hadn't noticed anything unusual when he came over earlier. Although he was still in a weakened state then, his instinct for vigilance was still present.
Seeing Li Chonglou looking around the alley, Qing Lin rolled her eyes and said, "Not here."
"Not here?"
Qing Lin didn't answer but turned into a teaching building along the side of the alley, then stopped at a corner on the first floor.
"If the secret room was set up in the alley, even a fool would see it."
Qing Lin pointed to the ground in front of her and quipped sarcastically. Li Chonglou followed her gaze to a stone slab with a slightly different color. Without needing to open it, Li Chonglou's intuition told him something was wrong there.
"But you said it was to deal with lazy disciples. Would it be useful to set it up here?" Li Chonglou asked, puzzled.
"You wouldn't know this, but if you turn in further in this direction, there's another corridor connecting to the training area. They usually come this way."
Li Chonglou looked in the direction she indicated and indeed saw another corridor in a more secluded spot.
Secluded and rarely frequented, Li Chonglou suddenly understood.
"Then where would they be hung up?"
It had been almost half an hour now. Li Chonglou felt that there was little point in searching inside anymore. However, to his surprise, Qing Lin also looked puzzled and said,
"I find it strange too. By rights, they should have been hung up within five minutes, but I didn't see anyone just now."
Li Chonglou's expression froze. Upon inquiry, he learned that the place where they were hung was actually in that narrow path...
The reason he hadn't sensed anything earlier was because it was a reverse mechanism there, only hanging people without any traps...
But he quickly realized.
"So, does that mean my friend is still inside?"
Qing Lin didn't speak but turned to leave.
"Where are you going?"
"Are you stupid? This is the trap's entrance, not the real entrance."
Uh, that makes sense...
Li Chonglou coughed awkwardly and then quickly followed.
Two minutes later, Qing Lin opened a locked iron door in the corridor on the basement level.
As the iron door was pushed open, the sensor light inside immediately turned on. At that very moment, Qing Lin suddenly turned and ran. Before Li Chonglou could react, she had already disappeared.
Concurrently, a pink mist surged out from within, instantly engulfing Li Chonglou.
Qing Lin, who had already left the corridor, went to the main circuit breaker on the first floor with a mischievous smile.
"Serves you right for bullying me earlier!"
Saying that, Qing Lin directly shut off the main breaker. However, she didn't rush down but waited there for the red mist to slowly dissipate.
"Hehe, I'll take some embarrassing photos of him when I go down later!"