569: Searching for Clues

Searching for Clues

"I have quite the number of connections, you know. Knowledge is quite powerful." 

The goat-kin revealed a rather cheeky smile as he gave a look at Ao Qin, who wasn't expecting to find out such a thing. However, the dragon-kin chose to say nothing, or truthfully, he had nothing to say. There was a peeved look on his face as he stared at Lao Yang's back. 

"In any case, we shouldn't worry about the other three locations yet. Let's focus on this one first. Zhu Xie, how long until we reach the ruins?" Lao Yang asked. 

"Mm, it shouldn't be too long, another two days at most." 

Zhu Xie answered back, calmly guiding the ship through the skies. 

"Alright, I'm sure that everyone is prepared for this."

The goat-kin looked around and saw everyone nod their heads. 

"Hah, I can't wait to get there. With how strong I've become, that damn dragon shouldn't be a problem at all!" 

Qiang Rong spun his staff around with a confident smile as he looked at the others. Just as the other divisions had grown stronger, the Zodiacs also had their fair share of it. There was a strong presence emanating from their bodies. Even non-combatants like Lao Yang showed a significant change. 

Even though the goat-kin walked around with his staff, he didn't need it at all!

"Alright, if my findings are correct, we require a key to unlock the teleportation arrays. It shouldn't be that hard to find, it is supposed to fit into this hole in the array itself. Niu Hong, do you remember how big it was?"

Asking the ox-kin, the leader of the Four Claws promptly answered. 

"It is quite large and very deep, up to my knees if I recall."

She Xing then added on. 

"Don't forget it was round! So we're looking for a large and thick stone in the shape of a circle", she said. 

"How large exactly?" 

On the other side of the ship, Jin Nao asked this, seated on the floor with her legs crossed. Awakening from her meditation, the dog-kin looked at them curiously. 

"Eh, er... about as large as a dinner table I suppose...", the snake-kin answered. 

She Xing furrowed her eyes, thinking carefully. 

"That's the best I can estimate it", she muttered. 

"Oh, it's about this big!"

Qiang Rong's voice perked up as he spun his staff around in a circle. 

"I measured it with my staff! Just made it as long as the width!"

"So, you measured it? and you didn't even tell us?"

She Xing looked at him with a somewhat annoyed face. 

"I mean, yes."

Sensing that he was wrong, the monkey-kin stopped spinning his staff and looking at her. 

"I... hah, yes that piece we're looking for should be about that big."

She Xing just sighed, feeling tired of scolding him. She just sat there, echoing his answer to Jin Nao. 

"Alright, so we're looking for something of that size. It doesn't seem too difficult, shouldn't be that hard to miss" the dog-kin replied. 

Despite her words, the truth was vastly different, especially when they arrived days later. 

"Is that... are those the ruins?" Zhu Xie asked. 

Shu Yi, who had been on his shoulder, looked while holding his hand over his eyes, squinting for a better view.

"It looks like it, I think", he said. 

The boar-kin leaned over the captain's wheel, looking out as the ship slowly descended down, landing in front of the White Sword's Remains. 

Or at least, what was left of it. 

Everyone exited the ship and Lao Yang stood at the front, getting a good look at the ruins. 

"Oh my, I knew that it had collapsed but I didn't think it would be like this!" he said. 

He couldn't help but look with a bit of surprise. 

The White Sword's Remains was originally a stone floor with a single sword stabbed into the ground. But now it was all gone. Instead, there was a giant, gaping hole where the platform was and it was deep. 

The twelve of them walked forward towards the edge of the chasm, looking down to find broken stone all over. It was an utter mess and no one knew just how deep it was going to be. 

The Four Claws looked down before checking their surroundings, watching for the Dragon of Swords. But it was quiet, there was no sign of its presence. Even then, they kept their eyes open, just waiting for it to arrive. 

However, Lao Yang was quite nonchalant at this moment. Taking a moment to step back, he and the other scholars all took their tools out, laying them out on a backpack. 

"Alright then, you all can start clearing the rubble out."

Hammering some stakes in, Lao Yang pulled out some rope, tying it to them before tossing it into the chasm. He then looked at the other Zodiacs, gesturing for them to take the rope. 

"Wha- you want us to clear out the rubble?" Zhu Xie said. 

"Who else do you think is going to do it? Me? I'm much too old and fragile to move all of that! Of course, if you do find something interesting, I will come down."

That same cheeky smile came out as he looked at them all. 

The boar-kin looked as if he wanted to say something but was stopped by Ao Qin's laughter. 

"Heh, you old goat, I better see you come down here then."

The dragon-kin turned back and looked at the hole before stepping forward and dropping in. Ruishi Lei followed without saying a word as did Qiang Rong and Niu Hong, falling in without needing to use the rope. 

"Wait for me!"

Zhu Xie went after but used the rope, holding it tightly as he slowly descended. As for the others, they stayed back with the scholars, guarding them against anything that may come. 

"I'm going to check the perimeter! I'll see if I find something!" 

The mouse-kin spoke out before running off to scout the area around them. In the meantime, all that could be heard was the sound of stone being broken into smaller pieces. There was already a growing pile of stones and boulders on the other side of the chasm. 

The rope moved constantly as Zhu Xie climbed up, huffing and puffing as he stepped over to where the scholars. 

"Hah, hah, we- we found more of these shards", he said with an exhausted tone. 

Putting his hand forward, the spatial ring glowed and a pile of metal shards came out, adding onto an existing pile. 

The three scholars didn't give it a single look, just taking one piece at a time and putting it together like a puzzle. In fact, it wasn't just them but Jin Nao, She Xing, and Yu Tu who helped out as well. The six of them carefully pieced things together and they began to take shape. 

She Xing and Yu Tu soon stopped as they recognized it. 

"This is... a sword... from the dragon!" 1

They were both shocked and the others stopped what they were doing, looking at the duo. 

"Are you sure?" asked Lao Yang, "This is from the Dragon of Swords?"

They nodded and She Xing confirmed it. 

"It is. I recognize the color, there's no mistaking it."

Lao Yang looked at the swords, studying them while scratching his little beard. 

"Then, it must have perished under all of that rubble or it broke after having that sword stolen by you four", he said. 

She Xing and Yu Tu looked at it, considering the possibility. 

"Oi! We reached the bottom of the ruins! There's a few rooms that haven't been completely destroyed! If you want to look, you better come down here you old goat!" 

Ao Qin's voice echoed out from within the chasms, grabbing everyone's attention. 

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