He casually tossed the box onto the high platform, hitting the target dead - center.
The wall slowly opened. His eyes narrowed slightly, and he just saw Shi Muyuan surrounded by puppets.
When Shi Muyuan saw him, she heaved a sigh of relief.
She knew this man wouldn't easily give up the fragment of the treasure map.
She slightly curled her lips and said, "Miss, it seems you're in trouble. Why not leave me aside for now? It's not too late to deal with me after you've sorted out this mess."
The maid never expected that someone else would break in here. Almost instinctively, she commanded the other puppets.
"Kill this man right away. The master said no outsider must ever discover this place."
As soon as the words fell, the puppets that had just been surrounding Shi Muyuan immediately charged towards Cui Qizhou.
The man's face darkened slightly. He had originally intended to save this woman, but unexpectedly, she repaid his kindness with enmity. Oh well, he'd settle the score with her after getting out.
However, in the process of fighting these puppets, he gradually discovered something incredible.
These puppets not only didn't bleed but also seemed to feel no pain. No matter how deadly the positions his sword hit were, they only slowed down a bit.
Facing their continuous attacks, no matter how skilled he was in martial arts, he couldn't hold out for long. He could only question the woman under the pressure.
"What on earth is going on? Are they related to you, Empress Dowager? Do you really think you can deal with me here? You might be overestimating yourself."
Shi Muyuan pouted and explained helplessly, "Xiao Yue came back just now. These puppets are related to her. Haven't you noticed? The puppets are made of corpses."
No matter how well - traveled Cui Qizhou was, he had never seen such puppets before. But this also explained why his martial arts couldn't harm the puppets.
He gritted his teeth and said, "You were with Xiao Yue just now. Don't you know how to defeat these puppets?"
Shi Muyuan shook her head. If she had known, she would have run out by herself long ago instead of waiting for him to rescue her.
The woman's answer made the man's face sink completely. He could only half - threaten her.
"Empress Dowager, don't forget that only I can save you now. If I die, it'll be worth it to have the Empress Dowager accompany me."
Although he said this seemingly casually, it set off alarm bells in Shi Muyuan's heart. She almost forgot that her life was in this man's hands. Helplessly, she could only offer a suggestion.
"These puppets seem to be under Xiao Yue's control. But Xiao Yue alone shouldn't be able to control tens of thousands of puppets. Moreover, the puppets have a drawback. They're not as flexible as humans. I think there must be something connecting Xiao Yue and these puppets."
This reminded Cui Qizhou. While dealing with several puppets, he searched for flaws in the entire secret room, but he found nothing. However, this caught the maid's attention.
The maid still looked as stiff as ever. "What are you talking about? Don't even think about escaping."
Shi Muyuan pursed her lips and suddenly observed the maid in front of her. Could it be that the connection was this maid?
Why hadn't she thought of it earlier? This maid seemed to have no martial arts skills at all. To Xiao Yue, she was at most a tool for serving tea and water. There must be a special reason for leaving her here.
Having found the right direction, she reminded the man not far away, "The secret must be on this maid. If we kill this maid, we might be able to solve the mystery."
Cui Qizhou nodded slightly. Taking advantage of the puppets' inattention, he went straight to the maid. When the maid saw the sword in his hand, she panicked and quickly summoned several puppets to protect herself.
Her reaction further verified Shi Muyuan's speculation.
Almost in an instant, Cui Qizhou's sword pierced the maid's chest. However, surprisingly, the maid showed no reaction at all and still stood there intact.
Seemingly realizing that he was no longer a threat to her, the maid said smugly, "Fortunately, the master had a backup plan. You can go to hell."
The maid saying this actually looked a bit like Xiao Yue earlier.
Seeing her like this, Shi Muyuan's face fell. Her mind raced. What was wrong? Clearly, this maid was the most special among these puppets.
Seeing her like this, Cui Qizhou couldn't help but remind her, "We both forgot the most important thing. Xiao Yue learned a lot of things before, and one of them could control people."
"Gu worms!"
Shi Muyuan suddenly realized. If it was just Gu worms, it would make sense.
She fumbled around and finally found a few fire starters on herself.
She had originally kept them in case she needed to go to the toilet at night and didn't want to disturb Xiao Xiao. Unexpectedly, they would save her life now.
The fire starters quickly lit her handkerchief, and the fire started to burn on the ground. The fire quickly devoured the light gauze decorations around. The maid began to nervously back away and at the same time commanded the puppets to leave.
However, Cui Qizhou wouldn't let her go so easily.
The man casually picked up a burning piece of light gauze with his sword and threw it onto the maid. Soon, the maid was on fire all over. At the same time, the movements of the other puppets gradually stopped.
In just a moment, only ashes were left where the maid had been standing, and many Gu worms appeared. But after losing the support of their host, the Gu worms immediately turned to ashes.
Almost as the Gu worms disappeared, all the puppets fell to the ground.
After confirming that the situation here was mostly under control, Cui Qizhou quickly pulled the woman beside him and ran outside.
"Xiao Yue will probably be back soon. Let's go quickly."
"Okay. By the way, this is the fragment of the treasure map I found inside just now, and there's also a jade pendant."
Looking at the things she handed over, the man was a bit stunned. In such a dangerous situation just now, she must have been trying to get these things for him, which was why she had run into Xiao Yue.
"You should have waited for Xiao Yue to leave before looking for this."
Shi Muyuan pursed her lips and stuffed the things into the man's clothes.
"If I had done that, it would have taken a long time. I don't want to stay here any longer. By the way, what are you going to do with this place next?"
As they were talking, they had already reached the outside. The fire here quickly spread to the ground, attracting everyone's attention.
Cui Qizhou settled her in his own room and said, "The situation here isn't suitable for you to get involved personally. I'll handle the rest. You did a good job this time."