"Hidden clues?" Chen Yanmu was the first to react when she heard his announcement.
She held a doubtful look at him and said, "I'm not sure if you have noticed this, but Elder Feiling and I had checked around the surroundings already when we fell here. Yet we haven't spotted anything irregular, much less the so-called hidden clues you referred to."
"Obviously the two of you can't find shit. If it were so easy to find, then who would still be stuck here forever?" Jiang Ming scoffed coldly.
Chen Yanmu was stumped, clearly unable to retort his words. That was true, if they could easily find the hidden clues, then they wouldn't have been cooperating with him in the first place.
"Then what do you suggest we do to find it? We can't use our spiritual qi nor spiritual perception." Chen Yanmu asked.
Jiang Ming ignored her and sneaked a glance at Yuan Chunhua. When he saw she was finally looking at him, he felt relieved and smiled brightly.
He stretched his body for a few seconds and said, "Just watch how I'll lead us out the way. After all, I need to impress a lady here with my strong points."
Naturally, the people here knew who he was referring to and couldn't help but roll their eyes. His audacity and bold claims were truly second to none.
However, they couldn't deny the fact that Jiang Ming was their only hope of getting out of this place alive. Only he knew what was going on and the method to leave this place.
As for the other people that were with them at the beginning, Elder Feiling and Chen Yanmu could care less considering how their lives were at risk as well.
At the end of the day, when danger comes, they will only care about themselves and not others. Cultivators are known to mortals as a god, but little did they know, cultivators are the one that was most afraid of death.
Jiang Ming knew this was his time to improve his relationship with Yuan Chunhua so he meticulously walked around the four corners of the walls.
Given his vast experience in the past, Jiang Ming knew the hidden clue was camouflage here. It merely takes a bit of time and skill to determine where it was.
Sometime later, Jiang Ming paused at a wall that had some drawings inscribed on it.
When Chen Yanmu saw that, she snorted coldly, "Hmph, I have checked on that wall already since I have never seen such a drawing before. However, there was nothing special about it. No button and no hidden mechanism whatsoever."
"Then have you let Elder Feiling inspect it before?"
"Of course I did. Do you think I would rely on my sole judgment alone?"
After hearing that, Jiang Ming laughed wickedly as he nodded his head. "Right, that was my mistake for asking such an amateur question. With your impulsive and selfish attitude, how could you have any confidence in your own deduction?"
"You-"
"Although my back is facing toward you, I can tell you're currently pointing your finger at me with an angry expression." Jiang Ming smirked coldly without bothering to turn around to glance at her.
Seeing how Chen Yanmu became silent, Jiang Ming knew he had once again hit the mark.
For a haughty and self-conceited girl like her, it was easy for Jiang Ming to predict their behavior and action.
"What? Cat got your tongue and now you can't speak at all, Chen Yanmu?" Jiang Ming continued to provoke her and laughed more proudly.
"Ahh, I truly feel bad for Chen Peizhu now. He thought he was going to live a joyful life after having a daughter like you that managed to enter a powerful sect. Alas, if he had known that you only cared about yourself, then he might have just made your mother get an abortion."
"That's it! Go to hell, Jiang Ming!" Chen Yanmu clenched her fist angrily and roared. She could endure most provocation, but when Jiang Ming brought up his mother and talked of abortion, she felt completely humiliated.
Who was she?
She was a person that had the talent to break through multiple realms and become an important figure in the future. How could she endure such humiliation and still stay put?
If she really did that, then she feared a heart demon would appear in her mind and hinder her progression as a cultivator. Thus, without further ado, she forcefully bit her lips and tried to exert as much power as she could.
After that, she rushed toward Jiang Ming and raised her fist up, ready to punch the hell out of him.
Jiang Ming's lips suddenly curled upward as he made a wicked grin when he realized she was going to attack him.
'Thank you for being such an idiot, Chen Yanmu!' Jiang Ming thanked her wholeheartedly as he made sure to dodge at the last second, allowing her to directly punch at the concrete wall.
CRACK!
The moment her fist connected with the concrete wall, Chen Yanmu realized her joint had been disorientated and her face constricted in pain.
"Ahhhhh!" She screamed in agony as she plopped to the ground, curling up like some snail as she tried to resist the pain of her finger's bones being cracked.
Without a cultivation base and any spiritual qi as backup, she was like a mortal trying to hit a brick wall at full throttle. Another analogy could be getting hit by a Ferrari or Lamborghini that was going at its maximum speed directly.
How could one not experience a turbulence of pain when that happened?
While Chen Yanmu was sulking in pain, Elder Feiling and Yuan Chunhua finally snapped out of their daze as they looked at Jiang Ming in disbelief.
"Did you seriously provoke her into punching the wall?" Yuan Chunhua asked in a dumbfounded tone.
Jiang Ming shrugged his shoulders.
"It is what it is. We need an idiot to punch the concrete wall in their full strength to activate the hidden clue, and Chen Yanmu happens to be the easiest one to fool among the three of you." He said, pointing his finger at Yuan Chunhua and Elder Feiling respectively.
Elder Feiling wanted to strangle Jiang Ming for fooling her disciple, but when she heard his indirect compliment on her intelligence, she couldn't really be mad.
He wasn't wrong after all. She was a clever woman and had experienced many situations in the past. There was no way she would be provoked by some words from Jiang Ming even if it was extremely vulgar.
As for Yuan Chunhua, she had been working as an agent for a long time. Endurance and patience were her forte, so she would never be provoked in such a manner.
Henceforth, the only qualified candidate to do such a foolish job was the impulsive and naive Chen Yanmu.
"I'll take the silence as an agreement from the two of you. We all know the stupidest person among us is Chen Yanmu. I doubt any of us are willing to punch a concrete wall with full strength and no spiritual qi." Jiang Ming laughed.
Chen Yanmu was feeling aggrieved when she noticed her elder was staying silent and avoiding eye contact.
'This bastard Jiang Ming. He's really notorious for the rumors being spread around. How could he bait me like this?' Chen Yanmu cried inwardly.
While she was on the verge of crying, the wall that was punched by Chen Yanmu trembled heavily.
Debris started falling off and Chen Yanmu was dumbstruck by the unexpected scene. She was still plopped on the ground, unable to move because of the pain she had gotten.
Jiang Ming sighed softly as he hurriedly grabbed the back of her shirt and ran backward just in time before a large debris crashed at the original position she was in.
"D-Don't expect me to thank you." Chen Yanmu was saved on time but she was unwilling to show any appreciation for his help.
"No problem, I'll just kick you back at the falling debris site." Jiang Ming nodded his head and prepared to throw her back in.
"W-Wait a minute. I'm grateful. So don't throw me back." She panicked in horror. They were still a bit far from Elder Feiling, so she knew she wouldn't be able to receive help considering how they were all basically mortal right now.
"At least you know how to be grateful," Jiang Ming smirked as he placed her back down on the ground. Not a single gentleness could be seen in his action toward Chen Yanmu.
Just like he said in the past, women or men, as long as they are his enemies, then no mercy shall be seen. The only reason why he dragged her out and kept her alive was so that she could tread on the danger firsthand.
Once she had been sacrificed, Jiang Ming would naturally move on to his next target: Elder Feiling.
'You two best hopes we don't encounter some sacrificial ceremony to move on to the next stage. Otherwise, you can kiss goodbye to your life.'