Chapter - 277 Visitors Drunk On Magical Lotus In the Green Willow Manor (9)

Zhang Wuji was not fazed by her intimidation, he said, "It's up to you if you say that I am a coward who fears death." While talking he had already taken two steps down the stairs.

Seeing none of her tricks worked, Zhao Min's beautiful face changed; with a miserable voice she cried out, "It's over! It's over! I am defeated, how could I still have a face to see my Shifu?" Reaching back she pulled one of the dagger stuck on the pillar. "Zhang Jiaozhu," she called out, "Thank you for your help!"

Zhang Wuji turned his head around only to see a flash of white light; she thrust the dagger into her own chest. Zhang Wuji laughed coldly, "I won't fall …" he had not finished whatever he wanted to say when he saw the dagger enter her chest. She cried out miserably and fell on the edge of the table.

To say that Zhang Wuji was extremely shocked would not be an overstatement; he did not expect her to be so hard-headed that she committed suicide just because she failed to overcome him. He thought that as long as the dagger did not strike her heart, he might still be able to save her. Hence he turned around to examine her wound.

He walked to within three steps of the table and was going to reach out to pull her shoulder when suddenly his foot stepped on empty air; his body dropped vertically down. While groaning inwardly he flicked both of his sleeves, so that his drop was slightly halted. In the meantime his palm struck the edge of the table. If his palm struck its target, then he could borrow the momentum to leap out from this trap. Who would have thought that Zhao Min's suicide was a fake; she had already anticipated his action. Sending her strength to her right palm she managed to block his palm from reaching the table.

This 'rabbit-rose-up-falcon-fall-down' exchange happened in a blink of the eye; by the time two palms met, Zhang Wuji's body had dropped half of his height. Flipping his hand over he tried to grab four of Zhao Min's fingers. But her fingers were slippery, they immediately slipped away from his grab. Yet within this fraction of a second Zhang Wuji exerted his strength – taking the opportunity as their fingers touched- to reach out to grab Zhao Min's upper arm. Only the force of his falling down was too great; as soon as he pulled, the two of them fell together.

All of a sudden darkness enveloped them; they kept falling, but heard the slam of the trap door close above their heads. The trap was about four, five 'zhang's [about 12 – 15 meters or 40 – 50 feet]. As his feet touched the bottom immediately Zhang Wuji leaped up, using 'bi hu you qiang gong' [gecko roaming the wall skill] to the fullest he crawled along the trap wall to the top, trying to push the trap door open. His hand touched something icy cold; turned out the door was made of a giant iron panel, reinforced by some kind of contraption to hold it firmly on its place. Although he had the divine strength of 'qian kun da nuo yi', but his body was suspended in midair; he did not have a strong foundation, unlike if he were standing on the ground. As he pushed, the iron panel did not move even so slightly, while he fell back down to the bottom.

Zhao Min chuckled and said, "The door is reinforced with eight thick steel bars; you are pushing it from below. Although your strength is exceptional, how can you push it open?"

Zhang Wuji was mad at her treachery; ignoring her remarks he groped around the four walls, trying to find a way out. Unfortunately the walls were all icy cold and extremely smooth and hard.

Zhao Min laughed and said, "Master Zhang, your Gecko Roaming the Wall is excellent. These walls were made of pure cast steel, they were polished and very slippery; not a single crack exists, yet you were able to crawl along the wall. Hee .. hee … heh … heh …!"

Zhang Wuji angrily said, "You are with me in this trap together, what's so funny?" Suddenly he remembered, "This girl is very crafty. There must be a way out of this trap. I can't let her escape alone." He moved forward two steps and grabbed her hand.

Zhao Min was frightened. "What are you doing?" she asked.

"Don't ever think of escaping alone," Zhang Wuji replied, "If you want to live, you should open the trap door quickly."

Zhao Min laughed and said, "Why worry? We won't starve to death in here. If they cannot find me, they will let us out. The worse case is if my men think I am going out of the Manor; then that would be too bad."

"Is there any secret mechanism to get us out of this trap?" Zhang Wuji asked.

Zhao Min laughed. "You don't look like an idiot, how come you asked such a stupid question?" she said, "This trap was not built to amuse ourselves. It was to trap an enemy inside; why would we provide a secret mechanism for the enemy to escape?"

Zhang Wuji thought what she said was reasonable. He asked, "There are people falling into the trap; how come nobody outside knows? Hurry up and call someone to open the door."

"All my men are on assignments outside. You saw a moment ago there was nobody else in the pavilion, did you not?" Zhao Min said, "They will come back by this time tomorrow. Just be patient; take a rest for a moment. You have just had your meal; certainly you are not hungry, are you?"

Zhang Wuji was angry; he thought, "I have no problem staying for a while, but how can I save (Maternal) Grandfather and the others?" Thereupon tightening his grip with 20% of his strength he roared, "If you don't let me out, I am going to kill you first and talk later!"

Zhao Min smiled and replied, "If you kill me, then you can forget about getting out of this trap forever. Hey, men and women are not supposed to be intimate; why are you holding my hand?"

Hearing her words Zhang Wuji immediately released her hand and withdrew two steps; and then he sat down with his back against the wall. This steel trap's perimeter was only several feet; even when he tried to sit as far as possible from her, their distance could not be more than one step. He was anxious and angry at the same time. He could smell her breath, and the sweet fragrance if her perfume; he could not help but feeling agitated. Finally he stood up and angrily said, "Our Ming Cult people and you are not acquainted with each other; we did not have either resentment or enmity. Why did you deliberately plan to put us all to death?"

Zhao Min replied, "Things that you don't understand are too much; but since you asked, let me explain it to you. Do you know who I am?"

Zhang Wuji did not think it was a good idea; he wanted to know this young girl's origin and her true intentions, but if he had to wait for her to tell her story in its entirety, then Yin Tianzheng and the others might be dead because of the poison. Also, how would he know whether she would tell a lie or not; if she fabricated a lie and told him a whole bunch of nonsense, then he would be stuck in that trap for a long time. His sole purpose right now was to force her to open up the trap door; therefore, he cut her off by saying, "I don't know who you are, and right now I don't have time to listen to your story. Are you or are you not going to call somebody to open the door for me?"