Strongest Scammer: Scamming The World, One Death At A Time-Chapter 206: Entering The Caverns

Phase One: Clear.

Han Yu began the descent.

The ravine’s inner path was steep and narrow, lined with crumbling rocks and suspiciously slick moss. It took careful footing, rope, and no small amount of sliding-on-his-butt to reach the base.

Having done this before, he felt a bit more confident, though the terrain was still as challenging as ever.

Down there, under the long shadow of the cliffside, sat the entrance: a massive, cracked cavern mouth. Wide enough to swallow five carriages side by side, the cave entrance exhaled a cold, damp mist. Somewhere beyond that mist was the northern cave system, and at its farthest end, the Slumbering Caldera—where Fireborn Beasts were said to dwell.

It wasn’t a short walk.

The tunnels were sprawling, twisted, and, according to every scrap of gossip Han Yu had pried from Kui 1’s mouth, dangerous as hell. They were remnants of old spiritual conflicts, scarred with residual energies and lurking spirit beasts that didn’t care for visitor etiquette.

Han Yu took one cautious step into the cave.

Instantly, the air thickened. It tasted like rust and old incense.

The light of his talisman barely pierced ten feet ahead, casting eerie shadows on slick walls and uneven stone. He moved cautiously, marking his path with glowing chalk runes: basic formation runes he’d memorized under Wu Shuan’s patient (and increasingly exasperated) guidance.

Ten steps, one rune. Every fork, three runes and a doodle of a confused pig. For morale.

Two turns in, he froze.

Something felt... wrong.

The qi in the air stirred strangely. Not quite disturbed—but expectant, like a dog waiting to see if you dropped the meat.

Han Yu crouched, brushing his fingers across the stone floor.

There—barely visible, but present—a series of shallow impressions. Too uniform to be natural. Someone had disturbed this section recently. Set something up.

"Traps?" he muttered under his breath.

But who?

The cave system was rarely traveled. Only certain sects even knew how to access it, and most avoided it unless they were desperate.

Han Yu tensed.

He hadn’t told anyone exactly where he was going. Only the Sect people would know it, and even then it was just the elders and a few disciples who worked in the Mission Hall.

Could it be a coincidence? Or were these ancient traps, left over from spirit beast hunters?

No time for hesitation.

He plucked a rejected alchemical pill from his pouch—one of Li Mei’s failed concoctions that squealed like a terrified mouse when agitated—and tossed it forward.

SQUEEEEE

Click

THOOM.

A section of wall exploded, sending darts flying and a burst of spirit-flame roaring into the space where he’d been about to step.

Han Yu blinked.

"Well," he whispered, heart hammering. "At least it works better than her calming pills."

Carefully, he stepped around the scorched zone, muttering under his breath and marking it with a crude chalk drawing of a man with his pants on fire. For future reference.

He continued through the cave system.

The second trap was subtler—triggered by a small fluctuation in qi. Han Yu caught it just in time, spotting the faint glow of a formation line etched under a stone. His improved senses due to his new body, as well as his instincts that had become honed through the last few missions, were coming in handy.

Though a bit of it was also due to some of Li Mei’s pills that had improved his perception.

Han Yu disabled the trap with a rock and an inappropriate prayer.

The third nearly got him.

A collapsing floor disguised under a thin layer of moss sent him scrambling for a handhold. He grabbed the edge with both hands and swung wildly as acidic mist and several irate spirit lizards gurgled below him.

He pulled himself up, panting.

"I’m starting to miss Fatty Kui’s snoring," he muttered, backing away from the pit and drawing a skull symbol with the word "NOPE" under it.

After hours of navigating these suspiciously well-placed hazards, Han Yu’s suspicion deepened.

These weren’t random.

Someone had prepared these. Recently.

The formations were fresh, there was no doubt. There was no way these formations would last for months or years on end, having been made by some other hunters who might’ve passed by here.

They would have to be maintained or their supply of qi would run out. If not that, there would certainly be some random beast that might trigger them, causing them to be used up.

But the who and why remained a mystery. He had no notable enemies that could’ve known his path... unless the Mist Eye Sect had started rigging their tunnels just to be petty.

Eventually, after what felt like a week but was probably just twelve miserable hours, Han Yu stumbled into a wider stone chamber. Its air was cooler, richer. He could feel the shift—thicker qi currents, faint tremors, and heat.

A wind drifted in from an upper tunnel, smelling faintly of smoke and sulfur.

He was getting close.

The northern exit was near. Beyond that, the Slumbering Caldera waited. freeweɓnøvel.com

He found a quiet alcove and set up camp.

A low-level stealth formation hummed faintly as he ate a cold bun and leaned against the stone wall.

One day since he had entered the Cavern.

’That was relatively fine if I don’t count the traps. At least I didn’t encounter any Spirit beasts that were itching for a fight. Most of the Lizard Spirit beasts just run away once they sense me.’ Han Yu thought to himself.

His luck was better compared to the usual.

Though he was still concerned about the traps.

’If I exclude the possibility that the Mist Eye Sect people set the traps, the only ones who would be able to do this is someone from the sect. But that would still be hard as they would have to reach the Cavern before me.’ Han Yu pondered on it. ’But I barely got this for in a day’s time.’

He had possibly one more day to reach the caldera, a year to do the mission, find the Fireborn Beast, and escape with a handful of ashes.

No pressure.

But tonight... he would rest.

Because tomorrow?

Tomorrow, the real danger began.