Chapter 133: Catching One’s Breath

Ye Dong and his group had just survived a brush with death, while the intellectually challenged man and his companions had already submerged to the bottom of the water—the eerie, Yin-Yang Five Elements water bed.

Seeing Chen Yao and Daoist Weizi leading their massive entourage into the water, the evil spirits lurking below dared not act out. Some feigned deafness, others pretended to be blind, and some simply acted as if they were asleep, not daring to even glance at Chen Yao and his followers.

"It seems these evil spirits aren't funerary offerings, but wandering ghosts captured from the outside. Today, I must subdue the villain Huang Wuchang," Daoist Weizi thought, his gaze sweeping over the spirits, which didn't seem particularly malicious, and a desire to liberate them stirred in his heart.

At this moment, Chen Yao’s thoughts were fixed on Ye Dong.

"I wonder what Ye Dong’s situation is now. Huang Wuchang and his disciples are as cunning as foxes; they are truly difficult to deal with," Chen Yao mused, his brows knitting slightly. He looked at the intellectually challenged man beside him, and seeing a faint golden light radiating from him, he felt a sense of helplessness. "I asked her to lend me that jade pendant that day and she wouldn't. Who would have thought Nianxue would give it to Lingzhi? This girl, she is exactly like her mother in that regard."

Thinking of this, a warmth spread through Chen Yao’s heart. "I never imagined that in the blink of an eye, Nianxue would be all grown up and even learning how to fall in love."

***

"It's only been two hours, so why does it feel like such a long time has passed?"

Tossing and turning, Nianxue couldn't fall asleep. She glanced at Huiyan’s bed and, seeing a faint glow emanating from it, realized that Huiyan was just as restless.

"Huiyan, why aren't you asleep yet?" Nianxue asked softly.

Huiyan set down her phone and gave a bitter smile. "My heart was pounding so fast just now. I felt like I saw Ye Dong in battle, holding a broken axe, covered in wounds, facing an enemy that seemed to be an army of thousands."

Nianxue nodded. "Even though I know that with the grand-uncle, the intellectually challenged one won't be in much danger, for Ye Dong to charge into the tiger’s den alone is really no different from going to war. It’s no wonder you can't sleep."

"I heard the Tomb of Eternal Life is filled with bizarre arrays and formations. They say it holds many fierce ghosts, and there are even legendary demons guarding the tomb. Is that true?" Huiyan gripped her fingers tightly, hoping for some comfort from Nianxue.

"The strange formations and fierce ghosts are certain. You encountered ghosts at the Tomb of Blazing Fire, and that’s nothing compared to a tomb built by someone who mastered all the arts of Taoism, right?" Nianxue offered a helpless smile and continued, "As for whether there are demons guarding it, I have no way of knowing. After all, demons are not things that mortals can reach or oppose. Even if the builder was powerful, he might not necessarily be able to command a demon. If that were the case, it would be truly disastrous."

Huiyan smiled bitterly. "The last time Master went with you all to capture that snake gang, did you really encounter a legendary snake demon?"

Nianxue sighed. "Speaking of that snake demon, it was incredible. It almost cost us all our lives. If my dad hadn't arrived just in time, the consequences would have been unthinkable."

Hearing the highly skilled Nianxue speak of it with lingering fear, Huiyan frowned slightly. "Although Ye Dong is progressing at an astonishing speed, he can't contend with you yet. If he really encounters a demon, wouldn't he..."

"Silly," Nianxue rolled out of bed and sat beside Huiyan to comfort her. "Ye Dong is the resourceful type. He has a talent for maximizing his advantages in disadvantageous situations, and he is a master of acting. He will definitely be able to deceive Huang Wuchang and the others."

Mentioning Ye Dong’s acting skills, Huiyan finally smiled with relief. "Speaking of acting, Ye Dong is indeed talented. His brothers are all great actors—they get into character quickly and are top-notch at improvising, like your Liang Lingzhi."

"What are you talking about? 'My' Liang Lingzhi," Nianxue scolded softly. "That guy is a total idiot. He gets way too deep into his roles. That time at the auction, he really made me so angry I almost exploded!"

Seeing Nianxue’s conflicted expression of love and hate, Huiyan giggled. "But you can't bear to be truly angry with him, can you? After all, he’s doing it for work, right?"

"Oh, you don't know—that day he was draped over people, left and right, with a huge cigar in his mouth, pointing at me and calling me 'naughty.' Tell me, wouldn't that make anyone die of anger?"

Hearing Nianxue say this, Huiyan felt a warmth in her heart, as it reminded her of the time Ye Dong had forcibly hugged her at the bar.

"Yes... it is quite infuriating." Shy, Huiyan stammered as she lowered her head.

Nianxue looked down at Huiyan and chuckled happily. "Oh, what are you thinking about that’s making you so happy? You’re actually giggling!"

"Just some things from when I was working undercover. Sometimes, looking back, it’s still quite amusing."

Young girls in love—is that what they were?

***

Poor Ye Dong was still on the other side, trembling with fear as he felt his way across the river.

"Rumble..."

Not long after the "Void Realm" was dispelled, the pile of skulls that had been stacked like a pyramid lost its support and began tumbling down, rolling into the abyss outside the circle with loud thuds.

Because there were so many, the skulls rolled for over two minutes before finally stopping. To Ye Dong’s shock, a stone door had been hidden within the mountain of skulls!

"I never would have guessed! The passage was hidden right here!" Ye Dong was secretly stunned. "This design is just too devious. The architect must have been a psychologist—who in their right mind would go near a terrifying mountain of skulls?"

"Although we sacrificed a few people, we’ve finally passed this hurdle." Huang Wuchang turned back with a smile, looking at the terrified group. "Don't blame us for this; blame them for being cowardly."

"Pfft, cowards shouldn't have come here in the first place," Lixing snorted. "The more dangerous the situation, the calmer you need to be. Even a layman like Brother Tian understands this, so who can they blame if they couldn't do it?"

The others looked at each other, wanting to argue but finding no words.

"Damn, is Lixing insulting me or praising me!?" Ye Dong glared at him but said nothing, for he was truly exhausted—spiritually exhausted.

"Master, are we safe for now?" the man named Chen Yong asked in a low voice.

"For the moment, we are safe. But after this barrier, there are likely even more troublesome things waiting for us." Huang Wuchang seemed to have some favor for Chen Yong and actually said a bit more to him. "Chen Yong, are you alright?"

Chen Yong was flattered and nodded repeatedly. "I’m fine, thank you for your concern, Master."

"Good as long as you're fine." Huang Wuchang nodded and walked inside, picking up his flute.

Ye Dong looked at Chen Yong, and a strange feeling arose in his heart. "Have I seen this Chen Yong somewhere before?"

"Let’s keep moving, Brother Tian," Lixing said, giving Ye Dong a light push. "Once we're inside, staying close to Master or Master Wei is the safest path. Remember that."

The stone door, carved with incantations, hung with nine keys featuring strange patterns, yet there were only two keyholes beneath them.

"Interesting." Seeing this, Huang Wuchang smiled with great interest and gestured to Ye Dong. "He Wentian, come here."

Everyone stared, then simultaneously looked at the bewildered Ye Dong.

Ye Dong cursed inwardly, "Damn it, what does this demon priest want with me now!?"

"Master, what are your orders?"

Though Ye Dong was extremely annoyed inside, he still had to put on a smile and compensate with a grin.

Huang Wuchang smiled sideways and pointed to the three keys hanging on the door. "There are nine keys here, but only two keyholes. Let’s each pick one to open the door, shall we?"

"Shall we? You've already asked me like that, what the hell else can I do?! Should I say I'm scared and want to go home!? What the hell."

Ye Dong was immensely depressed. He didn't answer, nor did he ask about the consequences of choosing wrong; he simply grabbed the middle key and said, "Let's go with this one."

Master Wei was slightly stunned. "This He Wentian is too bold; he didn't even ask for Master's opinion first."

Just when he thought Huang Wuchang would scold Ye Dong, Huang Wuchang did something that surprised most of the group. Not only did he not blame Ye Dong, but he also patted him lightly on the shoulder. "Then I shall choose this one!"

He pulled out a key and, without further ado, inserted it into the keyhole.

Seeing this, Ye Dong did not follow suit by inserting his key; instead, he gripped it tightly in his hand.

"Click."

A mechanical sound suddenly erupted from within the door!

Master Wei and the others quickly retreated a few steps, fearing that something lethal might fly out!

Under their watchful eyes, the stone door slowly creaked open.

There were no demons, no ghosts, not even a breath of wind. The door simply opened.

"He Wentian, weren't you afraid that choosing wrong would lead to some extreme consequence?" Huang Wuchang asked with a chuckle, clearly intrigued.

"Hehe," Ye Dong smiled cunningly, whispering to Huang Wuchang. "Master, you were looking out for your junior, how could I not have guessed that?"

"Oh?" Hearing this, Huang Wuchang’s eyes filled with pleasant surprise. "How so?"

Ye Dong smiled slightly and continued in a low voice, "There are nine keys here but only two keyholes. A normal person would assume we need to find the two matching keys out of the nine to open these two holes. If we did that, we would fall right into the designer's trap."

Huang Wuchang nodded repeatedly, signaling for Ye Dong to continue.

"In fact, only one key is real—the one you just chose. And only one keyhole is real—the one you chose. As for why you asked me to pick a key, I don't know the mystery behind that."

Hearing Ye Dong finish in one breath, Huang Wuchang nodded with great appreciation. "Not bad, you truly have some wisdom."

Ye Dong just gave a respectful smile and said nothing humble, for that was just how cocky He Wentian was.

Huang Wuchang pointed at the key in Ye Dong's hand and explained with a smile, "This door is called the 'Right-Wrong Door.' Nine keys and one correct keyhole represent the 'Right' door of nine deaths and one life."

He paused. "After opening the 'Right' door, there is a 'Wrong' door. The key in your hand is the one that opens this 'Wrong' door. As long as the key for the 'Right' door is chosen correctly, the remaining eight keys can all open the 'Wrong' door, signifying that 'Right and Wrong are inverted.' If you continue to use the 'Right' door's key to try and open the 'Wrong' door, then you are definitely done for."

Ye Dong didn't know what level of "done for" Huang Wuchang meant, but he could guess that the outcome was the same: something far worse than death.