Chapter 134: The Door Within the Door

“Master, your abilities are truly extraordinary. I am in awe!”

Although Ye Dong felt rather disgruntled, he genuinely admired Huang Wuchang’s knowledge and insight.

“You have always been blessed with good fortune,” Huang Wuchang said with a low chuckle. “Once we enter the Tomb of Immortality, I will need to borrow your luck. I cannot have you losing your life halfway there.”

“I knew this old fox planned to use me as a pawn. I simply never imagined he wanted to borrow my luck!”

Ye Dong sighed inwardly and gave a bitter smile. “It would be my honor to serve you, Master.”

“Master, what do we do next?” Uncle Wei asked tentatively.

Huang Wuchang waved his hand grandly. “You lackeys, follow me in!”

The flashlight soon swept over the inner gate. Waves of carved patterns covered its entire surface. Huang Wuchang then skillfully opened the gate marked with the character for “reject,” revealing a stone passage more than a hundred meters long and just over five meters wide.

“Has a stone passage finally appeared?”

Ye Dong’s heart gave a jolt. “This passage is eerily empty. Unlike the one beneath the Ancient Well, its sides are not piled with dried corpses. It is spotless—just like that Void Realm. Wherever there is nothing in sight, there must be some extraordinary trap hidden here.”

He shone his flashlight toward the wall beside him when Le Cheng suddenly whispered, “Master, there’s a line of writing here.”

Ye Dong followed the beam of Le Cheng’s flashlight. Eight words were carved into the wall:

“Enter with silver, and light shall blaze forth.”

“Oh? Compared with the inscription beneath the Ancient Well—‘Enter with copper, and light shall blaze forth’—there is only one word of difference. Could it be… could we have reached the stone passage of the Tomb of Immortality?”

Ye Dong’s heart tightened. “Could there be a pool of Five-Element Yin-Yang Water beneath this passage, just like the one below the Ancient Well? If so, wouldn’t we soon run into Master and the others?”

Ye Dong was not the only one making plans in his head. Huang Wuchang was also quietly calculating.

“This is just like what happened the last time we entered the Tomb of Immortality. The appearance of a stone passage means we have already reached the middle section of the tomb. How exciting.”

While he was thinking, all the helpers had already gathered at the entrance of the passage.

Clink!

With his wealth of experience, Huang Wuchang pulled a small silver ingot from his waist and tossed it onto the little dish. The crisp collision of metal rang out.

Puff! Puff! Puff!

The pitch-black passage suddenly lit up with clusters of phosphorescent light, making it seem even more sinister and terrifying.

Seeing those familiar lights, Ye Dong, who had only just caught his breath, began complaining again.

“More of these lights? They’re everywhere we go. Can’t we have something new for once? Red, yellow—anything! If that’s too much to ask, at least give me white. My eyes are growing tired of the same old thing!”

“Li Xing, it’s your turn.”

After the phosphorescence appeared, Huang Wuchang gave Li Xing a faint smile.

So this was Li Xing’s moment to shine. Ye Dong finally understood why the helpers had looked so excited.

“Li Xing must hold a very high position in their hearts. Mercenaries who live by the gun and die by the blade probably prefer a fierce vanguard like him—the sort who charges straight into danger.”

Li Xing strode forward, as arrogant and swaggering as ever.

“Be careful.”

Huang Wuchang handed him two keys and instructed him, “When you reach the end of the passage, join the keys together and insert them into the keyhole.”

“Master, this Tomb of Immortality may be mysterious indeed, but when it comes to mechanisms, I have plenty of confidence!”

Li Xing grinned. He held dog blood in his left hand and a dagger in his right, waiting for Huang Wuchang’s command before charging ahead.

Ye Dong was already familiar with Li Xing’s boastful manner. Yet to charge recklessly through a seemingly empty stone passage required tremendous skill and courage. Things visible to the naked eye were not the most frightening. The real danger lay in the things one could not see.

At the end of the passage was a tiny keyhole. Clearly, anyone who wished to open the stone gate would have to display considerable ability—or else be forced to retreat in the face of the challenge.

“This place is too dangerous. I’d better stay farther back.”

Several helpers behind Ye Dong were well aware of the peril. If hidden weapons came flying, it would be much easier for them to dodge than for those standing at the front.

“Better safe than sorry. I should keep my distance.”

Ye Dong was deeply troubled. “The mechanisms in the Tomb of Raging Fire were already that formidable. Won’t the traps in the Tomb of Immortality be even more terrifying?”

After finishing his incantation, Huang Wuchang burned a yellow talisman and scattered its ashes into the passage.

He muttered a string of spells that Ye Dong could not understand. As soon as the ritual implement in his hand struck the ground with a clear clang, Li Xing charged into the passage.

Boom!

The moment Li Xing stepped inside, a stone pillar descended silently from the ceiling and slammed straight toward him.

“Where the hell did that stone come from?!”

Before Ye Dong could react, Li Xing dodged the first pillar. A second and third followed close behind, giving him not the slightest chance to catch his breath.

“Damn it, these pillars seem to know exactly where Li Xing is going to step. Are they predicting his movements in advance?”

Having studied many formations, Ye Dong quickly discerned the secret behind the pillars. Precisely because he understood formations, what he saw filled him with alarm.

“Of course! This is the Coiling Serpent Formation!”

Ye Dong narrowed his eyes. He committed Li Xing’s path to memory and analyzed it carefully.

“Although his route appears winding and erratic, he is actually moving according to the footwork of the Coiling Serpent Formation. The stone pillars have been arranged according to the same pattern!”

“Impressive!”

The realization made Ye Dong admire Li Xing even more.

“Li Xing recognized the Coiling Serpent Formation when the second pillar fell. So he began moving according to its footwork. He is faster than the pillars, which means he has become the serpent’s head, while the pillars form the body. Although the pillars are dangerous, they cannot actually threaten him!”

Indeed, Li Xing’s actions confirmed Ye Dong’s deduction.

“A mere Coiling Serpent Formation won’t stop me!” Li Xing sneered inwardly. “The real stuff must still be waiting ahead!”

Swoosh!

Before he could think further, hair-thin hidden weapons suddenly shot from both walls of the passage.

“Now that’s more like it!”

Li Xing hooked his dagger into a crack in the massive stone pillar behind him. His body swung upward with the motion, landing atop the pillar and narrowly avoiding the dense rain of needles shooting beneath him.

“That was close!”

Li Xing secretly wiped away a bead of cold sweat. But before he could rest, the upper section of the wall seemed to sense his arrival. The instant his feet touched the top of the pillar, three long spears shot out.

“Danger!”

Uncle Wei cried out involuntarily.

Li Xing knew perfectly well that these were no ordinary spears. They were Soul-Striking Spears, crafted from willow branches.

As their name suggested, Soul-Striking Spears were weapons capable of attacking an enemy’s soul. Certain spells were cast upon specially prepared willow branches, allowing them to inflict a degree of harm upon the soul of a living person. And because the spears were lifeless objects, they could also cause fatal physical damage.

Li Xing leaped high into the air, and the three Soul-Striking Spears passed harmlessly beneath his legs.

“Damn, that was close to crushing my balls!”

Ye Dong had been worried for him, but at the sight of this, he could not help snickering.

“If Li Xing had lost the family jewels needed to continue his bloodline here, he would probably have cried himself to death.”

Huang Wuchang ignored Ye Dong’s nonsense. His eyes remained fixed on every movement within the passage. Suddenly, he spoke.

“Le Cheng, take the other two and go help Li Xing!”

“Yes, Master!”

Le Cheng had been waiting for orders all along. Skilled in formations, he had quickly realized that Li Xing was gradually falling into danger. He had remained still only because he was waiting for Huang Wuchang’s command.

“Help him?”

Ye Dong was startled. “Li Xing seems to be handling things just fine. Why does he need reinforcements?”

Before he could ask, the yellow talismans in Le Cheng’s hands and those of the two yellow-robed Taoists behind him burst into flame. They spat a mouthful of vital blood onto the fire, and a dense red glow instantly illuminated the passage.

“Li Xing, look carefully! This is not an ordinary Coiling Serpent Formation!”

Le Cheng shouted at Li Xing, who was weaving through the formation of stone pillars, spears, and fine needles.

“What? This isn’t an ordinary Coiling Serpent Formation?”

Ye Dong’s heart jolted. He looked toward the passage bathed in red light and suddenly saw that Li Xing advanced ten meters only to retreat five. As he continued, it seemed as though he were running in circles. He had nearly stopped moving forward altogether.

“Is this the Coiling Serpent Formation combined with a Ghost Wall?”

Ye Dong realized that he had finally glimpsed the passage’s hidden secret.

“And why is Li Xing tiring so quickly?”

“You son of a—why didn’t you say so earlier?!”

Li Xing shouted furiously from a distance. “If you’d taken any longer to shine that red light in here, I would have dropped dead from exhaustion!”

Hearing him curse, Ye Dong felt irritated as well.

“Why didn’t Huang Wuchang warn him sooner?”

Then Le Cheng shouted again, “Li Xing, use your blade to cut down those deceptive ghost walls!”

Li Xing snorted. He splashed dog blood onto his dagger and slashed through the air.

Strangely, wherever his dagger passed, the air split apart as swiftly as a sheet of paper being torn in two, revealing its true appearance—something Ye Dong and the others had been unable to see.

“Oh, mother of gods! Why are there so many ghosts?!”

The opening in the torn air resembled a great door swinging wide. Beyond it stood countless evil spirits, all wearing vicious smiles. Even Ye Dong was shocked, let alone the helpers.

“So they were the ones creating the Ghost Wall?!”

Before he could think further, Uncle Wei shouted, “Brothers, take up your weapons and prepare for battle!”

The hideous, tusked demons began climbing out from behind the torn veil one after another. Their target was clearly the same: Li Xing, who was still struggling through the trial.

“Those tusked demons seem rather unusual. But we can’t just stand by and watch Li Xing die!”

Ye Dong’s heart tightened, and he drew Hellflame in one swift motion.

“As long as I don’t use the Samadhi True Fire, they shouldn’t be able to tell what I’m really capable of, right?”

“But the mechanisms haven’t stopped!” several helpers cried anxiously. “Uncle Wei, we can’t just charge in like this!”

Uncle Wei clenched his teeth.

“If we can’t charge in, we have to charge in anyway! Otherwise, the demons will drag Li Xing down to hell!”

Seeing him run toward Li Xing, Le Cheng and the others charged after him without hesitation.