Chapter 225: The Gate of Truth

Chapter 225: The Gate of Truth

This manor was decorated luxuriously and finely, covering an area of about fifteen acres. Although it was in the suburbs, just the land alone probably cost over twenty million, and that was in yen…

The overall style of the manor was pink-themed. The carpets, wallpaper, and furniture inside the house were all based on pink. The main house faced south, so it had good sunlight. There was no eerie, scary feeling like you would usually find in a haunted house. Several beautiful oil paintings hung on the walls. They probably weren’t works by famous artists, but they were still quite old.

The ceiling and chandelier clearly showed signs of renovation. The chandelier was the kind usually seen as a store’s centerpiece in malls. The thousands of crystals added a fairy-tale feeling to the hall.

Not only that, but this place perfectly blended classical and modern styles. Even the bathroom had an LCD TV and a temperature control alarm.

The main structure of the house was made of brick and stone, but some details still used traditional brick and wood structures for decoration. All the glass was specially processed stained glass. When the sunlight came through, it refracted rainbow-like colors on the hall floor.

The hall where Siyuan was now was decorated exquisitely without losing its luxury. The fireplace was on the north wall, surrounded by a circle of high-grade leather sofas. The floor was covered with an authentic handmade Nepalese carpet. The stair handrail was carved with intricate patterns, which seemed to depict the entire history of France—from Saint Jeanne to the restoration of Napoleon, you could find corresponding patterns on it.

Siyuan hadn’t seen the rooms inside the house yet, but he could imagine that with this style as the main theme, the rooms inside probably wouldn’t be bad either.

For a house like this, twenty million yen—let’s calculate… one hundred yen exchanged for one US dollar, one US dollar exchanged for ten RMB, so that meant it only cost two million RMB. At most, that price could only buy a 140-square-meter duplex in the Imperial Capital, but here you could get a place like this?

Siyuan absolutely did not believe this was due to some so-called superior system. So with such an illogical situation right in front of him, even though the house seemed fine, Siyuan still felt something was wrong.

“Isn’t it a nice house?” Ning Qingying lazily leaned on the sofa, eating dried cherries from the manor’s cellar that hadn’t been taken away. Her face was full of pride. “You guys stay here. Stay as long as you want!”

Siyuan smiled and nodded. But then he noticed Ghost Mother signaling to him from the side. He paused for a moment, then quickly walked over to her. “What’s up?”

“Come with me. I found a fun place.”

“Huh? A fun place?”

Siyuan looked back at the monster army rolling around on the carpet outside, scratched his head, and followed Ghost Mother into the dark corner of the staircase.

“What’s the problem here?”

“Here.”

Ghost Mother reached in and felt around for a while. Then Siyuan heard a faint click sound. A hidden door swung open right in front of Siyuan.

“Whoa… there’s a place like this here?”

“Yep. Wanna go check it out?”

“Let’s go.”

Following Ghost Mother, he squeezed into the narrow secret passage. It was very dark and tight inside, basically only allowing one person to pass through. Anyone slightly larger wouldn’t be able to go down. There was almost no light below. Like all basements, it was chilly and damp. Even though it was a stuffy thirty-three or thirty-four degrees outside, once you entered here, you could still feel the coldness.

“This place is pretty long.”

Siyuan kept walking downward. He didn’t know how far he had gone, but he never seemed to reach the bottom. It felt like he was constantly descending. Based on his walking speed and calculating the angle roughly, Siyuan was sure he was already more than two hundred meters below ground level.

“You think the original owner of this house secretly dug for coal, and sold it off quickly and ran away after being discovered?” Siyuan was bored because there was no trace of demonic or ghostly aura, so he wasn’t nervous. “Would a normal person dig such a big hole under their own house?”

“Such secret chambers are most common in royal families, often seen in royal treasuries or underground cemeteries. But judging by the setup, it probably isn’t a cemetery.” Ghost Mother was, after all, a self-taught postgraduate in archaeology, and now she spoke with authority. “Europeans generally don’t build underground tombs on such a large scale, so it’s likely a treasury, young man… If it’s a treasury, let’s take the treasure and run far away.”

“Run away to where?”

“Hmm… How about we buy a small island in Southeast Asia? Far from the noise of the world, spend the rest of our lives quietly. When you die, I’ll be buried with you.” Ghost Mother walked slowly ahead. “But if you dislike me because I was once married, then forget it.”

“Well… that’s not really the problem. The key issue is… wait, no, you’re teasing me again!”

Siyuan suddenly realized that Ghost Mother was fooling around with him again. With her lively personality that disliked tranquility, how could she possibly choose to live on a deserted island? And besides… if they really did that, Qianruo would definitely chase after them and cut him into pieces.

“Alright, alright, I’ll stop teasing you.” Ghost Mother giggled but immediately fell silent. She reached back and took Siyuan’s hand. “There’s movement!”

Movement? Siyuan didn’t feel anything at all. But even with his Heavenly Eye, in such absolute darkness, it couldn’t compare to the perception of a former spirit like Ghost Mother. So if she said there was movement, then there definitely was.

“What kind of movement?”

“I don’t know. Let’s go check it out!”

“Let’s go!”

Hearing movement probably meant they were nearing the end. Siyuan didn’t say anything more and just followed Ghost Mother downward. Sure enough, after about twenty more meters, Ghost Mother, who was walking in front, suddenly stopped. Siyuan, who was behind her, couldn’t brake in time and bumped right into her back. Ghost Mother giggled and pinched the “stick” below him. “You’re being naughty.”

“Hey… Is that my fault? You stopped suddenly.”

“We’re here.” Ghost Mother stretched her hands forward, as if feeling for something. “A door.”

“A door?”

“You’re so dumb! Make some light!”

Hearing her say that, Siyuan immediately felt like an idiot. Probably he was too caught up in the moment and completely forgot that he had the ability to provide light…

“Sorry, sorry, I got too into it.” Siyuan smiled sheepishly, snapped his fingers, and a demonic fire rose from his hand, casting an eerie blue glow that lit up a large area.

Sure enough, there was actually a door in front of Ghost Mother. But this door and the stone-carved walls on both sides were completely different in style. The top of the door was carved with countless patterns, abstract and exquisite?

“What is this?” Ghost Mother bent down to examine the door closely. “Step back a bit. That thing of yours is rubbing against my butt crack.”

“Hey… I’m just lighting the way for you. Don’t make me sound so perverted.”

As he said this, he took a few steps back, but before he could go far, Ghost Mother grabbed him and pulled him right behind her. Her tone was full of complaint as she said, “Where are you going? I’m looking at this thing. If you go so far away, what am I supposed to see?”

“I…” Siyuan looked down, seeing that he was almost pressed right against her, and found it both funny and frustrating. “Sis… when I’m close, it’s your fault; when I’m far, it’s also your fault. This space is just so small… What do you want me to do?”

“Well…” Ghost Mother looked up and thought for a moment. “Then come closer. You’ve already taken all the advantages you could from me anyway, so it doesn’t matter.”

“I… this… How have I taken advantage of you?”

“Alright, I’m just joking.” Ghost Mother squatted down and continued examining the door by the light. “Come take a look.”

Siyuan moved closer and saw that the patterns from bottom to top looked like a tree. The roots were at the bottom, with ten circles on the left and right sides. Inside the circles were other intricate and beautiful patterns. The craftsmanship was very good, even to the point of being divinely skillful.

“What is this?”

“In Jewish civilization, to go from mortal to saint, one must pass through a gate. Anyone with greed, selfishness, cruelty, lust, and all other vices was not allowed to pass. The pattern carved on this gate is called the Tree of Life. Each branch on the tree represents one of the Creator’s abilities, which are the ten wings of God. I don’t remember exactly what they are, but look here—the writing above is ancient Hebrew. So…”

“Are you saying this is the Gate of Truth?”

“No, it must be a replica.” Ghost Mother straightened up and touched the marks on the door. “According to records, the true Gate of Truth forms naturally. But here, I can feel traces of artificial carving. Guess whose work it is.”

“Huh?”

“Qiu Chuji.”

“Huh? Wait…” Siyuan was stunned immediately. “A Daoist priest from a novel traveled thousands of miles here to carve a gate for foreigners? What kind of spirit is that?”

“You’re just ignorant. Qiu Chuji was a real person.” Ghost Mother continued feeling the door. “And he was one of the most famous jade carving masters in ancient China. He was once granted the title ‘White-robed Great Scholar’ by Temujin and traveled with him on campaigns everywhere. Whenever they stopped, Temujin would have him carve his achievements on stone slabs.”

“In that case, where are those stone slabs now?”

“They were buried with him.” Ghost Mother coughed. “With such carving skills at that time, I really can’t think of anyone else. People like Michelangelo or Raphael were far inferior to Qiu Chuji in detailed depiction. Given this level of fine work, it’s definitely his.”

A Daoist priest from the Yuan dynasty carved the supreme gate of Judaism, and now this gate was intact right in front of them. Who the hell wrote this script? It was way too dramatic.

“According to research, Temujin might have reached Germany, with vanguards even arriving in France. So it’s not surprising that Qiu Chuji appeared here. Then… now we need to find out what is behind this door.” Ghost Mother took a deep breath. “Should you break it open, or should I?”

“Wait… wait, you want to break it? This…” Siyuan scratched his head. “It should be a national treasure, right? If we take it out, it wouldn’t be cheaper than the Mona Lisa, would it?”

“No, it’s way off.” Ghost Mother smiled. “The Mona Lisa is worthless in front of it.”

“Then… then you still want to break it?”

“This door is at least twenty meters high! This is only part of it. Are you sure you want to move it?”

“Twenty meters?” Siyuan was silent for a moment, then suddenly asked, “When did you become so knowledgeable?”

“If I were still the ignorant me, how could I stand by your side? Siyuan, because I share life and fate with you, I can’t leave you in this lifetime. If one day I become a burden to you, I wouldn’t know what to do. I am indeed an ancient person, but… I can learn. I don’t need to sleep; I have plenty of time.”

Siyuan smacked his lips. “That sounds like a confession…”

“Fool…” Ghost Mother smiled faintly, turned her head, and bit Siyuan’s lip firmly. Then she turned back, rolled up her sleeves, and said, “I’ll break the door!”

“Let me do it!” Siyuan squeezed in front. “Heavy and rough work should be done by men.”

The thickness and hardness of the door were actually quite unexpected. It took Siyuan a full half hour to open a big hole in the door.

When the door opened, the space inside suddenly became open and bright. The air was fresh, clearly with hidden vents for air circulation. But after entering, Siyuan felt an endless oppression—a kind of oppression filled with the aura of death… that even made his Heavenly Eye automatically open.

“This place…” Siyuan looked around. “Many people have died here.”

“Yep, a river of blood.”

Siyuan didn’t say this just based on imagination. It was purely from observation. The soil on the ground here was pure black and exceptionally fertile, while the soil outside was much poorer by comparison. When you rubbed this soil between your fingers, it gave off a rusty smell, indicating a very high iron content. Although Siyuan didn’t graduate from a geology university, he had seen people fertilize crops in the countryside more than once or twice.

In areas not formed by river impact or sedimentation, having such high iron content must mean something left iron elements here. There’s a saying in the countryside: ‘Grave mounds are good for planting trees,’ which refers to this principle. Blood contains rich iron elements. After entering the soil and undergoing natural transformation, it becomes fertile soil. For the soil in this entire area to become like this… a river of blood was absolutely correct.

“Siyuan, come quickly.”

Hearing Ghost Mother’s call, Siyuan walked over and found some clothes scattered in the corner that had rotted and deformed. He picked them up with his hand and looked, finding that the style of these clothes… didn’t look like modern clothing at all.

“This…” Ghost Mother moved closer and carefully examined them. “Hmm, these are typical garments from fourteenth-century Europe.”

“I know this! That’s the era when the Black Death broke out, right?”

“Smart!” Ghost Mother snapped her fingers. “But there’s a two-hundred-year gap between this time and the door’s time. Wait… look over there.”

Following her pointing finger, Siyuan noticed a black object on a stone stool not far away. When he approached, he found it was actually a flashlight!

“It’s a flashlight.” Siyuan picked it up and examined it back and forth. “It’s a very old flashlight. I remember my family had one of this style when I was little. They’re extinct now.”

“This is probably from the fifties or sixties.” Ghost Mother frowned at the flashlight. “That’s not right. So that means… decades ago, someone else came in here?”

Siyuan thought for a moment, then suddenly laughed. “Tonight, I’ll treat you to a movie!”

“Why suddenly do that?” Ghost Mother was also puzzled. “Your thinking is too jumpy.”

“I think I know why the owner of this manor sold the house at such a low price.” Siyuan chuckled. “Tonight, I’ll perform a magic trick for you.”

“Really?”

“If I’m tricking you, you can do whatever you want with me.”

“Okay then. If nothing happens, I want to have a baby. You figure it out.”