Chapter 26: Waiting for Him to Come Out
Chapter 26: Waiting for Him to Come Out
The words sounded domineering and mighty, the boasting loud enough to reach the clouds. Setting aside whether wiping out the Heaven’s Gate Sect was appropriate, Ling Yi just wanted to ask her one thing—
If you really had that ability, why the heck did you run just now?
You almost scared me to death!
“What do you know? That was called a strategic retreat!”
The Enchantress argued stubbornly, “It’s just that I took a tiny bit of spiritual energy from you, so I remembered a little more.”
“A little more what?” Ling Yi asked.
“A little more means… I suddenly remembered there seems to be another path that leads directly to the grotto abode,” the Enchantress said.
“…”
“Come on, come on, big sis will take you flying!” the Enchantress declared with a tone of assurance, as if pounding her chest.
“Are you sure no one is guarding the grotto abode?” Ling Yi now deeply doubted the Enchantress’s reliability, feeling she was a huge braggart.
“We can be careful! Fortune favors the bold! What’s there to fear?”
“…”
After all that, she’s still this unreliable!
After making the effort to come all this way, if they couldn’t even go in to take a look, it really felt a bit frustrating.
Ling Yi hardened his heart and decided to trust this Enchantress once.
After all, if he was unlucky, she wouldn’t gain anything either.
This time, the two chose a different path. It was still the same mountain, but this time they went around to the back.
Again at the mountainside, after the Enchantress taught Ling Yi a chant, Ling Yi quickly learned it.
His learning speed even surprised the Enchantress.
“Not bad! Your learning speed is almost as fast as mine used to be!”
“May I ask how old you are?” Ling Yi asked, courting death.
After a moment of silence, the Enchantress’s voice in his head said coldly, “Eighteen.”
Got it!
If your face is thick enough, you can claim to be a teenager forever…
Ling Yi realized that calling her “Enchantress” was absolutely not unfair!
He silently recited the chant. The next moment, the scenery before his eyes changed.
All around was swirling mist and clouds. If he weren’t standing on solid ground, Ling Yi might have thought he was standing in the sky!
The surroundings were completely hazy in every direction; he couldn’t see through it.
Then, the Enchantress continued to teach him another chant.
Ling Yi said, somewhat speechless, “Could you not release it bit by bit like squeezing toothpaste? Can’t you teach me everything in advance at once?”
The Enchantress said calmly, “Dynamic password. It changes constantly. Can’t be taught in advance.”
Ling Yi: !!!
Really, when someone is utterly shameless, their boasting becomes truly unstoppable.
After memorizing this chant as well, Ling Yi recited it silently in his heart. The next moment, a faint light screen appeared before him.
“Hurry, go in!” the Enchantress suddenly urged.
At that moment, Ling Yi abruptly felt the surrounding air change, as if a tremendous pressure was bearing down on him.
Without thinking, he rushed into the light screen. Then, the light screen vanished, and he appeared in an unfamiliar environment. The first thing that met his eyes was a patch of pink…
“This…”
It looked like a boudoir.
Looking at the furnishings inside, they were antique but all pink.
Ling Yi wore a strange expression.
The Enchantress in his mind let out a cheer, “Ah, wonderful! Still my favorite color!”
This time, Ling Yi very wisely did not court death. So what if she’s an old granny? Can’t she have a maiden’s heart?
As long as this place hid enough treasures, what did the color matter to him?
Thinking back to that strange feeling earlier, Ling Yi couldn’t help but ask, “What happened just now?”
The Enchantress said carelessly, “What could happen? This place has been occupied by others. Of course they have people watching this grotto abode, but so what? They can’t get in.”
Ling Yi pondered, “Then how do we get out?”
There was a moment of silence in his mind. “I don’t know.”
Damn!
Knew it would be like this!
This Enchantress is even less reliable than Gu Tong!
“Hey, don’t think about that now. Come, let me take you to my old treasure room!” the Enchantress said excitedly, seeming not to care at all that they had been discovered entering.
Outside.
After receiving the report from his disciples, the Elder of the Heaven’s Gate Sect, Feng Bubian, rushed here without stopping, arriving as quickly as possible.
Following soon after were the Sect Leader Lian Ziqing and several other Elders.
Everyone stood with grave expressions at the spot where Ling Yi had just been.
“Disable the illusion formation,” Sect Leader Lian Ziqing ordered solemnly.
Then, someone removed the illusion formation here, instantly revealing two ancient stone doors.
Even an ordinary person could sense their antiquity. They were covered with marks left by time, exuding an ancient, weathered aura.
Even the carvings on the stone doors were already somewhat blurred.
If not for the protection of the formation array, there would probably be nothing visible on them by now.
No one knew exactly how long this place had existed. Thousands of years was merely a guess.
Perhaps its existence was even older than people imagined!
Behind this group of high-level figures were the two disciples who had just discovered the anomaly here.
Though called disciples, their status and position within the Heaven’s Gate Sect were actually not low. Both were over fifty years old, and their cultivation realms were at the Golden Body Peak.
If they walked the world, such individuals could be considered true masters.
The pressure Ling Yi had felt came from these two.
In fact, at that time, these two were incredibly close to Ling Yi!
Unfortunately, Ling Yi’s appearance was too ghost-like, completely unexpected, as if descending from the sky.
These two fifty-year-old Golden Body Peak elders were both Personal Disciples of Lian Ziqing, though their talent was somewhat lacking, preventing them from achieving Dao Enlightenment.
But that didn’t stop them from becoming Lian Ziqing’s trusted confidants.
Feng Bubian was also clever. Although the Sect Leader had ordered him to watch this place, he had stationed Lian Ziqing’s two trusted disciples here, thinking that if any real problem arose, the blame couldn’t all be dumped on his head.
He just hadn’t expected there would actually be a problem.
The group stood in silence. The air here was oppressive, almost suffocating.
“Are you two certain that someone truly appeared here just now?” Lian Ziqing stared at the ancient stone door that showed no sign of being opened for a long time before finally speaking.
Now that he had spoken, everyone else let out a sigh of relief.
One of the old men, who seemed quite steady, bowed respectfully and said, “First, we saw a shimmering light appear at the Illusion Formation. Then we sensed someone’s presence here. By the time we tried to capture him, he had already vanished, and the light disappeared too.”
The other old man nodded. “Exactly. He definitely didn’t come in from the outside. He appeared out of thin air right here.”
Lian Ziqing narrowed his eyes and murmured, “Could it be that a descendant of this Grotto Abode has actually come back?”
Feng Bubian gave a bitter smile. “I’m afraid that might be the only explanation. First, he could enter our mountain gate with ease. When he found that path blocked, he could just appear right here. That ability… even we don’t have it!”
An Elder who looked very young and quite beautiful said, “True. Every time we enter or exit, there’s actually a slight time delay. But for him, coming and going here seemed even easier than for us!”
Feng Bubian looked at Lian Ziqing. “Sect Leader, what do you think about this situation…”
Lian Ziqing said, “One thing is certain: he can enter the mountain gate, and he can come here, but he cannot go directly inside the Grotto Abode! Doesn’t that mean when he comes out, he must appear right here as well?”
Hearing this, everyone’s eyes lit up.
Yes, even if the other party was powerful, perhaps even having entered this Grotto Abode that they themselves had never managed to enter, as the Sect Leader said, no matter how formidable he was, he couldn’t go straight into the interior. So when he came out, he probably couldn’t just teleport directly outside either!
“If we just guard this spot, sooner or later he’ll have to come out!” one Elder said excitedly.
Then, Feng Bubian suddenly spoke. “But… what if the other party claims that this Grotto Abode was left by his ancestors? We…”
Everyone immediately grew calm again.
Yes, someone who could freely enter and exit this Grotto Abode either had to be an existence that could crush the Heaven’s Gate Sect, or… simply someone connected to this Grotto Abode.
The former, needless to say, was definitely not someone they could afford to offend. If it was the latter… what should they do then?
From the way that middle-aged man earlier sensed something wrong and immediately turned to leave, his strength probably wasn’t high. But just because his strength wasn’t high didn’t mean his family or clan lacked powerful figures!
Lian Ziqing spoke calmly, “Our Heaven’s Gate Sect has existed for over a thousand years. The time since this Grotto Abode came into being is even more distant, untraceable. I ask you, if there were descendants, would they waste a thousand years without coming to open it?”
He looked at everyone. “All of you, even if you haven’t encountered a stroke of luck yourselves, at the very least… you’ve heard of such things, right?”
Feng Bubian thought for a moment. “Sect Leader, are you saying… the person who entered might be a lucky one? Someone who accidentally discovered the location of this Grotto Abode and obtained the method to enter?”
Lian Ziqing said, “Perhaps it’s a thoroughly evil villain who accidentally came across the now-ordinary descendant of this Grotto Abode’s original master, killed him, and obtained it that way.”
Hearing this, everyone’s hearts tightened.
None of them were foolish. These words clearly carried a hidden murderous intent.
The meaning was already obvious—the Sect Leader intended to seize the other’s treasure!
In such an ancient Grotto Abode, no one dared say for sure what treasures lay inside, but whatever could be taken out definitely wouldn’t be trash!
This was a consensus shared by all.
“This…” Feng Bubian pondered, sighed softly, and looked at Lian Ziqing. “Is that… really appropriate?”
Lian Ziqing said, “Don’t forget, this is the Heaven’s Gate Sect! An ancient cultivation sect unknown to the world! No matter who the other party is, whether good or evil, he has the ability to freely enter and exit our mountain gate. Would you like such a person to exist in the world? Or would you prefer that our location become widely known, turned into a free tourist attraction by those ignorant outsiders?”
His words were somewhat forceful and unreasonable, but they weren’t entirely without logic.
It was as if the other party carried the key to their home, able to come and go as he pleased.
So even Feng Bubian fell silent.
As for the other Elders, they followed Lian Ziqing’s lead all the more.
The female Elder said, “I think the Sect Leader is right. No matter what, when the other party comes out, capturing him first for questioning can’t be wrong.”
“Yes. If this person comes from the secular world, we absolutely cannot let him take news of our location back.”
“We’ll just guard this place and wait for him to come out!”
Inside the Grotto Abode.
Guided by the Enchantress, Ling Yi arrived at the place she called the storage room. His eyes almost couldn’t take it all in.
The room was no longer pink-themed. The shelves displaying items shimmered with a cold, faint light. They clearly weren’t made of ordinary metal.
On the display shelves, all sorts of weapons, metals, and jade bottles containing pills were everywhere.
There were also ancient scriptures scattered haphazardly on them.
Ling Yi found the mess somewhat uncomfortable and walked over, intending to arrange the books neatly.
With just a light touch—
One ancient scripture instantly turned to dust!