Repugnant Gateway 3

by Zhi Bai

  "Oldman Huo, what exactly is this?"

  An Zheng asked Gu Qianye to take out the shield. Old Huo only took a glance at it: "Why is there another demon weapon? There's been a lot of magic equipment coming out recently. "

  An Zheng shook his head, opening up the shield at the center, taking out the palm-sized bone. The moment Gu Qianye saw this bone, his expression changed.

  "You might not be able to see it yourself, but this is also the reason why I insisted on giving you this shield."

  Old Huo took it and looked at it carefully: "Shields are normal, even if it's magic equipment, it's still a very low-grade magic equipment. The only use of this thing might be to hide this bone. "

  He looked at Gu Qianye, "Perhaps, only she knows what happened."

  Gu Qianye stayed silent for a long while, and then let out a heavy sigh, "Actually, this bone is the bone of a saint."

  The bones of saints?

  An Zheng was stunned, "Saints are only legendary existences, no one has actually seen them before."

  Gu Qianye said, "Many, many years ago, it was ancient to the point where it was no longer possible to determine a specific age. The legends of our Old Hunters s said that it was an era of chaos. Legend has it that at that time, it was the gods who dispersed the powerful fiendish demons of the world, resulting in the subsequent development of the human race. In fact, it wasn't a god at all, but an ancient sage. The previous patriarchs of the Old Hunters all passed on a secret. There are a total of seven Ancient Saints in the Divine Origin Era, and the ancestor of our Old Hunters is one of them. Furthermore, the six Ancient Saints, including him, are all followers of the strongest Saint. "

  She looked at An Zheng with a strange expression, "Heaven's Volition Saint … the heaven chosen saint who obtained the Holy Fish's scales. "

  Chapter 232 - Enchantment

  Gu Qianye rarely spoke in such a serious and serious manner, and the way she looked at An Zheng when she spoke was especially complicated, which gave An Zheng a feeling that she definitely would not let her down.

  Perhaps it was because he mentioned the Old Hunters that he had not returned for a long time, but Gu Qianye's tone was a little faint, and everyone could feel his longing. She looked down at her glass of water, letting the heat from it rise in her face.

  "The reason the Old Hunters has never stepped out of the great mountain is also because of that ancient legend."

  Her voice was very low, but it was very pleasant and clear. She was a narrator of absolute beauty. Although what she narrated was not her own personal experience, it was still attractive enough. If the people who told stories in other places in the teahouse were as beautiful as her and her voice was so pleasant to hear, then the teahouse would probably be full of people every day.

  "At my age, I shouldn't have touched this secret so early. Maybe it's because my father only had me as his only child, but he was also worried about his own body, so he told me about it over and over again after I began to understand. Maybe he thought I was too young to remember. He was afraid that when I passed this secret on to the next successor, I would not remember it properly. "

  "My father was injured in the war with the State of Yan, and I was born after that. His body never recovered, and he was always immersed in self-blame and regret. If he did not want to bring the people from the Old Hunters out of the mountains, the clan would not have suffered such a heavy blow. He always told me about it over and over again... "Child, remember one thing. As the chief, you must not be too greedy, or else you will make a huge mistake."

  She changed it, then smiled at An Zheng apologetically: "I'm really sorry. I was going to tell you all the secrets about the Ancient Saints."

  She placed the cup on the table, thought for a while, and then said, "Legend has it that in the Era of the Gods, there were three sources of civilization. The first was the place where Da Xi resided. It was known as the Central Plains Civilization. Second, it was a Buddhist country in the Western Regions, known in the records as the Gona Civilization. The other was north of Swallow Mountain. It belonged to the forerunner of the grassland nomads, and was called the Mountain Civilization. In the records, the three civilizations were ruled by demons. "

  "After I thought about it, the so called demon is probably not a real demon, but a demon that transformed into a human. In other words, at that time, those people who harbored evil intentions, but they were powerful people, ruled over these places. At that time, cultivation was strictly prohibited. Only the people under the ruler could practice cultivation. In order to consolidate their dominance, they even searched for children with the potential to cultivate among the commoners, and found and killed one. "

  "Their army will even go deep into the mountains, and even the smaller tribes will not let them go. Until one day, a general who was leading the team could not bear the psychological guilt and torture. He secretly let go of seven children who had the potential to cultivate. The oldest of the seven was nine years old, the youngest was only five or six years old. Although they were released, they were left to fend for themselves in the depths of the mountains. But they are too small after all, in such a dangerous jungle, the chances of survival are almost zero. "

  "At this time, the oldest child among them stood out and became their leader. He took care of his brothers and sisters, found them food, made clothes out of bark and weeds, and built crude wooden houses to shelter them from the wind and the rain. Just like this, they had lived in the forest for several years, yet they miraculously managed to survive. Then one day they were fishing in a lake in the mountains when a flash flood broke out. "

  "The flood nearly flooded the tall mountains, and they thought they were going to die for sure. However, when they were pushed back and forth from the waves, an indescribably huge Holy Fish appeared and saved them. The Holy Fish gave each of them a powerful cultivation technique, and even gave the oldest child Holy Fish scales. From that day onwards, the seven of them painstakingly cultivated in the forest. After a full thirty years, their cultivation had finally reached the Large Success stage. "

  "The other children all felt that this was very good. With power that allowed them to protect themselves, they no longer had to fear the attacks of the wild beasts. However, the oldest child felt that protecting himself wasn't enough. He needed to let more children live, kill the demons, and save everyone. The six children all regard him as their father and brother, so the six of them have no objection to his decision. "

  "When I first entered the mountain, I was not even ten years old yet. When I left, I was already middle-aged. They began to issue challenges to the demons. Even though they experienced great hardships and dangers, in the end, they still succeeded. "

  She looked at An Zheng. "This is the story of the Seven Saints in the legends of the Old Hunters."

  Qu Liuxi, who was sitting quietly at the side, asked curiously, "Why was this story passed down by your Old Hunters in the end? "What about the others?"

  Gu Qianye explained: "That's because, after defeating the demon, the relationship between the seven of them also changed. Some people think that they have saved all life and deserve to be worshipped by all. However, their leader believed that in this way, they would be no different from the demons that they had painstakingly killed. The rulers of the people have only changed from demons to them. "

  "Disagreement arose between them, and the feelings they had for many years became fragile. Eventually, they began to part from each other. The leader insisted on allowing people to develop freely and without restriction. And there were three people who could not stand his stubbornness and left in a fit of anger. The three of them went to the north, where the civilization at the top of the mountain was located. They chose one of them to be the king, to rule the entire prairie. "

  "Originally, we agreed that three people would take turns to be kings. However, because the first person to become king had enjoyed the satisfaction of being the king, he did not intend to give up his position. As
time went on, this selfishness became more and more serious. In the end, he had schemed to kill the two men. When this matter reached the chief, the chief immediately left his place of cultivation and decided to go to the prairie. "

  "Before he left, he instructed the remaining three Ancient Saints to properly protect everyone. Because of the rampage of the demon beasts and the low number of human cultivators, too many people died. The three men would have gone with him, but he refused. The three of them had no choice but to stay, and the leader went off to the prairie alone. "

  "Later on, one of the three Ancient Saints left behind realized that the leader actually did not carry the Holy Fish's scales. Maybe he was just curious at the start and took the Holy Fish's scales. The other Ancient Sage had realized that he suspected that Yue Yang had other intentions. The more they argued, the more fierce they became, to think that they would actually attack because of the Holy Fish's scales. When the third Ancient Saint arrived, the two of them had already fought to the point where both of them were severely injured and on the verge of death. As for the Holy Fish's scales, because they were far away from the leader, their might had declined and they were also shattered. They were spread all over the place and their whereabouts were still unknown. "

  "When the leader returned from the prairie, the two Ancient Saints who were fighting had already died. The remaining Ancient Sage was the ancestor of my Old Hunters. He knelt down and admitted his wrongs, saying that he did not protect his loved ones, nor the Holy Fish's scales. And the leader said … The Holy Fish's scale armor was an external object to begin with, and it was powerful enough to make people greedy, so after killing the demon, he never wore it again. Who would have thought that it would lead to disaster in the end? Since the Holy Fish s' scales have shattered, it is a bad thing that we did not see. "

  "But the ancestors of the Old Hunters felt that it was a sacred artifact that should be gathered once again. But the chief said that he already felt there was no need. He planned to leave and go to a place that no one could find. It is just like back when you were thrown into the forest, where you perished on your own. "

  Gu Qianye sighed: "The ancestors of Old Hunters asked, what exactly happened?"

  "The chief said that he killed the Ancient Sage on the prairie. Although he thought that he should kill that person, after killing that person, all of his brothers that died appeared in his heart. This was his inner demon. With a demon in his heart, he was worried that he would become a disaster. If a Saint of his level were to be controlled by an inner demon, it would definitely bring about an irreparable disaster. So he decided to leave and look for a way to remove the inner demons. "

  Gu Qianye said: "I'm guessing, that the so called inner demon is actually the guilt of the leader killing his own brother with his own hands right? Or was it because they had reneged on the vow they had made in the depths of the forest? When I heard my father talk about these things when I was young, I couldn't help but think that maybe the leader, the heaven chosen saint, thought that if I hadn't left the forest, this wouldn't have happened. "

  Qu Liuxi shook his head: "In the end, they will all leave the forest. Even if they won't have the mission of a heaven chosen saint, maybe because of their own strength, they will still want to find another way to break through and leave the forest. There is a saying that is easy to change the nature of the difficult to change. But in reality, there were too many things that could change a person. An honest and loyal person would also change due to the influence of the environment. "

  Gu Qianye nodded her head, "Perhaps, after Tian Xuan Saint leaves. Old Hunters's ancestor became disheartened and returned to the forest where they lived back then, which was also where the Mount Cang Man lived. Gradually, some people who went to the Mount Cang Man to search for the holy scriptures also stayed there. The ancestors of Old Hunters married a girl, and slowly, they became the Old Hunters. As time passed, although the legends about the Ancient Saints still existed, the descendents of the Old Hunters were no longer very familiar with this part of the story. Only the Patriarch still inherited that secret. "

  Qu Liuxi said: "So, because of the regret of your ancestors in Old Hunters, your clansmen are still searching for the whereabouts of the Holy Fish s."

  Gu Qianye nodded: "At that time, the piece of Holy Fish scales that the ancestor of the Old Hunters left behind was the one that flew to An Zheng's side. It is said that it is the most important piece that is close to the heart, and can guide a fated person to find the remaining Holy Fish Scale. "

  She looked at An Zheng: "The story is finished, do you think that you should be very cocky?"

  An Zheng shook his head: "I don't think so. I don't have the heart of a savior, so I definitely am not some heaven chosen saint."

  Old Huo, who had not spoken for a long time, frowned deeply. After a very long time, he suddenly spoke in a very strange tone, "Perhaps, the so-called devil race might not have nothing to do with the Seven Saints back then."

  An Zheng was slightly startled. "Oldman Huo... You mean, it's extremely likely that the so-called demon race is the successor of that heaven chosen saint? "

  Gu Qianye's face instantly paled, "That is to say, there is a high possibility that Saint Tian Yuan was unable to control his heart demon and was instead controlled by it … That is why there are so many evil techniques, which in the end led to the appearance of the so-called demon race. "

  Old Huo shook his head: "That may not be so. If that heaven chosen saint is truly controlled by the demons in his heart, perhaps there will be a calamity for humanity. "

  Qu Liuxi looked at An Zheng: "I hope that you will never have a demon in your heart for your entire life."

  An Zheng raised his hand and caressed her hair: "I do, each and every one of you are all inner demons."

  Chapter 233 - Goodbye

  If not for the Heaven Defying Seal, An Zheng simply didn't have the time to steadily cultivate. Every morning, he would go to the Extreme Heaven Palace to stand beside Mu Changyan at all times, all the way until the end of the imperial court. Every afternoon, he would rush over to the Martial Arts Academy. Although there was nothing he could do at the moment, he was the Vice Principal of the Martial Arts Academy after all, while Principal Chang Huan and the other Vice Principal Huo Tangtang were still recuperating.

  Just as An Zheng was arranging for people to repair the collapsed library and damaged courtyard in the martial arts courtyard, Sang Rou walked to her side a little sullenly.

  "What's wrong?"

  An Zheng asked.

  Sang Rou lightly shook her head: "I haven't seen Little Dingdong for two days, ever since that day you … "Sigh …"

  Sang Rou sighed: "Little Ding Dong is really pitiful."

  An Zheng thought for a while, then said: "I might know where he is, I'll go and find him."

  Sang Rou wanted to accompany him, but in the end, she still refused after thinking about Zhuge Chouyun's terrifying little courtyard. Sang Rou was a little disappointed: "If you find Little Dingdong, tell her that no matter what she loses, I will still be by her side."

  An Zheng acknowledged, then left the training grounds by himself towards Zhuge Chouyun's small courtyard. Halfway there, he met some familiar people who continuously greeted An Zheng. Right now, An Zheng was already a big shot of the Fanggu, and the reputation of the Heavenly Awakening Sect was surprisingly good, so people would not be stingy with their kind smiles towards the people of the Heavenly Awakening Sect. An Zheng replied to everyone with a smile, but in his heart, he was thinking whether or not Ding Ningdong would seal himself up at this moment.

  Walking to a place not far from the small courtyard, An Zheng couldn't help but remember the last time he went in and got poisoned by the poisonous herbs. If Ding Ningdong had not saved him that time, who knew what would have happened?

  He was stunned for a while, and thought about how such a pure and young girl could have such a tragic fate. He felt even more guilty towards Ding Ningdong.
Although An Zheng did not regret killing Ding Shengxia, this matter was too cruel to him. Especially... The Ding Family had nearly been annihilated because of the conspiracy. Now, the only ones left were her and Third Brother Ding Wanqiu.

  Just as he thought about Ding Wanqiu, An Zheng saw him at the entrance of the small courtyard.

  Hearing the footsteps, Ding Wanqiu turned her head to look. After realising that it was An Zheng, Ding Wanqiu's expression changed. But An Zheng could tell that Ding Wanqiu was not looking at him with hostility.

  "I didn't expect you to come."

  Ding Wanqiu said with a heart-stopping tone, "Maybe she didn't expect it either."

  He pointed into the yard.

  An Zheng walked over to Ding Wanqiu's side and looked through the direction Ding Wanqiu was pointing at. A moment later, An Zheng's face became deathly pale, as if something had directly struck his chest. Even his breathing had almost stopped.

  In the courtyard, Ding Ningdong sat on the stairs by herself and was talking to someone.

  She held her knees and sat on the steps without looking up, as if she was talking to herself. The three people standing in front of her lowered their heads and expressionlessly looked at her … Of the three people, one was Ding Tai Chun, one was Ding Shengxia and the other was Ding Wanqiu.

  An Zheng finally understood why there was such a terrifying look in Ding Wanqiu's eyes … No matter what, it was terrifying to see the other me in my sister's house, and also see my brother and second brother dead.

  "That is …" "What …"

  An Zheng felt his throat go dry, the pain in his throat was excruciating. He didn't even realize that his voice had been hoarse when he asked that question.

  Ding Wanqiu laughed bitterly: "I, my big brother, my second brother."

  An Zheng said: "I can tell that... I mean, what is it? "

  Ding Wanqiu shook her head: "I don't know what it is either, but it does look like it."