Repugnant Gateway 1

by Zhi Bai

  After walking for about three kilometers, An Zheng saw a thatched cottage that stood in the middle of a medicinal field.

  "Is anyone there?"

  An Zheng tried to ask, but no one answered.

  He carefully walked forward and saw that the window of the thatched cottage was open. He vaguely saw a person sitting there. An Zheng immediately stopped and clasped his fists: "Junior mistakenly entered this place, and did not wish to disturb Senior's cultivation, I hope that Senior will forgive me."

  This was not a place without a master, so An Zheng thought that if he could get some herbs, or if the master was not willing to give him, then he would ask him about the way out. But after talking for a while, that person did not reply. An Zheng said that he was offended, and continued to walk forward. When he got closer to the window, he found that the man had already become a mummy. He didn't know how long he had been dead.

  Because of the beautiful medicinal plants and the dense medicinal smell, the corpse did not rot. It seemed to be an old man, probably a man. He leaned against the window and looked outside, but his eyeballs weren't damaged, so one could even see the infinite loneliness and loneliness in his expression. Although he was old and shriveled, one could still tell that this person must have had an extraordinary appearance when he was alive, and there was even a faint domineering air to him.

  "It should be a Great De senior that is hiding here."

  An Zheng bowed deeply towards the dried corpse and said, "Junior wishes to request for some medicinal herbs to be taken away. I will not destroy the medicinal fields here. This junior does not dare to destroy Senior's many years of hard work. "

  After he bowed, he looked around, "Although I do not know who Senior is, if someone else comes in here, they might be disrespectful to Senior's corpse. So, this junior wants to bury your corpse and build a grave for you. "

  He walked into the house and examined it. The hut was in ruins and could collapse at any time. Walking into the room, looking at the man's figure that was looking out, An Zheng even felt the loneliness this senior felt before he died.

  Walking to the corpse's side, An Zheng realized that there were words on the table. It should have been carved out by the old man using his finger right before he died.

  Five hundred years of guarding the tomb.

  In the end, he didn't see any Immortals.

  Looking back at the mortal world …

  Who had the luck?

  What did that mean, An Zheng did not know. Literally, this senior had lived for five hundred years, or perhaps even longer. He had always been here alone, guarding an ancient tomb? But why did he say that in the end, no one was able to see the immortal, and why was it that he was asking who had the luck? If he had not known the state of mind of this senior at that time, he might never have understood the hidden meaning behind these four sentences.

  An Zheng knelt down on one knee, cupped his fists, and bowed: "I am not offending you, senior, please rest in peace."

  With that, he stood up and carried the corpse out with both hands. As soon as he stepped out of the door, the thatched cottage collapsed with a loud bang and turned into dust. In an instant, it turned into a pile of grass.

  An Zheng was overwhelmed with shock, thinking that this thatched cottage would only turn to ashes after its master left, which could be considered as protecting its master with loyalty.

  There was a high slope not far from the hut, and on it was a solitary old pine. An Zheng carried the corpse over and gently put it down. Then, he used his hands to dig a deep pit beside Gu Song. When he turned around again, his face had turned pale and his eyes were wide open.

  The mummified body sat there cross-legged, perfectly straight.

  An Zheng was so scared that his face turned white, and he stood there not knowing what to do.

  This dried corpse had always maintained its position of leaning against the window. When An Zheng had carried the dried corpse over, he had felt that the corpse was as stiff as a boulder. During the time that An Zheng was digging, what happened? Although An Zheng was experienced and knowledgeable, he had never seen a corpse that could have been dead for a few hundred years sitting properly by itself. It was so terrifying and strange.

  Although the dried corpse was still in good condition, it didn't have any moisture, so its appearance was very frightening. At this time, he sat cross-legged with his hands clasped together, as if he was looking at An Zheng with a smile. Even the expression on his face had changed. No matter how brave An Zheng was, it was impossible for him to handle such a thing. He felt as if his heart was about to leap out of his throat.

  "Senior …" Senior, what are you trying to do? "

  An Zheng asked hoarsely, but in his heart he was praying that you would not answer me.

  Luckily the dried corpse did not say anything, otherwise An Zheng thought that he could fly away in fear. However, although he didn't say anything, the corpse's appearance changed once again. He clasped his hands together and then nodded slightly, as if he was thanking An Zheng. An Zheng suddenly reacted, and also clasped his hands in return, "Senior, there is no need to thank me, this is just a matter of a young person's duty. If Senior still has something that you have yet to do, I will not decline it even if I am able to help out. "

  An Zheng was actually so frightened that he spoke nonsense. After saying that, he regretted it. What if this dried corpse junior said, "You go kill whoever you want, what about An Zheng?" This man had been dead for a long time, and his enemies were probably long dead as well.

  The corpse slowly raised its head and made a gesture of a finger pointing towards the sky and the earth. An Zheng was stunned, he asked, "Senior, do you mean, you were once the supreme being in the universe?"

  The desiccated corpse remained in this position for a long time, before An Zheng finally came to his senses. He pointed his finger at the sky, implying that his soul was about to return to the heavens. And the reason why they were pointing was because they were at the top of a high slope. He pointed to the ground, actually referring to the medicinal field.

  "Senior, don't worry. I won't tell anyone about this place. I won't let anyone destroy your heart's blood."

  An Zheng cupped his fists and bowed again, then realized that there was something wrong with the direction of the dried corpse's fingers. He followed the hand pointing to the sky and looked back. He discovered that the mountain peak at the side of the gorge was towering and sharp, like a peerless divine sword that was inserted in the ground. An Zheng thought of the words that he had heard from the tomb keeper for five hundred years, and thought to himself: Could it be that there is an ancient tomb there? An Zheng pondered for a moment, then asked: "Senior, you mean, you want me to bury you in that mountain?"

  The dried corpse's hand suddenly drooped down. Its head clicked a little and it never raised it again.

  An Zheng turned to look at the big mountain, it was even more dangerous than the cliff he climbed when he entered. But since he had already agreed, An Zheng naturally would not go back on his words. He walked over and apologized, then used the rope he had brought to tie the corpse to his back. Carrying the dried corpse on his back, An Zheng started to walk towards the mountain. The further he walked, the colder he felt.

  At first, An Zheng thought that he was scared. After all, carrying a strange dried corpse on his back was not a normal thing. However, the closer he got to that mountain peak, the colder it became. At this temperature, water would become ice. However, there was no change in the surrounding plants. They were still green.

  When they reached the foot of the mountain, An Zheng discovered that there was actually a door behind the dense weeds.

  The door was made of wood and had countless cracks on it. An Zheng tried pushing the door open and the smell of dry dust came out. An Zheng carefully walked forward a few steps. Aside from the fact that it was very dark and cold in this place, he discovered that there was no other danger.

  Then, he saw more drie
d corpses …

  An Zheng counted and found seven corpses sitting cross-legged in the cave. The reason that the corpse of this senior from the medicinal field didn't rot was because of the dense herbal aura. The reason why the corpses in this cave did not rot was because it was too cold, and the temperature was much lower than outside. Therefore, these seven people did not even have a change in expression. Rather than saying they were dead, it seemed as if they had been frozen solid.

  An Zheng cupped his fists towards the dried corpses and when he stood up, he realized that there was something strange about the center of the stone platform. These seven people sat around the stone table, each of them carrying a cold, biting sword on their backs. From their clothes, An Zheng was unable to tell where they came from. An Zheng had never seen the style of those clothes before.

  At this moment, a sudden gust of wind came from who knows where, blowing away the dust on the stone platform. After the dust settled, the stone platform turned out to be a crystal coffin.

  An Zheng thought to himself: So senior had already prepared a coffin for me, are you looking down on the pit that I dug for you? However, he didn't dare to say it out loud. He was afraid that the dried corpse behind him would suddenly give him a big slap on the face.

  He removed the corpse and gently placed it inside the crystal coffin.

  Just then, an item dropped from the corpse's body and landed beside An Zheng's feet.

  Chapter 33 - Handstrings

  When An Zheng put the corpse away, an item dropped with a "pa da" sound. He lowered his head and saw that it was a small purple box connected by a chain that seemed to contain tiny purple crystals. At first glance, it looked like a very ordinary accessory.

  "A necklace?"

  An Zheng bent down and picked it up, thinking that it must have been hanging on the dried corpse before, and he didn't notice that he had touched it. He picked up the necklace and placed it back on the corpse's chest. This cave was extremely cold. He could not help but shiver, and then turned around and walked out. "Senior, rest in peace. "Don't worry about it. I will definitely do as I've promised and will definitely not mention the Medicine Valley to anyone."

  He had only taken a single step when there was another clatter in front of him. An Zheng lowered his head and saw a string of thirteen purple pearls in front of him. He raised his head and looked around. Then, he suddenly turned around and saw that there was not a single living person remaining. It was a necklace a moment ago, but now it's a pearl string …

  An Zheng's heart tightened, he picked up the purple pearl and looked at it, as if it was made of some kind of expensive wood. The tentacles were warm and cool, but the texture was very soft. He turned his head to look at the crystal coffin, and then tentatively asked: "This bead bracelet was given to me by senior?"

  No one answered him, but the crystal coffin suddenly moved, and the crystal clear coffin lid automatically slid up, sealing the corpse inside. An Zheng thought, this was not letting him return the goods. The purple necklace from before should have been a small gift from this old dried corpse. He thought that the senior accidentally dropped it, so he put it back. This old dried corpse had been mischievous for many years already, and it closed the crystal coffin, meaning that you should not put it back.

  An Zheng looked at the pearl, he could not sense anything special about it. He thought to himself, If I wear it it looks pretty good, but it's a bit big.

  He slipped the bead bracelet into his left wrist, and the bead bracelet suddenly began to shrink, becoming much smaller than before. The thirteen beads each had an extremely sharp little thorn stuck out, and wrapped around An Zheng's wrist, and pierced through it. From each of the thirteen spots, a drop of blood appeared. An Zheng furrowed his brows in pain, and when he looked again, every bead in the bracelet had an additional star point.

  An Zheng knew that only high ranked items would need to be bound with blood. And this bracelet was even more outrageous, it was something he had pierced through An Zheng's wrist to recognize a master. An Zheng tried to take off the bracelet, but when his other hand touched the bracelet, he suddenly felt a buzzing in his head.

  Everything about this bracelet came back to his mind in an instant.

  "High level Purple-Rank …"

  An Zheng didn't know whether this information was transmitted to his mind by the beads or the dried corpse senior, but this information really scared An Zheng.

  There were thirteen beads on the bracelet, each with a different function. When An Zheng looked carefully, he realized that the little patterns on each bead that was being absorbed was different. Some were triangular stars, some were half-moon, some were round dots, some were hexagram. The patterns of blood on each bead were different.

  According to the distinction, one of the thirteen pearls could be used as a storage space. The storage space would increase along with the increase of one's cultivation base. If one's cultivation was at the peak of the Lower Celestial Stage, then this storage space could fit a Fantasy City inside. However, An Zheng's cultivation was currently very low, and this storage space was barely as big as a room.

  The other bead could also be said to be a storage space, but it was not for holding other things. Which is to say, the old dried corpse had gifted all of the medicinal herbs in the canyon to An Zheng. An Zheng was shocked, the number and variety of medicinal herbs outside was beyond his imagination. An Zheng had not looked through them carefully yet, but there were all kinds of White Pointy Red Rank Golden-Rank herbs, if he looked carefully, he might even be able to find the Immortal Grass with the Purple-Rank.

  "This gift is too big."

  An Zheng immediately turned around: "This junior feels guilty, outside, the medicinal field is senior's life's work, this junior does not dare to take it all away, and only wants to take some of my friends who have returned to treat me."

  He tried to take it off, but no matter how hard he tried, he couldn't take it off.

  The kitten stuck its head out from An Zheng's embrace and meowed softly, as if it wanted to say something to An Zheng. An Zheng looked at Cat's eyes: "You mean, accept?"

  The cat meowed again, but An Zheng still felt that the gift was too big. However, he could not remove the beads, so he had no choice but to get up and bow towards the crystal coffin again, "Many thanks to senior for the treasure."

  The cat crawled out from her embrace and climbed onto An Zheng's shoulder. After looking around, her eyes became brighter and brighter. It rubbed its head against An Zheng and indicated for An Zheng to look at the seven people sitting around the crystal coffin.

  The seven men sat cross-legged, their eyes closed. There seemed to be some differences in age, but they were all similar in that each of them had a sword strapped to their backs.

  "Greed!"

  An Zheng tapped the cat's small head lightly, "Of course I know that these seven longswords are all precious treasures, and that every one of them is extraordinary. However, these were the weapons of these seven seniors. They were not to be taken out. good old man, remember this. We don't have masters, we can take them ourselves when we meet them. However, these seniors' weapons were not to be touched.

  The cat mewled, meaning I know. It kept looking around, unwilling to part. An Zheng turned around and said goodbye to the crystal coffin, then walked out. At that moment, he felt all seven of them open their eyes. A boundless chill rose from his back, so cold that even his bones ached. He turned around abruptly. It was just an illusion. The seven of them were still sitting there with their eyes closed, not moving at all.

  An Zheng left quickly. He had a feeling that if he had touched anyone's sword just now, he might have already died.

  He did not dare to turn his head, as he was afraid that he would see the seven people gathered together and discussing animatedly. He pointed at himself and said, Aiya, that child is still considered loyal and cute, let's use him as a partner …

  An Zheng read the information in his mind as he walked. This i
tem was called the Blood Pearl, it was a treasure of the highest level in Purple-Rank. As the wearer's cultivation level changes, the stronger the wearer's cultivation level becomes, the stronger the wearer's ability becomes. Out of the thirteen beads, there were only three left. One was used as a storage space, one was used to store medicinal herbs, and the other was used to store excess power.

  Storage of excess power meant that when a person's absorption of too much power from the outside world was not completely acceptable, the unacceptable portion would be transferred into the Blood Pearl. On the surface, this didn't seem to mean much to cultivators, but it truly did have a great effect.

  For example, if An Zheng was injured, there would only be one pill with a very strong effect. If anyone below the Sumeru Stage realm swallowed this pill, their body would explode and die, but if they did not, they would be severely injured. Therefore, in this case, the Blood Pearl would be able to play a role. The excess effects would be transferred into the Blood Pearl, preventing the body from dying due to being unable to endure the effects.

  This bead had another effect. When the damage to the wearer was too great, it could divert some of the enemy's strength. For example, if a cultivator, who was far stronger than An Zheng, were to land a punch on An Zheng's body, the Blood Pearl would be able to divert a portion of its power away, causing An Zheng to suffer fewer injuries. An Zheng checked and found that the effect of the transfer of damage was 1%.

  In other words, when others beat An Zheng with a strength of ten jin, the Blood Pearl could take away a jin of him …

  Thinking about that, An Zheng's footsteps paused, and he wanted to give himself a big slap... Damn it, you can count wrongly even if you're within a hundred, but how can you care about your face! How can you care about your face!

  The ability to absorb damage was not very useful, but An Zheng knew not to be greedy. He walked back to the herb field, and with the information in his mind, he gently turned the bead that had a crescent-shaped blood droplet … A boom rang out, and the sky changed color!