Chapter 1825: Lascivious Activities Can Lead to Bitter Consequences
The Ghost King suddenly turned around and asked, “How do you know that?”
The old monk said with a smile, “You finally managed to leave this blasted place, so why in the world would you ever come back for no reason? Also, I just happened to bump into someone just now. This is a place where living people never appear, so who else could you be chasing?”
“Where is she?” the Ghost King quickly asked, thinking he was talking about Jing Teng.[1]
The old monk didn’t answer; instead, he replied, “How about I tell you as soon as you help and free me?”
The Ghost King sneered and replied, “Do you think that’s a fair trade?”
The old monk replied, “The trade doesn’t seem fair if you just see it as an ordinary transaction, but it actually depends on how much you care about that person.”
The Ghost King didn’t back down despite the monk’s coercion, saying, “I heard you roaring earlier. It seems you suffered quite a bit because of that person.”
The old monk’s face warped as soon as he heard those words. He had been about to use that kid’s flesh to leave the seal using the trap he had set, and yet in the end, that brat had stolen his most precious magic treasure! More importantly, he couldn’t understand how even though that brat looked weak, he had been able to sever the connection between him and the Violet-Gold Alms.
Upon seeing the monk’s expression, the Ghost King immediately understood, saying, “Tell me where that person is and I’ll help you get revenge in passing.”
The old monk’s expression changed several times, but he knew that it wasn’t realistic for the Ghost King to save him. As such, he agreed and said, “Fine. However, you have to bring him to me. I want to properly torment him and make him wish he were dead to appease my anger.” He had dominated the world for a long time, and he had never suffered as much as today. His hatred for that little bastard couldn't be any stronger.
“No problem,” the Ghost King replied. Even though they didn’t know why the monk hated Jing Teng that much, why would they care about this damn crab anymore after they caught her?
Only then did the monk point in the direction Zu An had left in, saying, “He just went that way.”
The Ghost King’s expression changed. That was where they had just come from, but there was nowhere to go at all there. However, this damn crab clearly wasn’t lying. That meant…
In a flash, the Ghost King went back the way they had come from.
The old monk’s eyes narrowed as he watched the Ghost King leave. In the end, he hadn’t told the Ghost King that the brat had stolen his Violet-Gold Alms. It would be best if the two took each other out.
…
Meanwhile, the Ghost King returned to where they had just been. The black mist swelled, attacking all the nearby walls. All across those walls, runes flickered, and some mysterious power seemed to block the attacks. That was partly why the Ghost King hadn’t tried attacking before. However, now that they knew that Zu An was hiding nearby, they decided to go through with it.
Sure enough, they quickly realized that something was strange. They arrived at a specific section of the wall, and the black mist condensed into a hand to press against it. Then, a door opened, revealing a dark passage.
The Ghost King sniffed, remarking, “It is her smell after all. Hm? There’s that pretty boy’s smell too. Hmph, good timing.”
Endless skulls surrounded by black mist rushed straight into the hidden tunnel.
…
Meanwhile, Zu An and Jing Teng kept acting like infatuated lovers. They seemed to have endless things to talk about, almost as if they weren’t in the terrifying great tomb’s depths, and were instead before flowers and beneath the moon.
However, the path had to come to an end eventually. They quickly arrived at the exit, revealing a spacious room before them. It was cold, damp, and gloomy, entirely unlike the lava pools from before.
Zu An noticed that the room didn’t seem to contain much at all. Apart from a pair of doors, there was also a small window; he couldn’t tell whether it was for ventilation or something else. He asked curiously, “What’s behind this door?”
“Didn’t I tell you that many terrifying monsters were sealed in the great tomb’s depths? There’s a monster locked behind this door,” Jing Teng replied. There was no expression on her face; she seemed to be saying something completely natural.
Zu An was shocked. So it turned out those monsters were locked in places like this! He couldn't help but move closer for a look. He wanted to see just what kind of thing not even Immortal Ruler Baopu could kill and could only seal here.
When he arrived in front of the gate, he noticed that the door was made of an unknown material. There were all kinds of mysterious runes engraved on the surface that clearly had something to do with the seal. He examined it from up close, and saw that the small window was actually tightly shut. It looked like glass, but he knew it had to be another material.
Fortunately, the small window was transparent. However, when he looked inside, he only saw an expanse of pitch black. He could only vaguely make out two rows of crystal ball-like objects and nothing else.
Zu An frowned. With his cultivation, darkness wasn’t like broad daylight, but it wasn’t too far off; and yet he actually couldn't see the interior clearly. He couldn't help but size up the rows of crystal balls. They were around the size of basketballs, and there were roughly sixteen of them in total. They really were strange. Could it be that they were sealing something?
As he continued to stare at them, he suddenly felt that the crystals were a bit weird. There seemed to be brown energy slowly moving within them. Immediately after, one of the spheres seemed to move a bit, turning a far darker shade of brown. Then, the crystals also began to swirl around.
Zu An felt a trembling sensation, as if tremendous danger was imminent. At the same time, the Violet-Gold Alms he had obtained before also began to vibrate.
A soft hand pulled him back a few steps, and only then did Zu An snap out of his daze. He discovered that his back was already soaked in cold sweat.
“What are those crystals in there?” Zu An asked, still shuddering from lingering apprehension.
“Those aren’t crystals, but rather the eyes of the monster inside,” Jing Teng replied.
“Eyes?” Zu An exclaimed in shock. The eyes were that large? And there were two densely packed rows! Just thinking about it was horrifying.
Jing Teng explained, “You’re actually quite lucky that the monster is sealed right now. In order to preserve its energy, it’s asleep. Otherwise, it’s at its strongest after waking up, so just that exchange earlier would have been enough for it to destroy your divine consciousness.”
Zu An was dumbstruck. He couldn't help but say, “It seems even stronger than the Ghost King.”
Jing Teng nodded and replied, “It is.”
Zu An was dumbstruck again.
Just what in the world is going on with this tomb? Why are there so many stupidly scary things? And who was it that was able to lock all of them away?
“Let’s go,” Jing Teng said, grabbing his hand and walking over to one side.
“Where?” Zu An asked, stunned.
“Even lower,” Jing Teng said. A staircase suddenly appeared in front of them.
Zu An frowned. The stairway clearly hadn’t existed before. He asked probingly, “Then if we follow normal logic, the further down we go, the more terrifying the monsters that are locked away are, right?”
“That is true,” Jing Teng said, then suddenly laughed and continued, “Big brother Zu, don’t worry. I won’t harm you.”
“I believe you, of course, but is there any meaning in going down further?” Zu An asked in confusion. The Ghost King was chasing after them right now, and he still didn’t know how the women upstairs were doing.
“It’s to deal with the Ghost King,” Jing Teng said with a resolute gaze.
Zu An felt strange. In truth, whether it was the old monk in the magma or the many-eyed monster here, they were all stronger than the Ghost King. Why did they have to go down deeper? In other words, was he even qualified for this?
He suddenly felt a bit confused. They had clearly been beaten like dogs by the Ghost King earlier, and yet now, there was a huge group of powerful beings, and none of them treated the Ghost King as a big deal. It was just like how some people in his previous world who never really went out had bragged about how Maseratis weren’t all that, and that they needed a Ferrari or Lamborghini…
Jing Teng quickly led him to the stairs, and the two descended step by step.
Zu An began to feel a familiar sensation, similar to that of passing into a secret dungeon. He asked,
“Why do these stairs feel like a spatial gate?”
Jing Teng smiled and said, “You could think of it as something like that. After all, there are so many formidable monsters sealed here, so there’s no way they could be allowed to run amok on normal floors. That’s why every floor needed to be separated by this kind of passage. Even if there was an issue with the seal of a certain floor, the monsters wouldn’t be able to escape to another floor.”
“These floors are also a kind of seal in themselves?” Zu An asked, startled.
Jing Teng replied, “That’s right. This kind of floor only allows humans to pass through. Everything else sealed here is a monster, so they can’t pass through these barriers.”
Zu An sensed that there was something wrong and said, “Even so, the Ghost King still got out of here, and you…” He trailed off. Strictly speaking, Jing Teng was a monster herself, so why could she pass through?
“The Ghost King is special,” Jing Teng said, pausing for a moment before continuing, “I’m also similar.”
Zu An couldn't help but sigh, asking, “It’s about time for you to tell me what’s really going on, right?”
She was way too familiar with this place. What enlightened vine? He felt that the story was too simple.
After some hesitation, Jing Teng said, “Big brother Zu, wait a bit. You’ll understand if you wait a bit longer.”
Zu An had endless thoughts in his mind, but in the end, he only said one word. “Okay.”
Mi Li said in his head. “Brat, you’re usually full of doubts and suspicion. Even that old monk’s incredible performance couldn't fool you, and yet you’re trusting everything this woman is saying even though she’s suspicious in so many ways.”
“I can sense that she won’t harm me,” Zu An replied.
Mi Li said with a sneer, “What a model example of double standards. I think you’ve just been bewitched by her beauty. Heed my advice; lascivious activities can lead to bitter consequences.”
1. In Chinese, the characters for ‘she’ and ‘he’ are different, but the pronunciation is the same ☜
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