Chapter 52: Six months have passed

"Iron Clothes? … uh uh uh …" This is already unknown how many times Chen Yi He's head has felt like splitting today! The vague impression of Iron Clothes kept wandering in Chen Yi He's mind; he wanted to see it clearly, but no matter how he tried, he couldn't see it clearly. "That guy called Iron Clothes, how did he die?" He finally remembered: Iron Clothes was a companion who entered the Thousandfold Gate together with them, immensely strong, with unbeatable drinking capacity—one person could drink both the Dragon King and Ouyang Lie under the table.

Wu Rong suddenly grabbed Chen Yi He's right arm.

Chen Yi He's right sleeve was burned to ashes, yet his right arm felt no heat at all. Wu Rong's mastery of the Purgatory Hand was astonishingly precise.

Chen Yi He then saw that his entire right arm was blackish, the skin filled with bruises. Especially the part above the elbow, the skin had become so thin that the bruises could be seen flowing…… There were many black dots on it, these dots shocked Chen Yi He: "Is this… a needle hole?"

"Six months have passed." Wu Rong said to Chen Yi He, "Six months ago we entered the Thousandfold Gate, and then we were thrown in here. The underground tomb of the Thousandfold Gate."

"Let me think……" Upon Wu Rong's prompting, many things rushed into Chen Yi He's memory, filling his mind to the brim. He pointed at himself and asked, "I… I slept for six months?"

"Uh… ah!" Chen Yi He remembered: that day, the seven elders tried to force them to sleep for six months; the ten of them clashed with the seven elders, and then… nothing. Obviously, they were no match for the elders, and were forcibly thrown into the tomb beneath the Nine-Step White Jade Steps.

"This place is a separate world, boundless; we've searched here for six months and still can't find a way out." The Young Palace Master suddenly spoke.

"You didn't sleep?" Chen Yi He roughly understood what the needle marks on his arm were about—was the concept of injected drugs already present in this book's world? This is too absurd!

He furtively felt his pants pocket; luckily, his phone was still there.

"This is all thanks to the Young Palace Master's reminder, which let me take precautions. They used the Ten Fragrance Soft Tendon Powder back then—a full six months' dose. When we entered the Thousandfold Gate, we had already sealed the olfactory apertures, so we weren't affected."

Chen Yi He couldn't help but praise the Young Palace Master and Wu Rong's abilities. But, "Why didn't you warn us? Where are my companions!" Chen Yi He grabbed the Young Palace Master's arms, shouting excitedly.

"Bang!"

The Young Palace Master didn't even move, yet Chen Yi He was blasted away—this was merely her warning. Her lips beneath the red veil seemed not to have moved: "You're not strong enough."

"We had originally planned to speak with the Number Three Plaque Dragon King that day, but we couldn't find the Dragon King, so we unfortunately lost a powerful companion." Wu Rong said. "Now we can't tell whether we're under the seven elders' gaze, because over these six months I and the Young Palace Master have discovered that this place is actually a barrier that even the elders cannot break, so they dare not come down recklessly, or we would have been killed long ago."

That day, the Dragon King swapped rooms with Zhou Kai; he went to Room Eight, so naturally they couldn't find his person.

"So what exactly is going on? Where are the others?" Chen Yi He collapsed to the ground, his mind filled with the Dragon King and Dongfang Xing.

"Now it seems Iron Clothes is dead, and Zhang Beihai's tomb has already been found. Whenever someone dies, someone quietly puts up a tombstone and piles a grave for them, but we don't know who does this—the fog gives that person cover, and their power is unfathomable. As for what's going on, it might be a conspiracy." Wu Rong explained to Chen Yi He.

"A conspiracy!?" Chen Yi He never expected that Zhang Beihai, who borrowed his sword, would also meet a foul end.

"A conspiracy that has lasted thousands of years." Wu Rong's expression looked somewhat indignant at heaven and sympathetic to humanity; he helplessly said, "As for what exactly the conspiracy is, we don't know either."

Who would have thought Chen Yi He would say, "I might know."

"What do you know?" The Young Palace Master frowned, squeezing the red mark between her brows together.

"This is a needle hole." Chen Yi He pointed at the needle holes on his arm and said.

"You don't need to emphasize that." Indeed, one of the Young Palace Master's Five Absolutes is the Needle Absolute.

"Unlike your solid needles, this is a hollow needle; both can connect to the body's meridians, a hollow needle can inject liquid inside, whereas your needles cannot—here, no matter how skilled the craftsman, such a needle cannot be made."

"Here?" Wu Rong asked.

"Um……" Chen Yi He tried to explain without revealing his identity, "I mean, this belongs to a Mysterious Gate Escape Technique."

"Continue." The Young Palace Master didn't want to hear all that nonsense.

"Our bodies might have been implanted with gu poison or something…… or perhaps something was being drained……" Chen Yi He boldly voiced his idea, half guess, half nonsense, "Once a person falls into a coma, they won't resist, leaving them at the mercy of outsiders, which is why they die."

Chen Yi He had just finished speaking when he began to cough, his ribs aching again. "Cough cough……" He coughed up fresh blood—ribs, lower ribs, could it be the kidneys!? Had his kidneys been stolen?

"We think the same— they all died in their sleep; now besides Iron Clothes and Zhang Beihai, we still don't know how the others are." Wu Rong agreed with Chen Yi He's speculation.

Chen Yi He bent down, scooping up earth bit by bit, laboriously covering the destroyed grave of Iron Clothes. "Iron Clothes, rest in peace." As he piled the soil, his mind kept wondering what this was all about, yet he just couldn't figure it out.

Iron Clothes' words back then—"I only drink my fill, never get drunk"—lingered in Chen Yi He's ears. Although he had only just met Iron Clothes, he was attracted by his generosity and boldness; they would have become great brothers. But now the brother died so mysteriously, this should be a grudge.

Chen Yi He also couldn't understand why he was unharmed, after all his arms are covered in dense needle holes!

"Could it be because I've been injected with various antibiotics and vaccines since childhood?" Chen Yi He was truly daydreaming. He thought of a TV drama where a protagonist transmigrates to ancient times; when he landed, a great plague broke out, yet the protagonist was unharmed because he had taken antibiotics and vaccines.

(This is sheer nonsense…… but such a plot really exists.)

"Not everyone will die; someone must make it out alive from the Thousandfold Gate." The Young Palace Master said, in the past every ten-year Thousandfold Gate, one quarter of the people would be released.

"Let's look for living companions, then think about how to get out." Chen Yi He proposed.

"Look for living people? We've already searched half a year, turning this place without night or day upside down, yet we still couldn't find a single one." Wu Rong laughed as he said.

Chen Yi He disagreed, "Then am I not a living person?"

"It's not that flood dragon; we can't find you."

"No matter what, the living must be seen, the dead must be seen—I will definitely find my companions! Anyway, wasting time here is just a waste; better to gather more people and blast this roof open!" Chen Yi He dared to say, since we're beneath the Nine-Step White Jade Steps, even if the barrier is strong, it will eventually be blown open.

Throughout history, there have surely been people constantly bombarding it; this barrier will surely have moments of loosening.

As long as one's true qi is strong enough.

"As long as one's true qi is strong enough?" Chen Yi He suddenly seemed to recall something; he sat cross-legged on the spot, "Give me three minutes." He closed his eyes, held his breath, and focused.

When Dongfang Xing stole Chen Yi He and the Dragon King's carriage, the Dragon King used his true qi to trace the Azure Dragon Blade—and indeed he found it! At that time Chen Yi He's realm wasn't sufficient, but he had always paid attention to this move; having interacted extensively with the Dragon King and Dongfang Xing, he naturally understood their aura and true qi very well.

Thick white light surfaced outside Chen Yi He's body, enveloping him; the Wither-Prosperity Heart Classic activated, healing his wounds on one side while turning into a wisp of white smoke that drifted through the mist, far away.