Chapter 1945

Qiqi stepped toward the stone bridge, Hu Xiaotian closely followed, not forgetting to instruct Ji Feihua and Liu Yuzhang: "Pay attention to the patterns on the bridge surface, follow our steps, never miss a step, otherwise the bridge will collapse."

Although Ji Feihua and Liu Yuzhang were both top-tier experts, they dared not be the slightest bit careless here, closely following the steps of the two ahead.

Qiqi asked, "How did Eunuch Liu discover this place?" She had learned from Hu Xiaotian that the earliest discoverer of this imperial palace secret realm was Liu Yuzhang.

Liu Yuzhang said, "Anything leaves traces; the earliest builder of this imperial palace secret realm was the Military Sage Zhuge Yun Chun. These constructions are supernatural, utterly beyond imagination. After Zhuge Yun Chun built the two secret realms beneath the palace, he must have been frightened, so he destroyed the blueprints. Yet beforehand he left many manuscripts; I have searched the palace for decades and finally found this place."

Ji Feihua coldly said, "Eunuch Liu really is a thoughtful person!"

Liu Yuzhang laughed grimly, "I can't compare to Lord Ji; otherwise back then I wouldn't have been driven to a dead end by Lord Ji."

Hu Xiaotian knew all too well their past grudges, and worried they'd clash upon meeting, but fortunately both showed enough restraint—not because they'd let go of their grudge, but because driven by a common goal they temporarily set aside their hatred.

After smoothly crossing the long bridge, they arrived before the Seven Treasures Glazed Tile Pagoda. The four circled the tower once, returning to the gate. Qiqi sighed, "I've never seen this kind of lock; I don't know how to break it." Last year when she and Hu Xiaotian came here, they were stopped at this lock, and this time Qiqi still couldn't break it.

Ji Feihua said, "Let me try!"

Hu Xiaotian's heart stirred; actually Ji Feihua and Qiqi had each comprehended one of the two skulls, and these sisters should complement each other.

Liu Yuzhang's gaze was gloomy as he watched Ji Feihua skillfully unlock the pattern lock; with a rumbling sound, the tower gate slowly opened, and he said ominously, "It seems Lord Ji is also a descendant of the Heaven's Mandate."

Hu Xiaotian countered, "Eunuch Liu, didn't you already enter this Seven Treasures Glazed Tile Pagoda back then? This lock should naturally pose no problem for you."

Liu Yuzhang sighed, "Your Highness overestimates me; back then someone guided me into the pagoda, I lack that ability, and moreover the pattern lock changes endlessly, never repeating."

Hu Xiaotian secretly thought, "This old fellow probably isn't telling the truth; he earlier said he stole that skull from inside the Seven Treasures Glazed Tile Pagoda, now he claims someone guided him, but now is not the time to investigate."

Ji Feihua entered the tower first, using voice transmission to let Hu Xiaotian follow last; thus Liu Yuzhang followed behind Ji Feihua, then Qiqi, and finally Hu Xiaotian.

After entering the Seven Treasures Glazed Tile Pagoda, Hu Xiaotian realized the tower was completely hollow; although it appeared to have seven stories from outside, inside there were no stairs leading upward, and the interior radiated light, bright as daylight.

Ji Feihua looked up at the tower's top; though she saw no stairs, she saw a blue spiral rising from the ground, coiling upward all the way to the spire.

Qiqi gazed at that spiral, her face growing increasingly pale.

While the two focused on the tower's internal structure, Hu Xiaotian's gaze remained fixed on Liu Yuzhang; this person cannot be trusted, Liu Yuzhang is merely a clone awakened with self-awareness; if his actions were merely driven by his own desires, that wouldn't be too terrifying, but if his behavior were controlled by some other force, that would be extremely terrifying.

Liu Yuzhang's eyes burned with fervor, as if everything fascinated him anew; could it be that he too was entering the Seven Treasures Glazed Tile Pagoda for the first time? If that were true, why would he claim he had previously entered the pagoda?

Hu Xiaotian gave a heavy cough, his voice pulling the three, immersed in the tower's novel sights, back to reality; their gazes simultaneously turned to him.

Hu Xiaotian said, "There's nothing in this tower; it seems it's already been looted. Should we look for the entrance to the underground palace?"

Liu Yuzhang nodded repeatedly, saying yes.

Hu Xiaotian smiled, "Eunuch Liu has been here once, so he naturally knows where the underground palace entrance is!"

Liu Yuzhang's expression turned somewhat embarrassed; he gave a dry cough and said, "I did come before, but the tower's interior structure changes endlessly; last time I entered there clearly were stairs to go up, now it's completely different." As he spoke, the light inside the tower suddenly turned green, the tower walls became transparent, and they could clearly see the outside scenery through the walls, which added credence to his words.

Qiqi said, "Endlessly changing; the builder of this tower is certainly no ordinary person!"

Ji Feihua, however, noticed the two skulls in her hand flaring with bright light, and the blue spiral inside the tower began to rotate.

Hu Xiaotian secretly thought it eerie; watching the spiral spin made him slightly dizzy, he lowered his eyes to the ground and saw two patches of light and shadow appearing on the floor, shaped like yin and yang.

At that moment Ji Feihua and Qiqi locked eyes; she handed one of the skulls to Qiqi.

Though they spoke no words, they seemed to share a tacit understanding; each took a skull and stood on one of the light-and-shadow patches, the skulls' blue light blazed, the upward-spiraling light grew stronger, and finally turned into a dazzling white light.

Qiqi and Ji Feihua slowly placed the skulls on the ground; under the white light shining down from the tower's top, the skulls' blue light grew ever brighter, a blue mist like dust spreading from the skulls, the white beam spiraled within the tower, and the blue light from the skulls continually expanded outward. Soon the ground beneath their feet was completely covered in blue mist, the blue emanations from the two skulls intertwined, merged into one, inseparable.

When the blue light completely covered the ground, the rhythm of the white light from the tower's top began to shift; the moving beams created alternating light and dark gratings inside the tower, the floor beneath formed blue-black mosaic tiles, light and shadow undulated, giving the onlookers a sense of rolling waves. At the exact center appeared a vortex about a chi in diameter, which rapidly expanded outward to reach their feet; light and shadow faded, at that moment the light on the two skulls dimmed, and the arc of light from the tower's top simultaneously extinguished.

The entire Seven Treasures Glazed Tile Pagoda suddenly plunged into darkness.

The four inside the tower spoke no sound, only hearing each other's breathing; in the darkness Qiqi nervously grabbed Hu Xiaotian's big hand; after a brief silence, a blue halo lit at the edge, then the halo blinked and progressed rapidly toward the center, spreading outward.

The ground beneath their feet began to sink slowly; Hu Xiaotian smiled, "Hope this isn't the road to hell."

Light shot up from below, casting Liu Yuzhang's face in a sinister, terrifying glow; he said ominously, "You'd better not joke like that!"

"Are you afraid?"

Liu Yuzhang squeezed out a contemptuous smile.

Ji Feihua calmly said, "What's there to fear for someone who's already died once?" Her gaze fell on Qiqi's face; Qiqi clenched her lips, her expression tense to the extreme, even closing her eyes, gripping Hu Xiaotian's arm tightly.

Hu Xiaotian gave her a smile; Ji Feihua, however, sent him a mental message: "Keep your eyes on Qiqi; if she shows any abnormal behavior, restrain her first."

The person Hu Xiaotian suspected most remained Liu Yuzhang; he glanced at Liu Yuzhang, implying to Ji Feihua that the real danger was him, and Ji Feihua naturally understood.

Although Liu Yuzhang's eyes weren't on them, he seemed to guess their thoughts, and he said softly, "In times like these, we should all the more unite and cooperate; do you agree?"

Hu Xiaotian smiled, "Eunuch Liu speaks wisely, but I don't know whether this place hides treasure or an enemy."

The ground beneath their feet suddenly stopped sinking; the two skulls, now devoid of light, slowly rose, floating a zhang above the ground, then drifted forward and back into the distant darkness.

Hu Xiaotian felt nothing yet, but Qiqi clutched him tightly, her nails nearly digging into his flesh; meanwhile Ji Feihua grabbed his wrist and sent a mental message: "Strange, I feel as if I'm about to float away."

Hu Xiaotian felt nothing unusual; watching the two skulls drift away, he secretly wondered, "Could this space produce a weightless effect on those bearing the Heaven's Mandate?"

The three of them walked side by side following the skulls' direction; not far ahead they saw a shimmering liquid wall appear.

The two skulls encountered no obstruction, passing straight through the liquid wall into it.

They stopped before the wall; through the transparent barrier they could see rippling water inside, and beyond the wall seemed to fill with blue liquid; after the skulls entered, their light flared brightly, then soon faded, and the skulls began to sink slowly.

Liu Yuzhang reached out, trying to breach the liquid membrane; though he could pull and deform it, he could not penetrate the barrier.

Ji Feihua released Hu Xiaotian's arm and walked over; she lightly tapped the liquid wall with her fingertip, like a stone dropped into a lake, sending ripples outward from her finger.

Liu Yuzhang stared at Ji Feihua in astonishment, murmuring, "It seems this barrier can be passed only by descendants of the Heaven's Mandate."

Hu Xiaotian said, "Don't go in!" For some reason a sudden, inexplicable fear welled up inside him.

Ji Feihua withdrew her finger, and at that moment Qiqi also released Hu Xiaotian's arm; she walked calmly toward the barrier, her expression now serene and resolute, the earlier fear gone. Qiqi cautiously extended her fingertip toward the barrier; before her finger touched the liquid membrane, she glanced at Ji Feihua.

Hu Xiaotian felt something was off; he even wished everything would end here, that this exploration would stop, and he whispered, "There might be danger inside."