Chapter 14: The Heavenly Dry Gate

  A very magnificent gate, similar to the style of the Qin Temple on top, but with a much larger specification. Not only that, it is still brand new, with the two big characters "Qin Temple" on the plaque being bold and unrestrained, iron-painted silver hooks.

  On both sides of the lintel hung two lanterns with a uniform white body, without candles, but emitting a cold light like the moon. The black lacquer door was tightly closed, and the gold lacquered wooden nails on it were neatly arranged in rows.

  The stone carvings on both sides of the gate also showed their original appearance, which were two birds with sharp beaks and claws. The long tail was divided into three parts, and it was clear at a glance that they were not real species. Moreover, the eaves corners of the roof, which were flying outward, were also carved with the same birds, obviously representing something or symbolizing something.

  Su You felt that this was a test of his weak historical knowledge, because he couldn't see any reason for it. The only thing he could see was that the two characters on the plaque and the Red Tomb he had seen before seemed to be in the same font, except that the style was more bold. "Is this really the place?"

  "Hmm," Du Ying didn't mind explaining, "Qin Miao, coincidentally matches the surname of the legendary saint of the zither."

  Su You didn't respond, but thought to himself, what if Qin Sheng isn't a zither saint, but rather a fake? However, he thought again about the Jiu Xiao Zither on his back and Jiang Siqi's presence, so he remained silent.

  Du Ying's attention was completely absorbed by the gate at this time. He walked over and observed from three or four steps away. "The lintel is made of nanmu wood, which is quite common. The lantern is a whole piece of night pearl..." He paused for a moment, "It also matches the legend of the Qin Saint's preferences." He looked up and down again, then turned to tell Su You: "This is one of the eight gates of Lishan Qin Temple. If I'm not mistaken, the orientation here is Qian."

  Qian Men is heavenly, he should say, isn't it worthy of these two coming together?

  Su You was completely clueless about the Eight Trigrams, and now he felt like he had fallen into a thick fog, with no idea what Du Ying was thinking. "I only heard that the lantern is very valuable," he said truthfully, "I think it's better if you just tell me directly how to get in and out."

  Du Ying shook his head regretfully. "I really can't do this." He pointed in the direction they had come from, saying: "Going further in there's still a glimmer of hope, but going back means certain death in that heavenly pit!"

  Su Yu didn't need to think about it to know that this was the case, otherwise he wouldn't have followed Du Ying here so obediently. "Is this door the same as the one above?"

  Du Ying suddenly heard the concern in these words. He took two steps forward and pushed with his hand.

  The large gate slowly opened without making any sound. Inside, it was not the dark and gloomy place that Su Yu had imagined, but a flat gray stone path with high and smooth stone walls on both sides that seemed to stretch up to the sky. Every ten or so steps, there were pigeon egg-sized night pearls embedded in the wall. It didn't seem like a mechanism, but rather an imperial pathway. If it weren't for the curve, one could see all the way to the end with just one glance.

  Su You was startled by Du Ying's action of opening the door and jumped to the side, then saw that there was no movement, and only slightly poked her head out. "...Is that it?"

  "Of course not." Du Ying said, thinking for a moment and feeling that this statement seemed too absolute. "Legend has it that the Saint of Qin was here to tread on clouds and ascend to immortality, so naturally he wouldn't easily let others peek at his heavenly secrets."

  Up to now, Su You still didn't believe that story of becoming an immortal. In his view, at most this whole thing had some supernatural elements (otherwise his sudden divine power couldn't be explained), and it was very likely related to the underground palace in front of him. Now thinking about clearing up the whole thing was too late, and there wasn't time either, he only asked: "If everything goes smoothly, how long will it take to get out?"

  "If nothing unexpected happens, I think it'll take about half a day," Du Ying said. "But this can't be guaranteed either, after all, I've never been here before and don't know what's inside."

  Su You listened, and then looked inside again. From the beginning to now, he had never put down Jiang Siqi on his back, and at this moment, when he moved, the two hands hanging in front of his chest swayed weakly. Jiang Siqi's head was leaning against his neck, breathing weakly.

  Thanks to the strange power that had descended from the sky earlier, Su You didn't feel particularly tired. But he could hold on, whereas Jiang Siqi probably couldn't. Thinking this, he glanced sideways at his watch, and saw that it was already 1 o'clock in the morning.

  Unfortunately, the GPS positioning function is not very useful underground. He didn't even know which part of Paiyun Mountain he was in, let alone where Jiang Sheng and the others were...

  "Let's go," he said, thinking that today he had already made countless decisions to treat dead horses as live ones in a short time, "try our luck."

  Just as he took a step forward, Su You hesitated again. "You...," he thought for a moment, "can't you climb out of that pit by yourself?"

  Du Ying was taken aback for a moment, then smiled. "That's right."

  "That... " Su You thought for half a day, "Actually, you don't need to take risks with us." Since Du Ying didn't know the situation in the underground palace, and he had an extraordinary ability, it would be better if one person went alone. Who knows, if something happened to him, someone might even send out a message.

  Du Ying stared at Su You for a long time. At the critical moment, this person still had a bold and refreshing spirit, no wonder... "Aren't you afraid I'll trick you into going in?"

  "Believe you for the last time." Su You said with a pout. Du Ying didn't know what he was forced to say, but judging from the look on his opponent's face when he was pinned under the wooden planks, which was no different from that of a dead man, he thought it was enough. "Even if it's a trap, I'll take it!"

  Du Ying's mouth curved into a smile, and he no longer stopped them. He only watched as Su You disappeared with Jiang Siqi and Jiu Xiaoqin at the end of the stone path. It wasn't until he was certain they wouldn't turn back that his legs suddenly went weak, and he had to lean against the stone carving beside him.

  "He's pretending to be fine, but was actually found out." He muttered to himself, unable to help but smile wryly. Su Yubabai thought he didn't have much physical strength, but could barely take care of himself, but in fact, that was also a lie, he had already been struggling to hold on for some time.

  Du Ying sat down with his legs crossed, closed his eyes and began to circulate his breath. When he opened them again after a while, his left hand had turned into a charred and withered wood, similar to Mu Lian's completely useless left hand. He looked down and thought that this was a self-destructive method worth eight thousand, but now he couldn't care less.

  He can't go back the same way, he has to take a risk. The underground palace is complex, with one more person, or many, there's still a glimmer of hope...

  Su Yu stood up with the stone statue, took a last look at the bird and said in a low voice, "The Azure Bird sings, the times are peaceful...", "The Heavenly Mandate of the Mysterious Bird..." The lingering sound had not yet dissipated when he resolutely stepped inside.

  After his slightly staggering figure had also disappeared, the gate closed silently. I don't know if it was an illusion, but a sharp light flashed in the stone-carved bird's round eyes, and then disappeared again.