This makes sense. Whether seeking wealth or immortality, if we are locked in here and cannot get out, any harvest would be meaningless.
Before everyone could express their agreement, and just as Yu Qing was about to reprimand him, Nan Zhu cheerfully chimed in, “Just a joke, just a joke, no need to take it seriously.”
Having finished speaking, he rested his hands on his belly and looked around, acting as if he had said nothing at all.
Since he put it that way, the complaints on everyone’s lips went unspoken.
In short, no matter how much they wanted to get rich, no one dared to covet the Golden Terrace anymore.
Everyone then looked around as well, but they could not see far, as tall trees blocked their distant view.
Yu Qing had no choice but to ask Wu Hei for help, “Brother Wu, let us be a bit worldly, I will not stand on ceremony with you. We want to make some money, which way should we go from here to find gold as quickly as possible?”
Wu Hei, who was pulling vines at the edge of the terrace to quickly weave simple items, retorted, “Do you think my father would tell me such things?”
“Uh…” Yu Qing thought about it and realised he was right. It was the other man’s first time entering, and knowing the old man’s nature, he probably would not tell his son where to pick up gold after entering the Golden Ruins.
However, Wu Hei added, “This place does not lack those things. If you look around, you should find them easily.”
Seeing him make a simple backpack out of vines, put Xiao Hei inside, carry it on his back, and free his hands as if about to leave, Yu Qing immediately asked, “Which way are you going?”
Wu Hei shook his head, “Whatever, I will just go wherever I end up.”
Yu Qing was taken aback, “Are you not looking for the ‘Spring of Three Lives’? Did your father not tell you where it is?”
Wu Hei replied, “It would be useless even if he told me. The ‘Spring of Three Lives’ is not fixed in one location. It is alive, sometimes on the ground, sometimes in the sky, and sometimes on the water.”
Alive? Everyone present was stunned, their faces full of astonishment.
Yu Qing asked in shock and doubt, “The ‘Spring of Three Lives’ is a living thing?”
Wu Hei thought for a moment and still told them, “The Immortal of Profound Gold has an immortal palace here. It looks like a golden mountain on the outside and can drift around, sometimes on the ground and sometimes in the misty clouds. The ‘Spring of Three Lives’ is inside the immortal palace.”
Everyone understood and got the picture.
Yu Qing asked, “Then how are you going to find it? Would you not just have to rely on luck?”
Wu Hei nodded and gave everyone one last reminder, “This place is different from the outside world. There are many monsters beyond your imagination that will attack people, so be careful.” Then he jumped off the Golden Terrace and left while exploring the surroundings.
He had not been exploring and walking in the jungle for long when a commotion suddenly came from behind. He looked back and saw Yu Qing and the others following again in a group.
Yu Qing leaped over a fallen tree blocking the way, reached his side, and said cheerfully, “We have to go out anyway to find gold, so we might as well travel with you for a while.”
Wu Hei did not mind, so everyone travelled together along the way.
Along the way, Nan Zhu picked up a stick to tease the son on Wu Hei’s back, making Xiao Hei laugh from time to time, and the two actually became familiar through playing.
Mu Aotie, on the other hand, remained constantly vigilant of his surroundings in this unfamiliar environment.
Along the way, Yu Qing did things like pulling weeds, picking leaves, and breaking branches, constantly observing the broken ends of these plants. He clearly remembered what happened in the Little Cloud Pavilion, where all the plants were infected with evil energy. However, through a series of observations, he unexpectedly found that the plants here were not affected at all.
Previously, he had discovered that the Second Manor Master Wu Xieshan and the deceased in the secret room both emitted a large amount of evil energy. He thought it was influenced by the Golden Ruins and believed the situation inside might be the same as in the Little Cloud Pavilion, but he realised he had misjudged.
At the same time, he kept looking back at the group behind him and noticed that the expressions of Ning Chaoyi and the others seemed very grave, and even Qiao Qie’er seemed a bit absent minded.
Yu Qing slowed his pace, waited until he was walking side by side with Qiao Qie’er, and asked, “Shaojun, what is wrong?”
In front of everyone, he still used her fake name.
Seemingly to avoid making him worry, Qiao Qie’er obviously forced a smile and said softly, “Nothing.”
Yu Qing was puzzled, “Really? You look rather restless to me.”
Qiao Qie’er replied, “I did not expect to come to the Golden Ruins. It is too shocking, it feels like a dream.”
Is that so? Yu Qing could not help but reflect. The three of them, fellow disciples, had been mentally prepared from the start, so they might not feel that way after entering. For those with no mental preparation at all, it might indeed be like that. He noticed that apart from the three fellow disciples and the father and son Wu, the other uninformed people all had the same condition and were a bit absent minded.
He tried to explain, “Not telling you at the beginning was not to deceive you…”
Qiao Qie’er shook her head to interrupt him, “It is fine.”
Just then, Nie Pinlan suddenly cried out, “Ouch,” causing everyone to stop and look back. They saw her open her palm in front of her eyes, staring with wide eyes at something inconceivable, not knowing what was going on.
“What is wrong?” Ning Chaoyi asked.
Nie Pinlan said in a daze, “A mosquito… it seems to be a mosquito… a golden mosquito.”
A golden mosquito? Everyone was surprised. Except for Wu Hei and his son, the rest flashed over and surrounded her to observe.
They saw that the palm of Nie Pinlan’s hand was already bleeding, with a piece of metal slag pierced into the flesh of her palm. If she had not warned everyone beforehand, they would have thought it was a piece of metal slag. Upon closer inspection, they realised it was truly a mosquito, a mosquito with a golden metallic texture.
“I caught a glimpse of a mosquito buzzing over, so I just grabbed it casually. Without paying attention, I pricked my own hand,” Nie Pinlan added to explain the situation.
Wu Hei over there reminded them, “Be careful, there is evil energy inside. The Golden Ruins have undergone mutations, and the animals here basically all contain evil energy.”
Upon hearing this, Zhu Kuanzhen immediately reached out and picked the crushed mosquito corpse from his wife’s palm. He held it close to observe for a while, then Ning Chaoyi took it to observe, and everyone took turns handling it.
When it fell into Shen Qingcheng’s hands, she was surprised, “A golden mosquito. It can actually fly like a real mosquito. Is it a living thing?”
Lu Xingyun took it into his hand to observe again. After finding the right spot to strike, he made a snapping sound and directly used his energy to crush it. Sure enough, a wisp of evil energy burst out.
Everyone looked at each other, all feeling a sense of something beyond their imagination.
After this slight delay, everyone continued on their way again…
On the Golden Terrace, the rotating virtual waves rippled. A person cloaked in black emerged, explored the surroundings, and then returned to the virtual waves. He thrust half his body into it to report, “No one is here, they have all gone far away.”
Having finished speaking, he stepped aside. Four more cloaked figures came out and quickly scattered to stand guard.
After that, the Iron Faced Man came out. Standing on the Golden Terrace, he looked around. Having suddenly come from a desolate place to a large stretch of jungle, he seemed very emotional, “The Golden Ruins! Following those guys really led us to it!”
The golden halberd in his hand was planted on the ground. It was exactly the one Nan Zhu had thrown out earlier. They found it after sneaking over and picked it up casually.
Nan Zhu had thrown it out, and now he had picked it back up.
Several more people followed out behind him, including Bai Lan, Gao Yuan, Jiang Shan, and Old Mother Rat. The four demons also looked around in shock and doubt, equally unable to dream that they could come to the Golden Ruins.
The Iron Faced Man had not told them. It was only until they entered the entrance and heard part of the conversation of the people inside that they knew all their hard work along the way was to find the Golden Ruins.
When the group was eavesdropping at the entrance, they lay still and did not dare to show themselves, waiting until the people inside had left the exit for a good while before popping their heads out.
The Iron Faced Man suddenly ordered, “Look around and see which direction they went.”
“Yes.” Two people immediately received the order and went to search the surroundings.
Old Mother Rat, leaning on her crutch, tried to ask, “Master, is this the secret you are looking for?”
The Iron Faced Man replied, “Besides this, what else do you think there could be?”
Old Mother Rat asked, “Since we have already found this secret, is there still a need for us to follow them?”
She was just short of saying that they had already done what he asked them to do and whether he could fulfil his promise. However, she did not dare to say it directly, especially after knowing that the so-called secret they were looking for was the Golden Ruins.
The Iron Faced Man said, “Since it has already been revealed to us, and since we have already entered, do you not want to find their so-called ‘Heavenly Spring’ to cleanse your bodies, shed your mortal forms, and achieve immortality?”
These words made everyone’s eyes light up and their hearts flutter with excitement. However, the eyes of the four demons clearly hid concerns, showing a sense of fear akin to dancing with wolves.
Old Mother Rat said cautiously, “We do want to, it is just that the two people they mentioned who guard the Golden Ruins have also entered. None of us knows how deep their abilities go. Those who can guard the doors of an immortal cave abode probably have formidable strength. Once we run into them, I fear there will be danger.”
Their group had never seen the true forms of the two old masters Wu from beginning to end, nor had they seen how the door of the cave abode was opened, nor had they seen the two brothers fighting inside. When the two brothers started fighting inside, they had just sneaked near the entrance.
They had also not received any intelligence from their informants about the two gatekeepers. In fact, it was too mysterious, and the pair appeared too suddenly. Even the informants would not have had the time or opportunity to report it.
If it were not for the lightning and thunder in the canyon, which made the Iron Faced Man realise that the Golden Ruins had opened, he might not have shown up and run into the canyon, and might have waited for the informant’s report.
“If we do not know their depth, just carefully avoid them.” The Iron Faced Man’s attitude was resolute. He had already clenched his fists, and his emotions were clearly somewhat excited, “Immortality! For us, an opportunity like this might only come once. If we miss it, there will not be another.”
The four demons looked at each other, vaguely feeling that something was wrong.
After being in contact with this Iron Faced Man for a period of time, they could sense that the Iron Faced Man, who was managing this affair, should not be the highest decision maker of this journey, because he did not dare to make complete decisions on some matters. There should be a true mastermind behind the scenes.
They had found the Golden Ruins, such a huge matter. Should it not be reported to the superiors at the first opportunity?
However, they could not figure out the situation after all, did not dare to question it, and could only praise his wisdom.
Of course, Gao Yuan still reminded him, “Master, they said the entrance and exit of the Golden Ruins could close at any time. If, I say if it really closes, what should we do inside?”
The Iron Faced Man replied, “That is why we must follow closely behind the son and grandson of the gatekeeper. As long as they do not panic, we have no need to worry.”