For this task, Iron Mask was somewhat hesitant, or rather, he did not understand what it meant.
Old Master Wu saw this. To facilitate execution, he explained, “The Immortal Palace has triggered a full lockdown. Those outside cannot enter, and those inside cannot leave. The golden giant is able to remain in the Immortal Palace, so he should know how to lift the lockdown.”
Iron Mask grew even more suspicious, “Old gentleman, why do you believe the golden giant will leave the Immortal Palace together with your brother?”
Old Master Wu said, “That brother of mine is already tired of living, too pedantic. He may not care about his own life or death, but he will still have some concern for the lives of his children and grandchildren. He will definitely go and beg the golden giant to let his descendants leave. And the golden giant will not sit idly by while the Immortal Palace remains frozen for long. He will need to use the Yellow Halberd in his hand to resolve it.”
Iron Mask hesitated, “Will the giant be able to wield the golden halberd?”
The implication was simple. If the golden giant could wield it himself, why would he need your brother? In other words, how could he leave the Immortal Palace together with your brother?
Old Master Wu was silent for a moment, then slowly said, “Even if the giant kills him, he will still have to undo the restriction. The giant will resolve the freezing of the Immortal Palace. That will be our opportunity to escape.”
As he said this, he did not know what he himself was feeling. When he had previously found an excuse to leave his brother’s side, he had anticipated the danger his brother might encounter, but he had not warned him.
Iron Mask understood. The golden giant’s strength was extraordinary. This old fellow was afraid of death himself and did not dare to approach and observe, so he sent Iron Mask to take the risk. Otherwise, the old man could simply have hidden inside the Immortal Palace to watch.
He did not want to go either, did not want to take this risk. But facing this old fellow, he had no choice. He could only nod in agreement.
But just then, inside the pavilion, the old man flew out, standing atop the mountain and looking around in all directions. The golden halberd in his hand struck the ground heavily with force.
Boom! Boom! Boom!
He struck repeatedly, the resounding crashes unceasing.
Old Master Wu, hearing the sound and looking over, had a complex expression. He muttered under his breath, “A fellow courting death.” He then turned back to Iron Mask and said, “You circle around and enter when the opportunity arises.”
“Yes.” Iron Mask acknowledged, then retreated and departed, approaching the pavilion by a roundabout route.
In the distance, Shen Qingcheng and the others had fallen into great panic. The golden giant stood before their eyes.
Lu Xingyun had fallen into the golden giant’s hands, completely powerless to resist. The latter had arrived suddenly and grabbed her in one hand. There was no time to dodge.
Lu Xingyun had a good figure and was not short, but in the giant’s hand, he grasped her entire person with one grip, only her neck and shoulders exposed above. Under the crushing pressure of the giant’s palm, her face flushed red, as if she might be crushed to bursting at any moment. She was currently undergoing the giant’s interrogation.
The giant was asking how many people had come, who they were, and why they had come here.
Ning Chaoyi, who had lost both legs, sat on the ground. His severed legs were covered in bloodstains, his face still pale. Facing a terrifying expert like the golden giant, he was also powerless.
Shen Qingcheng knelt on the ground, begging the golden giant to spare her mother.
Nie Pinlan held a sword in hand, her face filled with grief and indignation. The person before her had killed her husband, but at this moment she could only be angry yet dare not speak.
Having clarified the cause of the matter, and learning that the main purpose of these people running in was actually to find the Three-Life Spring, the golden giant let out a cold laugh, “A bunch of ants, trespassing upon the immortal abode, vainly peering at immortal secrets. Utterly absurd!”
Just then, a faint buzzing sound came from afar, continuously.
The golden giant abruptly turned his head to look, listened briefly, then the hand holding the person suddenly gripped with force.
Lu Xingyun immediately spat out a mouthful of blood. Then her flesh and blood burst out from between the golden giant’s fingers.
The golden giant shook the blood from his hand. His massive figure once again soared into the air. Killing a person was truly like crushing an ant, seemingly without any emotional color, ignoring the other living people.
Lu Xingyun, who had died instantly, crashed to the ground. Her clothes were already soaked through with blood. Her eyes were wide open, blood flowing from her seven orifices, her death appearance hideous.
Shen Qingcheng, who had scrambled over on hands and knees, knelt beside her mother, letting out a heart-rending, tragic cry toward the sky.
Ning Chaoyi pushed off the ground with both hands and leaped over, landing beside her to look. His expression was grave, not knowing what to say. He realized that once certain things were involved, life and death truly were not up to humans at all.
Nie Pinlan also walked over with her sword raised, feeling the coldness of this golden world, as if there was no humanity to speak of. Amid Shen Qingcheng’s miserable weeping, she asked, “Can we still leave here alive?”
No one at the scene answered. But a woman’s voice came from not far away, “We must at least try. What else can we do, sit and wait for death?”
Nie Pinlan and Ning Chaoyi turned to look, and saw Bai Lan walking unhurriedly…
Outside the pavilion atop the mountain, the old man finally stopped striking the ground with his golden halberd. He looked up at the sky.
The golden giant descended from the sky. After landing, he looked down at him, noticing the golden halberd in his hand.
The old man supported himself with the halberd in one hand, knelt on one knee, and lowered his head, saying, “Wu Sui, the halberd-bearing guard of the Golden Ruins, pays respects to the Strongman!”
He finally revealed his true name, long sealed away in the endless passage of time.
The golden giant, looking down, said in a deep voice, “Rise and speak.”
“Yes.” The old man Wu Sui stood up, then floated into the air, hovering until he reached eye level with the golden giant.
The golden giant scrutinized his appearance for a moment, “You do look familiar. A bit older. It is you.”
Wu Sui said, “Strongman, how did you become a golden man?”
The golden giant answered the wrong question, “I suspected it was you two brothers who opened the gates of the immortal abode. The facts confirm it. You brothers have actually lived until now.”
Wu Sui said with shame, “I am ashamed. After the entrance was sealed for several decades, my brother and I developed selfish desires and opened the entrance to come in. We mistakenly took the Earth Spring in the palace as the Longevity Spring, and as a result turned ourselves into neither human nor ghost, living all these years.”
The golden giant said, “I heard that for thousands of years you have been trying to prevent your brother Wu Nian from opening the Golden Ruins again?”
Hearing this, Wu Sui knew he must have learned some of the situation from other people. He nodded with a sigh, “Thousands of years. It is too much to put into words.”
The golden giant said, “Where is Wu Nian?”
Wu Sui looked around, “Knowing the Strongman has awakened, I do not know where he is hiding.”
“A guilty conscience.” The golden giant let out a cold snort, then said, “The Immortal Palace sank into the deep sea. The burden is too great, making it difficult to rise and ascend, causing the array formation hub to bear excessive load and chaos to abound. Why have you not quickly used the Yellow Halberd to resolve the freezing?”
“Yes.” Wu Sui accepted the order with a bow, but hesitated, “Strongman, Wu Sui has one request. I beg for your mercy.”
A look of anger instantly appeared on the golden giant’s face, “What, you still wish to bargain?”
Wu Sui hurriedly said, “I dare not! It is simply that the affection for one’s children is hard to avoid. I have been in the mortal world for many years and already have descendants. But my descendants have been implicated by me and have also become monsters neither human nor ghost. This time they entered to seek an antidote. In short, all mistakes are mine. I hope the Strongman will not harm the innocent and grant them a way to live.” He pointed toward the doorway.
Wu Hei stood at the doorway carrying his son on his back. Little Black raised his head to stare at the giant with a look of amazement.
The golden giant glanced over and said coldly, “Do not bargain with me. First remove the freezing from the Immortal Palace!”
“Yes.” Wu Sui accepted the order.
The golden giant turned and walked to the doorway, then bent down and squeezed through.
Wu Sui also flashed down to the ground and followed him in. Wu Hei carried his son and followed.
Before the wall directly facing the palace’s main gate, the golden giant found a gap in the exquisite carvings on the wall. He inserted his sword and twisted it. A buzzing sound came from within the wall. When it was in position, he pulled out his sword, then turned and walked toward the main gate, bent down, and squeezed out.
At his gesture with his sword, Wu Sui then flew up and landed on the gate tower. This time he tried touching the restriction again and found he could easily pass through the rippling waves. He immediately thrust his halberd out. The half of the halberd outside caused the solid ice to rapidly change, swiftly melting into water.
The melting speed was clearly slower than the freezing speed.
Once there was a large space of water outside, both Wu Sui and the golden giant passed through the rippling waves and went out. Wu Hei looked behind him, worried about encountering his uncle, so he also followed out.
The Immortal Palace frozen under the sea gradually gained freedom, slowly rising as the melting speed increased.
Inside the palace, several fluorescent stones left behind by predecessors on the ground were swaying slightly. The balance of the Immortal Palace was clearly somewhat unstable.
A figure emerged from the pavilions and towers on the wall, flew down to the ground, and quickly crept to the main gate to look around in all directions.
Almost simultaneously, three figures crawled in through the pavilion window, taking a small path to quietly sneak into the palace, hiding in concealed spots to observe.
These three were none other than Yu Qing and his two martial brothers.
Suddenly seeing a figure flash back in from the palace main gate, the three were so frightened they stood as still as sculptures, not daring to move, afraid of running into Old Master Wu.
That figure walked toward the Earth Spring in the center of the great hall. Passing by a fluorescent stone on the ground, it allowed them to see the face clearly. It was Iron Mask.
Iron Mask stood beside the pool platform, his hands restlessly clasping each other. He kept looking back toward the main gate, very hesitant.
Even if it were not Old Master Wu, with Iron Mask’s strength alone, it was enough to make the three martial brothers stay perfectly still and not make a sound.
What the three did not understand was what Iron Mask was hesitating about at the edge of the Earth Spring.
A moment later, Iron Mask stepped onto the pool platform, standing entirely upon it. He hesitated again for a moment, then suddenly stepped onto the water surface, treading the waves to the center of the water. He slowly sank into the bottom. Before long, the water surface began to bubble up with large quantities of bubbles.
The three martial brothers were truly shocked. It was unimaginable. There was actually someone so ruthless toward himself, voluntarily soaking in the Earth Spring. What was the situation?
Outside the pavilion atop the mountain, in a mountain hollow directly facing it, also in the crevice where Iron Mask had previously hidden, Old Master Wu’s gaze looking outward suddenly paused. His face gradually showed shock and suspicion. He muttered to himself, “Dead?”
Just now, he had discovered that he had suddenly lost his sense of Iron Mask. This situation meant the person was already dead.
How had he died? Besides that Strongman and his own brother, he could think of no other reason.
The look of dread in his eyes as he gazed toward the pavilion atop the mountain grew increasingly apparent.
Just then, his gaze shifted slightly. He saw several figures quietly creeping toward the pavilion atop the mountain. Shen Qingcheng carrying Ning Chaoyi on her back, and also Bai Lan and Nie Pinlan.
They had all returned. All sorts of chaotic thoughts were cast aside. Now they all just wanted to leave.