Infinite Puzzle City

Chapter 911 The Great Silent Mountain Range
"Ok?"

On the deck, Xiao Ran looked up and glanced behind her.

"What's wrong?" Jin Chanzi noticed Xiao Ran's unusual behavior and asked.

"That egg seems to have hatched." Xiao Ran withdrew his gaze, picked up his teacup and took a sip of hot water. Just now, he could clearly feel an extremely strong energy fluctuation in the direction of Gushiling, as if it had mobilized all the energy within a kilometer radius.

"It seems he has taken a different path."

Xiao Ran carefully sensed that this version of herself, created through the Twin Mask, possessed the same abilities and the same cursed object as her.

But it seems the other party has taken the wrong turn that I originally envisioned.

To pursue one's own control over the world to an extreme degree.

“This seems to be a good thing.” Jin Chanzi pondered for a moment after hearing this. “One pursues inner growth, and the other pursues external transformation. Isn’t this a perfect example for you to follow and use as a reference?”

The ultimate goal of art and strategy lies in whether it is to pursue external or internal goals; this cannot be simply distinguished by right and wrong.

Xiao Ran was even looking forward to meeting this implant again and verifying it with herself.

But not now.

"We're almost there; it should be that mountain."

Lu Da gazed at the distant mountains, which seemed like pillars reaching to the sky, vast and boundless. They could see only a corner of the mountains, but beyond that, they were covered by a white mist.

If the Lost City had not been built, there would certainly not have been such a massive mountain in Changbai Mountain.

"there!"

At this moment, Wu Man noticed a stone tablet in the distance, which was carved out of the entire hill.

It is covered with complex oracle bone script.

Not to mention Wu Man, even Lu Da wouldn't recognize him.

Fortunately, Jin Chanzi recognized the characters on it. After carefully reading it, he translated it to Xiao Ran and the others: "Severing the connection between heaven and earth!"

"This record describes how Emperor Zhuanxu severed the connection between heaven and earth. It seems that Zhuanxu took action and forcibly destroyed the divine realm, forcing the gods to live outside the heavens and severing their connection with the human world. From then on, they could only receive incense offerings."

This story can be found in myths and legends; its origin can be traced back to this place.

"Someone has also made some notes below."

Jin Chanzi pointed to the characters below, which were clearly different from those on the stone tablet, and wrote, "Land of Divine Remnants, containing a divine corpse. Do not enter, danger!"

"A divine corpse?" Wu Man's eyes lit up. "Is it the corpse of a deity?"

Jin Chanzi frowned, remained silent for a while, and then said, "You'd better not have any ulterior motives; it's probably not what you think."

"Aren't they all corpses? What's the difference?" Wu Man said casually, her mind already racing.

The corpse of a god—what kind of top-tier material is that?

The thought alone made Wu Man excited.

Seeing that she couldn't persuade him, Wu Man could only look at Lu Da: "You come from a Buddhist family, so you should know about living bodhisattvas, right?"

Upon hearing this, Lu Da's expression turned strange, and he nodded: "I know."

"Talk about it."

Seeing that Lu Da wanted to stop there, Jin Chanzi simply gestured for him to explain clearly.

"You really have to tell me?" Lu Da looked at Jin Chanzi with some displeasure.

“Speak, otherwise there are some things you won’t understand,” Jin Chanzi nodded to Lu Da.

Seeing this, Lu Da simply sat down, picked up a jar of wine and took a big gulp, then said, "The so-called living Buddhas are mostly fake, just a way to swindle money."

Lu Da recounted an old story from when he left the Great Xiangguo Temple to travel and visited a fellow disciple.

When they arrived at the temple, it was small, but very popular with worshippers.

Speaking of which, this fellow disciple also came from Daxiangguo Temple, but he was not well received by the elders there, so he came out and stayed at this small temple.

He became the abbot of the temple in just two years, and the originally dilapidated temple became a popular and well-known temple in the area.

Everyone in the temple said that this senior brother was highly proficient in Buddhism, but Lu Da knew what kind of person his senior brother was in everyday life.

So I asked him privately, and my senior brother, being unfathomable, simply said that the Buddha's teachings are boundless.

Later, I learned from the pilgrims that a living Buddha had appeared in this temple. The Buddha was said to have boundless power and could grant all requests.

Lu Da initially thought it was the mummified body left behind by a high-ranking monk after his death, and that his senior brother had found a treasure.

One evening, when he went to the outhouse, he unexpectedly saw two young monks carrying a large wooden bucket and hurrying away.

What are you doing in the middle of the night?
Curious, Lu Da followed them. He saw the two young monks enter the incense hall, open the wooden barrel, and a strange smell wafted out.

Then Lu Da's eyes widened as he saw the flesh-bodied Buddha sitting on the lotus throne open his eyes and let out a hoarse scream.

The two young monks didn't care about that. They poured the contents of the wooden bucket directly into the mummified Buddha. Upon closer inspection, it turned out to be molten iron and copper.

Lu Da flew into a rage, kicked open the door, grabbed the two young monks, and interrogated them.

It turned out that the so-called living Buddha was actually created by his own senior brother. It was very evil; if molten iron or copper wasn't poured into it at night, this thing would run away and kill people.

The so-called "wish fulfillment" is actually the evil creature's magic.

To prolong his life, Li Yuanwai offered to use the lifespans of his descendants in lieu of his own.

The grandson's 30 years of life were exchanged for three years of his own, and the extra 27 years of his life were naturally swallowed up by this evil creature.

Master Zhang wanted a son, so he stuffed wandering ghosts into his wife's belly, and a big, fat boy was born, but in reality, he was a good-for-nothing spendthrift.

The more the believers prayed, the more powerful this living Buddha became.

Upon learning the truth, Lu Cheng was enraged. He cleaved the mummified Buddha in two with a single stroke, killed the monks in the temple, and burned the temple to the ground.

Before leaving, he found his senior brother and killed him with a single stroke.

At this point, Lu Da sighed: "Back then, my senior brother knelt in front of me and said that if all the temples in the world were burned down, perhaps seven or eight Buddhist temples would have real Buddhas, but the other temples would probably not be clean at all. That's what this thing is like."

"Did you hear that?"

Jin Chanzi turned to Wu Man and asked.

Wu Man scratched his head: "You mean, the divine corpses here are also this kind of thing?"

"It's probably even more sinister than this. How could I not know what kind of people those gods are? Their primordial spirits ascended to heaven, and the physical bodies they left behind are the most sinister things in the world."

With the air of someone who had been through it all, Jin Chanzi looked at the massive mountain before him, a hint of worry creeping into his eyes: "I just wonder how many divine corpses still remain inside after all these years."

As they were talking, the treasure ship had already entered the area of ​​the Dajishan Mountains.

At this moment, the treasure ship could no longer move forward, as if an invisible wall in the air was blocking it from entering.

At this moment, Xiao Ran scanned the area with his spiritual power and noticed that there was another stone tablet in front of him.

Xiao Ran recognized the inscription on the stone tablet.

[The sacred land of the gods, where all living beings walk]

“It seems the treasure ship can’t fly into this place. Let’s find a secluded spot to land.” After saying that, Xiao Ran looked around and then pointed in the distance: “Release Wu Dang, Sanli, the painter, and the butcher.” Then he pointed to Sanli and said, “Go and moor the ship in that direction. Find a place to hide. Don’t land. If you feel something is wrong, hide first.”

As for Liu Mu, Xiao Ran plans to keep it with her in case of emergency.

After saying that, Xiao Ran looked at Wu Man: "How about..."

"I want to go!" Wu Man stubbornly raised her head. If she couldn't visit a place like the ancient land of gods, it would be a great regret in her life.

Jin Chanzi and Lu Da also clamored to go and see for themselves.

Seeing this, Xiao Ran waved his hand, conjuring a gust of wind that carried the tiger demon and the crimson horse along with him. He then jumped off the boat with the others.

"Whoo~~~"

A gentle breeze swept by, and in the next moment, it brought everyone to a location ten miles away.

It wasn't that Xiao Ran didn't want to take everyone further, but once they got here, Xiao Ran felt that her skills were being greatly suppressed.

After landing, Xiao Ran did some calculations with his fingers and found that the five elements were reversed and yin and yang were reversed here, so ordinary abilities seemed to be useless here.

"Follow me."

As he spoke, Xiao Ran took the lead and walked up the mountain path. Jin Chanzi sat down on the tiger demon's back and patted the tiger demon's butt: "Don't be afraid, Daoist Master is sitting on you. Even the most powerful corpses will have to give me some face."

The tiger demon trembled, thinking, "If I give you three points of face, won't I have to make sure I get seven parts of the flavor?"

With a yelp, it reluctantly followed behind Xiao Ran.

The snow on the mountain has long since turned to ice, but you can still vaguely see man-made stone steps on the ground.

Xiao Ran flipped himself onto the Crimson Blood Horse and led the group up the stone steps. They hadn't gone far when Xiao Ran suddenly reined in the horse. At the end of the icy steps ahead, two dragon-shaped stone pillars rose from the ground, their heads bared in fury, their claws deeply embedded in the pillars, their scales covered in frost yet subtly shimmering with a dark golden luster.

Stone pillars support a massive iron gate over a hundred feet tall, its surface etched with star and cloud patterns, its edges eroded by the passage of time into honeycomb-like rust holes.

A plaque reading "Heavenly Gate" hangs above the door.

To be honest, judging from the imposing atmosphere of the gate, this place really does resemble a heavenly palace.

A stone tablet stands in front of the gate.

However, the stone tablet has been smashed and its contents are no longer visible.

Wu Man picked up a piece and examined it: "This was just smashed not long ago; the broken edges are all fresh."

"So bored you're going to smash a stone tablet?" Lu Da looked at the rubble all over the ground, puzzled.

"Obviously, there must be taboos written on it. The person who smashed the stone tablet must be either stupid or wicked." Jin Chanzi tried to piece it together, but it was too fragmented to be reassembled.

But how could this possibly stump Xiao Ran?

His eyes flashed with light as he activated the Eye of Rewind. Wherever his gaze fell, time and space reversed, and the stone tablets that were originally scattered all over the ground were restored to their original state in an instant in Xiao Ran's sight.

Xiao Ran looked at the text on it, but didn't recognize it, so she simply waved her hand and copied the text onto the ground.

"A single stick of incense burns to the gates of heaven, its smoke and mist drawing in immortals."

When the incense burns out and the fire dies down, the mortal body and bones turn to dust.

Do not ask when we will return; for all will vanish like ashes, leaving no trace.

Jin Chanzi translated the meaning above to everyone, then looked up at Xiao Ran: "It seems that these people are very wicked. If someone doesn't know the intricacies of the matter and just goes in carelessly, they're definitely doomed."

"Hmph, that's just how the Changchun Society is." Xiao Ran snorted coldly. It was obviously the Changchun Society's doing. However, Xiao Ran thought these people were both stupid and wicked. If they came here, they would definitely prepare incense and candles. Since they prepared incense and candles, they must already know that they were to burn incense and enter.

That was unnecessary and only revealed his true character.

Xiao Ran walked to the door, casually pinched a paper figure, took out a yellow incense stick and stuck it in the paper figure's hand, then manipulated the paper figure to walk through the door to see what was going on.

The paper figure held incense and candles, and the moment it entered, the incense and candles in its hand seemed to be devoured by something, burning away at a visible speed. In just a moment, they had already burned to ashes.

After the incense and candles were removed, the paper figure instantly turned into ashes and disappeared before everyone's eyes.

Seeing this, Xiao Ran and the others were eerily silent.

"It seems ordinary incense and candles won't work at all." Jin Chanzi looked up at Xiao Ran; "Do you have any other ideas?"

"It is ready."

Xiao Ran then took out the [Hundred Bone Fragrance] from her spatial storage.

Three long, white incense sticks.

These incense sticks are as thick as a thumb, and each one is a meter long.

Looking at the incense and candles in the box, Xiao Ran couldn't help but thank Mo Ju. If Mo Ju hadn't realized that the incense and candles might be helpful to her and prepared a set for her in advance, she would probably be standing at the door looking on helplessly.

Take one out and light it.

A wisp of white smoke rose from the incense.

The cigarette smoke didn't rise; instead, it sank downwards, like countless ribbons falling on everyone.

Lu Da reached out to try to disperse the smoke, but the smoke did not dissipate and remained around him.

Seeing this, Xiao Ran secretly speculated, "Indeed, these incense and candles were specially prepared for this place. It seems that the Yinshan Taoist and his group had probably arrived here long ago, otherwise they wouldn't have gone to such lengths to prepare these incense and candles."

only……

Why did Yinshan Daoren and his group get involved with Changchun Society? They were the ones who had previously caused Changchun Society a lot of trouble.

Filled with doubt, Xiao Ran and her group stepped into the Heavenly Gate.

As soon as one foot stepped through the gate, everyone felt a chill run through them, and a putrid smell assaulted their senses, as if they had entered a graveyard.

Xiao Ran glanced at the Hundred Bone Incense in her hand. She saw the flame at the top of the incense flicker slightly, but it did not burn out instantly like ordinary incense and candles. So she kicked the Crimson Blood Horse and continued walking forward.

He tried to unleash his mental power, but it was still suppressed. However, Xiao Ran's mental power was strong enough to still cover a radius of a thousand meters around him.

But when I swept my mental energy over it, there was nothing but stones.

The group continued upwards for an unknown amount of time, until even the tiger demon began to pant heavily, its tongue lolling out.

The rugged mountain road ahead seemed endless. As the group trudged on wearily, the white mist gradually dissipated, revealing a lake.

The lake water is as clear as a mirror, and you can see the blue stones at the bottom of the lake at a glance, but a white lotus stands alone in the center of the lake.

Even before the lotus petals unfurl, their rich fragrance has already permeated the mountains and fields, invigorating the spirit.

As Xiao Ran and the others approached, the lotus flowers seemed to sense the presence of living people and silently bloomed one after another, revealing more than a dozen round, golden lotus seeds inside the lotus pod.

The surface of the lotus seed is covered with fine, flowing patterns of light, which shimmer in the dim sunlight, like molten gold.

"What a treasure!" Lu Da's eyes lit up, and he slammed his staff on the ground as he stepped forward. "These lotus seeds are brimming with spiritual energy; they must be incredibly nourishing!"

"Wait a minute!"

Jin Chanzi stopped him with his whisk, his expression grave: "Don't you find it strange that such a lotus flower would appear in a place like this?"

Although he couldn't figure out the underlying reason, he keenly sensed that something seemed off about the lotus.

"Don't forget, some people have gone ahead of us. If this thing really is a treasure, do you think those people ahead of us would leave it for us?"

Wu Man said, squinting.

Upon hearing this, Lu Da immediately composed himself and casually picked up a stone: "Whether it's truly an auspicious omen or not, I'll find out by trying it."

Having said that, Lu Da threw the stone at the lotus flower.

laugh!
Before the stone could even fall, the lotus seemed to sense something, and its golden light surged forth! The lotus seeds suddenly detached from the seedpod, hovered in mid-air, and transformed into more than a dozen golden rays that shot towards the crowd!

"It's a trick!"

As Xiao Ran raised her hand, the surrounding lake water surged back, forming a huge water curtain that blocked everyone's view.

In an instant, golden light exploded on the water curtain, then formed countless golden rays that continued to spread in all directions, covering the surrounding area in just a moment, and smashing the rocks on the shore with a crackling sound, leaving them riddled with holes.

After the attack, the lotus swayed a few times, then quickly closed up and sank to the bottom of the lake.

"Since we're already here, it would be very impolite to leave like this."

Seeing this, Xiao Ran took out the fish bone she had obtained earlier from her spatial storage. With a wave of her hand, she manipulated the surrounding void, transforming it into a fishing line that pierced straight into the lake water.

"Crash!!"

Suddenly, the water surface burst open with rolling waves, as if something was struggling desperately underneath.

"Humph!"

Xiao Ran snorted coldly, took out the [Dragon Abyss] sword with her other hand, and slashed it down.

Wherever the blade pointed, the water was cleaved open, and a huge, whale-like creature was violently pulled out of the water and slammed heavily onto the ground.

Upon closer inspection, everyone realized that the lotus flower was actually growing on the top of the giant fish's head.

"This fish has lotus flowers growing on its head, using that to lure people to take the bait?" Wu Man blinked, finding it very strange. Usually, it's people fishing, but today she actually saw a fish fishing for people?

But soon, Wu Man sensed something was wrong and grabbed the man who was about to step forward to look at Moruda: "Wait, something's not right."

Wu Man looked closely and saw that the lotus flower on the top of the big fish's head did not seem to grow on the fish itself, but rather seemed to be parasitic on the strange fish.

At this moment, the lotus seemed to sense the danger. The lotus swayed, and long, thin roots forcibly emerged from the fish's body, tearing the large fish into pieces in an instant.

"Puff puff……"

Countless roots flew out and lashed out at Xiao Ran and the others.

Xiao Ran swung his sword, the blade like a storm, shattering all the attacking roots. However, after Xiao Ran had chopped all the roots in front of him...

Upon closer inspection, the lotus flower had already run away.

Yes, they ran away.

The kind that runs away as fast as it can.

This thing actually intertwines its roots together, like an octopus, and escapes quickly, disappearing in the blink of an eye.

"This thing can actually run?!"

Lu Da's eyes widened. He had thought the fish was the strange one, but he never expected that the lotus was even stranger than the fish.

"What's that??" Wu Man shouted, pointing at the fish carcass in front of her.

Xiao Ran and the others looked over and saw that inside the fish carcass, which had been torn to pieces, there was actually a coffin!
(End of this chapter)