HAGLTP Chapter 40

After a brief rest, the two of them got up and continued their journey through the stone forest.

The location of this stone forest was abrupt; Xiao Lu originally thought it was a naturally formed landscape, but he quickly realized it was more than that.

“Master, look over there.” Mo Xue pointed to a stone pillar in the corner.

Xiao Lu turned his head and saw traces of artificial carving, along with some lines that had not been eroded by the wind and sand. Although weathered, it was clear that they depicted some kind of totem.

“This situation is quite different from what the rumors say.” Xiao Lu became interested.

Moreover, these stone pillars were also engraved with simple murals, seemingly telling some kind of story.

On some relatively intact patterns, there were figures of people crawling and kneeling, as if they were worshipping something in front of them, but that section had been eroded too severely by the wind and sand to discern its original form.

The two continued walking forward and saw many more traces of artificial carving. As they looked at the incomplete murals, Xiao Lu had a rough idea in his mind.

These murals likely depicted some ancient mythological stories.

Similar to how immortals descended from the heavens, bestowing fire upon humanity, driving away lurking ferocious beasts, showering down healing rains, and even imparting teachings, receiving the worship of the masses.

During the few days in the resting area, Xiao Lu had not been idle; he had gone to the library and browsed through many books and materials.

Similar mythological tales existed in the ancient times of many worlds. Back then, humanity had no profound understanding of the natural world, so they instinctively attributed all natural phenomena to gods, shaping images in their minds that conformed to their imaginations, passing down this belief from generation to generation.

These murals also seemed to be myths born from humanity’s ancient nature worship.

But this world was somewhat different; it was a downgraded version of the immortal cultivation world. Flying through the sky, summoning flames or healing rains out of thin air were things that people from the immortal cultivation world could do.

Rather than saying the murals recorded gods imagined by ancient humans, it was more accurate to say they had accidentally seen cultivators, or even received help from them, and thereafter worshipped them as true deities.

Perhaps what he was searching for was waiting not far ahead.

The journey was not easy; although the stone forest shielded them from the wind and sand, it could not stop the ferocious beasts lurking in the desert. Some of these beasts even treated this place as their nest, launching sudden attacks whenever a living person approached.

Thus, they could not afford to be careless with every step.

Along the way, they also saw many skeletons, some belonging to unknown wild beasts, and others to humans from different eras.

Mo Xue withdrew his hand from examining the bones and gently wiped it with a silk handkerchief: “The bones are all crumbled; they must have been lying here for at least 30 years.”

Xiao Lu looked at the remnants of clothing on the skeleton and the scattered broken weapons nearby: “Perhaps these were the desperate treasure seekers who entered the northwestern desert back in the day; they just weren’t lucky enough to bring back any treasures.”

At that moment, Mo Xue suddenly raised his hand, and a sharp cold light shot towards Xiao Lu.

Xiao Lu did not dodge or evade, allowing the sharp little knife to graze the side of his face without even nicking a hair.

“Clang—”

The flying knife pierced into the stone wall behind him, producing a crisp sound.

But at the same time, a sand snake that had emerged from who knows where was pierced through its vital point, its body falling limply.

Due to his physical condition, Mo Xue found it difficult to practice martial arts and lacked deep internal strength, so he trained in the use of hidden weapons that did not rely on internal energy. After long hours of hard practice, he had developed enough skill to protect himself with his accuracy and understanding of vital points.

Xiao Lu glanced back: “Not bad, you’ve made progress.”

Mo Xue replied, “Master should be more careful.”

“Isn’t it you who’s helping me share the burden?” Xiao Lu laughed.

Mo Xue: “…”

He should find a good day to study some effective medicine; otherwise, his master’s thick skin would be beyond saving.

Xiao Lu and Mo Xue continued to slay ferocious beasts, moving along the direction where the murals remained.

……

Ahead appeared a collapsed stone door.

The stone door was almost filled with dust and sand, exuding a sense of desolation and weariness from the passage of time.

A faint medicinal fragrance suddenly wafted through the air.

Xiao Lu took out a token embedded with medicinal beads; the beads lit up again, and a pattern appeared on the token once more.

Unlike the previous map, this time it was a mark resembling a snowflake.

The medicinal beads and the token both reacted, indicating they were heading in the right direction.

Xiao Lu looked towards the collapsed stone door ahead.

Inside was pitch black, with a layer of fine yellow sand on the ground, but among the yellow sand were some round stones that did not seem to have been shaped by the wind erosion of the desert; instead, they appeared to have been smoothed by flowing water over the years.

“An exhausted underground riverbed?”

The underground riverbed was dark, and it was unclear where it connected. The two exchanged glances and walked in.

As soon as they entered the riverbed, the cold feeling intensified. A wind howled from somewhere, sounding like a lament, as if a ghost forgotten in a corner for millions of years was singing a mournful song.

Occasionally, they could see some ancient objects in the riverbed: broken stone bowls, pottery jars, rough animal statues, bones, and some stone pieces engraved with patterns and unknown characters.

Mo Xue said, “A long time ago, this place must have been regarded as a sacred site that could connect with the gods. The believers would send offerings inscribed with their wishes into the riverbed, hoping they could convey their desires to the deities.”

Xiao Lu glanced at him: “You’re quite knowledgeable.”

Mo Xue smiled humbly: “Just a little bit.”

The deeper they went, the darker it became, and they had not brought any source of light, relying only on the softly glowing token and medicinal beads for illumination.

After an unknown amount of time, Xiao Lu suddenly stopped. It seemed he hadn’t heard Mo Xue speak for a long time.

No, not just speaking; even the sound of footsteps had vanished.

Xiao Lu turned around sharply. Under the dim blue light, he found himself surrounded by emptiness; where was the shadow of the young man?

“Mo Xue.”

“Mo Xue?”

“Mo Xue—”

Xiao Lu’s calls echoed in the riverbed, as if countless people were hiding in the dark, responding to him, yet there was no voice of Mo Xue.

But they had walked in a straight line; there had been no forks in the path. How could a person just disappear?

At that moment, Xiao Lu kicked something underfoot. It was lighter than a stone and rolled away with a soft thud.

Xiao Lu focused and discovered it was a broken skull. Having been in this riverbed for who knows how long, it had become very brittle; just a light tap caused half of the skull to fall off, leaving a hollow eye socket staring at Xiao Lu, like a malicious gaze.

Something was amiss.

But he had come to search for clues about the immortal cultivation world, so he had a higher psychological expectation for anything that might happen.

Xiao Lu calmed himself and continued forward.

In the darkness, he suddenly heard a voice filled with pain.

“Help me…”

“Who will… save me…”

The voice was as thin as a thread, like a dying person using their last bit of strength to call out. In the darkness, it sounded somewhat eerie.

Although it was clearly a foreign language, Xiao Lu understood its meaning.

He took a few steps toward the direction of the voice and saw a person lying on the ground. The boy looked about twelve or thirteen years old, dressed in clothes completely different from the present, made of animal skins, simple in style, vibrant in color, with rough stitching, and his face painted with colorful patterns.

The boy also heard Xiao Lu’s voice and turned his head, looking at him with hopeful eyes.

“What’s wrong?” Xiao Lu asked him.

The two spoke entirely different languages, yet at this moment, they could communicate without barriers.

“I… am seriously ill. The tribe said only an immortal can save me… so they brought me here, but I’m so cold, so painful… so hungry…”

“Where is the immortal? Are… are you the immortal?”

Xiao Lu did not respond. He approached and squatted beside the boy, first observing his complexion and the color of his eyelids and tongue, then reached out to check his pulse, pressing on several points on his body while asking about his feelings.

A sandstorm had come suddenly, and Xiao Lu had not brought any medicine, but this person’s illness…

He was somewhat troubled.

At that moment, faint lights began to flicker in the surrounding darkness, like breathing.

Xiao Lu turned to look and found that many dense plants had appeared around them, a mix of familiar and unfamiliar ones, countless weeds intertwined, each one vibrant and robust.

Most surprisingly, he discovered several plants that had only been recorded in the medicinal compendium.

Mysterious grass, spirit vine, Anhe qi…

The names of the plants and their corresponding medicinal properties flashed through his mind.

Xiao Lu made a decision. He gently harvested the parts he needed without harming the roots of these plants. After simple processing, he used the surrounding stones and the few tools he had to grind them into medicinal juice.

Strangely, these herbs, when simply mixed together, emitted a rich fragrance, and the medicinal juice was as green as jade, showing no signs of being hindered by Xiao Lu’s culinary skills.

Xiao Lu fed the medicinal juice to the boy, placing his hand on the boy’s pulse to observe his reaction.

In just a short moment, the boy’s pulse became stronger.

According to common sense, no matter how miraculous the medicine, it shouldn’t take effect so quickly, but now the extraordinary medicinal effect appeared before his eyes; the herbs from the compendium were indeed extraordinary!

Soon, the boy’s complexion turned rosy, and he looked at Xiao Lu with wide eyes in surprise: “I feel warm all over, I have strength now, and I’m not hungry anymore! Immortal! Big brother, you really are an immortal!”

His eyes were filled with longing as he looked at Xiao Lu: “Great! My illness is cured, and my mother won’t have to cry for me anymore!”

The boy was overjoyed, but Xiao Lu noticed that his body was becoming more and more ethereal, the warmth and elasticity he felt in his fingertips gradually turning illusory.

“I want to go home, I want to eat the dried meat my mother makes, I want to ride the big white wolf my father tamed…” The boy’s voice became somewhat ethereal.

“Handsome immortal brother, can you bless me?”

“Okay.” Xiao Lu reached out and gently stroked the boy’s hair, which had become somewhat dry from facing the wind and sand for years.

“May you return home and never be separated from those you love and miss.”

“Mm!” The boy’s smile was so bright, it seemed a bit foolish and innocent.

As soon as the words fell, the thin illusion dissipated into the darkness, and the plants emitting faint light around them also vanished without a trace.

Xiao Lu looked at his empty palm, feeling inexplicably that the previous scene was somewhat familiar.

But the memories in his mind were a blank.

He collected his thoughts and continued forward.

After walking in the darkness for a long time, a figure appeared ahead once more. This time it was a middle-aged man wearing a tall crown and flowing robes, his clothing still different from that of the present.

This man seemed to hold considerable power, but his lips were dark and his skin had a strange purple hue, occasionally vomiting foul-smelling blood, clearly deeply poisoned.

As before, many herbs appeared around this middle-aged man, but there were more varieties, some were good medicines, while others were poisons.

Xiao Lu selected the useful ones based on the records in his mind and detoxified the middle-aged man.

“Thank you, immortal, for your help.”

“May your immortal path be everlasting…”

The middle-aged man deeply bowed to him, then disappeared just like the previous boy.

First illness, then poison, what would come next?

Xiao Lu continued forward.

After walking for a while, a ragged, disheveled person with bulging veins all over his body and trembling continuously appeared ahead.

Upon examination, Xiao Lu found that there was a strange force blocking within him, putting his life in danger at any moment.

Once again, a sea of herbs bloomed around them, more numerous than in any previous instance, some of which emitted eye-catching brilliance, looking like rare and precious medicines.

Xiao Lu merely glanced and took out the two most inconspicuous plants, not bothering to process them, and directly stuffed them into the mouth of the person on the ground.

He quickly reached into his pocket and pulled out the golden needles he carried with him, swiftly stabbing several vital points on that person while infusing his true energy to guide the force within their body.

As the treatment progressed, he discovered that this person’s condition was somewhat similar to Mo Xue’s. If these miraculous medicines truly existed, perhaps they could be used to treat Mo Xue.

While doing all this, Xiao Lu was fully focused and did not notice that the medicinal bead hanging by his side was emitting a more dazzling light than before, even faint patterns were appearing on it, and an increasingly rich medicinal fragrance was wafting from the bead, continuously entering Xiao Lu’s body as he was currently using his energy to heal the injured person.

As the treatment was nearing completion, the struggles of the injured person gradually weakened.

Only then did Xiao Lu see the person’s appearance clearly.

It turned out to be a woman. Her features were not particularly beautiful, but she carried a sharp aura like a blade unsheathed, suggesting that she must have been a formidable expert in her prime.

The woman stared at him without speaking, only reaching into her clothing to pull out a short knife that was entirely snow-white and handed it to Xiao Lu.

The short knife had no decorations, but the moment he touched it, he felt a bone-chilling cold.

Seeing Xiao Lu take the short knife, the woman peacefully closed her eyes, disappearing just like the previous two.

However, this snow-white short knife did not vanish with her; it remained quietly in Xiao Lu’s hand, exuding an ancient yet undeniable sharpness.

He had no idea what material this knife was made of, neither metal nor jade, with fine scratches on it, suggesting it had experienced many battles, yet the blade had no chips and remained sharp enough to easily slice through a throat.

Xiao Lu continued walking in the darkness. This time, he walked for a long time without encountering any injured people or seeing Mo Xue’s figure.

Just as he was wondering, footsteps sounded ahead, extremely light and steady, each step perfectly spaced.

This time, a woman in flowing white appeared, with long brows and delicate eyes, her expression solemn, her hair styled high, resembling a goddess statue worshipped in a temple.

The woman walked up to Xiao Lu and gently nodded at him: “You have passed the immortal trial; I am here to guide you onto the immortal path.”

Xiao Lu did not immediately follow her. He looked at the woman before him and asked, “Where are you taking me?”

The woman replied, “To the land of eternal life, to escape the mundane world, to enjoy boundless tranquility, and to no longer be confined by the cage.”

If he were someone obsessed with seeking immortality, he might have been overjoyed at this moment and followed the goddess to ascend to paradise.

However, Xiao Lu shook his head again: “I want to know where this path ultimately leads.”

The goddess said, “There is no road ahead, only an endless sea of suffering.”

Xiao Lu replied, “Still no. I intend to see for myself where this path leads.”

The goddess’s expression turned cold. She stared at Xiao Lu, her face, which seemed to hold a smile, suddenly took on a ghostly aura in the dark room: “I have already told you it is a sea of suffering; why do you still cling to your delusions? Turn back quickly, turn back quickly, turn back quickly…”

The goddess’s urging echoed repeatedly in the riverbed, sounding increasingly eerie.

As she spoke, her face twisted slightly, reaching out towards Xiao Lu. The goddess’s form was ethereal, like smoke or mist, not resembling a solid entity.

Seeing this, Xiao Lu knew that a hard battle was unavoidable. He took out the short knife he had obtained from the severely injured woman and charged at this strange goddess.

The goddess’s attacks were fierce, each move swift. As she waved her hand, flowers bloomed in the air, then scattered like blades, attacking Xiao Lu.

Xiao Lu quickly dodged the attacks of the petals, but they still grazed his sleeve, the seemingly delicate petals easily cutting off the corner of his clothing.

Before he could catch his breath, a vine suddenly appeared from the ground, whipping towards him like a whip.

This time, the distance between them was extremely close. Xiao Lu could not evade and could only raise his hand to block with the short knife.

The vine was as thick as an arm, yet it was easily cut in half by the short knife’s attack, as if it were made of paper.

Xiao Lu’s gaze fell on the short knife in his hand; it was even more powerful than he had imagined!

Seeing her attack thwarted by Xiao Lu, the goddess waved her hand again, and three defensive barriers appeared in front of her.

Xiao Lu did not retreat, swinging his knife down at the suddenly appearing plants and trees, cutting through them like slicing through a tangle of threads.

One by one, the defenses were broken, and Xiao Lu was already close to the goddess. At this moment, the goddess still wore that compassionate smile, as if it were a frozen mask, no longer giving off a sense of purity but rather an eerie feeling.

After continuously cutting down several thorns aimed at him, Xiao Lu seized the opportunity to plunge the dagger into the goddess’s chest.

Originally, he was just testing whether physical attacks would be effective against this seemingly non-human entity.

To his surprise, the dagger’s power was even greater than he had expected. As soon as it pierced the goddess’s chest, a brilliant light erupted, blinding Xiao Lu to the point where he could hardly open his eyes.

Everything around him vanished.

Xiao Lu felt a surge of immense power rushing towards him, entering his limbs and bones from the Baihui point at the top of his head, bringing a sense of fullness and strength.

The immortal caresses my crown, granting me longevity.

When the light dissipated, Xiao Lu felt an indescribable lightness in his body, a kind of ease that was hard to put into words, as if his entire being had been cleansed from the inside out, every part renewed.

When he opened his eyes, he found himself still standing in the dry riverbed, the previous goddess, the occasionally appearing herbs and plants, and the snow-colored short knife in his hand had all vanished without a trace.

Ahead was a massive stone door.

At this moment, he could see every crack in the stone door, feeling the sand particles polished by time within, his senses sharper than ever.

A voice came from behind him: “Master has returned.”

Xiao Lu turned around to see the young man still wearing that warm smile, as if he could see through everything, yet it felt like just a casual greeting.

But that was not the point; Xiao Lu’s gaze fell on the small paper bag in the other’s hand, where he could vaguely see a round red ball inside.

His candy! His most treasured candy!

When did this ungrateful disciple steal it from him?

Xiao Lu’s heart surged with emotions, his thoughts racing as he quickly reached the level of clearing the doorway.

Mo Xue spoke at the right moment: “Master suddenly disappeared in the riverbed just now, and many things fell from you. I’ve already collected them for you.”

After speaking, he pointed to the items beside him, where indeed lay the water pouch and a small bag containing simple items that Xiao Lu had brought, even the sand and dirt had been thoroughly brushed off.

Seeing Xiao Lu’s expression soften, Mo Xue stood up and walked in front of him, handing over a small paper bag in his hand.

It seemed there was no need to clean up the entrance anymore.

Xiao Lu happily reached out to take it, pulled out the largest and roundest candy, and popped it into his mouth. Then, taking advantage of Mo Xue’s moment of surprise, he casually grabbed another piece and stuffed it into the boy’s mouth.

“Good disciple, a reward.”

“!” Mo Xue was caught off guard, his mouth suddenly filled with candy, the sweet and cloying taste melting in his mouth. He covered his mouth, looking somewhat helplessly at his cheap master.

But at this moment, the cheap master was in high spirits, already turning to study the stone door.

So childish…

Mo Xue sighed quietly and followed closely behind.

The master and disciple stood side by side in front of the stone door.

This stone door looked incredibly heavy, with no handle or visible switch, standing there for who knows how many years, as if it were an ancient and unchanging barrier. There was no place on the door to insert a token or a medicinal pearl.

“What does Master plan to do to get through?” Mo Xue asked.

Xiao Lu stuffed the candy back into Mo Xue’s hand and raised his hand to gently place it on the door.

He wasn’t sure how to open this door, but at the moment he was infused with white light, it seemed that many pieces of knowledge that could not be spoken had been added to his mind. It felt like he was under some kind of constraint, unable to articulate it, yet it was instinctively engraved within him.

He subconsciously wanted to do this.

He circulated his internal energy, channeling part of his power into the stone door. At first, it felt like a cow sinking into the sea, with no response whatsoever.

But as more and more internal energy was input, gradually some light points began to illuminate on the stone door, and the points increased, forming a symbol resembling a snowflake.

Finally, with a heavy muffled sound, the door slowly opened.

The place of inheritance indicated by the medicinal pearl awaited them behind the door.

The stone door opened a crack, revealing a blue sky, fluffy clouds floating lightly, cool air, and a cacophony of—

“Quack quack quack—quack—quack quack—”

This sound was very down-to-earth, and it felt strangely familiar.

Not a crane, not a white cloud, but a duck? This was quite different from the idyllic paradise Xiao Lu had imagined.