Rumble——-
A mess of broken items that carried with them a destructive aura were continuously piling up and rising towards them.
Gu Qing Shan looked down and forced himself to calm down.
If the pixies managed to pass the gate, I should be able to pass as well if I just follow the way they do things.
——what would the pixies do?
Gu Qing Shan took a deep breath and asked:
“Are you the door, a technique? Or the entire Pantheon as a whole?”
The door answered solemnly: 「 I am the Sacred Gate that separates the mortal realm from the Divine Hall. Ever since eons ago, I’ve stood here to guard the realm of the Divine Hall. Unless they can fulfil the established Causality Law, no one would be able to peek into the separated realm nor enter it 」
—–so it was the door’s spirit.
Gu Qing Shan continued to ask: “Among the arts you mentioned, does it include advanced magic tricks?”
「 It does 」the door replied.
Gu Qing Shan quickly spoke: “Very well, then give me a deck of cards—— any cards will do”
Poof!
A deck of cards appeared in his hand.
At this moment, Gu Qing Shan was serious like never before!
He quickly shuffled the deck and said:
“Alright, we’re going to do a magic trick. Take a look at these cards, then choose one of them, but don’t tell me about it and keep the card to yourself”
「 And then? 」the door asked.
“And then, I’ll hand the card over for you to shuffle as you wish, but not for more than ten seconds. After you’re satisfied, hand the cards back to me, I’ll draw one card from the deck——– that card will be the card that you chose” Gu Qing Shan explained.
「 I know that you have several card-related abilities, but that is impossible! 」the door said.
Gu Qing Shan asked with a serious tone: “If I can truly draw the card you chose, will I be considered to have passed?”
「 It will, but you cannot possibly do it 」the door also seriously replied.
Gu Qing Shan’s gaze was also cold and asked again: “If I draw the card you chose, will you agree that I beat you?”
「 Of course I will, but you seriously can’t do it 」the door insisted once again.
“Do you have a contract or anything to use as proof? I don’t want you to change your mind” Gu Qing Shan asked.
「 I won’t change my mind, and I have a contract of fairness here from the Deities 」the door said.
A scroll appeared out of thin air and landed in front of Gu Qing Shan.
Gu Qing Shan accepted the covenant, quickly wrote everything he just said in it, then showed it to the door.
The exact words he wrote were: [If Rhode manages to draw the card you chose, you must open the door and let their group inside]
“If you agree to this contract, please say: I concur”
「 I concur 」the door replied.
Hoh—–
The scroll then burnt to ash.
Gu Qing Shan said: “Alright, since we now have a contract, we can begin”
He finished shuffling the cards, then spread them out in front of the door.
The door paused briefly before saying: 「 I’ve chosen 」
Gu Qing Shan put all the cards together and handed them to the other party.
「 I’ll now shuffle 」the door said.
The entire deck of cards hovered in the air and began to mix between itself at a speed that was impossible to follow with the naked eye.
Ten seconds passed.
The deck of cards returned to Gu Qing Shan’s hand.
Scarlet silently asked: “Rhode, are you confident?”
“I’m very confident” Gu Qing Shan replied.
“Hurry, those things are quickly approaching us” Reneedol urged him.
The shuffled cards had returned to Gu Qing Shan’s hand.
Gu Qing Shan quickly spread all the cards and said: “Alright, now let me guess which card was the card that you chose”
The door refuted: 「 You—- 」
Gu Qing Shan waved his hand dismissively: “Do not interrupt me, this is a great moment of art!”
The door had to stay silent.
One breath.
Two breaths.
Three breaths.
Gu Qing Shan suddenly looked up and shouted at the door: “I found it”
The door asked: 「 Which one was it? 」
Reneedol and Scarlet both looked at him anxiously.
Gu Qing Shan drew a card and slowly showed it to the door.
「 It wasn’t this card, you’ve failed 」the door replied.
“No, take a closer look” Gu Qing Shan coldly said.
The door was a bit startled, then went silent.
Scarlet and Reneedol also took a careful look at the card, only to see that a few words have been cut onto the card:
[The card you chose]
The atmosphere became silent.
Scarlet and Reneedol were both speechless.
The door replied: 「 No, this wasn’t the card I chose, you’ve failed 」
Gu Qing Shan shouted: “You’re cheating!”
The door abruptly raised its voice: 「 You’re the one who’s cheating! We’ve clearly—– 」
Gu Qing Shan cut it off and spoke with an even louder voice: “Our agreement was very clear: I will draw ‘the card you chose’!”
The door refuted: 「 That wasn’t—– 」
Gu Qing Shan cut it off again, shouting angrily: “I’ve asked you twice to confirm and even wrote it on the covenant of fairness, this means that our agreement has been established, and I’ve shown you ‘the card you chose’, so why are you trying to refuse the results and ask for the card you’ve chosen?”
The door angrily: 「 The covenant of fairness—— 」
“—–Show the covenant!” Gu Qing Shan shouted.
A burst of flames appeared out of nowhere and manifested as the scroll earlier, which unrolled between Gu Qing Shan and the door.
[If Rhode manages to draw the card you chose, you must open the door and let their group inside]
The door spoke: 「 What’s written here means that you must draw the card I’ve chosen in my mind 」
“No, take a careful look, I use regular writing for everything else, but if you pay attention, you’d see that for ‘the card you chose’, I specifically wrote it larger in italic, in bold, and even underlined it. This represents one very specific card, which is called ‘the card you chose’” Gu Qing Shan explained.
He pressed his hand on the covenant and whispered: “Deities above, someone is trying to cheat, please enforce the covenant”
A solemn voice resounded from the covenant: [The covenant had been fulfilled, open the gate]
Bam!
The door swung open.
Gu Qing Shan carried Boss inside with the two girls following him.
Scarlet closed the door behind her.
When everyone was about to go ahead, the door called out: 「 Wait a moment, please stop 」
“What else do you want?” Gu Qing Shan cautiously asked.
「 How are you related to the pixies? Do you know where they’re hiding? 」the door asked.
Gu Qing Shan answered with a serious expression: “You don’t need to know about my matters”
Crack!
A long crack appeared on the door.
Gu Qing Shan frowned and took a step back, telling the two girls: “This door won’t hold for long, we need to go!”
The four of them hurriedly ran into the passage and headed away from the door.
After a few moments of running, Gu Qing Shan slowed down.
“What’s the matter?” Scarlet asked.
“It’s nothing, you guys go ahead, I’ll catch up soon” Gu Qing Shan put Boss down from his back and handed him to Reneedol.
The two girls exchanged glances, unsure of what he was thinking.
However, they know that Rhode was a reliable person.
And so, the two girls reminded him to be cautious, then began running ahead.
Gu Qing Shan returned to the door, then pushed the door open to take a look outside.
Krriiiii——-
A lot of screeching metallic noises.
The Samsara artifacts were getting very close to the door.
“Hey” Gu Qing Shan called out.
The door didn’t answer.
“Door spirit, are you still there?” Gu Qing Shan asked.
An angry voice answered: 「 I am Gate Deity, not some door spirit! 」
Gu Qing Shan nodded: “Ok, then Gate Deity, I have something to tell you”
「 Speak 」the door said.
“This place is about to be destroyed, if you stay here, wouldn’t you be done for as well?” Gu Qing Shan asked.
The door replied: 「 I cannot be destroyed, even if I am destroyed, I would be continuously resurrected 」
Gu Qing Shan continued: “But if you’re surrounded by those things, you’d remain in a constant state of being destroyed as well, subjected to an eternal torture—– even if you’re not afraid of this, you’d still remain here alone for eternity by yourself, it’ll be very lonely”
「 What are you saying? 」the door asked.
Gu Qing Shan followed up: “How about you come with me? The world outside is vast, you’d be able to meet numerous other artifact spirits, see things that you haven’t seen before during your long life. You might even be able to accompany me on facing numerous new challenges and do things that are worthy of being eternally recorded”
The door stayed silent for a bit before replying: 「 My job is to determine the limit and protect everything behind myself, what would I be able to do if I went outside? 」
Gu Qing Shan replied: “That can be left for after you go outside, it’s still better than being trapped here and tortured by the Apocalypses”
The door sighed, then told him: 「 The Myriad Deities had put a Causality Law onto my hinges that anchors me here, I cannot——— 」
Clang!
A single sword swing broke the hinges.
“Alright, I’ve helped you cut away that Causality Law” Gu Qing Shan put his sword away.
The door was surprised and said: 「 I’ve stood here for too long that I no longer have the strength to move. You need to give some gems for me to eat in order to regain my strength and leave 」
Gu Qing Shan searched for a while and finally found a few gems.
——they were the last of Rhode’s treasures.
The door ate the gems, then remained still.
“Can you leave now?” Gu Qing Shan asked.
The door suddenly spoke with a sorrowful voice: 「 I’ve protected this place for countless years that I’m hesitant to leave. If you can help me clean my body, I wouldn’t be embarrassed to go out—— remember to use the best possible cleansing liquid, or holy water is accept as well 」
Gu Qing Shan narrowed his eyes.
Give an inch and you ask for a mile huh?
I can’t spoil this one.
He turned around without hesitation.
As he headed back into the passage, he spoke: “I’ll give you one last chance. Come with me if you want to; if not, then just stay there forever”
The door then panicked.
With a ‘bang’, it came off the side of the cliff and hurriedly staggered along.
It caught up to Gu Qing Shan and said: 「 I’ve never gone away from home before, so I’m not sure if I can get accustomed to the outside atmosphere, and also, where would I stay? I don’t like places that are too moist, and if you can find me some gems—— I like to eat the ones that are colored green, can you give me a few as well? 」
Gu Qing Shan continued to walk forward for a while before finally answering: “I can”
「 Ah——- and also, it’s been very long since I walked, can you carry me? 」the door asked.
Gu Qing Shan abruptly paused and stared back at the door.
The door was frightened by his killing intent and lowered its voice: 「 Well actually—— it’s ok even if you don’t carry me, I’m just wondering would it be weird for a door to walk by itself, don’t you think it’s weird? Can you really consider a door your companion? I’m sure male like you prefer your companions to be female instead of strange existences like me?”
Gu Qing Shan rubbed his forehead and tried his best to not get irritated: “When travelling the infinite worlds, the first rule is to observe a lot and talk as little as possible to avoid people seeing through your origin and fall into a disadvantageous situation, or even get killed”
“——-and so, you need to talk less”
The door boasted: 「 That is only for mortals like yourself. I am the Sacred Gate, other than myself, no one can hurt me 」
Complete silence.
Gu Qing Shan didn’t say anything and simply stared at the door.
The door finally noticed that something was amiss and hesitantly continued: 「 ——I can also constantly reforge myself, even if I break to pieces, I’d still return to normal right away and be even sturdier. I’ve never been afraid of anything 」
Gu Qing Shan continued staring at the door for a while before he said:
“Earth sword”
A sword with an ancient design appeared from the void of space.
「 I’ve been listening 」the Earth sword answered in a mountainous heavy voice.
“Teach it how to behave” Gu Qing Shan said.
「 Got it 」the Earth sword replied.
Boom!!!
A series of banging noises abruptly resounded in the passage.
