Questioning Heaven, Desiring the Way - Chapter 110

“What do you think?” Gu Suihan suddenly turned to ask Zhou Xingwen with a teasing smile on his face.

“A legacy? Secret keys?” Zhou Xingwen looked rather excited because this was a major opportunity for his cultivation to advance. But when he heard how Gu Suihan spoke so emotionlessly, he couldn’t help but shudder, and the excitement burning in his heart felt like it had just been doused in cold water. The greedy look blazing in his eyes slowly disappeared, and it was replaced with a rather humbled and thankful look instead.

“There’s a problem,” he said after inspecting the platform more carefully and giving it some thought. “Firstly, he claimed there’s a legacy and that he has one secret key, but he didn’t say where. Secondly, if someone takes the key away from the secret realm, doesn’t that mean this legacy can never be activated?”

“Also, this fellow was definitely not some cultivator who was just meditating and died. Nobody has ever heard of this secret realm in the past few centuries. How did he discover it?” Gu Suihan snorted. “Unless…there’s another entrance. Perhaps that’s the actual entrance to the secret realm. The one we entered by was merely an entrance forced open by the combined energies of the leading members from each sect.”

“Even so, where could he have hidden that secret key?” Zhou Xingwen’s gaze flickered as he frowned disapprovingly at the pile of rotten items they had poured out from the dead man’s storage ring.

“Who said the secret key had to be in the shape of a key?” Gu Suihan stood on the platform and used his spiritual sense to search the rock very carefully.

After that, he sat down where the straw cushion was earlier and looked around him.

“The platform isn’t hiding anything, and it’s unlikely that it’s just lying around in the cave because that wouldn’t make sense. So it’s got to be here.” Gu Suihan suddenly looked up and stared straight at the luminous pearls set in the shape of a plum blossom above the platform.

“The secret key is here?” Zhou Xingwen followed Gu Suihan’s gaze and looked up at the roof of the cave. Excitement filled his eyes as he ran and leapt to try and grab at the luminous pearls.

Gu Suihan scoffed to himself but did not stop Zhou Xingwen.

If the spiritual beast that this dead cultivator owned was so dangerous and clever, Gu Suihan was sure that the man himself was much more dangerous and intelligent. He was certain that there was a trap somewhere.

He didn’t mind letting Zhou Xingwen give it a shot. If things didn’t work out, he’d just kill Zhou Xingwen and absorb his soul.

Even though everything Gu Suihan had said about swearing by the Way earlier was true, it was really hard to find anybody who could have a mind like Gu Suihan’s. Gu Suihan was neither good nor evil because that wasn’t how he operated at all. He did everything for the sake of attaining the Way, so as long as his actions aligned with that, no demons could grow and sway him.

Immediately after Zhou Xingwen’s hands touched one of the luminous pearls, the entire cave went dark, as if the pearls in the cave roof had absorbed all the light.

“Too bad.” Gu Suihan quickly figured out what was probably going to happen next and narrowed his eyes as he looked up at Zhou Xingwen.

The luminous pearl suddenly darkened and turned into a thick blackish brown liquid that slithered onto Zhou Xingwen’s arm before he could pull it away.

“What is this?!” Zhou Xingwen’s face paled as he tried to shake it off his arm.

Unfortunately, that black thing was firmly stuck to his arm like a leech. On top of that, it was also trying to expand to other parts of his body. Several wriggling legs stretched out toward his chest and abdomen as bloodthirsty red eyes lit up in the darkness.

“It’s a Spirit Devouring Worm!” Gu Suihan finally recognised this disgusting creature. He immediately turned and ran toward the entrance of the cave before Zhou Xingwen could call out to him. There was no way he could fight this thing as a mere Foundation Establishment cultivator. It was better to run while the creature was preoccupied with someone else.

“Junior brother, save me!” roared Zhou Xingwen at the top of his lungs. The right arm that the black creature had wrapped itself around earlier was no longer there, leaving behind an empty sleeve. They seemed very hungry and moved rapidly toward Zhou Xingwen’s neck.

Anything that it touched would have their Spiritual Meridians wrung dry, so there was no way for Zhou Xingwen to gather his spiritual energy properly. Excruciating pain hit Zhou Xingwen’s consciousness continuously like huge ocean waves.

“You can’t just abandon me like that!” Zhou Xingwen’s face was distorted from his anger and despair as he decided to take Gu Suihan down with him for deserting him. His healthy left hand made a gesture that formed a symbol in the air. He used the little spiritual energy he had left to turn the symbol into a seal and sent this dim but swift seal toward the fast disappearing Gu Suihan.

“Damn you!” Gu Suihan’s expression turned nasty as he felt his light body suddenly become unnaturally heavy. The sudden change nearly made him trip over himself.

“A hefty mountain seal!” Gu Suihan gritted his teeth as he turned to look at Zhou Xingwen, whose body was already half consumed by the black creature. The murderous nature Gu Suihan had kept hidden earlier suddenly exploded from deep inside his heart. Questioning Heaven leapt out of its sheath, turning the entire cave into a sea of blood. Countless vengeful souls and angry ghosts howled and wailed as innumerable broken limbs and minced flesh covered the ground.

“Kill them all! Three Lives Annihilating Sword – Severing the Previous Life!”

Waves of blood attached themselves to the sword, the reddish-brown blood mixed in with the dim golden sword qi from the blade. The sword gleaming with a blood red looked like it could slice through anything as it came down on Zhou Xingwen.

“Three Lives Annihilating Sword – Extinguishing the Current Life!”

His attack struck the black creature with one hit. Gu Suihan took a step forward as his sword’s glow drew a white line in the air. His intense murderous qi was hidden within this seemingly gorgeous and clean line, waiting to burst forth at the right moment.

Screeeeech! The black creature let out an ear-piercing screech. It instantly covered the rest of Zhou Xingwen, who was left with only his head and torso, as though it felt threatened, bravely facing Gu Suihan’s sword head-on.

“Now!” An unending wave of murderous qi exploded, solidifying into an almost solid block of sword qi that chopped the creature into two even as it screeched and shrieked.

Bam! There was a heavy sound of something landing, but when Gu Suihan took a closer look, it was merely a green robe and a completely empty skull that had landed on the ground.

It seemed like the creature was still hungry. It moved about on the ground, and the two halves of the creature quickly merged into one again. It screeched loudly and glared hatefully at Gu Suihan.

“Three Lives Annihilating Sword – Wiping Out the Next Life!”

Questioning Heaven buzzed loudly, and the battlefield seemed to turn into hell itself. The sword reabsorbed the spirits and limbs that had appeared earlier. The whole place stank of blood, but Gu Suihan had a completely calm look on his face. His weapon gleamed golden like the sun, its brilliant glow filling the entire place.

Past, present and future lifetimes faded into oblivion as though they had never existed. Only the current moment was real.

It was as though Questioning Heaven weighed 5,000 kilograms as it swept through the cave like a broom sweeping fallen leaves, natural and effortless. An indifferent aura that seemed otherworldly emanated from Gu Suihan’s body.

In that instant, it was as if he had broken free from mortality to become a buddha who had attained nirvana, his expression both peaceful and genial.

“Everything is futility. You should not have existed till today.”

Gu Suihan’s gaze was as unfeeling as ice, as though he was a supreme-ruler who could decide right from wrong, pronouncing judgment on the guilty. His sword was like a pen that kept a record of sins. Its glow seemed to be able to destroy all things and was completely heartless as it flew soundlessly toward the Spirit Devouring Worm even as it shrieked in terror.

The sword’s glow sliced across the creature silently, like it was cutting through mere smoke, taking away all the evil in the land with it, as well as any traces of the creature ever existing.

Immediately after he had returned the sword to its sheath, Gu Suihan spewed a few mouthfuls of blood as though he had just been struck by lightning. He collapsed weakly to the ground and lay tiredly among the scattered bones around him.

His clothes were torn, and his face was pale as he stared in a daze at the roof of the cave. He perspired profusely, leaving a damp mark on the ground.

After resting for a while, he used the little strength he had left to swallow some pills. “Whose domain is this? I can’t believe they left an ancient beast behind,” thought Gu Suihan as he leaned against the platform.