From a loser to an immortal sage

Chapter 476 A Battle of Wits in the Maze

When the fragrance of plum blossoms, mixed with a damp coolness, reached my nose from beneath the stone steps, I realized that my palms were covered in sweat.

Wen Chen's hand covered mine, his fingertips brushing against the wound on my shoulder where the sword had cut me, his touch rough yet warm: "Does it hurt?"

"It doesn't hurt." I shook my head, the three flowers in my arms were burning hot, like three little suns.

Ling'er said the real test was just beginning, but I was still a little stunned as I stared at the suddenly unfolding bluish-gray stone wall in front of me—those places that should have been steps had somehow become countless forks in the road, and the stone wall was covered with dark patterns, like talismans carved into flesh by a knife.

"This is a maze formation." Wen Chen's voice was right beside my ear, his sleeve brushing against the back of my hand. "It's a common trap in Immortal Venerable ruins; to break it, you need to find the right 'gate of life.'"

Before the words were finished, a pale golden mist seeped out from the stone wall on the left.

Ling'er's figure slowly solidified, the epiphyllum in her hair still trembling gently: "Xiao Yao, look at the star patterns on the wall." She pointed her finger to the nearest stone wall, where tiny starlight flowed within the dark patterns. "The star map on each brick corresponds to the position of the Twenty-Eight Mansions."

The Gate of Life is located at... the position of the Horn constellation.

My heart started beating faster.

In my past life, when I was browsing through ancient books in the library, I saw a similar star array recorded in the "Records of Star Enclosures". But when I actually faced it, those obscure star names were still a jumbled mess in my mind.

I tiptoed closer to the nearest brick, and the star pattern magnified in my pupils—seven stars connected in a sickle shape, was it Arcturus?

No, Spica should have two main stars...

"Here." Wen Chen suddenly reached out and pointed his fingertip at a brick about half a person's height to my right.

His body heat seeped through my sleeves, and I realized he was standing incredibly close to me, the scent of plum blossoms in his hair clearly audible: "Spica and Spica form an acute angle pointing north."

I looked in the direction of his finger and sure enough, the star patterns on the two bricks, though faint, did indeed form an acute angle.

Ling'er laughed out loud, and a few specks of gold dust fell from the epiphyllum in her hair: "As expected, Immortal Venerable Wen remembers clearly."

Three hundred years ago, when this formation was set up, he personally carved the last brick.

Three hundred years ago?

I turned to look at Wen Chen. The tips of his ears were slightly red in the dim light. He looked away and coughed lightly, "I've come here with Master before."

It turned out to be the case.

I suddenly remembered the confidence he had when he always said "I'm here"—he had already brewed a sense of security over the years for those past experiences that I had to fight with all my might to reach.

Based on the location of the constellation Spica, we chose the third fork in the road from the left.

The stone wall slowly closed behind us, and the sound of footsteps hitting the stone wall was like knocking on an empty jar.

After walking for about half an incense stick's time, when I counted to the seventh brick engraved with the Heart Constellation, the road suddenly disappeared ahead.

"A dead end?" I clutched the flower in my arms, the petals crumpled from my grip.

The three flowers flared up simultaneously, as if trying to remind someone of something.

Wen Chen didn't speak. He squatted down and gently tapped the ground with his sword sheath. After a muffled "thump," he tapped the ground half a foot to the left, this time with a soft "hollow" sound. "There's a hidden compartment." He pressed his knuckles against the brick, a slight surge of spiritual energy, and the brick "cracked" indented three inches, revealing a gap half a finger wide.

I crouched down beside him and leaned closer to take a look.

A stronger fragrance of plum blossoms wafted from the cracks, mingled with the damp, earthy smell. "Ling'er said the trial platform is downstairs?" I looked up, my eyes meeting his drooping eyelashes. "Could there be a trap?"

“I’m here.” He reached out and smoothed the strands of hair that had been tangled by the stone wall, his fingertips brushing against my burning earlobe. “The person who set up this formation back then… didn’t like killing, they only liked testing minds.”

I stared at that crack, and my heart suddenly started pounding.

The spiritual energy of the three flowers surged wildly through my veins, as if urging something on.

Wen Chen had already drawn his sword, the tip of which pried open the stone bricks in the hidden compartment, and a rumbling sound of stones shifting came from the ground—

"Go down." He turned around and extended his palm upwards in front of me.

The fragrance of plum blossoms enveloped his body warmth, which was more reassuring than any talisman.

The moment I placed my hand on it, a very faint flute sound suddenly seeped out from the dark passage.

It sounded like someone was playing a bone flute against the stone wall, the tune so familiar that it made my heart tighten—it was "Three Variations on Plum Blossom" that I often hear in modern times.

Wen Chen paused, then looked down at me with a seriousness I had never seen before in his eyes: "Yao Yao, whatever you see later..."

“I believe you.” I interrupted him and grasped his hand in return.

The light from the three flowers peeked through our clothes, casting dappled shadows on the backs of our clasped hands.

The wind in the secret passage suddenly changed direction, carrying the flute music deeper into the passage.

Wen Chen pulled me down the stone steps. The moss on the steps was so slippery it made me feel uneasy, but his hand remained as steady as a mountain.

When our feet finally touched solid ground, I heard a soft sound of stone bricks closing above my head.

Something moved in the darkness, like... the sound of countless eyes opening.

Wen Chen's spiritual power suddenly exploded around him, and a ghostly blue light illuminated the scene before him—

It was a huge bronze platform, with a stone tablet as tall as a person standing in the center of the platform.

I didn't recognize the characters on the monument, but the patterns sent chills down my spine—they were exactly the same as the streak of light that appeared by my bedside when I traveled through time.

The patterns on the bronze stele seemed to come alive, shimmering with a deep blue hue in the warm, dusty spiritual light.

Just as I was about to lean closer to get a better look, a chill suddenly ran down my neck—the flute melody of "Three Variations on Plum Blossom" had changed its tune, and the final note sounded jarring, as if it had been cut off by a sharp blade.

"Watch out!" Wen Chen's arm suddenly blocked my way.

His sword was drawn, its tip pointing in the direction of the stone steps we had come from.

In the darkness there, two eerie green lights rose up, like the eyes of wolves.

"Miss Xiao, Immortal Venerable Wen." A sinister laugh, carried on the wind, entered her ears, and Mo Feng emerged from the shadows of the stone steps.

He had a string of bronze bells hanging from his waist, which jingled with every step he took. "Impressive technique, even the illusion array has been broken."

However... "He made a hand seal with his fingertips, and those eerie green orbs suddenly expanded—they were actually hundreds of bronze puppets, with black blood seeping from their joints and evil fire flickering in their eye sockets."

My heart skipped a beat.

The three flowers in my arms suddenly burned painfully, as if warning me of danger.

The spiritual power of the Key of Destiny surged up my veins, and I grabbed Wen Chen's wrist with my other hand: "It's a tracking puppet!"

He marked us!

"During the breaking of the formation," Wen Chen pressed his thumb heavily on my wrist, his spiritual energy flowing in like a warm spring, calming my surging blood and qi, "he tampered with the star-patterned bricks."

Before the words were even finished, the puppet at the front swung its bronze fist at them.

Wen Chen spun around and shielded me behind him. The moment the sword wind swept past, the puppet's arm snapped off with a "crack".

But more puppets surged down the stone steps, flooding the gaps around our feet like a tide.

"Yao Yao, use the Key of Destiny!" Wen Chen's back was taut like a bowstring. He grabbed my hand and pressed it against his chest. "I'll channel my spiritual energy into you to hold up the barrier!"

I gritted my teeth and nodded.

The warmth of his palm against his chest allowed me to clearly feel the rhythm of his spiritual energy circulation—steady, powerful, like the beat of a drum on an ancient bell.

The light from the Key of Destiny burst forth from our fingertips, condensing into a semi-transparent dome around us.

When the puppet's fist slammed down, the cover rippled, my temples throbbed, and all I could hear was the rapid beating of my own heart.

"I can't hold on any longer." I gasped for breath, my forehead pressed against Wen Chen's back.

His clothes were soaked with cold sweat, yet he still steadily protected me. "These puppets... are raised on the resentment of evil cultivators, and they're draining my spiritual energy!"

"Mo Feng is gathering resentment at the array's core." Wen Chen's voice was a little hoarse. He suddenly turned to the side, his sword flashing and drawing a gap in the barrier. "Ten steps to the right!"

There's a crevice in the rocks there, a 'turning' point in the maze!

I followed his gaze and saw a crack about half a finger's width on the stone wall, hidden in the shadow of the bronze stele.

Mo Feng's laughter grew louder: "Immortal Venerable Wen is still so protective of his own?"

"Unfortunately, I figured out the escape route of this maze three hundred years ago—" With a flick of his wrist, the bronze bell shattered into dust. "Tear them apart!"

Hundreds of puppets simultaneously emitted shrieks.

I saw the evil fire in the eye sockets of the nearest puppet surge, and spiderweb-like cracks appeared on the barrier of the Key of Destiny.

Wen Chen suddenly grabbed my wrist and shoved half a jade pendant into my palm: "Crush it, lure the puppet into the crevice." He pressed his fingertips heavily against the back of my hand. "I'll count to three, then you run."

"No!" I gripped the jade pendant tightly, my nails almost digging into my flesh. "If we're going to go, we'll go together!"

“Yao Yao.” He looked down at me, his eyes reflecting the raging evil fire outside the barrier. “There are the ‘soul-locking nails’ I laid out in the cracks of the rocks back then.”

"You have to lead them in before I can close the array." He smoothed the stray hairs stuck to my forehead with sweat. "Trust me."

My throat tightened, and I nodded.

Wen Chen suddenly withdrew the spiritual power protecting me, and the barrier shattered with a "bang".

The moment I crushed the jade pendant, the jade fragments turned into white light and shot into the crack in the stone.

As if their souls had been ripped out, the puppets collectively changed direction and chased the white light into the cracks in the rocks.

"Run!" Wen Chen's hand slammed heavily on my lower back.

I staggered toward the crevice in the rock, and when I looked back I saw him swing his sword at the rock wall—where the blade passed, the star patterns on the rock wall suddenly shone as bright as day.

Mo Feng's exclamation was drowned out by the roar of the rocks shattering. The moment I rushed into the crevice, I heard a muffled "click" behind me, like the sound of some kind of mechanism closing.

The path through the cracks in the rocks was narrower than the dark passage, and I could only move forward by clinging to the rock wall.

The sounds of the puppets crashing behind us grew fainter and fainter until they disappeared completely.

I leaned against the stone wall, panting, and then I realized that my palms were covered in blood—I had squeezed the jade pendant too hard, and a piece of jade had pierced my flesh.

"Wen Chen!" I called his name, my voice echoing against the stone wall. "Wen Chen?"

“Yes.” His voice came from behind.

I turned around and saw him squeezing in from the other side of the crevice. His robes were torn to shreds by the stone wall, but he was still holding his sword. "The array's core is closed."

Mo Feng escaped, but all the puppets were locked in their 'folding' positions and wouldn't be able to get out for the time being.

I threw myself into his arms.

He smelled of blood mixed with a faint scent of plum blossoms, which made my eyes sting. "You scared me to death just now," I said in a muffled voice, my fingers clutching his collar. "If you..."

"No." He lowered his head and kissed the top of my head. "I promised to be with you until the end."

A ray of light suddenly pierced through the crack in the rock.

I looked up and saw a six-petaled plum blossom carved on the stone wall above me—the pattern of which was exactly the same as the three flowers in my arms.

Wen Chen followed my gaze and said softly, "Those are the markings of the ruins."

After passing this point...

“It’s the secret treasure chamber,” I replied.

But for some reason, looking at that ray of light only made me feel more uneasy.

The patterns on the bronze stele, the light traces from the journey, the tracking marks that suddenly appeared in the ink... these fragments swirled in my mind, like a puzzle piece missing a piece.

Wen Chen seemed to notice my unusual behavior. He took my hand and ran his fingertips over the wound on my palm: "Does it hurt?"

“It doesn’t hurt.” I shook my head and squeezed his hand back. “It’s just… I feel like there’s something I don’t understand.”

He smiled and used his spiritual power to stop my bleeding: "Perhaps we can find the answer once we enter the secret chamber."

The light outside the crack in the rock grew brighter and brighter.

As we walked forward in the light, the fragrance of plum blossoms grew stronger and stronger, as if it were seeping into our bones.

I heard the sound of flowing water ahead, and the humming of some kind of object vibrating—like... the sound of a treasure chest being opened.

Wen Chen's hand tightened. I looked up at him, and he was looking at me too, his eyes sparkling.

“Let’s go,” he said. “The real test is about to begin.”