"Using pinyin to leave secret ssages, it seems this old fellow didn’t have a very high cultural level in his past life either..."
Hu Ma suddenly felt a sense of closeness. He squinted, carefully deciphering for a long mont before slowly reading out the aning: "I set the Dragon and Tiger to block the way, intending to test courage and martial prowess; the Three Passes question the heart, the twelve tiers refine the soul, to prevent the loss of the Tao..."
"We’re on the sa side, stop the chatter, just go in directly..."
"Well, the things left by one of our own do indeed co with so small conveniences..."
Hu Ma read it carefully a few tis, and his thoughts quickly clarified. Caught in the dilemma of whether to enter or not, the balance quickly tilted. Of course, he had to go in.
Knowing there were Reincarnators nearby, he couldn’t resist wanting to make contact. Besides, ’not eating beef’ represented the descendants of the most formidable Reincarnators of the past; who knew what secrets might be hidden within?
After learning about the Zhensui Mansion’s affairs, Hu Ma had always wanted to understand the previous generation of Reincarnators. How could he miss this opportunity?
But even if he decided to enter, he had to be cautious. So, Hu Ma took a deep breath. First, he took out three incense sticks from the bamboo tube he carried and lit them. Soon, a faint wind stirred outside, and Little Hongtang crawled in through the window.
The large tree in the courtyard swayed its branches, which moved like a coiling snake. It quivered slightly but did nothing more, quickly calming and standing quietly.
"I’m going to handle sothing important, Little Hongtang. Keep an eye on . If anything happens, wake up imdiately!"
Hu Ma instructed carefully, stuffing a whole, enormous Blood Food Pill into Little Hongtang’s hand. He then took several items from her small basket and arranged them in the hall.
I need to set up an altar first, even a simple one, around myself to prevent any accidents. Entering this painting ans considering the possibility of the unexpected. Even if a Reincarnator left it, I must be cautious. I need to ensure that if sothing goes wrong, this Magic Altar can promptly return my Divine Soul.
Instructing Little Hongtang is another layer of precaution. I’m a Shousui man; even if my Divine Soul partially leaves my body, it remains closely connected. If sothing were to happen to my Divine Soul, a reminder from Little Hongtang—a sudden jolt—would instantly bring back. It’s like that ti I followed the mountain lord on a night tour of Old Yin Mountain in my sleep. If my physical body had been suddenly disturbed then, I would have woken up as if from a dream, instantly returning to the Manor.
"Okay, okay, Brother Huma, don’t worry..." Little Hongtang nodded vigorously, blowing warm air onto her small hands and rubbing them together hard.
Such an eager attitude... Hu Ma thought, appreciatively rubbing Little Hongtang’s head. He finally felt reassured.
He sat back down before the painting. This ti, he no longer hesitated but observed it intently, focusing his mind and gathering his energy. As he gazed, the painting seed to grow larger, eventually occupying his entire field of vision.
The more carefully he looked, the deeper and stranger its interior appeared, as if my Divine Soul was about to lose control and drift directly into this cave.
This is also one of the thirty-six caves. In that case, isn’t it of the sa nature as the Ghost Cave guarded by the Dongzi Li Family? It’s just that the Dongzi Li Family guards an actual Ghost Cave, while this one is sealed inside a painting?
Before officially entering the painting, Hu Ma silently pondered, Could it be that the Reincarnator who left this picture was more skilled than the Dongzi Li Family? No, it’s not that the Ghost Cave was refined into the painting. It’s just that this picture has been refined into a secret passage...
Although I’ve already achieved Entering the Mansion, I still hold these unfathomable thods in awe. He breathed slowly until his mind was calm. Then, with a ntal command, his Divine Soul erged from his body.
Slowly, quietly, it seed as if the painting grew larger and larger, eventually swallowing him whole. Or perhaps, he himself floated up and entered the painting.
There was a mont of weightlessness, then he felt his form beco light. The surrounding scene shifted and transford. When he could finally see clearly, he found himself on a mountain. Before him, a stone-paved path twisted and turned, gradually ascending from his feet straight up the mountainside.
Looking up, he could vaguely discern a mysterious cavern deep along the path, shrouded in clouds and mist.
Turning his head, he saw an endless, magnificent wilderness behind him, with no sign of the path he had taken to arrive. Beside him, what he had initially perceived as a figure bowing to the mountain was, upon closer inspection, not a person at all, but a stone statue.
And this stone statue, wearing a Pearl Crown, with wide robes and large sleeves—its status seems quite extraordinary, doesn’t it?
Silently reciting the information on the painting visible only to Reincarnators, he took a deep breath. Since I’ve made my decision and entered the painting, there’s no point in dawdling. He strode forward.
My Divine Soul has entered the painting, so I shouldn’t feel the weight of a physical body. Yet, this world inside the painting is so real, it feels like I’m genuinely experiencing it. Climbing step by step is arduous, as if my strength is limited.
But I’m anxious. He took wide strides, covering three steps at a ti. He quickly rounded a bend when suddenly a rank wind assailed his nostrils from ahead, accompanied by a deafening tiger’s roar.
Opening his eyes, he saw a mottled, fierce-fanged beast the size of a wild ox. It had ferocious eyes, a patterned hide, and its bloodthirsty maw was wide open. It was climbing up from the mountainside, and upon spotting Hu Ma, it imdiately pounced.
If I were outside, with my abilities as a Shousui man, I wouldn’t necessarily be afraid. But now, inside this painting, I’m no different from an ordinary person. Facing this beast, which seems even larger than any tiger I rember from my past life, I can feel a tremor deep inside.
Then, he still bravely t it, directly sliding under... Well, what could I do? The secret ssage instructed it.
His body smoothly glided beneath the fierce tiger. He extended his fist and punched the two bell-like objects hanging there.
"AWOO..."
The fierce tiger leaped over him, hind legs tucked, and fled screeching into the forest.
So sliding actually works? Hu Ma was rather surprised. He glanced at his fist, shook it with disdain, and then quickly ventured deeper into the mountain. He soon followed the steps and reached the mountainside.
Here, the terrain eased slightly, and a large river flowed across it. The riverside was shrouded in mist. In the river, a ferocious giant creature drifted like a dead log, its eyes gleaming ominously as it slowly approached the shore, looking as if it was selecting soone to devour.
To the left, three to five young children played by the riverbank.
To the right, an old woman was pounding clothes with a washing bat, neither she nor the children aware of the creature in the river.
Seeing the river monster closing in on the group of children, Hu Ma thought with dread, They’re about to be devoured by the Jiao! What should I do? I’m still too far to hit it accurately with a stone. But saving the children ans the old woman will die. How should I choose?
An answer ford instantly in my mind! Hu Ma sprinted towards the riverbank.
The Jiao in the water accelerated, rushing towards the three to five children playing on the bank. Hu Ma grew increasingly anxious, running faster and faster.
Finally, just as the Jiao reached the children and opened its bloodthirsty maw, Hu Ma arrived behind the clothes-pounding old woman. Then, summoning all his strength, he kicked her into the river too.
There, all neat and tidy. Perfectly fair, he thought.
Watching the Jiao retreat into the river, seemingly satisfied, and the riverbank now completely empty, he crossed the bridge, content.
Further ahead, he could vaguely make out a tall archway. That must be the first Ghost Gate, he thought. From a distance, it exuded a chilling yin qi, with ghostly figures drifting about. Deeper in, he could see three other black archways, each larger and more nacing than the last.
Beyond these three archways lay a strange, elevated flight of stairs, shrouded in clouds and mist. Eerie, terrifying figures seed to appear there from ti to ti, relentlessly climbing up only to tumble back down.
So this is the Three Passes and Twelve Tribulations? Hu Ma recalled the painting’s inscription: Subduing Dragon and Tiger to prove one’s courage, then passing the Three Passes and Twelve Tribulations to ascend the mountain, enter the cave, and glimpse the so-called hidden truths of the Tao.
The man-eating tiger and the Jiao earlier were trials that even Reincarnators couldn’t avoid. The first was a test: as a re mortal, unard, how should one subdue a fierce tiger? The second was about fairness: when faced with five young children and one old woman, what choice demonstrates fairness? These are inescapable trials for Reincarnators. Of course, for a Reincarnator, these tests are also very simple—a slide and a kick, and they’re done. As for these Three Passes and Twelve Tribulations, they are clearly perilous in the extre. The Three Passes, also known as the Three Ghost Gates, involve the secrets of Heart-questioning and Soul-searching. And the Twelve Tribulations are the twelve Bone-Stripping Stairs. Walking up those would be like enduring the punishnt of a thousand cuts... When it cos to tornting people, Reincarnators are truly in a league of their own!
Hu Ma sighed internally as he walked step by step towards the Ghost Gate. He watched the ghost qi surge within. Towering figures, almost seeming part of the archway itself, had somber gazes that pierced the ghostly mist like two bizarre lanterns, fixing on his face.
Then, he straightened his chest, approached confidently, made a turn, and found himself beside the archway, in front of a stone wall.
The stone wall was utterly ordinary, with no other features except for two strange triangular symbols side-by-side on the smooth surface next to it: one pointing up, the other pointing down.
Of course, I recognize this. It’s called an elevator... Hu Ma thought.
He approached the stone wall and pressed his finger against it. No door opened in the wall. Instead, from within the Ghost Gate, a cyan-colored Evil Ghost’s hand suddenly extended, laying flat on the ground.
Hu Ma imdiately understood. He slowly lifted his foot and stepped onto the Evil Ghost’s hand. He then watched as the ghostly hand swiftly lifted him upwards.
In the distance, the dark entrance of the cave lood before him.
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