Killing Dao Fruit
Chapter 210 - 207 Trapped in the Living Dragon Gate, Straying into Penglai Mountain

Chapter 210: Chapter 207 Trapped in the Living Dragon Gate, Straying into Penglai Mountain

Thud!

Still shirtless, Wang Yuan tumbled out from the "Yin Road" and landed on his bottom in the sand, heaving for breath.

After successively enduring the triple assaults aboard the Great Yan Treasure Ship and the intense military formation clashes set by Mr. Wufeng, Wang Yuan, who had just broken through, was indeed significantly drained.

Fortunately,

"We’ve finally escaped."

Once again setting foot on land, the solid ground beneath him, did Wang Yuan begin to reclaim the sense of security that he had long missed.

Turning his head to look at Zhou Jinhuan, who was also gasping for breath from the internal injuries caused by standing firm against the cannon bombardment, he couldn’t help but "concernedly" ask:

"Big Cousin, are you alright?"

This made the usually solitary King Jing’s heart warm.

Having just met, Wang Yuan had already saved him twice; this capable young cousin was truly someone he could rely on!

Yet before the moved sentiments could be voiced, Wang Yuan sincerely continued:

"I think it’s best if you quickly tell me where your concubine is imprisoned.

Your enemies are really too numerous, each link leading to the next, and accidents keep happening. I’m genuinely worried that you might lose your life carelessly, and then I’d be at a huge loss."

Hearing this, Zhou Jinhuan’s temples throbbed uncontrollably.

It turns out that younger brothers are inherently unlikable creatures.

Whether it was his paternal half-brothers from the imperial family, his cousins from the clan, or Wang Yuan, his maternal cousin.

Each had their own annoying traits.

Most crucially, the "Deceit Object・Trial Stone" had confirmed that he was speaking from the heart, clearly revealing his true thoughts.

Truthful words are the most hurtful, indeed.

Zhou Jinhuan took a few deep breaths to suppress the urge to lash out.

However, after a bit of reflection, he actually found Wang Yuan’s words to be very reasonable.

In the past, he had always fought alone, but now, upon finding an ally he could fight alongside, it was only natural to increase the margin for error.

He thus organized his thoughts and candidly began:

"I spent eight years in Yunjing City, and after I was enfeoffed at the age of twenty, I spent another seven years in Dengzhou Prefecture.

During this time, I tried every means to collect the names of guards from the King Jing Mansion from fifteen years ago.

I’m very clear that those who carried out the mission to escort my mother must have been silenced by the emperor, but those who carried out the silencing may have survived.

More importantly, relative to the former, the latter would have had much closer ties to the emperor.

Most likely, they were confidants personally lifted from the dust by him, and many of their native places were within the Dengzhou Prefecture.

Therefore, over the years, I have been narrowing down the scope of my investigation, and recently I finally found some traces."

Not only Wang Yuan, but also Huang Wu, who had already returned to the "Five Senses Altar City", came back out, pricking up their ears together.

"Among these guards, there is one named Chen Zhuzhang, who has a ’Daoist Soldier’ level of Military Skill Realm, and based on comprehensive information, he was one of the most likely candidates to carry out the silencing mission.

Some days ago, when he returned to his hometown for a visit, I apprehended him en route and extracted part of the story from that year through interrogation.

Even though he was completely unaware of whom he had killed, nor did he ever dare to ask, he provided an extremely useful clue.

While he was dealing with the corpses, he discovered that many of their shoes were stained with reddish-brown mud, which seemed nondescript to others but he, having grown up on the shores of Yunhe County, recognized at a glance that it was unique to the mudflats at the mouth of the Turbid River!

Therefore, I deduced that my mother is likely imprisoned somewhere near the estuary of the Turbid River.

Moreover, it’s likely related to the "Yunhe Bridge" that was suddenly constructed fifteen years ago under the supervision of the Imperial Observatory Bureau.

However, despite my numerous investigations there, I’ve never found any abnormalities."

Zhou Jinhuan’s expression also became gradually despondent from the initial excitement; discovering the jail yet being unable to find the entrance was more upsetting than finding nothing at all.

"The estuary of the Turbid River? Yunhe Bridge?"

A thought struck Wang Yuan as the divination phrase, "On the banks of the Turbid River, the flower drum is shaken, the Red Dragon falls at Yunhe Bridge," resurfaced in his mind.

The predicted falling of the dragon at "Yunhe Bridge" in the divination wasn’t a mere coincidence, but had a deeper secret.

With that in mind, he silently took out the "Deceit Object・Heavenly Mechanism Mirror" he had purchased from the Great Yan Treasure Ship.

Ability: It can break through all barriers, realms, and even the thirty-three heavens and the Yin Department Underworld, clearly revealing the location of the thing one most desires.

The most important thing is, it will indicate the method to obtain that object.

[Sole Taboo: After achieving one’s desire, one will inevitably lose another thing of great importance.]

This Treasure’s ability was formidable, but its taboo was equally terrifying.

Truly befitting the name "Deceit Object," it already vaguely carried the notion of trading a life for a life.

But Wang Yuan was not one to indulge its whims and slapped it with a wave of "Enlightenment Immortal Light."

"If I can’t fix the ’Luban Ruler,’ then can’t I fix you? Change now!"

As the verses from the "Transcendence Scripture" rang from the mirror’s surface, the sole taboo of the "Heavenly Mechanism Mirror" sulkily changed its appearance.

[Sole Taboo: After achieving one’s desire, one must gift another thing of great importance to someone else. What to gift and to whom can be chosen freely.]

Wang Yuan then nodded in satisfaction and lifted the mirror, gently sweeping across the murky surface.

The other two also leaned in, watching the surface intently, afraid of missing the slightest detail.

"Eh, why so young?"

Indeed, the reflection of a peerless beauty appeared in the mirror.

However.

What was revealed was not his aunt Qingyan, whom Wang Yuan longed to find, but the closely snuggled... Huang Wu.

To add fuel to the fire, a line of text promptly appeared on the mirror.

——Hint: Though the marriage fate is predestined, to truly obtain her, you must get the mother-in-law’s approval.

Wang Yuan’s expression suddenly stiffened, and a blush spread across Huang Wu’s cheeks as she spat lightly and pinched his waist hard with her small hand.

Zhou Jinhuan: ...

In short, the scene became extremely awkward for a moment.

How to put it, the saying ’the nephew’s devotion carries but slight affection’ seemed apt. One had filial piety, yet not much to spare.

Zhou Jinhuan, who couldn’t bear watching after being struck dumb, snatched the mirror from his extremely reliable cousin at critical times but utterly unreliable at unimportant times.

He gently brushed across the mirror surface himself.

Seeing the figure that appeared, the three of them finally let out a sigh of relief.

It was good news; the nephew might not be reliable, but the son’s filial piety had not deteriorated.

In the mirror was a face that bore a seventy percent resemblance to Huang Wu, yet it was much more mature and delicately featured.

Only, her eyes were tightly shut, already unaware of how long she had been asleep.

Then the picture expanded bit by bit, showing a tall body bound by rune chains, forced to curl up.

Outside of that, a copper ball engraved with countless runes tightly enclosed the body.

And the copper ball was floating in an uncertain place, surrounded by gloomy sea water with no top or bottom in sight.

There was a scale-like symbol on the mirror surface indicating that the Heavenly Mechanism Mirror had projected everything within a ten-mile radius.

But looking up and down, aside from water, no reference point could be found.

"Combining information from both sides, this place is likely to be in the sea outside of the Yunhe Bridge.

But the fact that there’s sea water as deep as ten miles within the vicinity indicates it’s not in the real sea but trapped within a special realm!"

Wang Yuan concluded, and the other two’s eyes lit up in unison, exclaiming in chorus:

"It’s the Living Dragon Gate!"

Three dragon gates open once every thirty-six years, producing seventy-two mixed dragons.

Upon closing, they accumulate and nurture the Spirit Mechanism from the Turbid River; when opening, they release the accumulated Spirit Mechanism of thirty-six years in a short time.

It feeds the creatures striving for Leaping Dragon Gate and Flood Dragon Sea to attain dragon forms.

Finally, knowing the place of captivity, Wang Yuan couldn’t help but frown in excitement:

"Using heaven and earth as a prison? Huo Langlong, the ’Fallen Dragon,’ really knows how to plan.

Entering the Dragon Gate is easy when it closes, but hard to exit, and rescuing someone would mean forcibly breaking the Dragon Gate.

But who doesn’t know that even the Green Seal Strange Immortal, comparable to a sage, can’t do anything about this kind of natural phenomenon, let alone others?"

And at that moment, the mirror also displayed a rescue hint:

Life or death?

"Nonsense!"

As Zhou Jinhuan touched "life," a transparent pill furnace standing on the mountain peak immediately appeared in the mirror, with a spirit light-filled elixir pill floating and sinking inside.

"Obtain this to save a life!"

After leaving the last clue, the image froze, no longer responding.

Clearly, the Heavenly Mechanism Mirror had a way of rescuing the person, but there was no need to hint at the next step before they completed this one successfully.

"What’s going on, why does the island in this mirror look so much like the place we’re standing on?"

Wang Yuan looked around and realized there was a large patch of white mist enveloping the island not far off.

Behind him, there were palaces and pavilions made of gold and silver on the island, with Lingzhi and jade-like grass everywhere, resembling a heavenly realm of immortals.

In an instant, information he had gleaned from the Ship Captain came to mind.

"Above the East Sea are Three Immortals Mountains: Penglai, Yingzhou, and Fangzhang, dwellings of immortals.

Penglai Immortal Mountain, seventy-two miles northeast of Red-Tail Island, golden and silver structures make up its palaces, and Pearl Pavilion Trees grow in abundance, their fruits full of flavor, eating them grants immortality!

This is the residence ruled by the Scaleless Young Master."

Affected by the Inverted Chaos Talisman, Wang Yuan thought he had reached Red-Tail Island.

But the actual place they arrived at was the exact opposite—Penglai Immortal Mountain!