Chapter 376

Chapter 377: A Sudden Rift

Hearing the senior brothers talk, Yu Sheng rubbed his chin and looked thoughtful. When Yuan Hao finished, he nodded lightly and said: “No matter what, we should at least go once, to that planet called ‘Sentinel Silence’. I want to see it myself.”

Immortal Yuan Ling nodded with a grave face: “At the very least, we must trace the roots of those Evil Path Cultivators. There are many of them, they act in order, and they have an Immortal Patriarch watching over them. They have clearly taken shape. If we do not deal with them soon, there will be great trouble later.”

All this time, Xuan Che had quietly listened to his elders and hardly spoken. He now stepped forward and said: “Master, I am willing to go with Mr. Yu.”

Immortal Yuan Ling nodded: “I trust you to handle matters. But since someone like Yun Qing Zi stands behind this, a few more good hands must go, or it will be extremely dangerous.”

Before he finished, Immortal Yuan Hao waved his hand: “No problem. I will go with Xuan Che. I also know that place better, so you can be at ease.”

Immortal Yuan Ling did not relax at all. If anything, he grew more uneasy as he looked his eldest senior brother up and down. After a long pause, he squeezed out: “If you go, I am even less at ease.”

Old Hunk stiffened and said with some irritation: “What do you mean?”

Yuan Ling said at once: “Seventy years ago you took Xuan Che down the mountain to go clubbing. Sixty years ago you taught him to race Flying Swords. Fifty years ago you collided with a Celestial Ship at the top of the atmosphere while taking him along. You were unharmed, he lay in bed for a month. About every ten years you lead him into trouble. Only twelve years ago, when you suffered a romantic mishap, did the child finally get a break.”

Before he even finished, Yuan Hao’s face could not hold. Old Hunk waved both hands, embarrassed: “That is not fair. Kids have to see the world. Xuan Che is naturally honest. If he follows you making pills every day, he will turn dull. As his senior uncle, how could I harm him? Also, fifty years ago you misunderstood me. I protected him first.”

Yuan Ling said: “Yes, you protected him by pushing him behind you with a palm. With your lofty realm, getting hit in the head by a Celestial Ship would not hurt you at all. It was Xuan Che who got sent flying to the Remote Mist Sect. By the way, the money for repairing Remote Mist Sect’s mountain gate was paid by your junior brother Yuan He on your behalf. You still have not paid him back.”

“Wait, wait. We have a guest, we have a guest.”

“So you know there is a guest!”

The two old men bickered like that. Yu Sheng and Irene stood to the side, not sure how to react, and backed up half a step to avoid getting dragged in. He looked up and saw Xuan Che also take half a step back.

Then Yu Sheng and Xuan Che quietly moved off to one side. Irene gave the latter a sympathetic look and said: “It cannot have been easy for you to grow up.”

Xuan Che hurried to say in a whisper, as if worried others would get the wrong idea: “I still like Elder Senior Uncle. He taught me a lot.”

What could Yu Sheng say? From Xuan Che’s reaction, he knew Immortal Yuan Ling had gotten mad for nothing. The disciple he had raised all these years had already been led down the crooked path by that talented Elder Senior Uncle. His honest look now was probably just the dormant stage.

Then Yu Sheng remembered Immortal Yuan Ling’s username and thought: [With a username like Wicked Disciple 4000, he has probably made peace with this.]

Just then, his pocket buzzed. The thought broke off at once.

Yu Sheng took out his phone and saw a name on the screen: Zheng Zhi.

Just seeing those two characters made his heart jolt. He answered at once: “Hello, this is Yu Sheng.”

A moment later, his big nephew’s voice came through, flustered but trying to stay calm: “Brother Yu, something is wrong here. Please come over right now, and it would be best to bring Old Immortal too.”

Yu Sheng spoke fast: “What is going on? Where are you?”

“I am on the Cloud Viewing Terrace,” Zheng Zhi said, lowering his voice as if something deadly was moving in his sight. “The sky has split open. The crack goes straight into the mountains, but everyone else says they cannot see it.”

Yu Sheng swore and then spoke quickly: “Got it. I am on my way. Go into Wutong Road 66 right now, or into your little house, whichever is closer. Close the door and do not run around. Do not come out before I get there.”

“Okay, okay. Brother Yu, hurry.” Zheng Zhi hung up.

The noise on Yu Sheng’s side reached the senior brothers. The two old men stopped bickering at once, even though Immortal Yuan Hao still looked quite young. Immortal Yuan Ling caught the seriousness on Yu Sheng’s face and came over at once: “What happened?”

Yu Sheng said quickly: “Zheng Zhi saw a large anomaly on the Cloud Viewing Terrace. I am afraid the Otherworld is about to open a door again. Forget the old trifles. Let’s go now.”

As he spoke, he reached into the air. A Phantom Door took shape in his hand in an instant. On the other side of the door, the view of the Cloud Viewing Terrace appeared.

Xuan Che stepped through without a word. Immortal Yuan Ling walked toward the door, then suddenly stopped and looked back at his senior and junior brothers: “What are you two waiting for? Move.”

Immortal Yuan He snapped out of it. He forced down his doubts and crossed the door as told. In front of the door, Immortal Yuan Hao lifted his head with a frown and said in confusion: “How does this work?”

Yu Sheng almost spluttered: “Why does everyone ask that?”

Thankfully, he did not need to answer. In the next second, Immortal Yuan Ling pushed Yuan Hao straight through the doorway, leaving him no chance to keep studying.

Yu Sheng hoisted Irene and walked quickly through the door.

The warded courtyard went quiet at once. Soon, only a woman in a black dress and veil stood on the open ground. Lin Lang, who guarded the Heart Questioning Pavilion, watched as the master, senior uncles, senior brother, and even the odd “guest” all stepped across a door that had appeared from nothing and left. After a long moment, she blinked and whispered to herself: “Leaving the Heart Questioning Pavilion requires registration.”

By then, Yu Sheng had already arrived on the Cloud Viewing Terrace.

This high platform behind the Parted Clouds Palace looked normal. Beyond the carved railings, the sea of clouds rose and fell in the sunlight. The far sky was still beautiful, as if nothing had happened.

But the moment Yu Sheng arrived, he saw Rapunzel and Cinderella standing at the door of Wutong Road 66. The tension on their faces told him something really had happened.

He asked at once: “Where is Zheng Zhi?”

“He went inside,” Rapunzel said, pointing at Wutong Road 66. Then she looked at Yu Sheng with worry and said: “Brother, we also saw it.”

Yu Sheng stared: “What? You saw it too?”

She nodded fast and pointed toward the sky near the main peak of Thousand Peak Spirit Mountain: “Yes, just for a blink, very blurry, right when Zheng Zhi went in the door. Up there, a crack opened, like a nearly transparent black bolt of lightning, and it slashed into the forest below. It was so scary.”

Yu Sheng turned toward where she pointed. He saw only ordinary mountains and drifting clouds. Nothing else.

Just then, the door of Wutong Road 66 opened a crack. Zheng Zhi stuck out half his head and, seeing Yu Sheng, asked in a small voice: “Brother Yu, since you are here, can I come out?”

Yu Sheng could only laugh and cry: “Come out.”

Zheng Zhi came out, a bit braver now.

A moment later, Foxy and Luna also stepped out. Both were ready to fight. Luna had bright Fingertip Blades on both hands. Behind Foxy floated an Eight-Gate Fox Howitzer.

At the instant Zheng Zhi came out the door, Yuan Hao and Yuan He went wide-eyed. They stared at Wutong Road 66 without blinking and for a moment did not even know which sight to marvel at first. Immortal Yuan Hao had layered seven or eight talisman seals on himself and still could not figure out how that door had appeared out of thin air. Immortal Yuan He almost popped his eyes when he saw the many tails floating behind Foxy.

After holding it in for a long time, Immortal Yuan He clapped and said: “Hey, this is a hundred times better than my wicked students who can only breed amphibious cockroaches and battle mosquitos.”

Immortal Yuan Ling sighed with real pain: “A hundred times? A thousand. The strange things your unruly students raise are not just those two. If you do not rein in the brats at Beast Taming Peak, my medicine garden will be ruined.”

Immortal Yuan He ducked his head: “I will. I will.”

By then, Yu Sheng had already asked his big nephew about the Illusion Arts he had seen. Soon he had the rift’s position, shape, and how long it lasted, as well as the other suspicious shadows that showed up around it. After roughly judging where the rift seemed to land, a thought struck him.

He pointed toward the mountains and looked at Immortal Yuan Ling: “Look in that direction. Is that where the Demon Suppression Tower is?”

Silence fell over the Cloud Viewing Terrace.

Immortal Yuan Ling’s face went rigid. He followed Yu Sheng’s finger. Two seconds later he clapped his hands and said: “Not good.”