Chapter 983 — The Carefree Land of the Void

Shen Mu opened the door on the right for the second time. Again he opened it, and the scene within the room shifted once more — a murky darkness in which nothing whatsoever could be seen.

Suddenly the darkness split wide, and a gigantic eye filled the entire room!

Shen Mu slammed the door shut at once, his heart pounding wildly. "Opening the rooms at the end of the Void Bridge really is a thrill," he thought.

"Every single time it scares the wits out of me! " He opened the door again, and within was an erupting black hole that made his blood run cold; he hurriedly shut it.

After trying several times in succession, Shen Mu finally found the room in which a single lotus blossom appeared.

Shen Fengqing was again listening with his ear inclined, evidently being instructed by someone at his side. "Now then," he said, "left two, right one, center five, right three, center one, right two, left four, center seven.

. . " He seemed to be reciting some strange cipher.

Shen Mu listened carefully and committed his words to memory, and could not help but be appalled: if this were the order in which the doors must be opened, then it truly would be impossible to find the Carefree Land!

An ordinary person who came here would simply step through a door, and would never think to open and close them in experiment. And once one entered a door, one would fall into the trap of the Creators, trapped just as Heaven Venerable Fire and Heaven Venerable Xu had been.

Even if one could escape, without knowing the order for closing the doors, there would be nothing to be done. More crucially still, the opening and closing of the doors was divided into many stages, which required ceaseless experimentation; and each time a door was opened, what lay behind it was a place of incomparable peril — the rear palace of the Heavenly Emperor, the presence of Tubo, the foot of the Primordial Tree, and all manner of dangerous realms. The slightest carelessness might see one cut down by whatever existence dwelt behind the door! Of course, when the Creators of the Great Void fashioned this strange heaven and earth and these three houses, Earth Mother Primordial Sovereign was still alive; but now she was dead, and so opening the door to the Primordial Tree of the Origin World held no great danger — at most a host of divine beings guarding the gate would come charging over.

To unravel the secret of the door-opening sequence in a short time was all but impossible; far more likely was it that, through opening the doors so many times, one would be annihilated with a wave of the hand by some dreadful existence behind them. "These Creators of the Great Void really are formidable. How did Kaihuang come to know the order for opening the doors?

" Shen Mu pondered carefully for a moment, and a conjecture formed in his mind. On that Geographic Map of the Great Void which Heaven Venerable Yun had given to Kaihuang, there was most likely the order for opening the doors.

Heaven Venerable Yun had joined forces with the Creators of the Great Void to set a trap and strike down the Great Emperor in secret, which showed that his relations with the Creators of the Great Void were exceedingly good.

Perhaps, when those Creators departed the Great Void, they had told him the order for opening the doors.

Shen Fengqing recited the order once through, then said with the utmost gravity, "You must remember the order clearly; there can be no mistake, or you will not be able to open the door into the Carefree Land.

Also, once you enter the Carefree Land, do not wander about. Father and Mother say they have already prepared a boat, and once they have fought their way out of the encirclement they will come to fetch you. " Shen Mu nodded.

Shen Fengqing's phantom figure dispersed, his voice growing ever more distant: ". . . Remember, you must not wander about.

Those delectable Creators are very savage.

. .

" His phantom vanished. Shen Mu let out a breath of foul air, walked to the door on the left, and said with a smile, "Brother Luo, come and look at this.

" Luo Wushuang, suspecting nothing, stepped forward. Shen Mu pushed the door open, and behind it was the Primordial Tree of the Origin World. At once the divine beings guarding the heavenly palace in the tree's crown roused their divine powers, summoned their divine weapons, and came charging with earth-shaking shouts.

Shen Mu gave Luo Wushuang a hard shove from behind, pushing him through the doorway, and said with a smile, "Brother Luo, you go back to the Origin World first. In a few days I will return to see you.

" Shoved by him, Luo Wushuang tumbled helplessly into the Origin World, and was met head-on by thousands upon thousands of divine beings charging at him. His scalp went numb; he cursed furiously and looked back, only to see that the doorway had already closed.

He had no choice but to brace himself and meet these gods and demons, thinking, "This is the domain of that Heaven Venerable, a heavenly palace built in the Origin World. If I kill the divine beings stationed here, I fear I will have offended that Heaven Venerable. . . Among the Ten Heaven Venerables, I have already offended Empress Yuanmu and Heaven Venerable Xu, and Heaven Venerable Hao will certainly not let me off either.

I have offended four Heaven Venerables; offending one more makes no difference! " His vital essence gathered and transformed into a divine blade, and he met the divine beings guarding the heavenly palace, striking to kill without mercy, thinking, "If I do not strike to kill, it will be very hard to fight my way out of here alive!

" "Brother Luo seems to have cursed me once.

" Shen Mu opened the doorway twice in succession, then walked to the house on the right and opened a doorway once, then came to the house in the center, thinking, "That fellow has offended so many Heaven Venerables and heard so many secrets. He has nearly offended every one of the Heavenly Court's Ten Heaven Venerables. And now he has offended me, the Mu Heaven Venerable as well. Hmph.

. .

" It was not that he did not trust Luo Wushuang, but that the Carefree Land was a matter of grave importance, and the fewer people who knew its whereabouts the better. That was why he had sent Luo Wushuang away first.

Following the order Shen Fengqing had given, he opened and closed the doorways one by one. After a long while he finally finished it all, then came before the central house and pulled open its two doors with both hands.

Beyond the door, bright sunlight shone in, and he could not help but narrow his eyes, raising a hand to shade his brow, lowering it only once his eyes had grown used to the light. Before him, trees grew dense into a forest, and those towering trees pierced the clouds.

Great birds and beasts flew in the sky, and birds with six wings sailed past a beautiful divine mountain.

The divine mountains rolled on in unbroken succession, one after another, of varying heights, and white clouds drifted among them like a sea.

Those great six-winged birds flew over the peaks and plunged into the sea of clouds, and from within the clouds came shrill, soaring cries. Shen Mu stepped through the doorway and drew a long breath.

The air here was incomparably fresh, carrying a faint moisture.

He heard the sound of water and looked back, and saw the three houses behind him. The houses at the end of the Void Bridge, it turned out, were built upon the summit of a mountain. The three houses stood behind Shen Mu, and beside them was a waterfall. The water flowed down the cliff past the houses and struck a great boulder jutting from the mountainside, whereupon the waterfall split in two and came pouring down, scattering jade and spilling pearls.

Shen Mu looked down from above and saw two rainbows hanging at the mountainside.

"I clearly walked into the central house, and yet I arrived here by walking out of it. How strange.