The Empress's First Running Dog

Chapter 670 The Password to Open the Door

The voyage to the East China Sea has been a great success...

Inside the old building, upon hearing these words, Xu Zhenguan unconsciously loosened the jade hand she had been clenching in her sleeve!
A look of relief clearly appeared on her face. Although she had already suspected something was amiss:
If the operation doesn't go smoothly, Zhao Du'an won't still have the mind to flirt with him...

"Where is the key? You didn't bring me back another female maid, did you?"

After Xu Zhenguan breathed a sigh of relief, he turned and stared at him with a deep gaze.

Zhao Du'an shuddered, and waved his hand with a wry smile:

"How could this be, how could this be... Besides, it wasn't me who took Tuoba Weizhi in voluntarily; it was Emperor Taizu's great hospitality that I couldn't refuse... cough cough."

Sensing the Empress's increasingly hostile gaze, he stopped his banter and said with a smile:

"The key to the East Sea is actually the Dragon Soul."

The empress was visibly taken aback, her curiosity piqued. She took a deep breath and adopted an attentive posture: "Tell me about it."

It's time for the classic storytelling session with the Empress again.

Zhao Du'an didn't speak immediately, but pointed to the two prayer mats on the ground:

"Shall we sit down and talk?"

Xu Zhenguan said with a stern face, "No, I'm tired of sitting."

Zhao Du'an nodded, grabbed a futon and placed it under his bottom, then casually sat down cross-legged.
"I've been busy all day and I'm exhausted. I need to sit down for a while. That's all I'll say."

He was sitting on the ground, looking up at the Empress.

Yes, the scenery here is exceptionally beautiful.

"..." Xu Zhenguan felt awkward all over, finding the posture strange, and said irritably:

"Where are you looking?"

Zhao Du'an looked up blankly and asked, "Huh?"

Xu Zhenguan took a couple of steps, looking slightly annoyed, but eventually sat down opposite him.

Zhao Du'an smiled and then slowly began to speak: "This all started when we appeared at sea..."

He then recounted how, upon their arrival, they encountered the "Wrathful Moon," a time when the sea god forbade the seas. He killed Elder Aoki and eventually arrived at Red Coral Island.

"Then, our group arrived at the Silent Sea, preparing to explore it. At this moment, Zhang Tianshi sensed the aura of Wu Xiankui."

"What? Who did you say?" Xu Zhenguan interrupted, startled.

Her expression changed rapidly, and she leaned forward slightly:
"Wait, you fought a battle with Wu Xiankui in the East Sea?"

Previously, she thought that Zhao Du'an and Zhang Yan were fighting against the Sea God, which is why they used the Dragon Soul.

Zhao Du'an nodded:
"Yes, but that's a story for later."

Then, he recounted how his troops split into two groups, and how he led his men down into the Silent Sea, only to unexpectedly enter a mysterious island and stumble upon a shipwreck from the Qi Kingdom a thousand years ago.

The Empress was clearly surprised by this, but having learned from her experience at the Wax Garden, she accepted it much more easily this time.

Afterwards, Zhao Du'an casually mentioned his meeting with Li Wushangdao and then recounted the scene in his "dream" where he saw Lao Xu.

"So you mean that the 'deity' cultivated by the founding emperor was not in the form of a dragon, but was transformed into a dragon soul in the East Sea?" The Empress was greatly surprised.

This secret was also unknown to her.

Zhao Du'an nodded:
"It seems that back then, Emperor Taizu was also exploring how to move beyond the lineage of 'Martial God' and received a considerable portion of the Qi Kingdom's legacy."

Xu Zhen nodded, as if she had understood something:
"No wonder, since the founding emperor, for six hundred years, no one in the royal family, not even someone like me who has entered the Celestial Realm, has been able to cultivate a 'Martial Soul' similar to the Dragon Soul. At first, I thought it was because the founding emperor was so talented that later generations could not reach his level. I did not expect there to be so many secrets."

She took a deep breath, staring at Zhao Du'an with eyes full of expectation:
"Go on, then what?"

Zhao Du'an said "Oh," and then said:
"After that, I woke up and found that I had stepped into the half-step Celestial Realm. Then I saw that the native cultivators of the Thousand Islands had also landed on the island and besieged us. I took action and killed them all."

Huh... Huh?!
The empress was initially listening attentively, but her little ears perked up immediately, and she exclaimed in surprise:

"You've reached the half-step Celestial Realm?"

Yes, she didn't care at all about the group of dead natives...

At the same time, because he was in puppet form, he did not notice the change in Zhao Du'an's cultivation level.

Zhao Du'an smiled and nodded, then reached out and took the Empress's small hand, placing it on his stomach.
"If Your Majesty doesn't believe me, try it yourself..."

"..." Xu Zhenguan stared at him with a half-smile, clearly annoyed.

"Do you want me to cooperate with you? It's just a puppet body anyway. Even if you have no cultivation, you can still play around with it."

A chill ran down Zhao Du'an's spine. He chuckled and let go of the doll; he had no interest in the large doll!
"Go on," Xu Zhenguan scoffed, his eyes conveying a sense of 'You think you're so capable, why are you chickening out now?'

Zhao Du'an sighed, looking utterly helpless.

"What happened after that was not very interesting. I realized that the Dragon Soul that had been repaired was actually the key. Then I rushed out of the Silent Sea and saw that Wu Xiankui was about to run away. How could I let him go? So I chased after him and, while the Dragon Soul was still energetic, I blew him up."

The building fell into a deathly silence.

Only the flames on the surrounding candlesticks burned quietly.

The night was quiet, and small insects fluttered around the red lanterns under the eaves outside.

Xu Zhenguan's fair and beautiful face was blank, and his eyes were filled with a deep sense of bewilderment.

After a long pause, she asked, her breath coming in short gasps, as if to confirm:
"You said... Wu Xiankui was... blown up by you...?"

Zhao Du'an nodded as if it were the most natural thing in the world:
"Yes. I must say, this person was indeed difficult to kill. In the end, I had a flash of inspiration and remembered that the paths for transporting qi are different for different cultivation paths, so I simply stuffed the dragon soul into his sea of ​​qi."

Thus, the two paths clashed, his internal energy was directly broken, and he was blown up to death.

The body sank into the sea, which allowed the Sea God to fall back into slumber, so it could be considered that he did a good deed.

Xu Zhenguan sat blankly on the futon.

Long eyelashes caught the light.

a long time.

She exhaled deeply, her gaze towards Zhao Du'an both gentle and complex:

"You did it for me..."

Intercepting the celestial beings and fighting them undoubtedly involves enormous risks.

In that situation, Zhao Du'an didn't really need to take any risks.

Zhao Du'an smiled nonchalantly:
"Actually, I was very confident, which is why I gave it a try. If he hadn't been severely injured, I wouldn't have been able to beat him."

The empress remained silent, but the way she bit her lip betrayed her inner emotions.

The room was filled with a romantic atmosphere.

“Oh, right,” Zhao Du’an finally broke the silence, reaching into his robes to take out a silver scroll and shaking it.

A strange, pale grass that radiated light fell to the floor.

"Dragon God Grass?!" the Empress exclaimed in surprise.

Zhao Du'an smiled:
"Yes, it happened to be ripe when I went there, so I brought it back with me. I was planning to go to the Celestial Master's Mansion tomorrow to borrow a crane and send this to the front lines. It should be of some help to His Majesty's injuries."

It's more than just helping.
Although the Empress seemed glamorous, the injuries she sustained in the battle with Wu Xiankui that day were ultimately quite severe.

With this miraculous item, she can recover quickly.

Xu Zhenguan remained silent, then suddenly gave a bitter smile:
"I owe you more and more, and I can never repay you in this lifetime."

Zhao Du'an blinked: "Then how about I repay you with my body? I'll take the loss."

Xu Zhenguan was both amused and exasperated. He snorted and pouted.
"Haven't you already promised?"

Yes, it has been practically granted, but a formal ceremony is still needed.

The two had previously discussed holding a formal wedding after the War of the Eight Princes ended, but unexpectedly, one problem led to another.

The current situation is taking them further and further away from that goal. Unless the threat of the Mysterious Seal is completely eliminated, the two of them will truly never be able to repay it in this lifetime...

"Now we have both keys, and all that's left is the final password," Zhao Du'an said excitedly.

The Empress also perked up and nodded, saying, "That's right. Then...shall we begin?" "Alright."

The two had already reached an understanding. They closed their eyes at the same time and began to meditate.

Then, the two souls broke free from their bodies and entered the stone wall to the side.

……

……

Within the world of humanity.

The familiar feeling of falling returned. Zhao Du'an opened his eyes and saw the familiar office and the blue screensaver on his computer.

I took out my phone and turned on the screen; it was just past midnight.

Without hesitation, he stood up, washed his face, and ran along the quiet corridor in his leather shoes.

A moment later, he left the courtyard and arrived at the place he had agreed to meet with the Empress, namely:

Taiqing Palace.

As expected, when Zhao Du'an arrived, he saw Xu Zhenguan, dressed as a sophisticated urban woman, standing at the entrance of Taiqing Palace, the palace gates tightly closed.

"I'll go get the SIM card ejector tool..."

Without hesitation, Zhao Du'an went to a convenience store, bought a SIM card ejector tool, removed the Empress's SIM card, and inserted it into his own phone.

Then I tried again and dialed that number...

"Dududu-"

In the alley outside Taiqing Palace, Zhao Du'an and the Empress stared nervously at the glowing screen of their cell phones, eagerly awaiting a response from the other end.

Neither of them was particularly confident about where the final password to open the door was.

Based on mere speculation, it is believed that the greatest probability lies within the human world.

But it's just speculation after all. What if it's not true?
Where should we look for it?

I just hope it won't be another long and arduous task...

The half-withered banyan tree inside the Celestial Master's Mansion told them that time was running out.

Just as the two were starting to feel increasingly uneasy about the unanswered call, it suddenly connected.

A woman's voice came from the quiet loudspeaker:

"Come in, the door is unlocked."

The two were stunned.

Immediately, they instinctively turned their heads and looked behind them.

In the deep alley, the streetlights cast patches of light, and the lock on the wooden door of Taiqing Palace, which was originally tightly closed, had disappeared, and the door creaked open a crack.

The two exchanged a glance, both seeing the other's surprise and delight.

The door is open!

"Let's go." The Empress was a woman of her word, and she took the lead, grabbing Xiao Zhao and pushing open the door of Taiqing Palace.

She had been here several times and knew the place well. After wandering around, she arrived at the courtyard where a large tree with various prayer plaques and red ropes hung was located.

In the antique courtyard, only the main hall was lit.

At this moment, a slightly plump female temple keeper dressed in a Taoist robe is carefully inserting three sticks of incense into the incense burner in front of the statue.

Wisps of smoke rose.

The female temple keeper turned around, her face kind and smiling as she looked at the man and woman who had barged in:

"Miss Xu, and... Mr. Zhang?"

Zhao Du'an was visiting for the first time, but he was very outgoing and greeted everyone with a smile:

"Zhang or Zhao, it's just a name."

The female temple keeper nodded, her wrinkles deepening at the corners of her eyes.

Xu Zhenguan, however, had no interest in playing games with her. He walked straight up to the female temple keeper, still holding his phone, and said:

"You know us?"

The female temple keeper nodded, then calmly shook her head:

"I suppose so. After all, I have met Miss Xu many times. However, I am not clear about your identities."

She did remember...

The Empress was startled.

Every time she entered the world, it would restart, but only she and Zhao Du'an would never forget.

The temple keeper, whom she had met many times in this world, clearly remembered their past encounters.

The word "guide" came to mind for the Empress.

GM… Zhao Du'an then thought of the game's administrator…

The female temple keeper said with a smile:

"You two need not be surprised or suspicious, nor do you need to ask me too many questions. I really do not know what you want to ask. The reason I am here is simply because of the will left by the previous temple keeper of Taiqing Palace, who was also my master, before he passed away."

Zhao Du'an raised his eyebrows:
"The previous temple keeper? Was his surname Xu?"

The female temple keeper nodded:
"Yes. Before he left, he told me that if his cell phone number ever called me again, I should give him an address."

And when the statues in the temple one day shine brightly, the door will be opened to reveal another item he left behind to those who come to visit.

It was only then that the two noticed that the surface of the statues enshrined in the main hall shimmered with a golden light, though it was obscured by the lamplight and firelight and was not very clear.

They exchanged a glance, and Xu Zhenguan stepped forward and asked:

What items did he leave behind?

The female temple keeper did not answer, but slowly walked into the courtyard, carried over a wooden ladder, and leaned it against a large tree in the courtyard.

Then she slowly climbed to the top of the tree and reached out to take a strip of cloth tied to a branch.

The tree was covered with ribbons left by pilgrims, but this red ribbon looked particularly old.

"This is it." The female temple keeper handed it over, saying:

"It's strange, but this ribbon has been hanging for many years and has never become blurred or broken."

The Empress took it with both hands and unfolded it in her palms. Zhao Du'an also leaned over, took a closer look, and his eyes lit up!
On the ribbon was a “code” composed of strange symbols.

“These symbols are similar to those on the Golden Gate,” Zhao Du’an said in a low voice.

The Empress's breathing quickened. She had thought that obtaining the final password would be relatively easy, but she hadn't expected it to be this easy.

Yes……

Being able to enter this world is already an achievement of overcoming numerous difficulties.

There's really no need to set up any more checkpoints.

"When did the previous temple keeper die? Where was he buried?"

Xu Zhenguan raised his head, gripped the cloth strip tightly, and asked earnestly.

The female temple keeper shook her head and said:

"I don't remember, and there's no grave. It's just that a long, long time ago, my master went to heaven."

The female temple keeper pointed to the sky.

"Heaven?"

Zhao Du'an's heart skipped a beat, realizing that the "death" mentioned by the female temple keeper must have meant that Old Xu left the world in the painting back then.

(End of this chapter)