Infinite Puzzle City

Chapter 791 Finding Li Qing
The massive ancient city in front of us is tightly attached to the curved stone wall of the huge cave, layer upon layer, with a structure similar to the Hanging Temple in Shanxi, but it is larger and more magnificent than the Hanging Temple, and is completely a huge underground city.

The ancient city and even the buildings themselves are completely covered by an astonishingly thick layer of mycelium.

These mycelia are no longer the pale blue monotonous color of the previous tomb robber's hole; instead, countless rich and vibrant colors, such as red, blue, purple, and green, are blended together.

Beneath the ancient city lies a deep blue underground lake, its waters reflecting the city's image, creating a dreamlike scene.

"My goodness, I thought this was the Heavenly Palace!"

Even the usually composed Lu Chengdu couldn't help but sigh.

The visual impact is too strong; at first glance, it is clearly a celestial palace surrounded by auspicious light and colorful clouds.

Even Jin Chanzi couldn't help but exclaim, "Immeasurable Heavenly Venerable, this Gu Xuan really thinks he's a god."

After everyone's initial amazement, they couldn't help but wonder: "Just who is Gu Xuan?"

Neither the Severing Stone, nor this vast underground city, nor even the mycelium beneath their feet could have been accomplished by one person alone.

It's no exaggeration to say that even with modern industrial machinery, these things would be an enormous undertaking.

"This way!"

Wu Man sniffed and pointed to the entrance to the ancient city on the east side.

The ancient city gate is tall and deep, bearing the rough marks of human excavation. Only by actually walking inside and standing beneath that enormous gate can one truly appreciate the sheer scale of this ancient city.

Passing through the empty doorway, a vast plaza paved with huge stone slabs suddenly appeared before us.

In the center of the square stands a stone monument about half a person's height, which stands out prominently under the hazy glow emitted by the surrounding mycelium.

The stone tablet was clearly not immune to the fungal infestation, with a thin, translucent, colored film covering its surface, like a layer of frost. However, the strange characters engraved below were still clearly discernible.

The script is crooked and its strokes are vigorous and archaic, unlike any known script.

Xiao Ran frowned slightly, examined it carefully for a moment, and shook her head: "I don't recognize it."

Wu Man leaned closer, then scratched his head in bewilderment. Lu Cheng glanced at it once and gave up; it was clearly beyond his knowledge.

Jin Chanzi let out a soft "Eh" and stepped forward, parting the crowd.

He first walked around the stone tablet, staring at the distorted characters.

After a long pause, he slowly straightened up, a mixture of surprise and disdain on his face. He spat lightly in the direction of the stone tablet and translated in a mocking tone:

"The inscription on the stone tablet reads: 'This is the sacred land of the Tomb Kingdom, the blessed place for ascension to immortality. Those who come uninvited must sever their ties to the mortal world, or leave as soon as possible.'"

After translating, Jin Chanzi couldn't help but curse and complain, "What a load of bull! This is just pretentious nonsense. They really think they're gods. I reckon this Gu Xuan is just a celestial being, far from becoming an immortal."

Jin Chanzi pointed to the text on the stone tablet: "These characters look impressive, but they are actually just bird and animal scripts extracted from some ancient books. Some parts are even written incorrectly. Based on this alone, I am certain that he is definitely not some kind of deity. What kind of deity would make a mistake?"

Upon reflection, everyone realized that this was indeed the case.

"Everyone should be careful. Regardless of whether Gu Xuan is a god or not, he is at least a highly skilled person."

Xiao Ran was not as optimistic as Jin Chanzi.

After all, with a master like Plum Blossom Taoist who is comparable to a deity, who can guarantee that this Gu Xuan isn't a master hidden in the world like Plum Blossom Taoist?

The group quickened their pace, but since entering the ancient city, Wu Man could no longer smell the scent of Li Qing and the others.

Xiao Ran tried to scan with her mental power, but that strange feeling returned, constantly interfering with her mental power, forcing her to abandon the idea.

"Everyone, split up and look for any traces. Don't go too far. We'll meet back here in about half an hour."

Seeing that there was no trace of them, Xiao Ran suggested that everyone split up to search.

His grandfather and Zhao Qingming might not leave any traces, but Zhou Shang, Li Qing, and the woman named Amei were all mortals who would inevitably leave some traces around them as they ate, drank, and relieved themselves along the way.

So the group split up to search.

As Lu Cheng searched, he tried calling out a few times, but his voice echoed in the empty ancient city without any response.

While searching, Wu Man suddenly noticed something. He walked into a house, looked at the broken bowls and chopsticks on the table, and his heart stirred. He immediately went to the next room and began searching.

Soon, Wu Man found many daily necessities here.

For example, clothes, shoes, bowls and chopsticks, and even a bag of millet was found in a large vat.

This discovery made Wu Man's expression serious, and she began searching through the other rooms one after another.

Most of these supplies are old and decayed, but judging from the remaining traces, at least many people once lived here.

"Over here!!"

Just then, Lingxi's shout came, startling Xiao Ran and the others, who all followed the sound to look for her.

After passing through a street lined with houses, a square came into view.

Lingxi picked up a plastic bag of snacks from the ground and handed it to Xiao Ran: "I found a lot of snack wrappers here. It seems they went into this palace."

Wu Man took a look and frowned, saying, "Why do these two old men love sweets so much?"

“It must have been eaten by Master Zhou. My master doesn’t eat sweets.” Lu Cheng glanced at the packaging and immediately denied Wu Man’s statement.

Xiao Ran examined the area carefully and could indeed see signs that they had rested there. Immediately, Xiao Ran and the others quickly walked into the palace.

The interior of the palace is even more magnificent than it appears from the outside. It is covered with thick, iridescent mycelium, which emits a hazy and dreamlike halo, making the giant pillars, broken murals and scattered huge stone blocks look like a fairyland ruin.

The vast space stretched deep into the distance, its destination unknown.

At that moment, Wu Man suddenly noticed a cluster of unusual fungi in the corner of the wall.

Unlike the thin, fluffy mycelium found elsewhere, this patch was thick and dense, like a moss carpet, displaying a deep, dark green hue.

"what?"

Wu Man's eyes lit up, and she couldn't help but squat down, curiously reaching out her hand and pinching a corner of the thick fungal carpet with a little force.

"Hey!"

With a not-so-loud but exceptionally clear tearing sound, he ripped a large chunk of the thick, dark green moss, revealing the grayish-white stone underneath!

Wu Man's gaze followed the opening downwards and suddenly froze!
Beneath the torn fungal carpet were not the stone slabs of the palace, but... rows of roughly crafted, long stone coffins, partially wrapped by fungal hyphae!

"coffin?"

Wu Man then waved her hand and tore off all the mycelium from the entire wall in front of her.

Suddenly, rows of coffins stood between the stone pillars in front of them.

It extends along both sides of the palace all the way to the end.

The sheer number of coffins made Lingxi's scalp tingle.

"So that's it!"

Wu Man turned around thoughtfully and said, "I just saw a lot of pots and pans, as well as living supplies, which means that many people used to live in this city. I was wondering where all these people went, and it turns out they are all here."

As she spoke, Wu Man suddenly thought of something and pushed the coffin in front of her aside.

"Boom!"

The coffin lid was opened, but the inside was covered with mycelium and there were no human remains. However, after rummaging around underneath for a while, Wu Man pulled out a piece of oxidized clothing.

"Were these mycelia cultured from these corpses?"

But after a careful examination, Wu Man felt it didn't quite look like it.

boom!!!"

A muffled, violent tremor, seemingly emanating from the depths of the earth's lungs, suddenly exploded!
This was not thunder, but rather as if the entire mountain and the entire underground space had been slammed down by an invisible giant fist.

The thick, slippery fungal carpet beneath their feet undulated like waves, and the hard stone slabs of the underground palace groaned violently.

"Crack...crack..."

Before the tremors had subsided, an even more chilling sound surged forth from the depths of the palace like a tidal wave!
It wasn't a single loud bang, but a cacophony of countless tiny, dense, frictional, and colliding sounds twisted together.

"Shh!"

The colorful mycelium that had been shimmering before my eyes turned scarlet in an instant.

Something's coming. Let's hide and see what it is.

Xiao Ran reached out and grabbed Lu Cheng and Jin Chanzi, quickly retreating to a corner.

Wu Man and Ling Xi hid in the shadows of another corner, and with a large hand, Wu Man covered himself with a thick layer of mycelium.

Soon, footsteps could be heard in the corridor.

The rustling sound of footsteps grew closer and closer. Through the thick mycelium, Xiao Ran and the others could only make out a huge humanoid silhouette.

This thing was tightly wrapped in countless mycelia and was about two meters long.

It walked step by step to the coffin that Wu Man had just opened, looked at the overturned coffin, stretched out its palm, and instantly countless mycelia covered the coffin again.

After confirming that the coffin had been restored to its original state, he turned around and prepared to leave.

However, the moment this guy turned around, Xiao Ran's pupils suddenly constricted.

"That's... a pipe?"

On the back of this thing, there was an inconspicuous little sac covered by thick mycelium, but a pipe was stuck out of the mycelium.

Seeing this, Xiao Ran rushed behind the thing! With a flick of her wrist, a [razor] appeared out of thin air between her fingers.

The blade, as thin as a cicada's wing, drew a cold blue light, slicing precisely at the small bag behind the monster!
"Hey!"

As the blade cut into the mycelium, a sweet, grassy-smelling liquid spurted out.

As the mycelium was torn apart by the cut, it immediately began to stir beneath the bulge. Soon after, a crack appeared, and Li Qing's head emerged, a pipe dangling from his mouth.

"Phew~~ I almost, almost suffocated!!"

(End of this chapter)