Absolute Gate

Chapter 12 The Best Sacrifice
The next day, Wu was still half asleep when the Taoist priest woke him up.

"Dude, get up, don't sleep anymore."

Wu Zhong sat up, feeling very refreshed. He must have slept for a long time; he had never slept for so long before. It felt great.

"Master Daoist, what is your name?" Wu Zhong asked, getting out of bed.

The Taoist priest tucked his hands into his sleeves and raised them slightly, as if to greet him: "This humble Taoist is Zhang Qinglang from the Celestial Master's Mansion."

“My name is Wu Zhong,” he replied.

Zhang Qinglang smiled and said, "Let's go have breakfast."

"The fried noodles here are incredibly delicious; you absolutely must try them."

Wu finished his work and went to wash up first.

After that, I obediently followed him to the cafeteria, where it was all self-service and the food was quite plentiful.

Wu Zhong rarely eats breakfast; he usually skips it to save money.

Seeing such a sumptuous feast, why be polite? Let's eat and drink to our hearts' content.

Zhang Qinglang simply ate a bowl of fried noodles and watched him eat.

Wu Zhong couldn't help but ask, "This looks like a military base. What are you, a Taoist priest, doing here?"

Zhang Qinglang casually replied, "To eliminate evil and uphold justice, and to serve the people."

"..." Wu Zhong stared in disbelief, then ignored the question and pressed, "Do you know how to cultivate immortality?"

"Huh?" Zhang Qinglang chuckled. "I can! I'm a legitimate 66th generation disciple of the Celestial Master's Mansion, proficient in the Six Lines divination. How about I give you a divination?"

Wu Zhong said, "I mean the kind that has magic and sword control."

Zhang Qinglang smiled: "Uh, I can do it too, although I'm not quite there yet."

Wu Zhong exclaimed excitedly, "Is there really such a thing as cultivation? Can you demonstrate it?"

To everyone's surprise, Zhang Qinglang shook his head: "I can't demonstrate it. I don't use magic lightly. At most, I can give you a divination."

Wu Zhong pursed his lips: "Then do a divination."

"Give me three numbers." Zhang Qinglang held out her palm.

"Hmm...233?" Wu Zhong said casually.

Zhang Qinglang pinched his fingers and clicked his tongue, saying, "This is extremely ominous. There is no more ominous divination than this. You will soon be plagued by bloodshed and evil spirits. Be careful not to lose your life."

"..." Wu Zhong's lips twitched. Did he really need to say that?
"Are you... are you kidding me?"

Zhang Qinglang laughed out loud: "Just tell me if it's accurate or not!"

Wu Zhong snorted: "And there's more."

Zhang Qinglang sipped his soy milk: "You also have a windfall that exceeds your entire fortune."

Upon hearing this, Wu Zhong was startled.

But he still shoveled the steamed buns and fried noodles into his mouth first and ate them all.

He said with his mouth bulging, "Indeed, a guy from Huahuabao suddenly added me and gave me a million. I've never seen so much money in my life."

Zhang Qinglang raised an eyebrow: "Oh? Giving you a million for no reason?."

Wu Zhong wiped his mouth and said, "It's true, although I usually post my account information online and call people 'Daddy,' 'V50,' and stuff like that."

"But I never expected someone would actually give me money, and even a million dollars!"

“I originally intended to transfer the money back to him, but the transfer would take two days to arrive… To be honest, that was a very difficult time, and I became greedy.”

“You know my grandfather’s situation. I needed the money urgently, so I canceled the transfer and even spent tens of thousands of yuan first… Tsk, if that person wants the money back, I’ll pay him back slowly later, just consider it a loan… By the way, is this illegal? He transferred it to me out of the blue.”

He spoke with such conviction that Zhang Qinglang could not see through his ruse.

“That’s interesting. Someone transferred a million to you…that’s no small sum.”

Wu Zhong drank a glass of milk: "That's right, I'll show you..."

As he spoke, he reached into his pocket, then blinked: "Oh right, I've confiscated my phone. You can look at it yourselves if you want. The transaction records are all there. I don't have any privacy."

Zhang Qinglang hummed in agreement: "This is not my responsibility, I just foresaw it."

Wu remained unconvinced: "You calculated that? You must have looked at the transfer records on my phone."

Zhang Qinglang said earnestly, "I really did calculate it. It's a windfall, it's too easy to calculate."

Wu Zhong didn't believe it at all. In his opinion, this guy was just using divination as an excuse to test him.

His phone was taken last night, so it's impossible to hide the fact that Ni Guang transferred a million yuan to him.

Moreover, with their authority, these people could easily investigate all his financial transactions.

However, the money was indeed given to him against the light, and he did want to transfer it back, but then canceled it.

These records can all be checked.

He simply concealed the fact that he knew Ni Guang. Judging from the situation, these people probably haven't figured it out yet. If he didn't mention Ni Guang, how would they know he had Ni Guang as a QQ friend? And why would they specifically check his deleted friends list?
They would definitely check through the Huahuabao account first, and the friend who transferred money on Huahuabao was indeed a new friend added yesterday.

As for finding someone online to "pay me 50 for a meal," that's also true.

He often runs out of money after paying rent at the end of the month; his cash flow is extremely tight. Sometimes he has a few days left to go without food, so he stops eating altogether, going three days without a proper meal.

So I actually used my Huabao account several times to beg for food from strangers, and there was even a story about a man giving me fifty yuan for a meal.

Wu then pieced together the two true stories and told them, and Zhang Qinglang had no doubts whatsoever.

But he also knew that this deception wouldn't last long.

People will definitely be curious about who transferred the money, and then trace it back, eventually discovering that the person who ran away with the money has disappeared.

Fortunately, Ni Guang ran away... so the focus of the money issue was now on Ni Guang, not on themselves.

As long as the backlighting isn't detected, this matter will remain as it is for now.

"Have you finished eating? If you have, let's get going." Zhang Qinglang stood up and beckoned.

Wu Zhong followed him: "On the road? Where to?"

Zhang Qinglang sighed, "Five Old Peaks."

……

At midday, Lu Guangqi, Zhang Qinglang, and others led Wu Zhong up the mountain.

This place is where the summit of Mount Lu is divided into five parallel peaks by a mountain pass. From a distance, they resemble five old men sitting on the ground, hence the name.

The myth of the Five Elders has existed since ancient times. In Taoism, they are called the Five Celestial Venerables. In astrological and divination theories, they are the Azure Spirit of the East, the Flame Spirit of the South, the Yellow Spirit of the Central Plains, the Vast Spirit of the West, and the Azure Spirit of the North.

The Five Elders Shrine is dedicated to these Five Elders, whose prototypes are the Five Gods of the Five Directions from historical records!
However, this place has changed drastically now.

The two peaks, symbolizing the Azure Spirit of the East and the Flame Spirit of the South, have both been destroyed.

A massive, terrifying cyclone hovered atop the peak, swallowing the sky and the earth!
From all directions, wind and clouds converge, creating intense wind pressure that reaches the speed of sound.

You can vaguely see clouds churning and shifting, and the roaring sound is deafening.

"Heavenly Bodhisattva... is the situation here really that serious?"

Wu was wearing mountaineering clothes, bundled up thickly, and also wearing an oxygen mask.

Keep in mind that Mount Lu is only 1,360 meters above sea level.

But Zhang Qinglang prepared equipment for him that seemed to be for climbing Mount Everest.

"Of course it's serious."

Lu Guangqi finally confessed to Wu Zhong: "Leaving aside those ghosts and gods, the fact that the Lushan cloud dragon absorbed matter alone created a super hurricane. Within a radius of 500 meters, trees were uprooted and rocks were peeled off and collapsed."

"The temperature plummeted to -70 degrees Celsius, and the turbulent airflow generated a continuous noise level of over 165 decibels!"

"If this calamity had occurred in a city, it could have absorbed an entire skyscraper in half a minute. Fortunately, it occurred on Wulao Peak, and its rugged terrain slowed the spread of the disaster. Even so, Wulao Peak would have completely disappeared in just one month."

Wu was shocked. If things continued like this, wouldn't Mount Lu be gone? Even Xunyang City would be doomed.

He looked from afar yesterday and all he knew was that the weather was abnormal and there was a big storm.

But the reality was far more tragic than I had imagined.

Wu Zhong raised his head and could see the center of the cyclone from afar, where it shimmered like a ball of light.

"What is that ball of light?"

Lu Guangqi said, "It's a cyclone. Because it constantly devours matter, all the air that rubs against each other at high speed emits bright light and terrifying noise, and even infrasound."

"As for what lies inside, I don't know. I only know that ghosts and gods reside within it, and it might even be from another world."

"We can only be thankful that it is small, so it doesn't absorb much gas per second."

Wu Zhong exclaimed in surprise, "This isn't much? It's devoured the heavens and the earth!"

Zhang Qinglang added from the side, "It looks serious in the local visual effect, but it's actually not much. Compared to the huge volume of gas on the entire planet, this level of atmospheric loss rate is only 87 times the rate of 'natural escape' of gas on Earth itself."

"Even if it were lost for a century, the total amount of global atmosphere would only decrease by 0.00016%, which is negligible."

"Of course, over time Lushan will disappear, and the urban clusters in the middle and lower reaches of the Yangtze River will continue to experience abnormal climate."

"However, compared to them, intelligent spirits are the greatest threat."

Wu finally understood that they were all professionals, and that this disaster was caused by ghosts and gods. Ghosts and gods themselves were the biggest threat.

"Why did you bring me here? They wanted to kill me, and you still brought me here?"

Lu Guangqi said, "Of course, it's negotiation."

Wu Zhong was startled.

He was led by the crowd, along the fixed steel cable, step by step, closer to the bottom of the cyclone.

That's the most dangerous area; you can't go any further, or people will fly away.

There were also many people in firefighting gear nearby, distributed in all directions, surrounding the cyclone, clearly stationed there for a long time.

“Ji Meng! I’ve brought the man!” Lu Guangqi shouted.

Upon hearing this, Wu Zhong was taken aback: "What do you mean?"

Zhang Qinglang held him down and shook her head slightly to signal him not to make a fuss.

But Wu Zhong was very uneasy. If the ghosts and gods wanted to kill him, and even boasted that they had brought him here, was it all pre-arranged? Negotiation? Negotiate what? Trade his life for something?
"hold head high!"

A dragon's head emerged from the vortex, followed by a monster with a dragon's head and a human body that squeezed out from within.

Then came a monster with bull horns.

Wu Zhong vaguely felt that it looked familiar, as if he had seen it somewhere before, but when he thought that it was an image from the Classic of Mountains and Seas, he understood.

The two monsters looked down from the sky and were overjoyed to see Wu Zhong.

"Buzz!" The dragon-headed monster didn't say a word, but its murderous intent rose instantly. It gripped its wooden staff and pointed at him.

With a whoosh, the wooden staff grew rapidly, thick and swift, and crashed directly into Wu Zhong.

Wu was powerless to resist. The wind was howling and he could barely stand. He had to rely on Zhang Qinglang to support him.

"Boom!"

The tendrils of the wooden staff were about to strike Wu Zhong when a massive wall of air materialized.

Incredibly thick, rising from bottom to top like a giant wall!
The air formed a sphere, completely enveloping the cyclone and the area within a radius of 500 meters!

Buzz! The storm seemed to pause instantly.

Wu stared wide-eyed, realizing it was a massive air shield created by a large group of firefighters working together.

So it turns out this wasn't just Lu Guangqi's superpower, but a group of people who possessed it?

Could this actually be magic? Zhang Qinglang said he knew magic, is that true?
"boom!"

Just when Wu Zhong thought this would stop the wooden staff, Zhang Qinglang pulled him back abruptly.

The wooden staff spread straight out, shattering the air shield and sending countless solidified air fragments flying like a reverse rain.

"puff!"

The wooden staff was unstoppable, even curving around a corner, making it impossible to dodge. It struck Wu Zhong's chest without any hesitation before finally stopping.

"Ugh..." Wu Zhong groaned, realizing that the impact wasn't strong; it had only touched him.

However, the dragon-headed monster pushed forward forcefully, trying to take advantage of the situation to pierce Wu Zhong's skin.

"A multifaceted moment!" Lu Guangqi snapped his fingers.

His clothes instantly ripped off, leaving him completely naked in a howling wind and minus seventy degrees Celsius environment.

His muscles were bulging and knotted, gleaming with golden light.

He moved with lightning speed, directly crushing the extremely long vines that had spread from the wooden staff, and even pushing them back, pressing down with his giant palm.

Splatter! Splatter! Wood chips fly everywhere!
The endless vines and thorns exploded all the way!
"Boom!"

A burst of golden light erupted like a tidal wave, creating towering shockwaves.

Two hundred meters away, he instantly turned the two ghosts and gods into nothingness!

"Fuck!"

Wu Zhong, panting heavily, stared in shock at the arrogant Lu Guangqi, who seemed like a god descending to earth.

Wow, that's incredible! There really are superhumans in this world!

Compared to that, his door-welding skills are absolutely terrible!
However, everyone present was serious and stared intently at the cyclone.

Sure enough, the two ghosts were not dead, and soon they emerged from inside again.

The dragon-headed monster finally spoke: "Wonderful energy, something that doesn't exist in this universe, which my sovereign greatly admires."

Wu Zhong's pupils trembled and were shattered, but he was completely unharmed.

It's true that Zhang Qinglang said these ghosts and gods are immortal.

What's the point of all this? Constantly getting stronger and immortal, isn't that invincible? Sooner or later, they'll turn the world upside down.

“Ji Meng, if I can’t kill you, you can’t get past me either,” Lu Guangqi said loudly.

Ji Mengshen said indifferently, "It's only a matter of time."

Many firefighters present remained silent; this was the most troublesome aspect of dealing with these ghosts.

It can't be killed, but it will keep getting stronger. Today it is obviously stronger than yesterday.

Although they are still very weak now, and almost anyone present could easily crush and suppress them, what about in the future?

Lu Guangqi said loudly, "Tell me, where do you come from?"

"And why send a wandering spirit to hunt him down?"

Ji Mengshen was too lazy to answer them anymore, and stared intently at Wu Zhong with a deep gaze.

The horned monster beside them, its figure swaying with the raging wind, replied, "I've already said it, this land belongs to the gods, we are just going home."

"As for him... he must die."

Both ghosts and spirits stared intently at Wu Zhong.

Wu Zhong looked at them, and the more he looked, the more familiar they seemed, but he just couldn't remember where he had seen them before; he just had a sense of déjà vu.

Lu Guangqi frowned: "This world belongs to you? What a joke! Are you trying to say you are the rulers of the old order? Then how come you can speak Mandarin?"

The horned monster disdains to answer, saying only, "The gods need not acknowledge the ignorance of the ignorant."

“This human is our best sacrifice. Offer him to us and we can promise not to harm you.”

Lu Guangqi pondered: "A sacrifice? Devouring him would be of great benefit to you, wouldn't it?"

"What's so special about him?"

The horned monster said, "It means nothing to you, but it's one in a million to us."

This is quite clear: Wu Zhong is nothing special.

However, it's possible that the growth or restoration of power of ghosts and gods requires a special offering, perhaps determined by their birth date? Or something else entirely.

"You mean he's unlucky, just the type of sacrifice you need, and this type of human is one in a million, so he's the closest one to you?"

"And by consuming him, you can regain your strength?"

Lu Guangqi's analysis was thorough and well-reasoned.

Ji Mengshen snorted, neither agreeing nor disagreeing.

The horned monster said proudly, "I can still restore my divine power without him."

Lu Guangqi remained silent. Indeed, these ghosts and gods had been getting stronger. It was obvious that all they needed to do was devour matter.

Perhaps, devouring Wu Zhong would allow for a faster recovery?

He was considering it; he was pondering it.

This made Wu Zhong very panicked. Would these people hand him over?

"Make a decision quickly! If you don't hand it over, we'll just kill it ourselves, it'll be the same."

"No matter where he hides, no matter how long he wanders around, we will take his life sooner or later!"

The horned monster kept urging them on.

Lu Guangqi remained calm and composed, his golden aura unwavering amidst the raging wind: "Day and Night Wanderer? If you kill him from too far away, how will you devour him?"

The horned monster laughed loudly: "I never said I wanted to devour him; killing him is the sacrifice."

"If you are willing to take his place and sacrifice his life for us, that is also acceptable."

Wu Zhong's face turned green; this meant he didn't care who killed him!
He's going to die anyway!

Lu Guangqi shook his head slightly and said, "I am not qualified to decide whether to sacrifice him; I need to report to my superiors for a decision."

"However, we can discuss the price first."

"What?" Wu Zhong's eyes widened. What did this mean? So it was really possible to sacrifice him?

"Didn't you promise to protect me?"

He struggled desperately, trying to run away.

But Zhang Qinglang held him down firmly, the surrounding air seemed to freeze, locking him in place.

Upon hearing this, Ji Meng finally spoke up: "Mortal, what do you wish to discuss?"

Lu Guangqi said, "Your promises are too vague. Even if you secretly send out Night Watchers to kill people, we will have a hard time stopping them or even detecting it."

"So if you want this offering, you'll have to show some sincerity first... like stopping this cyclone and preventing it from devouring anything more."

Ji Mengshen shook his head: "Impossible."

"Impossible?" Lu Guangqi frowned.

The horned monster said, "We finally succeeded after much effort and scheming; do you think we can close it so easily?"

"Please change the conditions."

Lu Guangqi said, "Then you should go somewhere else, like outer space, or the ocean, or even the desert."

The horned monster continued to shake its head: "No, let's try another one."

Lu Guangqi then made several more demands, all of which revolved around that cyclone.

But without asking many questions, this cyclone is determined to stay here, and there's no room for negotiation on any conditions related to it!
"This won't work, that won't work, then can you guarantee you'll never come out?" Lu Guangqi roared.

Ji Meng shook his head: "This is our home. The gods have waited too long to return home."

"How about this? Three years. As long as you offer sacrifices to this person, I can guarantee that no ghost or deity will leave this place within three years. What do you say?"

Lu Guangqi frowned and shook his head, saying, "How can we gain people's trust by making promises that rely on self-discipline?"

Ji Meng God solemnly said, "Human nature has changed. Don't people even believe in the promises of the gods anymore?"

"God's promises must never be broken or broken, otherwise the gods and spirits will truly perish."

“Is that so…” Lu Guangqi’s eyes lit up, and he stepped back, saying, “Then let’s stop here for today.”

The golden light around him disappeared, and he led the others away first.

Throughout the journey, Wu was completely manipulated and remained silent.

Back at the base, someone helped him unload all his equipment.

Seeing his cold face and low spirits, Zhang Qinglang knew what he was thinking: "Don't worry, I won't sacrifice you."

"Those are all excuses. Captain Lu is trying to extract information and keep them calm for the time being."

Wu Zhong forced a smile and said, "Really? That's how it is? You scared me to death. Don't be so scary in the future."

Zhang Qinglang laughed heartily, "Relax, relax, you're perfectly safe with us. You've seen how powerful we are..."

"If that brat dares to come, I'll shoot him dead with one spear."

……

　P.S.: Sorry. Please add to your favorites and recommend. The protagonist is about to make a life-changing decision, starting a legend, and the entire world-building will unfold step by step. This world is more complex than the one in the Blue & White Society's book. In that book, the Containment World is basically unified, while in this book, the Disaster World is in a state of fierce competition among various factions.

(End of this chapter)