Enter the mountain

"Did it succeed?"

I slowly opened my eyes by the side of a sword pool, surrounded by green trees and white water. As soon as I woke up, Chi Qingshuai ran up to me with hope written all over his face.

I nodded to him, indicating that we had succeeded. Then I couldn't help but raise the Ganjiang Sword in my hand and examine it closely. I found that the color of the sword was slightly reddish-yellow, not pure bronze but a special alloy sword.

The casting method of this sword must be very special because its spine is thick, its blade sharp, and there are some ancient patterns engraved on the body of the sword. At first glance, one can tell that it is a divine weapon.

In addition, Ganjiang Moye is a pair of male and female swords; Moye represents Yin while Ganjiang represents Yang. Therefore, without any surprises, this Ganjiang Sword should be an excellent demon-slaying weapon which is exactly what I need.

Thinking about these things in my mind made me frown slightly. Infusing Qi into the blade immediately after that thought crossed my mind,I shouted coldly before swinging down towards the water surface beside Jianchi Pool.The golden light flashed,and a burst of wind-like energy shot out from my blade,cutting through above water surface with a loud bang,splashing large amounts of water droplets everywhere.

"Great Sword!"

I retrieved my sword excitedly exclaiming at how good it felt to use such an amazing weapon!

"Not bad! It seems like you have already communicated with your soul," said Chi Qingshuai happily looking at me."Otherwise,you wouldn't have been able to produce such powerful energy."

Hearing Chi Qingshuai's words,I nodded.Then,Jietou and Xie Yilin were called back.I took our luggage items before following Chi Qingshuai once again.

"Master, where are we going to enter the mountain from?" We couldn't help but ask curiously as we walked forward.

Upon hearing this, Chi Qingshuai smiled and looked at Xie Yilin. "Xiao Xie, you know more about Mount Modu than anyone else here. Where do you think we should enter?"

After thinking for a while,Xie Yilin said,"Is it from Baiyun Mountain Villa? I heard that there are ghosts there,and there is a dry well in the Yunshen Monastery inside which seems to have heavy Yin energy.I guess that dry well should be one of the entrances."

Hearing Xie Yilin's words,Chi Qingshuai nodded and said,"Not bad,it seems like you really understand Baiyun Mountain Villa.However,we won't be entering through that entrance.Although it is also one of the entrances,we have a faster and more convenient passage."

"What passage?" I asked curiously.

"You'll find out when we get there." Chi Qingshuai teased us with a smile before leading us around to the north side of the mountain.We soon arrived at a relatively flat villa area surrounded by green trees.A road encircled around these villas directly leading into them.Upon closer inspection,I found that all these villas were in Republic style.On their signs,the four big characters "Baiyun Mountain Villa" were written.There was even an old lady sitting at the gate collecting tickets.

When we arrived, several police officers who looked like they were in charge of clearing the area also arrived. They didn't know us, so they were preparing to drive us away. However, I had them call Long Erhuo to confirm and only then did they realize that everything they were doing was actually revolving around us - we were the real protagonists.

The police eventually forcibly took away the old lady, and we successfully entered Baiyun Mountain Villa.

Baiyun Mountain Villa is located halfway up the mountain with a mountain behind it.

Chen Qingshuai did not enter any villa but led us crookedly to the front of a mountain behind the villa area.

It wasn't until we got here that we discovered there was an arched cave on the mountainside with a thick stone door even locked shut.

"This is an air-raid shelter," Chen Qingshuai explained as he looked at the stone door. "There are many similar air-raid shelters on Modu Mountain, some have been converted into tourist attractions or strategic material storage warehouses while others are still in normal use except for this one which has remained closed all these years."

"Why hasn't this air-raid shelter been opened?" I curiously asked.

"This air-raid shelter was built during the Republic of China period by Guomi Party engineers and apparently many strange things happened during its construction. After liberation, people tried to renovate and utilize it but later abandoned it for unknown reasons before sealing it off." As Chen Qingshuai spoke, he held onto Mo Ye Sword tightly and walked up to cut off a large iron lock hanging from chains on top of two metal loops attached to either side of the door handle; with just one strike from his sword came a crisp sound followed by both ends falling down onto ground level whereupon he pushed open heavy doors made out of solid rock slabs without any difficulty.

"I've heard something about this," Xie Yilin interjected. "I heard that anyone who entered the cave got a strange fever and shivers even on hot days, hugging fireplaces to keep warm. It is said that there is a room at the bottom of the air-raid shelter which should not be entered; as soon as someone enters it, their back immediately feels cold and some people have even been scared crazy by seeing a white shadow standing in the corner."

"In other words, this air-raid shelter should be connected to the interior space of Modu Mountain, and its Yin Qi should seep out from inside." I frowned.

"It's not that simple. Modu Mountain leads directly to Jiuyin Huangquan (Nine Yin Yellow Springs). If this air-raid shelter were directly connected to the interior of Modu Mountain, ordinary people would not only faint before entering but also be invaded by Yin Qi just by approaching its entrance. Although Modu Mountain is an empty shell now, its mountain body is still very solid - it's difficult for ordinary people to dig through it." As Chen Qingshuai spoke he slowly pushed open heavy stone doors.

"Creak--" Due to years of disuse, the door hinge was rusted and emitted a harsh grinding sound when pushed.

We instinctively leaned in as the door opened and peered inside. It was deep and dark, covered in dust with spider webs on all sides. Many insects scattered at the sudden exposure to light.

"It does have some negative energy," I opened the skylight and noticed a faint black aura emanating from within, giving off an eerie feeling.

"Follow me," said Chi Qing Shuai as he pulled out a blueprint from his pocket. He looked down at it while saying, "This is a floor plan of the air-raid shelter that I obtained from Civil Defense Bureau before we came up here. According to this map, this air-raid shelter is one kilometer deep with plenty of space inside. The lower rooms are unusable due to severe water seepage but if my guess is correct, those rooms should be close to the interior of the mountain. We'll find those rooms first then figure out how to get into the mountain."

"How do we get in?" I asked following behind him. "According to what you just said, those rooms are close but still separated by thick walls so we need to break through them which won't be easy. Shouldn't we call for help and have them send some excavation tools or machines?"