Chapter 13 Underground Rock Cave

An underground rock cave, precisely the end of a tunnel in the middle of a crossroads.

After several twists and turns, Xiao Tan and Bei Ling finally returned to the stone door. They each took out a stone slab, embedding the red and blue jade-shaped slabs into the recessed stone plate in the center of the door.

The Bagua symbol was perfectly filled, fitting seamlessly. At the same time, the yin and yang stone slabs suddenly lit up, rotating on their own within the stone plate. After a few seconds, a scattering of rock debris and dust fell from above the stone door, followed by the heavy sound of rocks grinding against each other. The stone door slowly rose, revealing the scene behind it.

Behind the stone door was no longer a rock cave, but a rectangular stone chamber with its own light source.

Xiao Tan and Bei Ling peered in from the outside. Seeing that there didn't seem to be any living creatures like monsters inside, and that they couldn't discern any obvious traps, the two of them stepped into the stone chamber side by side.

The ceiling of the stone chamber was about five meters high, and not flat. Many luminous objects were wedged between the stones, not like living things, nor high-grade items like night-luminescent pearls. They looked more like blue crystal minerals from StarCraft, but brighter.

On the opposite side of the stone chamber was another stone door, with a turntable-shaped mechanism right next to it, presumably for opening the door.

"Say... aren't you a bit cold?" Xiao Tan said, looking at Bei Ling.

When they were rushing along earlier, Bei Ling had been letting Xiao Tan walk in front, and in the tunnels they were relying on miner's lamps and flashlights for illumination, so they couldn't see clearly. Now, in the brighter light, Xiao Tan saw Bei Ling's pale face and slightly trembling shoulders, and noticed her problem.

"I'm alright... Achoo!" When Bei Ling spoke to Xiao Tan, she tilted her head slightly, so her eyes met the light, and she immediately sneezed, spattering Xiao Tan's face with saliva.

Xiao Tan wiped his face. "Take care of yourself."

"Ugh... how come you're not affected at all?" Bei Ling covered her mouth and nose with her hand, took a breath, and said, "You were in the water too... is it a physiological trait of idiots not catching colds?"

"As a doctor, I must first deny your unfounded and medically ignorant statement," Xiao Tan replied.

The next second, he was hit on the head.

"Secondly..." Xiao Tan moved his face closer, locking eyes with Bei Ling.

"What are you doing..." Bei Ling instinctively shrank her neck back, a blush creeping onto her cheeks.

"Hmm... the pupils show no signs of dilation," Xiao Tan said, watching her eyes. "That means the problem isn't too serious yet, body temperature should be above thirty-three degrees..." He thought aloud, "Although you're pale and your lips are slightly purple right now, you've been moving around quite a bit, so your body temperature should be rising... probably just the effect of the wet clothes."

"You, take three steps back and keep more than a meter away from me," Bei Ling said, narrowing her eyes, her tone unhappy.

"What's wrong?" Xiao Tan asked, puzzled, but he did as she said.

"When I first came out of the pool, the menu did show a [Frozen] status, which affected movement speed and stamina consumption, but it's gone now, it's just some physical discomfort still lingering," Bei Ling sighed. "Great doctor, we're playing a game, if there's really a problem, we can see it in the data, you don't need to use traditional Chinese medicine diagnostic methods."

"Those are traditional Chinese medicine diagnostic methods, I'm..."

"Don't interrupt! Let me finish."

"Oh..."

"From now on, under normal circumstances, you're not allowed to approach within a meter of me, and you're not allowed to make any sudden movements at this distance, like bringing your face close." Bei Ling continued, "Got it?"

"Uh..." Xiao Tan stared blankly for a few seconds, then nodded. "Okay..."

"Okay, I'm done."

Xiao Tan didn't say anything more, just shrugged noncommittally, turned around, and walked towards one side of the stone chamber.

On that side of the wall, there was a spiderweb-like crack, and the texture seemed very neat, as if it were a target. Xiao Tan thought this might also be a system setting object, so he wanted to touch it with his hand to see if it would trigger something.

Unexpectedly, as soon as he got a few steps closer, the wall began to shake. The cracks on the wall rippled like waves, gradually fluctuating from the surroundings towards the center. After a few seconds, a white stone head burst out of the wall from the "bullseye" position.

The stone head had a square face, phoenix eyes, eyebrows like fiery flames, a wide nose and thick lips, a beard, and a topknot. Of course, all these facial features were carved from stone, and the color was white.

The stone's eyeballs could actually move. He looked at Xiao Tan, then at Bei Ling, and then he even started talking, although it wasn't clear if he even had a throat...

"Which one do you want?" the stone asked.

"Which one?" Xiao Tan repeated, completely unsure how to answer. He immediately turned to look at Bei Ling with questioning eyes.

Bei Ling walked to a position beside Xiao Tan, put down the submachine gun she had already raised a few seconds earlier, and said to the stone, "How many do you have in total?"

"Three," the stone replied.

"What are the three?" Bei Ling asked. When it came to the skill of talking to NPCs, although she wasn't as immersed as Jue Ge, she knew how to ask questions that would more easily elicit information.

"Why are people these days so ignorant?" the stone replied. "Since Pangu separated the heavens and earth, and Nüwa created mankind... there are fourteen supreme divine arts in the world. But the roots and bones of you mortals are getting worse with each generation, and now there are only three types of kung fu that can be practiced."

The stone recited loudly, "These are the three... Heaven and Earth Reversal Divine Skill, Three Flowers Gather on Crown Divine Art, and Grand Void Formless Great Method."

"Uh..." Xiao Tan was stunned. "Something so heaven-defying, are you going to give it to us?"

"Don't you want them?" the stone asked.

"Can we have all three?" Bei Ling immediately asked.

"No," the stone answered crisply. "Oh, right, the last person who came took the Grand Void Formless Great Method, so now there are only two left."

"How many people came last time?" Bei Ling asked again.

"One," the stone replied.

"But there are two of us," Bei Ling said.

"Hmm... the master told me that one person can only take one, and no more will be given if they come again. But he didn't say anything about what if two people come..." The stone seemed a little hesitant.

"I don't know him," Bei Ling pointed to Xiao Tan.

"Huh?" Xiao Tan was taken aback.

Bei Ling smiled slyly. "Stone, give me the Three Flowers Gather on Crown Divine Art."

The stone didn't waste any words. A flash of white light appeared, and a paper manual appeared in Bei Ling's hand.

"Oh, oh..." Xiao Tan understood. He stepped forward. "I don't know her either, give me the Heaven and Earth Reversal Divine Skill."