The palace's open gates resembled the gaping maw of a beast, waiting to devour the foolish souls lured by profit.
The fatty shone his flashlight inside, trying to discern the situation. However, the tightly packed, robust bronze branches within twisted into eerie dark lines, obscuring all vision. At first glance, one might even perceive these fine lines extending outwards.
Wu Tianzhen swallowed, steadied himself, and was about to continue climbing when he suddenly saw Zhang Qiling above extending a hand towards him!
Startled, he instinctively recoiled to dodge, but quickly realized Zhang Qiling was merely trying to stop his ascent.
Zhang Qiling had already looked over. Wu Tianzhen awkwardly tightened his grip on the bronze trunk below him. Just as he was about to make a witty remark to brush it off, he keenly noticed the hand extended before him tremble almost imperceptibly, then slowly retract.
Wu Tianzhen’s heart seemed to leap with that tremor. He followed the hand with his gaze, watching it gradually disappear into the darkness.
...No, it should be said that Zhang Qiling himself seemed to have merged with the darkness.
Wu Tianzhen watched as he paused, as if wanting to say something. But in the end, Zhang Qiling said nothing. He silently adjusted the position of his Black Gold Ancient Sword and leaped directly into the depths of the pitch-black palace.
His mind went blank for a moment. Only after a few seconds did Wu Tianzhen realize that Zhang Qiling intended to go in first to check for safety.
In a daze, his shoulder was suddenly clapped heavily. Wu Tianzhen, startled, nearly threw a punch, only to find the fatty had appeared beside him at some point.
“What’s wrong, Tianzhen?” the fatty glanced in the direction Wu Tianzhen had been staring at the palace entrance, then lowered his voice teasingly, “You’re staring so hard you’re not even blinking. What, already moved on?”
“Get lost!” Wu Tianzhen shoved away the fatty’s hand from his head with disgust. Just as he was about to retort, he suddenly thought of something and tentatively pointed a finger towards the darkness above, whispering,
“...You know too?”
The fatty sighed and nodded affirmatively.
A great weight was instantly lifted from Wu Tianzhen’s heart. Although he had vaguely suspected something was amiss when the fatty wrote on his back earlier, he hadn't been able to confirm it. Now that they had finally communicated, Wu Tianzhen felt as though he was no longer fighting alone.
The relief was followed by lingering doubt. Wu Tianzhen glanced upwards again, gestured for the fatty to move closer, and then wrote on his back the confusion that had been plaguing him—
...In fact, that wasn't what he intended to write. What truly troubled him was the astonishing similarity between this materialized Xiao Ge and the real Zhang Qiling.
But for some reason, he subconsciously chose this way of expressing it.
After writing, Wu Tianzhen nervously awaited the fatty’s response. He saw the fatty’s face contort into a complex expression, as if he had eaten something foul, after deciphering the words.
Wu Tianzhen: ???
The fatty slapped his back heavily, as if trying to wake him up with the force of the blow.
Wu Tianzhen fell silent. After confirming Zhang Qiling’s innocence once more from the fatty, he suddenly felt immense guilt and sorrow.
...Perhaps it was the pain of his existence not being acknowledged, despite his appearance being created by him and his memories being filled by them.
He was indeed a soft-hearted person, but he understood the fatty’s meaning.
No matter what he intended to do, it was unfair to the real Xiao Ge.
For a moment, neither of them spoke. Complete silence fell upon the top of the bronze tree until a soft sound came from the palace entrance. Zhang Qiling had finished his inspection and was signaling them to enter.
The fatty responded enthusiastically and was the first to climb up. As he passed the stationary Wu Tianzhen, he casually ruffled his hair.
Wu Tianzhen knew this was the fatty’s comfort. Temporarily suppressing the turmoil in his heart, he followed him into the palace.
Inside the palace, numerous branches crisscrossed. The group climbed upwards along the main central branch, and the surrounding scenery gradually came into view.
It turned out that the interior, just like the exterior, was entirely rotated at a ninety-degree angle!
Stone tables, chairs, and pillars seemed completely unaffected by gravity here, standing upright on the vertical palace floor. As they navigated through this forest of furniture, they even doubted if they were truly climbing on the ground and if their entry had been flawed.
Wu Tianzhen shone his light on the junction where the tables and chairs met the floor, only to discover that these pieces of furniture and the palace floor were carved from the same giant stone. No wonder they could defy natural laws and exist in such an abnormal form.
Zhang Qiling, familiar with the interior, did not pause at the entrance but led them continuously to the end of the palace, the very top of the bronze tree.
Here, all the bronze branches bent inwards as if pulled by some mysterious force, cradling a milky-white jade platform like a budding flower.
In a palace where everything was tilted at a ninety-degree angle, this sole platform, placed in a normal orientation, appeared exceptionally unique.
And on this jade platform lay a shriveled corpse dressed in opulent attire!
...Wait, this wasn't a completely shriveled corpse?!
Wu Tianzhen peered closer, only to see that the corpse's head bizarrely maintained a plump and moist appearance!
On the withered, wood-like body, the neck and head seemed to have a dividing line, separating the upper and lower parts completely.
The flashlight illuminated his face. Apart from the bloodless cheeks proving he was dead, there was no other difference from a living person. Wu Tianzhen even felt as though he might suddenly start breathing.
“Damn, how did they do that…”
The fatty, unconcerned with Wu Tianzhen’s shock, was entirely captivated by a row of precious jade tablets affixed to the side of the platform.
“Tianzhen, why are you bothering with him!” he suddenly accelerated his climb, still replying to Wu Tianzhen.
“Maybe he died before the preservative reached his stomach when he drank it, so only the head was preserved?”
“Let’s quickly make use of his remaining value, and also pay respects to his spirit in heaven!”
Wu Tianzhen: …
He was speechless for a moment and then followed, climbing over.
Zhang Qiling leaned against the side, holding his sword, lost in thought. The fatty was hunched over, prying at the jade tablets. Wu Tianzhen, bored, began to examine the plump head closely.
The thin lips on that face were tightly closed, suggesting a stern person.
As he was engrossed in observation, his calf was suddenly tapped. It turned out his position was blocking the jade tablets, and the fatty impatiently urged him from below to move aside.
Wu Tianzhen shifted his position reluctantly and looked at the jade platform again.
But with that glance, he discovered something was wrong—
—Hasn't the curve of the corpse’s mouth widened slightly?!
Before his thoughts could clear, he tried to look closer, but suddenly a flash of white light erupted before his eyes!!!
Zhang Qiling, sensing something was wrong, instantly drew his sword and moved forward, but something was faster than him!
With a muffled explosion, a sudden shadow instantly severed the withered arm that had just risen to grasp Wu Tianzhen’s neck!
The three looked to see that what was humming on the jade platform was none other than a Black Gold Ancient Sword!
Zhang Qiling stared intently for a moment, then abruptly looked forward!
There, a person identical to him was slowly emerging from the darkness.