Chapter 333: Chapter 238: It’s Just a Door!
After passing the waterfall, Bajie, who had been scouting from above, returned with colorful smudges on them. These were the result of an attack by a group of fruit trees while they were flying low, along with a series of fluffy birds. Clearly, even outside of Long Yi’s range, they were still treated as unwelcome guests.
However, their reconnaissance was still fruitful.
This entity was a lone island floating above magma, with a diameter less than ten kilometers. Vegetation covered almost the entire island. In the center of the island was a basin and at the heart of this basin was a temple, surrounded by ruins. A faint energy could be sensed emanating from the temple; however, it was impossible to identify what type of energy it was.
Nevertheless, their expedition now had a destination.
Despite the strange world around them, luckily, the offensive capabilities of all the creatures could only be described as average. Some might appear menacing, but when they truly acted, they could only scare those who were ignorant.
Before long, the crowd climbed over a hill and finally spotted the basin along with the ruins within it. A ruined temple stood alone in the center of the ruins, with an indescribable pulse radiating from it, moving through each person.
Bajie was clearly uncomfortable, but Long Yi demonstrated no anomalies.
"Brother Long, I’ve got a bad feeling... like there’s something dangerous in there," Little Zi unusually displayed caution.
"If that’s the case, stay here and back us up then," Long Yi said.
"No way! I must go with you!" Little Zi stubbornly protested.
"Hide if you encounter any danger, understand?"
"Hmm!"
The closer Long Yi got to the temple, the stronger the pulse became. Bajie was finding it more and more unbearable, and Little Zi’s unease was steadily increasing.
Only Long Yi felt nothing unusual.
"You two, head over there; things might get weird here," Long Yi said to Bajie.
Bajie stubbornly shook his head but eventually had to retreat far away, finding the place too unbearable. All he could do was helplessly watch Long Yi and Little Zi proceed forward.
Soon, the temple was in sight.
The structure was large, clearly not constructed for humans. However, it definitely wasn’t for giants either—while the temple was enormous, it wasn’t that enormous.
The temple only had one door, over five meters high, with another door lying on the ground. Through the space of a door, Long Yi saw that the inside of the temple seemed to be in ruins with light casting down from a hole in the roof. There was nothing inside but ruins.
As Long Yi walked over and his foot just touched the ground, he suddenly heard a roar.
"Hey! Kid! You’re stepping on my face!"
Long Yi was startled and quickly jumped back, but then saw one eye, half a nose, and half a mouth open on the intact door.
"Damn! The door is talking?" Little Zi screamed!
"Damn! A phantom is here! There are really ghosts!!" The door simultaneously screamed, the half-face full of terror.
"Hey, have you two done messing around?" Long Yi, somewhat helpless, looked at the two overly dramatic individuals.
Little Zi giggled and stuck out her tongue, "Hehe, I just thought the atmosphere was a bit heavy, wanted to lighten things up."
"What! You dare to question the acting skills of your almighty door! Do you still want to enter?" The half door roared.
"Hey, you’re only half a door, how are you planning to stop me?" Long Yi laughed.
"If you don’t believe us, go inside and find out," the half door responded with a sneer.
Without wasting any more words, Long Yi stepped on the fallen door and walked in.
Once inside the temple, there was practically no difference from the exterior. The temple was filled with debris; what once were wooden objects were now just piles of wood chippings mixed with remnants of metal. Copper candle holders, laden with patina and dripping wax, hung on the walls. By the candleholders’ design, they were larger than those used by humans, but smaller than what giants typically used.
Of course, none of these candle holders were alive.
After a round of inspection, there was not a single interesting item in the ruined temple. Little Zi had also made a few rounds but found nothing valuable.
However, what was odd was that the pulsating sensation which was strongly felt earlier completely disappeared once inside the temple.
"Ha ha! I told you so!" Half the door looked on with schadenfreude as Long Yi and Little Zi emerged.
"You’re not going to tell me there’s a hidden door, are you?" Long Yi asked the door. The erratic pulsations resurged just as before. And Long Yi was absolutely certain they were emanating from the temple.
"Hidden door! Get lost! Why would we need a hidden door when we have me, your magnificent door, here?" The half door barked.
"There’s nothing inside," said Long Yi.
"You didn’t open the door and just waltzed in, of course there’s nothing."
"The door was open."
"The door wasn’t open, the door fell off. You must reinstall the door, open the door, then you can enter."
Is this some type of ritual?
Little Zi squatted on the ground and placed her hand on the door. Yet the moment she touched it, she jumped up as if shocked by electricity.
"Ha ha, little phantom, don’t waste your time. The maker of this grand door of yours is thousands of times stronger than you," the door joked.
Little Zi made an annoyed face at the door.
After thinking for a moment, Long Yi laughed.
"Alright, I’ll help install you then," he said.
As he spoke, Long Yi squatted down and put his hand under the door that was nearly twenty centimeters thick. The door was incredibly heavy, but the brute strength of Long Yi was even more astounding! Under the incentive of the four dragon marks of Fighting Aura, Long Yi lifted the nearly five-meter-high door!
Boom!
The two doors converged, mechanisms stretching out from the door raised by Long Yi, retracting into the walls. Then, another half of a face appeared on the door, forming a complete face.
"You actually look quite handsome like this," Little Zi said lightly, a playful grin dancing on her lips.
"Flattery will get you nowhere!" The door retorted. "Come on, kid, if you want to enter this temple, you must answer my questions."
Long Yi chuckled: "I knew I should’ve ignored you."
"Rules are rules! Here! I have three questions! Answer them correctly, and you can enter the real temple!"
"What are the questions!"
"Who are you, where did you come from, where are you going?"
"Damn, can we not talk about philosophical issues like this!" Long Yi roared in annoyance. These famous philosophical queries have kept numerous philosophers and fresh thinkers awake at night, agonizing over answers, and now you’re asking me?
"I don’t give a damn, the guy who made me set the questions. Who the fuck likes these stupid questions!" The door barked angrily.
"Fine! I’m Long Yi, I come from the White Dragon Empire, and I wish to enter the temple," Long Yi responded apathetically.
"Wrong! Two more attempts!" The door replied.
"Seriously? Only three tries!?"
"Originally, there was only one attempt! My foolish creator was locked outside once, and that’s when it was changed to three!" The door exclaimed.
"Alright, let me think." Having known about these questions, and knowing numerous potential answers, Long Yi could immediately provide enough suitable answers to fill an essay. But he didn’t because apparently, this door - or more accurately, the person who created this door - didn’t want those answers.
This is a temple, and given the decor inside, it didn’t seem to be a private place. So, the answers to these questions should not be too complex. But could there be a difference between entering the temple and entering the ’real temple’?
Argh!
I need to think harder!
This is so annoying!
"Time’s up! You have one last attempt!" The door suddenly shouted.
"Dammit, there’s also a time limit!" Long Yi snapped in exasperation.
"No shit, do you have to think when you are opening the door to your own house!" The door barked back furiously.
"Damn it! Who the hell knows what the answer to this fucking question is! I’m not Stephen Hawking!" Long Yi yelled. Then, he braced himself and approached the door, slamming his hand against it.
"What... what are you doing?" The door stammered apprehensively.
"Just as you said, no one thinks about how to open the door when returning home! Therefore, I also want to tell you that no one recites secret phrases when entering their house!" And with that, Long Yi infused his Giant’s strength into the door. Almost simultaneously, the door also reacted with a surge of Giant’s strength, the two energies blending perfectly.
"Ah! Master! You’re back!"
The door shouted excitedly, and the doors swung open, revealing a golden temple hall behind them!
"Let’s go!"
Long Yi pulled Little Zi along.
"Did it call you master?"
"It’s gone mad!"
Gone mad?
Little Zi stared disbelievingly at the doors, which were whirling about in ecstatic joy, shaking her head.
Unlikely.
Turns out, what this door opened was another realm.
Here, although it seems to be the same temple, it is completely different. There are complex mechanical devices, active potions, erratic arcs of electricity everywhere. And in the center, inside a glass container, was an enormous heart.
The dark gold heart floated in the glass container filled with a nurturing solution. The heart, as big as an adult and bearing two coronary arteries and aorta, pulsed exceedingly slow. Each beat, however, gave Long Yi the feeling as if his heart had stopped momentarily.
"Huh?"
The sound of a puzzled exclamation drew Long Yi’s attention, whereby he saw what looked like a young girl staring at him in confusion.
Describing her as a ’young girl’ was because she seemed quite young with lustrous eyes still heavy with sleep, her loosely worn robe marked by remnants of various experiments- a picture of languid relaxation.
However, this ’girl’ was very tall.
A good three meters tall.
If a regular person grows that tall, the hormonal influence would definitely cause their skeletal structure to deform. But this girl’s figure was extremely proportionate and standard.
Moreover, Long Yi could sense the powerful Giant’s strength coursing through her body.
Was this girl, a Giant?
The girl studied Long Yi and then, abruptly, she let out a shriek, quickly turned and hid behind a gigantic control panel.
"I’m sorry, we didn’t mean to intrude..." Long Yi quickly blurted out.
"Ah!" The girl shrieked again, but this time, she popped her head out, "Y-You... You’re Long Yi!" she pointed at Long Yi and said. (To be continued. If you enjoy this novel, we welcome you to vote for it on qidian.com. Your support is our greatest motivation. For mobile users, please visit m.qidian.com to read.)
