CHAPTER 534: CHAPTER 533: CONVERGENCE

For a long while, only a soft BOOM could be heard from outside the door, followed by a series of fluctuating footsteps, slowly approaching.

Under the thick layer of ice covering the stone door, the dim outline of a figure slowly advancing became visible. Gongyang Han swallowed instinctively. He and his subordinates took a half-step back, distancing themselves from the stone door, their hands subconsciously grasping their weapons, aiming at it.

The figure grew clearer; it was the White Lotus Cult Member who had used the Wall-penetration Technique. He was still shirtless and coated in blood-red talismans, but a strange, tentacle-like object extended from behind his back, reaching into the shadows beyond the stone door.

Beneath the ice, the White Lotus Cult Member’s face was vacant and serene; as if caught in a dream, he staggered forward blankly. He was still under the effects of the Wall-penetration Technique. The surface of his skin in contact with the ice appeared semi-molten, and small droplets—composed of blood, moisture, skin fragments, and other bodily components—continuously rose from him and merged into the ice.

With every step he took, the extent of his body merging with the ice became more apparent, as if someone were forcibly "imprinting" him into the ice surface.

Hurry! Gongyang Han roared inwardly. The White Lotus Cult Member, dazed and numb, dragged the unnamed tentacle behind him as he slowly advanced. He seemed on the verge of freeing his face and arms from the ice to return to the Underground Palace. But then, he stopped dead in his tracks. He was frozen just beneath the surface of the ice, completely motionless, his wide-open, vacant eyes reflecting the anxious expressions of the White Lotus Cult members.

Gongyang Han cursed, ready to order his subordinates to chisel through the ice and rescue him, when he saw the White Lotus Cult Member beneath the ice begin to tremble uncontrollably.

To be precise, the tentacle behind him was injecting something into his spine... His waist, arms, head... The ice-encased White Lotus Cult Member began to swell like a balloon, visibly inflating.

Faint cracking sounds came from beneath the ice, and to Gongyang Han’s utter horror, the White Lotus Cult Member exploded.

Literally exploded.

Due to the ice barrier, his remains didn’t splatter onto his comrades but were scattered within the cracks in the ice, completely filling the human-shaped cavity he had occupied.

"..."

Gongyang Han took another half-step back, a chill colder than any he had felt even during his first attendance at a White Lotus Cult joyous celebration gripping him.

He turned, cleverly concealing his anger, and respectfully asked Miss Chai atop the Pyramid, "Senior, what is this...?"

"Hmm... didn’t I tell you?" Miss Chai said indifferently. "The tunnels are full of Demons bred by my disciple Orochimaru. If they discover someone trying to escape, they will strike. Although I don’t know exactly how many kinds of Demons Orochimaru put in the tunnel, they should be more than enough to deal with tomb raiders."

Miss Chai seemed to recall something and said with a wistful tone, "Sigh, I truly miss the days when I roamed the world with my three disciples, upholding justice as Gallant Knights. I wonder how Gang Shou, Natural Water, and Orochimaru are doing now. Are they still indulging in the three vices of lechery, gambling, and debauchery...?"

Fortunately, everyone present was an elite Cultivator, profoundly shrewd and adept at concealing their emotions. Otherwise, someone would have jumped out to retort, "Why on earth would Gallant Knights, who roam the world upholding justice, be addicted to lechery and gambling! It must be because you, their Master, failed to set a good example!"

Gongyang Han, whose spirit for snark had not yet awakened, slowly exhaled a turbid breath. He chose not to argue further with Miss Chai and turned his gaze back towards the door.

At this moment, the human-shaped cavity under the ice, now filled with blood, underwent another change. A layer of white, fluffy mold rapidly grew over the surface of the congealing blood pool, filling the human-shaped space. The fluffy mold merged with the blood and bone fragments, seething and churning until it formed an indescribable, viscous, red-and-white liquid. This concoction was then completely siphoned away by the tentacle hidden beneath the ice.

"GURGLE, GURGLE—"

A faint gurgling sound, like something slowly sipping, came from behind the stone door.

Gongyang Han and the others paled slightly. They immediately pictured a giant insect lurking behind the door, its long, tube-like proboscis ready to feed on anyone who dared to open it. The Imperial Guards on the other side also shivered, a sense of unease creeping over them.

Miss Chai paid no heed to their expressions, still rambling on about how unfilial her three disciples were. "Gang Shou became addicted to gambling just to get molten steel for his Iron Sand Palm practice. Natural Water painstakingly mastered transformation arts merely to drink bathwater from the women’s bathhouse, even trying to turn himself into a bathtub. And Orochimaru was the most troublesome; every day, like those pious men and women, he would go to the mountains to release poisonous snakes. Even if bitten by a Five-step Snake, he’d insist on walking on his hands to continue releasing them."

Although this demonic individual’s words were utterly ridiculous, neither group present was in the mood to retort. They exchanged glances and tacitly agreed to set aside their dispute for the time being. After the Martial Guards retreated to the other side of the mercury river, each group began searching the stone doors on their respective sides for an exit.

「A quarter of an hour passed, then another.」

"CREAK—"

The familiar sound of a door creaking open came from the front of the Underground Palace. Both the Martial Guards and the White Lotus Cult members immediately looked in that direction.

More than one person was opening the door. To be precise, among them were many familiar faces. They included the Old Spider Dancer and other Guest Elders from the Shu Palace; the peculiar individuals from the Royal Mansion banquet; Li Yushan, escorted by Martial Guards soldiers; and the Yongling Temple Monks along with the Annam Diplomatic Corps. Everyone had converged in the Underground Palace.