Yan Hua wore a look of accustomed resignation as he was pulled along.
Qi Yu, hearing him speak from behind, couldn't help but lean closer. "Is there something fun and particularly interesting? Let me tag along and see too."
Chen Xi, saying "okay," turned and ran out.
Si Qing, who had been quietly writing his precepts, could no longer sit still upon hearing their conversation. He put away his things and followed them.
"Elder Sister, Elder Sister, where are you going? What fun thing is there? Let me tag along and see too."
"What are you following for? Don't you still have to write those precepts?" Qi Yu teased him.
Upon hearing this, Si Qing quickly waved his hands. "You're all going out to play together, and you want to leave me alone to write that darn precept? Why should I? I want to go with you."
Chen Xi, hearing him say this, didn't have time to consider anything else. He just kept urging them, "Oh, if you're going, then come along. Don't dawdle here and waste time."
Si Qing rolled his eyes at the sky and trotted along behind them.
The group hurried along, half running, half flying.
Finally, they stopped in front of a lotus pond.
Qi Yu looked left and right, but couldn't discern anything particularly strange or unusual. She wore a bewildered expression.
Si Qing was more direct. "This is just a very ordinary lotus pond. Where's the fun thing?"
Chen Xi was impatient. "You guys wait a moment, you'll see in a moment. The scenery is so beautiful."
"This entire area is planted with lotuses. How beautiful can it get?" Wang Lanqing, having seen them rush over, had followed out of curiosity.
Therefore, she couldn't help but feel puzzled upon hearing Chen Xi's words.
"Hey, you all need to have some patience," Chen Xi said, sitting by the lotus pond with his hands propping up his chin, waiting patiently.
Yan Hua seemed accustomed to this and sat beside him, casually plucking a leaf and placing it between his fingers, playing a tune.
Qi Yu sat cross-legged beside them, yawning.
Just as everyone was growing impatient and about to return to their own homes, a faint dripping sound suddenly came from the lotus pond before them.
Qi Yu was startled by the sound and curiously looked up.
She saw ripples suddenly appear on the surface of the lotus pond. Immediately after, the lotuses in the pond began to sway one by one.
When all this stopped, a vortex suddenly appeared in the center of the lotus pond's water. All the water in the pond was sucked in.
As the water level dropped, a spiral staircase slowly emerged from the center of the pond.
The staircase wound round and round, appearing to go very deep.
What lay below?
Chen Xi watched with extreme excitement and couldn't help but beckon to the others. "Look, look, isn't this place incredibly magical? I always feel like there must be some secret underground."
"Isn't this place the back mountain of the Changqing Sect? We haven't explored the back mountain much, so we don't know what's there. It might be a mechanism left by someone from the past," Chi Shangming didn't find it strange.
Chen Xi said earnestly, "Since it's a mechanism, there must be something magical about it. Why don't we go down and take a look together?"
As he said this, he had already turned and run towards the staircase.
By the time he finished speaking, he was already descending the stairs.
Qi Yu looked helpless.
They looked at each other, and in the end, could only follow down the stairs.
The stairs went deeper and deeper, and echoes gradually began to be heard. It felt as if there was no end.
Wang Lanqing was a little scared and hid behind Chi Shangming, trembling. "This place is so eerie. Are there ghosts?"
Chen Xi rolled his eyes. "Even if there are ghosts, what's there to be afraid of? Among us here, is there anyone who needs to fear ghosts?"
Si Qing quietly added, "It's more likely that ghosts would fear us."
Wang Lanqing, who had been trembling with fear, now listened to their words and thought about it. It actually made sense.
One was the Heavenly Dao, another was the Law. Besides them, there were many other powerful figures.
What was she afraid of just now?
Wang Lanqing was no longer afraid. Her curiosity was piqued, and she began to peer down the stairs.
Chen Xi followed her gaze and pointed to the ground at the very bottom. "Look, the end of the stairs is emitting a faint blue light. I suspect there might be a barrier below, and perhaps another world."
"Are you playing with Tales of the Strange here, talking about another world? How is that possible?" Si Qing was full of disdain and didn't believe it at all.
But then he saw Wang Lanqing looking thoughtful beside him, and Chi Shangming looking confused. He couldn't help but shut his mouth.
Wait a minute.
How could there not be another world?
Ling Ruo, who had possessed someone before, and Wang Lanqing, who had transmigrated from another world and later came to this world with her, as well as Chi Shangming, who had come with Wang Lanqing. Weren't they all from another world?
Si Qing patted his head. How could he have forgotten this?
"If this place below is indeed another world, do you think we'll fall through?" Qi Yu quickened her pace, curiosity driving her down.
Finally, they reached the end.
Qi Yu's eyes lit up as she looked at the blue luminescence in the center of the ground.
It was indeed a barrier.
However, the barrier's power was immense, far beyond her own strength.
Qi Yu, as the Heavenly Dao law, should be the strongest among them. So she reached out to test the barrier.
After confirming that it couldn't be broken in a short time, she turned and said in a very serious tone:
"This barrier is not recorded in the Heavenly Dao's records. That means it appeared out of nowhere."
"This barrier is so powerful that even I can't break it. It's no small matter. We'll need to come back a few times to find a way to break this barrier and see what's below. Before that, we'll need to check if there are any relevant written records."
Chen Xi's excitement was uncontainable. "I knew there was something extraordinary! I said this place was magical. Look at this lotus pond, so clean and clear. It doesn't look like an ordinary muddy water pond at all."
"Especially after seeing this mechanism, I felt it was strange. I didn't expect to be right. There's a secret here."
"But how can we open this barrier?" Wang Lanqing propped her chin with one hand. "Even with Qi Yu's current status, she can't open this barrier. It seems the barrier's power is immense."
It was the kind of power that ordinary people couldn't control. Otherwise, the dignified Heavenly Dao wouldn't be helpless against it.