Chapter 25
The four men took horses and headed east, traveling for about ten miles before finally seeing the sea.
Honeysuckle was overjoyed to see the sea for the first time and ran towards the beach as soon as she dismounted.
As far as the eye could see, the entire view was filled with the sea. At midday, the sea was a pale turquoise, with sunlight dappling the crests of the waves like scattered gold. The waves crashed against the rocks, making a deep, resonant sound. Honeysuckle couldn't wait to call out to Jingtao, "Little Tao, come quick!"
Jing Tao slowly walked over to keep Ren Dong company.
Su Mu hesitated, watching the two people playing in the water.
Dongfang Jin found a place to lie down. "Didn't you want to come see the sea? Why didn't you go?"
Su Mu chuckled awkwardly, "Hehe, I'll go now."
Su Mu walked over step by step, and the moment he stepped into the sea, a strong wind arose, and the calm water surface was instantly churned into a thousand waves.
Upon seeing this, Dongfang Jin quickly ran over, and the four of them were now all together.
Seeing this, Su Mu quickly said, "It looks like it's quite windy today. Why don't we go back first?"
Just then, amidst the surging waves, a path suddenly appeared before the four of them.
The seawater parted in two, revealing a series of stone steps before them.
This scene stunned the three people in front of them.
"What is this?" Honeysuckle asked.
Su Mu shook his head.
"Looks like they welcome us in," Dongfang Jin said, giving Su Mu a meaningful look.
Jing Tao was the first to step onto the stone steps.
Honeysuckle hurriedly stopped her, "Be careful, Little Peach! Who knows what's inside?"
Unfortunately, Jing Tao couldn't understand, and skipped and hopped deeper into the area.
Dongfang Jin quickly followed, followed by Ren Dong and Su Mu.
The further they went, the dimmer it became. Dongfang Jin took out a tinderbox from her bosom and blew on it.
Honeysuckle looked around in disbelief and said, "It's amazing! It's like there's a barrier around us, the seawater can't get in at all. Su Mu, look, there are fish swimming around us!"
Su Mu felt uneasy as he looked down the steps.
After walking for about the time it takes for an incense stick to burn, a stone door appeared in front of Jing Tao. The moment Jing Tao touched it, the stone door slowly opened, and Jing Tao jumped inside.
The others followed Jing Tao and slowly walked in.
The moment Su Mu stepped inside, the stone door slammed shut.
Dongfang Jin was the first to sense something was wrong, and slowly reached her hand to her waist.
Su Mu also picked up a tinderbox and walked around in the dark.
Suddenly, a series of vibrations came from the darkness, and Dongfang Jin immediately drew her sword.
In the distance, another stone door gradually opened, and the candles around it lit up one by one the instant the door opened.
Su Mu and Dongfang Jin put away the tinderbox.
The four looked toward the sound of the tremor.
A giant tortoise slowly approached, the ground trembling with each step it took. Only when it reached the group did it speak, "What brings you all here?"
Seeing that the monster hadn't directly harmed them, Ren Dong realized he was quite approachable. "We came here by accident, have we disturbed you?" she asked.
The tortoise circled them once. "Accidentally? Hahaha, I've been guarding this place for hundreds of years, and you're just the first batch to accidentally arrive here."
Jing Tao kept a close eye on the tortoise.
Honeysuckle immediately stepped in to smooth things over, "We really didn't mean to, could you please let us out right now?"
The tortoise stopped and roared angrily at the four of them.
The three immediately raised their arms to defend themselves, while Jing Tao slid down and slashed at the turtle's leg, but the slash did not cause any damage to the monster.
Dongfang Jin also drew her sword and stabbed at the monster's other foot, doing the same thing again.
"Honeysuckle, find a safe place," Su Mu said, then drew his sword and left.
Seeing the harmless attack, the tortoise leaped up and slammed into the ground.
The earth trembled, and Su Mu and Dongfang Jin swayed slightly before squatting down to steady themselves, just like Jing Tao.
Jing Tao drew another short sword, crouched down, and approached the monster. She leaped onto the monster's back and slashed down with both swords, but the monster remained unharmed.
Jing Tao slid down the tortoise shell quickly, then turned her right hand and slashed downwards at the neck with the blade.
The monster saw through her thoughts and quickly shrank its body, leaving only its shell exposed.
Jing Tao missed her target and rolled back to the ground.
But the monster wouldn't give them any chance. It stood up sideways and rolled straight towards Jing Tao.
Jing Tao turned and fled, with the monster in hot pursuit.
Su Mu and Dongfang Jin wanted to help, but they were helpless.
"What should we do?" Dongfang Jin was as anxious as an ant on a hot pan.
Looking at the situation before her, Ren Dong observed the surrounding environment and found that apart from the two doors, there was nothing she could use.
Suddenly, an idea struck her, and Ren Dong shouted to Su Mu and Dongfang Jin, "Su Mu, Dongfang Jin, maybe we can go through that door he just came out of!"
The two looked in the direction that Honeysuckle had pointed.
Dongfang Jin immediately ran towards the door and anxiously pounded on it.
Su Mu also arrived at the door, and the door slowly rose.
Dongfang Jin looked at Su Mu with a puzzled expression.
Feeling guilty after being stared at like that, Su Mu turned around and called out to Ren Dong, "Ren Dong, come quick!"
Honeysuckle called out "Little Peach" to Jing Peach and then ran towards the gate.
Seeing the open door, Jing Tao understood their meaning and ran towards the door while shaking off the attacks.
As Honeysuckle ran to the gate, the tortoise instantly transformed into human form, teleported to Jing Tao's side, and struck her with a palm strike, catching Jing Tao off guard.
Jing Tao was knocked to the ground.
The gate slowly closed, and the monster flew towards the three of them.
Su Mu and Dongfang Jin picked up their swords inside the door, ready to defend themselves against the enemy.
Suddenly a knife flew towards the monster. The monster slowed down to dodge, glanced at Jing Tao, and then rushed towards the gate.
The gate was almost completely closed.
Honeysuckle called out to Thorn Peach, "Little Peach, come quick!"
Jing Tao had already caught up with the monster and caught up behind him.
The gate had been lowered to just one foot.
Jing Tao threw another flying knife.
The monster could only slow down, and by the time he reached the gate, it was too late to turn the tide.
The monster turned to look at Jing Tao, but unexpectedly, Jing Tao stared at him and laughed.
"Hahaha, do you think I have no way to deal with this?" The monster laughed, mocking Jing Tao's naivety.
The monster bent down and tried to lift the gate with both hands.
Under the monster's power, the door gradually rose, and within a few seconds, the three people crouching inside saw the monster's body again.
Dongfang Jin immediately grabbed her sword and stabbed at the monster.
Just as Dongfang Jin was getting closer and closer to the monster, Jing Tao struck Dongfang Jin with a palm and then kicked the monster.
The monster had no choice but to defend, and the gate, lacking any support, collapsed instantly.
Dongfang Jin immediately stood up, pounded on the door, and shouted, "Jing Tao! Jing Tao!"
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