Chapter 136 - 135: I Discovered a Problem

Chapter 136: Chapter 135: I Discovered a Problem

"Damn you, lower lifeform! This King will..."

Before he could finish, a fireball the size of a human head ignited in He Xiaotian’s hand.

The Thunderous Divine Palm, unleashed upon the world once more.

Scorching heat swept through the surroundings in an instant, like a fiery tornado.

The frost inside the cabin instantly melted away.

BOOM!

He took a step forward and viciously slammed his right palm onto the head of the sphinx-like mist creature.

HISS!

Great plumes of mist billowed out. A moment later, the Gluttonous King could no longer maintain its form and dissipated into nothing, vanishing without a trace.

"Impotent rage. If you’ve got the guts, then kill me! All talk and no action... You’re making it really hard for me to respect you."

Poor Gluttonous King. He had just appeared and already got a face full of thunder.

[Ding! Unrated White Soul killed. 100 Experience Points awarded.]

He Xiaotian: "..."

’N-No... Unrated?’

If the Gluttonous King could hear the system’s evaluation of him, would he be angry enough to flip a table?

Still, 100 Experience Points was better than nothing.

Hmmmm...

CREAK!

Hearing the door open, the hairs on He Xiaotian’s body stood on end.

He was the only person on the boat, which was moored in the center of the lake.

’Who could possibly be visiting at a time like this?’

He spread his right palm, and a fireball the size of a human head instantly appeared.

At the same time, he pushed off with his feet and vaulted toward the door.

’Minor Nine-Yang Thunderbolt!’

BOOM!

"A decent palm technique. Pity it’s too weak."

The corner of He Xiaotian’s mouth twitched. The visitor was none other than Mr. Men.

His right palm was stopped dead by the man’s index finger, unable to advance another inch.

The scorching fireball had been vaporized by an extremely cold, sinister power.

"Haha, so it was you, Sir. I thought you were some kind of audacious monster!" He Xiaotian explained with a dry laugh.

"I’ve come today to give you your reward for last time."

Mr. Men seemed unbothered by the attack and spoke nonchalantly.

"No, no, I don’t care about any rewards. For me, the best reward would be if you stopped showing up for no reason. Or better yet, if we never saw each other again for the rest of our lives."

He Xiaotian shook his head like a bobblehead. There was no such thing as a free lunch.

When you gain one thing, you’re bound to lose something else.

He really didn’t dare to accept a so-called "reward" from a super boss like Mr. Men.

The man could accidentally unleash something that devoured everything except light. How could that not be terrifying?

"You don’t have the right to refuse."

"..."

"As for your reward... welcome to the Gatekeepers."

"???"

’What the hell are you even saying?!’

’What did you just say?’

’Gatekeeper!’

"Look at the door behind me. What do you see?"

Hearing Mr. Men’s question, He Xiaotian couldn’t help but look at the bizarre bronze door.

Carved upon it were mountains and rivers, the sun, moon, and stars, as well as evil spirits and monstrosities.

Of course, it also depicted scenes of apocalypse and fleeing humans.

Hope, despair, fear, cruelty—every conceivable emotion was churned together in the depiction.

"Chaos."

He Xiaotian said, voicing his true thoughts.

Mr. Men nodded, very pleased.

"Correct. It is chaos. And the thing I guard... is chaos."

"Chaos needs to be guarded?" He Xiaotian asked in surprise.

"It’s not that chaos needs guarding. I guard this bronze door *to prevent* chaos," Mr. Men explained, shaking his head.

He Xiaotian felt his mind reeling, utterly confused.

’What the hell is going on?’

"You don’t need to know too much. In short, your duty is now to guard this bronze door. If it ever shows signs of opening, you must force it shut. If, due to your negligence, the door is pushed open from the inside...

...believe me, you do not want to know the consequences. Death would be absolutely unavoidable. Not even for me. So, are we clear?"

’Clear my ass!’

He Xiaotian immediately cursed inwardly. He knew Mr. Men could hear his thoughts, but he swore anyway.

’Based on his description, this whole thing is a ticking time bomb.’

’Once it opens, it’s GAME OVER for me!’

"Can I refuse?" He Xiaotian struggled, truly not wanting to be some Gatekeeper. It sounded like a dead-end job for a total loser.

"What do you think?" Mr. Men smiled, a faint, almost unnoticeable threat in his voice. "You don’t have to be so afraid. I’ll take care of the really big problems. You’re just... helping me deal with the minor nuisances so they stop bothering me."

Hearing this, He Xiaotian visibly relaxed.

"Why me?"

Honestly, He Xiaotian didn’t consider himself a good person.

But he wasn’t a bad person, either.

So why had Mr. Men taken a liking to him?

"Because your overall ability is very weak, but your raw strength is immense."

’I oughta... ’

He Xiaotian felt he was about to lose control and pull the two iron hammers from his storage space.

Still, what Mr. Men said did make some sense.

Other than being ridiculously strong and having ridiculously thick defenses, he didn’t seem to have any other notable advantages.

"To me, you’re perfect. Once, in the Netherworld, I found someone with considerable ability. But he took it upon himself to push open the door and walk through. Because of his recklessness, I was busy for over a hundred years without a single day of rest."

He Xiaotian felt a sour taste in his mouth. Mr. Men’s words seemed to imply, both directly and indirectly, that he wasn’t strong enough to push open the door even if he wanted to.

’Son of a... ’

"One last warning: do not, under any circumstances, believe anything that comes from behind the door. Remember, *anything*," Mr. Men said, his tone incredibly solemn and severe, as if the door concealed a secret that could destroy the entire world.

"Can I ask how you got this door?" He Xiaotian asked cautiously. The bronze door was clearly a massive headache, so why was Mr. Men guarding it?

No matter how you looked at him, the guy just didn’t seem like the self-sacrificing hero type.

"One day, a certain person brought this door and told me to guard it. I promptly refused, and he beat me until I was on my knees, one breath away from calling him Daddy," Mr. Men said with a completely straight face, nearly making He Xiaotian burst out laughing.

"It’s nothing to be ashamed of. If someone is stronger than you, they’re stronger. What’s the use in trying to hide or deny it?"

Mr. Men spoke with exceptional calm, seemingly not at all embarrassed to admit he had been beaten to his knees.

"By the way, Sir, I’ve noticed a very big problem,"

He Xiaotian said, narrowing his eyes and looking at the man’s right hand, which was held behind his back.

"What problem?"

Mr. Men’s expression was nonchalant, his demeanor as suave as ever.

"It seems you’re not quite as powerful as you pretend to be!"

(It’s starting, it’s starting. Let’s go, the muscle-bound hero is invincible!)