The Portal of Wonderland

“Chief Liu, what’s the matter with this Bestial Mountain Sect?” Shi Mu asked.

“Ah, it’s a long story. Our Mountain Town is actually…” The elderly Chief shook his head and started to explain everything as they walked side-by-side.

Shi Mu finally got to know a lot of things about the mainland after he listened to the explanation of the elderly Chief.

This Mountain Town was a small frontier town that belonged to a small nation – Song Nation. And, this nation was situated in the eastern part of the Lu Shan Kingdom.

The Bestial Mountain Sect was one of the sects of Song Nation. It inadvertently discovered a Spirit Stone mine in the grand mountains. In addition, they found that the rear part of this Mountain Town was leant against the mountain range. Therefore, they dispatched people to the vicinity to recruit the residents of the small towns. They would then make them excavate Spirit Stones for them.

The Bestial Mountain Sect announced to offer considerably high remuneration to the people who would agree to go to this mountain for mining. Consequently, the strong and sturdy young men of this town started to struggle and compete with each other to go. And, this town enjoyed an era of prosperity in those days.

However, the town’s residents gradually realized that only a part of the total people – who were sent to the mine – were able to return safely. Furthermore, it wasn’t long before a greater part of the people who could return suddenly died a violent death.

The Bestial Mountain Sect later offered a considerable amount of compensation for this incident. However, they also continued to raise the remuneration from time to time since the number of young and strong men continued to decline rapidly in this town over the time. Eventually, there arrived a time when no one in the town wanted to go.

It was reported that a grand ceremony was going to be held in the Lu Shan Kingdom. It would be held after almost thirty years. The sects of the surrounding nations seemingly needed to offer a large number of spirit stones as a tribute in this ceremony. Therefore, everyone across the Song nation was mining aggressively in recent years.

The people who were in charge of the mining began to send people to the town frequently with the passage of time. They would drag away the strong and capable men to the mine by paying twice remuneration to them.

The Song nation wasn’t a large nation. But, the Bestial Mountain Sect commanded a very high status in this nation even though it was only a small sect in the central mainland. Therefore, the resident of the town couldn’t turn anywhere for the help.

… …

The two of them eventually arrived in front of a two-storied restaurant.

The elderly Chief turned around to look at Shi Mu. He then sighed and said, “Righteous man Shi, there are many powerful people in the Bestial Mountain Sect. The people who guard the mine here are far more powerful than the messengers whom you have seen before. This old man would suggest that you should leave our Mountain Town as soon as possible after you finish your meal!”

“Thank you for your kindness, Chief,” Shi Mu replied.

The Chief shook his head and didn’t speak anything further. He then walked into the restaurant by taking the support of the petite man. Shi Mu also followed after him.

The restaurant looked quite clean at a glance. But, the tables and chairs were slightly shabby.

Some simple home-cooked dishes were put on the table, but Shi Mu hadn’t had a good meal for almost six months. Therefore, Shi Mu gobbled down a lot; the Parrot was no different. The elderly Chief was left awestruck on seeing their unbelievable appetite.

The Chief didn’t accept money for the meal in the end. Shi Mu didn’t force him too much either.

Shi Mu asked the Chief to suggest him an inn to stay in after he had eaten his meal.

The inn was quite atmospheric and attractive like most of the buildings in the town. Shi Mu chose the best room there. There was also a spacious yard outside the room.

There were only three rooms in addition to the courtyard’s front gate. But, the other two rooms seemed unoccupied at this time. So, the small courtyard appeared very quiet and lonely. But, this was an ideal situation, and left Shi Mu to feel very satisfied.

… …

In a quite magnificent courtyard somewhere in the town…

“Father, Mr Bai won’t let this matter slip by. This man Shi Mu wouldn’t stand any chance against Mr Bai if he returns at the designated time. All this happened because of him. How can we possibly deal with the situation if Mr Bai decides to vent him anger on us?” The petite man looked at the elderly Chief and said; the Chief was seated on a chair at this moment. He bore an expressionless face.

“Young Zhi, we have to resign to fate! Our Mountain Town is popular because of the mountain. And, it will eventually meet its destruction because of the mountain only.” The grizzled-haired man shook his head and heaved a sigh.

“This kid is the means that can make this town evade this calamity!” The petite man rolled his eyes.

“What is it? Don’t tell me you…” The Chief abruptly stood up and pointed his finger at the petite man.

“Father, we clearly know that Mr Bai will never let Shi Mu off so easily. So, we might as well take the initiative to inform the whereabouts of Shi Mu to Mr Bai. This action will make our position clear before him. Then, he shouldn’t look into this matter. Moreover, I have also heard people say that magicians usually carry spirit stones. We know that Shi Mu is also a magician. So, he must have carried plenty of spirits stones on his person. Mr Bai will be very happy when he seizes his treasure. So, eliminating the town’s mining quota wouldn’t remain a major problem if that happens! After all, this isn’t the only town in the vicinity. So, they would barely run short of people because of the dozen or more our town provides…” the petite man said.

“It’s out of question. We can’t repay kindness and debts of gratitude with foul means. We will certainly suffer the divine punishment if we do!” The Chief immediately declined the idea.

“Father, the welfare of our entire town depends upon this matter. I admit that many people of this town have zipped their mouths. But, their hearts act as a mirror that reveals their true feelings. Someone would’ve already rushed to the mine to notify this incident by now,” the petite man lowered his voice as he said this.

“You…” The elderly Chief fell down on his chair. His complexion turned gloomy and he remained speechless for a long time.

The petite man’s corners of the mouth curled into a smile as he noticed that the elderly man didn’t resort to any action. He felt relieved and took his leave.

… …

The moonlight was bright and glittery that night. The buildings in the town looked magnificent, and it seemed as if they had been shrouded in a curtain of faint-silver luster of the moon.

Shi Mu sat on his bed with his legs crossed; he was currently in the hotel’s room. His eyes were closed, and he was absorbed in his practice.

Suddenly, his heart throbbed as an image appeared in his mind.

It was the image of a line of sixteen beastly-robed warriors. They held long spears in their hands. They were flooding into the hotel’s front gate at this moment. A petite man and a dark-skinned youth stood timidly on the sidelines as ‘yes-man’.

Shi Mu stood up, shoved open the door, and walked out the room. He then quietly stood and waited in the courtyard for a long time.

A moment later, a person’s silhouette flashed at the door of the courtyard. A beastly-robed man flushed in the courtyard. He was a tall middle-aged man who seemed to possess an overwhelming might.

He was startled when his eyes fell on Shi Mu who quietly stood in the center of the courtyard. Consequently, his footsteps slowed down, and he approached Shi Mu slowly.

Then, a person’s silhouette flashed behind that man. And, fifteen beastly-robed martial warriors rushed-in at once. They stood on both sides like trained warriors. They quickly formed three small spear-arrays. Each array had five men, and was plum-shaped. They had soon made an encirclement around Shi Mu.

A very formidable and profound aura could be felt around the beastly-robed middle-aged man. He was surprisingly a Xian Tian primary-stage powerhouse.

Only three of these men were Hou Tian advanced stage warriors. These three were leading the groups. And, the remaining people were merely Hou Tian middle stage warriors.

Moreover, the triangle-eyed man whom Shi Mu had seen before was also there. He was also one of the three Hou Tian advanced-stage men who was leading a group. He had taken his position behind Shi Mu.

“I didn’t expect that Your Excellency would be a Xian Tian warrior. No wonder you dare to meddle in the matter of our Bestial Mountain Sect. I am Bai Shao Feng of the Bestial Mountain Sect. May I ask Your Excellency’s surname, and which Sect he belongs to?” the middle-aged man said. Then, he moved a step forward in a calm and collected manner.

The triangle-eyed man’s body quivered as he heard these words.

“I’ll tell you if you beat me,” Shi Mu replied.

“Well, it’s a deal!” Mr Bai laughed and said.

His voice had barely faded when he stomped his right foot on the ground. Then, his stature darted towards Shi Mu like a wild beast while carrying a strong gust of wind.

The spear he held in his hand suddenly exuded bright silver light. Then, a thick layer of silver luminescence bubbled up and enveloped the spear. He then thrust it forward in a fierce manner.

A ten-feet-long silver leopard appeared. Two of its feet sprang from the silver luminescence of the spearhead. It seemed as if it was flying in the air. It pounced towards Shi Mu. And, it seemed to be carrying a wisp of Demon Qi.

A layer of blue light emerged on the spear-head of all the men who stood in the three spear-arrays as this happened. Then, a blue wolf head appeared in front of each spear-arrays; each one was five feet in size.

After that, three spear-arrays were activated. “Chi Chi” the three blue wolf-heads rushed towards Shi Mu from three directions with a shrill ear-deafening sound. They were about to launch a converging attack on him. And, they had sealed up all escape routes.

However, Shi Mu didn’t budge an inch from his original place. Only a layer of white radiance emerged on his left hand, and his whole body was enveloped by a layer of a white shield as a result. His right hand moved, and a shadow flashed behind his body. The short stick appeared in his hand, and got covered by a layer of blue light.

Then, Shi Mu wielded his hand, and a mountain-like blue stick shadow darted out. It severely pounded the wolf-head that had been condensed by the spear-array on his left.

Shi Mu turned his head as this happened. Then, he opened his mouth, and spouted five continuous white Qi towards the blue wolf-head of the spear array to his right.

“Boom” a loud rumble was heard.

Meanwhile, the silver leopard pounded on the pale-blue protective-shield, and a burst of dazzling silver light flashed. The pale-blue shield trembled violently by this impact. Consequently, the shield’s brightness slightly dimmed. But, it surprisingly didn’t rupture.

On the other side, a mountain-like blue stick shadow and five masses of white Qi also smashed against the blue wolf heads on both sides.

A series of dull thumping sound resounded!

The two wolf-heads got twisted and burst out. The shadows of ten individuals were sent flying backwards by the impact — like the clouds scudding across the sky. They rolled on the ground for some time. Then, they lost their consciousness.

However, the last spear array’s blue wolf-head pounced toward Shi Mu from behind.

“Boom” a loud rumble echoed.

Blue and white colored light burst out as the wolf-head struck the blue light shield. The wolf-head exploded and dispersed with a loud sound. However, the magic characters that were continuously roaming on the pale-blue shield seemed to be on the verge of becoming transparent. But, it still wasn’t defeated and dispersed by this attack.

Shi Mu suddenly whirled around, opened his mouth, and spurted out five more masses of white Qi at a stretch.

“Boom!”

The spear array of the triangular-eyed man was excessively close to the white Qi airwaves. Hence, his men were sent flying backwards by the intense impact. They crashed severely on the ground, and didn’t wake up.

Suddenly, Shi Mu sensed a surging wave of magic power at the top of his head. Then, a black light flashed in the air. A black beast cage appeared before him out of nowhere, and enveloped him.

Bai Shao Feng’s stature moved, and he dashed toward Shi Mu.

A dazzling silver light beam emerged on his spearhead. Then, the spearhead suddenly grew five times bigger, and started to look like dazzling silver rays of light. It then penetrated through the black beast cage, and thrust toward Shi Mu.

Shi Mu was unable to evade the attack since he was trapped inside the cage

Suddenly, he issued a loud shout “Die!”

The short stick in his hand exuded a glaring blue light. He then brandished it in front of him, and multiple overlapping layers of mountain-like stick shadows appeared in front of him out of thin air. They then formed seven layers of overlapping blue light-mountains to welcome the huge silver spearhead.

A tyrannical force erupted as the silver spear-head touched the first mountain-like shield. They left the glaring blue light and the silver spearhead shaking in a fierce manner for a moment.

After that, the second and the third layer of light-mountain were struck.

“Bang” a loud explosive sound was heard.

The gigantic silver spearhead was eventually routed and dispersed. Moreover, an enormous force cascaded down along the spearhead, and left Bai Shao Feng to feel stuffy in his heart. He couldn’t endure, and retreated a few steps back in quick succession.

Fortunately, Shi Mu couldn’t chase after him since he was trapped inside the black cage. Suddenly, the remaining four layers of blue light-mountain hit the black cage in a forceful manner.

“Boom! Boom! Boom!” a chain of explosions rang out in the air.

A ball of green light exploded. Then, an overwhelming force was released. This left the best cage to tremble endlessly. Several black-colored magic characters began to appear on the surface of the cage. And, the beast cage again became completely secured with a flash of light.

“He he, You Excellency is trapped inside the ‘Trapping Beast Charm’. There’s no way you can come out of it unless you possess the strength of a Xian Tian advanced stage warrior.” Bai Shao Feng found a firm footing on the ground at first. He then said with a smile.