The Scum Is A ***

"Here!" Zuo Zhe answered and raised his hand before he rose from his seat and walked towards Li Tian, Jing Kang and Xi Ling who have gathered in front, waiting for the sealing process to be explained to them. The three people stared at him with different gazes. 

Li Tian was the first to meet Zuo Zhe and Yu Sheng before when he, Cheng Sheng, Fei Yin, Feng Mo, Lei Qing, Lei Ling and You Rou are looking for an inn to stay during their travel to Zhongyang to participate in the Intersect Competition. They then met again when the Intersect Competition started, and became friends from then on. 

Jing Kang met Zuo Zhe in the Zhongyang during the Xinfaxian Sect's disciples' search of Lei Ling. Zuo Zhe and Yu Sheng were tagging behind the Xinfaxian Sect disciples together with Jing Bai and Zheng Yi who led them to the Jing Manor. Then, he became acquainted with Zuo Zhe and Yu Sheng later due to the Xinfaxian Sect disciples. 

It felt like just a few days ago that it happened. However, look at how the world changed now. While Li Tian and Jing Kang felt nostalgic, Xi Ling was scrutinizing Zuo Zhe. It was him who is unfamiliar with Zuo Zhe. 

"You've sealed so many Ni Lai Gates… very impressive. You must be a genius – " he said. 

Zuo Zhe blushed and shyly smiled. "Thanks – " he said and shyly scratched his head. 

" – like Cheng Sheng." Xi Ling continued. 

The smile in Zuo Zhe's face froze. I am his mother… no. I mean, father! He thought. Everything Cheng Sheng knows, it all came from me, his creator! 

The corner of his lip twitched as he forced a laughed. "I – I also highly admire Cheng Sheng… hehe." He lowered his head to hide his grimace.

Yu Sheng covered his mouth and his shoulders are shaking once again. He's too familiar with Zuo Zhe, and knows Zuo Zhe's and Cheng Sheng's true relationship, so he knows what is Zuo Zhe thinking. 

He coughed to cover his laugh and he spoke. "The sealing process." He reminded them when he saw the stiff smile on Zuo Zhe's face. 

"Oh – " Zuo Zhe muttered and looked at Li Tian, Jing Kang and Xi Ling before he spoke. "Cheng Sheng has sealed a Ni Lai Gate, but you haven't seen him how he did it. So, I'll tell you how I sealed those gates." He said. 

The three solemnly nodded. After all, the world's fate lies in their hands. 

"First – " Zuo Zhe said as he raised his index finger. " – the Ni Lai Gate transports the demonic qi from a dimension to another dimension, which is this world. Meaning, it is the channel between two dimensions." He said. "In order to close it, it has to be closed on both sides. But, naturally, we can't enter the other dimension. So, we could only close it from our side." He explained. 

"If we can close it from our side, what will happen to the other side?" Xi Ling asked. 

"The second problem is this – " Zuo Zhe said. " – the other side would definitely notice there is something wrong with the passage. So, they would try to break the seal on the gate in order to go out." He said. "So, we have to create a seal that is stronger than the ones who would try to break out from the other side." He told them. 

Xi Ling nodded in understanding. It is like bullying. Whoever it is the stronger wins. 

"Third – " Zuo Zhe spoke as he raised his three fingers. This time, his expression became grave. " – since the seal should be strong, one might have to exhaust all his power in order for the seal to not be broken by the other side." He told them. 

As soon as his voice fell, a deafening silence can be heard in the Millennium Ship. 

"Young master Zuo." Fei Lin called. "I don't mean to offend, but I want to ask – " he said. " – there's only the two of you, young master Zuo and young master Yu. But, you have sealed many Ni Lai Gates. Based from what you said just now, sealing the Ni Lai Gate is power burning. So – " he looked at Zuo Zhe before he looked at Yu Sheng. 

"How did we manage to be alive?" Yu Sheng asked for him, already knowing what Fei Lin meant. 

Fei Lin calmly nodded. "Yes." He answered. 

The question is really very offensive, considering with their present situation. However, they have known Fei Lin for more than a week, and already have heard of Fei Lin's gentle character. Thus, they knew Fei Lin didn't mean anything in asking. Just pure curiosity. 

Yu Sheng didn't take any offense, either, since he could distinguish who's malicious and who's not. "I'm in Ascension Stage." He answered, his tone casual but it greatly shaken everyone's heart. 

"WHAT?!" Xie Lan, Jing Rui, Fei Lin and Xi Ling exclaimed in shock. Qian Tian was also stunned. 

Yu Sheng shrugged. "Did any of you notice you can't feel my level?" he said. 

Everyone immediately shut up. Facts are spoken. Indeed, none of them can feel Yu Sheng's level. However, they didn't think too deeply about it given their grim situation. 

"Although I'm already at the Ascension Stage, but I'm only one person." Yu Sheng continued. "I could handle large armies alone, but – " he said. " – the key in sealing Ni Lai Gates lie on Zhe." He told them and pointed Zuo Zhe, who looked very ordinary compared to the conspicuous Yu Sheng, with his thumb. "My hands are too full dealing with those pesky demonic cultivators. How can I still have time to divide my attention in giving Zhe qi?" he asked. 

Their pupils shrank. That's right. No matter how strong one is, but if he's facing a large number, he could still fall. An army of ants can crush an elephant. So, the key lies on Zuo Zhe. 

Zuo Zhe tensed when he saw everyone's gazes fell on him. "Y-y-you – " he stammered. "Yu Sheng!" he cried and immediately hid behind Yu Sheng. His eyes watered like a frightened rabbit, in which he looks like now.

Everyone immediately retracted their gaze. Even though no matter how strong Yu Sheng and Zuo Zhe is, but naturally, they are not shameless to dump all the responsibilities on Yu Sheng's and Zuo Zhe's shoulders. 

Yu Sheng knows this, too, that's why he told them the truth. "Zhe's gift is like Cheng Sheng – " he said when he felt Zuo Zhe pinched him. He chuckled. 

Zuo Zhe feels uncomfortable being compared to his 'son', Cheng Sheng. 

" – Zhe can drew the qi towards himself, thus, he an seal the Ni Lai Gate alone." Yu Sheng explained. 

They all stared at Zuo Zhe in awe. "Amazing!" Li Tian, Feng Mo, Lei Ling and the others exclaimed in admiration. 

Zuo Zhe fiercely blushed. "I – I'm not – " he stammered once again. 

Yu Sheng smiled, full of doting as he looked at Zuo Zhe. Everyone's face immediately stiffened when they saw the two being lovey-dovey. "..." get a room! They thought, complaining in their heart. 

"How do we exactly seal the Ni Lai Gate?" Jing Rui doesn't like nonsense, and so his words immediately made everyone think back to their present business. 

Zuo Zhe felt chagrined as he looked at Jing Rui with a complicated gaze. This 'son' of his makes him feel scared, which made him feel ashamed. 

Jing Rui when he saw Zuo Zhe's gaze. "?" what's wrong with him? 

Zuo Zhe cleared his throat as he retracted his gaze from Jing Rui. He turned to Li Tian, Jing Kang and Xi Ling. "Now that I have told you the reminders – " he said and took a deep breath. " – I will show you what the Ni Lai Gate looks like. Pay attention." He told him and then looked at Yu Sheng. 

Yu Sheng nodded and opened his palm. Qi condensed and moved in the air until it formed a figure. 

Everyone stared in shock. "This is the Ni Lai Gate?!" they exclaimed as they looked at the seemingly ordinary-looking ancient stone gate. However, the longer they stared at it, they noticed that it seems like a wide, gaping mouth of the abyss. 

Yu Sheng nodded. "Look closely." He told them. 

The large group looked at him before they looked at the Ni Lai gate formed by condensed qi floating above the palm of Yu Sheng. They squinted their eyes to the point they disappeared before they finally noticed something. 

"There's something written!" Qian Tian said. 

They nodded, indicating that they saw it, too. "'ni lai…'" they read the two words on the right side of the gate. Then, they turned to look at the left side. "… 'hei… long'?" they muttered. "'ni lai heilong'? You come to Heilong?" they said. 

Yu Sheng nodded, his expression grim. "These are the 'welcome' greeting of the Heilong." He said and frowned. "They couldn't be any more obvious… brazenly showing off the entrance to their world."