Xiao Heng scratched his head helplessly, looking to Zhang Haobo for help.
Zhang Haobo chuckled. "Xiaomei isn't foolish in the slightest. In fact, back then Senior Shuo..."
He paused and changed his phrasing. "Truth be told, she is exceptionally clever. At times she might seem utterly impulsive, but she has already weighed the pros and cons in her heart.
"Even you were fooled by her once. Doesn't that prove how capable she is?"
Su Xiaomei gave a soft huff and held her head high.
"Then it seems our Xiaomei really is smarter than me!" Xiao Heng chimed in hurriedly.
Only after offering another round of flattering words did he finally earn Su Xiaomei's forgiveness.
"I forgive you!"
"Now hurry up and take out that small cauldron so we can test it!"
Breathing a sigh of relief, Xiao Heng brought out their last remaining Medicine King Cauldron.
After a moment's thought, he channeled spiritual energy into it.
Awakened by the surge, the small cauldron glowed with a faint cyan radiance.
Xiao Heng brought the small cauldron close to the bronze gate.
As the radiance shone upon it, the bronze gate—previously so unyielding that no attack could budge it in the slightest—seemed to melt. Within the reach of the shining light, an open doorway took shape.
"How about that! I guessed right, didn't I?" Su Xiaomei declared triumphantly.
Without waiting, she slipped through first.
Zhang Haobo followed right behind her.
Xiao Heng entered the doorway last.
The instant he crossed the bronze threshold, he did not forget to stow away the Small Medicine King Cauldron.
With the cyan light gone, the opening vanished, and the bronze gate gradually returned to normal.
Though Su Xiaomei had been the first to step inside, she did not act rashly.
Once the three of them regrouped, they surveyed the space behind the gate together.
A long, deep corridor stretched out ahead, its end lost to sight.
Their spiritual senses were also suppressed, preventing them from probing forward.
"Could there be danger?" Xiao Heng asked.
"Formations, mechanisms, restrictions—any of them are possible," Zhang Haobo said in a heavy voice. "Caution is best."
The three exchanged glances. Su Xiaomei took the lead while Zhang Haobo brought up the rear, guarding Xiao Heng in the middle as they carefully advanced along the passage.
Their nerves were stretched taut, not daring to let down their guard for an instant.
Yet, to their surprise, this long and narrow corridor presented not the slightest disturbance; they walked through with absolute ease.
"I can't help feeling that going so smoothly isn't a good sign," Su Xiaomei muttered, glancing left and right as she continued forward.
At the end of the passage, the view suddenly opened up.
Before them lay a bright, spacious hall divided into three tiers: upper, middle, and lower.
The center was an empty, open area, while numerous rooms lined the perimeter across all three tiers. Aside from that, other corridors led deeper into the complex.
"This looks like a gathering hall, but something seems to have happened here."
"The tables and chairs are scattered in disarray, and plants and decorations are strewn all over the floor."
Xiao Heng surveyed their surroundings and calmly analyzed the scene.
"This Medicine King Cauldron truly is miraculous. After all this time, the things inside are still preserved so well."
"Look at this. This flower doesn't look at all like it has lived for thousands of years," Su Xiaomei said in wonder, picking up an overturned potted plant from the floor.
Hearing this, the expressions of both Xiao Heng and Zhang Haobo shifted slightly.
"Something is strange."
"If even ordinary spiritual plants are preserved so impeccably, then what about the cultivators inside this Medicine King Cauldron?" Xiao Heng narrowed his eyes and lowered his voice.
This time, it was Su Xiaomei who answered him.
"More than twenty years have passed since the Medicine King Cauldron returned. If there were any active Medicine King Sect cultivators left inside, they would have reclaimed the cauldron long ago.
"They wouldn't have just stayed put, foolishly waiting for us to come knocking."
Zhang Haobo nodded in agreement. "Either they're all dead, or they've all vanished."
Xiao Heng added, "What I fear most is some half-dead, anomalous entity."
There was nothing of value in this hall.
As for the rooms lining the three tiers, their doors were sealed tight, impossible to force open.
The three had no choice but to continue exploring deeper inside.
A profound silence hung within the Medicine King Cauldron, yet an uneasy tension steadily mounted in their hearts.
The corridors behind the hall branched off in different directions.
Staying together, the three investigated them one by one.
The ends of these corridors led to distinct areas: pill refinement chambers, scripture pavilions, martial drill grounds, and the like.
Yet just as before, not a soul was in sight.
Every door was shut fast.
Even knowing that countless ancient treasures might lie behind them, the three had no way of claiming the spoils. They could only stare in frustration.
The only consolation was that the interior of the Medicine King Cauldron did not seem fraught with peril like other ancient sect ruins.
From beginning to end, not a single formation or restriction had been triggered.
There was only an unsettling, eerie aura lingering in the air.
Continuing onward, their path was blocked by an ash-gray stone gate.
This time, using the Small Medicine King Cauldron to disguise themselves did not work.
Moreover, this stone gate was several times sturdier than the bronze gate before.
Even with Su Xiaomei and Zhang Haobo joining forces to strike it, they could not make the ash-gray stone gate shudder in the least.
Halting her futile efforts, Su Xiaomei grew somewhat discouraged.
"Don't tell me we're going to enter a mountain of treasures only to return empty-handed?"
The same thought inevitably crossed all three of their minds.
"Let's search again," Xiao Heng said, gritting his teeth, unwilling to give up.
No cultivator would easily walk away with such a trove right before their eyes.
Turning back, the three conducted a thorough, floor-by-floor search.
This time, their luck turned.
"Look! This room's door doesn't seem to be completely sealed!" Su Xiaomei called out to the other two.
Xiao Heng and Zhang Haobo hurried over.
Tracing the hairline gap in the door with his fingers, Zhang Haobo nodded. "Indeed, it really is different from the other rooms."
Seeing that they might finally achieve something, Xiao Heng grew a bit excited. "Does that mean we can pry it open?"
"Let's give it a try."
With that, Zhang Haobo and Su Xiaomei joined forces once more.
Under the radiant glow of the blazing sun and the sea of blood, the bronze door let out a shrill screech.
Inch by inch, it was pried apart.
After a short while, their combined efforts finally forced a narrow opening.
"Be careful."
Transmitting their voices to one another, the three stepped inside.
The anticipated danger did not materialize.
Instead, the sight inside the room caught them completely off guard.
It was a private residence for a single person.
Though not very large, it was fully furnished with a bed, table, chairs, and cupboards.
And sprawled on the floor was a cultivator.
His head pointed toward the door, his posture suggesting he had been trying to shut it.
To the utter shock of Xiao Heng and his companions, this person still possessed the breath of life.
His breathing was steady, as though he had merely fallen into a deep slumber.
"What do we do?"
"Do we strike?"
"He's still alive after thousands of years. His cultivation must be unfathomable. If we act rashly..."
Just as they were conferring through their spiritual senses, the figure sprawled on the floor let out a muffled groan and slowly stirred awake on his own.
Unsure of the situation, the three gathered close and scrambled backward.
The Medicine King Sect cultivator climbed up from the floor, looking around in bewilderment at first.
Then, as if remembering something, the light gradually returned to his eyes.
He pinched his fingers in quick calculation, then exclaimed in sheer astonishment, "Twenty-four years have actually gone by?"
Only then did he finally notice Xiao Heng, Zhang Haobo, and Su Xiaomei standing in the room.
A flash of surprise crossed his face, but he quickly regained his composure.
"Greetings, Senior!" the three greeted in unison.
"Did you fellow Daoists wake me?" he asked.
Chapter 400