Guarding the River of Time

Chapter 419 - 409: The Dark River Beneath Time, Her True Face

Su Mu and Du Ziren rode the dragon boat, proceeding along the small river within the ancient city towards its depths.

The deeper they went, the fewer ancient buildings there were around, and the environment grew increasingly dim.

After traveling for several hours, they finally arrived at the end of the small river.

At the end stood an extremely tall stone gate, towering at a height of a hundred meters, gray-black in color, exuding an ancient aura of age. Upon closer inspection, one could see patterns carved across the gate.

They didn’t seem like patterns, more like words; these words were very ancient, it was the first time Su Mu had seen them, and he couldn’t recognize a single one.

However, when staring directly at these ancient characters, there was a déjà vu feeling of gazing into the origin, looking too long would lead one to fall into it, so Su Mu shook his head and stopped staring at the words on the stone gate.

"Brother Su, I can only take you this far."

Du Ziren clasped his hands together and bowed reverently towards the stone gate.

Even he could not go "behind the gate" without the permission of the Lady. This was the only forbidden area; over the years, only Shen Cha had gone a few times.

He was somewhat puzzled, why did Shen Cha seem to have disappeared?

He couldn’t sense her presence anywhere in the city?

Could she have offended Elder Su?

However, although Shen Cha was somewhat domineering in nature, having been colleagues for so many years, he knew very well that Shen Cha was not one to act recklessly.

He could only speculate wildly in his mind, not daring to ask aloud.

There are some things he should not know, like how the Lady asked him to bring Elder Su here, he also did not understand the Lady’s intention and purpose, but he did not want to know, for once aware, one would get entangled in karma, and as for the karma between Elder Su and the Lady, he dared not touch it, he couldn’t shoulder it at all!

....

The next second, the heavy stone gate slowly opened.

Seeing this, Du Ziren sensibly jumped off the boat, cupping his fists, he said, "Brother Su, I’ll wait outside for you."

With that, he left the place.

Su Mu looked at what lay beyond the stone gate, feeling that the world behind it was extremely dangerous.

However, he didn’t feel any fear, nor the inclination to retreat, but rather a strong urge to go in and see it, aware that if he missed this chance, he might regret it later.

Thus, Su Mu steered the dragon boat and entered the stone gate.

....

As soon as Su Mu fully entered behind the stone gate, the heavy stone gate slowly closed.

Woosh, woosh—

The sound of trickling water filled the surroundings.

The next moment, dots of firefly light appeared, and Su Mu finally saw the environment around him clearly.

This was a dark river!

It was very wide, spanning across the vast majority of the ancient city’s meandering streams, occupying almost ninety percent of the area!

The river water was serene, very clear, free of any impurities, and there was a light ethereal fragrance; a whiff of it made one’s very soul tremble with an indescribably mystical feeling.

Su Mu squatted down, touched the dark river’s water, and was shocked to discover... this dark river’s water was the same as the river he guarded.

However, there were some differences, but not significant ones, giving a sense of a common origin with distinct paths.

Then, he performed the Water Control Divine Technique.

With a wave of his hand, droplets of river water were manipulated, and his divine technique could be exercised atop this dark river!

However, its effect was greatly reduced, for if he were on the river above, a casual wave would let him effortlessly control entire water regions.

If he could manipulate it, then the guess should be right, this dark river’s source should be the river above, or maybe his affinity wasn’t enough, so he couldn’t directly control this entire dark river—but it didn’t matter, he was looking to leave this place to refine the long river, what use was controlling the river water?!

Next second.

A firefly, as large as a cicada, flew to Su Mu, paused for a moment, then flew forward.

This firefly was probably here to guide him.

Su Mu steered the dragon ship, following the firefly leisurely in a certain direction.

After traveling for about half an hour, the firefly stopped.

Su Mu, following the firefly’s direction, saw an extremely, extremely large stone bridge spanning the entire dark river!

On the stone bridge stood a black stone tower, approximately nine stories tall, appearing very majestic and sacred, but also imparting a sense of solitude, as the place was dark, very desolate, only the stone tower stood solitary there.

For some reason, seeing this stone tower aroused something within Su Mu’s heart.

A close look revealed a figure standing on the stone bridge, seemingly gazing at him.

The figure was very familiar; Su Mu had seen it once before, it was probably the Lady.

Su Mu waved his hand, steering the dragon boat towards the stone bridge, only realizing its enormity upon approaching it, making him appear very small in front of it.

He leaped, jumping onto the stone bridge, facing the figure.

The figure was shrouded in wisps of mysterious misty energy, obscuring its face.

The next moment, the figure slowly emerged from the misty energy.

The woman was clad in an ancient, simplistic dark robe, majestic and noble, stunningly beautiful—no, even the word "beautiful" seemed inadequate to describe her.

Divine, noble, dignified, all epitomes of beauty concentrated upon her, causing Su Mu to lose focus for a moment.

This woman’s beauty was unlike Shen Cha’s, Shen Cha’s beauty was tangible but this woman’s beauty was intangible, suspended high in the nine heavens, aloof and independent, noble and supreme.

In fact, even Shen Cha had never seen Lady Houtu’s true appearance; she always appeared in a "form," hidden within the misty energy, others could only see her silhouette, unable to see her true appearance.

Su Mu was the first, and the only one to see Lady Houtu’s true form.

It should be said, with the greatness of her karma, only Su Mu was qualified to behold her true appearance.

...

"Su Mu, we meet again."

Lady Houtu’s voice, like the primordial sound of the Great Dao, resonated in Su Mu’s mind, touching his soul, carrying an undeniable, unopposable majesty.

It was incredibly intimidating, because only upon reaching a certain supreme level could one’s words dictate reality, a word as truth, a word as law!

Even now, Su Mu could not discern Lady Houtu’s cultivation realm; everything about her seemed wrapped in mist, imperceptible, and impossible to comprehend.

"Yes, we meet again."

He wasn’t sure why, though it was the second time seeing her, she felt very familiar to Su Mu, as if they had met countless times, causing him to lower his guard.

.....

ps: I’ve caught the flu, running a fever, so there will only be one Chapter today, deeply sorry, updates will return to normal tomorrow.