When Earth Awakened, I Became a Sword Saintess

Chapter 187 : The Truth of the Realm Gate

187: The Truth of the Realm Gate

Outside the old, tall wooden gates of the Ghost Clan Fortress.

The Ghost Princess, with her Green Ghost Guard, and Yuyin, prepared to head north to the Realm Gate. The Elder, Lu Yu, and other Ghosts and demons came to see them off. Lu Yu held the hand of the little Ghost Clan girl Yuyin had saved.

Yuyin looked at the innocent little girl with her tiny pair of ghost horns and found her quite cute. But a question lingered in Yuyin’s mind. The women here all had some characteristics of the demon or Ghost Clans, but the Ghost Princess looked completely like a human girl, her quirky personality aside.

Could it be that the Ghost Princess’s non-human features were hidden in places she couldn’t see? Yuyin couldn’t help but glance at the Ghost Princess, her gaze traveling from top to bottom…

"Xia Yuyin, why are you looking at me like that?" the Ghost Princess felt Yuyin’s gaze was a little strange.

"Ah, it’s nothing," Yuyin said with a smile to cover it up, turning her face away.

"Tsk… A Xia woman’s heart is a needle in the sea. Who knows what she’s really thinking," the Ghost Princess muttered.

She puffed out her chest and looked at the Ghosts who had come to see them off.

"We’re leaving now. So many Li Su cultivators died here. They will never let this go. You must evacuate as soon as possible," the Ghost Princess warned the Ghosts.

"Thank you for the reminder, Your Highness. This old one understands. We will take the fortress’s children and women into the deep mountains to hide before nightfall," the Elder said.

"Damn them, those damned Li Su, killing so many of our clansmen, not even sparing the children! Even if we die in battle, we will not let them go!" Da Tuo slammed his thick, well-developed pectoral muscles and roared. "We able-bodied clansmen will ambush them within the fortress. If the Li Su dare to return, we will fight to the death and take a few of them with us. We’ll screw their female cultivators!"

"That’s right, kill all their men, and screw their women!" a group of strong, ferocious ghosts howled.

The Ghost Princess nodded in satisfaction. Even if they were outmatched, these Ghosts were not cowards. They were true men who stood tall and proud.

"You, Mu Ta, will stay behind and fight with the fortress’s Ghosts," the Ghost Princess ordered.

"Yes!" a Green Ghost over three meters tall, at the Mid-Stage of Void Truth Realm, carrying a bow as thick as a small tree on his back, accepted the command.

"Let’s go," the Ghost Princess said, leading her Green Ghost Guard and Yuyin toward the vast, gloomy mountains to the north.

"Take care, Your Highness the Ghost Princess!"

"Fairy Maiden, you must protect our clan and save this Prison Abyss from the heavenly tribulation!"

The Elder and the many Ghosts knelt to see them off.

· · ─────── ·𖥸· ─────── · · · · ─────── ·𖥸· ─────── · ·

Yuyin, the Ghost Princess, and their party traveled through the northern mountains. The trees here were older and taller, the daylight struggled to penetrate, the Yin energy was heavier, and a thick mist pervaded the air.

There were fifteen or sixteen brawny Green Ghosts in total. Even the weakest was at the Early-Stage of Void Truth Realm. This was a truly formidable force, composed of the most elite Ghost Clan warriors tasked with protecting their princess.

With the Ghost Princess’s sharp senses, she knew from their skirmish that morning and the Elder’s later account that Yuyin’s strength would likely place her in the top three among the guards she had brought. Such a powerful ally was very valuable to her.

Surrounded by brawny Green Ghosts, Yuyin naturally walked behind the Ghost Princess.

She glanced at these Green Ghosts from time to time. Each one was far taller and sturdier than those at the fortress. Some had well-defined, chiseled muscles like iron and stone; others had arms as thick as barrels and potbellies with thick, rough skin that looked like it could repel blades. Their manes were lush. All of them exuded a powerful, heart-stopping aura of ferocity.

Yuyin couldn’t help but recall her arrival in this world. Although these ghosts were very strong, her sensitive intuition told her they were still a step below the eight ghosts who had carried her sedan chair. Their builds were also slightly inferior.

But they were remarkably similar.

Walking through the rugged mountain forest, Yuyin couldn’t help but gaze at the Ghost Princess, who moved with such agile grace ahead of her, her own eyes growing deep.

Her chest rose and fell with her thoughts. Perhaps it was because she had dressed in a hurry after her bath, but Yuyin felt the bra under her white dress was a little tight. Or maybe… she had changed a little in the past six months…

But she had no chance to adjust her bra’s clasp. She was surrounded by ghosts in front and behind. Although these ghosts appeared loyal and resolute, obeying the Ghost Princess’s every command, they couldn’t help but glance at Yuyin from time to time. Their thoughts were all too clear.

To command so many powerful male ghosts, so similar to the ones who had carried her sedan chair… Yuyin had been speculating about the Ghost Princess’s identity since that morning.

What was her relationship to the Ghost King?

The Ghost Princess sometimes referred to herself as "this Princess." Could she really be a princess under the Ghost King’s command?

But clearly, the Ghost Princess and her ghosts did not recognize her.

"It seems that only the Ghost King and the eight sedan-carrying ghosts have truly seen me and know my identity," Yuyin thought to herself.

Besides, this was just a very likely possibility. The Prison Abyss was vast and mysterious. With the Li Su, the Ghost Clan, terrifying alien beasts as large as mountains, and numerous other factions, she couldn’t be certain that the Ghost Princess was connected to the Ghost King to whom she was betrothed.

"But even if the Ghost Princess really is the Ghost King’s daughter, I will not betray the oath I made with her," Yuyin said, her gaze fixed on the Ghost Princess’s back. She had decided to honor her word.

"Because the oath between the Ghost Princess and me is simply that I, Xia Yuyin, will join her in fighting the Li Su. It has nothing to do with my betrothal to the Ghost King," Yuyin said with a faint smile.

These ghosts were so terrifying. Their Ghost King must be an even taller, more robust, uglier, and more ferocious overlord of the Prison Abyss. How could Yuyin possibly agree to marry him?

That was absolutely impossible.

As for the betrothal, the most Yuyin could say was, "I’m sorry."

She would only honor the promises she made herself. She didn’t recall ever agreeing to this marriage.

"Hmph, he just wants to use his power and strength to possess me… in his dreams!"

Even if the Ghost Princess was truly the Ghost Clan’s princess, they would work together to resist the Li Su for another few hundred li until they reached the Realm Gate. Then, Yuyin would return to Earth, and the Ghost Princess would go off to do her so-called "important thing." They would go their separate ways.

"Once I’m back on Earth, I’ll tell my teachers everything I’ve learned. After we rest and recuperate, when I come back to the Prison Abyss to train and gain experience, if I have the chance to meet the Ghost Princess again, we’ll still ally with her. We can use the Ghost Clan’s power to fight the Li Su. And I can try to get information about the Ghost King from her. I need to find out what kind of lecherous ghost this king who wants to possess me really is! I can be better prepared before the three-year deadline arrives."

Yuyin’s gaze was calm yet held a flicker of shrewd intelligence. She would never harm anyone, nor would she betray an ally. But she would absolutely not allow the Ghost King to toy with her.

Although Yuyin was used to being a girl, she still had the soul of a boy. To marry a Ghost King who was even more robust and terrifying than the ghosts in front of her was something she could never accept on an instinctual level!

The Ghost Princess stopped and turned to look back at Yuyin. "Why do I feel like you’re always staring at me? And your gaze… it seems to hold some kind of tender emotion?"

"Huh?" Yuyin was startled from her deep thoughts. She took a moment to compose herself, flicked her long hair, releasing its fragrance, and looked at the young girl with a mature, inscrutable expression. "Tender emotion? How could that be? Perhaps I sense a dangerous premonition in the atmosphere around us and have heightened my vigilance? After all, we are supposed to be working together to fight the Li Su."

"Is that so?" the Ghost Princess said with a knowing smile, as if she’d seen through everything. But Yuyin would bet the clothes on her back that what the Ghost Princess thought she saw was not what Yuyin was actually thinking.

"Any further, and we’ll be within two hundred li of the northern Realm Gate. It will be extremely dangerous. The Li Su’s activities will be even more rampant. Everyone, be careful. Suppress your auras and move forward," the Ghost Princess commanded.

"Yes!" the many Ghosts acknowledged.

The Ghost Princess turned, and her two earrings let out a light, clear chime.

Yuyin followed, a question forming in her mind. The closer they got to the Realm Gate, the more rampant the Li Su’s activities? Could it be that this side of the Realm Gate had also been conquered by the Li Su? If so, that would be terrible… And why, being so close to the Realm Gate, had the Ghost Clan of this generation never seen any activity from Earth’s humans?

Yuyin followed the group, proceeding cautiously. They suppressed their auras and traveled through the night. On the way, Yuyin sensed a few distant fluctuations of Primordial Energy, likely from the Li Su, but they were all far away.

In the early hours of the morning, Yuyin and the Ghost Princess simultaneously sensed a massive surge of Primordial Energy from the other side of the mountain ahead. These energies were completely unconcealed, seemingly coming and going. Some would appear suddenly, while others would vanish just as quickly.

The Ghost Princess held up a hand and whispered, "Over this mountain should be the Realm Gate. I don’t need to tell you that the area around the Realm Gate is the most dangerous place."

Yuyin followed the Ghost Princess’s group, slowing her pace. Of course, for the male Ghosts, it was impossible to suppress their auras as completely as Yuyin and the Ghost Princess could. But the mountains were already teeming with the auras of alien beasts and Ghosts. Unless a presence was exceptionally powerful, it wouldn’t necessarily attract attention.

They climbed over the mountain just as the sky was beginning to lighten.

Using the cover of the trees and grass, Yuyin and the Ghost Princess saw a vast, ancient, and massive stone gate nestled in a mountain pass ahead.

The gate’s design was completely different from the one in Lingdu. Its stone pillars were thick, and carved above the lintel were alien scripts and totems that made Yuyin’s heart pound.

Within the silent, enormous stone gate, space warped and shimmered from time to time. Li Su cultivators and barbarians flew out from the gateway, or flew in and vanished within it. Below the gateway, batches of warriors clad in ancient, alien armor emerged with menacing presence from the spatial fluctuations, forming up in the open space before the stone gate. All around, flags Yuyin had never seen before were planted and fluttering in the wind.

"This… this…" Yuyin’s chest heaved violently, her heart pounding. "This is…"