Star Odyssey

Chapter 1800: Tea Mountain

Mountain God bellowed, “Who could obliterate us? Alliance Leader Lu, you’re underestimating our strength! We might not be on par with the entire Great Eastern Alliance, but we are far from weak!”

“I almost died twice in Burial Garden. The first was when I was attacked by an Envoy, and the second was when I ran into one of the Progenitor of Combat’s descendants from the Sixth Mainland’s Daosource Sect. She attacked me with Xia Yi, and if either of them had entered an exit that led to your territories, what could you have done to stop them? I wasn’t able to acquire any opportunities in Burial Garden because the only one that I found was taken away from me. Are these the people that you want to deal with?” Lu Yin asked in a rhetorical manner.

The others fell silent at this revelation.

Ling Qiu said, "My Lingling clan can deal with something like that."

Lu Yin looked at her. "But I don't want to take such risks. The Lingling clan has you, Matriarch Ling Qiu, and also Ling Taizu. You two can work together to guard a gate, but there’s no guarantee of you all being able to protect two gates."

Ling Qiu became upset at this insinuation. "Alliance Leader Lu, do you not believe me to be strong enough to protect a gate on my own?"

Lu Yin’s expression grew stern, and a chill entered his voice. "I called all of you to discuss this as a matter of respect, and I do not want to have to force things. I hope that you can all show me some respect for my position as the alliance leader."

Ling Qiu wanted to retort, but she was stopped by a look from Liu Qianjue. Regardless of what they all wanted, Lu Yin was the leader of the Great Eastern Alliance, and they had already joined it. Thus, they had to show him some degree of respect. Even if they could deal with Lu Yin, they could not do so right now, as such a move would cause them to be seen as completely untrustworthy in the future.

The powerful reigned supreme in the universe, but there were many unspoken rules beneath this law. They could not immediately try to rebel after joining the Great Eastern Alliance, and that included openly opposing the alliance leader. If another power like the Great Eastern Alliance were to appear next time, they would not be given the option of surrendering again, but would rather simply be executed.

There were some rules that could not be broken unless one’s bottom line was crossed.

"Alright, since Alliance Leader Lu has spoken, we agree to leave only one of Burial Garden’s exits open in each of our territories," Liu Qianjue spoke up.

Lu Yin glanced around. Qing Li had not said a single word the entire time. He did not actually qualify to participate in such a discussion, which was why he merely listened.

"By the way, Alliance Leader Lu mentioned being attacked by Xia Yi. Are you referring to the patriarch of the Seven Courts’ Xia family? Are you saying that he entered Burial Garden?" Mountain God suddenly asked.

"That’s right."

Liu Qianjue and the others once again exchanged glances. The Seven Courts was a power that stood at the same level as Burial Garden, but even the Xia family’s patriarch had entered Burial Garden. It seemed possible that the other patriarchs would enter as well. This indicated that there might be opportunities in Burial Garden that could even interest people at their level. Should the few of them also go in?

"Let me remind you all that allowing you to keep one exit is based on your strength. If you enter Burial Garden and I deem you unable to protect a gate, that one gate will also be destroyed," Lu Yin stated.

Liu Qianjue and the others did not comment on this.

The call soon ended, and Lu Yin called Wang Wen back. “I spoke to the leaders of the great flowzones, but those old foxes will definitely keep the exits open."

"I’ll keep an eye on things."

"How hard is it to destroy the gates?"

Wang Wen looked frustrated. "Burial Garden’s gates aren’t easy to destroy, but one was broken when Chen Huang made a move."

Lu Yin remarked, "It seems that it takes the strength of an Envoy to break them."

"Don't worry. There shouldn’t be too many people going in for now, though the numbers will certainly increase as time goes by. Take care of yourself," Wang Wen said.

Lu Yin sighed as he hung up.

Burial Garden represented a massive opportunity at this moment, and people would always be willing to take risks for opportunities to grow stronger.

Since he was in the Cosmic Sea, Lu Yin wanted to go visit Leon’s Armada, but after mentioning the matter to Ye Xingchen, Lu Yin learned that the armada was very far away. Given the unpredictable weather in the Cosmic Sea, it was difficult for two different parties to meet each other even when they both knew the other’s location. Lu Yin would struggle unless Highsage Leon himself came over to pick up Lu Yin.

Lu Yin considered the matter, but he decided to postpone it for later.

He bade Ye Xingchen farewell and stepped out, ready to reenter Burial Garden’s gate. Before leaving, Lu Yin also made sure to remind Ye Xingchen to avoid the gate.

Lu Yin actually wanted to suggest to Ye Xingchen that he destroy the gate, but unfortunately, the Unyielding Corps had no Envoys.

Lu Yin was a bit dazed when he returned to Burial Garden and saw where he had appeared. Was this really Burial Garden?

There were thick trees that blocked the sun, and he could also see mountains and hills through the large trees. The hills and mountains were verdant, and there were small rivers winding around them.

If Lu Yin had not deliberately entered Burial Garden’s gate, he would have thought that he had arrived at some planet suitable for human habitation.

This place was quite simply a paradise.

After leaving the forest, Lu Yin looked around again. The mountains were not very high, and they were all green. The closer hills were covered with tea plants.

Lu Yin could not resist approaching the hills.

He quickly arrived at the base of the hills, and just as he was about to start climbing it, he vaguely heard something in the distance. The sound seemed to be coming from the right and up ahead, so he started examining the area as he started approaching it. A few meters ahead, there were some neatly arranged tea bushes, but not a single creature could be seen. Still, there was a sound, and it was growing louder.

"Help me."

"Help me."

"Please, save me."

…

Lu Yin searched for a long time, but he still could not find a thing. He happened to glance at the tea leaves on the bushes, but then his head whipped back, and he stared at the middle of the tea leaves. His pupils constricted, and an expression of horror appeared on his face. It was rare for Lu Yin to have such a reaction, but at this moment, he had just seen something unbelievable.

There was a human face within the leaves. It was indistinct as it weakly murmured something. The voice that he had been hearing was coming from this human face.

Lu Yin's eyes widened as he stared at the tea leaves. It was only a face without a body or even a head. What was this? Has this plant been demonized?

At this time, the face’s eyes fluttered open and looked at Lu Yin.

Lu Yin was horrified once again. He was able to see complex emotions that could only belong to a human within those eyes. There was despair and begging, and a great deal of excitement as well. “A- Alliance Leader Lu, is that you?"

Lu Yin stared at the face. It belonged to a middle-aged man, but he also looked very pale and weak. Still, Lu Yin could not see anything at all aside from the face. "Do You know me?"

The face grew even more excited. "I- my name is An Liang. I'm from Watermoon Villa."

Lu Yin was taken aback. "Watermoon Villa? Do you know An Shaohua?"

"Yes! I’m An Liang, An Shaohua's uncle. Alliance Leader Lu, please save me! I’m from Watermoon Villa, and I’m a member of the Great Eastern Alliance!" An Liang’s voice was weak as he begged, though his eyes showed both hope and despair. The excitement that Lu Yin saw was like someone suddenly seeing dawn again.

Lu Yin had no idea how to respond. "How did you get like this? What happened to your body?"

An Liang was startled by Lu Yin’s question, and his eyes started darting about. His pupils fluctuated wildly. The face looked utterly terrified. "It's that corpse! That corpse has been treating me like a tea plant! It’s all because of that mummy."

Lu Yin's face twitched. "What are you talking about?"

An Liang looked at Lu Yin, his face contorted with fear. "Alliance Leader Lu, please save me! Save me! I don't want to become a tea plant, and I don’t want to be turned to fertilizer!"

Lu Yin went pale. There was a surge of cold air from his feet, and he spun around, but there was nothing there. All he could see was a trickling stream.

"Alliance Leader Lu, save me! Save me!" An Liang groaned in agony that twisted his entire face. It was a scary sight.

"Are you saying that some dried up corpse planted you like a tea plant?" Lu Yin pressed.

An Liang struggled to answer, "Yes… it was a dried up corpse that was carrying a bamboo basket."

A chill covered Lu Yin's whole body. He did not feel like he was facing a life or death crisis, but rather something that was unfathomable and bizarre. It felt similar to when he had been treated as white meat on Driftcharge Planet or when he had seen the human in Aeternus Nation with their organs removed. Lu Yin was almost overcome by the chill and panic that swept over him.

He quickly moved back and looked around. He did not even have the courage to release his domain at this moment.

He had run into more than one corpse in Burial Garden, such as that old, one-legged man, the girl who kept slapping the air in front of her, and the corpse that Lu Yin had Possessed that had been able to reflexively use the Ce Secret Art. Not to mention, there had also been Progenitor Chen, who Lu Yin could not determine if he was alive or not. Lu Yin assumed that a corpse that had existed for so long would not be easy to deal with, and Lu Yin did not think that he could fight against such a thing.

He had originally thought that the corpses in Burial Garden were not threats or even aggressive, but seeing An Liang’s case had overturned all of Lu Yin’s assumptions. Burial Garden was not nearly as safe as the outside world believed it to be. Humans entering to compete for opportunities did not only need to fight against other humans, but also things like the moving corpses that inhabited Burial Garden.

"A- Alliance Leader Lu, save me! Save me…" An Liang continued moaning and pleading.

Lu Yin looked at the other tea plants, and saw that all of them held faces. However, all of them were already dead, and none of them responded.

Lu Yin retreated further and hurried back into the forest before turning around to take another look at the hills covered with tea bushes. Lu Yin felt an unprecedented fear. He still had not found the corpse that was planting the tea bushes.

Suddenly, a man appeared out of nowhere some distance away. The man looked confused, and he glanced around in the same manner as Lu Yin had after entering Burial Garden.

Lu Yin watched the man, but he did not make a single sound. This man was another person who had entered one of Burial Garden’s gates, and he had been randomly sent to this forest.

The man was not weak at all, and the void twisted as he stepped forward. He instantly appeared at the base of the tea hills and then entered the hills.

As soon as the man stepped into the hills, a figure stood up in the middle of the tea mountain. It was an old corpse that was hunched over at the waist. He was carrying a bamboo basket on his back and was facing the man who had just arrived. The corpse made a gesture, and the human’s body flew towards the corpse. It caught the newly arrived man and shoved him straight into the ground. Suddenly an ear-piercing scream echoed through the hills.

Lu Yin’s mouth fell open as he stared in amazement.

He watched as the man's body and limbs gradually withered away and transformed into a tea bush. The muscles, bones, and blood all became nutrients to feed the tea bush until only the face remained. It turned up to look into the sky. The eyes were blank, and yet they held a sort of extreme pain and despair.

Lu Yin was still in the forest, and he simply left without even looking back. An astral chessboard appeared beneath his feet, and he moved again and again as he fled. He did not dare to stop at all.

That man had been instantly planted into the ground! Lu Yin was horribly traumatized by what he had just witnessed. What the hell was that old corpse? It was so strange and so cruel.

Lu Yin had absolutely no thoughts of investigating the matter, as he felt that it was completely impossible. The only thing on Lu Yin’s mind was to get as far away from the tea hills as possible. The further, the better.

He never wanted to see such a terrifying thing ever again.