The Portal of Wonderland

“Your Highness, the High Priest is busy… and won’t be able to receive you for the time being. It would be better if the two of you stay in the Green Tooth Palace for a couple of days. What’s your opinion about this?” Wu Lan turned his head towards Princess Huo Wu and said.

“Thank you so much, Lord Wu Lan. I accept your invitation,” Princess Huo Wu replied with a faint smile.

Wu Lan put away the white jade token, and turned around to lead the way. Shi Mu and Princess Huo Wu followed closely behind him, and quickly disappeared into the depths of the barrack.

The three people were advancing on a ten feet wide mountain passage. The entire passage was carved from white rock. Princess Huo Wu was riding on the back of a barbarian horse. However, she still seemed shorter than Wu Lan.

Shi Mu was riding on his David’s Deer. He was neither far… nor close behind Princess Huo Wu. He was looking around at the surroundings as he moved forward.

“Lord Wu Lan, thank you so much for your help. Otherwise, the consequences would’ve been too horrible,” Princess Huo Wu cupped her hands, and said with a grateful expression on her face.

“Your Highness, you’re welcome. I’m just following orders,” Wu Lan waved his hand and replied.

“May I ask who gives you the orders?” Princess Huo Wu asked in a calm manner.

“Hehe… The Master Priest of the Green Tooth Tribe – Lord Yan Ya,” Wu Lan chuckled and replied.

Princess Huo Wu’s expression didn’t change as she heard this.

The vicious barbarians and peaceful barbarians didn’t get along. Princess Huo Wu had guessed from the green tooth necklace in Wu Lan’s neck that he belonged to the Green Tooth Tribe of peaceful Barbarians.

A quarter-of-an hour later…

Shi Mu and the Princess arrived at a residing platform that was situated halfway up on the mountain under the guidance of Wu Lan. A small and green palace stood at this place.

Shi Mu and Princess Huo Wu walked towards the palace under the guidance of Wu Lan. The two riders reached outside the hall of the palace. The palace was looked after by a barbarian servant.

A slim old Master Priest sat upright on a seat in the hall; he was wearing a green gown. He had a strong aura around him… like that of a deep sea. Shi Mu and Princess Huo Wu felt a shiver in their heart as they entered the hall.

“Lord Yan Ya, this is Huo Wu of the Da Qi Kingdom. Thank you for sending a man to help us.” Princess Huo Wu took a step forward. She then put a hand on her chest, and bowed in a greeting ritual of the barbarian race.

Shi Mu also followed Princess Huo Wu, and greeted the Master Priest.

Wu Lan stepped forward, and passed the white jade order-token to Princess Huo Wu. She then handed it over to Yan Ya, and stood respectfully.

“You’re welcome, Princess. Please sit down. The old man did it because I don’t want the vicious barbarian race and the sea race to get away with their conspiracies.” Priest Yan Ya didn’t look at the emissary token in his hand. Instead, he waved at both of them. He then spoke-up with a smile.

“Sea race?” Princess Huo Wu raised her elegant eyebrow. She then asked in surprised manner.

“Princess, you may not be aware of it. But… the newly reputed female saint Xiang Zhu of the sea race brought a messengers’ troop to the White Horse Mountain seven days ago. They invited me to collaborate with the sea race in order to cope with the human race together. So, we – the priests of the eight big tribes – called the High Priest and assembled in the Holy Mountain. He is busy regarding this matter only,” Priest Yan Ya explained.

Princess Huo Wu’s complexion changed.

The three Kingdoms would be attacked by the enemies from three sides if the sea race and the barbarian race joined hands. Then, the situation would be impossible to tackle.

“Lord Yan Ya, I don’t think that you would approve of it …considering your relationship with the sea race.” Princess Huo Wu calmed herself down. Her beautiful eyes flashed as she spoke.

“Hehe… I didn’t know that the Princess knows so much. You’re right. My Green Tooth Tribe is one of the four big tribes of peaceful barbarians… and is the same as the other three tribes. The inhabitants of the place near the East Sea have harbored a great hatred towards the sea race for generations. It’s natural that we won’t join hands with the sea race,” Priest Yan Ya shot a glance at Princess Huo Wu in admiration and explained.

“May I ask your Holiness… what’s the opinion of the High Priest regarding the sea race union?” Princess Huo Wu asked after pondering for a moment.

“The four tribes of the vicious barbarians stand for the sea race union. And, we – the four tribes of the peaceful barbarians — have negative opinion about it. So, it’s hard for the High Priest to make a decision at this moment. Hehe… the Princess has come at the right time,” Priest Yan Ya said with a smile.

“Many thanks to your Holiness for mentioning this. This young girl will surely try her best.” Princess Huo Wu cupped her hands and bowed.

“Princess, only two of you are on this mission, right?” Priest Yan Ya shot a glance at Shi Mu and asked.

“This isn’t the case. We set off for this journey as soon as the Da Qi Kingdom told us….” Princess Huo Wu didn’t hide anything about her mission from the Priest; apart from Shi Mu’s identity. She told him how her entire troop had been wiped out by the earth-ranked creature from the sea race.

Priest Yan Ya wrinkled his brows as he heard this. However, he remained silent.

“Princess, you words indicate that the strong creature from the sea race looked a bit like the first warrior Zha Gu of the Fierce Snake Tribe. This man’s weapon was a dark snake whip which has been condensed from the deep green-sea snake with the help of martial magic,” Priest Yan Ya said after a while.

Shi Mu and Princess Huo Wu looked at each other as they heard this. They felt a shiver in their hearts as they secretly feared the scene that they had seen under the mountain.

“Oh! By the way… a wisp of dark-green real Qi is still left in your body. It has been suppressed by you… but it would still be a huge risk to let it be this way. It’ll do as much damage as a fish bone in the throat. The old man here has a small Yin Quelling Pill. It’ll help you to get rid of it completely.” Priest Yan Ya turned his hand and took out a wooden box. He then handed it over to Princess Huo Wu.

“Your Holiness, thanks a lot!” Princess Huo Wu’s complexion became bright as she received it.

Princess Huo Wu and Priest Yan Ya then chatted for a while. After that, Shi Mu and the Princess took their leave.

The servant standing outside the hall led the two people to two adjacent stone chambers for them to reside in.

*** ***

There were three rooms in Shi Mu’s chamber. It was spacious and finely decorated. It seemed like a guest house.

‘Knock!’

A soft sound of knocking came from the door.

Shi Mu opened the door and saw Tian Huo Wu standing outside.

“Princess Huo Wu, please come in.” Shi Mu invited her into the chamber with a smile on his face.

“I’ve told you many times that there’s no need to call me Princess… Just call me Huo Wu,” Huo Wu looked at Shi Mu and said.

Shi Mu closed the door and smiled. But, he remained silent.

The two people entered the living room of the stone chamber, and sat down. They both smiled, but didn’t say anything for a while.

“The sea race has arrived at the White Horse Holy Mountain. I’m afraid it won’t be simple to form an alliance through these discussions.” There was a frustrated expression on Princess Huo Wu’s face. She sighed and explained.

The sea race was extremely wild. They had rushed to the Holy Mountain in seven days to grab this opportunity. Moreover, the strength and imposing manner of the female saint – the leader of this sea race – wasn’t poor. But, the human race only had two people – Princess Huo Wu and Shi Mu. Their strength would unavoidably appear weaker.

The human race was at a great disadvantage; regardless of the partial inclination of the barbarian race. Therefore, Princess Huo Wu was rightly dispirited.

“As Priest Yan Ya said… the barbarian race still has internal dispute regarding this matter. It’s not confirmed that we don’t have any chance,” Shi Mu looked at her and said.

“I hope so…” Huo Wu nodded. Her complexion turned a little clear.

“The discussions are going to be very complex in this situation. I had promised Brother Shi that I’ll talk to the High Priest about the matter of your Secret Art of Totem of the Fierce Snake Tribe. But, I’m afraid that we’d have to set this matter aside for the time being. But, I promise you that I’ll mention this in front of the High Priest whenever I get an appropriate chance.” Huo Wu’s beautiful eyes exposed a trace of regret. She then said in an assuring manner.

“The Princess still remembers this matter? We can put off this matter until an effective outcome has come out of the discussion in that case,” Shi Mu replied with a faint smile.

“Be assured, Brother Shi. I’m a woman of my word. I’ll surely fulfill my promise,” Princess Huo Wu said in a relaxed tone.

“Thanks a lot, Princess,” Shi Mu nodded and said.

Princess Huo Wu didn’t stay for long. She soon took her leave. It seemed as if she was in a hurry.

Shi Mu returned to his bedroom and sat down.

He was currently regarded as Princess Huo Wu’s bodyguard by the barbarians. So, it wouldn’t help to discuss this matter in a hurry. Moreover, there was that man from the Fierce Snake Tribe on the Holy Mountain; it was necessary to fear him. So, Shi Mu didn’t dare to act blindly without thinking.

Shi Mu took-off the clothes from his upper body. The totem on his chest was covered in a layer of blue light. The python totem didn’t look unusual.

Shi Mu felt relaxed as he saw this.

That man from the Fierce Snake Tribe hadn’t been able to sense his totem curse. It seemed that the blood of the forest viper had been effective in concealing the aura of the totem curse.

Shi Mu put on his clothes. But, he didn’t have a relaxed expression on his face.

Princess Huo Wu’s behavior felt mysterious the next day. She didn’t stay in her room throughout the day. She had been frequently meeting with the important people of the barbarian race. So, she had rarely come across Shi Mu.

Shi Mu stayed in his chamber; he didn’t go out. He didn’t even see anyone apart from a few barbarian servants who took care of his daily needs.

Three days passed in the blink of an eye. The entire mountain seemed tranquil… without any unusual happenings.

Shi Mu gradually let the thought pass, and came out of his residing place.

There seemed to be no guard in the hall where Shi Mu and Princess Huo Wu had been residing. The place seemed to be stranded. Shi Mu couldn’t even see a single shadow.

Shi Mu soon arrived at the main door of the hall. He was about to step out.

“Hey, are you warrior Shi of the human race mission?” a young voice was heard from behind him.

Shi Mu turned his head, and saw a barbarian youth in a green priest-gown coming from the main hall with a smile on his face.

“I’m Shi Mu, Your Holiness. And… you’re?” Shi Mu raised his brow and asked.

“Hehe… My name is Min Tu. I’m a low-level priest of the Green Tooth Tribe. Lord Yan Ya got to know that Warrior Shi Mu is going to move around the Holy Mountain. So, he sent me to be your guide. Many areas of the Holy Mountain are prohibited for strangers. Some areas still possess witch magic. So, it’s extremely dangerous to trespass them,” Min Tu had a grave look on his face as he explained in a serious voice.

Shi Mu felt surprised. He hadn’t expected that people had been keeping a close watch over his movements.

“So, this is the case. Priest Min Tu, I’m sorry to trouble you. I’ve heard about the landscape of the Holy Mountain. So, I wish to see every place,” Shi Mu spoke-up with a faint smile.

His eyes flashed. A golden glow appeared before his eyes as he looked into the surroundings.

His body trembled. He then quickly glanced at the corner on top of the room.

A piece of a fist-sized black crystal stone was embedded there. It was emitting mild rays of light. A spirit power was also fluctuating out of it. He would’ve never noticed this if he didn’t have a powerful eyesight.

“So, it’s used for surveillance… ” Si Mu thought in his heart. He then heaved a sigh of relief.

“No need to be polite, Warrior Shi Mu.” Min Tu’s eyes brightened-up. He then led the way.

Min Tu seemed to be quite interested in Shi Mu. His attitude was extremely polite. He took Shi Mu to visit every place.

The top of the Holy Mountain was full of shrines and mines that had been constructed in rough and bold barbarian style. The style of the human race was quite different from that.

Min Tu explained stories behind every hall, every building, and every wall painting to Shi Mu throughout the tour.

Min Tu seemed to be a little curious about the human race; so, he continued to inquire about several things from Shi Mu from time-to-time.

Shi Mu was following his own chain of thoughts. But, he answered all the questions. Min Tu seemed to be impressed by Shi Mu.