The Portal of Wonderland

Yan Luo issued a long and soundless shout. After that, the fluctuating soul-flames in its eye-sockets became stable.

It looked around for a moment. Then, it lay down in silence.

Suddenly, it seemed as if the red substance in the dark water around it had been subjected to some kind of an attraction-force. The substance then came together, and got merged into its body.

Yan Luo absorbed the energy of the dark water at a much faster speed than before.

The red color of the dark water puddle had decreased greatly after a while. A splashing sound was heard from the surface of the water. Then, a white silhouette jumped out of it with a splash.

The silhouette hovered in midair for a short while. Then, it fell on the shore gracefully. It was none other than Yan Luo.

The soul-flames in its eyes were emitting faint-blue rays. The texture of its figure had become smoother than before. Its entire body – especially its right arm and skull – were emitting a sparkling and translucent color. The sparkle increased gradually, and its body became white – like a fine jade.

The bone-armor on Yan Luo’s body was no longer tattered. In fact, a faint-white fluorescence had appeared on the surface of the perfectly-shaped armor.

However, the white bone-blade in its hand was missing. It had been replaced by a long and white bone-spear. The tip of the spear was emitting waves of cold light.

Even Yan Luo’s aura had become stronger than before.

Yan Luo looked around, and saw nearly hundred skeletons roaming around the puddle. It then drew back its vision. The other skeletons prostrated on the ground in respect the moment they saw Yan Luo.

The soul-flames flickered in Yan Luo’s eyes as it looked at the skeletons in front of it. Then, it opened its mouth, and issued an invisible brain-wave message.

The skeletons stood from the ground as they felt it.

Yan Luo turned around, and looked in a certain direction. Then, it started to walk in that direction.

The group of skeletons started to follow it.

That delegation of skeletons then walked ahead under Yan Luo’s leadership.

*** ***

Inside a stone chamber in the Green Tooth Tribe Palace…

Shi Mu sat beside a table. He was muttering to himself. It seemed as if he was thinking about something.

Suddenly, he stood-up, and hurriedly departed from the stone chamber.

After a short while…

Shi Mu returned to the stone chamber with a large rolled-up sheep-skin in his hand.

This sheep-skinned paper was covered with a layer of dust. It was a rough map of the wasteland of the barbarian race. He had borrowed it from Min Tu.

Shi Mu walked into the drawing room. He looked around in order to find an empty space in that place. He took few steps forward. He then spread the map carefully on the ground.

The map was nearly ten feet long; it was made-up of sheep-skin that had been sewed together.

Most of the lines on the map were drawn in black. Only a few regions were marked with blue, yellow and red lines.

Blue lines represented rivers, yellow lines represented mountains, and the red lines represented the dangerous areas.

Shi Mu’s eyes stopped over the Holy Mountain on the map. He looked at the location of the four big tribes of vicious barbarians. There was a wide black line that had nearly sealed the way to reach the human race from the Holy Mountain.

Shi Mu wrinkled his brows. He then shifted his gaze towards the location of the four tribes of the peaceful barbarians.

An unknown period of time passed. Shi Mu finally relaxed his brows as a new route appeared in his mind.

This route would take much more time in the wasteland than the previous route. But, most of it was surrounded by the areas within the sphere of the four tribes of peaceful barbarians. So, this route was a lot safer.

Shi Mu closed his eyes, and memorized the new route. After that, he collected the map. He then walked-out with the map.

After a quarter-of-an-hour… in some other chamber of the Green Tooth Tribe Palace…

Priest Yan Ya was sitting in the master-chair with a smile on his face. Shi Mu was sitting on the chair next to him.

“I didn’t expect that Warrior Shi Mu would possess so much understanding of the Secret Totem Art of the barbarian race. You were able to comprehend it in such a short period of time. Moreover, you removed the curse in one go. It can be said that you’re a rare genius,” Priest Yan Ya smiled and spoke.

“Priest Yan Ya praises me too much. It was only because the High Priest showed me how to do this. This was the easiest way. I was luckily able to remove the curse. I also want to thank Priest Yan Ya for helping me,” Shi Mu forced a smile, and cupped his hands in greeting to thank Priest Yan Ya.

“No need to be formal, Warrior Shi Mu. I received the man’s trust and loyalty. Tell me… have you come here since you wish to leave the Holy Land?” Priest Yan Ya waved his hand and asked.

“Yes… But, I’ve also come to thank you… and say goodbye, Priest Yan Ya,” Shi Mu nodded and said.

“Warrior Shi Mu, I’ve just found out that the Priest of the Fierce Snake Tribe… perhaps… ” Priest Yan Ya muttered to himself. It seemed as if he wanted to say something, but had stopped himself.

“Thank you very much for warning me, Priest Yan Ya. I’ll consider this… and would be careful.” Shi Mu’s vision flashed. He then nodded and said.

But, he didn’t say anything about the route that he had thought in his mind.

“Well… in that case… I won’t say anything more. This is a token of my Green Tooth Tribe. This token will help you move without any obstruction if you pass through the areas of the four tribes of the peaceful barbarians.” Priest Yan Ya thought for a while. He then took out a green-colored bone-token from his bosom, and handed it over to Shi Mu.

“Thank you so much, Priest Yan Ya!”

Shi Mu felt happy in his mind. He got up, and put a hand on his chest. He then put the green token into his bosom.

Both of them continued to chat for the next few hours. Then, Shi Mu bid goodbye and left.

He didn’t go to his stone room after he came out of the palace hall. Instead, he walked out of the huge door of the Palace.

He was going to leave the barbarian wasteland. So, he intended to go to the market in the vicinity of the Holy Land. He went to buy some black animal hide magic charms. After all, the magic charms made on animal hides were far more effective than the ordinary paper charms.

An hour later…

Shi Mu reappeared on the mountain that led to the palace of the Green Tooth Tribe with a bundle of leather behind his back.

Suddenly, a burst of sounds of the horses’ hoofs was heard from a nearby place; it was neither too fast not too slow.

Shi Mu’s ears moved. He then turned towards the roadside. But, he didn’t take it seriously, and continued to move forward.

A group of more than ten cavalry soldiers from the Crow Horn Tribe went past him. Suddenly, a barbarian leading the group made a signal with his hand. And, the whole troop became motionless in the blink of an eye.

The barbarian man leading the group turned around his horse; he was a few steps away from Shi Mu. He then jumped down from the horse, sized Shi Mu up, and said, “I’m Wu Ge – the General of the Crow Horn Tribe. May I ask if Your Excellency is the messenger of the Human Race – Shi Mu?”

“Yes… I’m Shi Mu. May I ask the respected General… what’s the matter?” Shi Mu looked at the big barbarian man in front of him, and asked doubtfully.

The barbarian man was more than thirty years old. He had dense eyebrows and wide mouth. He carried a red big axe on his back. It could clearly be said from his aura that he had reached the initial level of the Xian Tian realm.

“Haha… I was going back to the tribe with the troops. Priest Yan Ya has sent this messenger to deliver some news to you. I wish to escort Warrior Shi Mu during your journey. It’s the least of an effort. So, I was heading towards the Palace of the Green Tooth Tribe to look for you. But, I didn’t expect that I’d meet you on the way.” Wu Ge laughed heartily. He then said.

“Thank you so much, respected General. Let’s go back… and sort this out.” Shi Mu felt happy in his heart as he heard this.

The Crow Horn Tribe had taken the same route that he had scheduled in advance. So, there was nothing better than having the other party escort him.

“Well, then let’s go ahead. We’ll join you under the foot of the mountain in half-an-hour, right?” Wu Ge spoke in a straightforward manner.

“That’s settled then!” Shi Mu replied with a smile.

Wu Ge didn’t say anything else. He then turned around to mount his horse. After that, he started to advance towards the mountain-top. The other soldiers followed after him. They all soon disappeared into the distance.

Shi Mu looked in their direction. His vision flashed, and moved in the direction of the Green Tooth Tribe Palace.

Shi Mu left from the palace of Green Tooth Tribe. Now, he had one more leather bag on his back; it was bulging with the skin of the three-headed ominous python that he had killed.

He rode down from the mountain-top on the back of the David’s Deer.

Shi Mu saw Wu Ge’s horse resting and reorganizing near the barracks at the foot of the White Horse Mountain half-an-hour later.

He noticed that the entire cavalry consisted of totem warriors. There were three strong totem warriors apart from an initial level Xian Tian Warrior – Wu Ge. One of them was a Hou Tian Warrior on the consummate-stage, and the other two were late-stage Hou Tian Warriors.

“Warrior Shi Mu, it’s getting dark. We should start our journey as quickly as possible. There’s a road ahead… which goes through the territory under the control of the Red Tide Scorpions. We must leave before it gets dark. Otherwise, I’m afraid that we would have to delay for one day,” Wu Ge looked at Shi Mu and said.

“Alright, let’s go.” Shi Mu nodded.

He vaguely remembered the map from the Holy Mountain to the Crow Horn Tribe. He’d have to pass through the Beautiful Gauze Tribe and the Green Tooth Tribe. Moreover, he’d have to pass through a red-marked area – a dangerous place – in order to reach the Beautiful Gauze Tribe. Presumably, it was the influence range of the Red Tide Scorpion.

Wu Ge laughed out loud. He then turned around to mount his horse, took the lead, and rushed towards a distant place. Shi Mu and the barbarian cavalry followed after him.

Five days later… It was night-time in the wasteland…

Shi Mu lay inside a leather tent. He was gazing at the roof in a daze. He couldn’t fall asleep as he was thinking about something.

Wu Ge and his troops had been exceptionally enthusiastic towards him in the past five days.

The camping hadn’t gone without good wine and roasted meat even on a single day. Every place on this journey had its own history. Wu Ge would give a detailed introduction of the history and rumors related to the tribe whose territory they would pass through. Wu Ge even answered all of Shi Mu’s queries. And, this had greatly helped to broaden Shi Mu’s knowledge.

However, their speed was quite slow. Moreover, they would often deviate from the already fixed route.

Shi Mu tried to ask Wu Ge about it several times, but he kept on giving all kind of excuses – like the presence of some kind of poisonous insects, the water-level being low or the shortage of water on the route.

So, the route became more and more indistinguishable to Shi Mu. Therefore, more and more doubts started to rise in his mind.

Shi Mu had studied about the map of this piece of wasteland. He thought and felt that Wu Ge had given various excuses in order to take the long route. Shi Mu felt that he wanted to prolong his journey on purpose.

So, Shi Mu could no longer sleep. He quietly pulled open the curtain of the tent, and took a look towards the distance.

He stood across numerous tents. Wu Ge’s tent was brightly lit-up at the moment. Four vague shadows of people drinking and chatting could be seen inside the tent.

Shi Mu’s tent was surrounded by the tents of people of the Crow Horn Tribe. Wu Ge had said that it was to protect him since he hailed from the human race.

The barbarian people liked to drink wine; Wu Ge and his three men were no exception. The four men would drink every night.

The black light on the totem on his chest flashed as a thought crossed his mind. Suddenly, cold energies flowed out of his totem, and entered into the veins in his body. Shi Mu felt a tearing pain in his entire body. Then, layers of black scales started to appear on his skin.