Star Gate

Chapter 444: What One Sees and Hears in an Ancient City (I)

The trio peered into the garden moments later. A small path of blue stones led to a winding dry riverbed. Pavilions and gazebos lined the path while manmade mountains could be glimpsed behind them. This was a beautiful hotel in an exquisite environment.

What a pity that the flowers and grass were withered and the waters dry. Only a few traces of the charm of yesteryear remained. But it was very clean, just a bit sparse of greenery since it’d all wilted.

“Hoo!” He Yong breathed out. Thank goodness, everything was fine. He was fine.

That had been terrifying!

Li Hao had already crossed the threshold and set foot inside. “Let’s close the door,” he said when the other two followed him. “So that no one who comes later will see that it’s open.”

Normal people wouldn’t dare push open a door since a shut door meant danger. He Yong quickly shut the front door without another word. Li Hao walked toward another signpost, one imprinted with several location names and indication arrows.

“Cloudwater Pavilion.”

“Fragrance Pavilion.”

“Water Harmony Pavilion.”

So on and so forth, until Li Hao finally saw Fragrant Cloud Pavilion with an arrow pointing to the inner depths of the garden.

“Let’s head inside!” Li Hao strode forward, leading an uncomfortable He Yong in his wake.

“Is there a point to us locating this place?” He Yong transmitted as they walked. “This is probably a place to rest, can there possibly be treasure here? Would you leave treasure in a hotel?”

He felt it a better use of time to look for residences that were accessible.

“Idiot,” a disapproving Hong Yitang rebuked in transmission. “This place is so opulent! Just think of the luxury hotels in our times, are they devoid of nice things? Will a regular residence have more valuable items than the ones inside a hotel?”

“......” Alright then, He Yong felt that this made sense. What could be found inside a hotel would indeed be precious.

“It’s not just treasure, but that we should try to gain more clarity into the situation and rules,” Li Hao explained. “This is a room that Battle Heaven has assigned to us, there may be explanations of the local rules inside. When we check-in to a hotel, for example, we often find introductions of the local sites and sounds, as well as descriptions of specialties or distinguishing characteristics.

“Battle Heaven welcomes guests from all around. They can’t possibly explain to every single guest the do’s and don’ts of the city. In that case, there might be a guide in the room.”

Hong Yitang and He Yong nodded. These words were logical and heightened their anticipation for the room. Perhaps a further understanding of the rules would help them have an easier time in the city and obtain first mover advantage. Those without keys would not be so lucky.

They saw a few other rooms along the way, but everyone left them alone. These lodgings were standalone properties, making for an opulent hotel indeed. Based on current terminology, this would be a villa resort.

They wandered through the garden until Li Hao finally saw a detached property with a yard outside. A signboard hung over the front door—Fragrant Cloud Pavilion. They’d found it!

The trio rushed forward, the garden wasn’t locked by a separate padlock, but there was a lock hole on the gate that matched the key. Li Hao and Hong Yitang looked at He Yong again; the man cursed loudly to himself!

The royal family never treats me like this! He was quite the authority figure as he was the martial instructor for the royal children. Unfortunately, that identity wasn’t much use here. Hong Yitang was stronger than him, Li Hao was more useful than him. He had no choice but to be the advance guard.

He Yong took a deep breath and shoved the key into the keyhole; his hand shook. If the room here was closed, barging in meant their deaths. Almost no one made it out alive from entering a room with a closed door—not almost, but no one entirely!

Click!

It was the slightest sound, but extraordinarily attention grabbing in such a quiet environment. The three waited nervously, but thankfully a small crack appeared in the yard’s door with the click. Some light leaked out of it and joy brightened the trio’s eyes. The room door was open!

He Yong took a deep breath and pushed the yard door open. An ancient building two stories tall came into view. Illumination glowed from the ground—ground lamps. Ground lamps eons old were lighting up with the opening of the yard door!

They were plainly powered by mysterious power stones or connected to the rest of the city, drawing upon the energy source below the ground for light.

“Go in!” Li Hao looked at Hong Yitang. He should be first since he was the guest assigned to this residence.

Hong Yitang walked in without a word; the other two carefully followed behind him since they were not the occupant. It should be fine for the master of the residence to entertain two guests, right?

The yard was modestly sized. There were no flowers, but the remaining flowerbeds bore witness to the beauty present in its heyday. A few steps into the yard saw the building’s door open automatically. There was no need for the key this time.

Hong Yitang led the way, followed by the other two. It was dark at first, but lights automatically flared to life when there was movement over the threshold. It was everyone’s first time seeing such brilliant radiance in Battle Heaven.

The city was normally wrapped in dark gloom with some feeble light. Yet here, the entire house was illuminated. The first floor fell into everyone’s line of sight.

Antique sofas stood in a massive living room with a conference table off to the side. A fur carpet of unknown animal pelt lined the floor and a massive pane of glass offered access to the views outside.

Rooms could be found to the left and right. Li Hao scanned the area, his eyes falling on a beautiful advertisement pamphlet. This was what he’d come here for! He rushed forward, already scanning the words on the ancient text.

“A Travel Guide to Battle Heaven City!” Li Hao beamed. Just as he thought, something like this did exist in the hotel.

“Look! What is that?!” Next to him, He Yong suddenly shouted with excitement.

Li Hao looked at the man and followed his finger out the window. The heavily bearded man was hollering with so much excitement that he seemed crazy. There was a hot spring outside the window—the young man identified it as such because there seemed to be water bubbling in the large pool, even today. Hot mist was rising from it!

The pool seemed to have been activated for use again with the arrival of a guest.

Li Hao didn’t think much of it at first, but his eyes narrowed in thought when he took a closer look and he set the pamphlet aside. He plastered his face to the window like He Yong and observed it in detail.

“This is... a hot spring for guests to bathe in, right?” Hong Yitang raised an eyebrow. “Is there something off about the water though?”

All three looked intently at the water—there seemed to be some other colors swirling within it. It shimmered with luster, giving one the feeling that it was treasure. Was the water something precious?

“Hurry and find out if we can go there, Li Hao,” He Yong spoke urgently. “It seems to be in our backyard, can we go?”

The young man quickly paged through the travel guide. He quickly located the page that spoke of Hibiscus Garden and ran his finger down the text. “This pool is called the Pool of Life. According to the description, an ancient tree of life once grew here and infused the hot springs with the Water of Life. They have the effect of nourishing the body, healing wounds, and complementing cultivation. Each detached residence has a side spring for guests to use.

“However, we need to pay a price to use it. It’s not available for free.”

“What’s the price?” He Yong quickly followed up. “Pool of Life... I think I’ve heard about it before.”

“How luxurious!” Hong Yitang breathed out gently. “I know about this. Some formidable monster spirits in the ancient civilization—the plant type—cultivated to a certain level and planted their roots on enormous mines of mysterious power stones. It’s said that they could extract some of the legendary Water of Life that way. The effects are stunning! Li Hao, I suspect that the energy you used on us before is similar to this legendary water. Healing wounds, repairing internal damage, strengthening the body...

“Who would’ve thought that a simple hotel would offer this kind of service! It’s hard to imagine just how the residents of Battle Heaven lived in the lap of luxury during their times.”

“That’s not necessarily the case!” Li Hao shook his head. “This is for guests, and important guests. Martial Uncle Hong probably received a better key than me. It might be assigned according to level of strength. The regular residents of Battle Heaven might not have the right to enjoy this treatment.

“And we also need to pay a price before we can start using the pool.”

“So what’s the price??” He Yong demanded. “This is a great treasure and of vital importance to us if it contains even a little bit of the Water of Life!”

“Energy stones... meaning mysterious power stones,” Li Hao identified softly as he looked at the pamphlet. “We need to toss mysterious power stones into the pool before we can use it. The payment is used to ensure the operations of the pool, and we need to offer high purity payment!

“The energy stones that the ancients speak of may be different to what we have in mind,” he said after another close look. “They also specify purity degree.”

Hong Yitang fell silent and looked at He Yong. The latter stared innocently back at him. What you looking at me for? I don’t have money!

“How much?” Hong Yitang looked at the young man instead.

“I don’t know, it doesn’t say, just to toss in a piece. I don’t know how big a piece was in the ancient civilization, if it’s our piece or the one that martial uncle just found!”

Hong Yitang gaped, are you joking?! That piece is worth a stunning fortune, I’m not giving that up!