Chapter 168: Chapter 168 Prevention/Punishment
Few days later,
The clouds slowed down.
Lin Lee was surprised looking at the tall mountain in front of him; half of it is hidden in the cloud in the sky, and uncountable stairs lead toward the top of the mountain.
"Well, I can bring you here. Next, both of you have to find your destined pathway yourself. Choose a staircase below and reach the top of the mountain. Remember some ways that lead to life, death, and reincarnation; all depends on your fortune." Old Leng explained, pointing at the entrance of the stairways below,
'One entrance, ten thousand exits—it's going to be interesting; let's see where my destiny leads me.' Lin Lee thought to himself; the instantly bead spirit in his mind shook, and a heavy voice impacted his soul.
"Hongmeng has no destiny,
Hongmeng created Destiny."
Lin Lee's mind shook; his eyes widened in shock hearing the voice again, and his expression became thoughtful.
'Hongmeng has no destiny; Hongmeng created the destiny. What is the meaning of this? Also, why is there such voice in my bead spirit?' Lin Lee thought to himself, feeling a little confused. He felt the bead spirit contain a secret that would subvert his point of view.
"Let's go; don't stand in a daze here." A cold voice sounded beside him. Ling Long was looking at him coldly, then green wings appeared behind her. She jumped down from the heavenly cloud and flew toward the entrance.
Lin Lee snapped out of his thought, glanced at the entrance below, spread his consciousness, and instantly he was surprised because his ten-mile range couldn't reach the entrance.
'It seems the rules and laws near this mountain are chaotic; I can feel the suppression affecting my laws, the difference in my conscious judgment; it really is the test ground of destiny; no other things beside it will work here; is this some kind of immortal formation?' Lin Lee thought intriguingly after observing the surroundings while reaching the entrance.
He put away the heavenly cloud in his soul space and walked toward the entrance.
"I hope your destiny is not that bad; don't die before my revenge." Ling Long, standing beside the entrance, spoke coldly, looking at him, then she turned around and walked inside the entrance, choosing the right pathway after reaching ten steps.
Lin Lee glanced at her back speechlessly. 'I spared her life, yet she held a grudge against me.' He thought and then shook his head and didn't pay attention to any threat or revenge.
He also followed inside the entrance, looking at the two pathways separating after the tenth stair, then after they become four, eight, and sixteen after each ten steps, some steps even leading to the other side of the mountain.
Lin Lee glanced at the right and left; he walked forward and chose the left pathway instead of the right chosen by the Ling Long.
Meanwhile, an old man sitting on the heavenly cloud above the sky was looking at both Lin Lee and Ling Long; instantly, his expression froze and almost pulled his beard out.
"This brat, why did he choose the left path? In this path, only one of the hundred pathways leads to success; the other ninety-nine are failures.
That doll is intelligent; then this brat, at least she is knowledgeable about right and left." The old Leng spoke, his brow furrowed angrily, then sighed and glanced at the Ling Long; his expression became a little better after seeing she was progressing on the right path.
…
After a few hours,
Lin Lee reached the top of the mountain and glanced at the exit in front of him. 'It seems I have reached the destination on the top of the mountain; those stairs were really annoying.' He thought and walked toward the exit.
"It really is destiny; I am surprised by this kid's fortune." Old Leng sitting on the heavenly cloud muttered and sighed, looking at Lin Lee walking toward the exit.
Then he turned and glanced at the Ling Long on the other side of the mountain; she also reached an exit and walked toward it.
"Medicine sector, her luck is not that bad; also, it is suitable for her physique; fortune really does it's work; well, my task is completed," Old Leng muttered, then he glanced at the direction of the sky and then turned into a white flash, then disappeared.
On the other hand, both Lin Lee and Ling Long passed through the exit.
"Where is this place? It's so barren." Lin Lee muttered thoughtfully, looking around at the trees and waterfall. There is nothing else around.
Lin Lee then walked toward the other side of the waterfall; his footsteps halted after climbing the small hill slope, looking at a lot of stone entrances and a small wooden hut near the water pond and trees, grass, and forest around it.
Also, there are a lot of large stones with stone statues sitting on top of them. Lin Lee glanced at those statues that looked like humans; a surprise flashed through his heart.
'Are they real humans turned into stone?' He guessed in amazement, then he noticed an old figure sitting on the stone in front of all those statues.
'Another old man, also what happened to his physique; he looks as if he hadn't eaten anything in ages.' Lin Lee thought, looking at the gray and white-haired old man sitting cross-legge, bare-chested with a skeleton-like figure, all his bones are visible.
"After all these years, finally someone visited this desolate abyss; is heaven pitying me?" The old man muttered and opened his pupils, revealing white and gray pupils looking in the direction of Lin Lee.
"I see your fate is preventing you from encountering something; that's why it leads you here." The old man spoke, looking at him; a self-defeating smile appeared on his face.
Lin Lee brow furrowed, then asked thoughtfully while looking at him, "I have been hearing fortune, destiny, and now fate; can you tell me the difference between all three of them?"
The blind old man fell silent after hearing Lin Lee's question, then he raised his head in his direction and said, "You will understand it yourself later; heaven will show it to you; right now you are too young."
Then he pointed at the rock entrances in the cave and the wooden hut one by one and said, "You are now the fatekeeper; you will live in this wooden hut; you can leave this desolate abyss for only one day after ninety-nine days."
After speaking, the blind old man figure slowly turned into a hard stone and transformed into the stone statue similar to the other statue behind him.
'So that's how all those statues appeared here,' Lin Lee thought. Looking at the statues, he raised his hands clasped and saluted and then walked toward the wooden hut.
"Well, except a bed and library, there is nothing else here; not bad, I like such a classic environment." Lin Lee muttered, looking at the bed and wooden shelf filled with books.
'Are these diaries?' Lin Lee thoughtfully glanced in the direction of the shelf, looking at the handwritten books.
He grabbed one at the edge of the shelf and opened it.
*'Fate is really mysteries; my fate wanted to punish me; it leads me here,' that's what the previous fatekeeper told me upon my arrival.'*
Lin Lee glanced at the first paragraph in surprise.
'So the old man also received the same treatment as he gave me just now; he told me that my fate is preventing me from encountering something; that's why it led me here. That's why he smiled like that; his fate wanted to punish him. It's interesting.' Lin Lee thought intriguingly and then turned the page and started reading the next paragraph.
*'I wanted to know what kind of task I have to do as a fatekeeper. A few days passed, weeks passed, and years passed. I stayed in this desolate abyss in order to fulfill my unknown duties.'
Lin Lee brow furrowed reading the paragraph, 'What is the fatekeeper? I have to admit it, this old guy was really a patient person; if it were me, I would have run away in just a few days.'
Then he turned the page over curiously.
'*I waited until I realized my duties as fate keepers were to guard those caves leading to the abyss and prevent the evil from invading the heavens at all costs.'*
Lin Lee eyes lit up, 'Evil? It's interesting.' He hurriedly turned the page over.
*'Scale, no scale, dark, red, black, all kinds of evil, I killed, killed, killed, preventing the invasion, but there was a hope that this punishment would end one day. Ages passed, but fate didn't end my punishment until I realized the true meaning of fate.'
Lin Lee expression became thoughtful, then turned the page over, reading the old man encounter in each abyss cave. He would invade these caves and kill abyss creatures in order to relieve his loneliness.
"It's interesting; I have found the resources." Lin Lee muttered his mouth arched into a wicked smile, closed the diary, and walked outside the hut, looking at the cave entrance closed by the boulders with flickering formations above them.
... Chapter End ...