In the underground cave, at the end of the middle tunnel, Xiao Tan and Laughing Soul were finally back to the stone door. They took out a stone slab each and placed the slabs into the middle of the stone wall. The bagua was completed. The seams matched. At the same time, the Yin and Yang stone slabs glowed and turned on its own in the middle of the wall. Several seconds later, peddles and dust eased from the top of the door. Then came the sound of rocks grinding on each other. The door slowly rose to reveal the sight behind it.
Behind the stone door was no longer a cave but a rectangular stone room. There was even light source inside the room. Xiao Tan and Laughing Soul looked around from outside the door. There was nothing living like a monster inside, and there was no visible trap. Therefore, the two entered the stone room. The roof of the room was about five meters tall and uneven. There were many flowing substances embedded in the crevices. They did not look alive, nor did they look like high class items like the legendary Ye Ming Pearl. Instead, they looked more like the blue mineral from Starcraft but slightly brighter. There was another door at the opposite end of the room, but there was a valve-like mechanism next to the door. It was probably used to open the door.
“By the way… are you feeling a bit cold?” Xiao Tan looked toward Laughing Soul. When they were rushing, Laughing Soul had told Xiao Tan to walk ahead of her. Inside the tunnel, they had relied on the miner’s hat and flashlight for light source, and they could not see far. Now that they had reached a more brightly-lit place, Xiao Tan got a good look of Laughing Soul’s face. He saw the shivering shoulders and soon noticed a problem.
“It’s fine… Achoo!”
When Laughing Soul was talking to Xiao Tan, her head was titled upward. Since her eyes met the light, as she sneezed, her head moved forward, and her saliva landed entirely on Xiao Tan’s face. Xiao Tan wiped his face. “Take care of your body.”
“Hmm… How come you came away from the ordeal so fine?” Laughing Soul held her hand over her nose and mouth. She sucked in a deep breath before saying, “You went underwater as well… Is it true that idiots don’t get cold?”
“As a doctor, I have to veto that falsehood that has no basis in medical knowledge at all,” Xiao Tan replied. The next second, he leaned forward. “And secondly…”
Xiao Tan leaned closer to Laughing Soul and looked closely into the latter’s eyes.
“What are you doing?” Laughing Soul instinctively shrunk her neck back as a small blush rose to her checks.
“Hmm… Your pupils have no sign of expanding,” Xiao Tan commented while looking into her eyes. “This means that the situation is not that serious. Your body temperature should be above thirty-three degrees…”
As he put his thoughts into words, he said, “Even though you look slightly pale now and your lips are a little bit purplish in color, we have been walking for some time, and that is good enough exercise. Your temperature should be back on the rise… It is probably because of your wet clothes.”
Laughing Soul narrowed her eyes and said with a pointed tone, “You… take three steps back and maintain a meter distance from me.”
“What’s wrong?” Xiao Tan was confused, but he still obeyed the order.
“When I just got out from the pool, there was indeed the freezing status on the menu. It has influence on my Stamina Points and movement speed, but the status is now gone. What’s left is a small sense of discomfort.” Laughing Soul took a long sigh. “Doctor, we’re playing a game. If there’s something wrong with me, it is viewable from the menu. I don’t need you to apply the four ways of diagnosis on me.”
“Only Chinese medicine practitioners use four ways of diagnosis. I am…”
“Don’t interrupt! I am not done.”
“Oh…”
“From now on, under normal circumstances, you are not allowed to be within one meter of me, and you are definitely forbidden from doing any sudden movement that moves you closer to me like leaning your face over,” Laughing Soul said in a warning tone. “Do you understand?”
“Er…” Xiao Tan was baffled for several seconds before nodding. “Sure, I can do that…”
“Ok, I am now done.”
Xiao Tan did not say anything else. He only shrugged wordlessly and turned around to head to the other end of the stone room. On this side of the wall, there were spiderweb-like cracks.
The cracks were even, looking somewhat like a sieve. Xiao Tan thought that this might be another system item. So, he reached out his hand to touch it to see if he could trigger anything. But just as he walked a step toward it, the wall started to shake. The cracks on the wall started to move toward the center like a wave. Several seconds later, a stone person in white walked out from the wall.
The stone person had a rectangular face, with phoenix eyes and brows like burning flames. He had a large nose, wide lips, and a bushy beard. His hair was worn in an ancient Chinese style. Of course, these were all carved in stone. Even their color was white. The pupils of the stone person moved. He looked at Xiao Tan and then at Laughing Soul. Then he spoke, although it was unclear whether he possessed a throat and voice cord or not…
“Which book do you want?” the stone asked.
“Which book?” Xiao Tan repeated. He had no idea how to answer. Instantly, he turned around to toss an inquisitive gaze to Laughing Soul. Laughing Soul walked to stand beside Xiao Tan. She aimed the rifle that she had taken out several seconds ago at the stone and asked, “How many books do you have?”
“Three books,” the stone replied.
“What are the three books?” Laughing Soul asked. In terms of speaking tactics with NPC, even though she was not as good as Brother Jue, she had her own ways of getting information.
“Why are the people these days so foolish?” the stone replied. “Even since Pangu opened the sky and Nuwa created humans… there are fourteen books of supreme power in the human worlds. But you humans’ talents have weakened generation by generation, and now you only have three choices to pick from. These are the kung fu techniques that you have the ability to practice.
“These are the three books… the Mantra of Heaven and Earth Inversion, Tri-Flower Capitulum Focus, and the Shapeless and Formless Law.”
“Erm…” Xiao Tan was baffled. “You plan to give us such powerful items?”
“Do you not want them?” the stone asked.
“Can we have all three of them?” Laughing Soul followed up.
“No.” The stone denied her request outright. “Oh, the person who came last time chose the Shapeless and Formless Law, so you have only two choices left.”
“How many person came last time?” Laughing Soul asked.
“One.”
“But there are two of us,” Laughing Soul argued.
“Hmm… Back then, the master only told me that one person can take one book. There was no more. He never did say what to do if there are two people…” The stone seemed to hesitate
“I don’t know him.” Laughing Soul pointed at Xiao Tan.
“Huh?” Xiao Tan was baffled again.
Laughing Soul grinned wickedly. “Stony, give me Tri-Flower Capitulum Focus.”
The stone did not waste time arguing. With a white light, a paper-made book appeared in Laughing Soul’s grasp.
“Oh…” Xiao Tan understood the girl’s plan now. He walked one step forward. “Yes, I don’t know her. Give me the Mantra of Heaven and Earth Inversion.”