Chapter 13: Chance encounter in a cave (part 2)
Finally, Lin Yi entered the gate and step into the hall, and right in front of him there was a gigantic stone tablet. Some Zhuan script characters were written on it:
[On the night with the full moon, the door will open. Only the special may enter]
[Before first light, remember to leave. Five years later will the door open.]
(Note: the words are written in a way that it could not be understood easily, so the MC had to decode the message’s meaning. So I only did a rough translation)
Lin Yi had learned the Zhuan script characters from Gramps before when he was young. So he was able to recognize and read the characters on the tablet. When Lin Yi decoded the message, he tried to understand what it meant.
‘[On the night with full moon], this is easy to understand. Wasn’t there a full moon tonight? [The door will open], this would definitely be referring to the crimson door. [Only the special may enter]? Then I am the special one then?’
Lin Yi found it weird and was puzzled. ‘Was there anything special about me? An orphan, adopted by Gramps Lin. Was that anything special about me? If I was compared to Gramps, then there is nothing special about me at all.’
‘But, since I managed to get in, then I must be special then!’
‘[Before first light], this is even easier to understand. It must mean that before the sun rise tomorrow. [Remember to leave] would definitely mean he must leave this cave before the sun rise tomorrow. Hm, this should be what the characters meant. ‘
‘But what do the last few words [five years later, will the door open] mean? Does it mean that if I don’t leave before sunrise, the door will close and will only open five years later?’
When Lin Yi thought about that, he shuddered. ‘Thank G.o.d I understood the Zhuan script, or I would be trapped in here for good. I won’t even be able to survive five days without food and water, let alone 5 years.’
Now that Lin Yi know the rules of this cave, all he had to do was leave before first light tomorrow and there would not be any problems. He felt more relaxed now.
Lin Yi then started to observe his surroundings and discovered the reason why the room was so bright; all four walls of the hall were lined with Luminescent pearls.
If someone else was there, they would have realized that every one of these pearls were priceless. If they took one out to auction, it would make him very rich.
However Lin Yi, who grew up in the mountain, was not interested in such treasures. Although he did find the pearls pretty, but he did not expect the pearls to be priceless treasures.
The most important reason was they live in the mountain so there was no one to sell it to. The richest person around was the widow w.a.n.g who opened an eatery in the village earning around 1k a year!
No matter how rich they were, they would never spend the money on something so useless. From Lin Yi’s point of view, if he had money, he would rather spend them and get some juicy meat. He would never buy something that was practically useless except as a decoration.
So, instead of spending time appreciating the luxurious decorations, Lin Yi started to carefully examining the hall. According to the novels which he read, if a person came into a cave or valley there was definitely some chance encounter, like some OP skill (martial arts manual) or gongfa (qi training method).
When Lin Yi thought about that, he started to get more excited, “If I can find an OP skill (martial arts manual) or gongfa (qi cultivation method), then I will not lose to Gramps anymore. And when I get strong, Gramps won’t be able to beat me anymore!’
The hall was big, excluding the luxurious decoration and two structures, it was pretty much empty. One of the structures was the stone tablet which Lin Yi has seem earlier. The other was a platform behind the tablet.
The platform looked like an ancient sacrificial altar. It also looked like a place where the sects will display their precious items. It was evidently not something from this era.
Without much thought, Lin Yi walked towards the platform. At the top of the platform, Lin Yi saw a very ancient looking wooden box. He got really excited at the thought that it may contain the rumoured manuals.
Lin Yi carefully picked up then box, quickly jump off the platform and hid at a corner. The reason for his actions was because he was told that b.o.o.by traps wer common in such a place. Since he just took the treasure, he was afraid that he had trigger some traps.
After waiting for something, seeing that nothing was happening, Lin Yi gave a sigh of relief. The box could be removed from the cave, so he was not anxious to open the box. So Lin Yi once again started to examine the cave.
To Lin Yi’s surprise, when he walked to the back of the platform, he saw another stone gate. Right beside it, there was another smaller stone table at its side. Written on it were some Zhuan script character in the same style as the one before!
Lin Yi quickly began to read the text carefully.
[Five years later, when complete Sheng Gong’s [first level], come hit the gate, then can you enter]
[If you couldn’t, [first level] not reached, wait another five years, and then come try again]
Lin Yi was confuse after looking at the words! “[Five year later, when you complete Sheng gong’s [first level]” what does that mean? Could there really be some gongfa (qi cultivation method) inside the box? So does that meant that when he completes the gongfa’s [first level] training, he has to come again and hit the door, then will the gate open?
Lin Yi decided to give it a try and tried pushing the gate. To his disappointment, the door didn’t even budge. If that is the case, the second sentence made perfect sense. “[If you couldn’t, [first level] not reached, wait another five year, and then come try again]” So this basically meant that if he would not be able to open the door if he did not complete the gongfa’s [first level] of training. Then he has to wait for another five year before he can get the chance to try again.
The stone gate is right in front of him, and yet he cannot open it. This made Lin Yi’s heart itch. Logically speaking, since there was already a sheng gong (direct translation: G.o.dly gongfa) in the first hall, the hall behind this door should be even more extraordinary!
But Lin Yi understood that with his current ability, it will be impossible to open the second gate! Currently, he was only lucky enough to be able to open the first gate and enter the first hall.
Since that was the case, Lin Yi stopped trying and left the cave with the box. Soon, the dark sky got brighter. At the east, the sky turned from dark blue to dull gray. This was the sign that the sun was about to rise.