Chapter 4: Backwards to the Ghost Gate?

　　Ling Hao's consciousness gradually woke up, and every sense of his body regained. His legs were slightly soft, and his fingers climbed and grasped the ground unconsciously, feeling a rough and hard touch. He slowly opened his eyes, his gaze gradually focusing, and the sight that came into his eyes made his heart sink.

　　He and Leng Yunchuan were standing on the back of a huge creature, a creature shaped like a turtle, but beyond all of Ling Hao's knowledge of turtles. Its huge size was marvelous, like a moving giant mountain, emitting an ancient and depressing aura, as if it existed in the gap of time and had witnessed the demise of countless living beings.

　　The tortoise shell under its feet was covered by thick black armor, and the surface was covered with crisscrossing cracks, as if the years had carved countless scars on it, but these cracks not only didn't weaken the monster's power, but instead made it appear even more ancient and powerful. From the cracks there was a faint blue light, like some kind of unknown energy flowing under the armor, and occasionally a faint pulsation could be felt, as if the heart of this giant turtle was slowly beating. The light was dark and bright at times, as if echoing with some ancient power, carrying a kind of mystery and shock that could not be described in words.

　　Ling Hao's line of sight slowly moved upward, surveying along the turtle's back. He realized that the limbs of this giant turtle were completely different from ordinary turtles, thick as pillars and covered with thick scales. The colors of the scales were complex, intertwining greenish-black and deep purple, occasionally interspersed with rock-like grayish-white patches. Whenever the giant turtle lifted its limbs, a strong fluctuation would rise in the air, as if the earth was shaking with its every step.

　　Its limbs were not as clumsy as those of ordinary turtles, and its claws were like some kind of ancient raptor, with tips sharp enough to tear through the air. Each claw was as thick as Ling Hao's arm, but it didn't look bulky when it was rooted on the turtle's back, instead revealing its innate majesty and power.

　　The most chilling thing was the three pairs of wings behind it. Each pair of wings was like the wing membrane of a bat, thin and massive, showing a translucent deep purple color with a slow flow of blue light in the veins. These wings were covered with densely packed black runes, like some sort of ancient spell imprint. Every time the wings flapped gently, the runes emitted a low humming sound as if they were activated. Even though the giant turtle was floating in the air, the air around it didn't show any sign of howling winds, instead, it was quiet, as if the monster came with the power to control the wind.

　　Ling Hao turned his sight to the head of the giant turtle, and in this instant, he couldn't help but hold his breath. The head of the giant tortoise was not like an ordinary tortoise, but like some kind of narrow skeletal structure, closer to a crocodile, but more slender than a crocodile's head. The giant turtle's eyes were tightly closed, thick scales covered the eyelids, each scale seemed to be carved with ancient symbols, heavy and full of signs of age. The nostrils were located at the front end of the head, and the mist sprayed out when breathing carried a chill, not simply water vapor, but an extremely cold breath like that brought out from the depths of a glacier.

　　Its lower jaw was densely covered with sharp teeth of varying lengths, arranged in an extremely messy manner, and some of the roots of the teeth were deeply embedded in the flesh, as if they might break at any time. Each of the pointed teeth shone with a greenish-black luster, and there were still mottled blood stains on them, as if it had once devoured an extremely powerful creature.

　　The most conspicuous thing was the bone horn protruding from the center of its forehead. This bone horn was slender and sharp, dark red in color, and its surface was covered with tiny cracks, as if it had experienced some kind of great impact but had not completely shattered. There seemed to be a great power hidden in the bone horn, and whenever the giant turtle slightly turned its head, the bone horn would emit a faint tremor, bringing out a low chirping sound that made people feel palpitations.

　　The tail was short and stout like that of an ordinary turtle, but instead was a long, bony structure that slowly swung in the air like a snake. The end of the tail became extremely sharp, like a sharp spear. What's even more bizarre is that there are black feather-like structures growing between each section of the tailbone. These "feathers" were not real feathers, but thin sheets with a metallic luster that rustled with the flow of air, carrying an irresistible hypnotic rhythm.

　　The edges of these black feathers were extremely sharp, glittering with cold light under the sunlight, as if they could cut the space apart if they were not careful. The tail occasionally swung gently, emitting a sharp cracking sound, like a blade cutting through the air, sending chills down the spine.

　　"What kind of monster is this?" Ling Hao's voice was low and alert, his gaze locked on the armor under his feet, feeling a trace of uneasiness in his heart.

　　Leng Yunchuan stood on the back of the giant turtle with the same vigilant look, "I don't know, but it looks like it has no intention of harming us, but rather where does it want to take us?" She responded calmly.

　　Beneath Ling Hao's feet, the armor was still trembling slightly, as if the giant turtle contained some immeasurable energy inside. He took a deep breath and tried to keep himself calm. No matter where this monster came from and what its purpose was, at this moment, they could only go with the flow.

　　Ling Hao's gaze gradually expanded in all directions, and the nether world under his feet was slowly unfolding. The air was filled with a chilly mist, mixed with a faint smell of decay. Through the thin mist, he vaguely saw the vast land under his feet, and the scene of the Yellow Springs was like a vivid painting of hell being unfolded in front of his eyes.

　　Dark purple mist filled the entire space, and between the drifting of the mist, a gigantic city gate that towered over the clouds was revealed - the gate stood between heaven and earth, like an entrance to another world.

　　The gigantic city gate stood in the middle of a black rocky mountain range, surrounded by bottomless canyons, which seemed to echo with some kind of muffled murmur, as if countless dead souls were whispering and crying in it. The city gate itself seemed to grow out of the depths of the earth, filled with an ancient, rugged aura. The surface of that huge black stone city wall was covered with cracks and weathering marks, as if it had experienced the erosion of countless years, yet these cracks didn't make it look dilapidated, instead, it gave off a heavier and more oppressive feeling.

　　Ling Hao's gaze fell above the city gate, and the black stone wall was densely engraved with ancient runes, as if they were depicted with fresh blood, still glowing with a weird red light after all these years. These runes were not static, they flickered slightly on the gate, as if there was some kind of unknown power flowing inside, constantly attracting the surrounding black mist, as if the entire Yellow Spring's deathly aura was converging here.

　　The shape of the city gate was strange and different from ordinary doors, the door frame was like two open claws of a huge beast, embedded on both sides of the stone wall, as if it was going to close at any time, imprisoning the dead souls that entered here forever. Threshold below covered with different sizes of tooth-like protrusions, like some kind of beast fangs, and horrifying.

　　On both sides of the Ghost Gate Pass, there stood rows and rows of tall Ghost Pawns, who were three to four meters tall, clad in worn and heavy armor, the surface of which was covered with mottled blood and rust, and appeared to be tattered armor stripped directly from the battlefield. The face of each ghost pawn was extremely hideous, distorted like a wax statue that had been scorched by fire, with deep-set eye sockets and a fierce and cold gaze. Their skin was grayish-white, as if it had been corroded by age and death, but the weapons in their hands flashed with a cold light.

　　The ghost pawns held huge iron forks and halberds in their hands, and those weapons were much larger than those of ordinary people, with the surface engraved with the same ancient runes. These runes emitted a dark red glow from time to time, as if they weren't dead things but possessed some kind of malevolent life force, specifically used to suppress the dead souls that attempted to cross the Ghost Gate Pass.

　　Each ghost pawn's face was devoid of the slightest expression, as if they had lost their emotions and consciousness, leaving only their instincts as guards. Their eyes were hollow, but they stared at all the souls on the Yellow Springs earth that were about to enter this place, and once there was any movement, they would immediately swing the weapons in their hands without any mercy, nailing all the restless undead souls to the ground.

　　In front of the huge city gate, a long flagstone road led straight to the sky. The stone road was paved with huge black rocks, and each stone slab had blurred footprints engraved on it, as if countless dead souls had once staggered here and eventually disappeared at the endless end. On both sides of the stone slab road, rows of strange stone statues were erected. Most of these stone statues were humanoid, but with various different monster features, some had eagle claws, some had scales on their backs, and some had horns on their heads, and their faces were covered with hideous expressions, like some kind of bizarre deities.

　　Ling Hao looked at this road, and a deep chill rose in his heart. It was as if this stone road had no end, extending to an abyss he couldn't imagine, and it was as if there were countless dead souls whimpering and wailing in the abyss, and the sound appeared and disappeared, if at all.

　　"This is the ... ghost gate?" Ling Hao whispered to himself with a few moments of disbelief in his tone. He had heard countless legends about the Ghost Gate Pass, but when this oppressive city gate truly appeared in front of his eyes, it still shocked and frightened him. The kind of oppression that came from the depths of his soul, as if every inch of air carried a cold, deathly aura that pushed straight into his heart.

　　The giant tortoise slowly flew in the air, its huge black wings gently flapping, driving the surrounding air to tremble slightly, as if the air of the entire Yellow Springs World had made way for it. Ling Hao and Leng Yunchuan stood on its back, gradually moving away from the Ghost Gate Pass as it flew, entering the deeper region of the Yellow Springs.

　　Leng Yunchuan frowned slightly, staring at the huge gate, and began to mutter in his heart. In the legends of the Yang world, the Ghost Gate Pass was the first barrier of the netherworld, but she had gone directly to the Yellow Springs Tavern after her death, and had absolutely no impression of the Ghost Gate Pass whatsoever. Could there be a discrepancy between these legends and the real netherworld? But this Ghost Gate Pass was almost exactly the same as the legends again. If this sight could only be seen by the dead, then where did those legends in the Yangworld come from? For a while, countless questions popped up in her head, and the more she thought about it, the more confused she felt.