605: Chapter 605 I killed your brother!

Ye Chen tilted his head and glanced at the Middle-aged Man. "The rules of Go... were they set by you Japanese?"

The old monk: "???"

The Middle-aged Man: "???"

The old man: "???"

Ye Chen continued.

"Go originated in the Dragon Kingdom; it was a game of wisdom used by Yao and Shun to teach their children."

"It has been passed down for four thousand years. Now that it's reached Japan, it's suddenly your rules?"

The old monk: "???"

The Middle-aged Man: "???"

The old man: "???"

Ye Chen withdrew his gaze, looked at the old man, and said calmly,

"Besides..."

"I don't like following other people's rules."

"I only like following my own rules."

"Your game was your rule."

"Flipping the board was mine."

"Now that the game is broken, you can step aside."

The old monk: "???"

The Middle-aged Man: "???"

The old man: "???"

Standing to the side, Yan Qingwu almost burst out laughing at the scene.

So...

This was how Ye Chen intended to "break the game"?

By literally flipping the board!

However,

thinking about it, it seemed right.

To enter that entrance, they needed to settle things here quickly.

Who had the time to play a back-and-forth game of Go with you?

The old man's breath hitched as he snapped back to his senses.

"Young man, you are just using sophistry."

"This monk's rule is that those who enter the mountain must first break the game."

"If you do not follow the rules, this monk cannot let you in."

Ye Chen looked at him and suddenly smiled.

"And what if I insist on going in?"

The old man's expression darkened completely.

He slowly stood up, his grey robes fluttering even without a breeze.

An invisible aura radiated from his body, crushing toward Ye Chen like a mountain.

Mid-Heaven Realm!

The Middle-aged Man's expression changed drastically as he instinctively retreated several steps, nearly falling into the pond.

His Bodyguards' faces turned pale, their legs going weak.

"Young man, this monk does not wish to resort to violence."

The old man's voice was as cold as ice. "But if you persist in forcing your way in, this monk will have no choice but to offend you."

Ye Chen looked at him and sighed.

"Tell me, for a perfectly good monk like you to not be in a temple chanting sutras, but to come here and be a watchdog... why bother?"

"Presumptuous!"

The old man shouted sharply. With a stomp of his foot, he lunged toward Ye Chen like a bolt of grey lightning.

He thrust out his right hand, fingers curved like a claw and palm coated in a layer of pale gold true qi, aiming straight for Ye Chen's shoulder.

Ye Chen raised an eyebrow and didn't move, letting the other's claw land squarely on his shoulder.

Crack!

The sound of bone breaking echoed out.

It wasn't Ye Chen's shoulder that shattered.

It was the old man's wrist bone.

Then,

the man flew backward like a kite with a broken string, slamming heavily into a pillar of the main hall.

Crack!

The wooden pillar snapped, and roof tiles came crashing down to the floor.

The old man slumped to the ground, spitting out a mouthful of blood, his face as pale as paper.

He struggled to lift his head and look at Ye Chen.

Ye Chen was still standing in the same spot, having not moved an inch.

He never imagined...

That Ye Chen was actually! Actually! Actually! That powerful! To defeat a Heaven Realm Expert like him in a single exchange???

"You... you..."

The old man's lips trembled, his eyes filled with terror. "Who are you?"

Ye Chen looked down at him and spoke flatly.

"My name is Ye Chen, a man of the Dragon Kingdom."

"I just said, I don't like following other people's rules."

"If I want to go in, I go in."

"You can't stop me."

After saying this, he stepped toward the depths of the hall.

Yan Qingwu hurried to follow. As she passed the old man, she couldn't help but look down at him.

That look carried a bit of sympathy and a bit of exasperation.

Of all the people to stop, he just had to try and stop this bastard.

Wasn't he just asking for a beating?

The Middle-aged Man and the old monk stood by the pond, completely stunned.

Looking at Ye Chen's back, the man's mind went blank.

baka!

This Dragon Kingdom man actually broke the game in such a way?

It was simply blinding!

...

Deep within the hall stood a Stone Door.

The door was carved with dense runes.

Those runes flickered with a faint luminescence in the dim light, like twisted snakes coiling upon the Stone Door.

Ye Chen walked to the door and looked up at it.

"A Talisman Seal."

"Just as I sensed from the outside."

Yan Qingwu stood behind him, her right hand resting on the hilt of the ink dragon sword, her brows furrowed slightly. "Can you break it?"

Ye Chen smiled.

"A seal of this level is no different from paper to me."

"However..."

"This is just the perimeter. The true target is a hundred meters beneath this spot."

He raised his right hand, pressing his index and middle fingers together into a sword gesture.

A golden light lit up at his fingertips.

The light was pure and vast, carrying a majestic heavenly pressure.

Then,

he lightly tapped the Stone Door.

Buzz—

The runes on the Stone Door flickered violently.

As if sensing a threat, they resisted desperately.

But the golden light was too strong.

Under the erosion of the golden light, the runes dimmed one by one.

In less than three breaths,

all the runes were extinguished.

Rumble—

The Stone Door slowly ground open.

A decayed scent billowed out from behind the door, like an ancient tomb sealed for a thousand years having its coffin lid pried open.

Ye Chen stepped inside.

Behind the door was a deep passage that wound directly into the depths of the earth.

The walls on both sides of the passage were covered in murals.

The first mural depicted a person.

The person was kneeling on the ground, holding a scroll in both hands, facing East in worship.

The second mural depicted the same person.

He stood on a mountain with many people behind him, each carrying scrolls and artifacts.

They were crossing the sea in ships, heading toward the East.

Yan Qingwu's footsteps paused, her pupils shrinking slightly.

She understood.

These murals recorded—

Xu Fu's Voyage to the East!

Yan Qingwu withdrew her gaze from the murals and took a deep breath.

"It seems the secret hidden down here is quite significant."

Ye Chen put his hands in his pockets and walked deeper into the passage. "Whether it's significant or not, we'll only know once we go down."

But just then,

a series of hurried footsteps came from behind.

"Stop!"

"You cannot go in!"

Ye Chen paused and turned around.

A crowd of people stood densely at the entrance of the passage.

Leading them was the old man who had been sent flying earlier; he was now being supported by two people, his face pale and blood still staining the corner of his mouth.

The old monk stood beside him, his face ashen.

Behind them followed over a dozen people in various attire: some were monks, some were dressed as Onmyoji, and some wore modern clothes.

Every single face was filled with shock.

The old man's eyes were fixed on the surroundings, his voice trembling.

"The Demon Suppression Gate... No one has been able to open it for ages, yet... yet it was opened by you?"

The crowd behind him gasped in unison.

"What? This is the legendary Demon Suppression Gate?"

"I have guarded this place for forty years and have never seen this door open!"

"What on earth is this young man's background?"

...

Whispers rose and fell.

The old monk took a step forward, his gaze cutting toward Ye Chen like a knife.

"Who exactly are you?"

Ye Chen glanced at him, said nothing, and turned to continue deeper into the passage.

That attitude clearly said...

I can't be bothered with you.

The old monk's expression darkened, and he was about to lash out.

But from the crowd, a Middle-aged Man wearing an Onmyoji's tall hat stepped forward.

He wore an ancient Onmyoji robe and held a folding fan, radiating a cold aura.

"Audacious madman."

"If you do not wish to fall into the underworld, withdraw immediately."

"Otherwise..."

He paused, his voice turning cold. "Death."

Ye Chen paused and turned back.

His gaze landed on the Middle-aged Man, looking him up and down before he raised an eyebrow.

"An Onmyoji?"

"Aren't all the Onmyoji dead?"

The Middle-aged Man's face darkened.

"I am Seimei Kangan."

"The Onmyoji Seimei Kangyue is my younger brother."

"He and I are both descendants of the Onmyoji. He guarded the Yin Yang Society, while I..."

"Am the guardian of the Demon Suppression Gate."

"Who are you? Why do you claim that all Onmyoji are dead?"

"How dare you!"

Anyone in this situation would be extremely displeased.

First, someone had fought their way to the door, then they had broken into a forbidden area guarded for years, and finally, they had cursed them all as dead.

Such an insult would make anyone furious.

After hearing this, Ye Chen nodded in realization.

"Oh, so that's how it is."

"I thought the Onmyoji had been wiped out; turns out there was one still hiding."

He paused, the corners of his mouth curling up slightly.

"By the way, you probably don't know that your brother is already dead, do you?"

Seimei Kangan's pupils suddenly constricted. "What? He's dead?"

Ye Chen looked at him and smiled.

"That's right. I'm the one who killed him."