Chapter 444: What One Sees and Hears in an Ancient City (I)

Chapter 444: What One Sees and Hears in an Ancient City (I)

The trio peered into the garden moments later. A small path of blue stones led to a winding dry riverbed. Pavilions and gazebos lined the path while manmade mountains could be glimpsed behind them. This was a beautiful hotel in an exquisite environment.

What a pity that the flowers and grass were withered and the waters dry. Only a few traces of the charm of yesteryear remained. But it was very clean, just a bit sparse of greenery since it’d all wilted.

“Hoo!” He Yong breathed out. Thank goodness, everything was fine. He was fine.

That had been terrifying!

Li Hao had already crossed the threshold and set foot inside. “Let’s close the door,” he said when the other two followed him. “So that no one who comes later will see that it’s open.”

Normal people wouldn’t dare push open a door since a shut door meant danger. He Yong quickly shut the front door without another word. Li Hao walked toward another signpost, one imprinted with several location names and indication arrows.

“Cloudwater Pavilion.”

“Fragrance Pavilion.”

“Water Harmony Pavilion.”

So on and so forth, until Li Hao finally saw Fragrant Cloud Pavilion with an arrow pointing to the inner depths of the garden.

“Let’s head inside!” Li Hao strode forward, leading an uncomfortable He Yong in his wake.

“Is there a point to us locating this place?” He Yong transmitted as they walked. “This is probably a place to rest, can there possibly be treasure here? Would you leave treasure in a hotel?”

He felt it a better use of time to look for residences that were accessible.

“Idiot,” a disapproving Hong Yitang rebuked in transmission. “This place is so opulent! Just think of the luxury hotels in our times, are they devoid of nice things? Will a regular residence have more valuable items than the ones inside a hotel?”

“......” Alright then, He Yong felt that this made sense. What could be found inside a hotel would indeed be precious.

“It’s not just treasure, but that we should try to gain more clarity into the situation and rules,” Li Hao explained. “This is a room that Battle Heaven has assigned to us, there may be explanations of the local rules inside. When we check-in to a hotel, for example, we often find introductions of the local sites and sounds, as well as descriptions of specialties or distinguishing characteristics.

“Battle Heaven welcomes guests from all around. They can’t possibly explain to every single guest the do’s and don’ts of the city. In that case, there might be a guide in the room.”

Hong Yitang and He Yong nodded. These words were logical and heightened their anticipation for the room. Perhaps a further understanding of the rules would help them have an easier time in the city and obtain first mover advantage. Those without keys would not be so lucky.

The pool seemed to have been activated for use again with the arrival of a guest.

Li Hao didn’t think much of it at first, but his eyes narrowed in thought when he took a closer look and he set the pamphlet aside. He plastered his face to the window like He Yong and observed it in detail.

“This is... a hot spring for guests to bathe in, right?” Hong Yitang raised an eyebrow. “Is there something off about the water though?”

All three looked intently at the water—there seemed to be some other colors swirling within it. It shimmered with luster, giving one the feeling that it was treasure. Was the water something precious?

“Hurry and find out if we can go there, Li Hao,” He Yong spoke urgently. “It seems to be in our backyard, can we go?”

The young man quickly paged through the travel guide. He quickly located the page that spoke of Hibiscus Garden and ran his finger down the text. “This pool is called the Pool of Life. According to the description, an ancient tree of life once grew here and infused the hot springs with the Water of Life. They have the effect of nourishing the body, healing wounds, and complementing cultivation. Each detached residence has a side spring for guests to use.

“However, we need to pay a price to use it. It’s not available for free.”

“What’s the price?” He Yong quickly followed up. “Pool of Life... I think I’ve heard about it before.”

“How luxurious!” Hong Yitang breathed out gently. “I know about this. Some formidable monster spirits in the ancient civilization—the plant type—cultivated to a certain level and planted their roots on enormous mines of mysterious power stones. It’s said that they could extract some of the legendary Water of Life that way. The effects are stunning! Li Hao, I suspect that the energy you used on us before is similar to this legendary water. Healing wounds, repairing internal damage, strengthening the body...

“Who would’ve thought that a simple hotel would offer this kind of service! It’s hard to imagine just how the residents of Battle Heaven lived in the lap of luxury during their times.”

“That’s not necessarily the case!” Li Hao shook his head. “This is for guests, and important guests. Martial Uncle Hong probably received a better key than me. It might be assigned according to level of strength. The regular residents of Battle Heaven might not have the right to enjoy this treatment.

“And we also need to pay a price before we can start using the pool.”

“So what’s the price??” He Yong demanded. “This is a great treasure and of vital importance to us if it contains even a little bit of the Water of Life!”

“Energy stones... meaning mysterious power stones,” Li Hao identified softly as he looked at the pamphlet. “We need to toss mysterious power stones into the pool before we can use it. The payment is used to ensure the operations of the pool, and we need to offer high purity payment!

“The energy stones that the ancients speak of may be different to what we have in mind,” he said after another close look. “They also specify purity degree.”

Hong Yitang fell silent and looked at He Yong. The latter stared innocently back at him. What you looking at me for? I don’t have money!

“How much?” Hong Yitang looked at the young man instead.

“I don’t know, it doesn’t say, just to toss in a piece. I don’t know how big a piece was in the ancient civilization, if it’s our piece or the one that martial uncle just found!”

Hong Yitang gaped, are you joking?! That piece is worth a stunning fortune, I’m not giving that up!