Spell Return: The Wheel of Time

Chapter 334 The Buried Truth
Torii is a building made of solid wood that looks like a "gate" and has a heavier symbolic meaning. Its simplified structure can be roughly regarded as two pillars supporting two beams.

Most of them are dyed red with vermilion lacquer, and there are torii of other colors but they are relatively rare. This thing is called a door but it does not have a door leaf, because it is not a door in the secular sense at all, but a 'door' used by people to distinguish between the human world and the realm of gods.

Torii are usually associated with shrines, and people believe that by passing through them, they enter the realm of the deity enshrined.

This is the way to meet the gods.

Now, Xusuo brought Louhu and Zhenren to a small lake, or perhaps it would be more appropriate to call it a pond. Hundreds of years ago, this place might have been a lake of decent size.

But after the ruthless passage of time, it is now only this big in the depths of the barren mountains.

Lou Hu looked around and saw that the surroundings were completely barren mountains and wilderness. It was rare to even see a few wild wolves, not to mention any signs of human habitation.

The only conspicuous thing on the small pond is an ancient torii gate, but it is so dilapidated that the vermilion lacquer on its surface has faded from the sun and rain over countless years to the point where it no longer has its once dazzling color.

If the raw material selected was not very high-quality and strong wood, it would probably have rotted even more miserably.

Although the current Torii is covered with traces of time, this imprint of history has brought it a unique beauty.

Of course, in Louhu's opinion, this kind of thing is nothing surprising at all. He has a deep understanding of human society and is not unfamiliar with Torii, even Torii gates that are accurate to the water.

Compared to those famous torii gates on the water or on the seaside, the torii gate in front of us is really too inconspicuous. The surrounding area is not a beautiful place that will make people linger. We don’t even know if it has a matching shrine. If there is, it has probably decayed and been buried long ago.

I don't understand why this guy, Xiaosuo, led the way here. Didn't he say before that he wanted to dig out some buried past, and it was about that Shenyuanyi? This place doesn't look like a place where anything can be hidden...

Louhu glanced at Luosuo again. The latter's expression was full of exploration. Could it be that this guy didn't know the specific place either?
An idea that even he himself thought was a bit absurd popped up in Louhu's mind, but Luosuo's subsequent behavior confirmed his idea, and Louhu was almost so angry that he almost erupted like a volcano.

"Exactly the same... Looks like I'm in the right place."

The noose walked straight towards the torii gate on the water. Under the influence of the cursed power, the water level only covered his ankles, and soon he was walking on flat ground.

Although Zhenren and Louhu didn't know what he was up to, they still followed him. Of course, their ally could not be trusted in all aspects. They understood this from the very beginning of their cooperation.

But at least one thing is certain, that is, it is impossible for this guy Noso to stand on the side of humans and sorcerers. He can almost be regarded as a complete troublemaker. The reason why he can cooperate with his side is actually just to see the scene after the so-called curse era comes.

Fundamentally they are not the same kind of people, but they have a common goal of cooperation, and because of the huge threat from the sorcerers, their cooperation is now very close.

Therefore, we can still give him a certain degree of trust in this matter. In short, they are now grasshoppers tied to the same rope.

"Is it hidden here by a spell?"

It doesn't look like anything can be hidden here, and it's not safe to put it at the bottom of the pool. But from the perspective of spells, it's different. The existence of barrier can do this very well.

The best example is actually the Ji Ku of the academy, which is a space hidden by the barrier. It may not exist in the academy, or even in common sense.

If this method is also used here, it seems to explain the purpose of Nozomi coming here.

While Louhu was thinking this, Noso had already arrived near the ancient torii. He then placed his hand on the column with peeling paint and sent a ball of cursed power into it.

The pillars, which should have been deformed and broken by the invasion of cursed energy, now absorbed the cursed energy of the noose without any hindrance. Then the torii seemed to wake up, and another strange and huge cursed energy rose from it.

"This method..."

Although Zhenren and Louhu had anticipated this, they were still surprised by the sudden change. Before this, they were still guessing where the possible nodes of the spell would be.

However, they didn't expect that it was the most conspicuous Torii that they had ignored before because there was no reaction of the cursed power at all.

Because it is the most conspicuous and the cursed power reaction is concealed by special means, it will be eliminated as the first choice. And this is the situation in the eyes of people who know some inside information. If someone knows nothing, they will probably just think that this is just a torii left over from a dilapidated shrine.

And...looking at the noose, it seems that it is not as simple as just inputting the cursed power into it.

While continuing his actions, Nozomi explained, "To enter, you need to complete a set 'game'. The barrier here is different from the Jugao's Jiku, which requires you to be careful about what is stored inside.

If you forcefully break through here, it will trigger the barrier that has been set up, and everything in that space will be destroyed. It can be considered a defensive measure."

The real person was thoughtful. If the magic barrier here was set up like this, then there was only one possibility: the things inside were very important, so important that even if they were completely destroyed, they could not be obtained by irrelevant people at will.

"Is everything about that person's past so important?"

Luosuo did not say why he knew all this or why he knew how to crack this safety measure. Zhenren and Louhu did not ask either. They just waited for a short time until Luosuo completed his hand movements.

"Okay." A thin layer of water suddenly rose up along the pillars on both sides of the ground where the torii gate touched the water surface. It was so thin that if it were not for the accidental reflected light, it would definitely be easily overlooked in this dim forest.

When it formed an alternative 'door' along the torii, it was not known whether it was an illusion, but apart from the anomaly of the attached magical power, in the perception of Zhenren and Louhu, this torii seemed to be a lot more alive, although its appearance was still old and dilapidated.

But above it, an inexplicable aura emanated and then occupied the area.

Without any hesitation, he walked over first, stepped into it and passed through the illusory door.

Then, in the sight of the real people, the ordinary scene on the other side of the torii gate could be seen at a glance, but the noose passing through it disappeared strangely.

Zhenren and Louhu looked at each other, and then they raised their feet together to follow the footsteps of Noose. The misty door came towards them without bringing any sense of obstruction, just like the water vapor in the air after the rain falling on their faces.

The door that separates the human world from the divine realm is now also the boundary leading to an unknown place.

The transition of space was smooth without any gaps. The moment they passed through the torii gate, Zhenren and Louhu found that everything around them had turned into another unfamiliar space.

Looking down, there was still a calm mirror-like surface of water under his feet, with a few ripples only due to the arrival of these unexpected visitors. If he looked up into the distance or above his head, he would be able to find something abnormal that could not possibly belong to the real world.

There was no sun or sky, and all that could be seen was the void of darkness. The only place with light in this space was probably the surface of the water where they were standing.

"Oh, it's so familiar..."

The light sigh of Luosuo, who came in first, sounded in this silent space, attracting the attention of Zhenren and Louhu, and they both noticed the specific appearance of this place.

In fact, this space, referring only to the real area, is actually quite large, not to mention the stone pillars standing on the water. Each one is so huge that it takes two to three people to hug it. A rough count shows that there are about a dozen of them.

It seemed to be engraved with words and pictures. Under the light from an unknown source, the real person could vaguely see that the words on it did not seem to be the language here today, but more like a slight variant of the Chinese language next door.

This is not surprising. In the past, this land did not have its own written language, and their language was only used for communication. It was not until later that the current writing evolved based on the neighboring writing.

If the things here are old enough, it would be very reasonable to use this kind of text.

The immortal approached the noose on the stone pillar, who was looking up at it. The latter withdrew his gaze with a somewhat gloomy expression on his face: "This is it. Maybe this is the last relic left by those people, the buried past..."

"Real person!"

Louhu's cry also sounded at this time. He seemed to be looking at something engraved on the stone pillars, and he couldn't control his emotions so he shouted out.

The immortal took a look at the noose that was attached to the stone pillar in front of him, then turned and walked towards Louhu, looking at the source of his loss of composure.

"The gods are walking in the world... the black sun is setting on the earth..."

"Hundreds of years of god's rule... God's disappearance... Rebellion..."

It’s not that Zhenren and Louhu didn’t recognize the words above, but the people who built and carved them seemed to be very anxious. Many of the words and sentences were incoherent and the connections between them were very jumpy.

Moreover, the text on the stone pillar is not the main body, but more of a number of simplified drawings. The two must be connected together to truly understand what they record.

The above content is actually very simple. It basically says that after the end of the Heian period, a "god incarnation" came to the world. He killed countless powerful and terrifying ghosts and gods, and executed mortals and Onmyoji who dared to disobey him.

Then he established a world dominated by a 'God' that lasted for hundreds of years. However, this God later left the world for unknown reasons and disappeared. The people who were left behind were silent for a while, and when their ambitions were revived, they began to rebel against the 'God'.

They tacitly buried everything about "God". Anyone who dared to mention anything about it would be arrested and executed. Language communication was cut off, and written records were not spared either.

The people who built this barrier space and these stone pillars were a group of people who still loyally followed the "God". Although they were unable to resist those rebels, they still made efforts within their capabilities.

That is to carve all the truth of the past on a stone pillar that would not be easily erased by the erosion of time, and then use magic to cast a barrier to hide this space in an inconspicuous place, and only through the method known to them themselves can the "door" be opened correctly.

After this group of people built the 'truth', they closed the barrier space, leaving themselves trapped to death here.

"Are you kidding..."

Lou Hu was a little stunned. To be honest, he was a little shocked by the truth. However, it was not because the real history of the past was so shocking. He was just a cursed spirit. No matter what the history of mankind was, it had nothing to do with him.

But for them, this history is not just history, but the real past of a certain existence, and that other person happens to be their biggest enemy at the moment.

"You mean... he is the 'God' mentioned above?"

(End of this chapter)