Blood Tree

Hearing Wei Dengke's startled cry, Mo Li and Wen Jing also looked up. When they saw the enormous plaque, they froze as well. The legendary palace of the Queen Mother of the West was located within Kunlun Mountain, but that was merely a legend. Even though they had previously suspected this was the Queen Mother of the West's palace, it had ultimately been nothing more than a guess. Now that they had seen the words on the plaque with their own eyes, their earlier suspicion had been confirmed. The truth was overwhelmingly shocking to them.

The three of them stood there with their heads tilted back and their mouths hanging open, astonishment plainly written across their faces. They maintained that posture for at least a minute before finally recovering. Mo Li even raised his phone and took a picture of the plaque.

Perhaps the shock was so great that they forgot their fatigue. The three of them struggled up from the ground, then slowly walked toward the enormous gate. When they reached it, the Golden Light shining through the crack between the doors grew increasingly intense. With the help of that light, they could see the gate in its entirety. It had been carved from a single piece of unknown blue-brown rock and was covered in intricate patterns. The patterns seemed to depict some kind of tree, but perhaps because an abstract carving technique had been used, the tree looked strange. All its branches were twisted into spirals.

"Do you think Tomboy went inside?" Wei Dengke swallowed and asked tentatively.

Mo Li did not answer. Instead, he raised his hand and stroked the surface of the gate. The instant his palm touched it, the gate let out a creaking, groaning sound, then slowly opened a crack.

It was called a