Truth be told, Yu Sheng had imagined countless possibilities when opening the message from “Three Thousand Wicked Disciples.” He even entertained the thought that this mysterious online acquaintance, whom he had barely exchanged a few words with, might casually reveal the origins of the cloth scrap he had found. But he had never anticipated the other side would pull out another piece of cloth altogether…
Though this new scrap differed in color from the one Yu Sheng found in the strange room, the patterns at the edges matched perfectly!
Yu Sheng’s mind snapped awake instantly. Jumping up from his seat, he quickly typed a message on his phone: “You have one too?! Where did you get it?!”
“It belongs to my senior brother,” Three Thousand Wicked Disciples replied swiftly. “I do not know its origins. I saw it years ago and just recalled after seeing your picture. The similarity in patterns stirred my memory.”
Moments later, another vibration signaled another incoming message: “After our last conversation, I was occupied with other matters and didn’t have time to think deeply about it. Only recently did I find some free time. Now, looking back, the ‘writing’ you previously discovered bears considerable resemblance to the patterns on this cloth piece. They seem related.”
“I think so too,” Yu Sheng responded without delay. “I’ve found such ‘foreign objects’ twice already in that strange room. Previously, I handed over a metal component to the Special Affairs Bureau, but they still haven’t been able to make sense of it.”
This time, the reply from Three Thousand Wicked Disciples took a couple of minutes longer: “Special Affairs Bureau? Oh, you’re in the Borderland?”
Yu Sheng paused, startled by the message. “Aren’t you in the Borderland?”
The phone buzzed again, and a new message flashed across the Frontier communication app: “I’m at Thousand Peak Spirit Mountain.”
Honestly, he felt a surge of excitement as he tapped the search button. It wasn’t for any special reason—simply the thrill of realizing that the mysterious individual named “Three Thousand Wicked Disciples” he was chatting with came from beyond the Borderland!
He had never imagined he’d make contact with someone living in the “outside” world through Frontier. And now, “Thousand Peak Spirit Mountain” was officially the first external place he learned of.
Of course, Yu Sheng knew the world beyond the Borderland was immense. He himself had once opened a doorway to that outside world. Logic dictated he shouldn’t be this excited. But knowing something and feeling it were entirely different experiences. Communicating across this distance—speaking with someone somewhere far beyond—was simply indescribable.
As these thoughts flashed through his mind, the search results refreshed. The first thing he saw was a bold headline highlighted in red:
“Warm Congratulations on the Successful Conclusion of the 337th Beast Taming Peak Competition at Thousand Peak Spirit Mountain—Peak Immortal Yuan He Delivers Important Speech.”
Below this headline was a news image—a tall, immortal-like middle-aged man with a refined appearance, standing gracefully atop a floating circular platform, holding a whisk. Behind him stretched a picturesque paradise veiled in mist and clouds. Before him stood a vast sea of disciples in white robes, so numerous they stretched to the horizon…
Further away, he glimpsed pavilions and towers nestled between green mountains, flowing waters, and luminous clouds.
Yu Sheng frowned slightly, glanced again at the headline, lowered his gaze back to the image, and began processing the abundant information displayed before him.
His mind wandered involuntarily—though to where exactly, he wasn’t sure.
At this moment, Foxy poked her head over, studied the image on the phone, and exclaimed softly, “Oh—quite retro!”
Yu Sheng stopped his wandering thoughts and glanced at Irene, who had also leaned over. “You think there’s a possibility…?”
Before he could finish, Irene murmured thoughtfully, “The architectural style looks kind of familiar.”
“It shouldn’t be such a coincidence, right?”
“Y-yeah,” Irene said, her voice slightly tense as if sensing Yu Sheng’s unease. “I mean, the universe is huge, and plenty of places might share similar styles. Besides, you only took a quick glance when you opened that door last time, right? You didn’t even get a good look at the details. There’s no way it’s that much of a coincidence. Even if it is, well, Thousand Peak Spirit Mountain sounds like a vast area—”
Her voice faded away slowly as she absentmindedly began tugging at the loose threads on Yu Sheng’s clothes.
Foxy, clueless about their exchange, glanced back and forth between Irene and Yu Sheng, bewildered. She hadn’t been present when Yu Sheng stayed up all night opening doors, nearly shaking the entirety of Borderland.
Yu Sheng stayed silent, recalling vividly that Eldest Senior Brother spinning on the roof beam, and the old man laboriously swinging his Copper-Headed Belt amidst peaks cloaked in clouds and immortal mist.
Yu Sheng stared at the message from “Three Thousand Wicked Disciples” displayed on his communication panel, and a strange feeling slowly crept into his heart. His imagination began to wander freely—could something really be this coincidental? Could fate truly align things so perfectly?
Eventually, he shook off these wild thoughts. Whether it was a coincidence or not could wait. Instead, he quickly typed back: “Sorry, I stepped away briefly to check some references. It’s actually my first time speaking to someone outside Borderland. Thousand Peak Spirit Mountain sounds fascinating.”
He had wanted to subtly probe the identity of the person behind the mysterious ID—perhaps their real name, or what exactly they did at this intriguing place called “Thousand Peak Spirit Mountain.” But after brief consideration, Yu Sheng restrained himself. They weren’t close enough yet for him to pry too deeply. Asking too many questions would only raise suspicion.
The reply came swiftly: “That’s understandable. After all, ‘Frontier Communications’ is primarily used by Borderland folks. Outsiders rarely bother, especially here at Thousand Peak Spirit Mountain. My fellow Senior Brothers are even more isolated—they keep busy with their own matters and seldom look beyond their noses.”
Seeing the casual reply, Yu Sheng, despite knowing there was nothing to be nervous about, felt oddly relieved. He quickly steered the conversation back to the two fabric fragments: “Earlier you mentioned that piece of cloth was your Senior Brother’s, but you don’t know its origin? Wouldn’t your Senior Brother himself know? Have you asked him?”
“Senior Brother…” This time the reply from Three Thousand Wicked Disciples seemed hesitant. The typing indicator flickered several times before the actual message came through. “Unfortunately, he has been wandering the world for many years. If I could reach him, this would all be much simpler.”
After another brief pause, a second message followed: “Senior Brother loves to roam, and in his earlier days he traveled far and wide, bringing home all manner of strange and peculiar treasures. Some caused quite a commotion within the Door. Compared to those troublesome oddities, this cloth fragment is rather well-behaved. It quietly lies in the Treasure Pavilion, never causing fights or trickery, nor harassing the other treasures. Honestly, having cared for his pavilion all these years, I nearly forgot its existence altogether.
“I once asked Senior Brother why he’d bother placing such an ordinary item in the Treasure Pavilion, or if it possessed some hidden virtue. But Senior Brother was too drunk at the time—he slept for three years straight. After a few fruitless inquiries, I simply let the matter rest. Thinking back now, it truly feels regrettable.”
Yu Sheng read the long message carefully, and his first reaction was bewilderment. Just what kind of things did that wandering Senior Brother collect?! Was treasure-on-treasure violence supposed to be normal?
Surprisingly, the phrase “slept for three years straight” hardly bothered him—after all, they were Cultivators! Could one truly measure immortals by mundane standards? He had Foxy here who could casually eat twenty steamed buns in one sitting.
Although Yu Sheng silently complained to himself, he ultimately accepted these oddities as local customs and refrained from asking further. He merely sent back a simple reply: “Well, if your Senior Brother returns or if you find out more about this cloth, could you please inform me?”
The response arrived immediately: “Naturally. While I’m not as adventurous as my Senior Brother, even I’ve grown curious now. We’re so far apart, and Borderland itself is the strangest, most peculiar place in the universe, yet now both of us hold similar objects. Truly intriguing.”
Yu Sheng exchanged a few more casual messages with “Three Thousand Wicked Disciples” before they bid each other farewell.
When he finally lifted his head, the morning sun was already shining brightly.
“Wonderful… it’s morning already.” Yu Sheng climbed out of bed, inhaled deeply, and shook his head in mild frustration. “In the end, I didn’t learn anything substantial… although I did end up discovering plenty of unexpected clues from another direction.”
He stretched lazily but found he wasn’t tired at all. Despite having only slept three or four hours, he felt surprisingly alert and energized.
Yu Sheng considered it carefully and concluded that it must’ve been the lingering effects of Foxy’s mysterious stew. Putting aside its strange appearance and taste, its energizing after-effects were genuinely powerful.
He reached out and gently rubbed the fluffy fur behind Foxy’s ears, then walked over to the window, gazing thoughtfully down at the sunlit streets.
Irene scampered over, climbed up onto the windowsill beside him, and peered outside. After a moment, she looked up at him and asked, “Are you thinking of visiting that Thousand Peak Spirit Mountain?”
Yu Sheng blinked in surprise. “How did you jump straight to that?”
“You’ve never visited the outside world, but you’re curious about it,” Irene counted off points on her tiny fingers. “You never knew anyone from the outside before, but now you do. You didn’t know what lay beyond your Doors, and now you’ve learned of a real place. Therefore, logically, you’re thinking of visiting Thousand Peak Spirit Mountain.”
Yu Sheng stared, dumbfounded, into the little doll’s earnest eyes.
This little creature’s thought process leaped wildly—but her intuition was even more frighteningly accurate.
This novel is translated and hosted on bcatranslation