Purple took her sceptre and smacked it across the antique door, causing it to swing open inward.

Then she turned at the men and invited them in.

The house was vaster inside than it appeared, and gave them a creepy feeling similar to walking into mausoleum.

At the back of the place, there were nine gates, each decorated in a familiar manner to Tommy’s eyes.

He said with a certainty, “These gates…”

Purple nodded, “They are the same design as the actual nine halls. However, it is merely decorative; for me to remember which one is the correct gateway. If someone steps into the wrong door, he will be sent to a strange place.”

Tommy privately acknowledged the usefulness of such a contraption. If they had a transportation method like this back when they were heading out to rescue Jones, they could complete their task in a fraction of the time and at greater safety.

Purple led them through a purple gate with ribbons and flowers after tapping it violently with her sceptre. It looks exactly the same as the gate to the Dance Hall.

A rap with the sceptre unlocked the gate and caused it to swing open.

Purple beckoned them and went right in while the rest gingerly followed.

When they appeared on the other side, it seemed as though they had returned to the exact house they left.

Tommy looked around in silence. Before he could ask if the teleportation had failed, Purple said, “Follow closely. One wrong turn and who knows where you’ll end up. Maybe in an Ogre’s cave or right at the bottom of a poisonous mire.”

All the grown men shuddered slightly when they heard her. An ogre is a creature no weaker than a full-grown Kirin, except that it has the intelligence of a drunken sloth.

Especially, Tommy who had quite an encounter with a certain poisonous mire. He dread to imagine if they took a single wrong turn, or if Purple had forgotten the right sequence.

He immediately prayed that the strange purple sceptre to continue working as intended.

After how the Purple Ghost had used it to dig up the soil and then bash everything, he couldn’t help but feel worried if the runes can remain intact.

Unfortunately, after a few more turns, what he feared happened.

Purple looked at Biyo and Tommy apologetically as she tapped her sceptre on her palm.

“Uhh, don’t worry, there’s just some scratches. Nothing I haven’t seen before. I’ll get it fixed in a jiffy.”

Both Biyo and Tommy’s faces darkened looking at her twist and turn her sceptre while studying it.

Biyo: “…..”

Tommy: “…..”

Purple: “Ah, did I really knocked it too many times? It’s showing its temper now isn’t it? Well… If it doesn’t work, there’s always the traditional repair.”

Saying so, she gently put the rod on the ground, then to the surprise of everyone present, she started knocking it with her knuckles.

Biyo: “…..”

Tommy: “…..”

Tommy would claim that he has seen plenty of runic engraving and repairs in his time besides Kairos.

But he had never once seen the Purple Ghost’s ‘traditional repair method’.

Despite being only seventeen, Tommy felt his gut aching from the spectacle.

A few breaths later, Purple turned to them with a great smile she claimed, “There, it’s fixed!”

Biyo: “…..”

Tommy: “…..”

The time she took to ‘repair’ was merely moments. None of them saw her fix anything.

Biyo: “Ha ha ha… Young miss, please don’t kid around. If anything goes wrong, who knows where we will be sent to?”

Tommy nodded his head quickly in agreement.

Even the entourage following Biyo that had been silent and unfazed so far are now sweating nervously.

“Don’t worry, it’s not the first time this happened. Trust me.”

Everyone turned grim as Tommy quietly muttered, “The Ghosts of the Dark Hall are indeed frightening.”

Even though he had spoken quietly, but as cultivators, everyone clearly heard his words.

Ignoring them, Purple went towards another gate and just as violently as before, she smacked it open with her newly repaired sceptre.

The door swung open and she turned and looked at the hesitating men.

“If the young miss isn’t afraid, then we gentlemen shouldn’t cower. Let’s go.”

The other guys blushed slightly at Biyo’s words.

They were really frightened for a moment. Many of them coughed uneasily then stepped towards the gate.

“Then, let’s go,” Purple said with a confident smile.

Biyo smiled at her in return and followed right behind her.

No matter what he said, he isn’t brave enough to lead the way.

The rest of the group went through the gate afterwards, and as before, they were safely sent to the next point – another wooden house with the same looking nine gates. If they appear elsewhere, they either have reached, or had been teleported to a strange place.

No one noticed that there was a white shimmer as Biyo passed through the gates.

When they appeared on the other side, he is already gone.

…..

When he reached the other side, Biyo was blinded by the sudden glare of light and he heartily laughed, “Have we reached already, young miss?”

However, what greeted him was an occasional bird chirp and a strange wet, sloppy, bubbling.

His eyes refocused as he recognised in shock at the place he is at.

“The poison mire… why am I here?”

Despite his initial surprise, he quickly regained composure.

An unexpected snarl answered him.

He tilted his head up nonchalantly.

Above, perched on a large branch of an old black mangrove was an almost-luminous white creature. It had scales that shone like the moon, and golden patterns all over it that declared the loftiness of its bloodline.

It looked like an adolescence but the young of powerful beasts cannot be underestimated.

Still, Biyo who is confident of himself, thought nothing of the situation – poison mire or not.

“I suppose this place is close enough, if a little troublesome.”

He looked at the strange but beautiful creature once again, and his lips pursed upwards.

“Say, aren’t you a true dragon as well? Recently your kind had been returning to Gaia for some reason huh? It must be fated that my family has a five-clawed golden dragon. Even though you are only a winged variant, you’ll be a good mate for it if you’re a female. Let me bring you home right away little one.”

As he smiled at his luck, a girlish voice entered his mind.

Do you want to play hide-and-seek?

Although both the question and the voice sounded childish, Biyo briefly felt a dangerous aura escape from the creature that caused him to turn serious instantly. Somehow, he felt like he had offended the dignity of a terrible and majestic beast.

…..

After trying to find Biyo for a while, the group had to give up and moved on. Though Biyo’s guards were furious at Purple and her undependable repairs, they couldn’t say a single thing to her.

It wasn’t just her status, but the Triple S cultivation pressure she gave off was enough to suffocate any protest.

Tommy secretly pondered if Purple had unloosed her aura because she felt guilty.

A few more turns later, they finally arrived at a green pasture, not far from Saint City.

The guards stared at Purple one last time before they excused themselves to find where Biyo had went. As his entourage, they have ways to track him down.

After they left, Purple brought Tommy to a carriage hidden by foilage. He took one look at the horseless thing, then turned his attention back to her. It was just in time as he saw Purple taking out an old brown bag. She overturned the thing and gave it a good shake, then a large Sky Cow fell out.

“What is that bag?” he asked curiously. It is general knowledge that time-space compartments could not hold living things.

Kairos’ Crystal Valve was the only exception, though it technically cannot be called a time-space compartment.

“This is a tamer’s bag. An ancient artefact, but it is lost technology. I’m not surprised you never seen one before.”

“Do you mind lending it to me for a while? I know a friend who would be very interested to study it. Perhaps he could replicate its make.”

“Your sworn brother, Kairos?”

“Well… yes, him.”

“No, I’m not lending.”

Tommy: “…..”