Versatile Mage (Web Novel)

Translated by XephiZ

Edited by Aelryinth

The palace tomb…

Statues: the place was filled with vivid and lifelike statues made of white jade, looking extremely similar to a pale woman’s soft, tender skin.

Most importantly, the statues were all women with glamorous and slim figures, each with a different posture: lowering their heads, bowing, kneeling on the ground, or with a smile on their faces. The group felt like they were being welcomed by the emperor’s harem as they walked past them.

Also, none of them were wearing clothes when the sculptures were carved, further implying that they were the pampered women of the emperor. Their alluring expressions and their naked bodies… it was too difficult to just treat them as mere statues…

Even Liu Ru and Su Xiaoluo blushed when they saw the spectacular sight. Mo Fan, Zhang Xiaohou, and Fang Gu felt slightly awkward. Their only comment was that the Qin Emperor had a strong interest in all kinds of collections, including women. They did not find a single statue that was repeated, each of them had a unique taste and charm.

Mo Fan nudged Zhang Xiaohou with his elbow and whispered, “Houzi, which one do you like?”

“Brother Fan, I’m not in the mood for this. All I think is trying to meet the Ancient King as soon as possible, many people are still waiting for us…” said Zhang Xiaohou sternly.

“So, which one do you like?” Mo Fan was enjoying it despite the suffering of the city. No matter how grim the situation was, it could not stop the men from pursuing their natural desires.

“Well…” Zhang Xiaohou blushed before he whispered, “I like this one that’s alive.”

Mo Fan looked at Su Xiaoluo beside them and chuckled.

Even the most beautiful statue with the perfect body and peerless beauty was merely a lifeless object. It was nothing compared to a lively girl whose single smile or wink could pluck the strings in a man’s heart.

“Is there no end to this place, just like the corridor?” Su Xiaoluo finally asked.

There were too many jade statues on both sides, yet every one of them was unique in their own way. It felt the same as the endless corridor…

“Err…I think there are just too many of them,” Mo Fan pointed ahead, telling her that there were no more statues ahead.

—-

As Mo Fan mentioned, the statues had come to an end. Mo Fan was in a different mood than Zhang Xiaohou. He basically inspected all the statues along the way. Liu Ru, who was following him, rolled her eyes a couple of times, yet Mo Fan did not feel ashamed of his action. It was his passion for art. Humans should never stop pursuing beautiful things in their lives. Otherwise, what difference was there between them and salted fish?

“Why is it completely dark ahead?” Zhang Xiaohou asked suddenly, further ahead than the others.

“Did the path end?” Fang Gu was stunned.

As they continued forward, the path gradually narrowed as it led them to a jade platform surrounded by darkness, as if they had walked up to the edge of a cliff.

A strong wind was blowing, circling the platform on both sides, as if it would sweep them into the abyss if they took the wrong step.

Zhang Xiaohou was a Wind Magician. He probed the area ahead with his will, but quickly withdrew it in panic and blurted out in shock, “It’s a very high-quality type of wind, I can’t even transmit my will through it. It can easily tear a Ruler-level creature to pieces!”

The strong black wind looked like countless black sickles swiping wildly beside and above them. If it was as scary as Zhang Xiaohou described, the whole space apart from the platform they were standing on was a death zone!

“There is nothing… mmm, bridges!” exclaimed Liu Ru, whose vision was the best of them in the dark.

The path had ended, and they were surrounded by the death wind. They would be at a loss if the bridges did not appear. Luckily, the arching bridges were connected to the edge of the platform. For some reason, they could not see the white bridges when they first arrived at the platform!

The arching bridges were not the kind that was built on small rivers, but similar to the massive flyover bridges. The white bridges extended deeper into the darkness, like flying dragons.

There were ten dragon bridges in total. They could not see the ends when they stared into the distance. However, it seemed like the bridges were not affected by the death wind dancing around like sickles…

In other words, the bridges were the only way to advance forward.

“Come, the bridges are not swept by the black wind. We should be able to reach the Blood Emperor Throne safely,” said Zhang Xiaohou.

“Wait!” Su Xiaoluo immediately pulled Zhang Xiaohou back with a nervous look.

Fang Gu had an anxious look, too. He said with a deep voice, “These are most likely the Nine Bridges of Death and One Bridge of Life.”

“Nine…Nine Bridges of Death and One Bridge of Life?” A chill went down Liu Ru’s spine as she heard the name.

Nine to death, one to life!

There were ten bridges here, which meant that only one of the bridges would bring them to the Blood Emperor Throne. The other nine would lead them to death!

Zhang Xiaohou fell speechless in shock. He was actually hoping that Fang Gu and Su Xiaoluo would show him the bridge that would lead them to the Blood Emperor Throne!

“Nine bridges of death, and one bridge of life. Our ancient teachings did mention it, but it did not tell us which one is the right one,” said Fang Gu firmly.

“What do we do now? One out of ten, aren’t the odds a bit too low?” said Liu Ru nervously.

“It’s not necessarily one out of ten. There are five of us here. If each of us chooses a bridge, the odds are two to one,” said Mo Fan rationally.

Fang Gu nodded and said, “He’s right, if each of us chooses a different bridge, it will dramatically increase the odds, but… do you really want to do that?”

Fang Gu did not care much about the approach. He had come to atone for his sins. He would no longer die with regrets after finding the tomb of their old ancestor. However, Mo Fan, Liu Ru, Zhang Xiaohou, and Su Xiaoluo were different. The pairs of Liu Ru and Mo Fan, and Zhang Xiaohou and Su Xiaoluo, were surely inclined to stay together, let alone Mo Fan and Zhang Xiaohou, who were extremely close to one another.

How were they going to cross the bridges?

By crossing the bridge together, they would share the same fate, but the odds of the millions of people in the city seeing the next dawn were one in ten.

If they split up, it meant they would be separated forever, although the odds of resolving the calamity were two to one.

The Nine Bridges of Death and One of Life, the candidates were forced to make an extremely hard decision, yet the thing was, even if they split up, the odds were still fifty percent!

“You guys make the call,” Fang Gu sat on the ground. He was well aware of how tough it was to make the decision.