Having heard Xiang Mantang say this,
Barlow hesitated, struggling with his expression. Finally, he clenched his teeth and said, "Fine, I agree to your terms. I hope you will keep your promise."
"Rest assured," Xiang Mantang replied indifferently. "A promise from a gentleman is beyond the chase of speedy horses!"
"Good, I hope we can have a pleasant cooperation."
Barlow gritted his teeth, then pulled out an ancient, ceramic mask from the backpack behind him and handed it to Xiang Mantang.
Xiang Mantang glanced at it, his eyes expressing doubt, before finally taking it.
This ceramic-like mask was ice cold, with a firm texture and a bizarre style. It was adorned with many intricate and mysterious patterns as well as some cracks, looking quite ancient.
"What is this object?"
Holding the mask, Xiang Mantang inspected it over and over again. Unable to discern its purpose, he looked up at Barlow and inquired.
Barlow explained, "This is an artifact from the Sumerian era, possibly even older. Only by wearing it can one see the two lost rivers of the Garden of Eden."
Upon hearing Barlow's explanation, Xiang Mantang instantly understood.
He had done his research and preparation on his way here, having looked up quite a bit of information and knew that the Garden of Eden was fed by four major rivers, while the Mesopotamian Plain had only two. Thus, Ancient Babylon was also known as the civilization of the Two Rivers Basin.
Therefore, some scholars believed that the Garden of Eden was not in Babylon but elsewhere.
But if the other two rivers were hidden, vanishing into folded space, then all of it made sense.
Holding the heavy ceramic mask in his hands, Xiang Mantang asked, "Where did you get this from?"
Barlow responded somewhat proudly, "Found it in the Tigris River—it took us fifty years to finally discern the entrance to the Garden of Eden!"
"Is this the only mask?" Xiang Mantang asked.
"Yes." Barlow nodded, indicating that Xiang Mantang could try it on.
Xiang Mantang went silent for a moment, then handed the mask back to Barlow. "You wear it first."
"The Dragon King is indeed very cautious." Surprised by Xiang Mantang's words, Barlow chuckled lightly, took the mask, and put it directly on his face.
Xiang Mantang remained silent, saying nothing.
Better safe than sorry, he still strongly doubted their intention in approaching him, not willing to wear a mask brought to him without any precautions.
Barlow put on the mask, and no unusual incidents occurred. He prepared to take it off.
Just then, Xiang Mantang said, "Perhaps keep it on a little longer."
Barlow gave a few forced laughs and said nothing, nor did he dare to remove the mask, continuing to wear it.
Three minutes, ten minutes, half an hour, one hour.
As time slowly passed by,
almost three hours later,
Xiang Mantang, seeing that nothing happened, spoke, "You can take it off now."
"Phew..."
Upon hearing this, Barlow immediately breathed a sigh of relief, quickly took off the mask, and complained somewhat, "That was suffocating."
Xiang Mantang took the mask, wiped off the saliva, carefully disinfected it once more, and then put it on himself.
As soon as he put on the mask,
he immediately heard the sounds of the other two rivers flowing. He looked up, and in addition to The Euphrates River and the Tigris River, two more rivers appeared.
So, the Garden of Eden was truly here.
Xiang Mantang looked at the other two clear, unpolluted rivers and thought with some shock and amazement.
"Dragon King, do you see? We didn't deceive you, look, we are sincere,"
Barlow said, watching Xiang Mantang silently gaze upon the landscape.
"Hmm."
Xiang Mantang snapped back to his senses, acknowledged with a nod, took off his mask, and looked again toward where the rivers were supposed to be.
Sure enough, the riverbeds had disappeared.
All that was left was a desolate clearing.
"We have found the rivers, but how do we get into the Garden of Eden?" Xiang Mantang didn't put the mask back on and asked Barlow.
Barlow replied, "According to our speculation, you should just follow those two rivers straight ahead, and you will reach the Garden of Eden. Of course, we're not entirely sure, and we don't have the capability to explore either, so that's why we sought cooperation with you, the Dragon King."
"Hmm."
Xiang Mantang acknowledged softly and fell into deep thought.
Could it really be the Garden of Eden?
He wasn't sure, but there was more than a seventy percent chance.
Of course, it could also be the great terror warned by the Omniscient Old Man, a catastrophe unseen in a million years!
Xiang Mantang wasn't too sure about that possibility either.
Currently, since he had completely failed to find any clues about the Garden of Eden and the clues provided by Paradise Lost were very close to what was described in the scriptures...
It was worth a try!
Take a gamble!
Having made up his mind, Xiang Mantang said, "Alright, let's give it a try, but we will go together."
"This…" Barlow hesitated, "We are just ordinary people, it's too dangerous there, we can't go. We have tried before, putting a transmitter and locator inside a fish and releasing it back into those two rivers, and it just disappeared."
He did not mention that they had also experimented with live humans who disappeared and never managed to send any messages back.
Xiang Mantang said, "No worries, I can protect you."
Saying this, he looked at Barlow with a half-smile, "You can't expect me to risk my life searching for the Garden of Eden for you while you just provide this mask and reap the benefits, right?"
"If we are going to die, we all die together!"
Hearing Xiang Mantang's words, Barlow and Leon's expressions changed several times before they finally gave a resigned sigh and nodded in agreement.
Afterward, Xiang Mantang put the mask back on and, holding the necks of the two men, walked on air toward the far end of the rivers.
He walked on the waves, but in Barlow's eyes, Xiang Mantang was running on the barren land.
If Xiang Mantang hadn't been holding them and had let them follow behind, they would have eventually lost him as he entered the folded space, and they would have been left behind.
Eventually, Xiang Mantang and the others slowly disappeared in the waves on this barren land.
As soon as the three disappeared, another person appeared on the banks of the Tigris River, looked toward the direction they had vanished, said something, and then left.
...
In the surging waves, Xiang Mantang held Barlow and Leon until he realized they had fully entered the folded space of the two rivers, then he let go of them.
"Ah!"
Upon being released by Xiang Mantang, Barlow and Leon, feeling the sense of weightlessness, suddenly screamed.
However, in the end, they did not fall into the water.
Instead, they stood on the water's surface as if on flat ground.
This naturally was done by Xiang Mantang using the Heaven and Earth Vital Energy to assist them.
This, too, was another test by Xiang Mantang.
From the moment he first encountered these two men from the Garden of Eden, he had never truly trusted them and had repeatedly tested them.
Like distributing the Fruit of Life, letting Barlow wear the mask first to enter the Garden of Eden together, and suddenly dropping them into the water to observe their reactions.
Xiang Mantang naturally wouldn't be foolish enough to fantasize about how they would divide the Fruit of Life even before entering the Garden of Eden.
This would be as foolish as seeing a beautiful woman and then fantasizing about what to name your future son.
Now, having entered these two rivers, he suddenly dropped them, and from their reactions, they really did not seem like award-winning actors.