Chapter 17 The Phoenix is ​​Gone

Ye Kemeng mechanically began to walk, step by step, along the stone steps.

When the eyes cannot see, the body subconsciously amplifies other senses.

Ye Kemeng felt like a small boat adrift on a vast ocean, struggling amidst endless crises and despair, with the possibility of being submerged at any moment.

But once the arrow is released, there's no turning back; turning back now is hardly a realistic option.

Suddenly, Ye Kemeng felt a cold, chilling touch on her forehead.

Her already extremely wary heart instantly jumped to her throat.

In other words, what she is actually holding right now is a corner of the mermaid's gauze!

Ye Kemeng was immediately terrified and broke out in a cold sweat.

If she hadn't noticed this and her fingers had continued to move upwards, she would have definitely torn off the blindfold herself!

She felt all the blood rushing to her head, and Elder Chen's words echoed in her ears again: "Remember, you will not suffer any real harm on the stone steps. Do not tear off the mermaid veil, otherwise the evil energy will invade your brain and you will be completely assimilated by the ancient battlefield and become a part of it."

You won't suffer any real harm...

So, was the sensation I felt just now actually an illusion?

But that bone-chilling cold seemed to linger on her forehead and continued to spread throughout her body.

Ye Kemeng simply ignored the crimson expanse before her. She closed her eyes, calmed herself, and maintained the posture of holding the love lock in one hand and the mermaid veil in the other, continuing to walk down regardless of the consequences.

She suddenly quickened her pace, and Cang Yao behind her immediately followed the force of the heart-lock and walked down.

He walked with a calm and composed gait, not at all like someone who had lost a piece of mermaid silk.

"Yao, you dare to come down here! You actually dare to show your face here! You will die! You must die!"

"Kill! Kill Yao!"

"Hahaha, Yao, if you dare come down, you'll die a horrible death, hahahahaha!"

Behind Cang Yao were Gu Qingli, Bai Lingyu, and others. After being pulled by Ye Kemeng, they seemed to be pulled out of some kind of nightmare. They were still scared, and beads of sweat appeared on their foreheads and cheeks. Their legs were about to go weak from fright.

But they were, after all, disciples of the academy, and their will was still quite firm. Even when their legs were weak, they kept up and didn't falter.

Ye Kemeng didn't know how long she had walked, or even if she was still going downhill.

She felt that her legs had lost all sensation, leaving only the instinctive action of taking steps.

Then, Cang Yao's slightly weak, clear voice came from behind: "We've arrived."

She instinctively stopped in her tracks, but her hands remained gripping the love lock and the silk ribbon, and she dared not let go.

Cang Yao took a step forward, his fingertips landing on the veil behind Ye Kemeng's head.

Ye Kemeng felt a warm touch on her hair, and with Cang Yao's movements, she felt a slight itch.

But before she could grasp this feeling, the veil on her face suddenly fell off.

The crimson before her eyes was covered by a scene of endless yellow sand. Ye Kemeng's almond-shaped eyes widened, and her pupils unconsciously dilated: "This is the ancient battlefield."

“Judging by your age, it is indeed the ancient era.” Cang Yao said, then suddenly coughed softly, his voice muffled, as if he were seriously ill and about to die.

Ye Kemeng turned to look at Cang Yao.

She recalled 666's words: Cang Yao shouldn't have entered the ancient battlefield.

Since we're already here, even if we can't complete the mission, we still have to get to the exit to the due south to go back.

Ye Kemeng didn't waste any more time and raised her voice: "We're safe now. You can take off your mermaid veils. We should go find the Nine-Aperture Exquisite Flower!"

No one moved; they were still caught up in the immense panic and unable to extricate themselves.

The girl standing behind Cang Yao was beautiful and had a scholarly air about her, even though she was blindfolded.

She first tried raising her hand and gently pulling down the veil a little.

Ye Kemeng happened to be looking at her and saw that she only had one eye showing, which looked strangely cute, so she subconsciously smiled.

The girl ripped off her mermaid veil, her eyes also filled with laughter, and shouted to those behind her, "We've really arrived safely! Everyone, quickly take off your mermaid veils and let's go!"

Her tone was gentle, and although it was clearly a prompting, she spoke calmly and deliberately, which made people feel convinced.

As soon as that inexplicable sense of trust ignited, Ye Kemeng's heart skipped a beat, and she subconsciously looked at the girl again.

She always felt that the girl's words had a mysterious meaning, unlike those of ordinary people.

[She is Gu Qingli, a native of Linlang City. A few days ago, she came to the Kyushu Academy to pay homage to the 'Immortal's Guidance,' but unexpectedly, a sudden change occurred in the Void Land. Fortunately, she was rescued by Bai Lingyu and successfully escaped. After arriving at the academy, due to her special 'divination' talent, she was taken in as a disciple by Elder Hua Yueming, the one we met the other day who had a flower mark between his eyebrows. However, because her cultivation is still shallow, she is currently only an outer disciple.] 666 answers Ye Kemeng's question.

She'd heard the term "diviner" twice. The first time was last night when she was sitting on the steps and overheard the disciples at the academy mention it. The second time was when 666 said it.

Well, those who divine fortune and misfortune, and predict good and bad luck, are called fortune tellers.

"Then I'm considered a fortune teller too?" One of Ye Kemeng's innate skills is 'foresight'.

[It's not quite the same. Divination is limited to good and bad fortune, and in order to gain the trust of those who come seeking its guidance, the diviner will specifically cultivate their 'aura and tone of voice'; as for precognition, it's knowing when a certain event will occur.] 666 said, [However, little kitty, you currently lack cultivation, so even if you had the talent for precognition, you couldn't utilize it at all. You're really... weak.]

Ye Kemeng was shot in the knee: "..."

666, being considerate of Ye Kemeng, comforted her: "But don't be discouraged. With your talent, if you become very strong, your 'precognition' ability will be amazing. Hmm, it means that if someone remembers you and mentions your name, you'll sense it, and you might even be able to see what's about to happen to that person."

666 adds: [I've read in ancient texts that the strongest 'precognition' talent of the silver pheasant clan eventually evolves into 'the power of words.' This means that things that wouldn't have happened originally will happen because you spoke them. However, this isn't very relevant to us; silver pheasants with such powerful 'the power of words' only exist in mythology.]

Words of power!

Ye Kemeng was hearing about such a cool ability for the first time.

666 said: "Hey, don't think so much. Words of power and all that have nothing to do with us. Let's get going."

Ye Kemeng nodded, then turned to the group and called out, "The bamboo slip says that the scent of living people is most attractive to the vengeful spirits of those who died in battle. Even if we have the mermaid gauze to conceal our scent, it will still be dangerous to stay in one place for too long. Let's go."

She continued to hold the love lock and walked due south.

Having already rescued everyone from the nightmare, Ye Kemeng's credibility increased significantly, and no one looked down on her for having no cultivation.

The increasing amount of blood emanating from Cang Yao's body gave her a deeper understanding of the dangers of this place.

These little kittens always believe in the saying "as long as the green hills remain, there will always be firewood." What mission is more important than their lives? At worst, she can go back and cultivate properly, and come back next year.

Seeing the kitten take the initiative and work hard to complete the task, 666 kept thinking to himself, "This kid is teachable."

On Cang Yao's side, ever since he stepped down and was no longer protected by the stone steps, countless dense baleful energies began to wash over his body, recklessly damaging the meridians of the divine phoenix.

“We can’t kill you, but he’s about to awaken. He’s awakened. The one you personally severed and sealed here has awakened! You’re left with only one path: annihilation.”

"Hahaha, you're going to die soon!"

"Come and stay with us, come and stay with us!"

Because the malevolent aura behind her was so dense and concentrated, Ye Kemeng immediately turned around warily. After her eyes met those of Cang Yao, who was walking steadily, she seemed to no longer be able to sense the powerful malevolent aura.

Ye Kemeng frowned and asked in confusion, "Where is your mermaid silk?"

She wrapped the mermaid silk around her wrist; its bright red color stood out starkly against the yellow sand.

Cang Yao said, "I lost it by accident."

His casual attitude, even a bit nonchalant, made Ye Kemeng feel uneasy.

"Then stay close to me and don't get lost," Ye Kemeng instructed, turning her head away.

This time, however, there was no response for a long time.

Ye Kemeng felt a sudden unease; she genuinely sensed that something was wrong with Cang Yao.

When Cang Yao was still in the form of a gray pigeon, he wouldn't even let her hug him. After he transformed into human form, he should have kept his distance from her. But last night, when she was asleep, she randomly tried to pull at his clothes, and he just held her hand down!

All of this seems like the last tenderness before parting!

Just then, a sandstorm that blotted out the sky passed in front of them, and what appeared before them was a long, familiar stone staircase.

As Ye Kemeng was stunned, Gu Qingli's dignified voice came from behind her: "Is this the staircase leading back due south?"

So fast?

Ye Kemeng felt that she had been gone for less than half an hour.

But whatever happened, getting back safely was the most important thing. Ye Kemeng happily turned her head, wanting to call Phoenix to come back with her.

The phoenix has disappeared.

A note from the author:

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good evening