Chapter 55, First Release on Jinjiang Literature City: Mystery

The road ahead was difficult to walk on, with stumbling stones everywhere. Yao Sisi watched as the man, with his frail body, treaded lightly on them, like a nimble swallow or a dandelion lifted by the wind.

That's outrageous.

Even a healthy person like her felt clumsy walking on this surface, like a child just learning to walk. Moreover, the stones on the ground were no pushovers either. The entire mine was extremely eerie, with a strange gravity pressing down on her, rendering her cultivation useless.

The cave was very quiet. Yao Sisi could only hear her own breathing. Just then, she realized that the man wasn't breathing.

She didn't seem to hear...

Yao Sisi stopped in her tracks, feeling the strange floral fragrance grow even stronger. Suppressing her urge to explore further, she asked, "What's your name? Where is this?"

The man turned to look at her, his gaze clear as if a spring of water flowed within it. He wore a pale yellow robe, which made him appear like an ancient lamp in mid-air.

"My name is Yan Li, taken from the flame before dawn. I chose it myself. Does it sound nice?"

Yao Sisi didn't really want to praise a man's name in such a strange and ambiguous environment; it was just too odd.

She nodded, then continued, "You still haven't told me where this is."

Yan Li seemed a little aggrieved, as if he hadn't heard her praise. He stared intently at her, as if hoping to hear her comfort him. But she remained unmoved and coldly asked him where he was.

"I don't know where this is. I've been here since I became conscious."

Yao Sisi rubbed her nose; it made no difference whether he said it or not.

Moreover, she has a hard time dealing with this type of man. If it were a toxic masochist, she could beat him until he vomited blood, but what can she do with this sickly and weak one?

She asked awkwardly, "Um, what's with the floral scent?"

Yan Li was a little nervous, after all, asking about the fragrance of the flowers was tantamount to intending to form a bond with him, a demon: "Does it smell good?"

Looking at his pitiful appearance, Yao Sisi almost thought she was in a dream. That's why she was able to create this kind of man based on her weakness, making it hard for her to hurt him. Moreover, she didn't know his true strength and abilities, so she couldn't make a move.

Whether it's from a subjective psychological perspective or a practical issue, she just can't bring herself to do it.

"It smells nice, after all, the pure floral scent is quite natural, how could it not smell nice? The key is that this mine is pitch black, how can such famous flowers grow here?"

Yan Li breathed a sigh of relief: "I'm glad you like it. It wasn't originally derived from here; it was transplanted."

Yao Sisi keenly noticed a problem: "You mean someone deliberately transplanted flowers into this mine? What's their purpose?"

Could there be flowers that need such a growing environment? She quickly searched through her mind, but none of the books she had read mentioned any precious plants that needed a mine environment.

Perhaps she simply doesn't know enough?

The two slowly walked into the mine. The mine had a very strange shape, spiraling downwards. The surrounding walls were hollowed out, their shapes completely changed and pitted. They didn't know what had been dug out, nor could they determine what kind of mine it was or why it had been abandoned.

Yan Li: "The purpose is probably to dispel the resentment..."

Yao Sisi didn't quite understand, and she guessed, "You mean there's some kind of evil being suppressed down there?"

Yan Li said earnestly, "There are no evil spirits here. Why would I take you to such a dangerous place?"

Yao Sisi was taken aback. Her previously blocked romantic radar seemed to have been activated again. Perhaps it was because of the quiet environment, the unfamiliar man, and the fact that he addressed her as "wife" so directly from the start... it was hard for her not to have any romantic thoughts.

"Ahem, so where are you taking me?"

Yan Li said shyly, "Actually, I wanted to take you to see the flowers. Didn't you just say they smelled really good? So... do you want to see them?"

Yao Sisi: "Uh, most of the flowers transplanted here are rare and precious. I'd like to see them, and it would be even better if I could take them with me..."

Yan Li's eyes lit up: "You really want to take it away?"

Yao Sisi: "Let's go check it out first. Besides, there were some strange noises earlier. Maybe something is hurting it."

Yan Li whispered, "It's a pity I can't take it with me..."

Yao Sisi stopped, feeling that the fragrance of the flowers around her was even stronger. "If you can't take it with you, then don't. Do you even know what kind of mine this is?"

It would be good if she could mine some other ores.

Yan Li: "It's a spirit stone mine."

Yao Sisi: "!! Spirit Stones?"

It's all money.

"This is really a good mine!"

Moreover, if it is called a spirit stone, then it should be different from the previous civilization. I wonder if the energy inside the physical object is similar to or more concentrated than that of the mystic stone.

Yan Li noticed that her pace quickened, and he whispered, "Actually, I can use an entangling spell to speed you up."

Yao Sisi didn't answer her. Instead, she stopped in her tracks. "That's not right. Why is the spirit stone mine so devoid of spiritual energy? Could it be that it's already been mined out?"

Yan Li shook her head: "There is a spirit-suppressing array set up underneath, which completely covers it up. That's why you feel cumbersome, but I can use magic. The array did not suppress my strength."

Yao Sisi hesitated again. There might be a large amount of spirit stones below. Although it would be a pity not to take the spirit flower with her, a large amount of spirit stones would be good. The key point was that the man in front of her had been trapped for three thousand years. He looked weak and sickly, but even a starved camel is bigger than a horse. He was the real threat.

But here's the key point: if he had the ability to control her, why didn't he do it?

Is it that they can't or dare not, or that they don't want to?

Yao Sisi tentatively said, "I suddenly don't really want to go down anymore."

Yan Li flew to her side, raised his wrist and let his wide sleeve fall, exposing his fair and slender arms to the air. His hands were very beautiful, and they looked even more fair and tender in the dim mine. His fingers were long and strong, and his fingertips gently hooked her sleeve.

"Can't you stay with me a little longer? For three thousand years, only you have been able to smell the fragrance of the flowers and enter. If you leave, I won't be able to wait for another three thousand years."

Yao Sisi took a breath and blurted out her long-held suspicion: "You...aren't you human?"

What she really wanted to ask was... was the evil being suppressed down there you?

The atmosphere grew increasingly strange. When Yao Sisi saw that he didn't answer, she cautiously stepped back, only to find that he had suddenly disappeared from her sight. Before she could react, a large black net covered her body, binding her entire body.

Yao Sisi felt as if countless vines were tightly binding her.

Oh no, this might really be an evil thing.

She felt the wind whistling past her ears, and after some time, she smelled a rotten odor.

When she opened her eyes, there were two men lying on the ground. One of them was the one she had just met, and the other was dressed in black. The two looked very similar. The man in black noticed Yao Sisi's gaze and said, "Didn't you want to see the flowers? I brought you here."

Yao Sisi paused, her gaze following the direction of his eyes, and saw two green plants. It was the season for them to bloom, but only one flower was open, while the other drooped with unhealthy buds, as if it could fall at any moment.

They didn't look healthy; the drooping buds were almost entirely stained black, and the smell of decay emanated from them.

There was another barrier surrounding the two plants, and the two men were watching her from outside the barrier.

Yao Sisi: "You brought me here? Or was it Yan Li who brought me?"

The man in black sneered, "Did you expect this piece of trash to bring you here? You've been dawdling for so long, I'd be dead by the time you got down. What a useless piece of trash!"

Yao Sisi fell silent. So her arrival was actually useful to them, not what Yan Li had said before!

Was he lying to her the whole time?

Noticing Yao Sisi's gaze, Yan Li tried to get up, but suddenly several black mist shackles appeared on his body, preventing him from moving.

"elder brother!"

The man in black said, "Shut up! Don't call me."

Yao Sisi: "..."

In fact, she saw almost no difference between them, and she didn't want to know about their relationship.

"You tricked me into coming here, not so that there would be more people watching you argue, right?"

A crimson glint flashed in the black-clad man's eyes. "You're smart! But you'd better be sensible. I'm not as easy to talk to as Yan Li."

Yao Sisi scoffed inwardly but did not reply.

The smell of decay mingled with the fragrance of flowers, making the place truly strange. What was even stranger was that she was lying on a spirit stone mine, with a large number of unmined spirit stones scattered all around her.

To put it optimistically, this is practically a treasure trove and beautiful women, of course... the beautiful women are the two men opposite us.

But Yao Sisi couldn't be optimistic...

For a moment, everyone was silent. Just then, a chilling roar came again, and soon countless gray smoke billowed out from the barrier. Yao Sisi looked around warily, and was even thinking about whether to hide in the space, but she could not easily expose such a trump card.

Just as the environment was slowly deteriorating, the smoke was driven away again. She saw that Yan Li was emitting a pale green light, which was transmitted from him to the man in black. The man in black skillfully used this energy to suppress the gray smoke.

As far as he knew, black generally represented evil, while gray mostly represented resentment. Such a rich gray must have been filled with deep and ancient resentment.

Even Buddhist practitioners would need profound spiritual power to spend several years here to purify it, right?

"You captured me, not to use me to quell your resentment, right?"

That's going too far! How can such intense resentment be quelled? Even sacrificing her blood wouldn't appease it!

A green branch was pulled out from Yan Li's body and grabbed Yao Sisi's waist, but it was quickly interrupted by the black-clad man's magic. The broken branch remained on the ground, lying crookedly.

He yelled, "What are you doing? Do you want to die? If you're going to die, don't drag me down with you! I want to live a few more days!"

He staggered to his feet, angrily dragged Yao Sisi inside the barrier, and said viciously, "If I die, none of you will have a good time!"

Yao Sisi glanced at the nearly withered flower, her mind racing to find a solution. Soon, she remembered the flower's name.

This is the Netherworld Fire Spirit Flower, which has the effect of reshaping the body and is extremely precious. But it appears here... Could it have some other strange effects?

Or is the other party trying to use this flower to reshape their body?

Wait! This flower can also dispel resentment.