Chapter 56: The Mystery of Jinjiang's First Publication

With a loud thud, Yao Sisi woke up in a different place. The man in black was gone, leaving her with Yan Li. Yan Li was holding up a light green protective shield, keeping them in a corner of the space.

The scene seemed to be the same as before, but the flowers and the spirit-suppressing array were gone, which was really strange.

Yan Li, supporting herself against the protective barrier, asked cautiously, "How...are you?"

Seeing that the restraints on her body were gone, Yao Sisi immediately stood up with a somersault. Just as she was about to speak, a group of people came in from outside the protective shield. They were dressed in tattered clothes, and each of them looked sallow and thin, as if they were in poor health. Moreover, these people were not ordinary mortals; almost every one of them had cultivation.

How come they are still in such a miserable state, as if they haven't had a full meal in a long time?

As if they hadn't seen the two people inside the protective shield, they gathered not far from them and were having a heated discussion.

Yao Sisi frowned and looked at Yan Li: "Have we been pulled into an illusion?"

Yan Li said, "I would say that, but to be precise, it's a nightmare. This happens every hundred years."

Yao Sisi said, "Hmm? It keeps happening..."

Yan Li nodded: "Each time it appears, its strength will increase, and each time it appears, it will take quite a while to recover."

Yao Sisi understood. So the man in black was already at his limit and had no chance of defeating this backlash of resentment. That's why he wanted to use her as a shield. He was dreaming. At worst, she could hide in her spatial dimension and give him a surprise attack.

She frowned slightly. The black-clad man was already barely clinging to life because he couldn't get out of that magic circle, so why did he have to drag her down with him? Was he just inherently vicious?

Seeing her frown, Yan Li quickly apologized, "I'm sorry..."

The pale green spiritual energy within his body supported the protective barrier. Turning his head to look at her, Yao Sisi noticed that his eyes were not fully transformed, still carrying a faint green hue, like those of a foreigner.

He said, "Don't worry, I've seen nightmares many times, and I'll find a chance to get you out of here!"

Yao Sisi lowered her head, frowning, then looked up at the crowd in the distance. "You mean they can spot us? Otherwise, why would they look for an opportunity?" Are you trying to hide from the crowd in front of you, or from the men in black lurking in the shadows?

Yan Li honestly replied, "I'm not sure if I can find out..."

He always followed silently behind, and no one paid any attention to him.

Yao Sisi wouldn't place her hopes on others. She took out several refining materials from her storage bag, a wisp of spiritual fire flickering in her hand. "I need to refine a magic weapon to resist resentment, and I need you to protect me."

Yan Li nodded, and accidentally blurted out, "My wife is so amazing!"

Yao Sisi: "..."

"Stop yelling. Have you forgotten the meaning of 'respect'?"

Yan Li's face flushed slightly. He cautiously turned his head away. He was a demon, and the word "restraint" didn't exist in a demon's dictionary. In the eyes of demon plants, pollination was the most beautiful and natural thing—fragrance swirling, petals fluttering, how wonderful…

He has now blossomed, and is at his most tender and ready to be picked, but the other party is not interested at all. He doesn't understand why at all. Doesn't liking someone mean being together?

She likes his scent, so why won't she accept him?

Is the "inherited memories" just a lie to deceive demons? They clearly said he would passionately fall in love with any woman who smelled his floral scent...

result……

Forget about liking him passionately, I don't even have any passion for him...

Yao Sisi quietly crafted her magical artifact, unaware of what the person beside her was thinking. She also had to keep an eye on the reactions of those in the distance, making it a very arduous task for her.

The voices from afar grew louder, loud enough for Yao Sisi to hear them clearly.

Someone in the group shouted, "They've gone too far! Several people have already died and they still made us come down to dig for spirit stones without even investigating what happened! Look at what we're wearing, eating, and using now. It wasn't like this at first. We have to find the manager and argue with them!"

Another person chimed in, "We can't take it anymore! The third brother is dead, his body is nowhere to be found. Who knows what kind of man-eating monsters are lurking in this mine? Besides, we used to be able to rest after handing in our daily work quota, but now they're exploiting us day and night. We have to run out and report them to the sect!"

"Yes, yes, this must be exposed!"

"If things continue like this, none of us will survive."

“The fellow Daoists who died before were dealt with as if it were an accident, but I don’t want to be ‘accidentally’ like that.”

...

The group discussed how to report the incident, and their voices gradually quieted down. Meanwhile, Yao Sisi had completed the prototype of the magical artifact she wanted to refine.

Seeing that she was busy, Yan Li whispered, "They're about to leave, should we follow them?"

Yao Sisi put away the refining furnace. When she looked up, she saw that his face was flushed, but not in a normal way. She avoided looking at him as if to avoid suspicion, and only said, "Let's follow them and see."

Yan Li felt very disappointed when he saw that she didn't look at him much, but he gave up. What could he do when he wasn't likable?

"Actually, I know roughly what happened after following up, but strangely enough, the scenes of each nightmare are roughly the same, but the details are a little different."

Yao Sisi asked, "Have you observed this many times? What differences do you notice?"

Yan Li: "Yes, I've been here many times. Except when I'm asleep, I've come here whenever I'm awake and it happens to be a nightmare period. As for the differences, I can't say for sure. You'll see when you keep watching."

Yao Sisi: "So they didn't notice you at all?"

Yan Li: "It seems that when they discovered it, I saw people looking at me, but they didn't seem to care about me. Even after they discovered it, they continued to follow their nightmare."

The two followed the group of people at a distance. From their conversation, they learned that these people were miners who had come to mine, but it seemed that this was just their way of working. Perhaps they were assigned a task, but they were being exploited by those in power and made to do more work. It seemed that doing more work did not necessarily mean receiving more pay, and even when people died, no one cared and the news was suppressed.

That's pretty tragic, no wonder these people wanted to report it...

The thought of all that resentment sent a chill down Yao Sisi’s spine. She figured they probably hadn’t reported it at all, and were instead being exploited to death.

As expected, their uprising was completely ineffective, and even those who tried to sneak out to return to the sect were hunted down on the spot!

The scene was extremely bloody. The victim died right in front of everyone, and his body was thrown heavily at the entrance of the mine, clearly telling the miners what the consequences of resistance were!

Yao Sisi frowned, feeling that something was wrong. Normal cultivators would never do such a thing, completely disregarding human life. They were cultivators of immortality and the Dao, and their cultivation manuals contained rules against bearing too much karma, which they would highlight and bold as titles, otherwise they would have no hope of reaching the Great Dao.

This can be seen as a constraint on the strong. Moreover, committing murder unjustly can easily lead to inner demons. No matter if you are genuinely 'kind' or not, you wouldn't do such a thing even if it's for the sake of ascension.

Could it be that this person has long since abandoned the Great Dao and has already fallen into demonic possession?

The corpses on the ground were smashed beyond recognition, blood staining the mine entrance red, and shattered hearts were flung forward, rolling half a meter. She saw the group take a step back, unsure whether it was a retreat from capital and power, or an inability to accept the murder of their former friends.

Yao Sisi thought it should be the latter.

The blood was so red, it was glaringly red.

Yan Li tugged at her sleeve and said, "Don't be angry..."

Yao Sisi said, "I'm not angry, I'm just very sad."

Yan Li held onto her sleeve tightly, and the scene before her changed again. Yao Sisi saw a well-dressed person saying something to his subordinates, and then the miners' treatment improved. At this moment, a fierce argument broke out among the miners again.

Two opposing viewpoints were clashing: one side argued for a full-scale fight, otherwise the deaths would have been in vain; the other side suggested lying low for a while, waiting for their mission deadline to pass before reporting them.

Before they could decide which method was better, the mine collapsed, burying everyone underground.

Yao Sisi and Yan Li were also imprisoned underground. You could clearly see how they gradually succumbed to despair and died here. Their deaths were gruesome, as if their souls had been drained, their faces contorted and their limbs grabbing at something haphazardly.

But they couldn't catch anything.

Yao Sisi's eyes widened, her understanding of the world being challenged once again. She had thought the miners were being deceived and exploited to death, but she never expected that they would be silenced without exception.

That person in charge must have lost their mind; how could they be so cruel!

The nightmare temporarily ended, but Yao Sisi didn't know what happened next, and perhaps the vengeful spirits didn't know either. Then, the second round of nightmares began.

Yao Sisi looked at Yan Li with curiosity: "I found it unbearable even after watching it once. You've seen this scene so many times, haven't you become depressed?"

Yan Li: "I'm different from them; I knew the outcome from the beginning."

Yao Sisi raised an eyebrow: "What was the result?"

Yan Li: "The manager of that mine was later discovered by the sect. It turned out that he had long been possessed by demons and colluded with evil cultivators, which caused a great disaster. In the end, he was arrested and executed."

Yao Sisi: "Why is that resentment still there?"

Yan Li remained silent this time, obediently tugging at Yao Sisi's sleeve as if she had been caught doing something wrong.

"Because I..."

Yao Sisi: "???"

What did you say? Say it again!

Yan Li said in a low voice, "I was very playful when I was a child..."

He recalled slowly: "The disciples who were sent here at that time should have been a male and a female. When our race was young, it was difficult to distinguish between females and males. You can tell from the order of the characters that we respect the females. At that time, I just thought the place where the females stayed was very beautiful, so I secretly ran there to settle down. But I didn't expect that when the mission came down, I was mistaken for a female and taken away..."

Yao Sisi frowned: "Were you brought here? But what does it matter? Just do your best to dispel the resentment."

Yan Li's voice grew softer and softer: "It's no use, I can't dispel them. Only the females in the tribe have this ability. The males can only suppress them for a while, and the result is that they retaliate even more fiercely! Not only can I not save these vengeful spirits, but I've also deepened their resentment. This is all because I ran around recklessly, indulging in the territory of the females. That's why my brother was tormented by the vengeful spirits and went mad, and now I'm going to die here..."

Yao Sisi: "..."

"Those two flowers must be your true forms!"