As they walked towards the back of the mountain, the more they went, the more their initial suspicions, like a flickering flame, grew into a raging inferno.
In the great battle between humans and demons, both sides were on high alert, and the places they had passed through since leaving the western border were heavily guarded. However, despite Emperor Huizong of Qing having recently suffered an ambush and having reinforced a large force at the mountain gate, the guards on the back mountain, which was designated as a forbidden area, were surprisingly lax.
As Lu Zhaozhao traveled, apart from encountering a few scattered people at the guesthouse, the further she went in, the more deserted it became.
Clearly, something is very wrong.
Alarm bells rang in her mind, and her grip on the sword tightened even more.
The journey was unimpeded, leading straight to the back mountain. When she stood before the barrier, the wariness in Lu Zhaozhao's amber eyes was palpable.
"Ha, they deliberately lured me here, didn't they?"
Looking at the thin, almost invisible barrier before her, Lu Zhaozhao let out a cold laugh.
Something was off from the moment that disciple from the sect uttered those words during the day. If it were a heavily guarded area in the back mountain, there would be no reason to specifically explain it to the visitors. On the contrary, most of the important areas within the sect are heavily guarded and difficult to find. Even if a visitor wandered in unintentionally, they would be asked to leave immediately, instead of standing unimpeded at the restricted area without anyone appearing, as is the case now.
A dynasty with a history spanning millennia would never make such a basic mistake. If it does, it can only mean that this is a blatant warning!
Lu Zhaozhao recalled the illusory place on the outskirts of Pingyang, which further solidified her suspicions.
Her face grew increasingly cold. She raised her hand, not using complicated techniques to carefully dismantle the restrictions, but instead directly slamming down with a palm strike.
"boom--"
The deafening roar was deafening.
But after the noise, there was still complete silence. The entire sect seemed to have fallen into a deep sleep, and the sounds from the outside world could not be heard at all.
Lu Zhaozhao was so angry she laughed. She snorted and shook her head, then walked straight into the depths of the back mountain.
The layout and scale inside were exactly the same as a thousand years later, except that the demonic beasts were gone, and the barrier that had enveloped them was no longer there.
Lu Zhaozhao was still somewhat incredulous when the plaque bearing the three large characters "Nine Mirrors Tower" came into full view.
Her eyes narrowed slightly. The tower before her was charred black, its gold bricks and jade walls destroyed, its murals faded, and its sculptures shattered.
This is not what the Nine Mirrors Tower should be like now!
At this time, the war between humans and demons had just begun. The Northern Zen Sect still held considerable prestige in the Central Plains, and the collusion between its members and the demons had not yet been exposed. The Nine Mirror Pagoda should still be intact within the Floating Pagoda Temple, receiving offerings from thousands of people.
The tower before her was clearly the same one she saw when she forced her way in a thousand years later!
Lu Zhaozhao stood at the bottom of the steps and looked up. There was a familiar wooden door, its mottled marks seeming to tell of a thousand-year-old feud, but under the moonlight it exuded a sinister aura.
With a soft sigh, she finally took a step, but each step felt incredibly heavy, as if a thousand-pound cauldron were tied to her ankles.
As she stepped onto the last step and stood before the wooden door, Lu Zhaozhao still felt as if she had been transported to another world.
She gently placed her hand on the wooden door and closed her eyes. Perhaps the truth lay behind the door, but she was filled with conflicting emotions. She had been speculating about this for a long time, and this speculation made her breathe more heavily.
After much deliberation, she finally made up her mind.
Exhaling, Lu Zhaozhao opened her eyes, her palm completely covering the wooden door, about to push it open.
Suddenly, before she could exert any force, the door opened automatically, revealing the scene inside little by little, like a canvas slowly being unfurled, with a creak.
"Thump—thump—thump—"
As the wooden door opened, the bell rang at the same time.
From top to bottom, what comes into view is the image that gradually blurred before she closed her eyes and came here, but appeared countless times in her dreams and was etched in her heart.
Black bird, large bell, and... the figure standing below.
The man had his back to Lu Zhaozhao, and even after hearing the door open and the bell ring, he did not turn around, but quietly looked at the murals inside the tower.
Lu Zhaozhao remained silent for a moment, staring at the familiar yet unfamiliar back view.
“A perilous gaze upon the stele.”
The bells stopped ringing, followed by a whisper, or perhaps a soft sigh.
The person standing in front seemed to be stunned for a moment before slowly turning around.
Their eyes met, and each other's faces were reflected in their own eyes with perfect clarity.
"It really is you."
Lu Zhaozhao frowned slightly as she looked at the person in front of her.
The familiarity stemmed from the fact that he was indeed the one who taught her the art of dismemberment and who intervened when she encountered danger in the back mountains.
What's unfamiliar is that this Wei Zhanjie has a cold look in his eyes, unlike the vicissitudes of a thousand years later. Right now, he is dressed in a scarlet brocade robe, with his long hair tied up high, exuding an oppressive aura that keeps strangers away.
"It's been a long time; you're far too late."
The sound emanating from the perilous stele conveyed an unspeakable sense of danger.
"Did you arrange for me to come here?"
Lu Zhaozhao asked, "This place is not only where we are now, but also a scene from a thousand years ago, or even an ancient forbidden area in the back mountain that we secretly entered without telling anyone."
Wei Zhanjie chuckled lightly, neither confirming nor denying either of them.
Lu Zhaozhao's heart sank. She frowned, seemingly resigned to her fate, and said softly, "You went to all this trouble to bring me here. Surely you're not doing this out of kindness to let me experience what it's like a thousand years ago? Tell me, what exactly do you want?"
Wei Zhanjie looked at her, his smile growing wider, and said loudly, "You are a smart person. I have seen what you have done these days. To be honest, I quite like you. If you were born a thousand years ago, I would definitely befriend you. Unfortunately, things don't go as planned."
He walked over with his hands behind his back, a hint of barely perceptible regret on his face.
"As you can see, I am now nothing more than a remnant soul, only able to cling to a vessel. If you were me, you would also be unwilling to accept this. Therefore, no matter how much I admire you, I can only use you as the material for my reconstruction. After all, you were the one who awakened me."
Wei Zhanjie became more and more excited as he spoke, his scarlet robe leaving afterimages as he moved, his face now only an inch away from Lu Zhaozhao.
Lu Zhaozhao was speechless when she saw the bloodlust surging in his eyes. Before she could speak, Wei Zhanjie's well-defined fingers had already climbed up her slender neck.
"Uh." With a muffled groan, Wei Zhanjie's eyes widened in disbelief. He slowly lowered his head and saw a fair hand gripping the hilt of a black sword, disappearing into his waist.
The owner of this hand was none other than Lu Zhaozhao, who seemed to have resigned herself to her fate. Wei Zhanjie's eyes flashed with a strange excitement, like a wolf that had smelled blood.
"How could I forget? You're the most defiant of all, and like me, you're a madman."
His voice was deep, like a devil's whisper. The fragility on Lu Zhaozhao's face gradually disappeared, and a smile identical to Wei Zhanjie's appeared on her face.
"Just now, in that split second between life and death, I suddenly realized something. Lord Demon Lord, you may have really wanted my life at first, but now, at least when you lured me to the back mountain, you should have given up by now."
As soon as she finished speaking, Wei Zhanjie's face darkened instantly. He narrowed his eyes and looked at the woman in front of him with a probing gaze, even loosening his grip on her neck.
Lu Zhaozhao rubbed her neck to catch her breath and took a step back to distance herself from Wei Zhanjie.
A standoff has formed, albeit imperceptibly.
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