Right below where Fu Changling was thrown down was a small hill made of the soil they had dug from the tunnel. Fu Changling fell headfirst into the pile of soil and was covered by it. Xie Shen led a large number of ghost soldiers to chase Qin Yan. Fu Changling dug up the soil and saw ghosts chasing him into the distance, but there was no trace of Qin Yan anymore.
Qin Yan disappeared after being chased by Xie Shen. Fu Changling pulled himself out, gasping for breath. He covered his wound, took medicine, and found a house to hide in.
"How about this," the elder's voice echoed in his mind, "You should return to Hantan Cave. I once made an agreement with Xie Shen; he probably won't go there to pursue you."
"I can't abandon Ayan."
Fu Changling panted and said with difficulty: "I have to take him back."
The senior didn't say anything else. In the distance, bursts of brilliant light surged, and the earth shook. Every vibration shook Fu Changling's heart. Fu Changling gritted his teeth. He had never felt so incompetent. He felt disgusting at the moment, so disgusting that it made him miserable.
He swallowed handfuls of the medicine, and it seemed that the more he took, the faster his injuries would heal.
He once didn't have the golden elixir and was once a cripple. But when he didn't have the golden elixir, he was depressed and lonely. But now that he doesn't have the golden elixir, he feels a kind of despair and resentment growing from the bottom of his bones.
Why is he not the Huayang Zhenjun of the past? Why is he so cowardly?
In his previous life, he didn't know what he had been through and didn't protect him.
In this life, he knew exactly what he was going through, but he was unable to protect him.
Fu Changling clenched his fists, closed his eyes, and suffered silently.
*** ***
When Qin Yan dragged Xie Shen, Xie Yuqing and the other two had already climbed most of the cliff. Every step they took up was like a huge amount of gold falling on their shoulders. Xie Yuqing's eyes were blurred, while Yun Yu and Shangguan Mingyan were grabbing the rocks with blood on their hands, their whole bodies trembling, and they kept climbing up with only their willpower.
Every step was so difficult for Yun Yu and Shangguan Mingyan that Xie Yuqing, who was originally behind them, unknowingly came in front of them. However, those white ghosts still refused to give up. They followed behind them, staring at the three of them with burning eyes. The three of them seemed to be in their pockets. They were just waiting, waiting for these three people to make a mistake at some point.
Time passed bit by bit, the mountain wind whistled past, Yun Yu gasped and looked up, looking at the invisible cliff top in the distance, and said hoarsely: "Senior Sister, can we, can we make it?"
"able."
Xie Yuqing spoke calmly, Yun Yu didn't say anything. He stretched out his hand tremblingly towards the sky. At that moment, the ghost under his feet screamed wildly and suddenly went crazy and attacked them!
Yunyu and Shangguan Mingyan went up at the same time. The ghosts bit Yunyu's feet. Xie Yuqing grabbed Shangguan Mingyan with one hand, and Shangguan Mingyan grabbed Yunyu with the other.
The ghosts bit Yun Yu and climbed up along Yun Yu's body. Xie Yuqing's spiritual power instantly poured down like water, firmly blocking the ghosts' upward movement. She clung to the stone wall with one hand and pulled Yun Yu and Shangguan Mingyan with the other. Yun Yu was torn apart by the ghosts and screamed, "Senior Sister! Save me! Save me!"
Shangguan Mingyan grabbed Yunyu. He looked up anxiously and felt blood dripping on his face. He was stunned for a moment and then saw Xie Yuqing's hands were covered in blood.
Xie Yuqing stared at Yunyu, and there was finally some pain in his usually cold eyes. After a brief moment of daze, Shangguan Mingyan saw those ghosts constantly trying to break through Xie Yuqing's barrier, rushing up with fangs bared.
Xie Yuqing was sweating profusely, and Shangguan Mingyan knew that she didn't have the energy to do more.
He looked at Xie Yuqing and suddenly said, "Senior Sister, let go."
Xie Yuqing was stunned for a moment, then he looked at Shangguan Mingyan and smiled: "Senior Brother Yun and I will go down together. I will take good care of him. You go first."
"Save me!"
Yunyu was almost swallowed by those ghosts. He could not see his surroundings clearly and could not hear anything else. He only felt that someone was gnawing at his flesh and blood. He screamed in pain and could only beg for help from the only person who could save him.
"Save me! Save me, Senior Sister!"
Xie Yuqing remained silent. The barrier she formed with her spiritual power fought against the ghosts, and began to fluctuate. She saw the ghosts about to climb up. If they followed Yunyu up, they would run into Shangguan Mingyan the next moment.
"Let go." Xie Yuqing made the decision and spoke calmly. Shangguan Mingyan was stunned for a moment, and then he heard Xie Yuqing suddenly raise his eyes, staring at him and saying, "I told you to let go!"
Yun Yu suddenly heard clearly this angry shout.
In a moment of clarity, he finally heard Xie Yuqing's voice. He looked up in surprise, then saw Shangguan Mingyan looking at him, whispering, "Sorry," and then suddenly pushed him away!
He didn't even have time to grab Shangguan Mingyan before countless evil spirits pounced on him and dragged him down.
The evil spirit blocked his vision and he could only see a vast expanse of darkness.
He began to fall, his flesh and blood being devoured by those screaming evil spirits. He remembered the first time he learned to fly a sword in Hongmeng Heavenly Palace. He fell straight down from a great height. However, the moment he fell, Xie Yuqing would always appear, grab his collar, and say to him coldly: "Come again."
But this time, it didn't come again.
No one would catch him, and no one would say to him, "Come again."
Just as he had always worried and feared, when a person cannot keep up with the pace of those around him, one day he will be the one who is abandoned.
This ending seemed both expected and unexpected. When he hit the ground hard, he finally murmured, "Senior Sister...Senior Brother..."
“Save me…”
As Yunyu fell, Xie Yuqing's spiritual power surged instantly. She used all her strength to throw Shangguan Mingyan upwards, and then jumped down after Yunyu, shouting to Shangguan Mingyan: "Go!"
However, she moved quickly, but Shangguan Mingyan moved even faster. The moment she escaped from the cliff, a long whip like a spirit snake suddenly emerged from Shangguan Mingyan's sleeve and wrapped around Xie Yuqing's waist. Xie Yuqing looked back in surprise, but did not even see Shangguan Mingyan's face, and fainted on the spot.
Shangguan Mingyan pulled Xie Yuqing back, and he recited a spell, and the whip tied Xie Yuqing to him.
"I don't owe anyone anything. You chose me," he said as he climbed up, staring intently at the cliff in front of him. The voice of a young man, completely different from the boy he was before, spoke coldly, "I won't let you down."
As he spoke, he raised his head, hooked his five fingers, and like an animal, dug them into the stone wall and climbed up with all his strength.
Under the cliff, Yunyu lay quietly.
He couldn't tell whether he was dead or alive. He felt as if his body was empty, as if everything was gone. There was only a skeleton lying on the ground, and those evil spirits refused to let him go. They were still gnawing on his bones, making a "crunching" sound.
He closed his eyes, feeling as if he was falling into the purgatory of life and death. The pain seemed to have disappeared for him, leaving only an indescribable numbness, which was much more uncomfortable than the pain.
After an unknown amount of time, he heard the sound of footsteps, accompanied by the tinkling of bells. A moment later, he heard a woman's hoarse, old voice: "Ah, why are you lying here?"
The voice sounded about fifty years old, so I guess it was an old woman.
As she spoke, she half-knelt down and gently stroked his face with her cold, soft hands. The moment her delicate skin touched Yunyu, Yunyu could clearly feel his flesh and blood begin to grow rapidly. He struggled to open his eyes and saw the face of a beautiful woman under the purple veil.
"Your companion, don't you want to be with me anymore?"
The woman spoke with pity: "How about I save you?"
Yun Yu didn't say anything. He stared at the woman, and the woman giggled: "I saved you, so you are mine."
As she spoke, the woman stood up. She didn't ask for Yun Yu's consent, but raised her hand and waved. The sound of jingling bells came from the surroundings. Four puppets holding green underworld lanterns slowly came with a carriage pulled by underworld horses. All four of them were dressed in blue brocade clothes, with black tall hats on their heads. Two big red circles were painted on their cheeks with red paint. The corners of their bright red mouths were slender and turned up, and there were two black dots on the edges of their mouths. Their every move was very stiff, and they looked a bit creepy and weird.
The woman raised her hand, and Yunyu was lifted up by a black cloud, then laid flat in the carriage. She stood up and led her followers forward. A chilling wind blew from beneath the Ten Thousand Bones Cliff, brushing against the bronze bells beneath the dark lanterns held by the four puppets, making a tinkling sound. The group walked slowly, and as they advanced, a black fog began to gather around them, growing thicker and thicker.
Yun Yu couldn't help but panic. He said in a hoarse voice, "Who are you? What are you taking me to do?"
"You can call me—"
The woman led the group into the black fog, her voice drifting in the air, "Madam Yue."
"Mrs. Yue?" Yun Yu asked in shock, "You are the one from the Yue family—"
Before he could finish his words, the black fog completely covered them. A gust of wind blew, and the black fog slowly dispersed, leaving only a small blood-stained rag doll lying quietly on the ground.
*** ***
Fu Changling rested on the ground for a while, listening to the noises slowly fade away. He gritted his teeth, stood up, and limped towards the Cold Pond Cave. Tan Xin was a little puzzled, and her childish voice rang out, "Didn't you say you wouldn't abandon Qin Yan? Are you going to abandon him and run away now?"
"I can't save him if I go over now."
Fu Changling spoke very quickly. He desperately moved forward, saying as he walked, "I need to find something to negotiate with Xie Shen in order to rescue him. If we confront Xie Shen head-on, there's no way we can survive given our current situation."
"What are you looking for?"
Tan Xin was a little surprised. Fu Changling had a cold expression and he didn't say anything because he wanted to find this thing and he couldn't tell anyone.
He didn't even trust his seniors and Tan Xin.
He walked to the cold pond cave and jumped directly into the icy water. Then he sat cross-legged, closed his eyes, and opened all his spiritual consciousness.
He used his spiritual sense to scan the entire Wangu Cliff and sensed all the spiritual fluctuations related to the formation in the Cliff. He drew these fluctuations into lines, and slowly, a pattern of a formation began to appear in his mind.
In fact, from the very beginning when he entered Wangu Cliff, he realized that Wangu Cliff was actually a large formation, and Hantan Cave was the center of this formation. However, he did not think too much about the purpose of this large formation.
Eight years later, he began to gradually discover that the Wangu Cliff was not a special area, but more like a cage. He locked up 100,000 evil spirits in this cage, isolating it from the entire Yunze. Yunze could not contact them, and they could not reach Yunze.
The person who set up the formation was afraid that these evil spirits would appear in Yunze. In order to completely ensure that the formation would not become ineffective due to the increase in the evil spirits' cultivation level, the method used by the person who set up the formation at that time was probably to sign a blood contract with 100,000 people.
The formation established by the blood pact is inherently unequal between the two parties. So if the person who set up the formation wanted to leave a setting in the formation that would completely destroy the Wangu Cliff, it would be too easy.
It would have been difficult for a cultivator who was afraid of these evil spirits returning to Yunze not to leave behind this formation setting that could completely destroy Wangu Cliff. This setting was the only bargaining chip that Fu Changling could use to exchange Qin Yan back.
He didn't dare tell Tan Xin and the senior about this because he didn't know their position and he didn't dare to gamble with Qin Yan's life.
Fu Changling used his spiritual sense to repeatedly sense the direction of the spiritual energy of Wangu Cliff, and the formation slowly took shape in his mind.
Just as he was comprehending the formation, Qin Yan finished using his third sword technique. He was violently knocked back and crashed to the ground. His earrings slowly shattered. Qin Yan gasped and called out, "Master."
Outside the Hongmeng Palace in the distance, Jiang Yebai suddenly opened his eyes, and then heard Qin Yan whisper: "I'm at Wangu Cliff, I have something to do, don't come looking for me, I will come back safely."
"This is my chance," Qin Yan swallowed the blood, dodged Xie Shen who was chasing him, and said with difficulty, "I'm fine."
After he finished speaking, the earring suddenly shattered.
Jiang Yebai sat on the mat in a daze for a long time. After a long time, he raised his hand tremblingly and pinched a spell. A golden star track began to appear in front of him. He stared at the moving star track quietly for a long time before he finally calmed down.
In the distance came the sound of the bell from Hongmeng Palace telling the time at night. He stood up and walked barefoot to the window.
A white crane flew by with the sound of the moon. He stretched out his hand and scooped up a ray of moonlight.
But light cannot be grasped. If you grasp it, it is just an illusion.
Continue read on readnovelmtl.com