Wuwangyuan-8
Ji Wang also looked at the cave entrance and unconsciously tightened his grip on Bu Jiu's hand: "Come with me."
Ji Wang held a sword in one hand and still held Bu Jiu's hand with the other, carefully stepping into the cave.
The cave was darker and damper than the outside, the air thick and murky. Scattered on the ground were the remains of monsters and some unknown, viscous secretions. Huge scratches on the rock walls indicated that the monster had occupied this place for a long time.
The two proceeded cautiously, with Ji Wang relying on the faint pull of the same source to discern directions in the winding cave.
Bu Jiu followed half a step behind him, wary of any other potential dangers, while secretly adjusting his breathing to recover from the energy he had just used to suppress the demonic power.
The deeper you go, the more obvious that attraction stemming from the same origin becomes.
After passing through a narrow crevice in the rocks, a relatively spacious natural stone chamber suddenly appeared before us.
In the center of the stone chamber, there is a stone platform that was clearly carved out later. The surface of the platform is engraved with intricate runes, which have now become somewhat worn and faded due to the passage of time.
These runes formed an exquisite miniature array, which was emitting an extremely faint spiritual light, like a flickering candle in the wind.
The formation was still struggling to operate, maintaining the last bit of peace and seclusion in this place, but its energy was clearly on the verge of depletion.
Ji Wang's gaze first fell on the center of the stone platform—where a dark silver cone lay quietly, which was the core of the Reverse Scale Shuttle.
But his gaze was immediately drawn to the shimmering runes, and when he sensed a trace of extremely familiar spiritual energy remnant from his own body within the formation, his heart trembled.
He stepped forward, his fingertips lightly brushing against the dim runes, feeling the spiritual energy within them that shared the same origin as his own. It was as if he were touching himself three hundred years ago, hastily setting up the formation and leaving behind his last hope.
"Were you that clever back then? You knew to put things near the remaining core of this array, using the trace of spiritual energy I left behind when I set up the array to hide this place..." Ji Wang's voice rang out in the silent stone chamber, filled with heartfelt emotion.
He turned his head and looked at Bu Jiu, who was standing beside him, his eyes reflecting the faint light of the runes: "My spiritual power should have dissipated long ago after three hundred years. Only you... could find a place like this and keep it going for so long."
Bu Jiu stood beside him, his gaze also fixed on the formation, his eyes churning with complex emotions. Hearing Ji Wang's words, he pursed his lips.
“I’m not stupid,” he retorted in a low voice, but his tone lacked conviction and sounded more like a habitual stubbornness. After a pause, he continued, “Besides, given what you did back then… I had to do something.”
"We can't just stand by and watch you leave nothing behind."
He spoke the last few words with extreme difficulty, as if each word carried a heavy weight and lingering pain.
What was it like back then? Was it watching helplessly as your beloved burned away, sealing their soul away? Was it the despair of feeling that wisp of soul being forcibly imprisoned?
Ji Wang's breath hitched.
Looking at Bu Jiu's lowered brows and tightly pursed lips, he could almost see how, three hundred years ago, Bu Jiu endured immense grief and helplessness, relying on his understanding of him and an unwavering determination to search for possibilities and prepare backup plans in this land of destruction.
Then, they carefully hid this unfulfilled hope and silently guarded this secret for a long time, waiting for a slim "possibility".
He gently grasped Bu Jiu's hand, which was hanging by his side and slightly curled up.
Ji Wang pulled him along and they walked to the stone platform.
He carefully placed the core in his bosom, then looked at the runes on the stone platform that were about to completely extinguish. He raised his hand and slowly injected his much-purified spiritual power into several nodes of the array's core.
The faint light seemed to brighten a little and stabilize somewhat. Although it still couldn't last long, at least it no longer looked like it would go out at any moment.
"Thank you," Ji Wang said softly, unsure whether he was referring to the formation, to himself who had set it up back then, or to the person beside him who had protected everything. "And thank you for your hard work."
Bu Jiu turned his face away, his ears turning slightly red, and did not reply.
The two walked out of Wuwang Plain. Ji Wang looked at the sword in his hand, the blade of which was still stained with some of the blood of demons. He then glanced at Bu Jiu beside him, who was trying his best to maintain a steady pace but whose brows showed exhaustion. Ji Wang's dissatisfaction resurfaced.
He flicked his finger, striking the sword with a "ding," his tone filled with obvious frustration and dissatisfaction with his progress: "Why can't I fly on a sword yet?! If I could fly, we would have been out long ago, and you wouldn't have to waste your energy walking like this."
Bu Jiu turned his head and glanced at him indifferently. His gaze swept over Ji Wang's slightly puffed-up cheeks and the innocent-looking sword, and then he reached out and gently patted Ji Wang's sturdy leg with a hint of teasing.
“Here,” Bu Jiu’s voice was flat, as if stating an objective fact, “the power is not stable enough.”
After patting his leg, his fingers casually moved up and lightly pinched Ji Wang's waist.
"Here," he continued, a faint smile flickering in his eyes, "the core isn't refined enough either."
The two movements were fluid and graceful, carrying a hint of inspection yet also a touch of intimacy, causing Ji Wang's body to stiffen slightly, and the tips of her ears turning bright red: "Don't pinch..."
“So…” Bu Jiu withdrew his hand, calmly watching his face flush instantly, and slowly concluded, “You’re still far from being able to carry two people across this chaotic place on a sword with just this.”
Ji Wang was both embarrassed and annoyed by his comments during the call, completely losing focus: "Who, who said I was going to give two people a ride! I can practice on my own first..."
He stopped mid-sentence, then remembered Bu Jiu's current state, and immediately deflated, his shoulders slumping as he drew out a mournful sigh with a clear hint of coquetry: "Am I going to have to walk back again—!"
Looking at the seemingly endless scorched earth and mist ahead, he thought of the Reverse Scale Shuttle he carried in his arms, the need for Bu Jiu to rest as soon as possible, and his own legs that had been traveling for so long. Suddenly, he felt that the road home was long and arduous.
Just as he was feeling sorry for himself and wondering if he should discuss with Bu Jiu about a less strenuous method, Bu Jiu suddenly reached out and grabbed Ji Wang's wrist with such force that Ji Wang hissed in pain.
Bu Jiu's expression instantly turned extremely serious. He glanced at the thick fog ahead, then grabbed Ji Wang without saying a word and quickly darted behind a huge, half-fallen stone tablet.
Ji Wang was pulled and stumbled, unexpectedly bumping into the cold, rough stone tablet, his back aching. He immediately realized something was wrong and asked urgently, "What's wrong?"
Bu Jiu shielded him completely from the shadow of the stone tablet, his body pressed against the edge of the tablet, leaving only a sliver of his vision visible as he stared intently at the direction of the swirling mist. He listened intently, his nostrils flaring slightly, as if trying to catch the most minute information in the air.
A few breaths later, his voice came in a very low voice: "...the taste of bone."
Ji Wang sighed. Ling Gu? Shouldn't he have been shaken off while tracking them? How did he end up here?
"How could he know we were here..." Ji Wang stopped mid-sentence. The fierce battle earlier had been quite a spectacle; the dying howls and bursts of spiritual energy from the demons were perhaps like beacons of light in the darkness of this relatively quiet wasteland. And Ling Gu was extremely familiar with Bu Jiu's aura...
Bu Jiu's brows furrowed deeper and deeper, his expression growing increasingly grave. He wasn't merely identifying the scent; he seemed to be analyzing the information contained within it.
"No...it's not just him!" Before he finished speaking, Bu Jiu stopped hiding, grabbed Ji Wang's arm, and pulled him out from behind the stone tablet, not even bothering to maintain his human form.
A flash of white light appeared around him, and he instantly transformed into a little white fox. He leaped onto Ji Wang's shoulder, gripped his clothes tightly with his claws, and growled urgently in his ear. His tail pointed to the side and rear, which was completely opposite to the direction he had been heading.
Although Ji Wang hadn't fully grasped the situation, Bu Jiu's intense reaction told him he couldn't hesitate. He immediately followed Bu Jiu's directions, rushing like an arrow towards the area that looked even darker and had a denser stone forest.
Just as their figures disappeared behind the stone forest, in the mist in the direction they had originally intended to go, eerie green lights appeared silently like will-o'-the-wisps, quickly and orderly converging towards the area of the half-tilted stone tablet.
The leader was tall and slender, dressed in a black robe.
The skin beneath was a pale, sunless complexion, and her long hair, with its ends turning white, was loosely tied up with only a simple black jade hairpin.
He stood with his hands behind his back, looking relaxed, as if he had just come for a stroll rather than to set up a killing trap.
Half a step behind him was Ling Gu, who was bowing his head slightly, his posture respectful.
Yue Yuan swept his gaze across the empty area of the stone tablet, then swept over the direction of the stone forest where Ji Wang and Bu Jiu had disappeared, his deep purple eyes revealing neither joy nor anger.
He extended his pale finger and gently touched the air. The faint spiritual energy remaining in the air was captured by an invisible hand and condensed into a tiny, imperceptible speck of light at his fingertip.
He twirled the luminous dust between his fingers, and a chilling smile slowly curved his lips.
"Heh." Yueyuan chuckled lightly, "My good junior brother... runs really fast."
"And that little guy..." Yue Yuan's eyes gleamed with interest. "I've heard that his strength has increased greatly, and it seems the rumors are true."
Ling Gu stepped forward and whispered, "Your Majesty, should we pursue them immediately—"
"No rush." Yueyuan raised his hand, interrupting Linggu's words. He walked to the stone tablet, his fingertips brushing over the rough engravings on the tablet, and then gently touching the spot where Ji Wang's back had bumped into the tablet, leaving a very faint mark.
"Let them run a little longer," Yue Yuan said casually. "They've just woken up, gone through a fierce battle, and are burdened with serious injuries... Where can they run to?"
He withdrew his hands, placed them behind his back, and gazed into the depths of the stone forest.
"You must have obtained the Reverse Scale Shuttle by now, right?" Yue Yuan seemed to be talking to himself, or perhaps asking Ling Gu. "Wasn't Bu Jiu risking his life to protect him here for this gift?"
Ling Gu said with some worry, "Your Majesty, although the Reverse Scale Shuttle is not yet complete, it is, after all, a contingency plan left by Yun... Ji Wang. What if..."
"What if?" Yue Yuan's tone was laced with sarcasm. "It's just an inanimate object. Even if it's completed, what can it do to me? I want to see how far they can go with this thing."
He turned around and ordered, "Have your men disperse and focus on driving them away. There's no need to rush to capture them. I want to see... what kind of brilliance my good junior brother and that little fellow can display when they're cornered."
Ling Gu immediately waved his hand.
The surrounding eerie green lights, like hunting dogs on command, silently dispersed into the mist and stone forest, and in a seemingly loose encirclement, they slowly and steadily pursued the direction in which Ji Wang and the other person had fled.
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