Chapter 27 [VIP]
This is not a lie.
Jiang Zhuochen found it difficult to explain the difference. Was it because the dependence he had developed from being almost inseparable from Xu Xing for days made him feel more confident with the other person around, or was it because he looked so much like his master that he felt a sense of security that made him fearless?
"Okay, I'll go with you." Whether it was the truth or an offer of a way out, Xu Xing glanced at the fingers resting on his shoulder. The unconscious pressure made his heart skip a beat. What else could he say but agree?
Then he heard the other person chuckle foolishly twice, casually pick up the water from the coffee table, drink it all, wipe the dampness from their lips with their tongue, and then look out the window.
"It's too late today, shall we leave first thing tomorrow morning?"
“Okay.” Xu Xing readily agreed.
Jiang Zhuochen didn't rush to get up early. After waking up, he leisurely ate his breakfast before heading out. He sensed the spiritual energy within his body for a while, gave Xu Xing a faint smile, and ultimately chose to walk there.
It's not his fault. The spiritual energy in this world is too thin. Bringing another person means consuming more spiritual energy. It's better to save it for when needed.
After dawdling along the way, it was already afternoon when they finally reached the hillside. Jiang Zhuochen sighed and casually found a flat spot to sit down and rub his legs.
"Are all cultivators this delicate?" Xu Xing stood next to him.
Jiang Zhuochen stopped what he was doing, looked up and said with dissatisfaction, "Cultivating immortality and enduring hardship are two different things. You can't expect someone to abandon the flying spirit boat made of Nine Heavens Profound Jade and cultivate on their own two legs, can you? Do you take me for a monk?"
It has always been said that it is easy to go from frugality to extravagance, but difficult to go from extravagance to frugality. After being raised in Wangxian Valley for three years, what's wrong with being a little pampered?
Xu Xing was amused by him and brushed his palm across the top of the other's head so lightly that it seemed like an illusion.
Jiang Zhuochen didn't care much, resting his head on his arm and looking in a certain direction.
The collapsed crater could be seen from afar, but even though it was daytime, it was pitch black inside. Dust floated in the sunlight, hanging over the crater's opening like an ominous mist.
Presumably to prevent anyone from falling in, the area around the pit was piled with dead branches and broken trees, and there were even many bamboo fences tightly tied together with hemp rope.
They squeezed through the branches and stood at the edge of the pit. Just as the old man had said, the bottom had been hollowed out, and because of the darkness, they couldn't see anything inside.
Jiang Zhuochen glanced at Xu Xing, took a seed from his storage bag and threw it down. A tree sprouted shortly after. He stopped casting the spell and gestured for Xu Xing to step onto the trunk. Once they were steady, the tree began to slowly shrink.
Xu Xing noticed that Jiang Zhuochen was carefully putting the bag away and asked, "What kind of bag is this?"
"The Qiankun Bag." As the trees grew shorter and the light above them gradually dimmed, Jiang Zhuochen gripped the branches tightly. "It was given to me by my master. It's filled with many treasures. If you want to see them, I can show them to you later."
Xu Xing swallowed hard and said cryptically, "Your master treats you quite well."
Jiang Zhuochen said proudly, "No one can treat me better than my master."
The tree turned back into a seed and fell into Jiang Zhuochen's hand. The bottom of the pit was dark, like solidified ink, heavy and oppressive. The air was sticky and cold, filled with the smell of soil and long-settled decay. Jiang Zhuochen felt his senses being compressed, and he shivered. He could only concentrate on his surroundings and therefore did not notice why Xu Xing had fallen silent.
He took out two luminous pearls and had Xu Xing and him each check one side for any unusual features.
As his fingers touched the jagged pit walls, a chilling sensation quickly enveloped his entire body. Jiang Zhuochen brought the luminous pearl closer, trying to find something unusual about it.
After turning halfway around, he suddenly heard Xu Xing calling out. The familiar tune was exceptionally clear in the pit, accompanied by a faint echo that struck his eardrums.
"What's wrong?" Jiang Zhuochen immediately walked behind him.
The scattered stones on the pit wall in front of them were laid out haphazardly, so densely packed that they could easily be missed without careful observation. The light from the luminous pearl shone through the gaps, making it vaguely possible to discern that there was a passageway inside.
Jiang Zhuochen told Xu Xing to step back, then he used an explosive talisman to blow up the area. The flying debris was blocked by a small barrier, and he frowned as he waved his hand to disperse the smoke.
Scattered stones fell from the blasted hole. After things calmed down, Jiang Zhuochen released a wisp of spiritual energy to investigate. The spiritual energy circulated but he didn't detect any danger. Still worried, Jiang Zhuochen grabbed the other person's wrist and carefully led them inside.
Xu Xing's attention was entirely focused on their touching wrists, and he curled the corners of his mouth slightly in the silent darkness.
Stepping out of the remaining narrow crevice, the air seemed to drop several degrees in temperature. The dim light outlined the rough, flat stone walls, not naturally formed. They stretched out in all directions before converging into a chilling underground cage.
The shadows of the stone niches piled up along the walls and on the ground, the decaying dust choked the nostrils, and the intense smell of death almost solidified. Before them lay a huge tomb buried deep underground.
Jiang Zhuochen and Xu Xing exchanged a glance, then lifted their feet and walked deeper into the area.
The coffins inside appeared haphazardly arranged at first glance. Jiang Zhuochen moved among them, his hand brushing against the coffins. There was no ghostly aura here; could his master's spirit truly reside there?
He stopped in front of one of the coffins, placed his finger on the lid, and pushed it, but the lid did not budge.
"Um?"
He looked around the coffin but couldn't find any signs of it being sealed. He tried to push it, but still couldn't budge it.
"What's wrong?" Xu walked over when he heard the commotion.
Jiang Zhuochen shifted his position slightly and reached out to push the coffin on the right, but it wouldn't open either. He said, "Why can't these coffins be opened?"
"Yeah?"
Xu Xing walked around it and found that it was just an ordinary wooden coffin, at most a bit old and dilapidated due to its age. The coffin lid was not nailed shut, so he pushed it with a half-believing hand.
The coffin was easily pushed open.
Before the two could even be startled, a wisp of black smoke emerged, and a thick ghostly aura erupted instantly.
Jiang Zhuochen swiftly closed the coffin, pulled Xu Xing aside to avoid the ghostly attack, and they both stumbled back a step. The space between them was quickly filled with black smoke, which not only blocked their vision but also squeezed them with a corrosive force.
Jiang Zhuochen steadied himself, his hands moving in a series of hand seals. A wisp of refined and concentrated blue spiritual energy emerged from his fingertips, sharp as a blade, piercing through the raging and out-of-control ghost energy and tearing a faint passage between him and Xu Xing.
As soon as Xu Xing's tall, somewhat blurry silhouette appeared, Jiang Zhuochen immediately raised his voice. "Come here quickly!"
The moment those three words left his lips, they were swallowed up by the ghostly aura. Without the slightest hesitation, he guided the wisp of spiritual power with his fingertips to expand it into an invisible barrier, forcefully pushing aside the ghostly aura devouring him from both sides. Then, he drew his sword and pointed it directly at the coffin on the ground.
The ghostly energy surged forward, but Jiang Zhuochen sheathed his sword and retreated, drawing the ghostly energy away from Xu Xing. He then stepped onto the hall.
He stepped onto the relatively flat stone surface of the hall, and just as he settled his weight, a sharp chill pierced his neck from the right side!
At the critical moment, Jiang Zhuochen dodged sharply to the left and back, the barrier transforming into a sharp sword at his fingertips to parry. A mournful cry echoed in the air, followed by silence.
Jiang Zhuochen threw out two spirit talismans without stopping, and drew a few strokes on them to form a protective net.
The thick black fog relentlessly licked at the mesh, emitting a grating squeak. Enveloped in this impenetrable atmosphere, Jiang Zhuochen remained completely unaware of Xu Xing's condition.
The ghostly energy here is too powerful; it's hard to guarantee that the opponent won't get hurt.
He subconsciously looked up at the area below outside the hall, then suddenly paused.
The coffins on the ground occupied a vast space. In the chaos just now, they seemed to be randomly piled up, but now, from the perspective of looking down from the hall, their position, height, and orientation made the seemingly disordered arrangement clear.
His blood froze for a moment; it wasn't some messy pile at all!
The dark coffins resembled stars in the night sky, silently arranged according to unshakeable laws. The coffins themselves served as both bases and nodes, with subtle traces of magical connections flowing between them.
This is definitely a sealing formation used to suppress these ghostly energies.
And the core of the formation is right here…!
Jiang Zhuochen's gaze suddenly locked onto a relatively open area not far to the right of the hall. His pupils contracted as he clearly saw Xu Xing being forced back step by step by the ghostly energy that had ambushed him, and he was heading straight for that spot!
"Don't go there!" The shout burst from his throat, filled with a panic he himself was unaware of, as he ran towards that direction without thinking.
But he was still a step too late.
Xu Xing's ankle was tripped by a slightly protruding, rough stone edge on the ground, bearing ancient runes. He immediately lost his balance and instinctively reached out to brace himself against the stone wall. Just as his forearm swept across an irregularly shaped stone that was leaning and still gleaming with a faint, eerie light, a clear sound of flesh being cut rang out.
Blood seeped from his cut flesh, congealed in the dim light where visibility was poor, and then fell to the ground.
The scarlet liquid splashed onto the dark talisman brick, then disappeared and spread.
It was deathly silent; even the surging ghostly energy seemed to have frozen.
The hidden formation underground began to appear. The red light spun back and forth a few times, got stuck as if it encountered an obstacle, and then suddenly collapsed.
All the coffins trembled violently, like enraged beasts from the abyss disturbed by blood. The thick slabs covering them could no longer withstand the frenzied internal impact and were violently torn away from the inside out.
The chilling aura that had been sealed away for countless years, mixed with endless resentment, broke through the shattered coffin, churning up a monstrous black tide that surged forth.
The stone pillars groaned under the weight, and the dome trembled as lime dust fell from the ceiling, completely obscuring the view with an even thicker black fog.
Jiang Zhuochen felt the arm that was reaching out to grab something sway slightly in vain. He was extremely anxious and rushed towards Xu Xing's location with the last glimpse of the ghostly energy.
"Xu Xing!"
The dense ghostly aura was suddenly disturbed almost imperceptibly. Jiang Zhuochen's mind stirred, and he quickly reached out to grab it. The instant their skin touched, he gripped Xu Xing's arm tightly, his fingers almost digging into the other's muscles.
Then, overwhelming darkness enveloped their remaining senses, and the solid, cold ground beneath their feet instantly lost its support. All light and sound were torn apart and swept into the vortex.
A note from the author:
Continue read on readnovelmtl.com