Chapter 98, the chapter with a smell.
However, just to be on the safe side, Meng Chiwan used the Illusion-Breaking Technique again, but nothing happened.
That means there are only two possibilities: either this is the real Abyss of Desolation, no longer an illusion; or the person who set up this illusion is more powerful than her, which is why she cannot break free.
The skeleton clutching the leaf remained in place. A gust of wind blew, and the decaying leaves covered the skeleton in the next second.
Meng Chiwan took a step forward to take a look, but stopped abruptly.
It felt like something was gripping her ankle.
She looked down and saw another skeleton, one hand gripping her ankle, the other slightly raised as if pointing in a direction.
Meng Chiwan felt a little uneasy. After all, she was still a young girl, and she was naturally somewhat resistant and afraid of this kind of scene.
The next instant, the hand holding her ankle fell to its side, as if the force supporting it had been severed.
Meng Chiwan naturally sensed where the force that had severed it came from. She pursed her lips, her gaze lightly sweeping across Yun Xianqing's face, but without a trace of gratitude.
He seemed to want to hold her hand, but she avoided it without hesitation.
She looked in the direction the skeleton was pointing, but it was too dark, and the distant scenery was hidden by the night.
Without hesitation, she stepped forward.
The scenery changed as her gaze moved, and appeared as the lights came on. Only when she got closer did Meng Chiwan realize that those skeletons were merely the tip of the iceberg of the souls buried in this mass grave.
Every few steps you take, you'll see several new skeletons, who knows how long they've been lying dormant here.
They were mostly lying prone on the ground, seemingly trying to crawl in a certain direction.
One, two, three... the number is countless.
The further Meng Chiwan walked, the stronger this feeling became: these skeletons seemed to all really be heading to the same destination.
The cause of their deaths is unknown, but the signals conveyed by their actions before their deaths can withstand scrutiny.
Meng Chiwan quickened her pace, eager to find out exactly where these skeletons had desperately tried to reach before they died.
Until the last skeleton, its hand no longer reached out, but instead gripped tightly a broken stone tablet.
The stone tablet is covered with the marks of time and is covered with lush green moss.
Meng Chiwan raised her hand and gently brushed away the moss and dust on it.
The inscription on the stone tablet was gradually revealed. It contained no words, only a flower.
The flower is still engraved on the token in her storage bag.
It is the Tuyan flower.
In a huge pit, countless corpses were scattered haphazardly. They didn't look like skeletons, but rather like randomly placed building blocks. They were embedded in the soil, layer upon layer, each bone covered with years of dust and death.
The surrounding soil was pitch black, as black as the night.
Where the lamplight shines, the eye sockets of a skeleton are filled with years of rainwater, as if they were tears accumulated over countless years of vicissitudes.
Looking at this scene, Meng Chiwan gripped the Tuyan Token tighter for some reason, feeling a tightness in her chest and a sense of unease in her heart.
A cacophony of sounds surged up, and Meng Chiwan suddenly felt suffocated. She felt as if she were choking on water amidst the wailing and screams.
She knelt down, covered her head, and the hairpin that held her hair up in a bun fell off, leaving her hair cascading over her shoulders.
My head hurts so much. Everything is pitch black; the night always seems so long.
She was trembling all over, as if she were in an extremely cold place.
Until someone crouched down and lit the firelight even brighter, the light burned in her eyes, her hand was held, and an immeasurable warmth slowly crept up on her.
My body warmed up, and the person's usual light fragrance wafted over me.
One second, two seconds...
"Don't be afraid, it's all fake. There, only you are you."
She remembered that he always said this over and over again, and she didn't know whether she should believe him or not.
She finally emerged from the darkness, and what she saw was no longer a mountain of corpses and a sea of blood. A cluster of light illuminated her eyes, allowing her to see a different hue.
Yun Xianqing picked up the hairpin that had fallen to the ground, wiped it clean, and then styled her hair.
He moved gently, without hurting her in the slightest, treating her as if she were a piece of porcelain that might break at any moment.
She regained her composure, but didn't notice the boatman beside her looking at her thoughtfully.
...
Meng Chiwan ultimately attributed the chaos to the Tuyan Token. Because she possessed the Tuyan Token, she was mistaken for a member of the Meng family of Jingtai, which was why she witnessed the scenes of the Meng family of Jingtai.
Fortunately, this was just a minor incident.
The group then embarked on their search for the Returning Origin Grass.
The boatman stubbornly believed that as long as they could explore the entire Desolate Abyss, they would surely find out where the swamp and the Returning Origin Grass were.
Meng Chiwan rolled her eyes at this. A completely useless guide, yet he claimed he could lead her safely out of there.
It seems we should feed him to the monsters.
However, speaking of magical beasts, they haven't actually seen many. In fact, so far, they haven't encountered any danger here.
The rumors outside are incredibly exaggerated. Could it be that actually very few of them have ever entered the real Desolate Abyss?
After walking for a while, Meng Chiwan couldn't help but want to retort to the boatman: "Why did you dare to say you could take me out of the Desolate Abyss..."
The second half of the sentence got stuck on the tip of his tongue.
Because a startled cry came from somewhere.
In the desolate Abyss, in this godforsaken place, there was a woman's cry of surprise that could never be more real.
The voice was filled with terror and helplessness, as if it were facing a life-or-death crisis.
She paused, thought for only a moment, then took a step and ran towards the direction from which the sound came.
Ignoring the boatman, she ran very fast this time.
Although it seems absurd and could be a trap, what if it really is a person calling for help?
What if?
She didn't consider herself particularly kind, but she couldn't just ignore a potential human life.
On the way there, Meng Chiwan gave Yun Xianqing and the boatman a few instructions, as an extra layer of protection.
When she arrived, the woman's last cry for help was carried to her ears by the wind.
The monster's enormous claws grabbed the girl by the collar and were about to throw her into its mouth. Thick saliva dripped from its lips, drop by drop, into the ground. Two sharp teeth were half-exposed, looking like they could bite her in half at the waist in one bite.
The monster released its claws, and the woman was about to fall into its mouth!
Without the slightest hesitation, Meng Chiwan was the first to unleash the Shocking Wave, rescuing the woman from the beast's jaws and then knocking the beast back a few steps!
The beast roared in frustration as its food was taken away, scratching the ground with its claws and creating several large cracks. It looked utterly enraged.
Meng Chiwan muttered incantations and cast several spells to buy time.
The moment she caught the girl, she gently placed her on the ground, turned around and gripped Jinglan tightly. In a few swift movements, like chopping vegetables, she shattered the monster into pieces.
Mid-level magical beasts are relatively easy to deal with.
She turned around, still gripping her sword tightly, and asked the girl, "Are you alright?"
The girl exploded in front of her, blood and flesh splattering everywhere.
A blood-red moon rose in the sky, casting its lonely light upon this mass grave.
Meng Chiwan looked down at her body. Her clothes and figure were no longer her own.
She tilted her head to avoid a venomous saliva spewed by a magical beast, and three words flashed through her mind.
Bewitching Beast.
According to Warcraft Chronicles, they are adept at manipulating people's hearts to lure their prey into their traps, and then strangle them.
The moment she chose to save the girl, she had already entered the trap set by the bewitching beast and been pulled into its domain.
Now that it was no longer her own body, she couldn't use her magic, so Meng Chiwan could only run forward desperately, looking for the right opportunity.
Fortunately, her natal sword, Jinglan, followed her into the area set up by the bewitching beast, so there was still a chance.
The creature following behind her was not the Enchanting Beast itself, but a mid-level magical beast.
The Bewitching Beast itself is too timid to show itself directly, and only dares to send some magical beasts to kill people from behind.
Meng Chiwan looked up and felt as if there were eyes all around her, one pair after another, like the big and small eyes in the stands of a gladiatorial arena.
Those are the eyes of the Bewitching Beast. It's watching the performance.
Meng Chiwan leaped onto a tree not far away, then flipped in mid-air and slashed a huge gash in the beast's body, which was unable to stop in time.
With the beast roaring, she pressed her advantage, piercing its throat with her sword and silencing its roar before it could even utter a sound.
With the power of the Shocking Wave, taking down a mid-level magical beast was barely manageable.
She reached up and wiped the blood splattered on her cheek.
But in the next instant, she was plunged into darkness as if drowning, her body surrounded by a stench of blood and gore.
My whole body felt sticky, and everything around me was warm.
She was swallowed by some monster!
Meng Chiwan repeatedly thrust her sword in a rhythmic, rhythmic motion.
But no matter how hard I tried, I couldn't break through that layer of flesh!
Her hands were covered in disgusting saliva, mixed with the fishy stench, making her feel nauseous and nauseous.
That's disgusting. It's absolutely disgusting.
Then, in the next instant, the monster's enormous body vanished without a trace, and Meng Chiwan seemed to fall back into her body from the sky in an instant, the disgusting saliva disappearing without a trace.
She looked up and saw a few drops of blood splattered on Yun Xianqing's white robe. A hint of apology flashed in his handsome eyes: "I'm sorry, I'm a little late."
Meng Chiwan said matter-of-factly, "You really do have to apologize."
After all, that was just too disgusting.
The Enchanted Beast is one of the few magical beasts that does not directly devour flesh and blood, but instead feeds on souls.
If Yun Xianqing fails to find and kill the true form of the Bewitching Beast as instructed, she will become its food and never return.
If the bewitching beast escapes, then the girl calling for help in the next trap it sets will become Meng Chiwan.
In other words, the girl used to lure her into saving the person was actually the previous prey that had been devoured by the bewitching beast.
Unfortunately, she did not survive.
The head of the bewitching beast Meng Chiwan was severed and discarded aside, but it was not entirely dead.
For some reason, the eyes on its head were staring straight at Meng Chiwan, with even a hint of fervent infatuation in them.
After searching for a long time, Meng Chiwan finally understood what it was looking at.
To be precise, it was looking at her storage bag.
What's in her storage bag?
Meng Chiwan thought for a moment, and then something came to mind.
She took out the Nightmare Token, and sure enough, the Bewitching Beast's gaze fell precisely on it.
It seemed to recognize this curse.
But how could a magical beast recognize the Tu Yan Token?
The bewitching beast closed its eyes; its time was drawing near.
It opened its eyes for the last time, its gaze falling on its own corpse not far away.
Meng Chiwan approached, picked it up, and saw that the bell was engraved with a small to medium-sized Tuyan flower.
The bewitching beast finally closed its eyes, and its cloudy eyes seemed to hold a few glistening tears.
The moment it closed its eyes, the bell shattered, and a memory flooded into Meng Chiwan's mind.
In my memory, it was a tiny bewitching beast, with a tiny little master. The little master was a girl... Later, the little master died, and the bewitching beast was banished.
It was the pet of a girl from the Meng family in Beijing and Taiwan.
The bell holds its most precious memories. It can only be opened when it dies.
Surprisingly, it is also related to the Meng family in Beijing and Taiwan.
Meng Chiwan stood up, put the bell away, and walked towards Yun Xianqing and the boatman.
Old Man Chen's suggestion that she come to the Desolate Abyss to inquire about the Sorrowful Umbrella might not have been a lie; perhaps everything here is truly related to the Meng family of Jingtai.
Perhaps, the Sorrowful Umbrella really is here.
The moment she turned around, the boatman's terrified voice rang out.
Meng Chiwan looked up and saw Yun Xianqing holding a sword, the tip of which was pressed against the boatman's throat.
Seeing Meng Chiwan looking over, the boatman seemed to have found his pillar of support and carefully used his fingers to push away the sword at his throat.
Then he said, "I'm not doing anything. I just want to extract the essence blood of this bewitching beast. It's a top-quality medicinal ingredient!"
Meng Chiwan scoffed, "You want to extract my essence blood? Where would you get essence blood to extract for me?"
Her gaze swept over the spot where the bewitching beast's corpse had been lying.
There was no longer any alluring beast there, only withered branches and fallen leaves remaining.
It's long since turned into a handful of yellow earth; where would the essence and blood come from?
In a moment, Meng Chiwan realized that this mass grave was not actually a complete desolate abyss.
It was as if they had entered a series of trials, one after another. Only by overcoming each trial could they see the complete desolate abyss.
The first challenge is to break free from the illusion.
So now, I wonder if we've passed these two hurdles.
She raised her hand and unleashed the Illusion-Breaking Technique for the third time.
This time, the mass grave slowly disappeared, and a swamp appeared in its place.
A hazy mist floated in the air, like a fairyland, but anyone who stepped into it would be dragged into the abyss.
Water plants sway, frogs croak. Life seems to be there, but not quite.
The boatman, his voice trembling with excitement, exclaimed, "I knew there must be a swamp! You're looking for the Rejuvenating Grass, it must be right here!"
Meng Chiwan coldly lifted her eyelids, glanced around, and dragged the boatman, preparing to throw him into the swamp.
Something in the swamp was bubbling and gurgling.
Meeting the boatman's terrified gaze, she said coldly, "What use are you anyway? Show us what supernatural powers you have."
The boatman struggled for a long time, but found that he could not break free from her grasp. He could only timidly say, "Put me back on the ground first."
Meng Chiwan smiled and prepared to let go, when she heard the boatman shout, "It's ground, solid ground, not a swamp!"
Meng Chiwan asked, "Are you going to tell me or not?"
This old man is definitely hiding a lot from her, and she's not willing to put up with it anymore.
The boatman resignedly said, "Put me down here, and I'll take you to find the Returning Origin Grass."
Meng Chiwan raised her eyebrows slightly, and finally decided to be lenient and throw him back to the ground.
The boatman finally stepped onto solid ground and breathed a sigh of relief. Before he could catch his breath, he met Yun Xianqing's dark eyes, and a sword was pressed against his throat.
Meng Chiwan stood not far away, looking every bit the older brother, and said, "Hurry up, my patience is limited."
Being the boss... is actually pretty good.
The boatman gritted his teeth, feeling like he was going to break them, before finally pulling something out of his shoes and socks.
When Meng Chiwan saw that it was pulled out of a shoe or sock, her face instantly turned disgusted. She didn't want to look at it again and cursed, "What kind of treasure needs to be hidden in a shoe or sock? Why don't you hide yourself in it!"
The boatman felt as if his teeth were about to break, and before he could even put on a look of grim determination, he heard her say with disgust. He immediately retorted, "If I hadn't hidden here, wouldn't you have searched for me already?"
Without uttering a single unnecessary word, Meng Chiwan said, "Let's get started."
The boatman instantly collapsed back to the ground, not daring to utter another word.
Meng Chiwan cast several cleansing spells on the thing he pulled out, and finally handed the task over to Yun Xianqing.
I dare not touch it. I can't bring myself to do it.
Yun Xianqing, who was usually good at putting on an act, finally showed some discomfort on his face and gave the boatman a deep look.
The boatman suddenly realized he might not make it out of the swamp alive.
Author's Note: This chapter has a scent. [Milk Tea]
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