Leave the underground
Wenxu and Cangjingqi entered the castle through another entrance.
Guided by the protagonist's halo, the two successfully found an underground passage and went down into the ground.
Han Jiang opened his eyes in a daze. Han Qi was still asleep, but Cang Jingqi was woken up by Cang Jingmo.
She leaned against Wen Xu: "Sister Wen, what are you doing here?"
"I thought the plot followed the male lead, but then I realized that this Mary Sue novel revolves around the female lead, so the plot should follow her. Cang Jingmo and I didn't encounter anything, we just wandered around the castle in a daze, and then we saw the three of you lying here."
Han Jiang briefly explained their experience: "I don't know what happened after the formation was activated; we'll probably only know when Han Qi wakes up."
Manzhou is the gateway to the world. The fact that Manzhou still exists proves that the formation from back then was successful.
As for why it turned into a desert, something else must have happened later.
Hanqi woke up much later than Hanjiang. As the first-person witness, she saw the whole thing, so her perspective was certainly different from Hanjiang's.
"The princess first watched the three people go to their respective rooms, and then, with the prince's help, she activated the Spirit Gathering Altar in reverse. Unexpectedly, they owed the ocean far too much, not only exhausting the life force of those in the formation, but also frantically absorbing the life force of the entire city and even the island," Han Qi said. "I only stayed a little longer than you, and in the end, I died too."
"The princess said we are destined to meet. Could it be that her purpose is to have us witness the fate of the kingdom?" Han Jiang asked, puzzled.
Wen Xu shook her head. The plot had long since slipped out of her control, and a sense of powerlessness spread through her body. All she wanted to do was go back and rest.
"Let's go first, take the Tranquility Bead." Wen Xu's voice was weary.
Han Jiang thought that the task of getting the Tranquility Pearl should be given to Wen Xu, or at least to the male and female protagonists of the original book. However, she watched as one by one people walked out, and no one went to get the Tranquility Pearl.
"Stop looking, go and take it, it's meant to be." Cang Jingqi took out a folding fan to cover his smiling face.
"Didn't you destroy your fan?" Han Jiang asked.
Cang Jingqi raised an eyebrow: "Who said I only have one?"
Han Jiang carried away Bai Yu and the Tranquilizing Pearl together, saying, "I thought your fan was some kind of divine weapon." Isn't that how it's always written in novels? Everyone's weapon has a unique origin.
"Not exactly a divine weapon, but not cheap either, made of high-quality paper. I have more, do you want them? They're quite good for fanning yourself."
"It's winter now." Han Jiang tucked the Tranquilizing Pearl into his bosom. "The white jade is too big, you keep it."
Han Jiang naturally handed it over, and Cang Jingqi took it without hesitation.
The moment Han Jiang touched her hand, she realized when they had become so familiar. Was it before they came to the desert? Or back in Yinzhou? It didn't seem like either.
Han Jiang is a natural at making friends, but Cang Jingqi is not; he's a smiling tiger.
They may look familiar on the surface, but they're not really familiar at heart.
Once you've met someone, you'll get used to them; this must be the fifth, sixth, seventh, or eighth time she's met Cang Jingqi.
"Senior Sister Wen, where did you come from?" Han Qi asked.
This reminded Han Jiang that there was still important business to attend to.
"Yes, where did you come from?" Han Jiang strode over to Wen Xu's side, leaving Cang Jingqi behind.
Wen Xu said, "We came down a staircase to the south room. There's also an altar in the south room, but the Tranquility Bead is gone."
"Stairs? Where's the east room?"
“There is a door in front of the altar in the south room, and a portrait in the east room,” Cang Jingmo said.
The princess only showed how the pool descended, but not how to get back to the ground.
So right now, the only way to get back to the ground is by the stairs in the south room.
"There's some noise..." Cang Jingqi called out to the crowd.
Just as he was about to relax because there was no sound of footsteps on the ground, Han Jiang remembered that there was a wild beast swimming in the air!
Speak of the devil and he appears!
The beast charged straight at them, and the five immediately turned and ran.
Cang Jingmo: "The East Chamber is a dead end!"
“This beast doesn’t seem to dare to enter the east room. If we escape inside, we’ll be fine,” Han Jiang said.
“Didn’t you say you were alright…” Wen Xu and Han Jiang leaned against each other.
"I don't know either."
The beast did not stop outside the east door as before, but instead swam in slowly.
His gaze was drawn to the portrait, and for a moment he ignored everyone else.
All five people remained motionless, not daring to relax for a moment.
Wen Xu said, "Let's slip away while he's not paying attention to us."
Take a sideways step and move slowly towards the exit.
The wild beast quickly sensed the movement, which came right in front of Hanjiang.
Those huge fish eyes stared into Han Jiang's eyes.
As the cold descended, he swallowed twice and dared not move.
The beast drew closer and closer, showing no intention of attacking.
"Sister...the destined one..." A hoarse voice squeezed out from the beast's mouth.
Han Jiang took out the Tranquility Pearl from her bosom: "Is this what you wanted?"
"Sister..."
The beast slowly rested its head on the Tranquility Bead, and through the connection of the Tranquility Bead, Han Jiang saw the most complete ending of the story.
After the prince helped the princess activate the Spirit Gathering Altar, he was supposed to head to his assigned western chamber, but he turned back halfway to check on the princess's condition. He witnessed the princess turn into dust and sand, which then condensed into a bead.
He did not go to the formation in the west room, and the originally perfect formation had a gap.
The prince knelt in the altar of spirit gathering, holding the pearl and weeping bitterly.
The array that repaired the light of the sky was missing a part, and the Black Sea invaded through the array, sucking the spiritual energy of the entire city through the gap.
The Spirit Gathering Altar, connected to the ocean, warned the prince in the name of the ocean, and the prince, carrying the pearl, rushed to the West Chamber.
The replenished light of day repelled the Black Sea, and the ocean withdrew its gifts from the Altar of Spirits.
But the barbarian lands turned into desert, and the cities became ruins.
All the people turned into wild beasts and roamed the desert.
The prince did not disappear; instead, he became the guardian of this place.
This is the ocean's punishment and the Black Sea's curse.
The queen transformed into another pearl, which the prince enshrined in the south chamber.
The North Chamber is the king's tomb, and it is decorated with carvings depicting the king's life and sins.
He kept the west room for himself and the east room to worship his elder sister.
“We made a mistake, and we have to pay the price,” the princess said.
"But I made another mistake, I made two mistakes..." The prince's regret welled up.
The cold wind suddenly awoke him, and the beast that the prince had transformed into grew larger and larger, with black gas emanating from its body.
The Black Sea invaded through the formation, and the prince must have been exposed to the Black Sea when he entered the formation!
"Let's go!" Wen Xu grabbed Han Jiang and rushed out.
"Sister, I can't make another mistake..."
Han Jiang said, "Get out of here quickly!"
The black sea within the prince overflowed, colliding violently with the residual power of the underground formation.
The formation collapsed, and the underground palace lost its support in an instant.
The palace in the yellow sand should have been destroyed long ago, but the princess is still waiting for her destined one, and the prince still holds onto hope.
Cracks appeared in the ground, corridors continued to collapse, and the entire underground palace was shaking.
The enormous prince burst out of the east chamber, roaring as he lunged at Han Jiang.
His body was possessed by the Black Sea, and he only knew to be near creatures with spiritual energy.
Wen Xu drew his sword and blocked the prince's path: "Run!"
Hanqi ran ahead, urging back, "Senior Sister! Let's go!"
Cang Jingqi wanted to turn around and help, but was blocked by a falling rock. The collapsed corridor was divided into two parts, one half of life and the other half of death.
Han Jiang rummaged through her clothes: "There's another fire-exploding talisman! Sister Wen, let me help you!"
"No," Wen Xu said, "Blow it open and run!"
Han Jiang reacted in zero seconds, throwing the talisman into the prince's mouth!
"What's wrong with me walking alone? We agreed to go home together!"
The prince felt a foreign object enter his mouth, released Wenxu, and his mouth burst into flames as he struggled on the spot.
The two of them took off running.
Three people on the other side of the corridor were struggling to pry open a pile of stones, but as they dug, more and more stones fell out.
Han Jiang heard the sound of talismans exploding behind him, and the ground shook even more, almost making him lose his footing.
She looked at Cang Jingqi through the gap and said, "I'll give you the Tranquility Pearl, you can go out first!"
"No!" Cang Jingqi retorted.
"The corridor is about to collapse. If we all gather here, none of us can escape. Didn't the Second Prince say that there's a staircase in the west room that we can go up? Maybe there is one in the east room too. Behind that painting, we'll split up!" Han Jiang didn't know if she was saying this to the person opposite her or to herself. Her heart felt like it was about to jump out of her chest.
She was so nervous that her hands trembled, her rationality suppressing her fear of death.
"Then I don't want the Tranquility Pearl. You take it and bring it back to the Four Continents Sect alive!" Cang Jing said through gritted teeth.
"There's no other way..." Han Jiang suppressed her sobs and turned back to the East Room with Wen Xu.
The prince was injured by the explosion and fell to the ground. When he saw Han Jiang and the other person, he even struggled to get up.
"No, I can't hurt him..." The prince regained control of his mind, slammed his head against the wall with all his might, and passed out completely.
Half of the east room collapsed, revealing the wall behind the portrait.
Wen Xu approached to check: "There's no space behind it, so there might really be a path."
She originally thought she was going to die here, but it turned out that Han Jiang's guess was correct.
Without saying a word, he picked up his sword and started chiseling at the wall.
"Sister Wen, you're using a sword to chisel? Do you still need the sword?"
"Life is more important than the sword! Enough with the nonsense!"
The wall repaired with sand and soil wasn't too difficult to chisel, and a hole was quickly made.
The ground was still shaking, and large chunks of the ceiling were falling down.
After the hole was chiseled into the wall, it became unstable, and the portrait tilted and teetered on the brink of collapse.
"Sister Wen, be careful!" Han Jiang took a big step and stood in front of Wen Xu, the portrait hitting her heavily.
My entire back felt like it was being split open with pain, half of my head was buzzing, and I was kneeling on the ground.
"Are you alright?" Wen Xu crouched down. "Can you still walk?"
Hanjiang shook his head vigorously, unable to hear Wenxu's voice clearly.
Another piece of ceiling fell down. Hanjiang pushed Wenxu away, and a large rock hit Hanjiang again, pressing on his calf and drawing blood instantly.
"Cold wind!" Wen Xu used his sword sheath to pry open the rocks and tore off some cloth to stop the bleeding.
The collapse of the east room completely revealed the space behind the portrait.
The spiraling stone staircase, like the west chamber, was likely built by the builder as a way to access the underground should the pool not be opened by someone destined to do so.
Wen Xu carried Han Jiang on her back: "Han Jiang, don't be afraid, Sister Wen will take you home."
"Hanjiang, don't sleep..." Wenxu leaned on his sword, climbing the stone steps while trying to wake Hanjiang's consciousness.
"Han Jiang..." Wen Xu never thought that someone would come to save her. She even thought that if the mission failed, she would just die here. But Han Jiang came to save her.
"I was lying to you. I'm afraid I won't take you home. I'll leave you here to fend for yourself, and I'll leave this world and go home... Hanjiang, if you keep sleeping, you'll sleep here forever..."
"Hanjiang, I'll leave you here in this desolate wilderness, then go back and say you abandoned me and ran away, you deserve to die here..."
The winding stone steps seemed to have no end.
"Hanjiang, I'm exhausted from carrying you, I'm going to leave you here..."
"Sister Wen would never do that..."
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