Chapter 83: The resonance of the blood letter and the dying gift of the "sinner"
The resonance of blood letters and the dying gift of the "sinner"
"Shi Yan..." Jiang Xuelan looked at the signature, and for the first time, a crack of confusion and pain appeared on his frozen face. Was this the always-smiling tutor who taught the children how to read and write? The insignificant villager who, in his memory, had long since perished in the "demon massacre"? He was actually... still alive? And he even left behind such a confession?
Li Jiuyou could sense the pain of Jiang Xuelan's world, built on false memories, completely crumbling, and the ensuing, even deeper, colder murderous intent (directed at the Immortal Sect). He himself was in a state of profound confusion and shock. The mural's contents diametrically opposed the "truth" he had believed for fifteen years! Yet, somewhere deep down, he felt a strange feeling... "This is right." That inexplicable protectiveness for Jiang Xuelan, the familiarity brought on by the blood pact... all seemed to have a solution.
"Shi Yan... I think I heard Brother Wang... mention this name..." Li Jiuyou rubbed his aching forehead and tried to recall, "Brother Wang said... there was a private tutor in Shen Village who had beautiful handwriting, but... he was a little timid..."
At this moment, the bronze key in Jiang Xuelan's hand heated up and vibrated again, slipped out of his palm, and slowly flew towards the wall with the blood-written words "I am guilty"!
The word "Yuan" on the key emitted a bright green light, shining on the blood letter!
The dried words on the blood letter seemed to come alive, emitting a dark red glow that blended with the green light of the bronze key. Then, the entire wall became transparent, revealing a small, nearly dust-covered stone chamber hidden behind it!
The stone chamber contained a single stone bed, upon which curled a dried-out skeleton. Wrapped in a tattered, filthy, blackened cotton jacket, its fingers tightly gripped an equally withered brush, the tip still bearing a dark brown mark.
And the lining of that tattered cotton-padded jacket seemed to be covered with dense and even smaller handwriting!
The Jianmu fragment in Ah Che's hand seemed to sense something, and a soft green light shone upon the skeleton. From the skeleton's heart, a faint aura of obsession slowly drifted out, condensing into the vague silhouette of a hunched old man—it was Shi Yan!
The old man's shadowy eyes were hollow, filled with endless regret and sorrow. He stared at Jiang Xuelan, his lips trembling as he uttered a faint, intermittent thought:
"Sorry...kid..."
"I was the one who...told the secret... The Immortal Sect threatened... my wife... and children..."
"Elder Jiang... Madam Su... I'm sorry..."
"Live on... Don't forget... the roots of Xirang are still alive... in... the east of the village... under the ancient well..."
After his fragmented thoughts conveyed his final message, the old man's shadowy form flickered violently like a candle in the wind, then vanished completely. The skeleton clutching the brush also seemed to have completed its final mission. With a rustling sound, it scatters into a pile of dust, leaving only the blood-stained inner lining and the brush.
There was dead silence in the secret room.
The truth is so cruel that it is suffocating.
Jiang Xuelan slowly walked forward and picked up the tattered quilted jacket's lining. Sure enough, it was covered in dried blood and charcoal ash, covered with countless "I am guilty." Each word pierced through the paper, as if imbued with the writer's endless pain and torment. On the last page, a crude map of Wangchuanwu was drawn, marking the location of the ancient well east of the village. Next to it was a line of small words: "Divine blood can open it."
All the clues are connected.
The conspiracy of the Immortal Sect, the truth about the Divine Village, the injustice of the Zhe Clan, Shi Yan's betrayal and repentance... and Li Jiuyou's forgotten and clumsy protection.
On both ends of the link stood a dead silence and a turbulent sea of emotions. Hatred had lost its target, anger had nowhere to go, leaving only a vast emptiness and... the absurd feeling of being manipulated by fate.
"So... we've been hating each other for three hundred years..." Jiang Xuelan's voice was hoarse, with a barely perceptible tremor. He gripped the blood-lettered lining tightly, his fingertips cold.
"Damn it..." Li Jiuyou cursed, but he didn't know who to curse. Was he cursing the Immortal Sect for their despicableness? The elders for their tampering? Or himself for forgetting something so important with his pig-brain? He felt a pang of pain in his stomach, especially when he thought about what he had done to Jiang Xuelan over the years...
At this moment, there was a sudden violent vibration and explosion above the head! And Bai Zhi screamed in terror!
A huge rock shattered with immense force, revealing the altar above—the giant black egg had cracked open, and countless sticky, blood-stained black tentacles stretched out from it, dancing wildly and attacking all living things within range! On the other side, Bai Zhi and her disciples desperately resisted, but were clearly no match for them!
The black tentacle seemed to sense the rich power (divine blood/demon pill/evil god's remnant/Jianmu fragments) on Jiang Xuelan and Li Jiuyou in the secret room below, which was of the same origin but also counteracted by it. It immediately separated a part of it and, like a poisonous python, rushed into the cave entrance where they were!
"Oh no! That thing has discovered us!" Man Gu roared.
"Retreat quickly!" Xuanjia exclaimed.
Attacked from both sides! There are strange tentacles above and a sealed stone chamber behind!
Jiang Xuelan and Li Jiuyou looked at each other almost at the same time.
The unspoken tacit understanding emerged again.
"Ice Face!"
"Li Jiuyou!"
The two attacked simultaneously! Jiang Xuelan's Frost Silence Sword swept away a wall of ice, temporarily blocking the tentacles, while Li Jiuyou's Cinders' Blade fiercely slashed at the side of the stone wall—he remembered that the mural showed that this direction should be the weakest part of the mountain!
The violent demonic fire split a hole in the stone wall, and behind it was indeed another narrow natural crack!
"Let's go!" Li Jiuyou grabbed Jiang Xuelan's wrist and pushed him towards the crack. He turned around and swung his sword to cut off their retreat. The red-gold demonic fire roared as it rushed towards the pursuing black tentacles!
Through the touching wrists, Jiang Xuelan clearly felt Li Jiuyou's unhesitating protection and resolute fighting spirit.
This time, he didn't break free.
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