Chapter 95 The End of the Tunnel and "His" Childhood Toys
The end of the tunnel and "his" childhood toys
After dealing with the disciples of the Immortal Sect (Jiang Xuelan finally set up a simple trap to ensure that they could not move or report for a period of time), everyone continued to move forward along the narrow passage.
The further we went, the more humid the passage became. The air was filled with the strong smell of earth and water vapor, and we could even hear the faint sound of flowing water. The traces of artificial excavation gradually appeared on the rock wall, becoming more and more obvious.
"It looks like we're almost at the end." Xuan Jia sniffed the air. "This water vapor... seems to carry a faint spiritual energy, somewhat similar to the aura of the sacred tree's roots, but also quite different."
Finally, a faint light appeared ahead! It wasn't the natural light from the exit, but a soft, blue-green fluorescent light.
The group approached cautiously and discovered that the passage ended in a vast underground cave. At its center lay a bottomless lake, its water pitch black yet emanating a rich spiritual energy. The blue-green fluorescence came from countless gigantic shells embedded in the cave's ceiling and surrounding rock walls! These shells, slightly open, held enormous pearls radiating a soft glow, illuminating the entire cave like a dreamlike wonderland.
"This is... a **Mirage**?" Xingtong exclaimed in surprise, wiping away tears from her eyes. "No wonder it has the ability to interfere with perception and create illusions. Those confusing energies outside just now were probably emitted by them."
"So beautiful..." Ache opened his eyes wide. The halo of the young buds of Jianmu seemed to resonate with the pearly light.
However, Jiang Xuelan and Li Jiuyou's attention was attracted by the other side of the cave.
There, on the rock face near the lake, stood an ancient archway, clearly man-made, half-hidden by vines and water stains. Made of neither stone nor jade, it shone a warm white, its surface carved with now-faded murals, faintly depicting sacred trees, ferocious beasts, and scenes of daily life and labor. Behind the archway, an equally ancient stone staircase ascended, leading into an unknown darkness.
Beside the archway, there were some rotten wooden objects, broken pottery jars, and even a small, rusty **bronze bell** scattered around.
Jiang Xuelan's eyes fell on the bronze bell, and his body suddenly stiffened!
Li Jiuyou immediately felt his emotions fluctuate violently!
Jiang Xuelan walked over and bent down to pick up the rusty little bell. The bell was crudely made, with a crooked "Lan" character engraved on its surface.
His fingertips trembled slightly, and his icy blue eyes were filled with incredible shock and... deep sadness.
A picture flashed uncontrollably in Li Jiuyou's sea of consciousness:
A stern-faced little boy (Jiang Xuelan), three or four years old, lurks behind the massive roots of a sacred tree. Clutching a newly crafted bronze bell inscribed with the Chinese character "Lan," he gazes longingly at other children playing in a field in the distance. A gentle woman (Su Jingyan) approaches, gently touches his head, and ties the bell around his wrist: "Lan, go play if you want." The little boy shakes his head and whispers, "Daddy says I need to be calm and not playful like them." But his fingers quietly stroke the bell, a hint of desolation flickering in his eyes.
Li Jiuyou clearly felt the cautious longing and forced repression of young Jiang Xuelan at that moment. This feeling... made him feel inexplicably choked up.
"...This is..." Jiang Xuelan's voice was a little hoarse, "...I lost it when I was a child..." He thought that this insignificant childhood toy that he had long forgotten would actually appear here?
At this moment, Man Gu seemed to have discovered something on the other side of the archway and shouted, "King! There seems to be words carved on this stone wall!"
Everyone gathered around and saw a few lines of ancient characters carved on the slippery, moss-covered stone wall. They were already blurred, but still vaguely discernible:
"This road leads to the River of Oblivion, do not enter without permission.
For those with a sincere heart, the door will open when the bell rings.
—Carved by the village guard
For those with a sincere heart, the door will open when the bell rings?
Everyone's eyes were focused on the small rusty bronze bell in Jiang Xuelan's hand, which was engraved with the word "Lan".
Li Jiuyou could feel Jiang Xuelan's complex emotional fluctuations, including the sadness for the old things in his hometown, the solemnity about the puzzle before him, and a hint of... hesitation like homesickness?
He tutted, a bit impatient, yet with an awkward tone of encouragement: "What are you daydreaming about! It's just a broken bell! Try it now! Or I'll help you shake it!"
Jiang Xuelan gripped the rusted bronze bell tightly, his fingertips turning slightly white from the strain. The crooked "Lan" character on the bell seemed to burn his palm, and the cautious longing and repression of his childhood surged back into his heart. Li Jiuyou, sensing his emotional fluctuations through the blood contract, clicked his tongue in annoyance and urged gruffly, "What are you dawdling for! Ring the bell! Do you want me to do it for you?"
Jiang Xuelan closed his eyes, took a deep breath, and gently rang the bell.
"jingle--"
A clear, crisp ringing sound echoed through the cave, not loud, yet as if triggering some ancient mechanism. The blurred murals on the archway suddenly lit up with a soft white light, and the images of sacred trees, ferocious beasts, and ancient people working seemed to come alive and flow. Then, the archway slowly opened inward, revealing a deep, ascending stone staircase behind. A desolate and pure atmosphere filled the air.
"It's open!" Ache said in surprise.
Li Jiuyou frowned suddenly, and his red-gold eyes scanned the surroundings vigilantly: "Something has woken up!"
The mirages at the top of the cave closed, their pearly radiance dimming as the pitch-black lake beneath began to churn. Countless twisted, dark shadows, condensed from resentment and foul energy, crawled out of the lake, screaming and lunging at the crowd! These were the remnants of souls tainted by the aura of perdition, enraged by the sacred aura of the bell.
"Protect Ache and Xingtong!" Jiang Xuelan shouted coldly, unsheathed the Frost Sword, and an ice wall suddenly rose to block the first wave of attack.
Li Jiuyou cursed, and the Jinsheng Knife swept out with demonic fire. The red-gold flame collided with the black shadow, making a hissing sound. "Damn it! I knew it wouldn't be that simple!"
During the battle, a dark shadow silently circled around to the side and rear, heading straight for A Che, who was holding the young shoots of Jianmu. Jiang Xuelan was entangled by the dark shadow in front of him and had no time to move back to defend himself.
Li Jiuyou's pupils shrank, and without hesitation, he dodged in front of A Che, taking the blow with his back! The shadow tore through his robe, leaving a wound deep enough to see the bone, and a cold and resentful aura instantly invaded him.
"Ugh!" Li Jiuyou groaned, and chopped the black shadow into pieces with a backhanded knife, but he staggered.
Jiang Xuelan turned around suddenly, clearly feeling the sharp pain and the coldness of the resentment eroding from the other party. His heart tightened inexplicably: "You..."
"What are you looking at!" Li Jiuyou interrupted angrily, his ears reddening. "I'm afraid this guy will die and there'll be no one to lead the way!"
Jiang Xuelan pursed her lips and said nothing, but the immortal power flowed quietly at her fingertips. An ice-blue barrier protected Li Jiuyou behind him, blocking subsequent attacks for him.
The crowd fought and retreated, finally stepping onto the stone steps behind the archway. The shadowy figures chased to the door but seemed to be blocked by an invisible barrier, roaring unwillingly and gradually retreating back into the lake.
The stone steps wind upwards, and the stone walls on both sides are engraved with even older murals, telling the origin of the Wangchuanwu Divine Village - how the ancestors of the gods used the power of the Xirang Divine Tree to purify the breath of decadence, build their homes, and make an alliance with the Zhe tribe to jointly protect this place.
The higher they went, the thicker the air became filled with sadness and desolation. Suddenly, the surrounding scenery distorted again, and everyone fell into a new **illusion**.
This time, the illusion depicted Wangchuanwu on the eve of the massacre fifty years prior. Under the moonlight, the sacred village was peaceful and beautiful, with children playing and smoke rising from cooking fires. Jiang Xuelan saw his younger self sitting beneath the sacred Xirang tree, his mother, Su Jingyan, gently tying the bronze bell on him.
In another corner of the illusion, Li Jiuyou saw his brother Feng Ye when he was young. He secretly buried a pair of **flame earrings** (the same ones Bai Zhi was looking for) under a tree, his eyes full of hidden love (for Jiang's mother Su Jingyan).
"Is this... my brother?" Li Jiuyou was stunned, the emotions conveyed through the blood contract were complex and difficult to discern.
The illusion suddenly shifted to the day of the village massacre! Immortal monks engaged in a frenzied slaughter, flames engulfing the houses. A key scene emerged: **Immortal Venerable** (in his youth) personally thrust the severed horn of the Zhe Clan into the hands of the deceased Jiang's father, and ordered his disciples to record the "evidence" with a photo stone. Meanwhile, **Ling Xuzi** (also young) painfully carried out his orders, attacking the village elders who had once taught him.
“——!!!” Jiang Xuelan and Li Jiuyou froze at the same time, the bloody truth of hatred revealed before their eyes!
The illusion did not end, and finally stopped at a little black cat with a broken tail (the young Li Jiuyou lost control and transformed) stuffing half a steamed bun to the crying young Jiang Xuelan in the cellar, then turned around and resolutely pounced on the immortal monk and blew himself up.
"So... it's you..." Jiang Xuelan's voice was hoarse, and his ice-blue eyes trembled violently.
Li Jiuyou's red pupils shrank, and forgotten fragments of memory came flooding back - his brother Feng Ye's vague instructions before his death to "protect him well", his own anxiety when he instinctively ran towards Shencun after losing control and transforming, and the protection buried in hatred represented by the half steamed bun.
The blood bond was filled with shock, pain, absurdity, and unspeakable bitterness, and the two hardly dared to look at each other.
The illusion dissipated, and everyone finally reached the end of the stairs—a huge circular altar. In the center of the altar stood a white jade model of the Xirang Sacred Tree. Beneath the tree sat a kneeling skeleton (a stone inkstone), clutching its chest. Two words were carved in blood on the ground: "Atonement."
A Che found an inner lining with "I am guilty" written in blood in Shi Yan's arms. The last page had a map of Wangchuanwu, marked "Ancient Well in the East of the Village", and a line of small characters: "**God's blood can open**".
At this moment, a sneer came from the entrance of the altar!
Bai Zhi and the elite immortal sect gave chase, pointing the blood-red compass in her hand directly at Jiang Xuelan: "Junior Brother Jiang, you are indeed colluding with the monster! Hand over the divine blood and the Jianmu fragments!"
The disciples behind her formed a formation to attack, and Bai Zhi directly threw out the **Soul-Calming Nail**, and the black light shot straight into Jiang Xuelan's eyebrows!
Li Jiuyou swung his sword to block without thinking, but Jiang Xuelan was faster than him - he actually turned sideways and blocked with his left arm!
"Puff!" The soul-soothing nail pierced into Jiang Xuelan's arm, and the cold and severe pain drilled straight into his soul!
"Jiang Xuelan!" Li Jiuyou was filled with shock and anger. He supported his shaky body. Feeling the pain of his soul being eroded, his red eyes instantly turned blood red. "Are you fucking crazy?!"
“…It’s okay… Let’s fight the enemy first…” Jiang Xuelan gritted his teeth and endured, sweat dripping down his face.
Li Jiuyou suddenly raised his head and stared at Bai Zhi with murderous eyes: "You... dare to touch him..."
The demonic fire on the Cinder Blade burned crazily, even more fiercely than before! In the blood bond link, anger, panic, and an unprecedented desire to protect surged and flowed, clearly conveying it to Jiang Xuelan.[20][40]
Jiang Xuelan endured the severe pain, the Frost Sword hummed, and the ice-blue fairy power and Li Jiuyou's red-gold demon fire actively merged for the first time, forming a barrier of ice and fire, and withstood the next wave of attacks from the Immortal Sect's sword formation!
"You guys...!" Bai Zhi looked at the two people working together in unbelievable harmony.
At this moment, words were superfluous. The boiling emotions and fragments of memory within their blood pact became their most direct means of communication. Though hatred hadn't completely dissipated, the truth and their shared enemy had forged a silent alliance.
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