"There seems to be a strange creature lurking in that mud pit, capable of manipulating people's minds and plunging them into hallucinations. If we find a way to break this, we might be able to save him."
"However, this place is too unstable. To avoid being swallowed up by it, we need to hurry and find a place it can't reach."
Although Xu Yuehuai was extremely anxious, she knew she needed to think things through calmly. After giving a slight reply, she left the mud pit with Bai Yuxian and headed to a nearby area with more stable soil.
The two walked very close, within three steps of each other, circling around the miasma.
As dawn broke, they finally broke free from the miasma. Looking back, they saw the mud pit still lying there quietly, as if nothing had happened.
But they all knew that there was always a huge danger lurking there!
“Bei Ye is definitely waiting for us to save him, we need to think of a way quickly.” Xu Yuehuai rubbed her aching temples.
Bai Yu thought for a moment and then said, "This mud pit is so strange, it must have some origin. If we ask the villagers nearby, they should know something."
Xu Yuehuai thought the suggestion made a lot of sense, so the two decided to go back to the nearby village to look for clues.
However, when they arrived at the village, they found it unusually deserted. The villagers seemed to be hiding in their homes, keeping their doors tightly shut and afraid to go out.
"Knock knock knock! Is anyone there?"
Are you home?
Why aren't they opening the doors?
They knocked on several doors, but no one answered; only empty echoes reverberated through the village. This made Xu Yuehuai even more uneasy. She didn't know what had happened in the village, or why the villagers were so fearful.
"What's wrong?" Xu Yuehuai asked in confusion.
Bai Yu frowned and said slowly, "It seems something has happened in the village as well. We need to find the village chief as soon as possible to find out what's going on."
The two quickened their pace and arrived at the village chief's house, only to find the door ajar. They pushed it open and saw the village chief sitting in the main room, staring blankly ahead, as if he had lost his soul.
"Village Chief! What's wrong?" Xu Yuehuai called out anxiously.
The village chief slowly turned his head, his eyes empty and lifeless, as if he did not recognize them.
“It’s you guys,” he muttered to himself. “Strange things are happening in the village.”
Through the village chief's account, they learned the truth. It turned out that since they left, a series of strange events had begun to occur in the village. First, people disappeared without a trace, then livestock died mysteriously, and finally, even some of the village's elderly and children began to become mentally unstable and behave abnormally.
The villagers were filled with fear and didn't know how to cope with this sudden disaster.
"It's all related to that mud pit!" The village chief suddenly raised his voice, a hint of fear flashing in his eyes. "I heard that an evil old demon lives in that mud pit, and it comes out to do evil every now and then. In the past, there was a magic array left by the elders in the village that could suppress it, but as time went by, the power of the magic array became weaker and weaker, and now it can no longer suppress it."
Upon hearing this, Xu Yuehuai and Bai Yu felt a chill run down their spines. They understood that in order to rescue Bei Ye, they would have to deal with this "old devil" first.
"Village Chief, do you know how to strengthen this magic array?" Xu Yuehuai looked intently at the village chief.
The village chief said sadly, "I don't know, but there's an ancient book in the village that might have it recorded. But that book is kept in a secret room in the village temple."
Bai Yu decisively said, "There's no time to lose, let's go to the village temple now!"
...
Upon arriving at the village temple, the village chief, his hands trembling, slowly inserted the ancient and heavy key into the door of the secret chamber. Each turn was accompanied by the whispers of time, as if awakening a sleeping secret.
With a soft "clack," the dusty door slowly opened, releasing a musty and ancient scent.
Xu Yuehuai and Bai Yu did not linger. They stepped into the secret room first, their eyes immediately drawn to the yellowed ancient book.
"Look, this is the key to breaking the curse of the old demon in the mud pit," the village chief said softly, his voice filled with barely concealed excitement and tension.
Xu Yuehuai gently turned the pages of the ancient book, the yellowed pages dancing between her fingertips, as if each line of text carried the weight of a thousand years.
“The Demon-Trapping Mirror…” she murmured, her eyes gradually sharpening. “It’s not just a name; it’s our hope.”
Bai Yu leaned closer, his eyes darting between the lines. His brows furrowed, then relaxed, revealing a resolute smile: "Since the ancient texts offer guidance, we have no reason to back down. Xiao Yue, let's go to the summit of Chongshan Mountain to find the legendary Demon-Trapping Mirror."
"Yes." Xu Yuehuai had the same plan.
After bidding farewell to the village chief, they rode their horses towards Chongshan.
The mountain road was rugged, and the scenery along the way was ever-changing, sometimes shrouded in mist and sometimes towering cliffs. Each challenge brought them closer to their goal.
"Bai Yu, do you think the Demon-Trapping Mirror is hidden on this mountain?" Xu Yuehuai's hair was soaked with sweat, and her breathing was a little rapid.
Bai Yu looked tenderly at Xu Yuehuai, "We are each other's hope, and the village's hope. No matter what, we can only do our best to search."
"Look there!" Xu Yuehuai said, pulling Bai Yu to quickly avoid them.
The sky, which had been adorned with a few gentle rays of sunset, was suddenly shrouded in darkness, as if an invisible giant hand had abruptly torn off the curtain of light. Dark clouds surged in like a thousand horses, swallowing up the last ray of light.
Immediately afterwards, the earth trembled, and a deafening roar echoed from the depths of the valley. A sudden mudslide, like an enraged beast, roared and swept in with the power to destroy everything.
Xu Yuehuai and Bai Yu, both possessing extraordinary skills, faced this sudden disaster without the slightest hesitation. Their movements were lightning-fast, nimbly weaving through the churning rocks and sticky mud, each leap a dance with death, fraught with peril.
Sweat mixed with mud blurred their vision, but their eyes grew even more determined.
Finally, as the mudslide gradually lost its roaring power and slowly receded, the two found themselves in an unprecedented wonderland.
The surroundings were no longer filled with devastated ruins, but a vibrant sea of pink flowers. Each flower seemed like a meticulously crafted work of art, blooming in competition, and the air was filled with a refreshing fragrance, creating a stark and unbelievable contrast to the previous harrowing scene.
"Where is this place?" Xu Yuehuai stared at the sea of flowers in disbelief. She tried to search for clues about the flower field on the map, but couldn't recall anything.
Bai Yu was equally deep in thought, his eyes filled with an inscrutable expression. "I don't know, but perhaps this is another arrangement of fate."
"Xiaoyue, do you feel anything unusual about your body?" He suddenly changed the subject, turning his gaze to Xu Yuehuai, a strange light flashing in his eyes.
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