Chapter 34
Su Ruo led the disciples of the Boyeng Sect and walked for several hours following the map. The scene before them was no longer the dense forests and strange rocks commonly seen in the heart of Yunshan. The fog gradually dissipated under their feet, and was replaced by a field of hot sand and gravel.
A dead silence and desolation came over me.
The cracked earth was charred black, as if it had been burned by a raging fire. Rusty remains of weapons were scattered here and there. Some broken swords were half-buried in the sand, and some pieces of armor had long been worn away by the wind and sand. The air was filled with a mixture of rust and decay, and the silence was so dead that even the sound of the wind seemed particularly harsh.
It turned out to be another ancient battlefield.
Su Ruo paused, her pink skirt rising slightly in the dry wind, the fabric scraping against the gravel, making a small, crunching sound. She tucked a strand of wind-disheveled hair behind her ear, her fingertips gently pressing against her temples. She closed her eyes, and in her mind, the ancient map drawn on animal skin slowly unfolded as she thought.
The route originally marked with dark red cinnabar on the map began to flow like a living thing the moment she set foot in this area. At this moment, the dark red line raised its head like a spirit snake, broke free from the animal skin scroll, shot out from between her eyebrows, passed through the wreckage-strewn desert, and finally stopped precisely at a certain point -
She clearly sensed a faint yet exceptionally pure demonic energy slowly escaping from an inconspicuous deep valley in the center of the desert. Unlike the turbid and complex aura of ordinary demonic cultivators, it instead exuded a nearly stagnant heaviness, like the unconscious breathing of a sleeping ancient beast.
"...That's it." She whispered to herself, with a determined light in her eyes.
She turned sideways to look at the disciples behind her, her gaze landing on a burly cultivator in the late Foundation Establishment stage. She then slowly spoke to him, "Junior Brother Li, take a team down and retrieve the contents. Remember, no matter what you see, do not open it rashly. Ancient restrictions may be hidden within, and the slightest mistake could result in death."
The monk immediately bowed and accepted the order, saying respectfully, "Junior brother, I understand. I will definitely live up to your trust."
After saying that, he called four disciples, who, holding magical instruments, walked cautiously towards the deep valley.
The deep valley was about ten feet deep, with steep walls covered with traces of weathering. The monks and their group used their magical instruments to slowly descend and soon reached the bottom of the valley.
With the help of the spiritual light emitted by the magic weapon, everyone saw an ancient box in the center of the depression. The box was completely black, neither wood nor stone, with intricate magic patterns carved on the surface. There was a faint black air flowing on it, revealing a heart-pounding weirdness.
"That's it." Seeing this, the monk showed a look of relief on his face, and then slowly walked forward.
He heeded Su Ruo's instructions and didn't touch the box directly. Instead, he summoned a specially crafted black iron chain from his storage pouch. With a flick of his fingertips, the chain coiled around like a spirit snake, securely binding the box. After confirming it was secure, he urged his spiritual power, and the box rose up with a click, landing steadily on the ground above.
The monk also jumped up and landed slowly. Seeing that everything went well, he breathed a sigh of relief. He then completely let go of his worries, bent down, and prepared to pull the chain and lift the box towards Su Ruo.
But just as his fingers were about to touch the chain, the howling wind in the wilderness suddenly fell silent. His body froze in place, and he slowly lowered his head.
Su Ruo frowned when she saw this from a distance: "Junior Brother Li?"
But the monk did not answer. At this moment, in a place where no one could see, his eyes had undergone a horrible change - his originally clear pupils instantly became as dark as the night, losing all their spirit, leaving only a dead and chaotic state.
"Senior Brother Li?" The disciple beside him also noticed his abnormality and asked him in confusion.
But the monk seemed not to hear, and then slowly withdrew his hand that was holding the chain - the box fell into his hand with a "whoosh"!
Su Ruo saw it clearly from a distance. As she saw him reaching out to lift the lid of the box, her pupils suddenly contracted and she shouted sternly, "Stop! Don't open it!"
But it was too late.
A light "click" sound was heard extremely clearly in the lonely wilderness, and the lid of the box was finally slowly opened by the monk.
The world seemed strangely still for a moment, and then—
The next moment, countless dense black demonic energies, like a flood bursting through a dam, gushed out of the box crazily! The demonic energy carried an extremely cold and violent aura, sweeping towards the surroundings as if it had life!
"ah--!"
Screams rang out one after another, and the four disciples closest to them were tightly entangled by the demonic energy before they could dodge. The demonic energy was like a sharp blade, instantly shredding their bodies into pieces. Blood and limbs splattered everywhere, and they were quickly devoured by the demonic energy, leaving not even a trace.
The monk who was the instigator of the incident was not spared either. A stream of demonic energy penetrated into his body through his seven orifices. His body shriveled up at a speed visible to the naked eye and eventually turned into a pool of black ash. With a clang, the box fell to the ground and the pool of black ash was blown away by the wind and dissipated on the spot.
The incident happened so suddenly. From the moment the monk picked up the chains to the moment the five men were reduced to ashes, only two breaths passed. Su Ruo stood there in shock, unable to react for a moment.
Seeing a black aura rushing towards her without slowing down, she remained frozen in place.
"Go!"
Su Ling's voice suddenly exploded from beside her!
He was originally standing not far from Su Ruo. Seeing the strange demonic energy coming and Su Ruo still in a daze, he gritted his teeth, and without any hesitation, he pushed Su Ruo behind him and went to meet the enemy himself!
“Puff!”
The demonic energy slammed fiercely into Su Ling's chest. He groaned, and a mouthful of blood spurted out, instantly staining his robes with blood. But he still stood in front of Su Ruo, using up his last bit of strength to grab Su Ruo's wrist, then turned and quickly retreated towards the desert.
The evil energy was chasing after him relentlessly, and the sand and gravel along the way were instantly turned into powder when touched by the evil energy.
It was not until the two of them left the desert that the evil spirit slowly retreated back to the place where the box had landed in the center, as if it had lost its target.
*
Su Ling dragged his severely injured body and stumbled with Su Ruo into a hidden cave. As soon as he stepped into the cave, he could no longer hold on and fell heavily to the ground, blood gushing from his mouth. His face was as pale as paper, and it was obvious that he was at the end of his strength.
"Brother!" Su Ruo rushed forward and hugged him tightly. Seeing his miserable state, her usual calmness and composure disappeared without a trace. Her voice trembled slightly, "How are you? Hang on, I'll find some medicine right away!"
Su Ling shook his head weakly, raised his bloodstained hand, and gently stroked her cheek, his eyes full of guilt and regret: "It's useless, sister... I, I'm sorry for you..."
Su Ruo's tears burst out instantly. She bit her lips tightly to prevent herself from crying out loud, but her body kept shaking.
"Back then... your unique physique attracted the clan leader, who was searching for a new 'Medicine Master'. He ordered the Su family to hand you over... And yet, your father surrendered like that. To protect himself, he sent you, then four years old, to the dungeon..." Su Ling's voice grew weaker and weaker, each word draining away his remaining strength. "I knew you suffered inconsolably in prison... But out of fear of the clan leader's power, fear of my father's majesty, and greed for my status as the eldest son of the Su family... In the end, I did nothing for you..."
"But all these years, there hasn't been a single day that I haven't regretted... regretting not being strong enough to protect you, regretting why... I couldn't do it for you..."
His hand slowly dropped, and the light in his eyes gradually faded, but he still stared at Su Ruo intently, and said with his last breath: "Sister... forgive me..."
As soon as he finished speaking, his body completely collapsed and there was no life left.
"Su Ling! Brother! Wake up!" Su Ruo hugged Su Ling's cold body and finally collapsed and roared. Tears were like pearls with broken strings, falling on Su Ling's clothes.
She held Su Ling's hand tightly, as if she could keep him there, but the body in her arms became colder and colder, and there was no response at all.
The only sound left in the cave was Su Ruo's suppressed sobbing. She sat on the ground in a daze, Su Ling's last words echoing in her mind. The memories she had deliberately forgotten came flooding back like a tide.
When she was four years old, she and Su Ling, twins, were told by their father, "The Su family needs you to serve the sect." She was frightened for a moment, but then she felt relieved. With her brother by her side, she wasn't afraid to go anywhere...
She originally thought that they would go together, but she didn't expect that the next morning, her father would choose to send her away alone!
The excruciating pain of drug testing, the torment of being bitten by countless insects, and the whip-wielding girl outside the cell, who daily taunted her with venomous words about her ugly appearance, gnawed by the poisonous insects... Day and night in the dungeon, the seeds of hatred were deeply planted in her heart. She hated Lin Wuya's coldness, her father's cruel abandonment, Su Ling's cowardly indifference, and even more so, Lin Yibai's careless trampling.
She swore that she would repay all the suffering she had endured a hundredfold!
Five years later, she miraculously survived. When she was sent back to the Su family, she saw Su Ling dressed in exquisite clan robes, enjoying the honor of being the eldest son of the Su family, while she was covered in wounds and needed help even to walk——
The seed called "hate" suddenly broke through the soil and grew into a towering tree.
From then on, she suppressed her emotions and practiced hard, growing from a medicine head who was at the mercy of others to a new generation leader of the Bo Deng Sect, all for the purpose of one day being able to completely trample under her feet those who had trampled on her!
She originally thought that her whole life would only be filled with hatred.
But Su Ling's confession before his death was like a key that opened the softest and most reluctant corner of her heart.
This "useless brother" whom she had hated for so many years, turned out to be regretting it all along...
——However, just as she fell into a trance, a hideous laugh suddenly sounded in the cave!
I saw a wisp of black evil spirit slowly emerging from Su Ling's body. Like a living thing, it circled in the air and then suddenly rushed towards the still dazed Su Ruo with lightning speed!
"What?!" Su Ruo suddenly came back to her senses and wanted to dodge, but it was too late - the demonic energy instantly penetrated into her eyebrows, and a cold chill spread along the meridians throughout her body. Her eyes suddenly became dark, just like the cultivator named Li who was controlled by the demonic energy in the wilderness just now, and she lost her original spirit.
However, the next second, a strange smile slowly appeared on the corner of "Su Ruo's" mouth.
——“She” clearly sensed the hatred burning like a raging fire in this body!
"What a coincidence." "Su Ruo" spoke, her voice carrying a hint of coldness and teasing that didn't belong to her. "I actually figured out that our targets are now in the same place."
She flexed her fingers, feeling the demonic energy surging within her body blending with Su Ruo's own spiritual power. A hint of excitement flashed in her eyes. "As a reward for offering this body, I will now help you avenge your death."
As soon as she finished speaking, her figure rushed out of the cave like a ghost and flew towards somewhere at a high speed.
Only a cold corpse was left, lying quietly in the empty cave.
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