CHAPTER 369
The Beginning of a Dead End
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"Senior Sister, this black mist feels different from before. There might be some unknown monsters lurking inside. Shiyu thinks we should be prepared."
Dongfang Jue chimed in, "Yeah, I feel it too. Ever since we entered, this space has been growing increasingly unstable."
Ye Qinghan nodded. "Ever since then, all spatial-type magical treasures have been rendered ineffective. And Shiyu, do you sense it too?"
Li Shiyu pressed her lips together and nodded.
"I can't quite explain it. It feels like a strand of power has been pulled out of my body. It's very strange."
"I feel like one of my five senses has been severed, as if something has been taken away."
Dongfang Jue looked puzzled; she hadn't experienced this peculiar sensation.
"Really? I haven't felt anything like that, Jue'er."
Ye Qinghan remained silent. She had already sensed something amiss. It seemed that with the spatial artifacts failing, the markings her Master had left on her and Shiyu had also severed their connection to him.
This meant that if danger arose, their master wouldn't be able to appear immediately.
However, Ye Qinghan felt this might not be entirely a bad thing. The courage to burn one's boats and commit fully was precisely this.
Besides, her master had already done more than enough. She no longer wished to hide behind her master's back.
Seeing her Master injured this time had left her deeply shaken. She couldn't bear to imagine how she would carry on without her Master.
"Afraid?" Ye Qinghan smiled as she looked at her two junior sisters.
This mission was under their master's orders, and Li Shiyao had also donned the genuine bell—a rare occurrence. Like Ye Qinghan, Li Shiyao now understood what this signified.
Yet both sisters shared an unspoken understanding, choosing to keep their thoughts to themselves.
Li Shiyu gave a silly smile. "Shiyu isn't afraid~"
Dongfang Jue hadn't expected Li Shiyao to say she wasn't afraid, for she was always honest.
"Jue'er isn't afraid either! Through fire and sword, Jue'er will accompany both senior sisters!"
Dongfang Jue was always brimming with passion, a true hot-blooded young man.
"Jue'er, walk between me and Shiyu. Understand?"
Standing atop the crumbling wall strewn with broken stones, Dongfang Jue felt genuine joy welling up inside him.
Walking in the middle…
She hadn't expected such care. She'd assumed she'd catch up to Second Senior Sister quickly, but after all this time, the gap in cultivation remained vast.
The thick black mist seemed heavy and dense, its visibility range closely resembling the secret realm Su Cheng had once created. To avoid losing track, Su Muchan could only follow as closely as possible.
"Senior Sister, look at this."
It resembled an overturned desk, with scattered sheets of paper still lying atop it.
She picked up a sheet that hadn't been completely soaked in crimson, its edges still bearing faint traces of ink. Under the golden glow of the Chaos Bell, the three sisters examined it.
It was a final letter, but most of the paper was soaked through with bloodstains, rendering the content illegible.
"I don't recognize the characters on this either…"
"Why don't you take a look, Jue'er?"
Dongfang Jue shook her head. This script wasn't even classical Chinese, making it extremely difficult to decipher—let alone with only a few scattered words from one corner.
The four paused to rest, scanning their surroundings, and soon made a discovery.
"Shiyao, Jue'er, come here."
Ye Qinghan sat on a broken rock, casually tossing a helmet toward the two of them.
Li Shiyu and Dongfang Jue exchanged glances, quickly confirming the helmets matched the style of the dozen armored warriors, though the design was slightly different.
"There's blood on it."
Her jade-like fingers traced the dried bloodstains on the helmet, which she couldn't wipe away.
The group carefully scanned the surrounding area once more but found no trace of the helmet's owner.
"Hmm, this place looks like a fight happened here. It seems like a fierce battle."
"But who could it be? Judging by this helmet, it seems to belong to one of Master's enemies."
"Yeah, better be cautious. Who knows what lurks in this black fog—hunters, or some monster we've never seen before."
The fog was thick. Even when the four spread out to their maximum distance, their visible range barely exceeded twenty meters in diameter.
From the snowy mountain night, to the clear skies upon entering the mountains, and now this thick fog enveloping them—in such a short time, the trio felt as if they had traversed three entirely different worlds.
Yet, upon reentering this thick fog, no hunters disturbed them as expected. Instead, an eerie silence hung heavy.
The air grew thicker and heavier with the scent of blood. The smell of death Ye Qinghan had sensed earlier likely emanated from this black fog.
Yet despite occasionally spotting scattered weapons and shattered armor on the ground, they encountered no corpses or living creatures—not even monsters.
"It looks like a fierce battle erupted here. There are scorch marks, and these clean, even cuts are probably blade marks."
"Is this a moat?" Li Shiyao stared at the enormous trench before them, its depths and edges nearly invisible in the black mist.
Most people would likely choose to detour around it, but these were disciples of immortals. A moat posed no obstacle to them.
With a flick of their fingers, celestial magic illuminated the darkness. A beam of light spanned the river, revealing a moat over a hundred meters wide.
With a single leap, the four crossed over. Beyond the river, a scene of utter horror unfolded before them.
The scorched earth was littered with charred ruins, the ground strewn with the skeletal remains of black-armored warriors.
The sturdy city walls, constructed from the same black armor material, lay collapsed at their feet, resembling steel floor tiles with strange patterns.
Countless Ice Storm Flowers, nourished by the warriors' bones, poked their heads up from the inky "paving stones."
However, Ye Qinghan and the others did not know that these were not Ice Storm Flowers, but rather Remnant Dream Flowers belonging to another world.
The fragrance was identical to the scent that always accompanied Xiao Ai. Ye Qinghan quickly recognized this.
It was the lingering dreams of the departed, the hope defended by iron and blood, the indispensable flower in the sleeping chambers of Suzhou City, and the incense Xiao Ai often used.
"Senior Sister?"
Dongfang Jue noticed Ye Qinghan and Chu Youwei behind him about to be swallowed by the black mist. He hurriedly called out to Li Shiyao, his face panicked as he turned back to see why his senior sister and Su Muchan had fallen behind.
Piece by piece, the truth surfaced, and Ye Qinghan felt herself drawing ever closer to the core of the mystery.
Hearing Dongfang Jue's call, Ye Qinghan snapped back to reality.
"Nothing. Let's keep moving forward."
The Ice Storm Flower and the Remnant Dream Flower were fundamentally the same species, except the Remnant Dream Flower was blood-red.
Just like the path Gu Ai had taken, they were all blood-red.
Unlike the hunters Ye Qinghan had encountered before, these hunters' corpses hadn't vanished. Instead, they remained here forever.
Yet more numerous than the bodies of hunters or Faceless Ones were the armored warriors who lay eternally at rest here.
Monster corpses remained relatively intact, while the armored warriors, by contrast, had almost all met gruesome ends.
Even their armor proved insufficient against the relentless, tidal wave of monsters.
"These people…"
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