Chapter 55: Chapter 54: Mulberry Fields to Azure Seas, a Thousand Years Thus

[You have sold a Village Level Mysterious Ghost Spirit (Resentment, Resentment, Resentment) weighing thirty-nine taels. You have received one Two-star Level Marvel: the Five Poison Jar.]

Song Ciwan sold the resentful emotions she had previously collected from the Giant Village Chief. This time, instead of a boost to her Cultivation, she unexpectedly received a Marvel: the Five Poison Jar!

Five Poison Jar: Forged from Abyssal Wondrous Stone. Can be used to collect the Five Poisonous Insects. After its owner claims and refines it, the jar can devour humans and consume spirits to nourish its master in return. There is a chance of losing control; must be wielded with caution.

[You have sold a Village Level Mysterious Ghost Spirit (Sorrow, Sorrow, Sorrow) weighing forty taels. You have received a special item: a Three-star Level Netherworld Road Guide.] 𝙛𝒓𝓮𝙚𝔀𝒆𝒃𝓷𝒐𝓿𝙚𝓵.𝙘𝒐𝒎

Netherworld Road Guide: A pass to the supernatural world. Single use.

[You have sold a Village Level Mysterious Ghost Spirit (Regret, Regret, Regret) weighing fifty-four taels. You have received a Ghost Gate Talisman and one Three-star Level Spirit Talisman Beast Creation Talisman.]

...

While Song Ciwan was silently operating the Heaven and Earth Scale and Chi Hua Fairy was performing the Red Fire Purification, the last drops of the Flood Dragon Golden Blood fell over Bibo Lake. All its flesh was gone, leaving nothing but a skeleton behind.

A perimeter of several miles around Bibo Lake was enveloped by the power of the Official Seal wielded by Su Yang County Magistrate Fang Jintai. Outside this barrier, the City God’s eight thousand Yin Soldiers had formed an array to lend their aid.

More and more citizens fled toward the four city gates with their families in tow.

The city gates were not closed, and the citizens were free to leave.

However, not many people actually fled. Most found it too difficult to abandon their homes.

Most importantly, it wasn’t safe outside the city!

Although the city was often plagued by demons, and junior officials died because of them from time to time, such incidents were still low-probability events for the general populace.

People are prone to wishful thinking. As long as a disaster doesn’t befall them personally, they can pretend it doesn’t exist.

The world outside the walls was another matter entirely. There was no great protective array, and the desolate wilds were teeming with innumerable Little Demons and fiends.

Some villages might have been protected by their Ancestral Halls, but for ordinary citizens accustomed to city life, that option still presented many challenges—

Terrified people crowded by the city gates in ever-growing numbers. Cries, arguments, and even pushing, shoving, and trampling erupted, descending into chaos.

No one noticed that above the heads of the panicked citizens, invisible wisps of energy were flying into the sky, converging toward Bibo Lake in the west!

The shield of pure light projected by County Magistrate Fang Jintai’s Official Seal failed to block this energy in the slightest. Formless and intangible, the wisps penetrated the shield as silently as mist seeping through a mud wall. Like fledgling swallows flocking to their nest, they instantly merged into the dark clouds and raging winds above Bibo Lake.

The clouds howled and the wind shrieked. Surrounded by Wind Sabers, the Flood Dragon’s skeletal body slowly fell toward the dried-up basin of Bibo Lake below.

It seemed to be utterly lifeless, save for an aquamarine Dragon Pearl bobbing within its bleached skull, its light pulsing erratically.

In the unnamed supernatural world, Song Ciwan made the final sale of the round: [You have sold a Village Level Mysterious Ghost Spirit (the sorrows of parting, unfulfilled desire, and hateful encounters) weighing thirty-five taels. You have received a Marvel: one Light-Tracing Mirror Fragment.]

Light-Tracing Mirror Fragment: A miraculous fragment of light and shadow that can trace back a past connection to unravel one mystery. Single use.

The item immediately caught Song Ciwan’s attention, and an idea began to form in her mind.

At that very moment, Chi Hua Fairy finished cleansing the filth before her with Red Fire. The next instant, she raised her hand, sliced open the tip of her right index finger, and forced out a drop of essence blood.

DING!

She flicked the drop of essence blood into the air, as if plucking a zither string.

She pointed the Jade Talisman in her hand toward the sky. A ray of red light shot out from it, catching up to the drop of essence blood in midair an instant later.

BOOM!

When the two met, a wondrous reaction occurred.

The red light exploded outward, scattering into a storm of fiery blades. The blades spun, filling the air with a grating, grinding sound.

What were they cutting?

It was the blue-gray dome of the sky!

As the flaming blades cut, cracks began to appear across the sky. Then, bits and pieces of dirt and rock started to fall from above.

CRASH! CLATTER! Rubble rained down.

The people on the ground were stunned. The quick-witted immediately covered their heads to dodge the falling debris, while others cried out in alarm, "This isn’t the sky! What is this? Is... is it a cave?"

The sky peeled away, scattering rubble everywhere. The once-hazy Deceitful Realm finally revealed its true form.

Ahead, the ruined mountain village was still there, but the high dome of the sky had changed completely.

It wasn’t that high anymore, only about ten feet up—a height some could touch with an outstretched hand if they jumped.

The barren mountains were gone, the riverbed had vanished. The sky had pressed down, becoming a cramped tunnel. The ruined Wealth Village was twisted within this tunnel, revealing overturned earth, weathered brick walls...

A faint, eerie moss grew in the corners and on the rocks, emitting a hazy, blue-gray glow. It was the only source of light in the long, deep tunnel.

As more debris fell from the tunnel ceiling, Chi Hua Fairy flicked her sleeve. Her cool voice echoed in everyone’s ears. "The mulberry fields turn to sea. A thousand years ago, this village of Yun Country was buried deep beneath Bibo Lake by a change in the landscape. This place is about to collapse. Escape as fast as you can. You are on your own!"

Before her voice had even faded, her pretty face still flushed from exertion, she transformed into a streak of fire and shot away into the depths of the tunnel.

Someone from behind quickly cried out, "Fairy!"

Others knew shouting was useless. They gritted their teeth and bolted.

RUMBLE! CRASH! The rubble fell faster. Covering their heads, people stumbled and scrambled to follow in the direction Chi Hua Fairy had vanished.

Song Ciwan, pulling Aunt Zhou along, had taken the lead. The moment Chi Hua Fairy disappeared, she had used her Lightweight Skill to pursue her.

Aunt Zhou, panicked but grateful to be pulled along, stammered, "Miss Song, are—are we still at the bottom of Bibo Lake? Then how... how do we get out?"

Song Ciwan replied, "We keep going. If there’s no way out at the end, we’ll figure it out then."

As she spoke, she discreetly flicked a Light Body Talisman onto Aunt Zhou.

Aunt Zhou instantly felt a lightness in her feet as she followed Song Ciwan through one winding bend after another in the gloomy tunnel.

The scenery in the tunnel kept changing. After leaving the twisted ruins of Wealth Village’s territory, they saw collapsed earthen slopes, shattered stone pillars, and what looked like half of a building with glazed-tile eaves...

There was a great variety of debris, including many broken Buddha statues scattered haphazardly among the dirt and rock. It was hard to imagine what this place had once looked like.

The only thing that remained constant was the moss emitting its faint, blue-gray glow. It grew in every corner of the tunnel, silently illuminating the way for all who passed.

After running for an unknown amount of time, the sound of falling rubble and the panicked cries of the people behind them faded into the distance. Suddenly, Song Ciwan stopped.

Ahead, a Buddha statue stood upside down, countless red silk ribbons dangling from its sides. A faint wind blew from the depths of the tunnel, and as the ribbons brushed against the cavern walls, they unexpectedly produced the clear, tinkling sound of a spring brook.