Chapter 1120: Trial of Inner Demons (4)
Qin Ye was truly astonished.
This second round of the trial of inner demons had shown him far too many things that he had been oblivious to in the past.
As it turned out, evil ghosts had visited their village and conversed with his grandfather. The reason his grandfather had gone up the mountain a second time was for those food stamps, and he knew all along that those things weren"t humans! However, he still took a risk, all in a bid to feed his beloved grandson.
Also, the Taoist temple that he was familiar with was actually an ancient tomb!
These evil ghosts had visited the ancient tomb, yet for some reason, they hadn"t devoured Qin Ye and his grandfather...
All of these revelations had completely smashed his original memory of this event into pieces, and everything was progressing in a completely different direction!
Would it just be a different process leading to the same outcome, or would it produce a completely different outcome as well?
Qin Ye didn"t know what to expect.
Right at this moment, Qin Zhongguo seemed to have sensed something, and he smiled as he said, "I"m not as good as I used to be, so I can only just barely carry you as I run."
He was releasing red yarn from the ball in his hand as he traveled up the mountain. Qin Ye knew that the same thing had most likely happened back then as well, but his grandfather had concealed this very well, so he didn"t notice.
It was summer at that point in time, and the temperatures surrounding the mountain were quite high.
In his youth, Qin Ye would run to the "Taoist temple" whenever he felt hot as it was very cool there.
Now that he knew what he did, that comforting coolness suddenly became extremely eerie and sinister!
Not long after they began to scale the mountain, Qin Ye had already surrept.i.tiously swept his gaze through his surroundings many times. In the past, he was oblivious to all of this, but in his current form, he was able to see that the entire mountain was riddled with Yin spirits, numbering in the tens of thousands!
This was definitely not a normal sight on what was supposed to be a deserted mountain!
Furthermore, these Yin spirits weren"t completely devoid of sentient will. Instead, they were kneeling and kowtowing toward the same direction, as if they were the most devout followers of some religion.
What on earth is going on here?
Qin Ye"s mind was racing rapidly.
We never encountered any supernatural events on the mountain, yet there are so many Yin spirits here. Also, why didn"t the nearby branches of the Special Investigations Department discover this? And who are these Yin spirits kneeling down to?
He could clearly sense that Ye Xianzu and the other evil ghosts were only several hundred meters behind them.
The plot was only continuing to thicken, and more leads were required for him to unravel this mystery, so he would just have to wait and watch the situation unfold.
The deeper they ventured into the mountain, the lower the air temperature became. As they approached the tomb, it was no longer just pleasantly cool anymore. Instead, there was an eerie chill in the air.
The shadows of the surrounding trees were like sinister wraiths, and the forest was far too quiet, so quiet that it was completely devoid of the cries of insects, birds, and other animals.
It was as silent as a cemetery.
However, in the eyes of Qin Ye, not only was this forest not completely deserted, there was a terrifying number of beings here.
There were tens of thousands of Yin spirits gathered in this area alone!
The Yin spirits near the foot of the mountain were all dressed in different attire, but the Yin spirits here were all dressed in a completely uniform manner. They were all wearing the same white robes, kneeling toward the same direction with their foreheads resting against the ground, presenting a bone-chilling sight to behold.
After advancing another 500 meters, Qin Ye"s expression changed ever so slightly as he involuntarily tugged on his grandfather"s clothes.
Right in front of them was a crimson line that seemed to have separated Yin and Yang, splitting up the entire forest.
It was a complex Yin rune inscribed using the blood of some type of unknown creature, and Qin Ye was immediately able to identify that this was a Yin rune of an extremely high caliber, at least belonging to the eighth circle or above!
There were also countless kneeling Yin spirits beyond the crimson line, but they were wearing black robes instead of white, and all of them were kneeling toward none other than that ruined "Taoist temple"!
A breeze suddenly blew through the area, causing the leaves of the surrounding trees to rustle incessantly in an eerie symphony.
Amid the deathly silence, the faint rustling made one feel extremely on-edge, and that applied even to Qin Ye as he knew that the Taisui fungus was most likely going to emerge very soon.
"Do you feel it as well?" Qin Zhongguo suddenly stopped just short of the crimson line, and it was unclear whether this was a coincidence or not.
"As expected, virgin boys and girls are naturally able to sense this thing," he sighed as he pulled out a jade pendant, and only then did he carefully step over the crimson line.
At the same time, all of the black-robed Yin spirits kneeling in front of the Taoist temple turned around at the same time, staring at the two of them with their deathly pale faces.
There was still no sound whatsoever.
Qin Zhongguo was completely oblivious to the fact that all of the Yin spirits around them had turned to look at them. He carefully made his way through this congregation of the dead, and with each step he took, the netherfire in the eyes of the black-robed Yin spirits would flicker slightly. Several seconds later, the entire mountain was already filled with flashing netherfire and eerie Yin energy.
It was close to noon at this moment, which was the time of day when Yang energy was at its peak, yet there was an extremely invasive chill permeating through the air.
However, Qin Ye paid no heed to that. In the instant that they stepped over the crimson line, he raised an eyebrow ever so slightly.
Ye Xianzu had been deathly silent during this entire trip, yet just now, his Yin energy had suddenly fluctuated slightly.
He wasn"t the only one, the Yin energy of the entire group was fluctuating violently. Furthermore, all of the white-robed Yin spirits wearing white, pointed hats raised their heads in unison, turning toward Qin Ye"s duo with greedy expressions.
A hint of enlightenment flashed through Qin Ye"s eyes as he finally realized what their role was.
Are we supposed to be the minesweepers? Ye Xianzu most likely knows that something is about to happen here, but he doesn"t know if there"s going to be any danger involved, so he used those food stamps to lure Grandpa into this place first. The Yin energy here is extremely dense, a normal living person wouldn"t even be able to spend an hour here. Just the Yin energy alone will be enough for them to automatically open their infernal eyes and see some things that they shouldn"t see. At the time, Grandpa consumed the Taisui fungus... How long did he stay here after that?
Qin Ye had no answers to these questions. However, he had fallen into a slumber for an entire day after consuming the Taisui fungus, so his grandfather had to have remained there for quite some time as well.
With that in mind, his hands involuntarily balled up into tight fists.
Perhaps Grandpa isn"t dead! The possibility of that is very low, but if he did die, the cause of death would most likely have been due to the corruption of the Yin energy here, making him unable to resist the effects of the Taisui fungus! In that case, all of these Yin spirits would"ve contributed to his death!
A sense of burning hatred welled up in Qin Ye"s heart alongside these thoughts. He was a fair and conscientious ruler, but his grandfather was his only relative in this world, and when it came to him, there was nothing that Qin Ye wouldn"t do.
However, this wasn"t the time to be considering these things as the Taisui fungus was about to emerge.
He raised his head to look up at the sky. Whenever the Taisui fungus appeared, the first thing to undergo a change would be the sky.
Qin Zhongguo seemed to have sensed something, and he looked around with a wary expression. Unbeknownst to him, the countless Yin spirits around them had already risen to their feet. Several black-robed women with deathly pale faces and inky-black long hair had already approached Qin Zhongguo until they were no more than a meter apart, and they had all taken a deep breath in unison.
They were preparing to blow out Qin Zhongguo"s three fires of life!
Qin Ye was holding onto Qin Zhongguo"s hand as tightly as he could, and never had he felt the pa.s.sage of time to be so slow and torturous. Right at this moment, all of the Yin spirits looked up into the sky in unison before letting loose silent screams.
Gusts of bone-chilling Yin wind instantly swept through the area.
In that instant, all of the clouds in the sky rapidly converged toward the center in a scene reminiscent of a sci-fi film. Half of the sun was concealed, while the other half was still exposed, creating an eerie Yin Yang diagram in the sky.
The entire forest had become as dark as night, and specks of netherfire rose up into the sky, resembling stars in the night sky.
Qin Zhongguo reflexively threw his arms around Qin Ye to shield him.
He couldn"t see the surrounding netherfire, but it was naturally extremely disturbing to him that day had suddenly transitioned into night.
He was instantly overcome by the fear of the unknown, and the first thing that he should"ve done in this situation was to flee for his life, but he didn"t move.
Right in front of them, a beam of sunlight that was only around as thick as a human arm had shone down right onto the stone plaque in front of the Taoist temple with unerring accuracy.
This was a damaged stone plaque that had already been standing for countless years, and even the text engraved upon it had become completely illegible. However, what was very strange was that there wasn"t any vegetation growing on it, and right at this moment, a flower bud grew out of the stone plaque.
It was the Taisui fungus!
Qin Ye was biting down onto his own lower lip with such force that he was almost drawing blood. This was an extremely nostalgic scene, one that had changed his entire life.
He was already mentally prepared for this, but now that it had arrived, he still couldn"t help but be overcome with emotion.
He turned to Qin Zhongguo with a despairing expression and opened his mouth in silence, but didn"t say anything in the end.
He had to look ahead.
The fate of one of the four pillars was resting on his shoulders, and he couldn"t afford to lose himself in past memories. All of the nations in the entire underworld were looking to him as a world leader, and he had heavy burdens and responsibilities that he had to carry. He was no longer the young lad running his coffin shop without a care in the world.
The Harken, Zhao Yun, the second King Yanluo... All of them were waiting for him to return.
Thus, he didn"t say anything.
The flower on the stone plaque was very strange in that it resembled both flesh and plant matter. Its petals were presented in layers, and it was around a foot in size. Under the illumination of the sunlight, it bloomed further and further, and at the center, a fist-sized stamen that resembled a human face was becoming clearer and clearer.
As the Taisui fungus emerged, its flower petals gradually turned from a light blue color to a crimson color, and the human face at its center was continuing to become clearer and clearer, making it look as if a person were about to emerge from the stamen.
Right at this moment, Qin Zhongguo stepped forward before shooting through the air like a speeding arrow.
At the same time, all of the Yin spirits present turned toward Qin Zhongguo in unison. Their mouths opened up as wide as they would go, and the netherfire in their eyes erupted into the sky as they pounced toward Qin Zhongguo without any hesitation.
All of a sudden, a sound that was completely inaudible to the human ear rang out, and all of the Yin spirits were rooted to the spot before their heads swiveled around 180 degrees, casting their eyes toward the direction they had come from.
Ye Xianzu was standing there, and he was holding a flute made out of a human bone as he heaved a faint sigh. "It really does work..."
He was standing quite far away from Qin Zhongguo, so Qin Zhongguo was unable to hear what he was saying. At this point, he had already rushed over to the stone plaque, and his chest was heaving violently from excitement as he made a grab for the human face at the center of the flower.
The sunlight was becoming dimmer and dimmer, yet the surrounding area was becoming clearer and clearer. However, right as Qin Zhongguo"s hand was about to come into contact with the human face, it suddenly stopped cold in its tracks.
He then turned to look at Qin Ye with a stunned expression, and he opened his mouth as if he wanted to say something, but in the next instant, he dissipated into a cloud of Yin energy.
Immediately thereafter, the entire illusion began to disintegrate.
A gust of Yin wind swept past Qin Ye, and he returned to his adult form once again. His eyes were tightly shut, and one of his hands was clenched into a tight fist, while the other hand was still frozen in a grabbing motion, even though it was no longer holding back Qin Zhongguo.
"You win." He heaved a forlorn sigh. "I lost."
He was unable to hold himself back in the end.
He knew that this would be the consequence of his actions, but what if it could work? He didn"t want to pa.s.s up this chance, no matter how slim it was.
What if time really had been reversed, and he was able to stop the past from unfolding?
He didn"t care about immortality, all he wanted was to return to those days.
Thus, in the instant that Qin Zhongguo reached out, he reflexively also reached out to hold Qin Zhongguo back.