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Chapter 371: Two-Person Instance
Zhu Yao returned to investigate the Extermination Formation, and as her master had said, the place had been cleared up nicely. It was a barren wasteland within a hundred kilometers radius. Forget about Nascent Divided Pearls, even the demonic beasts had disappeared. She even intentionally circled around the area, yet she did not even discover a single one.
“Other formations have been mixed within the Extermination Formation.” Yu Yan solemnly said. “Most likely, one of the formations was used to lure in demonic beasts, and the formation core was on one of their bodies.”
Zhu Yao’s heart turned chilly for a moment. She thought that Mei Xue was like Yi Ling, a white lotus with excessive hormones. Never did she expect that she was actually a black-hearted lotus. Most likely, she had already planned on using Squad Captain Nangong and Little Teal right from the start.
Though there were many ways to obtain Nascent Divided Pearls, they were all in this dense forest. There were many living creatures in the forest, and they were extremely hard to find. That was why she decided to exterminate all living beings, and after that, finding Nascent Divided Pearls would turn much more convenient.
However, the moment this formation were to active, other than Nascent Divided Pearls, there were still demonic beasts in the dense forest. In order to buy more time to collect the scattered Nascent Divided Pearls, she needed a cannon fodder to help her lure away the demonic beasts. That’s why she chose Nangong Cheng and Zhonggu Lu.
She secretly placed the formation core for the demonic beast luring formation on them, and as long as they split up, the demonic beasts would naturally chase after Nangong Cheng and Zhonggu Lu. All they had to do was return to collect the Nascent Divided Pearls and they would be done with their work. Such convenience.
“Then where are they now?” Zhu Yao’s heart sank. The demonic beasts can’t possibly chase all the way here, right?
“No need to worry.” Yu Yan shook his head. “That demonic beast luring formation must be time-limited. By now, it should be ineffective.”
With a wave of his hand, a dull-coloured formation inscription floated out of the two were meditating.
Zhu Yao heaved a sigh of relief. Thinking back for a moment, she suddenly felt that Mei Xue was rather terrifying. In order to obtain Nascent Divided Pearls, she would actually slaughter all the living beings within a hundred kilometers radius without batting an eye. She sure was ruthless. Furthermore, the Extermination Formation was just a thousand kilometers away from the divine city. Zhu Yao wondered if there were any unlucky Deities who came walking into the forest and were killed along with all of the living creatures. Let’s not forget there were definitely several demons, beasts, or spirit among them.
As an honest person with great EQ and IQ, Zhu Yao felt that she definitely had to stay away from this black-hearted lotus in the future. She might one day be conned into her schemes.
Zhu Yao directly told Squad Captain Nangong the truth, and his face instantly blackened. He looked as if he badly wanted to head back immediately and beat up the other side. Little Teal’s leaves even turned black from anger. This seed of vengeance had truly been planted deep.
Though by now, they must have already flown up to the third floor. They did not idle for long. After student Nagong’s injuries were better, they immediately plucked out a few Nascent Divided Pearls and stepped onto the level-raising elevator.
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Zhu Yao was awakened by the cold. There was cold wind assaulting her, and it was bone-piercing chilly. Startled up, she opened her eyes and what she saw was complete darkness. The entire place was pitch-black. She instinctively reached out for her master beside her, but she grasped empty air instead.
“Master!” Zhu Yao was shocked. She reached out left and right, and only then did she grab onto a gentle hand. She instantly heaved a sigh of relief. Her sight was still covered in darkness. “This is… We’re on the lower third floor?” It’s a little too dark, isn’t it? Isn’t the exit supposed to be the divine city? Why isn’t there the slightest bit of divine energy around here?
Zhu Yao casually whipped up a fire art and glanced around. “Where’s Nangong Huang and Little Teal?” Weren’t they in front of me? How did they disappear? “Master, you…” When she turned around, she was stunned. “Yue Ying, why is it you?”
She subconsciously swung her hand away and raised up the ember in her hand, beginning her search. “Master, Nangong Huang, Little Teal…”
Yue Ying’s eyes which were dark in the first place, instantly dimmed quite a bit. He slowly tightened his hand, and only after a short while did he retract the hand which she had mistakenly grabbed onto. Moving his lips, he spoke a moment later. “He’s not here… There’s no one else here…”
Zhu Yao’s feet stopped, her eyes instantly sharpened. “Is it your doing?” Bringing her here all alone.
Yue Ying was startled, his eyes instantly widened. His stunned face instantly turned miserably pale as he strongly shook his head. “Big sis Yao…”
“It best not be!” Zhu Yao turned her head around and took a deep breath. Not bothering about him any longer, she immediately flew up and materialized a fire dragon. In an instant, a streak of light cut across the sky.
When she took a closer look below, she realized that this place was a tattered divine city. The entire place was filled with broken walls and collapsed buildings. As Yue Ying had said, other than the two of them, there wasn’t a single other human figure around.
Why was she here? She recalled that she was clearly standing on the elevator to the third floor. When she reached the top, a white light assaulted her. She simply felt a light headache, and immediately after, she found herself here.
Was this truly the lower third floor? Where was her master and the rest? Could it be that the third level had different exits?
The surrounding winds grew stronger, and they were turning colder as well. It was as if they were blowing through the gaps of the bones. The winds were accompanied by strange howls, causing one’s heart to feel chilly.
Zhu Yao decided to first look around and search for other people. She immediately chose a direction and flew towards it. Yue Ying immediately followed after her as well.
However, the further she searched, the darker it became, and the winds were so strong they could blow away a human being. The defensive barriers that Zhu Yao placed down were not very effective either, and she had no choice but to stop. She could not help but feel a little worried. Just what was this hell of a place? She had flown for half a day, but she did not spot a single person. Furthermore, there wasn’t a single hint of divine energy in her surroundings. She couldn’t be trapped here, right?
She took a deep breath and calmed herself. Then, she used all of her strength to release her divine sense to investigate. She realized that in a hundred kilometers radius, the scenery was all the same. A barren wasteland. Forget about Deities, even a small animal or a plant couldn’t be seen. There wasn’t divine energy, nor spiritual energy in the air. Other than the constantly howling winds, there was nothing else around.
Wait a minute!
Her divine sense swept towards a place several dozens of kilometers in front of her. There seemed to be something as huge as a mountain? And why did it feel familiar? Zhu Yao’s heart shook, and she immediately flew in that direction. After closing in, she then discovered that they were actually a huge bones. She wondered what kind of demonic beast they belonged to, as the bones were extremely enormous. At the very least, they could reach up to a height of five or six floors. Strangely, they was actually entirely red and was emitting out flowing light like a gem. Furthermore, they were all ribcages, while some of them were buried in the ground. What was exposed were sharp and pointy bones that reached out to the sky.
“What are these?” She hadn’t seen any red bones before. Yue Ying took a few steps forward as well, and then, lowering his head, he looked at the strange bones in front of him.
Zhu Yao stared at it for half a day, but she still couldn’t figure out what’s strange about it. Though, the sinister winds in the air grew even stronger. Whatever, let’s first locate master for now.
“I’m leaving.” She called out. Just as she was about to cast an art and fly, her side tightened, and she was pulled back. When she turned back to look, Yue Ying was currently grabbing tightly onto the corner of her robes. Zhu Yao frowned. “Let go!”
“…” Yue Ying did not reply. He simply lowered his head, and held onto the corner of her robes tightly just like in the past.
Fury instantly enveloped Zhu Yao. After not being able to jerk out after a few shakes, she immediately cast an art and sliced off that piece of cloth.
“What are you trying to pull?”
He still did not reply as the hand he was holding onto the piece of cloth with, trembled. He took a step forward, as though he was still trying to pull onto her. This action reminded ZHu Yao of his previous actions, and immediately swatted his hand away. Just as she was about to fly up into the air, a very soft voice called out behind her.
“Egg…”
Zhu Yao’s feet stopped. It was as if her heart had been slammed heavily by something, as she hurriedly turned her head around.
Yue Ying who was still a head taller than she was earlier, actually began to slowly shrink. In just a few moments, his height was merely at her waist level, and his clothes had turned tattered and broken as well. The flesh on his face caved in, as though his moisture had all been sucked out in an instant. What remained was a bone-skinny skeleton figure.
This appearance…
“Shao Bai.”
The skinny-figured child walked over shakily. Opening wide his branch-like arms, he tightly hugged her waist. A voice that was so coarse which made it unclear, sounded. “Egg… Don’t be afraid! I will protect you, don’t be afraid.”
Zhu Yao was stunned.
Just what was going on?
“Yue Ying! Stop fooling around.” She immediately pulled his hand away. “Just what is going on? Why did you become like that?”
However, he seemed to ignore her. Suddenly, he raised his hand and slit his wrist, the surrounding winds instantly turned wild. Like sharp blades, they came assaulting towards her. Yue Ying used all of his strength to scatter his blood towards the air, angrily shouting. “Go away, don’t you all dare touch her!”
This… This was the same scene she saw in the Nether Abyss back then. He was Shao Bai?
“Yue Ying! What’s wrong with you?” Zhu Yao’s mind was in a mush. She turned to look at the red bones. Could those bones be the reason? Could they possibly be capable of confusing the hearts of people? Was all these an illusion? However, Yue Ying’s cultivation was clearly higher than hers. Why was she fine, while he turned out that way?
Zhu Yao hurriedly cast a few dispelling arts, but they were all ineffective.
Yue Ying was still scattering his own blood, constantly slitting his own wrist.
“Are you crazy!?” If he continued to slice his wrist, he would empty all the blood in his body. They were just dark winds, not devillic energy!
Zhu Yao grabbed his hand, stopping him from his self-harm. She turned to look at those red bones, and immediately carried Yue Ying off with her fastest speed.
However, Yue Ying did not recover his reason in the slightest. Instead, he raised his head and looked straight at her. Then, he reached out to hug her neck. Using his pair of withered small hands, he patted slowly on her back.
“Egg, don’t be afraid, don’t be afraid… I will protect you. Second elder brother will protect you!”
“…” Zhu Yao instantly felt as if her heart had been stabbed a little. A bone-piercing pain welled up, and even her heart began to ache. She could not help but call out. “Second elder brother…”
The moment her words fell, the surrounding scenery instantly began to distort, as though something had been triggered. The darkness in the sky disappeared and the surrounding boundless wasteland disappeared without a trace. What replaced it was a huge green plains. The sky was covered by enormous leaves, only small bits of light could seep through the cover. Like a starry sky, the light that landed on her body felt warm and fuzzy.
—— Parasol Tree.
“Little sister, this is for you!” In front of her, Shao Bai’s large face suddenly appeared. He no longer had the look of a child like before, instead, he turned into his previous handsome appearance. He was currently holding onto a bag of something which he stuffed into her hands. She unconsciously opened it up, and they were all melon seeds.
“…”
