Chapter 2438: Unspeakable Matters?

His tone was somewhat certain, and Mingke Xianren glanced at him without saying anything.

This Tiger Wing General is truly quite confident.

But He Lingchuan actually could already confirm that these three of us had indeed narrowly escaped disaster, because he had just finished listening to Dong Rui's transmitted message!

"Hey, Ling Jinbao sent you into the Secret Realm, and then he was pursued by the demon soldiers of Yujing City. Your whereabouts are very likely already exposed."

He Lingchuan had anticipated this long ago, but he remained silent.

There's no need to let outsiders or enemies know about this little secret of his being able to communicate with the outside world from within the Secret Realm.

Half a month ago, Dong Rui rode the snail toad away from the Panlong Ruins, and He Lingchuan had once picked a stone carving from the southern gate of the Panlong Secret Realm and given it to him, called the "Wind-Following Ear," used to maintain communication between inside and outside the Secret Realm.

Otherwise, the Secret Realm and reality are two separate worlds, capable of isolating most magical artifacts' communication.

But interestingly, even after entering the Duzhi Mountain Secret Realm, Dong Rui's chatter could still be transmitted clearly and without obstruction into He Lingchuan's ears.

This shows that this device can not only be used for communication between the Panlong Secret Realm and reality, but can even penetrate the Secret Realm barrier established by Shangguan Biao.

He Lingchuan inferred that this is the function of the Great Square Vessel, probably because certain laws also have a priority order.

Ling Jinbao also has an eyeball spider on him, and he cannot communicate with Zhu Xiuer inside the Secret Realm, but he doesn't know that the Spider Queen has also granted Dong Rui outside the city access permissions, so Dong Rui can receive real-time information from Ling Jinbao's end.

It's fine; the news Ling Jinbao received cannot be transmitted into the Duzhi Mountain Secret Realm, but Dong Rui can.

This is also the significance of He Lingchuan placing him outside the city: besides serving as a reliable external aid, he can also function as an excellent human relay station.

Dong Rui also knows He Lingchuan is inconvenienced from replying, so he continues on his own:

"Ling Jinbao, while evading pursuers, received help from a lonely soul—you'd never guess who it is! Ahaha, it's the immortal thief Baochi Shan who once failed and was killed in the Duzhi Mountain Secret Realm—no, it's Baochi Hai!"

He Lingchuan raised his eyebrows. The immortal thief also entered this Secret Realm? That's farther than most adventurers have gone.

But he had only heard of Baochi Shan before. Where did this name Baochi Hai come from?

Dong Rui then explained the peculiar symbiotic relationship of the Baos brothers to him: "It's probably like... like how, after the elder sister died, her soul once parasitized the younger sister's body?"

Even in ancient times, very few people knew that the earth-hole spider mother had two individuals. This kind of secret, the parties involved don't like to talk about outwardly.

"Also, in the Secret Realm, you must absolutely not touch the Wind-Dew Golden Lotus!" Dong Rui emphasized, "The Baos brothers back then just carelessly reached out toward it, hadn't even touched the lotus flower yet, when their vision blurred, a sudden 'whoosh,' and the Secret Realm kicked them back into reality, falling into Shangguan Biao's encirclement!"

He Lingchuan's eyes flickered slightly.

This information is very precious indeed. That Wind-Dew Golden Lotus is indeed a trap set by Shangguan Biao!

No wonder it's so conspicuous; the Secret Realm's owner even added a halo to it.

If Mingke Xianren had touched it just now, he very likely would have already followed in the Baos brothers' footsteps and been kicked out of the Secret Realm.

By extension, if they hadn't restrained themselves and killed Shangguan Biao in the Secret Realm on sight, they might have been instantly KO'd and eliminated.

Dong Rui continued: "Also, Baochi Hai believes the Duzhi Mountain Secret Realm is likely cyclical, meaning this specific segment of history keeps repeating."

He Lingchuan nodded almost imperceptibly.

This aligns with his inference. And if this Secret Realm is indeed endlessly cyclical, its owner can conveniently use "Shangguan Biao" to continuously feed the earth mother's essence with the golden lotus dew, thus soothing it nonstop without having to personally intervene.

The real within the illusory, the illusory within the real, true and false intertwined—truly hard to discern.

The Master of Qufeng Cave truly lives up to being a master at creating Secret Realms.

He Lingchuan then thought even deeper:

Last time, Shangguan Biao himself did not appear in the Secret Realm, but chose to deal with the Baos brothers from outside it.

Outnumbering the few, waiting by the tree—surely that's easier. But could there be other reasons? After Ling Jinbao left the Changfeng Valley garrison, he saw large numbers of demon soldiers from Yujing City gathering toward Duzhi Mountain. Using the Wind-Dew Golden Lotus as bait, it's hard for anyone not to fall for it. As soon as He Lingchuan and the others reach out, the Secret Realm will collapse immediately, leaving only demon generals, demon soldiers, and the earth mother's iron fists awaiting them.

Conversely, the Secret Realm's owner seems to dislike outsiders staying in Duzhi Mountain, hence setting this trap to drive them out.

Note: he's not just targeting He Lingchuan and company, but all intruders.

What unspeakable secrets lie within the Duzhi Mountain Secret Realm?

Dong Rui also worried: "Baochi Hai has also been asking about your identities and origins—maybe he's Shangguan Biao in disguise, trying to pump Ling Jinbao for information."

He Lingchuan shares this concern. The Baos brothers' encounter in Yujing City was also something Baochi Hai himself said, with no proof.

Who knows if Baochi Shan truly has such a ghost brother?

Perhaps Shangguan Biao has already discovered that He Lingchuan has been bypassing his traps in the Secret Realm without picking the Wind-Dew Golden Lotus, so he simply blurts it out openly to gain Ling Jinbao's trust, in order to extract information from him.

Dong Rui added: "Oh, and one last thing: Shangguan Shangzun found the White House and nearly entered the Secret Realm by mistake. That place is like your mirror world—the entrance blends seamlessly with the surroundings, yet Shangguan Shangzun still discovered it. It seems his archaeological experience is no less than Mingke Xianren's; no wonder Lingshan let him bring his own team. But now there's a split in his team—someone has retreated, while Shangguan Shangzun still wants to search to the end, though he must first prepare for withdrawal."

Shangguan Shangzun also has an eyeball spider on him, so Dong Rui can also receive their real-time movements.

"Also, the Heavenly Demon used giant horned beasts to resist Lingshan's attack, temporarily fighting the Lingshan forces to a standstill. These big fellows were released from the Frozen Divine Realm of Tianmo Xiyi, I guess—Tianmo previously froze them into big ice lumps for easy transport. Tianmo has many experimental sites at sea; I estimate Xiyi brought them along en route."

Dong Rui said all this in one breath, then paused: "Lastly, just remind you once more: the hourglass you gave me is almost done. That is to say, there are still... two hours until the Panlong Secret Realm is completed."

He Lingchuan softly hummed in acknowledgment.

The blood demon behind him suddenly interjected: "This countdown is useless. Your new Secret Realm lacks energy support; even after two hours, it still won't form. Just waiting is pointless—unless it gets replenished in time."

He Lingchuan nodded almost imperceptibly.

"I think the new Secret Realm's illusion won't last long at the earth mother's place, and then it will act on the ruins."