Chapter 599: Heaven and Earth Inverted, Grandma and Grandpa Are All Here

At this moment, looking at the lantern in his hand, the Captain was also deep in thought.

"Could it be that the Crown Prince and the elders didn't secretly follow us? Otherwise, how could they have resisted eating the dark souls under the abyss just now?"

The Captain sighed inwardly, ignoring the struggle of the human-skin lantern, and his left hand rapidly formed seals, pressing down onto the lantern's face, which bore an eighty-percent resemblance to his own.

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The lantern's face looked ferocious and let out a low growl.

But as soon as this growl was emitted, the Captain bit the tip of his tongue and sprayed a large mouthful of fresh blood onto it.

Instantly, the lantern's face was drenched in blood.

"Shut up! You are the face of my past life that I left here back then; how dare you growl at me!"

As the Captain's voice rang out, Xu Qing's figure had already walked past the mountain range at a steady pace and stepped onto the altar.

The candle in his hand had burned down exactly to the end. After the mist dispersed, Xu Qing saw everything around him clearly, his gaze finally landing on the Captain and the lantern in his hand.

The Captain looked proud as he held up the lantern.

"This thing was left by me back then and hidden here. Because it has no brain and only a piece of skin left, its intelligence is limited."

While the Captain spoke, the others also stepped onto the altar one after another. Regarding this smooth progress, the Captain smiled and continued, "At first, it told you not to look back to gain your trust, and also because it was worried that the existence under the abyss would snatch its food."

"And after gaining your trust, that last sentence it said—telling everyone to run fast—was just to harvest you."

It was fishing, and I was fishing for it. Although this thing has no brain, it still has instinctive caution; if I didn't fish this way, it would never have come close.

"And this checkpoint, actually, under my candle, wasn't difficult at all. The hard part was finding a way to get my hands on it."

The Captain patted the lantern's face.

After being sprayed with blood, the face was on the verge of death. At this moment, it suddenly opened its mouth to bite the Captain's finger, and the Captain casually slapped it away.

"Give it here!" You Jing said coldly, her expression indifferent.

The Captain blinked and tossed it over; this was one of the prices he paid to get You Jing to agree to follow.

After receiving the human-skin lantern and looking at the face that was eighty percent similar to Chen Chen Erniu's, You Jing's eyes turned crimson, and she raised her right hand to deliver a fierce slap.

The blood didn't stop; slap after slap followed, making the human-skin lantern wail in extreme misery, a sound so wretched that it even startled Xiang Ningyan, Wu Wu Jian, and the others. The Captain, meanwhile, cheered from the side.

"Well hit! Use more force! Keep it up!"

You Jing grew even angrier at these words, but the human-skin lantern was strange; no matter how You Jing attacked, it would not collapse, and even when its face swelled up high, it would quickly return to normal.

This scene was very bizarre.

Xu Qing glanced at it, just about to speak.

But at this moment, a familiar voice suddenly came from within his mind.

"This lantern is somewhat interesting."

The voice was aged; it was the Crown Prince!

Xu Qing closed his mouth. He was neither surprised nor unsurprised by the voice in his mind, and the voices in his consciousness continued.

"Hmm, it's a treasure, especially the refining technique, which carries the style of the Huangtian. This Chen Chen Erniu's background is indeed mysterious."

This was Princess Mingmei.

This was Eighth Uncle.

"Compared to this, I am actually more curious about where that mysterious Upper God who is cooperating with him comes from! And whether it is as we analyzed before."

This was Fifth Grandma.

The Crown Prince spoke with a smile.

Listening to these voices in his mind, Xu Qing silently looked up at the sky. The place where their group was currently located was actually the peak of the sky. Looking out, the pitch-black canopy of heaven seemed to be where the abyss was.

Especially that scar on the sky canopy; it looked fine when viewed from the starting point of the mountain range, but now, at such close range, the scar looked like a massive canyon, shocking to behold.

Thunder and lightning flashed within it, yet they could not illuminate the darkness; only the roaring sounds echoed from time to time, spreading through the dark.

Noticing Xu Qing's gaze, the Captain walked over, patted his shoulder, and spoke with a smile.

"Little Ah Qing, although the second checkpoint is dangerous, I, your Senior Brother, have long been prepared."

As he spoke, the Captain took out stacks of long, strip-shaped talisman papers and distributed them to everyone. "Once I go in, I will cast spells to burn them as we walk. This time we won't split up; we must stick together. As long as the light doesn't go out, those souls won't come near."

These skins are good stuff, you all should use them sparingly...

The Captain felt a bit reluctant and gave some instructions.

After Xu Qing took them, he immediately recognized from the texture that these were indeed the Senior Brother's skin, so he gave him a sympathetic look.

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He felt it was better not to tell the Senior Brother about the arrival of the Crown Prince and the others, otherwise, the other party's mood might instantly turn sour.

Although the Crown Prince and the others would likely appear soon, it was good for the Captain to be happy for at least a little longer.

Xu Qing sighed inwardly and walked toward the straight, massive canyon ahead.

The moment they entered, the heavens and earth inverted.

The firmament became the earth, and the earth transformed into the firmament.

That canyon, which was originally in the sky, appeared before Xu Qing. The mountain bodies on both sides were towering, the canyon like a slit of sky, while the mountain range that once looked like a blade now became the sky canopy.

Its tilted appearance looked just like a giant saber, held high in the sky, ready to strike down at any moment into this canyon, and... fitting perfectly.

That sense of crisis, like a blade hanging over one's head, rose in his mind.

While everyone was startled, the Captain took out a piece of skin and burned it with a wave of his hand, producing firelight.

The surrounding darkness actually turned into countless strands like ink, slowly retreating to the surroundings, clearing out the area where the firelight was.

"Don't waste them. Keeping two burning at the same time is enough. I will keep lighting them, and as for you all, one person lighting one at a time is sufficient. Big Sword, you go first, then Little Little Ningning, Li Youfei, Big... Sister You, and Little Ah Qing."

As the Captain's words rang out, a warmth spread along with the firelight, enveloping everyone's bodies and minds. Outside the firelight, the darkness began to twist, and Xu Qing clearly saw pairs of cold, sinister eyes appearing in the dark.

Even amidst the surging dark currents, it seemed there were some massive entities lurking in the darkness, watching them like tigers eyeing their prey.

A sense of danger, born from a threat to his life, sprouted in Xu Qing's heart.

However, thinking of the Crown Prince and the others, Xu Qing felt at ease.

Wu Wu Jian also quickly lit a talisman skin, making the range of the firelight a bit larger.

"Let's go."

The Captain took a deep breath and stepped forward. Xu Qing followed behind, and the group walked along the canyon into the darkness.

As they walked, under the illumination of the firelight, the area they occupied became the only source of light in this black world. While blocking external dangers, it naturally attracted more malice hidden in the darkness to gather.

Coupled with the tilted mountain range on the firmament, the pressure brought upon everyone was immense.

Xiang Ningyan and Wu Wu Jian were already regretting coming here, while Li Youfei followed closely behind Xu Qing, feeling that only in this way could he have a sense of security.

You Jing was at the very back, sneering as she walked while continuing to slap the human-skin lantern.

Just like that, time passed, and soon an hour went by.

After the group had walked a small portion of the canyon, they had burned over dozens of skins.

The further they went, the faster they burned. Although the Captain was well-prepared, seeing his skin being consumed like this, he was actually in immense pain, his expression changing...

After all, every piece was something he had peeled off while enduring great pain.

And at this rate, he worried that if they ran out later, he might have to peel more on the spot.

"It can't be..."

The Captain let out a long sigh.

Eventually, Xu Qing couldn't bear it either and spoke in a low voice in his heart.

"Senior..."

"I know, the number of them drawn to the surroundings is about enough."

The Crown Prince spoke indifferently. The next instant, the talisman papers in the hands of the Captain and Xiang Ningyan were extinguished instantly while still burning.

Everyone was startled and became vigilant; the Captain's eyes also widened.

At the same time, as the firelight vanished, everything around them plunged back into pitch-black darkness. Those souls gathered in the dark, each filled with greed and madness, rushed straight toward the group.

The sounds of ghosts crying and wolves howling echoed in all directions, but in an instant, these sounds changed abruptly, turning into cries of terror as they fled into the distance.

It was as if they had encountered something that terrified them.

But it was too late. Xu Qing felt his sleeves flutter a few times, and several figures flew out. Immediately after, the sounds of terror turned into shrill, miserable screams.

Accompanied by terrifying chewing sounds, countless souls were being devoured!

Thunder roared and lightning flashed, illuminating the surroundings slightly more clearly. Xu Qing vaguely saw the figures of the Crown Prince and the others, each turning into a vortex, crazily devouring in different directions.

Countless souls shattered under the tearing of the vortexes, eventually being swept into them to become food.

At this moment, the feeling the elders gave Xu Qing was no longer the kindness he saw in daily life, but one permeated with cold indifference.

Xu Qing's expression remained as usual; he was not surprised.

He knew that this was what "Spirit-Containment" truly was.

Carrying the word "Spirit," in a certain sense, it had already transcended the scope of its original life.

The reason they were kind and gentle before was because they were facing Xu Qing, the juniors in the medicine shop.

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But toward outsiders, the two words "Spirit-Containment" were, in many cases... no different from gods!