Chapter 56: Embrace

Time flowed by second by second. Although there was no sun or moon to tell them apart, these three short days eventually passed.

"We should leave." Wu Rong stepped forward and said to Chen Yi He.

Chen Yi He collapsed on the ground, the breath he had held for three full days and nights finally leaked out. He had failed. This was fine; perhaps the Dragon King and Dongfang Xing were still alive. "Let's go..."

After three days and nights without a drop of water, Chen Yi He's legs felt weak; as he tried to stand, he almost fell again. He bade farewell to the corpses before and behind him; he was leaving.

"Chen... Yi He?" That call was like the first ray of light breaking through darkness at dawn, commonly called "daybreak." How soft that call was, soft as a feather landing, dust sticking to the wall.

This was a call of hope.

Though it was so faint, Chen Yi He heard it crystal clear.

Chen Yi He turned his head, stepped over the corpses, and embraced her. She was Dongfang Xing.

Dongfang Xing was so small; though there was no wind or rain here, her body trembled violently. She was covered in bloodstains, her clothes torn to rags, standing among a pile of corpses, her hollow eyes fixed on Chen Yi He as he ran toward her.

She slowly opened her arms, allowing Chen Yi He to hold her close.

Wu Rong and the Young Palace Master were both bystanders and witnesses.

The prolonged embrace left neither willing to let go; each wished they could merge into one.

"You... you're still alive?"

"Mm..."

"I truly feared I would never see you again."

"Mm..."

"I will definitely bring you out of here."

"Okay..."

Chen Yi He experienced for the first time what it meant to regain what was lost. He did not know how he had been separated from Dongfang Xing, but he remembered the scene of their reunion, amidst this endless sea of corpses, in this dark underground world.

Dongfang Xing had crawled out of a heap of corpses. She had been on her last breath, near despair, when she heard Chen Yi He's call; as Chen Yi He dug through the corpses, she too was digging, she struggled desperately to climb up, but she was about to die, not knowing what kept her clinging to life!

After a spring rain, bamboo shoots sharpen their heads, break through the soil, and grow segment by segment; Dongfang Xing was like that shoot beneath the spring rain. It is unknown whether her own perseverance or the demonic blood within the Dongfang Clan saved her life.

Chen Yi He's divine sense received Dongfang Xing's signal; without his persistence, without his call, she would have drowned in this boundless sea of corpses.

Chen Yi He reluctantly released Dongfang Xing, his hands gripping her slender arms, his gaze continually scanning her small face.

Looking at Dongfang Xing made his face turn red.

Only then did Dongfang Xing notice the presence of two other people; she lowered her head in embarrassment, yet did not break free from Chen Yi He's hands.

"You two, you must still remember, right?" After a brief moment of tenderness, Chen Yi He introduced them to Dongfang Xing.

Dongfang Xing nodded.

"Our new companion."

"Heh." The term "companion" only elicited a cold laugh from the Young Palace Master.

Chen Yi He suddenly turned Dongfang Xing's arm over, seeing no puncture marks around the elbow, no bruising. "How could this be?"

"What's wrong?" Dongfang Xing asked.

Chen Yi He then suddenly grasped Dongfang Xing's wrist, discovering a thick puncture hole at its center; around the hole there was no bruising, but a waxy yellow residue of medicine.

"What's going on? Hmm?" Wu Rong also asked.

Chen Yi He pondered, "Could this be a skin test?" He knew skin tests well, because when he was still in elementary school, before receiving any vaccine, they would first do a skin test to see if there would be an allergic reaction or response; if symptoms appeared, the vaccine could not be administered.

More importantly, the needle used for a skin test is especially large and especially thick…

Chen Yi He shook his head; all this was merely speculation.

In fact, whether they found Dongfang Xing or not made no difference to the next step; if they couldn't get out, they would spend their whole lives here until death.

……

Still in that darkness.

Before the bronze mirror, six elders stood; only the Seventh Elder was absent.

"What's the matter with this young lady?" The Grand Elder pointed at Dongfang Xing in the bronze mirror and asked.

"Grand Elder, that is a reject." The Sixth Elder replied respectfully.

"Why not dispose of a reject?"

"Probably Elder Seven overlooked it, but she will remain in there until death!" The Sixth Elder, pointing at Chen Yi He, continued, "Those four will all die; for thousands of years, no one has ever managed to get out."

"But this year is different!" The Grand Elder suddenly roared, startling the other five elders.

No one dared to respond; indeed, this year is different, otherwise they would not have selected only ten people.

"Could it be that we won't let people out after ten years?" The Sixth Elder asked, somewhat fearful.

"Heh, could we even wait ten years? Rules are dead, people are alive; being eliminated to death by the Thousandfold Gate, spreading it brings no shame. With the life-and-death contract in hand, which sect would dare cause us trouble?" The Grand Elder replied.

"Heh, once our great undertaking is accomplished, even if they come looking for trouble, what then?" The Fifth Elder sneered and countered.

The Grand Elder spoke in an extremely low voice, "However... Elder Seven is no longer worthy of our trust."

"Is he not afraid of death?" said the Second Elder.

"Death? Heh, what difference is there between us and death now?" The Grand Elder conveyed his words in a terrifying low tone, "They are all sacrifices; we, too, are sacrifices..."

The word "sacrifice" is terrifying, yet they are elders who must offer everything for the Thousandfold Gate.

"The thousandfold trials, to enter this gate, the accumulation of a thousand years, must be concluded this year. The underground world is about to be opened, and we are merely pioneers; for the Thousandfold Gate's thousand-year grand undertaking, there can be no mistake! We have no time to waste on them; every living person in the underground world must be killed!"

The Grand Elder, while patting the bronze mirror, issued the order to kill.

All six elders rolled up their sleeves, revealing their right arms, covered in dense puncture marks, with bruising occupying the entire elbow.

This is proof of their loyalty to the Thousandfold Gate! Loyalty with their lives!

"Elder Five, Elder Six, kill."

"What about Elder Seven?"

"Find him, kill him."

"Yes." The Fifth Elder and Sixth Elder spoke in unison, then immediately retreated.

"Old Two, Old Three, Old Four. We now have enough silver, enough essence blood, only time is lacking." The Great Elder said to the remaining three elders.

"Time is no problem; ten years, what's there to fear we won't finish?" The Second Elder comforted the Great Elder.

"Just fear something going wrong."

……

The Seventh Elder has been away from Thousandfold Gate for three days.

Standing on the city wall of Southern Border City, beneath his black robe, his face still looked so young, only his right arm faintly ached, as if something wanted to burst through his skin there.

He transferred the carrier pigeon from his left hand to his right, then raised two fingers and fiercely stabbed several acupoints on his right arm. After taking a deep breath, the pain gradually faded.

However, worry welled up in his heart.

He gritted his teeth, finally firming his resolve, and took out a prepared letter from his sleeve, as well as a small blue bottle the size of a fingertip. The bottle was extremely light, weighing about the same as the letter; when gently shaken, it seemed to contain liquid flowing inside.

"White pigeon, it's up to you." Watching the carrier pigeon fly away into the sky, the Seventh Elder muttered to himself.

Spring has arrived on the Tian'an Continent, and all things revive.

But if someone knew that beneath the vast Southern Border City lay another vast underground world, with everything in Southern Border City built upon corpses, what panic would arise then?

Just then, a light flared up at Thousandfold Gate, exactly like the light six months prior. "Oh no!" the Seventh Elder cried inwardly.