Chapter 371: All Confusion Dissipates Like Glazed Glass

Lingxiang was startled and retreated again and again, but the little girl, holding a human head, chased tightly after her, and while chasing, she kept calling out:

"Big sister, don't go, let's play together... let's play together..."

Lingxiang did not actually feel afraid; after all, even if her cultivation was not high, she had walked the Chenjian for many years—what strange and bizarre things had she not seen? If she had truly encountered this in the Chenjian, she naturally would have had a way to deal with it, but this was Maidong's sea of consciousness, and ordinary methods would certainly not work.

And precisely because it was a sea of consciousness, no matter how bizarre, it was considered normal.

The sea of consciousness is like a dream, strange and fantastical, and Maidong was already mentally unstable; Lingxiang's trip was precisely to set things right. But even so, she could not interfere too much; if handled poorly, the consequences would be unimaginable.

Therefore, facing such a terrifying situation, Lingxiang's only method was to flee.

She had thought it was just a nursing babe, how fast could she run? But no matter where Lingxiang fled, the little person with hollow eyes could follow closely behind.

She never expected that in this lifetime she would actually be chased by such an evil thing; truly, the ways of the world are unpredictable!

Lingxiang could not help but laugh at herself, and she dared not linger.

Fortunately, the little girl did not seem to have any intention of pursuing relentlessly; just after Lingxiang turned a corner, she disappeared without a trace. Lingxiang let out a long sigh of relief and looked around, but she did not know where she had run to.

Before her were green-tiled low walls, and not far ahead was a vermilion-lacquered gate with a plaque on it; from afar, one could not see what was written on it.

Lingxiang pondered for a moment and decided to go up and take a look.

Only after walking closer did she see that the plaque clearly bore the four large characters: "Lu Clan Ancestral Hall".

Lu Clan?

Wasn't Xin Yi a descendant of the Lu Family? Could this be the Youlu Lu Clan?

Before Lingxiang could think much more, suddenly, bursts of wailing and some strange roaring sounds came from all around. Not wanting to linger, she had no choice but to push the door open and enter.

Although there was no one in the ancestral hall, it was clean and tidy, with sandalwood incense overflowing; it was clearly tended to with care every day. Inside the hall, spirit tablets stood in rows, candle flames flickered, and divine banners hung on both sides, appearing especially solemn.

At the very top of the rows of spirit tablets in the hall, a long and a short blade were enshrined, emitting a sinister Evil Qi.

Lingxiang recognized at a glance that they were the Deer Horn Twin Blades. Back then, she had spent no small amount of effort trying to figure out the whereabouts of these two blades of the Lu Family, but she had not expected that by a twist of fate, they had been taken to Yuanqing by Fuyin Zhenren.

At that time, Lingxiang had not yet thought about getting to the bottom of the matter; she only felt that since it involved Tumi Xianzi, she bore some responsibility, so she wanted to return the Lu Family's items to Xin Yi, never expecting what would happen later.

Walking slowly into the hall, the vigorous calligraphy on the spirit tablets displayed the prosperity and perseverance of the Lu Family. Lingxiang could not help but feel a sense of reverence and involuntarily performed a Daoist salute, but then she thought, this was Maidong's sea of consciousness, and her doing this seemed to have no meaning.

Just at this moment, the sound of the gate outside the courtyard opening and closing came, and Lingxiang hurriedly found a place to hide.

As soon as she settled, she saw a woman bring a little girl into the ancestral hall, kowtowing to the spirit tablets, accusing something with tears streaming down her face.

For some reason, Lingxiang could not hear what the woman was saying, and even her face was a blur. Looking at the little girl on the side, wasn't she the one playing with the ball in the courtyard just now?

She saw that the little girl's two eyes were still just two hollow, pitch-black pits that could not be seen to the bottom, but the woman on the side seemed not to mind at all, kowtowing incessantly to the spirit tablets in the hall on her own, even though bright red blood smeared her face, she still ignored it.

The ghost-like little girl watched everything blankly, two blood-like tears flowing from the black holes, until the Deer Horn Twin Blades on the spirit platform fell, and only then did the woman stuff the little girl into the mechanism behind the spirit platform.

It was also at this moment that the ancestral hall's gate shattered with a boom, and a team of strange-looking monsters broke in, grabbing the woman without a word, and after a few slashes, her limbs were separated and her body was dismembered.

Those...

Were they monsters?

No...

Were they Demon Race creatures?

Looking at them, they didn't seem like it either...

Lingxiang thought again; the Lu Family had indeed been ransacked by the Demon Race, which led to the annihilation of the entire clan, and this place was Maidong's sea of consciousness. It was likely that Maidong had not remembered the situation clearly at the time, or perhaps it was that deep down, Maidong did not want to remember this matter, which was why it had become like this.

Then those monsters from just now were most likely Demon Race creatures.

After the monsters left, Lingxiang flashed out and walked with a face of pity to the woman's dismembered corpse, pausing for a long time.

Even at such close range, the woman's face remained a blur, and Lingxiang did not want to think too much; at this moment, she only felt an inexplicable fire in her heart, yet she did not know where to vent it.

A scheme, yet it had to involve innocent lives; it was truly enough to make one sigh.

But who should be blamed for this?

Mother?

But Mother was only patching up the loopholes, yet the culprit behind all of this had never shown their face...

Forget it, forget it; things have reached this point, she could only take it one step at a time.

Lingxiang got up and walked; just as she stepped onto the stone steps and was about to leave the courtyard, a cold wind blew, and in an instant, the sky turned dark and thunder rumbled incessantly.

"Is big sister leaving?"

It was that little girl!

Lingxiang did not know whether she should turn back, but the little girl's voice truly made her feel heartbroken.

Lingxiang finally turned around.

Under the eaves outside the ancestral hall, the girl was holding the woman's head, standing alone in a pool of blood, blood and tears gushing from her pitch-black eye sockets.

This scene deeply touched Lingxiang's heart; she tried hard to relax her brows, walked step by step to the little girl, squatted down, and smoothed the child's messy hair.

"There is someone very important to big sister who is waiting for big sister to save her."

The little girl tilted her head.

"Very important?"

Lingxiang nodded.

"Very important."

"How important?"

"Important enough that big sister can risk her life for her."

Hearing this, the little girl lowered her head, stroking the woman's head in her arms, but did not answer. Lingxiang did not urge her, only stroking the little girl's head, waiting quietly.

The thunder gradually ceased, the cold wind gradually stopped, and the little girl suddenly looked up; although she had no eyes, her face was full of innocence.

"But if big sister leaves, only Aning will be left here."

Lingxiang smiled.

"In this life, there are ten thousand sufferings that are unavoidable, yet even so, you will certainly not be alone; there will be many people waiting for you in the near future, and there will even be one person who will stay with you through the spring blossoms, never to be parted."

"Is that true?"

Lingxiang stroked the little girl's cheek, wiping away the blood and tears that were about to dry.

"It is true."

As soon as the words fell, the surroundings shattered like glazed glass, drifting sparsely behind the little girl and turning into powder in the darkness.

Lingxiang rubbed her fingertips, feeling the sensation from just a moment ago.

Before everything shattered, she saw the little girl's smile and a pair of clear eyes.

Looking around, she had returned to that expanse of darkness, the ripples beneath her spreading out in circles, glowing with an inexplicable light in the distance.