Chapter 289

The ancient residence was silent and pitch-black; when Li Li Piaoqing walked slowly toward the backyard, pressing her hand against her sword, the cold stars in the sky were dim.

When she asked at noon, the servant had said the backyard was off-limits. Now that Li Li Piaoqing stood here, she understood the reason. The backyard was precisely where the servants resided, yet those silent people were nowhere to be seen at this moment.

"Reserved for later use." After finishing her conversation with Seeing Pei Ye, Li Li Piaoqing repeated the phrase in a low voice. "So... this ritual called 【Imperial Edict Transmission】 is just feeding the Yi family bloodline one by one to that so-called Edict-Listening Divine Child?"

"Not yet certain." The black cat's emerald eyes looked earnestly ahead. "But the Immortal Lord does indeed maintain a connection with the Candle World Sect similar to a 'divine oracle'."

"'Divine oracle'..." Li Li Piaoqing repeated the words in a murmur.

"The place where the Candle World Sect receives edicts. They are able to exercise the Immortal Lord's will in the human world, so there must be a way to listen to the divine words."

"... Such a place must be very important to a sect."

"Yes, but the Candle World Sect suffered a great defeat at Xincang previously, so this place is empty. Seeing Pei Ye just said they are preparing to leave." The black cat said, "This should be the last ritual before they depart."

Li Li Piaoqing said no more. By now, she had reached the edge of the back wall—this was the route she had circled around based on the kitten's directions. She pursed her lips and pressed her hand to her sword. An old wooden door was embedded in the wall, with withered grass growing on both sides. The young lady slowly pushed the door open, and the vast autumn wind from the mountains immediately stirred her lapels.

Amidst the sound of wind and the shadows of the forest, Li Li Piaoqing raised her eyes to look. Far off and dimly, the shadows of mounds and steles stood under the moon, and a building was faintly emitting some light from far away.

"The Yi family ancestral shrine. Just at dusk, that black-robed High Priest walked in there holding a fire."

Li Li Piaoqing nodded, lowered her body, and swept forward silently, like a night sparrow among the grass and trees.

When she was nearly forty feet away, the young lady held her breath and stood still behind a tall pine tree.

It was indeed a tall and large ancestral shrine; the roof was a head higher than an ordinary two-story building. At this moment, it seemed quiet and soundless inside, but Li Li Piaoqing did not move a step closer, her face tightening bit by bit.

There were a great many breaths and heartbeats inside.

The young lady looked around quietly, her gaze locking onto a tall tree outside the shrine. She tilted her head to cast an inquiring look at her shoulder, and the black cat nodded. She swept up quietly.

At the same time, a section of the wooden wall dissolved silently under the threads of ghostly blue fire, and the situation inside fell into the young lady's eyes.

Nearly twenty servants were all gathered here. At this moment, their silence did not seem abrupt at all. Amidst the lonely mountain tomb cluster, under the high shrine of ghostly fire, that eerie solemnity made the young lady quietly check her own breathing once more.

Below the shrine, the silent people were draped in white robes, divided into two slanted rows, standing quietly and solemnly without moving. Before them, that High Priest, who looked like an old ghost, stood with his back to everyone, standing before a tripod of ghostly blue liquid fire, holding a register and bowing his head.

When this flame fell into her eyes, Li Li Piaoqing immediately widened her eyes and turned her head to look at the black cat beside her.

But the black cat did not speak; from the shrine below, the High Priest's low chanting had already come.

Li Li Piaoqing was startled for a moment, then focused her mind to listen carefully.

"Tracing back to the ancient times, the universe is boundless, wisdom is chaotic; Pan Wa manifested merit, the mysterious and yellow were first divided... Reverently thinking of the Supreme True Dragon Immortal Lord, succeeding Heaven to establish the ultimate, divinely governing the holy rule; all living beings bow their heads, ten thousand spirits follow the view... A thousand years have passed in this world, ten thousand changes in the star cycle, the holy will does not decline, the immortal body remains forever. The mortal world is dim, difficult to hear the holy edict, fortunately there are divine descendants, personally transmitting immortal blood, now offering new servants to the foot of the steps, to respectfully transmit the gospel for the Holy Lord."

After speaking, the High Priest stepped back and knelt on the ground to kowtow.

As his knees hit the ground, like wind passing through reeds, everyone in the shrine knelt down silently.

Li Li Piaoqing watched this scene in silence, when suddenly her gaze froze, her pupils slowly dilating.

She saw that in the middle of the two rows of kneeling people, a slender figure walked out slowly from the obstruction, went straight forward, and stopped before the fire tripod.

Yi Yi Chengxin.

The young lady's shoulders were straight, her gentle and harmonious face reflected under the ghostly blue flame, also adding a bit of ethereal strangeness. She stood before the tripod, raised both hands together to the tripod, her left hand empty, her right hand holding a small knife.

Only then did Li Li Piaoqing see the reason for her awkward movements—those slender white wrists were tied together with black silk, with only a very small range of movement possible.

The High Priest knelt on the ground and said in a low voice: "Please verify the blood of the Dragon Descendant."

Yi Yi Chengxin used the blade to cut her palm, lowering her eyes to watch the bright red blood flow out, forming a thin line that dripped into the tripod.

Li Li Piaoqing could see clearly from this angle; that bright red merged into the ghostly blue, and there should have been a pool of red on the thick liquid surface, but nothing happened.

It was as if water had been poured into water; that bright red blood vanished without a trace. But the next moment, the flame in the tripod rose abruptly and unexpectedly. Li Li Piaoqing even dodged subconsciously; the momentum looked as if it were going to set the roof on fire.

Amidst the hall full of gorgeous blue, the High Priest led everyone to stand up, holding his hands high: "Pupil Vein Edict Child, the Immortal Sacrifice Ritual is complete, permitted to enter the forest to transmit the edict."

More than twenty people rose and bowed again. The young lady before the tripod said nothing, and with both hands, she offered the dagger back to the table.

Afterwards, the young lady, still with her hands bound, crossed the offering table and went straight ahead.

Just like that, she disappeared.

Li Li Piaoqing was startled for a moment. The black cat had already melted the latch of the high window nearby and pushed open a narrow slit. Li Li Piaoqing moved over, and the situation in the back hall came into view.

Yi Yi Chengxin was just walking in.

Li Li Piaoqing was about to look closely, but at this very moment, the hair on her body stood on end abruptly.

Through a thin wall, the High Priest's ghost-like grayish-white eyes locked onto this place!

After the sacrificial ritual was completed, he seemed to have suddenly recovered his perception of the surroundings. Li Li Piaoqing was shocked and about to draw her sword, but a claw had already pressed onto the back of her hand, and the black cat's calm voice rang in her ears: "Do not move."

Li Li Piaoqing indeed did not move again.

At the same time that this sentence fell, she was frozen by another fact.

In her field of vision and tactile sensation, the black cat's soft and elastic little claw was clearly and rapidly transforming into something else. Tough, exquisite, fine, sharp... the firm and cool texture like jade and divine iron was generated on the back of her hand. The powerful and handsome claw entered her field of vision, but before the young lady's astonished gaze could climb up along the claw, this divine object had already drifted away from her body.

The weight on her shoulder lightened. Li Li Piaoqing turned her head abruptly, but only saw a trace of agile energy in the night sky.

The next moment, the black-robed High Priest swept out from the entrance of the shrine like an eagle.

The remaining people in the hall also acted immediately. Some chased out, while some remained to guard the hall. Li Li Piaoqing did not move, waiting quietly for everything to settle down.

At the same time, the marvelous feeling she had experienced once in the Bixiao Pavilion flooded into her mind again. Her heart moved, and suddenly all things became clear.

The black cat's voice sounded directly in her heart this time: "【Chun Shou】 can be used for communication temporarily. You monitor the news here first; I will return within half an hour."

Li Li Piaoqing tried to send her thoughts over: "... Alright."

She immediately received a reply: "Hmm."

Only then did Li Li Piaoqing move her gaze back to the window slit.

The chaos just now had not disturbed the back hall at all, only Yi Yi Chengxin had glanced forward.

There were six people in the hall. Besides Yi Yi Chengxin, Yi Yi Nandai, who was blindfolded and holding a spear, also stood here. The rest were four people in ink-blue clothes, motionless like withered wood, their exposed skin terrifyingly white.

And behind the five people, a deep and secluded entrance opened on the ground.

It seemed to lead directly to the Nine Netherworlds.

Li Li Piaoqing immediately had an irrepressible association—these four people... had come out from inside here.

In the momentary stiffness of her mind, Yi Yi Chengxin below had withdrawn her gaze, and then took a step that caught Li Li Piaoqing off guard—she went straight toward the hole.

Between the "Immortal Sacrifice Ritual" and "Entering the Purple Bamboo Forest"... was there really no pause? Then what about her saying she would chat with her again at night?

But there was no mood to think about this. Li Li Piaoqing watched the young lady's unceasing footsteps. If the 【Imperial Edict Transmission】 was about to start now... She tilted her head and glanced at the night sky where the black cat had disappeared; there was no trace left.

Turning back, the ritual in the hall was still ongoing.

It was indeed a "ritual". Even without chanting or fire, in the silence, a rich solemnity filled the entire space. The green-clad people were divided into four sides, their eyes lowered as they looked at the entrance, even the angle of their bowing heads was exactly the same. Yi Yi Nandai said nothing. In the empty space, the young lady's echoing footsteps were as lonely and clear as her temperament.

In such silence that seemed isolated from the world, Yi Yi Nandai suddenly spoke: "Yi Chengxin."

The man's voice was as flat and short as it had been at noon.

Yi Yi Chengxin stopped and turned her head.

Yi Yi Nandai reached out and handed a touch of color to her. Li Li Piaoqing identified it with her eyes—it was a bracelet.

Yi Yi Chengxin was slightly startled, took it and put it on her wrist, then nodded, turned around, and walked straight into the deep and secluded entrance.

The young lady's dress was completely swallowed by the entrance, and the four green-clad people went down one after another. Only the man remained in the hall.

Li Li Piaoqing watched with some final hope, but the man ultimately did not move, and the thick stone door was slowly closing.

It was controlled from the inside.

Li Li Piaoqing looked back at the night sky again; there was still no trace of the black cat returning, and in the hall, the stone door had already closed more than halfway.

The young lady's brows were cold and sharp.

At this moment, her eyes lit up. The man remaining in the hall finally took a step, carrying his cloth-wrapped long spear and heading outside.

Li Li Piaoqing immediately pressed her hand to her sword and leaned forward, staring fixedly at the threshold the man was going out of. The moment the man's boots stepped over, she immediately pushed the window and stepped on the branches, her emerald shadow sweeping past like a bird. In the last gap before the stone door closed, the young lady's slender and straight figure stuck to the ground and slipped into it.

At this moment, she felt as if that figure that had already stepped over the threshold had cast its gaze upon her. The locking of the Seventh Life made her hair stand on end, but in the end, no spear shadow chased in.

The stone door closed completely, and the last layer of scattered faint light disappeared from around her. Li Li Piaoqing stood up slowly on the steps.

Here, even the sound of the wind had disappeared; it was a pitch-black silence that made the cochlea ring, and the five people who had just come down were no longer in her field of vision.

"... Little cat, I'm in." Li Li Piaoqing briefly described the situation around her. "They went ahead; I'm going to follow and take a look."

After a moment of silence, the black cat's voice came over: "... Be careful, find a way out first, and tell me if anything happens."

"Hmm."

Li Li Piaoqing turned back first and pressed on the stone slab, injecting threads of true energy, but it was blocked in the middle.

It was a formation or some spiritual material; this stone door could not be shaken at all.

Reaching out to touch, both sides were damp and cold walls; as expected, she did not find any mechanism for a switch. The "key" to open this formation door was clearly only on those few green-clad people.

Standing in this darkness isolated from the world for a while, after gradually adapting, a bit of ghostly blue light appeared at the lower edge of the young lady's field of vision.

The steps were going downward.

It was just that the distant depth and slope really made the young lady purse her lips. She suppressed her footsteps, vigilantly holding her sword horizontally, and slowly went deeper. When she reached this point of light, another deep point of light appeared below.

Just how... deep was it?

Li Li Piaoqing's heart and lungs were expanding cautiously; the damp cold was becoming deeper and heavier. The young lady had never had such an experience; she really felt that she had entered the realm of the Nine Netherworlds, with only the floating blue flames guiding the ghost road.

After going down six blue flames, the young lady finally stepped onto a flat road surface.

A circular room, still with only one flame flower. Li Li Piaoqing walked a few steps forward with the help of the faint light, and two paths appeared before her.

"..."

There were no iconic things. Li Li Piaoqing checked the ground carefully, but there were many hard stones and no footprints.

Just when the young lady's brows were furrowed, her gaze suddenly froze—on the ground of the left passage, a drop of half-dried blood appeared.

In the early morning of Bixiao Pavilion, the young lady's smiling voice suddenly appeared in her mind: "I don't practice martial arts."

The cut from the knife just now was deep, and the young lady without true energy had not stopped the bleeding until now.

Li Li Piaoqing followed immediately.

And after walking this passage for a while, the blue flames gradually increased, and they were floating in the air. In this brightness, some sharp protrusions caught the young lady's attention.

On the ground, on the walls, and even on the top, there were several small purple cone-shaped mineral bodies protruding. Li Li Piaoqing leaned over to look; their texture was brittle and tough, and the dew on the surface was not mineral—this was clearly... bamboo shoots!

Purple Bamboo Forest.

The young lady's heart suddenly froze.

That unknown mystery now truly shrouded her mind.

It was impossible for bamboo to grow underground, let alone purple bamboo, let alone growing upside down on rocks.

Li Li Piaoqing's hand stretched out on the sword hilt, and worry indeed welled up.

What were the blue flames, and what was the purple bamboo... Without the black cat by her side, she was just a young lady with only true energy and a sword. She could not exert influence on anything she saw along the way.

Going further, even if she saw the 【Imperial Edict Transmission】, even if she witnessed the Jade Ke Formation and entered the Purple Bamboo Forest, what could she do?

This was the world of the spiritual and mysterious.

But she could only move forward. The young lady frowned and walked slowly. The stone wall expanded, and before her was another room.

But here, Li Li Piaoqing stopped her footsteps.

She suddenly realized that she might not be isolated and helpless.

In the room before her, an iron cage was placed in the center, and the young lady with her hands bound was sitting in it with her legs together. She was clutching a blood-stained handkerchief in her palm, and her other hand was pulling up the colored bracelet on her wrist.

She looked at the empty space with a calm expression, as if she were already accustomed to such a fate.

At this moment, as if sensing something, she suddenly turned her head and looked at the green-clad young lady who had been standing silently at the entrance of the passage for some time, her expression stunned for a moment.

(End of chapter)