Chapter 1248: A Curse?

"Damn!"

Xu Que was startled, his eyes widening in shock!

Given his current strength, even if everything here was merely an illusion, he would definitely detect anyone else present, unless that person was a Great Ability at the Immortal King level or above.

But the problem was, he had clearly sensed no one here just moments ago; yet as he ran forward, he suddenly detected an additional presence and stopped, only to find a pair of eyes staring back at him, their owner appearing so abruptly and hiding inside a forge!

Could this be considered seeing a ghost in broad daylight?

"Hey, big brother, aren't you being a bit childish? Are you trying to crawl out of this forge to scare me to death? Honestly, it won't work! Sadako already used that trick long ago, and she was far more professional, crawling out of a well and then out of a television—a double crawl, pronounced 'Double-Pa' in English, 'Da Bo Pa,' get it?" Xu Que recovered his composure, stared directly into those eyes, and launched into a tirade.

Those eyes were utterly hollow, gazing at Xu Que in a daze, but the next moment, they suddenly filled with moisture, tears beginning to swirl within them.

Xu Que was stunned by this reaction.

What was going on?

So unable to withstand criticism?

Crying after just a few words?

"Hey, hey, hey, don't do that, big brother, crying ruins the fun! What kind of hero cries and wails? Wait, could you possibly be a girl?" Xu Que hurriedly shouted, his curiosity about the owner of these eyes suddenly piqued.

After all, the person was hiding inside the forge, and apart from the pair of eyes, no other part of their body was visible.

Yet from those eyes, he seemed to read something; although they appeared hollow and lifeless at first glance, they also seemed to contain a hint of expectation, a hint of longing, a hint of affection...

Hiss!

Xu Que immediately sucked in a breath of cold air, then slowly exhaled it as a sigh.

"I never expected that even after transforming myself into such an elderly person, my unique and charming aura would still be irresistible, causing you to fall in love with me at first sight; you certainly have good taste!" he remarked with deep emotion, for the eyes are the window to the soul, the most sincere bridge between people, and eyes never lie!

"Boom!"

The next moment, the entire forge suddenly exploded with a tremendous roar.

A Sword Shadow, as if descending from the Nine Days, shot toward Xu Que's brow with terrifying speed, piercing straight through.

Xu Que instantly felt his scalp go numb, and by the time he reacted, that Sword Shadow had already pierced through his brow!

But... nothing remained!

There was not a single scratch on his body, his brow was completely intact; that Sword Shadow was fake, an Illusion!

Nevertheless, this still sent a chill down Xu Que's spine, causing cold sweat to break out on his forehead, leaving him shaken.

If that Sword Shadow had been a real sword, he would likely be dead by now!

Realizing this, Xu Que was immediately filled with rage: "MMP, you've successfully angered me; regardless of whether you're an illusion or not, I'm going to kill you first!"

Swish!

His brow instantly brightened with intense Golden Beams; his Little Golden Body directly melted into a powerful force that flowed into his eyes, activating his Heavenly Eye!

In an instant, all surrounding illusions were penetrated; Xu Que saw once again the Chaotic Stone Array and the Chaotic Stone Plain as they were before he entered, including Bai Cailing, Er Gouzi, Liu Jingning, and the others who had already moved ahead.

Such a mere illusion was directly seen through by his Heavenly Eye.

However, only that Iron Smith Shop and that shattered forge remained.

After the forge crumbled into ash, the Sword Shadow that had attacked him hovered above the pile of powder; a child sat there, arms wrapped tightly around the sword hilt, legs coiled around the blade, clinging desperately like a drowning person holding onto a tree branch, refusing to let go.

At this moment, the child slowly lifted their head, their gaze fixing on Xu Que.

Xu Que immediately recognized that these were the same eyes that had been watching him from inside the forge earlier.

"Eh? It's actually a child; could it be that this isn't Sadako, but The Curse?" Xu Que murmured in surprise.

Then, forcing a beaming expression onto his face, he looked at the child and asked, "Child, why are you all alone here? Where are your parents? Would big brother like to take you to see some little goldfish?"

"..." The child did not respond, continuing to stare fixedly at Xu Que.

A few breaths later, the child suddenly opened their mouth, emitting a sharp, eerie sound, like a kitten screeching in the dead of night, causing goosebumps to rise involuntarily all over one's body.

"You... will die in Forty-Nine Days!"

Swish!

As soon as the sentence ended, the child vanished without a trace, the Sword Shadow disappeared, and the Iron Smith Shop vanished as well!

Everything dissipated into smoke, as if the illusion had never existed, and the surroundings returned to normal.

Xu Que stood frozen on the spot, unable to recover his senses for a long time, yet a strong sense of unease welled up in his heart.

Logically speaking, such a phenomenon should mean nothing to him; after all, it was just an illusion, and for an illusion to appear and tell him he would die in a few days was such an absurdity that no Cultivator would ever take it seriously.

But for some reason, after hearing the child's words, Xu Que instantly shivered, truly feeling as though he had been Cursed, generating a strong premonition of dread, as if he would really die after Forty-Nine Days!

"Damn it, what kind of situation is this?" Xu Que frowned; he did not believe this was a trap set by Bai Cailing, because no such Dharma Spell existed in the world; it was impossible for a single sentence to actually Curse a Cultivator to death.

However, the feeling was too real, so real that fear arose involuntarily within his heart!

With the aid of his Heavenly Eye, Xu Que no longer needed to track Bai Cailing's green smoke; he darted forward directly, easily stepping out of this Chaotic Stone Plain.

Meanwhile, Bai Cailing and the others had been waiting outside for some time; seeing that Xu Que had taken so long to emerge, expressions of astonishment appeared on everyone's faces.

"Damn, little... ahem, Xu Que's dad, did you obtain some Creation inside again?" Er Gouzi immediately pressed for an answer, since this was not the first time such a situation had occurred.

Xu Que shook his head with a grave expression; after leaving the Array, that feeling still persisted, as if his entire being was shrouded in a layer of Death Qi, creating an indescribable discomfort.

"Eh, wait, something's wrong; why do I, this old man, feel that your forehead is turning black? This is an omen of great disaster!" Duan Jiude looked at Xu Que and suddenly exclaimed in shock and suspicion.

Back in the Four Continents years ago, he had studied physiognomy and other arts; later, after obtaining an Inheritance with Er Gouzi in Tianzhou, his skills in face reading and divination had become Perfected; thus, seeing Xu Que's forehead turn black was definitely not baseless gossip or random nonsense.

"Elder Xu, are you alright?" Bai Cailing also looked at Xu Que in astonishment; this was the first time she had ever seen "Elder Xu" wear such a grave expression.

Xu Que forced a smile onto his face that looked worse than crying, shrugged his Shoulders, and said, "You might not believe it if I tell you, but I just bumped into a ghost, and I might die after Forty-Nine Days!"

"What?" The faces of the several people present instantly changed.

Xu Que did not hide anything, directly recounting everything that had happened inside.

After listening, everyone wore expressions of horror and Disbelief; such a situation was simply unheard of, and even Bai Cailing had never heard of anyone experiencing such an encounter within this Array.

"Elder Xu, could it be that because your cultivation is so profound, the illusions you encountered were overly realistic, causing some sensory illusions?" Bai Cailing asked.

Countless generations had entered this Secret Realm countless times, yet no one had ever mentioned encountering such a bizarre situation; there wasn't even a whisper of rumor about it, so at this moment she too was utterly bewildered. Had she not also sensed the Death Qi on Xu Que intensifying, she would have thought this Elder Xu was merely joking with her!

"Impossible! This old man can sense it; this is real!" Xu Que shook his head, at a complete loss.

Just now, he had already asked the System to check his status, yet the System's detection results came back normal!

Perhaps the System's Edition could no longer keep up, or perhaps... that was not a Curse, but a prophecy!

"Did that child say only one Phrase: 'After forty-nine days, you will surely die'?" Duan Jiude asked again, while already taking out that ancient Guiqiao to perform divination for Xu Que.

"Mm, from start to finish, he spoke only that one sentence!" Xu Que nodded.

"Slap!"

Suddenly, Er Gouzi slapped his thigh and shouted loudly, "This Divine Venerable understands! You've all misunderstood the meaning. When he said 'after forty-nine days you will surely die,' perhaps this 'day' does not refer to forty-nine days, but is actually a verb!"

【Bonus Update Five! Finally caught up. Five consecutive Chapters; I feel my entire head is floating, as if my Soul might leave my body at any moment. Yet I still owe yesterday's two guaranteed updates, and today there are two more chapters. I choose... to continue!】