Chapter 223

Now the pit contained not a trace of resentful, yin, killing qi, and the white bones had lost the texture of normal bone.

I crouched, lightly tapped a white bone with a branch, and it crumbled to powder.

A rush of rain washed the powder into the soil, leaving no trace of its former appearance.

I kept stirring with the branch, probing layer by layer downward.

The branch was long, but the pit was even larger; I could not reach the bottom layer.

Under the relentless rain, when I probed down to a deep layer, I actually saw sparks.

After poking for a while, I lost patience, tossed the branch into the pit, stood up, and said, "I'm not looking anymore."

Even if I found my corpse, what would it matter?

After all these years, could the corpse possibly remain unrotted?

Even if it didn't rot, those eight heavenly thunderbolts just now should have dispelled its killing qi and destroyed it outright.

What worries me more now is that parasol tree.

I stood up and walked toward it, but I could not find the parasol tree anywhere.

It seemed to have vanished from the world in an instant, not even a root left behind.

I could not believe it was real; I ran to where the parasol tree had grown and reached down to dig.

But the soil was very compact, mixed with a lot of rubble, impossible to dig open.

The flattened ground showed no sign that such a large tree had ever stood there.

I rose, formed a seal and chanted, shouting loudly, "Feng Wu, come forth!"

No response.

My natal magic artifact—I could not summon it.

Earlier, in the underground palace, I was only a wisp of soul, and Feng Lishu said she had set a formation that kept Feng Wu sealed outside.

But I am outside now—so where is Feng Wu?

At this moment my emotions surely collapsed horribly; Liu Junyan held me in her arms, constantly soothing me.

The ground shook violently, and strange sounds rose from beneath.

This was caused by violent crustal movement.

"Xiao Jiu, we have to leave." Liu Junyan said, "I will look into the parasol tree and Feng Wu, and get back to you as soon as possible. First we must preserve ourselves, understand?"

My reason returned a little, and I nodded in agreement.

Liu Junyan once again gripped my waist and brought me out of Tafengcun.

Almost the instant we both set foot on the ground, a thunderous boom rang out, and a large expanse of mountains and land around Tafengcun collapsed simultaneously.

Gushing groundwater surged upward, and together with the downpour that seemed like the sky had burst, before long the whole of Tafengcun lay beneath a vast expanse of water.

Liu Junyan put her arm around my shoulders and said, "Xiao Jiu, from this moment Tafengcun becomes history; you need no longer fear its harm."

My eye sockets instantly reddened; I buried my face in Liu Junyan's embrace, unable to describe how I felt.

Excited?

A little.

But mostly it is bewilderment, and pain.

Whether good or bad, the villagers who had seemed vibrantly alive were all just a fleeting dream.

And the secret buried deep beneath this land will likely remain buried forever.

I was soaked through, and Liu Junyan was too.

The carriage sped all the way back to Dang Pu.

The heavy rain was confined to the Tafengcun area; here in Wufu Town the sky was clear and boundless.

Jiang Que took Jiang Bin back; before leaving, he said that once Jiang Bin's condition stabilized, he would personally come to thank us.

Hui Moqiong escorted Du Chan home.

Li Qingying had already prepared clean clothes and cooked a meal, urging us to wash up.

By then it was already mid-afternoon.

After Liu Junyan and I freshened up, the fragrant dishes were already set out.

Liu Junyan and I ate slowly at the small round table, while Li Qingying went ahead to wait for Hui Moqiong.

"My body has undergone some changes," I said, seeing that I had eaten enough, bringing up the matter: "When my soul wandered out and met Feng Lishu, at the crucial moment a face appeared inside my soul body, with only a mouth on it; Feng Lishu called it the Great Witch."

Liu Junyan blinked: "You mean the Great Witch from Cangwu Mountain is actually parasitizing your soul?"

I hummed: "That seems like a reasonable way to put it."

Liu Junyan pondered for a while, seemingly unable to find a good explanation, and of course she did not dare rashly peel that face away.

In the end, Liu Junyan could only ask: "Xiao Jiu, do you feel any discomfort in your body?"

I concentrated on sensing myself, then shook my head: "As far as I can tell, there is none."

Liu Junyan relaxed a bit, then cautioned: "Lately be careful; if you ever feel anything off, tell me right away, and I will also think hard about how to resolve this."

After we finished eating and chatted a while longer, Hui Moqiong returned.

Liu Junyan and Hui Moqiong went to the west room to discuss matters, while I blew my hair dry, preparing to get a good nap.

While blowing my hair, I deliberately looked at the back of my neck in the dressing mirror.

The two characters "Du Chan" that had appeared from the treading-yin thorn had completely vanished.

I touched it, and even the pain was gone.

Is that a good thing?

I smiled, lay down on the bed, hugged the blanket, and soon fell asleep.

But just as I had finally fallen asleep soundly, I began to dream.

No, to be precise, that wasn't a dream, but my soul was summoned……

"Go back……"

"Go back to Cangwu Mountain……"

"Go back, go back to Cangwu Mountain……"

In a hazy blur, I seemed to see that face again.

The mouth on that face kept moving, endlessly repeating these words.

"Go back, go to Cangwu Mountain!"

It kept saying that, and my consciousness slowly drifted away with it.

Finally, I seemed to see Cangwu Mountain.

I saw the Nirvana fire blazing fiercely within Cangwu Mountain.

In the flickering firelight, it seemed to gradually condense into a human shape.

That should be a woman, standing quietly within the Nirvana fire.

Besides being engulfed in flames, she held a longbow in her hand.

That longbow is all too familiar to me!

That is clearly my natal magic artifact!

Why is my natal magic artifact in someone else's hand?

Who is the other party?

Why did she take Feng Wu?

I strode forward, wanting to charge into the sea of fire to retrieve Feng Wu.

But after just a few steps, a huge butterfly came flying toward me.

The butterfly's wings spread wide, as large as my face, and the moment it swooped down, I was jolted awake from my sleep.

Outside, the sky had already darkened; I had actually slept that long.

I raised my hand and firmly pinched my brow, recalling the scene from the dream.

Cangwu Mountain, Nirvana fire, Feng Wu……

And besides, just who is the person who took Feng Wu?!

More importantly, why has a butterfly appeared again?

Butterfly…… Peach Blossom Spring…… Tang Xun……

"Oh no, oh no, Xiao Jiu, are you awake?" The door was knocked by Li Qingying, she urged anxiously, "Xiao Jiu, get up quickly and see what's happened!"

I was startled, hastily rolled out of bed, opened the door and asked, "Sister Li Qingying, what happened?"

Li Qingying was especially panicked, pointing behind her and saying, "Xue Feng…… Xue Feng…… she…… she ate the ice silkworm……