Chapter 591

Seeing the scene before me, no explanation needed, I understood it instantly.

This is the ultimate choice that couples entering Shíjiǔ Dòngtiān must face.

Is it to stay together for all eternity, or Duàn Qíng Jué Ài, Yībù Dēngtiān?

Liu Junyan seemed afraid I might change my mind, grabbed my hand, and without hesitation walked into the left-side cave dwelling.

Actually, I was still somewhat curious about the right-side cave dwelling.

Entering that cave dwelling, will it truly be Duàn Qíng Jué Ài? Can it truly be Yībù Dēngtiān?

But Liu Junyan gave me no chance to investigate; in the next moment we were already dressed in grand red wedding attire, standing in the left-side wedding hall.

We stood face to face, each holding one end of a large red embroidered ball, first bowing to heaven and earth, then to our ancestors, and finally the couple bowed to each other.

At the moment the ceremony was completed, above the high hall, a Yuānyāng Tóngxīn Suǒ hung gleaming, and behind it, a expanse of Golden Light flashed again.

Within that Golden Light, there was a Tiěsuǒ Qiáo just like the one in the right-side cave dwelling!

As it turned out, the choice had not yet ended.

Even after the ceremony was completed, there was still a chance to regret.

I looked at the lock, and carved on its face facing us was a pair of vividly lifelike Mandarin Ducks.

According to Xiǎo Dàoshì, as long as you turn this lock, flipping its face to the other side, you can still accomplish Duàn Qíng Jué Ài!

This path to godhood and immortality is incredibly tempting.

On the offering table beneath the Yuānyāng Tóngxīn Suǒ lay a marriage document.

Liu Junyan and I walked over together and saw that the marriage document was indeed ours; we only needed to press our handprints beside the corresponding names at the signature line, and the ceremony would be truly completed.

I also recognized it as a netherworld marriage certificate.

That is to say, after pressing our handprints, our marriage ought to be recorded in the files.

Liu Junyan first bit his finger, pressing a bloody fingerprint onto his name.

He showed not the slightest hesitation.

I, however, cautiously lowered myself to look beneath the Yuānyāng Tóngxīn Suǒ.

No keyhole!

Really, no keyhole!

Therefore, the keyhole beneath the lock belonging to Wang Fuchen and Yu Nian must have been chiseled there later by someone.

What about the key for entering Yin Dang Hang?

And what is the story with that key?

For a moment, my thoughts sank deep into it, and I stood there bent over, dazed.

Until Liu Junyan lightly patted my back did I come to my senses.

Liu Junyan obviously also saw that there was no keyhole beneath the lock.

Liu Junyan urged me: "Xiao Jiu, press your handprint."

I bit my finger and pressed a bloody fingerprint onto the name Feng Wu Jiu.

The next moment, the marriage certificate suddenly flew up, vanished into the Golden Light ahead, and the Tiěsuǒ Qiáo within that Golden Light disappeared without a trace.

The whole space went dark, and immediately afterward Liu Junyan and I found ourselves standing again before the giant stone.

On the giant stone, the names Feng Wu Jiu and Liu Junyan stood side by side.

Clatter…

Once again, the sound of iron chains came from the Sānshēng Diàn, and a Yuānyāng Tóngxīn Suǒ slowly descended.

Liu Junyan and I went over to look, and we saw a pair of vividly lifelike Mandarin Ducks carved on the lock's face.

I again lowered myself to check beneath the lock, and there was still no keyhole.

Soon, the Yuānyāng Tóngxīn Suǒ belonging to Liu Junyan and me was wrapped in iron chains and drawn up into the beams.

I looked at the key in my hand and said, "No matter what happens after inserting this key into the keyhole, I actually have no choice, right?"

This is a single transaction of Yin Dang Hang; once accepted, one must fulfill the promise.

Furthermore, whether what is ultimately released is Yu Nian or the egret, there must be an outcome.

Those people are looking for them; my every move here will be watched, and anything we don't do may later be done by someone else.

By then, the initiative will no longer be in our hands.

Rather than that, it would be better for me to personally open this lock now.

Thinking this through, I no longer hesitated, adjusted the key's tooth direction, and pushed the key into the keyhole bit by bit.

At the moment the key fit perfectly into the keyhole, I exerted force to turn it, but it would not budge.

I thought I had turned it the wrong way, tried again, but it still didn't work.

"Let me try."

Liu Junyan said, then grabbed my hand, applying a little force, but still could not turn the key.

Just as I was about to pull the key out to see what was wrong, I heard a click, and the key jammed deep into the keyhole.

It would not turn, nor could it be pulled out.

What's going on?

Before I could react, Liu Junyan clutched my waist and, with a shove, pulled me back a few steps.

I then saw the surface of the Yuānyāng Tóngxīn Suǒ covered in countless lightning-like electric arcs, flashing everywhere on the lock face and even on the iron chains entwined around it.

Then, under the gaze of Liu Junyan and me, a point of blood-red light lit up at the center of the Yuānyāng Tóngxīn Suǒ, like a Fire Seed, spreading rapidly.

Soon, the entire lock turned a bloody red.

That scene was much like a stone lock being tossed into a smelting furnace, about to be melted.

Yet that translucent red also reminded me of cinnabar spirit bone!

I instinctively looked at Liu Junyan, noticing he was staring more intently than I was, his face solemn.

Through that translucent red, we could initially see clearly the interface between the lock and the key, each tooth imprint locked tight, almost miraculously crafted.

But soon, those tooth imprints all disappeared, and the key and lock fused completely.

As if it had never been chiseled open.

The Yuānyāng Tóngxīn Suǒ grew redder and redder……until the entire lock melted into a viscous paste, when a wave of heat suddenly swept through the Sānshēng Diàn, scorching us so we couldn't open our eyes.

But I still felt something detach from the Yuānyāng Tóngxīn Suǒ and fly out.

After I opened my eyes from that scorching heat, I saw the Yuānyāng Tóngxīn Suǒ before me already scorched into a viscous liquid, hanging from the iron chain, swaying on the verge of falling.

At that moment, the lock no longer resembled a lock at all.

As the temperature of the Yuānyāng Tóngxīn Suǒ's surface rose higher and higher, its liquid and impurities were burned away, then gradually cooled and condensed into form, while the surrounding temperature plummeted……

Until a blood-red stone the size of an infant's fist detached from the iron chain and fell, I instinctively reached out and caught it!

I held the now completely cooled stone in both hands, turned my head, and looked outward.

Just as I felt something fly out, Liu Junyan had already rushed out ahead.

But he didn't go far before stopping at the entrance of the Shíjiǔ Dòngtiān.

I put away that stone, then followed after him.

Just as I was about to step out of the cave with one foot, Liu Junyan reached out and pulled me back.

We stood side by side, but our gazes locked on the same spot.

Outside the Shíjiǔ Dòngtiān, a vast expanse of mist.

The iron-chain bridge we had painstakingly climbed upon arrival was now nowhere to be seen.

And within that mist, a familiar figure kept tumbling and dodging amidst thunder and lightning……