169: Bury the Gods with Evil

Chapter 168 Burial God Evil Thought

The island was not large, and the two soon arrived at the base of the stone pillar.

The stone pillar was a solid black-gray color, interspersed with cracks where mist vaguely flowed. Xu Jingzhe circled the pillar; even at his speed, it took him two minutes.

Looking up, he couldn't see the end at all; it seemed to connect with the sky.

"How are we supposed to get up there?" Xu Jingzhe muttered, frowning.

"Climb," Tang Ruyi said expressionlessly.

Xu Jingzhe let out a long sigh. Tang Ruyi was right; the surface of the stone pillar had protruding rocks, which could be used as footholds to climb. For now, it was the only way.

Xu Jingzhe leaped forcefully, reaching a height of over thirty meters, and firmly grasped a protrusion on the stone. Using both hands and feet, he climbed hundreds of meters in no time.

He turned his head to look down and saw Tang Ruyi standing there coolly with her arms crossed, motionless, with no intention of coming up.

"Aren't you coming up?" Xu Jingzhe asked.

"No."

"What if there's something else to be gained up there?"

Tang Ruyi tilted her head, looking up at Xu Jingzhe.

"Whoosh~"

She leaped up.

Xu Jingzhe turned his head, chuckled, and quickly climbed upward.

Tang Ruyi caught up, and the two climbed side by side, covering a thousand meters in a short while.

Suddenly, Tang Ruyi drew her Tang blade and looked downward.

Xu Jingzhe asked confusedly, "What's wrong?"

"It seems... someone is following us. This feeling is very bad."

Hearing her say this, Xu Jingzhe was startled. He searched the stone pillar below inch by inch, but there was nothing.

However, he trusted Tang Ruyi.

This trip to the lost world had been too smooth. Initially, when he first arrived at the island, he had felt some unease, but later, after obtaining the Ritual Arts, he had been too excited and had completely let his guard down.

"It's also possible that I'm just too tense and felt wrong." Tang Ruyi shook her head, looked down again, and then continued climbing.

But this time, the climbing speed was significantly faster.

They reached the top of the stone pillar without any incidents, which made both of them breathe a sigh of relief.

Before them lay the small village at the bottom of the lake that they had seen from the surface. The small village was not large, with seventeen or eighteen thatched cottages; not a single brick or tile was visible, let alone anything resembling a city.

In front of the thatched cottages were a few small vegetable gardens, where various melons, fruits, and vegetables grew wildly, with emerald green leaves and bright red fruits.

Pushing open the first cottage, the furnishings inside were very simple. A wooden table and three wooden stools came into view. On the wooden table sat a set of blue and white porcelain tea sets, with clear, slightly yellowish tea still in one of the cups.

Five or six meters to the right of the table was a bed, with a quilt neatly folded on it.

It was as if the owner of the house had just left not long ago to work in the fields and would return in the evening.

Xu Jingzhe reached out and touched it; it was spotless, without any dust.

"Creak." Just then, the sound of a door opening came from the window.

The two exchanged a look, both seeing the gravity in each other's eyes. Tang Ruyi drew her Tang blade, held it diagonally in her right hand, and strode out of the house.

Xu Jingzhe circulated the energy within his body, ready to erupt at any moment to deliver a powerful blow to the enemy.

She turned back, signaling for Xu Jingzhe to coordinate with her. They had clearly never worked together before, but Xu Jingzhe understood Tang Ruyi's gaze.

She would take the lead, and he would provide support.

The half-open door was pushed open by the tip of the Tang blade, and both of them held their breath... The room was empty.

But!

Both of them became even more tense. They absolutely could not have misheard the sound of the door opening at such a close distance.

Yet, there was no one in the room. There was only one possibility.

This person's strength far exceeded theirs.

"Clang!" Suddenly, Tang Ruyi swung her long blade, directly unleashing the Ancient Battle Skill Homecoming Blade - Concealment, delivering a powerful downward slash at the thatched cottage in front of her.

"Boom!" The thatched cottage shattered instantly, the sturdy mud walls turning into dust, mixing with the shredded straw and falling all around.

Their hair and shoulders were covered with a thick layer of it.

As the dust gradually cleared, a figure appeared in their view. He was smiling sinisterly, his body gray, his pupils black, and a cold, frigid aura emanated continuously from his body.

Xu Jingzhe stared at him and shivered.

Yi!

How could it be?!

However, compared to the golden phantom of Yi, he was much more solid.

Tang Ruyi's expression changed drastically, and she was no longer calm, exclaiming in horror, "burial god... Evil Thought!"

"Burial God Evil Thought?" Xu Jingzhe repeated.

"Yes, this is a special existence similar to a soul body. It is formed after the death of a burial god from all the suppressed negative emotions they had during their lifetime. And the more powerful the burial god was in life, the more powerful their Evil Thought is." Tang Ruyi stared fixedly at Yi's Evil Thought, feeling a chill in her heart.

Only now did she realize that this clue about the Ritual Arts had many unreasonable aspects. It seemed as if someone had deliberately orchestrated it, letting her find the location of the Ritual Arts, and then... releasing the Evil Thought!

"In any case... whether for your sake or for the 'world' outside, today, we must slay him!"

Tang Ruyi slashed out with her blade, and seven or eight phantoms of the Tang blade struck simultaneously, carrying terrifying energy fluctuations.

Yi drew his black longbow, and two black arrows appeared out of thin air. The bodies of the arrows were wreathed in wisps of black mist, like venomous snakes baring their fangs.

He drew the bow, locked on, and fired. The arrows whistled shrilly as they flew, one toward Xu Jingzhe and the other toward Tang Ruyi.

The one-sided situation that was expected did not occur. Xu Jingzhe dodged the black arrow almost by muscle memory, while Tang Ruyi severed her arrow.

Tang Ruyi paused; how could Yi's Evil Thought be so weak?

"Swish!" Yi's Evil Thought turned into a streak of black light. Not wanting to prolong the fight, he jumped off the top of the stone pillar, merged with the gray-black stone pillar, and disappeared.

Tang Ruyi leaped high, dropping down from the wide platform, disregarding the fact that her body had not yet fully recovered.

She used her utmost energy, intent on slaying Yi's Evil Thought.

Although Xu Jingzhe didn't understand, he quickly followed. The moment he saw Yi's Evil Thought, Xu Jingzhe saw greed in his eyes.

It was as if he was treating him as... prey!

Like an old beggar who had been starving for a long time, seeing a table full of delicacies and determined to devour them all.

The two fell from the high altitude, but they couldn't find Yi's Evil Thought at all. He appeared out of thin air and disappeared out of thin air, like a gust of wind.

"Rrip!" The Tang blade was forcefully wedged into a crack on the surface of the stone pillar. Tang Ruyi stopped her fall and grabbed the falling Xu Jingzhe, her expression extremely grim.

Hanging in mid-air, she looked down at the entire island, feeling extremely uneasy.

She was afraid.

She was afraid that there was more than one Burial God Evil Thought.

"I previously tracked the clues of the Ritual Arts and once saw a warning about Burial God Evil Thoughts. But I didn't take it to heart, because the conditions for forming a Burial God Evil Thought are extremely harsh, even harder than the birth of a life-bearing star."

"But I didn't expect that we would encounter Yi's Evil Thought this time. Furthermore, it's possible that there is more than one Burial God Evil Thought."

She looked steadily at Xu Jingzhe, and after a long silence, she said, "You need to be careful. There is the aura of a burial god on you. Unless the Burial God Evil Thought dies, it will keep following you, hiding in the dark, waiting for the right moment to devour you."

"And replace you, becoming some kind of new life form!"

Tang Ruyi did not dare to hide anything, worried that she might harm Xu Jingzhe.

A chill crawled from Xu Jingzhe's tailbone all the way up his spine. He had been... targeted by a Burial God Evil Thought!