272: Chapter 272 Choices and Keys

The cold, slimy, malicious air gripped every inch of the stone cavern of this desperate place like a heavy shackle. Ling Ye's fingers were steady as rock, resting on the bowstring, confronting the nightmarish head that probed out from the crevice. Time seemed to freeze; every heartbeat counted down to the moment of a life-or-death confrontation.

However, just as the arrow was about to leave the string, an anomaly suddenly occurred!

Ling Ye only felt that deep within his consciousness, the originally suppressed and dormant shattered memories and deep imprints belonging to "Ling Ye," like a deep pool into which a boulder had been thrown, suddenly stirred up a wild frenzy! A stream of unfamiliar, cold, yet indescribably sorrowful and resolute intent, as if forcibly activated and infused by some power, broke through the barriers of his consciousness and surged forward!

In a vast, cold, star-speckled, immense metallic space filled with precise geometric structures and energy circuits, a pair of tall, upright figures—a man and a woman dressed in ancient styles with strange insignias, their faces blurred—stood with their backs to him (or rather, to the memory perspective of "Ling Ye"), before a gate of light that flowed with liquid starlight, constantly rotating, and leading to the endlessly deep Void Realm.

"...The coordinates have been anchored, but the energy ripples of the 'homeward path' will attract 'them'... Someone must stay behind to stabilize the gate and clear the traces." The man's voice was calm, yet carried a determination as hard as steel.

"...The 'the key' has been implanted. He will live on, carrying our 'beacon' and 'star map,' until... the gate opens again, or 'Purification' is complete." The woman's voice was gentle, yet contained an unquestionable firmness. Her hand seemed to gently stroke the top of "Ling Ye's" (childhood) head, leaving behind one last trace of warmth.

"Remember, Ye'er," the man's final voice, like a brand, was deeply engraved into the depths of his Soul, "Live on. Find the 'path home.' The 'abyssal eye' is not the source, but a wound of the 'gate.' As long as the 'Star Gate' is not extinguished, the pollution will never cease. We... are waiting for you."

"Boom—!"

The images, the sounds, along with that "gate" flowing with starlight, instantly shattered and distorted, violently devoured by a massive, chaotic, and endlessly hungry and malicious phantom of a dark abyss, composed of countless eyeballs! That was the power of the "abyssal eye"! It was polluting, eroding, and tampering with this sealed memory!

The intense headache felt like being chiseled by an axe, but Ling Ye gritted his teeth tightly, not making a sound. The bowstring remained taut, and the arrowhead pointed unmoving at the monster's compound eyes. However, deep within his pupils, a massive storm was raging.

Parents... Star Gate... Is the "abyssal eye" a wound of the "gate"? Is the "Star Gate" the source of the pollution? What are the "the key," "beacon," and "star map" they left behind? Where are they? What are their so-called "path home" and "Purification"?!

"Hiss—!!!"

The "Abyssal Remains" predator in front seemed not to have noticed the upheaval deep within Ling Ye's consciousness; it was merely impatient with the prey's continued failure to flee or move, which it perceived as a "provocation." It let out an even sharper hiss, its massive body exerting force, forcibly widening the narrow crevice entrance a little more. More viscous liquid and crushed stones were squeezed out, and a large portion of its suffocating, terrifying body squeezed further out! Those two dim green compound eyes locked onto Ling Ye, and its cold, cruel killing intent, like solid ice picks, stabbed at Ling Ye's Soul.

Just then, Old Shi, who had been slumped in the corner, gasping for breath, suddenly let out a pained groan. It clutched its right hand tightly. The grayish-green patch was now writhing and glowing violently like a living thing, even faintly showing signs of breaking through the skin and spreading outward! A scent of pollution, originating from the same source as that emitted by the "Abyssal Remains" predator but even more chaotic and "primitive," uncontrollably leaked from it!

"Damn it!" Ling Ye's heart sank. The pollution inside Old Shi seemed to have been strongly stimulated and induced!

Sure enough, the "Abyssal Remains" predator's reaction was extremely swift! It seemed to sense the "weak" and "chaotic" pollution aura of the same source leaking from Old Shi. In those two dim green compound eyes, greed and a kind of strange "excitement" instantly replaced pure cruelty! For the "Abyssal Remains," devouring individuals of the same source that were weak or "mutated" seemed to be an instinct to strengthen itself and clear away "inferior" pollution! Its massive body burst with power again, squeezing outward even more violently, its target seemingly shifting temporarily from Ling Ye to Old Shi, which was in a bizarre state with leaking pollution!

Countless thoughts flashed through Ling Ye's mind in an instant. The memory fragments of his parents, the countdown of the world, the lethal threat before him, Old Shi's mutation... all clues seemed, at this moment, to be forcibly squeezed and collided, pointing to a single point.

"Old Shi!" Ling Ye suddenly spoke, his voice hoarse but carrying an unquestionable command, "Suppress the pollution! Use the 'still-pool moss' I gave you and smear it all over your hand! Then, carefully perceive the source of the pollution inside you, the 'core' of that 'patch'! Tell me, what do you 'feel'? Is there... something 'implanted,' 'bound,' or... like a 'keyhole'?!"

He asked quickly and urgently. At the same time, the bow and arrow in his hand shifted slightly, no longer aiming at the monster's eyes, but at the joint in the middle of its torso where it was forcibly squeezing out—the area where the friction between its carapace and the rock wall was most intense, where it seemed relatively weak, and where several walking legs were connected! He didn't want a one-hit kill, but rather to cause maximum pain and movement interference, to buy time for Old Shi, and to create an opportunity for himself to close in!

Could the things his parents left behind exist not only in the depths of "Ling Ye's" memory? Could they, in some form, also be related to the pollution of the "abyssal eye," or even to the "traits" of the polluted? Old Shi's peculiar Physique that could weakly resonate with the pollution, that right-hand patch that still retained some sanity after being eroded by the "abyssal eye"... did it hide something?

Old Shi was taken aback by Ling Ye's abrupt and urgent command and question, but driven by the instinct for survival and an almost blind trust in Ling Ye, it trembled as it used its left hand to take out the remaining, now mushy, "still-pool moss" residue from its pocket and smeared it all over the violently writhing grayish-green patch on its right hand! The cold touch and the weak Purification energy seemed to temporarily suppress the riot of the patch.

Old Shi endured the severe pain and the discomfort deep in its Soul, closed its eyes, focusing all its mental energy on the core of that eerie patch on its right hand. A few seconds later, it opened its eyes wide, its eyes filled with unbelievable horror and a trace of... strange realization.

"There... there is something! Deep... deep inside the patch! It's not pollution! It's... it's a very, very tiny, cold, metallic-textured... point, wrapped and entangled by the polluted energy! It is... absorbing the pollution, and it is also... 'resonating'?! And... and..." It looked sharply at Ling Ye, its voice shrill with shock, "And on you... you are emitting a kind of... extremely weak... cold, orderly... fluctuation that is the same source as that 'point'!"

A cold, orderly fluctuation of the same source?

A crazy thought, like lightning, split the fog in Ling Ye's mind.

The "abyssal eye" pollution is not just chaos and madness. It seems... to be "assimilating" or "covering up" certain specific, orderly "things" related to the "Star Gate" or what his parents left behind? Could the "point" inside Old Shi be some kind of... "fragment" or "interface" from the "Star Gate" or his parents' plan that was eroded by the pollution but not yet fully digested?

"Keep perceiving! Guide it! Don't resist! Imagine that 'point' is... a 'signpost'!" Ling Ye spoke very fast, and at the same time—

"Roar—!!!"

The "Abyssal Remains" predator finally squeezed completely out of the crevice, covered in mucus and crushed stones, letting out a deafening roar. Waving its sickle-like mouthparts, it charged violently toward Old Shi! The ground trembled under its heavy walking legs!

Now!

Ling Ye released the bowstring.

"Whoosh—!"

The arrow, coated with concentrated "Purification dust," was not shot at the eyes, but accurately shot at the gap in the joints in the middle of the monster's torso, where the several walking legs connected and the carapace was relatively weak!

"Pfft!"

The arrow sank deep into the carapace gap. Although it did not cause a fatal wound, the "Purification dust" on the arrowhead, which had an extremely strong stimulating and neutralizing effect on the pollution energy, instantly erupted inside the monster's body!

"Hiss—!!!!!!"

The monster let out an unprecedented, shrill hiss mixed with severe pain, violent rage, and a trace of... chaos! At the site where it was hit, the muscle tissue under the carapace spasmed and twisted violently, and purple-black foul blood and chaotic energy flows spurted out! Its forward momentum stalled abruptly, its several walking legs showed a brief lack of coordination, and its massive body even tilted to one side, revealing an extremely brief, vulnerable area on the side of its head, where the compound eyes connected to the base of the mouthparts, which was not covered by thick carapace!

A chance!!

The moment the arrow left the string, Ling Ye had already discarded his longbow and drawn the short blade at his waist, which was chipped but still sharp. He did not hesitate in the slightest, pouring all the remaining strength in his body, as well as that inexplicable, cold intent that had just been stirred up by the impact of the memory fragments, into his legs and his sword-wielding right arm. Like a hunting cheetah, he shot out toward the monster, which was exposing its vulnerability due to the severe pain and chaos!

He did not charge at the front of the monster, but at the relatively vulnerable side neck area exposed by its tilted body! The target was the area below the dim green compound eyes, at the base of the mouthparts, where the carapace coverage was less!

The monster sensed the fatal threat and struggled to adjust its posture, waving its sickle-like mouthparts to bite. But the severe pain and energy disorder where it had been hit in the torso severely interfered with its coordination.

Ling Ye's figure cast an afterimage in the dim light. The short blade in his hand, carrying an indomitable determination, fiercely stabbed at that fatal weak point!

"Pfft—!"

The sound of the blade entering flesh was not loud, but it carried a heart-palpitating sense of penetration. Ling Ye felt his short blade sink deep into the monster's body! But what he had stabbed into was not the nerve center or major blood vessel he had expected, but a tough, cold, seemingly still slightly pulsating organ filled with chaotic energy, like a "tumor" or "gland"!

Is this the monster's "pollution core" or energy gland?!

Almost the moment the short blade stabbed in, Ling Ye felt a violent, chaotic, and endlessly malicious mental shock and pollution energy, like a bursting flood, rush along the short blade, suddenly surging into his arm and toward his brain!

"Ugh—!" Ling Ye groaned, his vision blacked out, his ears ringing. He felt as if his consciousness was about to be torn apart and polluted by this pure chaos and malice!

But at the same time, deep in his consciousness, that cold intent belonging to the "original body's" parents that had just subsided—or rather, the weak fluctuation of the "the key" or "beacon" they left behind—seemed to be stimulated by the energy of the "pollution core" of the same source, and suddenly, automatically, violently, and uncontrollably began to resonate and tremble!

A cold, orderly stream of information, distinct from the surrounding chaotic pollution, weak but clear, like a triggered switch, suddenly rushed from the depths of Ling Ye's consciousness, through his sword-wielding arm, the short blade, and the contact point with the "pollution core" inside the monster, and back into the monster's "pollution core"!

No, not just a stream of information! Ling Ye could feel that something inside him seemed to have been "activated." Not power, but a coordinate, a "marker," a kind of... "resonance request"!

The monster let out an even more shrill hiss, but it seemed to be mixed with pain, confusion, and even a trace of... fear! The chaotic pollution energy inside it, as if an ice cube had been thrown into boiling oil, boiled, clashed, and became disordered violently! Its massive body twisted and convulsed frantically, its sickle-like mouthparts flailing about, smashing the surrounding rocks to pieces, but its attacks had lost all rhyme or reason.

And just then, Old Shi, who had been keeping its eyes closed, fully perceiving the "Metal Point" inside its body, suddenly let out a sharp, resonant cry of pain! The grayish-green patch on its right hand shone brightly, and that tiny, cold "Metal Point" that had been perceived seemed to have produced some kind of bizarre, incomprehensible, and brief three-way resonance with the "marker" activated inside Ling Ye and the pollution core impacted by the "marker" inside the monster!

An invisible "connection," extremely weak but definitely existing, straight, piercing through the rock layers, the chaotic energy field of the Rift Canyon, and perhaps even piercing through the further Void Realm, seemed to flash between Old Shi's "Metal Point," Ling Ye's "marker," and the monster's "pollution core"!

"Is that... the direction?!" Old Shi opened its eyes wide, pointing at the crevice at the top of the cavern that let in daylight—no, pointing outside the crevice, to some invisible, ethereal direction that could not be seen with the naked eye. Its voice trembled with excitement and pain, "I... I 'feel' it! That 'point'... no, what that 'point' is pointing to... deeper, further... below the canyon, in a deeper place—no, through the canyon, in... in the northeast direction, very, very far away... there is a... a huge, cold thing that is 'summoning' or... 'emitting' the same fluctuation! It's strong! Very strong! But... it's also very dangerous! It's filled with... the aura of repulsion and... destruction!"

Just at this moment of chaos, pain, and brief three-way resonance—

"Roar—!!!"

The monster seemed to recover a trace of sanity from its brief chaos and pain, or rather, it was completely enraged and had fallen into a final frenzy! It violently shook its head, and a more violent, concentrated sonic wave, mixed with physical impact and spiritual pollution, blasted like a solid cannonball at point-blank range toward Ling Ye, who was within arm's reach!

Ling Ye had no time to dodge. He only had time to twist the short blade fiercely inside the monster's body, then, using the reaction force, retreated rapidly, while simultaneously holding the broken spear shaft horizontally in front of him to block.

"Bang!"

The sonic wave, mixed with foul-smelling mucus and chaotic energy, slammed solidly into Ling Ye! He felt as if he had been hit by a battering ram; his sternum groaned under the unbearable load, a sweet taste filled his mouth, blood sprayed out, and his whole body flew backward like a kite with a broken string, crashing heavily into the rock wall behind him, then falling to the ground, his vision completely drowned by darkness and severe pain.

The short blade remained inside the monster.

The monster let out one last unwilling, painful hiss, its massive body crashing to the ground, convulsing violently. Purple-black foul blood gushed out from its mouthparts, wounds, and the "pollution core" where the short blade was stabbed, and the pollution energy dissipated uncontrollably. But it seemed not to have completely died yet; its dim green compound eyes stared fixedly at the direction where Ling Ye had fallen, flickering with a venomous light, struggling to climb up again.

Old Shi let out a scream, scrambled and crawled toward Ling Ye, trying to check its injuries.