311: Meng Lang and Meng Bi

"Go." Yao Delong said coldly, taking the lead and stepping into the crack that seemed to lead to the Nine Springs of Hell.

Meng Lang looked at the dark crack in the door, listening to the faint sounds emanating from within,

the increasingly clear, painful wails, which scared him Soul Flying Away and Spirit Scattering.

But seeing Yao Delong's cold back, he didn't dare to hesitate in the slightest.

He steeled himself and scrambled inside.

Inside the door was a dark, gloomy passage extending downwards, seemingly without end.

On both sides were rough, cold black rocks.

At regular intervals, phosphorescent stones emitting a pale green, ghostly light were embedded in the walls, barely illuminating the path ahead.

Chilling winds swept through the passage, stirring up bone dust on the ground,

making a "rustling" sound, like the whispers of departed souls.

The air was thick with an unyielding scent of decay and despair,

constantly eroding one's mind.

Meng Lang followed closely behind Yao Delong, his face ashen, white as paper.

His teeth chattered, and every step he took filled him with trepidation.

He felt as if he had willingly walked into Hell.

After an unknown period of walking, the path suddenly opened up into a massive, honeycomb-like cavern.

The four walls of the cavern were carved with countless dense prison cells of varying sizes.

Most of the cells were empty, but in many others,

faint figures could be seen, their shoulder blades pierced by thick chains, nailed to the walls or curled up on the ground.

Their auras were weak, like candles flickering in the wind.

This was the outer confinement area of the Soul Prison.

Despair, pain, and deathly silence were the eternal themes here.

Yao Delong held the Soul Command Token, which emitted a faint black light, guiding the way.

He led the trembling Meng Lang directly to a prison cell located in a corner, where the Restrictions were particularly severe.

The cell was forged from heavy Profound Iron, with only a palm-sized peephole on the door.

Yao Delong stood before the door and, using the Soul Command Token, deactivated some of the Restrictions on it.

Then, he stepped aside and showed a cold and cruel smile to Meng Lang, who was almost collapsing behind him:

"Junior Brother Meng Lang, come, say hello to your dear cousin."

The heavy Profound Iron prison door slid open silently,

revealing an even denser darkness and a pungent smell of blood and decay.

Inside the cell, a figure was suspended in mid-air like a tattered doll, its shoulder blades pierced by thick, glowing runic chains.

He was suspended in mid-air like a tattered doll.

His hair was disheveled, his body covered in congealed blood, and his exposed skin was riddled with horrifying scars and frostbite.

One eye was just a dark, empty socket, and the other was murky and dim.

His aura was extremely weak, it was Meng Bi, who had been tortured for over a month.

The heavy sound of the door opening startled him. He laboriously and extremely slowly raised his head.

His murky single eye struggled to focus, looking towards the doorway through the gaps in his messy, dirty hair.

The first thing that came into view was a familiar figure—Meng Lang!

Although Meng Lang's face was ashen, white as paper, and his legs were still trembling slightly,

and his iconic yellow Daoist Robe of Tuyao Peak was stained with the filth of the prison,

in Meng Bi's eyes, this figure was like a bright lamp suddenly lit in boundless darkness!

It was hope! It was salvation! It was a signal that the Family had finally arrived!

"Meng... Lang?!"

A dry, hoarse voice squeezed out of Meng Bi's throat,

carrying an unbelievable ecstasy and the excitement of a drowning man clutching at a piece of driftwood.

Murky tears instantly gushed out, washing away the blood on his face, leaving two clear streaks.

"Is... is father the one who sent you? Is father coming to save me?"

Quick! Get me out of here! I can't stay in this damned place for another moment!"

He struggled, the chains clanging, pulling at his wounds.

The pain made him grimace, but the hope in his eyes shone astonishingly bright.

He had never felt that this cousin of his, whom he had always looked down upon and considered only fit to fawn over him,

was so endearing and reassuring at this moment!

He was his only straw of salvation!

Meng Lang looked at the man before him, once the spirited and arrogant Young Master of Marquis Zhenyuan,

now locked in a cage like the most lowly beggar, emanating a foul stench.

In his heart, there was no sympathy, only endless fear and lingering dread!

He had actually dared to plot against Yao Delong before? He had even hoped Yao Delong would die in the Secret Realm?

The miserable state of his cousin before him was the cruelest warning!

A huge fear, like a cold viper, coiled around his heart. Meng Lang's legs gave out.

With a "thud," he directly knelt on the cold, slippery ground!

The ecstasy on Meng Bi's face instantly froze, turning into bewilderment:

"Brother Lang? You... why are you kneeling? Get up and save me!"

Could it be... could it be that father paid an unimaginable price for Meng Lang to take his punishment instead?!

Just as this absurd thought arose in Meng Bi's mind, a tall and imposing figure,

like a demon god controlling life and death, slowly stepped out from behind Meng Lang.

He stopped at the cell doorway, blocking the pale green phosphorescent light from outside,

casting a massive shadow that completely enveloped Meng Bi.

Yao Delong!

That handsome face, yet with a cold, mocking smile, clearly reflected in Meng Bi's single eye!

Time seemed to freeze.

Meng Bi's ecstasy, hope, and tears on his face instantly solidified!

Immediately, like water thrown into boiling oil, it violently erupted!

Extreme shock, disbelief, and an absurd feeling of being cruelly mocked by fate instantly engulfed him!

"Ah—!!!"

Meng Bi screamed, a shrill, distorted shriek, as if scalded by boiling oil.

His body twisted and struggled frantically, the chains clanging loudly!

"It's you! Yao Delong! How could it be you?! Impossible!

Where's my father?! Where is my father?!"

The immense psychological disparity caused him to instantly collapse; the despair of falling from heaven to Hell almost tore him apart!

He struggled frantically, the chains clanging loudly.

His wounds split open, blood oozing out, but he was completely oblivious.

His single eye stared fixedly at Yao Delong, as if wanting to devour him alive.

The cold curve of Yao Delong's lips deepened.

He watched Meng Bi, who was acting like a madman, with a leisurely, mocking tone:

"What, Young Master Meng, you don't seem too happy to see me? Your father?

Heh heh, his esteemed self is probably too busy to care about a rebellious son like you, who colluded with outsiders and harmed fellow disciples."

"You're spouting nonsense!!"

Meng Bi shrieked furiously, then abruptly turned to Meng Lang, who was kneeling on the ground.

His eyes burned with raging anger and immense confusion.

"Meng Lang! Speak! How are you with him?!"

Tell me! What exactly is going on?!"

"Cousin, save your strength."

A voice, clearly fawning and gloating, rang out.

Meng Lang, who was kneeling on the ground, after his initial fear,

felt Yao Delong's cold gaze sweep over him, and he instantly shuddered as if doused with ice water!

He abruptly activated his Cultivation Technique, forcibly suppressing the fear in his heart.

A smug, almost twisted smile quickly formed on his face.