169: Staircase Flower Language and the Gate of Echoes
When the token in her palm resonated with the mark on her forehead, the breathing sound beneath the stairs became increasingly clear.
The sound was very light, carrying the rhythm of growing vegetation, much like the rhythm of Liu Shan when he was asleep.
Lin Qingxue took a deep breath and stepped onto the first stair.
The stone steps were warm, like the soil of the Spiritual fields baked by the sun, and she could even feel the subtle textures under her feet—exactly the same as the furrows in the fields of Luoxia Valley.
With every step she took downwards, the surrounding darkness faded by a fraction.
On the second step, the fragrance of biye flowers drifted through the air, richer than that in Luoxia Valley, carrying a faint trace of Light and Darkness Power.
On the third step, crystal-clear liquid droplets seeped from the rock walls on both sides of the stone steps, the sound of the droplets falling perfectly coinciding with the sound of water droplets in Chenyuan Lake.
She walked very slowly, as if measuring a distance that spanned across time and space.
The token in her palm grew hotter and hotter, and Liu Shan's aura came through the mark, gently wrapping around her and dispelling all her unease.
When she reached the middle section of the stairs, a soft green light suddenly lit up ahead.
It was an endless sea of biye flowers, dozens of times larger than the fields in Luoxia Valley; every flower was glowing, and the petals were flowing with patterns of intertwined Light and Darkness, echoing the mark on her forehead from afar.
In the center of the flower sea stood a half-open stone door; behind the door was dense white fog, making it impossible to see the scene inside.
Beside the stone door lay a familiar blue cloth bundle, the very one Liu Shan often used.
"Liu Shan?" Lin Qingxue called out softly, her voice echoing in the sea of flowers.
There was no response.
But she could feel that he was right behind the stone door.
The token in her palm vibrated violently, as if urging her to hurry over.
She hurried through the sea of flowers, the petals of the biye flowers gently brushing against the hem of her clothes, carrying a hint of intimate warmth.
Walking to the stone door, she hesitated for a moment before reaching out to open the blue cloth bundle.
There was nothing else in the bundle except for a yellowed booklet; on it was Liu Shan's familiar handwriting, recording all his experiences from Luoxia Valley to the Ancient Ruin; on the last page was a drawing of a biye flower, with a line of small text written beside it:
"When the flowers fill the valley, I will return."
Lin Qingxue's fingertips gently brushed over those words, and her eyes grew hot again.
She looked up at the half-open stone door; in the white fog, a blurry figure could be vaguely seen, sitting on a stone stool with his back to her, seemingly looking at something.
"Liu Shan?" she called out again, her voice trembling slightly.
The figure slowly turned around.
The white fog gradually dissipated, revealing his appearance.
He was wearing that familiar blue cloth shirt, with a gentle smile on his face; the spiral mark on his forehead shimmered with a faint light, exactly as she remembered him.
It was just that his body was no longer transparent but full of a real texture; she could even see the frayed edges of his cuffs.
"You're here," he said, his voice slightly hoarse but incredibly real.
Lin Qingxue could no longer hold back; she rushed over and hugged him tightly, feeling the warmth in his embrace and his real heartbeat, tears streaming down her face: "You liar... you said you would return when the flowers filled the valley..."
"I'm back," Liu Shan said, gently patting her back, his voice tinged with apology, "I just took a bit of a detour on the way."
He paused, raised his hand to wipe away the tears on her cheeks, and smiled gently: "Look, the flowers here are blooming just right."
Lin Qingxue looked up, saw herself in his eyes, and finally broke into a smile through her tears.
Just then, the white fog behind the stone door suddenly rolled violently, and a familiar aura belonging to Chaos surged out from within!
Liu Shan's expression changed slightly; he held Lin Qingxue and stepped back, his Light and Darkness Power instantly condensing: "There is still residual Chaos?"
In the white fog, countless black shadows vaguely emerged; these shadows were similar to the black figures that had been killed before, but they were more illusory, as if condensed from pure resentment.
"It seems the remnants of fate haven't been cleared yet," Liu Shan's eyes became grave.
The black shadows let out silent roars and lunged at the two, their speed so fast that they only left behind trails of afterimages.
Liu Shan shielded Lin Qingxue behind him, his Light and Darkness Power condensing into a long sword in his palm: "Qingxue, guard the stone door! Don't let them escape!"
"Okay!" Lin Qingxue nodded; her soft sword unsheathed, and the cyan-gold light echoed with the mark on her forehead, laying down a defensive light barrier around the stone door.
Liu Shan, holding the Sword of Light and Darkness, met the black shadows; as the sword light flashed, the shadows were constantly killed, turning into specks of black gas, but they quickly re-condensed, as if they could never be killed off.
"They feed on resentment; the more we kill, the more there are!" Sweat seeped from Liu Shan's forehead; evidently, he also felt this was tricky.
Watching the constantly emerging shadows, Lin Qingxue suddenly remembered the words of ancestor Xuan Jin: "Chaos originates from obsession; if the obsession is not broken, the Chaos will not perish."
She looked at Liu Shan, then at those shadows, a flash of realization in her eyes: "Liu Shan! Don't kill them!"
Liu Shan was stunned for a moment and subconsciously withdrew his long sword.
Lin Qingxue took a deep breath, dispersed the defensive light barrier, and fused Lingmai Power with Light and Darkness Power, transforming it into a soft cyan-gold light that enveloped the black shadows.
The light was not aggressive but carried a warm and inclusive aura, like the sunshine of Luoxia Valley, like the flowing water of Chenyuan Lake, like the fragrance of biye flowers.
The black shadows struggled violently in the light, letting out painful hisses, but they could not break free; gradually, the black gas on their bodies began to dissipate, revealing a faint golden light inside—that was the Origin power of those of the same source.
"This is..." Liu Shan watched this scene in astonishment.
"They are formed by our obsessions," Lin Qingxue said softly, "The obsessions of Xuan Jin and Blood Master, your obsessions and mine, the obsessions of all those of the same source... only by accepting them can they be truly resolved."
She reached out, and the token in her palm touched Liu Shan's Sword of Light and Darkness.
The cyan, gold, and black lights intertwined into a huge Taiji pattern, enveloping all the black shadows within it.
The shadows stopped struggling, slowly closed their "eyes" in the light, and turned into specks of golden light, merging into the Taiji pattern.
The white fog behind the stone door gradually dissipated, revealing a clear sky; under the sky was an endless sea of biye flowers, exactly the same as the fields of Luoxia Valley.
The Taiji pattern slowly dissipated, and the marks on the foreheads of Liu Shan and Lin Qingxue lit up at the same time, becoming clearer and purer.
"Is it over?" Liu Shan asked softly.
Lin Qingxue nodded with a smile: "It's over."
Just then, the ground beneath their feet began to vibrate slightly.
The biye flowers in the sea of flowers suddenly began to wither rapidly, their petals falling down and turning into golden light particles in the air, converging toward the direction of the stone door.
The stone door made a "creaking" sound and began to close slowly.
"What's going on?" Lin Qingxue's expression changed slightly.
Liu Shan held her hand, feeling the changes in the surrounding aura, and frowned slightly: "The space here is collapsing; after the obsession is resolved, this 'Land of Obsession' should also disappear."
He looked at the closing stone door; behind the door, he could vaguely see the scene of Luoxia Valley—the fields, the Huai Ancient Tree, and the busy figures of the tribespeople.
"We should go back," he said.
The stone door was closing faster and faster, leaving only a narrow gap.
Liu Shan pulled Lin Qingxue and ran towards the gap.
Just as they were about to pass through the stone door, Lin Qingxue suddenly stopped and looked back into the depths of the flower sea.
There, a late-blooming biye flower was blooming, and on its petals sat a small, transparent figure, exactly as Liu Shan looked when he coexisted with the Ancient Tree.
The figure waved at her, then turned into a speck of light and merged into the mark on her forehead.
"Let's go," Liu Shan said softly.
Lin Qingxue nodded and passed through the gap of the stone door with him.
The stone door closed completely behind them, emitting a dull sound, and then turned into specks of golden light, dissipating into the air.
The sunshine of Luoxia Valley shone on them, warm and real.
Shi Yan and Liu Zhi were standing by the Spiritual fields, and seeing them appear, they shouted in surprise: "Liu Shan! Big Sister Qingxue!"
The tribespeople also gathered around, their faces beaming with happy smiles.
Liu Shan and Lin Qingxue looked at each other, both seeing the relief of surviving a disaster and the anticipation for the future in each other's eyes.
Just then, Liu Shan's gaze was suddenly drawn to the Huai Ancient Tree in the center of the Spiritual fields.
On the branches of the Ancient Tree, a flower never seen before had bloomed—its petals half cyan-gold, half pitch-black, with a soft white in the middle, looking exactly like the spiral mark on their foreheads.
At the center of the flower, something seemed to be flickering.
Liu Shan and Lin Qingxue stepped forward and looked closely, discovering that in the center of the flower lay a complete token engraved with the character "Ruin", with a faint stream of Light and Darkness Qi winding around the token, slowly rotating.
Beside the token was a new note, written in Liu Shan's handwriting, but with a hint of unfamiliar vicissitudes:
"The Reincarnation has passed, the return journey lies ahead. There is still one realm, waiting for you to explore."
Liu Shan's pupils contracted slightly.
Lin Qingxue's heart also skipped a beat.
They knew that a new journey was about to begin.