36: Chapter 36 The bewildered Yue Li's soul is incomplete; the cave is a broken prison.

Just as Li Siwen and Chen Yaojia locked onto that hazy halo and were about to make a move to test their exit...

"Don't... don't leave!"

A slightly urgent, ethereal, and misty woman's voice, somewhat stumbling and with unclear articulation, suddenly came from deep within that halo!

Immediately afterward, the hazy halo rippled like water.

An illusory and beautiful figure slowly condensed, emerged, and drifted toward them.

She wore an ancient palace dress that seemed woven from moonlight and starlight; her appearance was breathtakingly beautiful, and her aura was ethereal and otherworldly, carrying a misty celestial charm that felt detached from the mortal world.

However, her form was extremely faint, as if she might dissipate at any moment, and her face bore a clear expression of confusion and ignorance.

It was a Remnant Soul!

Chen Yaojia's pupils shrank suddenly. In an almost instinctive reaction, the Yuan Power that had just been converted within her body surged instantly. She raised her jade-like hand, Yuan Power condensing at her fingertips, and was about to strike with a sharp attack out of habit!

When a Cultivator encounters an unknown Remnant Soul, the first reaction is often vigilance and attack; this is common sense!

"Sister Yaojia, wait!" Li Siwen suddenly reached out to stop her, his eyes sharply fixed on the drifting Remnant Soul as he whispered, "Calm down, she seems... to have no malice."

The moment this Remnant Soul appeared, the System prompts in his mind came through clearly:

[Urgency from ??? (Yue Li) +60]

[Worry from ??? (Yue Li) +45]

[Confusion from ??? (Yue Li) +50]

Urgency, worry, confusion... these emotions clearly did not belong to a hostile entity; she was more like a simple-minded child who feared loneliness.

Being stopped, Chen Yaojia's movements halted, though her beautiful eyes remained filled with vigilance.

But seeing Li Siwen's certain gaze, she chose to trust him for the moment. She slowly dispersed the Yuan Power condensed at her fingertips, yet she remained fully on guard, staring at the approaching Remnant Soul.

The palace-dressed Remnant Soul drifted to a spot several yards in front of them and stopped, appearing somewhat timid.

She tilted her head, curiously observing Li Siwen and Chen Yaojia with those pure yet confused eyes, seemingly struggling to organize her words.

"You... you... can't... leave."

She spoke intermittently, her voice ethereal and pleasant, yet the difficulty of expression was obvious. "Outside... dan... dangerous. Here... safe."

Li Siwen and Chen Yaojia glanced at each other, both seeing shock and suspicion in the other's eyes.

Li Siwen took a deep breath and stepped forward half a pace, shielding Chen Yaojia slightly behind him. He looked at the Remnant Soul with a calm gaze and tried to communicate using simple words: "Why is it dangerous? Who are you? What is this place? Have you always been here?"

Hearing the string of questions, the Remnant Soul seemed a bit bewildered. She blinked her eyes and tried hard to think.

"I... I am..." She pointed to herself, her delicate brows furrowing slightly, revealing clear distress. "Can't... can't remember clearly... seems... called... Yue... Yue Li?"

She shook her head, giving up on recalling her name, and turned to answer the other questions: "Here... is... 'Lingyuan Cave-Heaven'... my... home? I've always... been sleeping... long... long time... you... entered... I... then... woke..."

Though her expression was fragmented, combined with her gestures and emotions, Li Siwen and Chen Yaojia could barely understand the general meaning.

Li Siwen's heart stirred as he continued to probe: "Before... did anyone else come here?"

Upon hearing this question, a complex expression appeared on the Remnant Soul Yue Li's face—there was confusion, and also a hint of... faint sadness and fear?

"There... there were..."

She whispered, "Before... there were... people... who found this place... they... bad... want... to steal things... hit... hit me... I... then... made them... leave... or... let them... stay... forever..."

She spoke intermittently, but the meaning behind her words caused a chill to instantly rise up Li Siwen and Chen Yaojia's spines!

The people who broke in here before were either driven away or... killed! They stayed here forever!

This seemingly ignorant and simple Remnant Soul once possessed the power and decisiveness to guard this place and brook no intrusion!

Chen Yaojia's vigilance instantly heightened again.

Li Siwen also felt a shiver in his heart, but the System prompts still detected no malice, only a flat statement of fact and a hint of confusion regarding the past.

He steadied his mind and asked the most critical question: "You said it's dangerous outside and we can't leave? Why? We've already opened the way we came in."

Hearing this, the Remnant Soul Yue Li showed an even more urgent expression. She shook her head vigorously, pointed toward the entrance of the Cave-Heaven, and then pointed at the ground beneath her feet.

"No... it's not... that... Restriction... is... is protection... also... a cage..."

She struggled to organize her words, trying to explain clearly.

"The Cave-Heaven... and the outside... originally... could only... be opened from the outside... once... after entering... the entrance... would... completely close... until... the next time... it is opened... from the outside..."

"Before... when I... was awake... I could... control it... now... I... have slept too long... Soul Power... drained... memory... gone... the core... that controls the... Seal... is also... broken..."

She pointed to her faint body and then toward a certain direction deep within the Cave-Heaven, her face full of helplessness and frustration.

"After you... entered... the original... Seal... just... completely... failed... now... the Cave-Heaven... is... open... but... the exit... has also... become... unstable..."

"Outside... there are many... very fierce... auras... if you... go out now... you will... be discovered... very dangerous..."

After listening to this fragmented yet information-heavy explanation, Li Siwen and Chen Yaojia felt waves of shock in their hearts, and their expressions changed simultaneously!

So this was the truth!

This 'Lingyuan Cave-Heaven' was itself a massive Seal!

It once had a strict entry and exit mechanism, and the Remnant Soul Yue Li was once the guardian and controller here!

But with the passing of time, her Soul Power drained and her memories became incomplete, leading to the gradual damage of the Seal's core.

Their intrusion became the last straw that broke the camel's back, causing the original Seal mechanism to completely fail!

The current situation was that the Cave-Heaven entrance was indeed open, but the exit had become extremely unstable.

More importantly, a large number of powerful Yao Beasts attracted by the previous commotion were likely gathered outside!

Venturing out now would be no different from walking into a trap!

And all of this was because a Remnant Soul who had slept for untold years and whose memory was almost zero could no longer control this place as she had in the past!

The two looked at each other, both seeing immense shock and a hint of gravity in the other's eyes.

They had thought they had discovered an ownerless Treasure Trove, but they hadn't expected it to be a broken cage where crisis and opportunity coexisted!

And the key was a Little Muddlehead who had almost forgotten herself...