107: Chapter 107 The old neighbor woke up, and he had quite a temper.

It had plenty of time.

But Shen Xiao and Xia Lengbai did not.

The moment Shen Xiao's voice fell, as if fulfilling some ominous curse, the ice-blue, scar-like Silver Pattern on the surface of the Light Cocoon suddenly shone with a blinding light!

The light was not warm; instead, it carried a sharpness as if tempered by ice, instantly illuminating the stone chamber in a deep, ghostly blue.

"Crack..."

A crisp, teeth-aching cracking sound rang out.

It was not broken open by external force; it sounded more like the mournful cry of porcelain that had reached its limit, emitting from within.

The smooth, round shell of the Light Cocoon suddenly buckled and twisted inward, centered on that ice-blue Silver Pattern, and then, a winding, irregular crack forcibly "grew" out!

The moment the crack appeared, there was no expected brilliance or eruption of energy.

On the contrary, a weak but incredibly clear wave of consciousness, like a tangible cold wind, was the first to "blow" out from the crack.

This fluctuation was mixed with two completely different auras.

One was the ancient and weary feeling of something fossilized, accumulated over countless years; the other was an extremely vivid, even somewhat sharp, sense of terror.

The moment this ancient consciousness filled with terror leaked out, it was like iron filings attracted to a magnet, "nailing" itself firmly onto Xia Lengbai!

Xia Lengbai's body tensed before she could even react.

The light of the Tomb Guardian Seal automatically circulated around her, forming a thin layer of protection.

She did not retreat; instead, she took a nearly imperceptible half-step forward. The deep ice-blue energy in her palm churned silently, casting her side profile in lines like those of an ice sculpture.

That fluctuation of consciousness began to "speak" directly into her (or rather, into the consciousness of any entity capable of perceiving it). It was not language, but a forceful infusion of pure concepts and emotions:

"Mirror... the mirror is ringing..."

"Your 'scent'... is new... mirror..."

Intermittent, filled with chaotic associations and distorted cognition.

It had clearly mistaken the newly Fusion-ed tainted energy on Xia Lengbai, which had been "regularized" by the ice crystal tube, for something terrifying—a new mirror image?

Or, was it some extremely dangerous source deep within its memory related to a "mirror"?

Shen Xiao moved.

He had already been standing not far from Xia Lengbai. Now, stumbling, he used his remaining strength to force himself a step sideways, blocking the space between that leaking consciousness and Xia Lengbai.

It was not a hero saving a beauty; it was more like an old farmer blocking his own restless livestock, fearing it might frighten passersby, and also fearing that passersby might hurt it. It was purely an instinctive control over the act of "contact."

"Hiss..."

The movement tugged at the chaotic Silver Pattern and damaged Meridians within his body, causing him to gasp in pain, cold sweat instantly beading on his forehead.

But he didn't care; he forced out a wisp of extremely weak, dim, almost transparent Silver Pattern light, like the softest spider silk, and cautiously probed toward the crack that was constantly emitting the terrified consciousness.

Contact.

Not plundering, not attacking, but attempting to establish a connection.

A minimal connection, just to "hear" more clearly, and to let the other side "hear" something as well.

The moment the Silver Pattern touched that ancient consciousness, Shen Xiao felt two completely different feedbacks.

First was the tactile sensation: cold.

It was not the cold of Xia Lengbai's energy properties, but a kind of gloomy cold, as if touching cold iron buried for ten thousand years, filled with a sense of corrosion.

Then came the emotions: broken fragments filled with wariness and curiosity.

The wariness was dominant, like a startled hedgehog bristling all its quills; the curiosity was hidden beneath the wariness, weak but stubborn, like a spark flickering in the dark that refused to be extinguished.

"It is afraid of your new 'scent'."

Shen Xiao's voice was extremely low, raspy like sandpaper rubbing together, transmitted through the weak connection of the Silver Pattern.

This voice was both a notification to Xia Lengbai and spoken for the ancient Consciousness Entity inside the crack, which was like a bird startled by the mere twang of a bowstring.

"It also wants to understand."

He paused, organizing simpler words that would strike directly at the core,

"Your energy changes, to it... are like a mirror it was familiar with, suddenly smashed by someone, and then, using completely different fragments, a new pattern was barely pieced together."

The sense of wariness transmitted through his Silver Pattern suddenly intensified.

"It is afraid of this new pattern."

Shen Xiao continued, speaking slowly, ensuring each concept was as clear as possible,

"But it is even more afraid... that the mirror will disappear completely, and not even a shadow will be able to be reflected anymore."

This was a tentative logical lure.

Connecting the object of the other party's fear (the new scent/mirror) with a deeper, more ultimate fear (complete disappearance/nothingness), attempting to establish a sliver of possibility for "dialogue" amidst the terror.

The crack in the Light Cocoon seemed to tremble slightly because of these words.

More consciousness flooded out, clearer than before, yet still extremely intermittent, like a radio with a bad signal.

The underlying tone of fear remained, but within it, some completely different, extremely ancient fragments of information began to mix in:

"...Protocol... Holder..." (This part of the consciousness vaguely pointed toward Shen Xiao, carrying a trace of extremely vague recognition, as if it had identified the "fragment" aura remaining on him)

"...Scent... Resonance..." (Mixed with confusion about Xia Lengbai's new state, and a faint, instinctive sense of "resonance" based on some rule?)

"...Can... get out..."

These last three concepts were like stones thrown into a stagnant pool, crystal clear.

Get out.

The directionality of the consciousness suddenly became clear; it was no longer limited to the two people in front of it, but suddenly turned toward the depths of the stone chamber, in the direction of the staircase they had just entered, which led into the unknown darkness.

But more accurately, it pointed further down the staircase, to that frozen area deep within the altar passage, where the spatial structure had long been unstable due to the internal agitation of power.

It was pointing there.

It wanted to get out.

It needed to leave this Light Cocoon that had imprisoned it for who knows how many years.

And these two intruders in front of it, carrying the scent of "Protocol fragments" and a strange "new scent," along with that unstable passage to the outside world, seemed to have become the only straw it could grasp.

A cold negotiation.

No pleasantries, no circumlocution.

Between fear and the most fundamental need for survival, it unfolded quietly, in the most primitive way of communicating consciousness.

One side was an ancient prisoner, weak, cunning, and eager to break free from its cage; the other side was the intruders from the present world, scarred, harboring their own thoughts, and equally in need of a way out.

Shen Xiao withdrew that wisp of Silver Pattern light, his face turning a few shades paler, but his eyes were as sharp as a hawk's, staring tightly at the crack and the indistinct, unstable, and slightly swaying silhouette of light and shadow visible from within the Light Cocoon behind the crack.

The ice-blue energy in Xia Lengbai's palm flickered uncertainly. She stared at the crack, and beneath the ice in her eyes, something was rotating slowly and dangerously.

The ancient Consciousness Entity inside the Light Cocoon seemed to have exhausted its strength for this round of communication, or perhaps it was waiting for a response.

The fluctuations coming from the crack gradually became intermittent and weary, like a candle in the wind.

Shen Xiao wiped away a bit of blood that had seeped from the corner of his mouth again, baring a smile that carried no warmth. Facing the crack, and also Xia Lengbai beside him, he whispered in a breathy voice:

"It seems... our 'old neighbor'... also has something in its hands... that it wants to 'exchange'."