87: Chapter 87 Risking One's Life to Pry Open the Door

The suction force came too violently, too fiercely. Shen Xiao felt as if his arm was being gripped by an invisible giant hand; his finger bones rattled, and the ice fragment in his palm was so searing hot it felt like it would brand through his skin.

The Dark Gold Spiritual Energy within his body surged like a breached flood, uncontrollably rushing toward the wildly leaping System Silver Pattern deep within his Dantian. The System Silver Pattern itself, surprisingly, faintly exuded a strange sense of "submission," as if it inherently belonged to that dark opening and was merely "going home" at this moment.

"Screw 'going home'!"

Shen Xiao bit his tongue tip sharply. The salty, sweet blood exploded in his mouth, and the sharp pain, like a basin of ice water poured over his head, dragged him forcefully out of that strange sense of "submission."

The cold light in his eyes gathered once more, colder than ten-thousand-year black ice.

He understood now. Rather than being dragged away like a dead dog by that suction force, taking the "key" and half his life with it, he might as well…

"Go in and take a look."

Xia Lengbai's previous words exploded in his mind at this moment—not a discussion, not a probe, but the only path to survival right now.

"The toll…" Shen Xiao abruptly turned his head to look at the moon-white figure beside him, the corner of his mouth pulling into a blood-stained arc, his voice as hoarse as a broken gong. "I've noted down your share."

Before the words even faded, he made a move that caused Xia Lengbai's pupils to shrink sharply. He stopped resisting the suction force.

Not only did he stop resisting, but he also took the little remaining Dark Gold Spiritual Energy in his body, along with that trace of "resonance" frequency parsed from the System Silver Pattern, and—like dumping trash—poured it all, unreservedly and fiercely, into the already cracked ice fragment in his palm!

"Hum!!!" The ice fragment erupted with blinding ice-blue light. The brilliance turned Shen Xiao's vision white, and his eardrums buzzed as if pierced by countless ice needles simultaneously.

In that instant, the suction force surged by more than several times, as if an ancient beast that had slept for ten thousand years had finally smelled the fragrance of flesh and blood and opened its greedy maw.

Shen Xiao felt as if his body had been fitted with a rocket booster—no, as if he were strapped to a runaway high-speed train—and his entire being was uncontrollably hurtling toward that deep, dark opening!

The ice layer beneath his feet, the ice walls above his head, and all the scenery in every direction transformed into a blurred river of light and shadow in his eyes, rapidly receding backward.

The sound of wind—no, it wasn't the wind. It was some older, duller "roar," like the wails and screeches of billions of Souls emitted at the same moment, and also like the sound of countless memory fragments colliding, crushing, and reorganizing while spinning at high speed.

The sound drilled directly into his cranial cavity, shaking his brains until they sloshed, and his internal organs were churning violently.

The old injuries in his internal organs erupted simultaneously at this moment; Shen Xiao tasted sweetness in his throat, and a mouthful of stagnant blood sprayed out.

The blood foam was instantly torn into blood mist within the violent airflow, mixed with specks of interlaced Dark Gold and ice-blue light, trailing behind him like a strange wake.

Xia Lengbai's pupils shrank slightly. She hadn't expected Shen Xiao to be so resolute. This man, who had clearly been resisting the suction force with all his might just moments ago, clearly still having some energy left to maneuver, had made the most insane choice in a flash: not to be passively dragged in, but to actively, in a near-suicidal manner, throw himself into that "door."

But almost at the same time as Shen Xiao's action, the Tomb Guardian Seal between Xia Lengbai's brows transmitted two completely opposite signals.

One was a strong, almost irresistible "attraction," as if something behind that "door" was summoning her, whispering to her, and promising a form of liberation she had craved for ten thousand years.

The other was a sharp "warning" that pierced into the depths of her Soul, like countless red-hot iron needles stabbing into her Sea of Consciousness simultaneously, warning her that behind that door lay an abyss, annihilation, and a terror that even the Tomb Guardian Seal could not withstand.

Attraction and warning intertwined, tearing at her Divine Soul. But who was Xia Lengbai? She was the Gravekeeper who had guarded that door for ten thousand years, a prisoner trapped on this ice field where even death had become a luxury.

She knew what was behind that door better than anyone, and she was more eager than anyone to know the truth behind it. More importantly, Shen Xiao—this "key" that had unexpectedly vibrated prematurely, this "variable" that had constantly shattered her perception since his appearance—was currently clutching that ice fragment and flying toward that door without looking back.

Her eyes became unfathomably deep in that instant, as deep as the coldest pool beneath the ancient ice fields, where something was churning and awakening at the bottom.

"Swish…" With a sudden flick of her moon-white sleeve, a wisp of pure, ice-blue aura from the Tomb Guardian Seal, like an ice-blue spirit snake, wrapped around Shen Xiao's wrist, which was being frantically dragged by the suction force, with lightning speed!

The aura was bone-chillingly cold, yet it carried a strange warmth, like a drop of warm spring water encased in ten-thousand-year ice. It instantly penetrated the chaotic spiritual energy shield on Shen Xiao's body surface and created a subtle resonance with the wildly leaping System Silver Pattern within him.

The next instant, Xia Lengbai's body was also pulled by that wisp of aura, like a snowflake swept up by a gale, and she was dragged toward that pitch-black opening along with Shen Xiao!

Shen Xiao turned his head abruptly, his blood-red eyes staring fixedly at her. Xia Lengbai met his gaze; in her ice-blue eyes, there was no fear, no retreat, only a near-pathological obsession, suppressed for ten thousand years, erupting like a volcano.

Her voice pierced through the violent airflow and chaotic whispers, falling clearly into Shen Xiao's ears—cold, yet carrying a barely perceptible tremor: "You owe me a share of your life; wanting to shake me off won't be that easy."

Shen Xiao stared at her, the blood-stained arc at the corner of his mouth widening, looking like mockery, or perhaps a bitter smile of shared misfortune. He did not break free from her aura's entanglement, nor did he waste any more words. Because they had arrived.

That pitch-black opening completely occupied Shen Xiao's entire field of vision at this moment. At the edge of the opening, the ten-thousand-year black ice had completely "melted"—not in the physical sense, but rather its form had been "erased" by some more fundamental power, turning into a strange medium of twisted fluctuations, existing between reality and illusion.

Inside the opening was absolute darkness. No, not darkness. It was "Void." It was a void where even darkness itself could not exist.

Countless shimmering memory fragments, like a nether-river composed of billions of fireflies, surged crazily from that void, brushing past Shen Xiao's cheeks, limbs, and torso, bringing forth waves of strange sensations—sometimes the slickness of an infant's skin, sometimes the roughness of an old man's dry bones, sometimes the warmth of a lover's fingertips, and sometimes the coldness of an enemy's sharp teeth.

The whispering reached its peak at this moment. Billions of voices sounded in his ears simultaneously and vanished simultaneously, as if countless people were telling him something, yet not a single sentence could be captured completely.

Only the most intense, most primitive emotions rushed against his mind like a tide: joy and sorrow, separation and reunion, love and hate, passion and enmity, greed, fear, loyalty, betrayal...

Shen Xiao felt as if he had been thrown into a high-speed washing machine—no, into a vortex composed of billions of Soul fragments. His consciousness was teetering on the edge under the violent jolting and impact; the light and shadow before his eyes flashed crazily, the whispers in his ears drifted near and far, and his nasal cavity was filled with a strange, complex scent mixed with blood, sandalwood, rotting soil, and ice and snow.

He gripped the ice fragment in his palm tightly; it was his only "anchor point" at this moment. And beside him, Xia Lengbai's aura, like a cold thread, remained wrapped around his wrist, unbroken.

Above the rift, Lin Yun witnessed everything. He saw Shen Xiao and Xia Lengbai swallowed by that pitch-black opening, saw that ancient "door" begin to slowly shrink after consuming the two, and saw the cold current of memory fragments that had been surging wildly gradually receding.

His eyes turned completely crimson at this moment. Humiliation. Anger. And a trace of… fear, which he himself was unwilling to admit.

"Want to rely on the Forbidden Ground to hide and save your lives? Keep dreaming!" Lin Yun laughed in extreme anger, the golden light of Luck around him surging wildly, his handsome face appearing twisted and ferocious under the reflection of the golden light.

He raised his hand abruptly, ignoring the violent pain in his body caused by his Luck being polluted, and forcibly channeled more Luck, transforming it into a thick golden chain that tore through the air and shot like lightning into the shrinking opening!

Golden light flowed on the chain, containing the power of "Order" and "Control" bestowed by the Heavenly Dao; wherever it passed, even space rippled with a layer of faint golden radiance.

Lin Yun believed that as long as the chain touched Shen Xiao and Xia Lengbai, he would be able to drag them out of that Forbidden Ground like dragging dead dogs.

However… "Hiss, hiss, hiss!" As soon as the golden chain probed into the edge of the opening, it was instantly entangled by the cold current spewing from within, mixed with fragmented memory light and shadow.

Those most profound "emotion" fragments belonging to different people, like countless hungry leeches, were crazily gnawing at the Luck on the chain!

The golden light became dim and mottled in that instant, and even like metal splashed with concentrated acid, it began to show pitted, corroded marks!

"Pfft!" Lin Yun was hit as if by a heavy blow; his face turned deathly pale instantly, he tasted sweetness in his throat, and a mouthful of blood containing golden specks sprayed out violently.

The blood fell onto the ice surface, actually emitting a "hissing" burning sound, burning small pits emitting golden smoke into the ten-thousand-year black ice.

The golden chain shattered inch by inch before his eyes, turning into countless golden specks, swallowed up completely by that cold current of memories.

"No… impossible…" Lin Yun stumbled back a step, staring fixedly at the opening that had shrunk back into darkness, his face revealing a look of mingled shock and fear for the first time.

He clearly felt that his Luck had fluctuated violently in that instant, as if it had been fiercely "bitten" by something.

What made him even more terrified was that the cold sensation of being "marked," like a cold venomous snake, slithered along his Meridians and finally coiled deep within his Sea of Consciousness, unable to be dispelled no matter what.

The opening closed completely. The ice wall solidified again, and the ten-thousand-year black ice restored its eternal coldness and hardness, as if nothing had ever happened.

Only the smear of golden blood at the corner of Lin Yun's mouth and the lingering shock in his eyes silently spoke of the upheaval that had just occurred.

And at this moment, behind that "door"… Shen Xiao felt his body stop falling. No, not stop, but rather be "supported" by something.

From all directions, countless shimmering fragments, like billions of fireflies, were slowly rotating and gathering, enveloping him and Xia Lengbai in a giant "cocoon" composed of memories and emotions.

The whispering was no longer violent; it had become long and distant, as if countless people were humming an ancient lullaby in unison.

The ice fragment flashed quietly in his palm, its light soft and steady. The System Silver Pattern ceased its restlessness but exuded a strange sense of "satisfaction," as if it had finally returned to the place where it was meant to be.

Shen Xiao slowly opened his eyes. What met his gaze was a boundless Chaos space composed of light and shadow fragments. And deep within that Chaos, a blurry, massive outline, exuding an ancient pressure, was slowly… turning toward them.