89: Chapter 89 The Deal Behind the Door: Let's Talk to Someone Else

Beneath that flame, however, lay a cold, almost inhuman calculation.

Shen Xiao did not move; instead, he injected more Qi into the ice fragment in his palm. The faint blue glow held steady, resisting the surging battering of the surrounding viscous swamp of information.

Deep in his pupils, silver light flickered slightly. The System backend was running at high speed, analyzing the massive amount of rule fragments just absorbed.

The information flow was violently dismantled, categorized, and spliced together.

Some cold judgments gradually surfaced:

Protocol carrier layer.

High-pollution information zone.

Emotional residue processing site.

It was highly likely a "metabolic space" generated during the operation of some key protocol, or in other words, a dumping ground.

And the source of that weak yet tenacious consciousness pulsation, like a candle in the wind...

"It is a 'former employee'."

Shen Xiao labeled it in his mind.

A "former protocol holder" who had been judged useless by the "System" due to task failure, protocol violation, or simply being long-disused and past its expiration date, then recycled here to slowly fade away.

It could be a Soul fragment, or perhaps a Consciousness Entity remaining after most of its permissions had been stripped away.

Before he could make sense of this cold intelligence, a sudden change occurred beside him!

"Ugh!"

Xia Lengbai let out a short, muffled grunt. Her whole body seemed to be yanked by an invisible hook, her feet leaving the ground as she began to "float" uncontrollably toward the source of the pulsation!

The ice-blue light shield supported by the Tomb Guardian Seal around her fluctuated violently, its light flickering on and off, while the wisp of Qi on her wrist connecting her to Shen Xiao was stretched to the limit, emitting a faint, unbearable "creaking" sound, as if it would snap in the next second.

"Come back!"

Shen Xiao barked, reacting instantly. He reached out to grab that wisp of Qi, trying to pull her back.

However, the moment his fingertips touched that ice-blue Qi.

"Boom!"

A power of the Tomb Guardian Seal Origin, far purer, more ancient, and carrying a certain sense of "resolution" than at any time before, erupted from Xia Lengbai without warning!

The power was not violent, but it carried an unquestionable sense of "belonging" and "exclusion," gently yet firmly shaking off Shen Xiao's reaching Qi and palm.

Shen Xiao's hand was repelled, a piercing, bone-chilling numbness spreading from his fingertips, as if he had touched not Qi, but the core of an eternal, unmeltable glacier.

Xia Lengbai had already drifted several steps away. She turned her face to the side, her eyes filled with an unprecedented haziness and emptiness, as if her Divine Soul had been drawn away by the pulsation, leaving only a shell driven by instinct.

Yet, deep within that haziness, a point of light, obsessive to the point of madness, was burning.

Her lips moved, her voice drifting as if from the depths of a dream, yet carrying a decisive force:

"That is... my 'root'..."

Unquestionable, not up for negotiation.

Shen Xiao's eyes darkened.

He knew that at this moment, Xia Lengbai was no longer entirely "Xia Lengbai."

The "Bloodline," or rather, the "duty" belonging to the Gravekeeper lineage within her, which had been dormant for eons, had been thoroughly activated by that homologous, more ancient pulsation.

She was being "summoned" back.

Forcibly stopping her would likely trigger more unpredictable consequences, and might even tear her apart directly.

Shen Xiao did not move again, but instead made the light of the ice fragment brighter, following closely three steps behind her.

This distance allowed him to avoid being hurt again by the repulsive force on her, while also enabling an immediate reaction if any sudden changes occurred.

The distance closed.

That immense pressure, as if the entire Chaos space was "watching" you, doubled as they neared the source.

The air (if it could be called air) became as viscous as glue, and every breath felt like swallowing cold asphalt mixed with the scent of rust and sandalwood.

Vision was also distorted; the light and shadows ahead were chaotic, as if viewed through a piece of broken, greasy frosted glass.

Finally, in the "center" of that Chaos, the scene gradually became clear.

The first thing to come into view was a huge, slowly rotating "cocoon."

It was about two people tall, its form not fixed, stretching and compressing by turns, its surface composed of two distinct types of light filaments crazily entwining, tearing, and merging.

One was ice-blue, clear, ancient, and carried the cold sense of order unique to the Tomb Guardian Seal, accumulated over time.

The other was dark gold.

Shen Xiao's pupils shrank sharply.

He was all too familiar with that dark gold luster; it was of the same Origin and type as the dark gold undertone that appeared when his System Silver Pattern occasionally went out of control!

Only it was denser, heavier, and carried a gloominess born of long-term imprisonment and wear.

The ice-blue and dark-gold light filaments writhed slowly in this swamp of Chaos like living tentacles, each entanglement emitting a faint, teeth-grinding "creak," as if the rules themselves were rubbing against and canceling each other out.

And at the very core of the Light Cocoon, a blurred, curled-up human outline, almost submerged by the light, was faintly visible.

Just then, a consciousness fluctuation pierced through the viscous environment and crashed directly into the Sea of Consciousness of Shen Xiao and Xia Lengbai.

The fluctuation was as ancient as if it came from the beginning of creation, as weak as a dying spark, yet it carried an intense, indelible malice that had settled over countless years, as well as a trace of... mockery.

"Descendant... of the Gravekeeper..."

The fluctuation first locked onto Xia Lengbai, the voice sounding like rusted iron plates scraping against each other, intermittent.

"And... a new 'Fire Thief'..."

Immediately after, a more obscure, scrutinizing fluctuation entangled Shen Xiao.

Shen Xiao's muscles tensed instantly, the System Silver Pattern circulating spontaneously within his Dantian, emitting a wary glimmer.

"Finally... waited for you..."

The consciousness emitted a fluctuation resembling a sigh, yet also like a cold laugh,

"I smell... the scent of the 'key' fragment... and within you... that hungry, newborn 'contract'..."

"Fire Thief?"

Shen Xiao's thoughts raced, and a chill climbed up his spine.

Did it mean him?

What kind of fire had he stolen?

The Consciousness Entity seemed to see through his confusion, or rather, this was the information it wanted to convey. The fluctuation became clearer, pointing directly at Shen Xiao's palm and Dantian:

"The 'key' fragment... in your hand... and the hungry 'contract'... inside you... were all... 'fire'... stolen from behind this 'door'..."

The words exploded in Shen Xiao's mind like a thunderclap.

The ice fragment was a "key" fragment?

The System was a "contract"?

Did they both originate from the "fire" behind this door of protocols?!

Before Shen Xiao could recover from this explosive information, the Tomb Guardian Seal on Xia Lengbai's forehead suddenly flared with intense light!

The ice-blue radiance poured out from her forehead like mercury, actively resonating with the homologous ice-blue light filaments flowing on the huge Light Cocoon!

A faint yet tenacious bridge of light was established between the two silently.

Xia Lengbai's body trembled violently, her unfocused eyes suddenly focusing, staring fixedly at the human outline deep within the Light Cocoon, her voice carrying an irrepressible tremor and a fervor bordering on pilgrimage:

"The legacy of the ancestors? The truth of the door? Tell me! What do you know?!"

The Consciousness Entity emitted intermittent, wheezing fluctuations that sounded like it was laughing, but it was more painful than crying.

"A deal..."

It conveyed a clear intent,

"Use your Tomb Guardian Seal... to temporarily... undo one binding..."

On the Light Cocoon, the thickest ice-blue light filament moved in response, tightly coiled around the neck of the curled-up human figure, and it now loosened slightly with its "words."

"I will give you... the memory... of the 'First Child' falling... on the chessboard..."

The fluctuation of the Consciousness Entity turned to Xia Lengbai, full of temptation.

Then, a faint, dark-gold consciousness tentacle struggled to squeeze out of the Light Cocoon, trembling, pointing remotely at Shen Xiao.

"And you... 'Fire Thief'..."

Its voice grew weaker, yet every word was clear,

"Help me... take the coordinates... of 'this place'... to the 'outside'... to another... prisoner... like me..."

Shen Xiao's eyes were as sharp as blades.

"His name... is Bai Lian..."

The fluctuation of the Consciousness Entity came to an abrupt halt.

The last two words seemed to have exhausted its final strength, leaving only endless exhaustion and waiting, settling in the viscous swamp of information, echoing silently.

The deal proposal hung in the chaotic space.

Shen Xiao did not respond immediately.

He lowered his eyes, looking at the ice fragment quietly flickering in his palm, then raised his eyes, sweeping over the twisted, entangled Light Cocoon, and finally, his gaze fell on Xia Lengbai, who was standing with her back to him, her shoulders trembling slightly, clearly bearing a huge impact and temptation.

The ghostly light of the ice fragment reflected on his calm, expressionless profile.

Within his Dantian, the System Silver Pattern flowed slowly, the dark gold undertone appearing and disappearing.

His knuckles tapped silently inside his sleeve.