80: Chapter 80: The Festival of Sacrifice (Twenty-Five)

Qian Ye twitched the corners of her mouth.

After finishing their discussion about the red singer, the three turned their attention to what was in front of them.

Being amidst this spring water, one could feel its abnormality more deeply.

This milky white liquid instantly reminded Tai You of the liquid that had appeared inside the Large White Bug they had just seen.

"Th-this, is this the true face of the Fountain of Longevity?!"

"The color of this spring water is the same as that..."

"...liquid inside the white bug," Qian Ye finished the sentence for him.

Instantly, after hearing this, Tai You felt his stomach start to churn with nausea again.

"Could it be that the true form of the Fountain of Longevity is actually inside this bug?"

"And this so-called Fountain of Longevity water is actually..."

At this point, Tai You did not want to continue.

"Right, what about that corpse that was thrown in?"

Qian Ye shook her head; she had followed right after, but hadn't seen the corpse at all.

Everything in here was pure white, without a single clue, and they didn't know which direction to head next.

For a moment, they were at a stalemate.

"Gurgle, gurgle..."

"Gurgle, gurgle..."

Suddenly, the spring water began to make a boiling sound again.

White mist continuously rose from below.

Qian Ye decisively swam downwards, the hong ling umbrella emitting a red glow, clearing the path ahead for them.

They didn't know how long they had been swimming when the white gradually disappeared, and a stretch of blackness invaded their vision.

In the middle, there was a very clear boundary line between the black and white.

This made Qian Ye even more curious about what exactly was hidden down below.

As they got closer, the red eerie light split the darkness in two. Walking within the darkness, Qian Ye finally noticed that this was clearly black mist.

This mist even emitted a familiar aura.

Qian Ye kept walking along the darkness when suddenly, a light appeared before her eyes.

Opening her eyes again, she saw that a cave had actually appeared before them.

In front of them, there was a cage at the cave entrance, and black mist was frantically crashing against it.

Strike after strike, yet there was no change.

Qian Ye took a few steps forward, finally attracting the attention of the black mist.

The next second, the black mist looked towards Qian Ye, the surrounding black mist dissipated, and reappearing, it was a phantom human figure.

It was none other than the village chief, whom she had met twice before.

Qian Ye was somewhat surprised; how could this village chief appear here?

"How did you get here, Village Chief?"

Qian Ye looked around; it seemed that apart from the place where they had appeared, there was no other place that looked passable.

"How did you appear?" the village chief was also very surprised.

Qian Ye pointed to the spring water below.

Those black mists were retracted, and it was no longer pitch black; looking from here, it was just a stretch of spring water.

They had indeed appeared from below.

The village chief expressed great astonishment.

"Below?"

"How is that possible!"

"This below is venom; if a human touches even a drop, they will die without a burial place."

"It is impossible to come out alive."

The aura on the three people before him told him that they were still humans, not some messy, chaotic things.

"Venom?"

The village chief nodded.

"Look at this cave; there is actually a large bug sleeping inside, and this venom is all produced by it."

"Why does this cave look like a cage?" Tai You stepped forward, somewhat puzzled; no matter how one looked at it, it seemed designed to trap people.

Could it be used to trap that large bug?

"Heh, a cage!"

"You are absolutely right!"

"It is indeed a cage!"

"Can you help me save my daughter?"

"Her soul is currently trapped here."

"If you can save my daughter, whatever you want to know, I will tell you everything I know without reservation."

"Hurry, I beg you."

"It is about to wake up!"

"It is about to wake up."

"It?" Tai You asked, puzzled.

"Day is about to break; they should be coming back."

"..."

Qian Ye walked up to the cage.

It was just a cave, with a few iron bars driven into the entrance.

Logically speaking, his daughter was no longer considered human, so why could she still be trapped in here?

Qian Ye looked at the cage; there was nothing special about it, it just felt like a few iron bars.

"Why is your daughter trapped here?"

Hearing this question, the black mist on the village chief flickered.

"A curse!"

"It's a curse!"

"The Mountain Spirit's curse."

"It's all them!"

"It's all because of them!"

"Hurry and help me!"

"Help me! My daughter is still waiting for me!"

Qian Ye's hand was about to touch the iron bars when she suddenly turned around, the smug smile on the village chief's face still halfway there.

He hadn't expected her to turn around suddenly; for a moment, it was deathly silent.

Qian Ye slowly lowered her hand, staring at him with a smirk, "Village Chief, your expression seems a bit off!"

"What does this smile of yours mean?" Qian Ye mimicked his smile.

"Oh, I know, you are happy!"

"Happy that we can save your daughter!"

Qian Ye nodded, the village chief's mouth still bearing a stiff smile.

"Hmm, I didn't say I was a good person."

Qian Ye shook her hands and grinned.

Instantly, the black mist around the village chief in front of her surged, and he stared at her viciously.

"I — did — not — expect — your — vigilance — to — be — so — strong!"

His gloomy voice, word by word, sounded like it was squeezed out through gritted teeth, each sound grating on the ears.

"Well, that can't be helped; your acting is just too poor," Qian Ye shrugged.

"With acting like yours, I... hmm, it's just... cringe-worthy to watch."

Meng Yu waved her fists, staring at him, tears streaming down uncontrollably.

Once Meng Yu said this, Tai You, who was on the side, was a bit confused; what kind of riddle were the two of them speaking in?

He recognized the words, so why did it feel like he couldn't understand the meaning?

Meng Yu gave him a look of disdain; what a silly big guy.

He'd probably even help count the money after being sold.

"I didn't expect you to see through it."

"Then just stay here."

The next instant, the phantom human figure dispersed and turned back into a huge black mist, opening a giant mouth; at a glance, it looked like an abyss.

"All of you, stay and become my rations."

"Heh, heh, heh..."

As he spoke, the black mist turned into small clusters and attacked them directly.

Meng Yu and Tai You had already begun to defend, while Qian Ye, on the side, was unhurried.

She reached into her sleeve and pulled out the mini flower pot once again.

The little flower was already impatient upon smelling the scent of nutrients, its whole body swaying constantly.

If its body weren't rooted in the soil, Qian Ye would have suspected it could have lunged into that mass of black mist the next second.

Under the excitement of the little flower, its swaying body tilted slightly forward, and the scattered black mist around it was attracted to its side.

The black mist slowly submerged into the flower pot.

The little flower swayed its body left and right excitedly.

"Mmm, so fragrant! So fragrant!"

Its body leaned even further forward, crazily absorbing the black mist, when the next instant, a little flame suddenly popped out from Qian Ye's fingertip.

It lunged toward that mass of black mist.

Instantly, the black mist was swallowed without a trace.

"Ah!" A painful, howling scream.

The little flower was intoxicatedly absorbing the black mist when suddenly the taste vanished. Returning to its senses, it saw the little flame dancing on its flower pot, very excited.

Feeling the nutrients around it disappear, the little flower stared at the little flame before it and instantly blew up.

"Ahhh! Damn little flame!"

"Compensate me for my nutrients!"

"Master!"

"Ahhh!"

"Why is it here!"