83: Chapter 83: The Festival of Sacrifice (Twenty-Eight)

Little Flower was forcibly stuffed back into the sleeve by its Master.

Qian Ye stared intently at the heart before her, while the flower inside her sleeve continued to thrash about unwillingly.

The mist on both sides stopped, and Qian Ye saw those villagers vanish in an instant.

As the black mist dissipated, the things revealed in the caves on both sides became visible.

Inside to the left and right were countless skeletons, most of them in poses of struggling to crawl out.

Just looking at the postures of these remains, it seemed like they were trying to run out.

"What exactly is going on here? What happened to them?"

"So this was the final resting place of those villagers all along?"

This was something Tai You had never expected.

"What should we do about this heart now?"

"It seems this is the end of this place!"

Meng Yu looked at the heart before her; it was still beating powerfully.

"Is it my imagination? Why does it feel like it has become a bit darker?"

"Could it be because of that black mist?"

"Was this heart supposed to be bright red originally?"

Unfortunately, no one could give them an answer.

Such a huge heart; even if they wanted to take it, it seemed impossible.

Meng Yu looked at Qian Ye, who made no move, just staring at the villagers' remains.

"This heart..."

Meng Yu stopped mid-sentence.

"Take it? What, do you want to eat it..." Qian Ye's eyes lit up at the possibility.

Meng Yu had a face full of black lines; why was she so excited whenever eating was mentioned?

"It's so big, how could we possibly move it?"

It felt like they would be discovered the moment they tried to move it out.

In the end, Qian Ye took action, pulling out a ring and handing it to Meng Yu.

???

Meng Yu looked at her, confused.

"Oh, sorry, I forgot to explain."

"This is a storage ring; it can hold living things, so it's perfect for holding this." Qian Ye smiled, completely unaware that the item she had produced had shocked the people across from her.

No way, this game even has storage rings?

Why do all the good items drop for her?

"You, you're just going to let me hold it like that?"

"Hmm?" Qian Ye tilted her head, looking puzzled.

"I'm giving it to you."

Immediately seeing Tai You staring at her with a complicated expression, she raised an eyebrow and casually tossed one toward him.

"Catch."

Tai You scrambled to catch the object flying toward him. He took one look—good grief, it was another one.

Are there so many of these things?

"It's simple, just drip a drop of blood on it."

The two of them stared at Qian Ye with complex expressions, then looked at each other and nodded in succession. "Thanks, Boss!"

The heart was stored with Meng Yu, and Little Flower completely blew up.

Master, what do you mean by this? What do you mean?

You're just afraid I'd take a bite, aren't you!

Hmph, am I that kind of person?

Qian Ye ignored it. Is it or isn't it? Doesn't it have any self-awareness?

Just as Meng Yu approached it, several chains suddenly flew out from the heart, shooting straight toward the three of them.

Fortunately, the three of them reacted quickly and dodged them directly.

The next instant, those chains pursued them relentlessly, as if they had tracking enabled. The chains split up to target the three of them, determined to catch them.

Meng Yu was in the front. As the chains shot straight at her, she quickly brought out her fan and knocked away the incoming chains.

Behind her, Qian Ye directly took out the hong ling umbrella. With a sweep of the umbrella blade, the red sharp edge collided with the chains, neither side giving way.

Although Tai You usually spoke in a cavalier manner, he was serious now, terrified that if he were a step too slow, he would suffer.

After a long while, the chains couldn't do anything to them. Seeming to be in a rage, several chains lashed out toward the cave walls.

The pitch-black chains emitted a biting, cold light, like vipers, staring fixedly at them.

Before Qian Ye and the others could catch their breath, the chains began a new round of attacks.

"These chains are way too troublesome."

"Even harder to deal with than those skeletons outside."

"Where the hell are these shooting from?"

Tai You cursed while fighting.

Just fighting like this wasn't a solution; it was too exhausting.

At some point, Qian Ye had already crept up to the heart.

The chains seemed to sense danger; several of them quickly turned and closed in on Qian Ye.

"Watch out!"

The next instant, a little flame appeared, instantly transforming into several small flames. Strangely, as soon as those flames appeared, the chains dared not advance a single inch further.

Walking up to the heart, Qian Ye finally understood where these chains came from.

Around the heart, there had always been a layer of chains; those were almost in a transparent state.

And these pitch-black chains seemed to have awakened, beginning to attack indiscriminately.

The chains on the outside were in extreme rage, constantly trying to break through the sparks in front of them, but the Little Red Lotus remained motionless.

The chains lashed out in frustration, leaving marks all over the ground and the cave walls.

Qian Ye kept close, observing the heart. Staring at the very center, her eyes suddenly sharpened, and she struck quickly.

The next second, her fingers formed a claw, and she lunged straight for the center of the heart.

Meng Yu and Tai You were stunned to see this scene.

She was ruthless, actually daring to take action like that.

When Qian Ye thrust into the very center of the heart, the chains quickly retracted and finally vanished.

Qian Ye pulled her hand out from inside and opened her palm. In the center of her blood-stained hand lay a key covered in blood.

"It had to be you!" Tai You gave Qian Ye a thumbs up.

"Damn, a key was actually hidden inside the heart."

Even though the key was stained with blood, one could still tell it was shaped like a key.

While the three were discussing the key, the heart, which now had a large hole in it, slowly disappeared, eventually turning into a beam of light that merged with the key.

"Could this be..." Tai You stared at the key and glanced at Meng Yu, a flash of anxiety in his eyes.

Before he could say anything else, the cave suddenly began to shake, and cracks started to form on the walls.

Stones scattered everywhere, crashing down continuously.

"Not good, the stone cave is about to collapse."

"We need to leave quickly."

Tai You said this and was about to head back the way they came, but Qian Ye stood still.

Meng Yu looked at her in confusion.

"Hmm... how should I put it? There's no way back." Qian Ye grinned.

It was a bit embarrassing; she had blocked the path behind them completely and even set it on fire.

"..."

Hearing this made Tai Feng want to cry. Rubble continued to fall, and the three of them kept dodging.

I mean, that was pretty fast.

Was this being too confident, or did she just not want to live? Couldn't she have left a way back?

"There's no other way, let's quickly look for another exit."

Meng Yu spoke up quickly. Seeing the cave shaking even more violently and seeing that the other two hadn't moved, she hurriedly reminded them.

The three of them scattered to search for clues along the stone walls.

Time ticked away, and the cracks on the stone walls increased, with stones falling more and more frequently.

Aside from cracks, there were no mechanisms or hidden passages on the stone walls, and the entire cave shook even more violently.

They had searched a full circle but hadn't found any passageway to leave.

"Am I really going to end up here today?" Tai You dodged falling rubble, swaying left and right with the rhythm of the cave's shaking.