Chapter 328 : Beneath the Dry Well
This sudden turn of events came without warning. Jiang Mo didn't even have time to clearly see who had launched the sneak attack before she and Yun Qingyue fell into the dry well. During their descent, she hadn't forgotten she was a cultivator who could fly, but unfortunately, the layers of demonic energy that wrapped around them clung like a stubborn parasite, pressing heavily on her shoulders and preventing her from using any techniques.
Her body fell uncontrollably, the light above growing smaller and smaller until it became no more visible than a grain of rice or sesame seed. Beyond tightly gripping the hand in hers, Jiang Mo could do nothing else, and a sense of powerlessness washed over her again.
Had she spent eighty years in secluded cultivation, only to remain so helpless?
A sudden sense of frustration overcame her, while the faint howling of ghosts and wolves disturbed her spirit, amplifying that frustration infinitely. Jiang Mo tightened her grip on the hand she held, forcefully pulling the person toward her and securing the soft body in her embrace. The soft fragrance that enveloped her partially dispelled the gloom in her heart. Jiang Mo held that slender waist tightly, too concerned now to feel embarrassed.
༻༺❀༻✧⋆｡°✩☽༓☾✩°｡⋆✧༺❀༻༺
The Nameless Temple anchored one corner of the sealing formation, and with the loss of the Seven Treasures Glass Heart, this place had become the formation's greatest vulnerability. Over time, demonic energy had seeped through, and beneath what appeared to be merely a dry well on the surface lay a vast space.
Beneath the dry well, all was darkness.
Yun Qingyue opened her eyes to complete blackness, momentarily disoriented and uncertain of her whereabouts. She quickly regained clarity, however, remembering everything that had happened before she lost consciousness—Tan Xin sacrificing himself, the sudden appearance of the attacking shadow, the helplessness as she was knocked flying, and then that urgent cry of "Senior Sister" and the hand that firmly grasped her own.
She remembered now: she had been knocked into the dry well by a sneak attack, and Jiang Mo had rushed to grab her. But at the very moment their hands clasped, an enormous suction force had suddenly emanated from the well behind her, with thick black mist forming into hands that dragged her down!
With this realization, Yun Qingyue's hand instinctively clenched, but her palm was empty, without the warm hand she remembered.
Had Jiang Mo let her go? Perhaps it was for the best. The accumulated demonic energy had erupted suddenly, far beyond what the two of them could easily withstand. It was bad enough that she had fallen into the well; she shouldn't have dragged the other down with her.
Yun Qingyue was clearheaded and rational, but discovering her empty palm still brought an inevitable pang of disappointment. Unconsciously, this slight disappointment fermented and spread in the darkness, gradually entwining her entire heart. She began to drift, to overthink, to question why Jiang Mo had let her go... Was it because she valued her own life too much?!
In this brief time, Yun Qingyue's thoughts underwent a complete transformation. These thoughts, which normally would never have entered her mind, firmly occupied her entire heart, generating dissatisfaction, resentment, and even hatred.
Suddenly, Yun Qingyue shuddered as an intense coldness arising from her dantian pulled her consciousness back.
The Four Beast Seal had sensed the danger and triggered the Ice Soul Condensation Pearl to suddenly exert its power. This cold, capable of freezing a person solid, pulled Yun Qingyue back from her mental lapse. She first shivered, then felt cold sweat cover her back—what had come over her? How could she harbor such thoughts? Just because Jiang Mo had some feelings for her, did that mean she should expect the other to sacrifice her life?!
Yun Qingyue had never considered herself selfish and had never entertained such absurd notions before today. This realization immediately put her on alert, making her aware that something was wrong—she was likely being influenced by the demonic energy in the well.
All humans experience the seven emotions and six desires: greed, anger, ignorance, love, hate, desire—each emotion is rooted deep within the soul. Even accomplished Buddhist cultivators cannot completely avoid their influence, as the monks of the Nameless Temple exemplified.
Yun Qingyue was certainly no exception, and in her momentary lapse, the demonic energy had found an opening.
Fortunately, she possessed the ice spiritual root, least susceptible to demonic cultivation, along with the extraordinary Ice Soul Condensation Pearl, allowing her to awaken promptly under stimulation. Even so, Yun Qingyue dared not be careless and quickly recited the Mind-Clearing Incantation twice, finally feeling her spiritual platform clear as the negative emotions that had suddenly emerged were temporarily suppressed.
Opening her eyes again, she still found pitch blackness all around, unable to discern her surroundings even with a cultivator's excellent vision. This left only two possibilities: either she had gone blind, or there was absolutely no light in her surroundings.
With her mind now clear, Yun Qingyue's first consideration was naturally escape.
She first concentrated, listening for any movement around her. Hearing nothing, she retrieved a night-luminous pearl from her storage space for illumination. Such items were somewhat redundant for cultivators, as they held little intrinsic value and most cultivators could see in the dark without needing illumination. The reason Yun Qingyue had these in her storage space was that she had originally prepared them as toys for Jianbing.
She had noticed that many small cats enjoyed playing with balls, and assumed a large cat cub would be the same!
As for whether Jiang Mo had ever played with night-luminous pearls back then, Yun Qingyue couldn't recall. In any case, this pearl had been sitting unused in her storage space for eighty years and had finally found a purpose... or rather, it hadn't. The pearl, which should have glowed brightly, emitted no light whatsoever, making her wonder if she had taken out the wrong item or purchased a counterfeit.
Still holding the night-luminous pearl, Yun Qingyue knew she hadn't made a mistake. She pondered for a moment before putting it away, then formed a hand seal, causing a small blue flame to appear at her fingertip.
As the flame appeared, the surrounding air froze inch by inch. The bean-sized flame barely illuminated a small area around her.
Yun Qingyue clearly felt the significant spiritual energy consumption, but being able to use spiritual power in this domain of demonic energy was already an unexpected blessing. She immediately used the ice flame to observe her surroundings. Above her was complete darkness, with no sign of the well opening through which they had fallen. Beneath her feet lay a pile of black rubble, with layers of black mist seeping upward through the cracks between the stones.
She had been lying on these stones before regaining consciousness, no wonder she had been so heavily influenced... Having assessed the situation, Yun Qingyue immediately stood up, intending to move away from the rubble. But as she moved, she felt something tug at her waist and then fall.
Yun Qingyue turned alertly, and as the cold light of her ice flame illuminated the ground, it revealed a prostrate figure.
༻༺❀༻✧⋆｡°✩☽༓☾✩°｡⋆✧༺❀༻༺
The space beneath the dry well was of unknown depth and breadth. Falling from above, one might wonder if this space was bottomless. But the fall itself wasn't the most frightening aspect—what was truly terrifying was the demonic energy that constantly surrounded them. It could corrode the body and affect the divine soul; any cultivator trapped within would have their mind destroyed.
Yun Qingyue was fortunate because Jiang Mo had protected her. The White Tiger divine beast was naturally auspicious and could restrain all malevolent forces, including these ominous demonic energies. This protection lasted until Jiang Mo lost consciousness and they crashed to the bottom.
From slender fingertips, a point of ice flame emitted a faint blue light, reflecting off a face with a pallid complexion.
When Yun Qingyue discovered someone beside her, her heart skipped a beat. Upon turning the person over, who else could it be but Jiang Mo? So she hadn't let go after all; she had truly followed her down... Warmth suddenly flooded Yun Qingyue's heart, heating it to a scalding temperature that even the cold environment around them couldn't cool.
"Jiang Mo, Jiang Mo..." With no one else present, she could safely call out her name.
However, the unconscious figure didn't immediately awaken at her call. She leaned forward, half-cradling Jiang Mo in her arms, gently patting her face with her fair hand. Upon contact, Yun Qingyue immediately sensed something wrong—Jiang Mo's cheeks were ice-cold, not at all the temperature a normal person should have. Her pale complexion wasn't merely due to the ice flame's illumination.
Her heart suddenly tightened with rare panic. She quickly extended her hand to check Jiang Mo's pulse. As soon as her spiritual energy entered the other's body, it was unsurprisingly repelled, but even from that brief contact, she sensed a chilling energy.
More demonic energy!
Yun Qingyue frowned, uncommonly angered, but quickly remembered that this place was not conducive to anger and forcibly suppressed it. She immediately searched through her storage space, managing to find two appropriate medicinal pills to feed to Jiang Mo.
Fortunately, cultivator's pills dissolved instantly upon entering the mouth, so feeding Jiang Mo despite her unconscious state wasn't difficult.
As soon as the pills entered her mouth, they transformed into two streams of warmth—one flowing toward Jiang Mo's heart, the other toward her dantian.
Jiang Mo's pale complexion soon showed some improvement, and Yun Qingyue sighed in relief. She touched Jiang Mo's cheek again, feeling the skin gradually warming, and then lightly patted her face a few more times, calling: "Jiang Mo, Jiang Mo, wake up."
In her daze, the sleeping Jiang Mo seemed to hear someone calling her. Her brows furrowed as she struggled, finally opening her eyes groggily. She looked at her senior sister's delighted expression, then closed her eyes again—Senior Sister rarely showed such obvious joy, and had never embraced her in her human form, so surely she must be dreaming!