Chapter 479
479: Beneath the Blood Pool
Yun Qingyue had guessed half correctly. This blood pool wasn't originally prepared for her and Jiang Mo, but once they learned the two might come to Mount Xuanyin to cause trouble, it became the perfect trap for them.
The eerie red light enveloped the two, allowing them to struggle and waver initially, but gradually tightening until they could no longer resist.
Terrible pressure suppressed them both while gradually depleting the spiritual energy within their bodies. After an unknown period, when they felt their spiritual energy becoming depleted, a powerful suction force suddenly emerged from beneath their feet.
"Watch out!" Yun Qingyue shouted.
However, this warning was completely useless, as they had no strength left to resist the suction from below. Hand in hand, they were gradually dragged down by that force until their toes touched the blood pool below. With a "plop" sound, the two who had been holding hands instantly transformed into a tiger and a bird. Jiang Mo reacted quickly, immediately putting her Senior Sister on top of her head.
It was clear that Jiang Mo had some self-sacrificing intentions, but unfortunately, such thoughts were unnecessary. Within moments, she was completely pulled into the blood pool, without even a single tiger hair showing above the surface.
Yun Qingyue naturally fell into the blood pool as well, the sticky blood sea enveloping her, its smell alone making one want to vomit.
The two divine beasts tumbled into the blood pool until not a trace of them could be seen. Only then did the people forming seals above cease their actions. Their previous efforts had clearly cost them significantly—all of them looked pale, and their bodies even swayed as they stopped. However, thinking about the terrifying nature of the blood pool below, they forced themselves to stand firm, flying back to their stone holes before collapsing.
Outside the blood pool, everything returned to calm and stillness. If not for the faint marks left by the ice flames, one would hardly believe anyone had been there—if someone stood on the stone bridge looking down, it would be impossible to see the two massive divine beasts soaking in the churning blood sea; even where the blood sea turned over, there was nothing but blood.
……
After many years since her transmigration, this was probably the worst situation Jiang Mo had encountered. Not only was she in danger, but she had also dragged her Senior Sister into this predicament. Thus, a sense of urgency grew within her—urgent to escape, urgent to save her Senior Sister.
However, it wasn't possible. For some unknown reason, she couldn't even enter her innate space.
The massive White Tiger struggled in the blood sea, trying to swim away with her Senior Sister, but the surrounding blood was like thick glue. At first, she could still move her paws, but later, as the "glue" began to solidify, her movements became increasingly difficult. Left with no choice, in the final moments, she raised her paw to embrace her Senior Sister, wanting to protect her completely, but her intentions exceeded her ability.
Gradually, Jiang Mo's consciousness began to grow foggy. Even as she struggled to stay alert, she slowly sank into darkness.
In her dazed state, Jiang Mo felt she was having a very long dream...
In the dream, she and her Senior Sister escaped their predicament. Together they rescued Tan Xin, then waited for Xuanqing Sect's reinforcements and completely took down Mount Xuanyin's underground palace. Following the trail, they found the Demon Race's lair and, uniting with the remaining forces of the cultivation world, finally eradicated the Demon Race. Afterward, peace reigned throughout the land, everything returned to normal, and they went back to Xuanqing Sect.
Her Senior Sister went to see their master again, but this time she held her hand and honestly conveyed her feelings. Perhaps because their master had her own entanglement with Sect Leader Zhu, she didn't object but instead approved of their relationship.
Her Senior Sister said, since they were together, they should be open about it.
So the two began preparing to become Dao companions, widely inviting guests, with heaven and earth as witness.
Everything was developing in the best possible direction, or rather, this was what Jiang Mo had always dreamed of. Even if it was just a dream, it was enough to bring joy to her heart and make her immerse herself in it.
However, the beautiful dream was only the beginning. Afterward, various dreams began to take a turn, and all the beauty was instantly overturned.
For instance, they failed to escape and died together in the blood pool, their bodies turned into puppets, ultimately manipulated to return to Xuanqing Sect and destroy the last pure land of the cultivation world from within. Or they barely escaped, but too much time had passed—Xuanqing Sect was gone, and the outside world had long been trampled by the Demon Race, becoming ruins. Or worse, her Senior Sister perished here because of her, with only Jiang Mo escaping, thereafter living in a daze, like a walking corpse.
These were still the better scenarios; the dreams that followed were even more unbearable. For example, her Senior Sister abandoned her and escaped alone. Or her Senior Sister revealed her feelings to their master, resulting in their relationship being forcibly broken, causing her to give up. Or on the eve of becoming Dao companions, she happily went to find her Senior Sister, only to be told that she regretted it, had misunderstood, and didn't want to become Dao companions with her.
All of these gradually wore away at Jiang Mo's mind. Especially with the beautiful dream at the beginning serving as a contrast, everything she encountered in the later dreams seemed particularly cruel.
· · ─────── ·𖥸· ─────── · · · · ─────── ·𖥸· ─────── · ·
"Ding, awakening, failed. Request, forced, measures." In her foggy state, Jiang Mo seemed to hear a familiar mechanical voice, stuttering as if she had heard it somewhere before, but in her dazed condition, she couldn't recall.
While Jiang Mo's mind was still confused, her body suddenly trembled violently, as if electrocuted, and she became fully alert.
Heaven knows how high Jiang Mo's lightning resistance had become after soaking in the lightning pool. The system had to max out its electric shock function to finally jolt her awake. It excitedly barked out a sob, bouncing up and down in her sea of consciousness: "Host, host, you finally, woke up. The, system thought, you were, going to, perish here."
System number 223 indicated there were at least over two hundred systems in operation. With so many systems binding so many hosts, naturally not all of them could complete their missions smoothly.
Hosts had casualty indicators too, but 223 didn't want the first host it was bound to after deployment to count toward this statistic.
Jiang Mo's mind was on the verge of exploding from the noise. Normally, she would have disciplined the system and put it in its little black room by now. However, this time her consciousness had fallen into a coma, and she had only been awakened by the system with great difficulty, so she couldn't be too harsh. She could only say in her mind: "Alright, alright, stop the noise. What's the current situation, system, do you know?"
After being sealed by the White Tiger, the system's abilities had diminished, leaving it basically half-crippled. Fortunately, it had always been present, hiding in the host's sea of consciousness, continuously observing the external situation.
Now, hearing Jiang Mo's inquiry, the system stuttered in response: "Host, still in, blood pool."
Jiang Mo wasn't surprised by this answer at all. She could feel the sticky sensation outside even without opening her eyes. But when she tried to curl her paws, she suddenly realized something was missing, and immediately felt panic surge through her entire tiger form.
Where was her Senior Sister? Where was her Senior Sister, who was so large? She had been holding her in her arms right before losing consciousness!
Jiang Mo instantly became distraught and began struggling in the blood sea. Whether it was because her body had adapted to the blood sea's resistance after soaking for so long, or because her anxiety had broken through her constraints, her previously immobile body could move again.
The giant White Tiger began searching through the blood pool. The system saw her intention but didn't know what to say—shortly after falling into the blood pool, both had lost consciousness. At first, Jiang Mo had held her tightly, but unfortunately, after experiencing too many dreams, she unknowingly loosened her paws. Her Senior Sister had been pushed away by the churning blood sea, and it was unclear where she had drifted to now.
Fortunately, "blood sea" was just a description. The blood pool in the stone cavern, no matter how deep or large, was still limited. Moreover, after falling into the blood pool, both had involuntarily returned to their original forms, making their bodies larger and easier to find.
The system believed the host would find her quickly, so it didn't say much, only reminding her: "Host, host, system, virus scan, running, for a long time. Need to, leave, this place, soon."
Jiang Mo paused when she heard this, not particularly surprised, only feeling somewhat complicated emotions.
Just at that moment, the system suddenly spoke again: "Host, there's someone!"
Jiang Mo was startled by these words, her first thought being that her swimming around in the blood pool had been discovered by the guards outside. She had already been pulled into the blood pool by an unknown formation, making her situation dire, and she certainly didn't want it to get worse.
The White Tiger's moving limbs immediately froze, pretending nothing had happened.
The system looked at her strange behavior and asked: "Host, what, are you, doing, not moving?"
Jiang Mo found listening to its speech somewhat tiring, but today she was unusually patient and replied: "Didn't you say someone was coming?"
The system, however, said: "Not, outside, someone coming. It's, in the pool, someone."
Hearing this, Jiang Mo immediately thought it was her Senior Sister and hurriedly looked around. Unfortunately, she hadn't been paying attention earlier, and now all she could see was the dark red blood everywhere. Thankfully, there was still the system, so she quickly asked: "Where? Which direction?"
Seeing her excited state, the system knew she had misunderstood and hastily explained: "Not, Senior Sister."
Upon hearing this, Jiang Mo's initial excitement instantly diminished by eighty percent. Then she remembered the bald-headed person who had impersonated Tan Xin in the blood pool. She recalled throwing him down immediately after identifying him, and now that person should still be soaking in the blood pool—could it be him?
Despite her thoughts, Jiang Mo still followed the system's direction, and the first thing she saw was a bald head. Just as she was about to turn away, she suddenly noticed something wasn't right. Swimming closer for a look, she discovered it was actually Tan Xin—he really was soaking in the blood pool, but perhaps fearing he might be rescued, they had also placed a decoy on the surface.
However, now that Jiang Mo had found Tan Xin, she didn't know whether to laugh or cry.