Chapter Forty-Seven: The Past of Xinghuo Hall

Pretending to reach for the bones, I suddenly grabbed Yier's arm and pushed it towards them. She convulsed as if electrocuted, a faint red mist slowly drifting from her head into the bones, and then she fainted.

"Yier!" I rushed to support her.

Yier's eyes fluttered, and she quickly opened them.

I was about to ask what had happened when Yier's eyes widened in shock as she looked at the skeletons. "How did we end up here, Qingyue? You didn't touch these things, did you?"

Could it be that Yier was possessed by something just now?

I shook my head, still wary, and tested her, "You really don't remember? It was you who brought me here, saying that destroying these skeletons was the only way out."

"When did I say such a thing?"

"Just a moment ago."

Yier noticed the doubt in my eyes and sighed, "If you don't believe me, you can test me. Ask where you keep Uncle Huaxue's drafts, where you store his used teacups, and so on…"

Before she could finish, I covered her mouth.

I regretted sharing so much with her in my youth… Yier knew far too much.

Yier mumbled a few times and then turned her head to take a breath. "Alright, how long are you going to keep this up? You still haven't told me if you touched the bones."

"Of course, I wouldn't touch such strange things." I waved my hand dismissively and glanced disdainfully at the dry bones. "But just now, you seemed to be possessed, insisting that I destroy these bones. Luckily, I managed to drive that entity out of you."

Yier sighed in relief. "That's a seal. Fortunately, you didn't touch it."

"A seal? What is it sealing?" My curiosity was piqued, and I shook her arm, urging her to explain.

"Do you know why these beasts stay trapped here so obediently? If it were just Lingyun Temple, they would have escaped long ago."

My interest was fully engaged, and I shook her arm more vigorously.

Yier looked at me helplessly. "Are you really that curious? Aren't you afraid of having nightmares?"

"I won't be able to sleep if you don't tell me!"

"Alright, but don't be scared." Yier warned me, glancing at the skeletons and using a spell to clear away the weeds below, revealing a blood-red array on the ground.

"What is this…?"

Yier began her explanation, "To trap the beasts here, Xinghuo Hall borrowed a malevolent energy stronger than the beasts' own. Legend has it that Xinghuo Hall was just a branch of a larger sect, and everything they did was guided by a demon named Chiyan. Chiyan planned to establish this sinister place by slaughtering hundreds of subterranean monsters, causing an immense surge of resentment. They resorted to forbidden arts to find a girl with an extremely yin constitution for a living sacrifice. The girl's resentment, combined with that of the beasts, allowed her to cultivate demonic power within her bones. When she emerged, she destroyed all life within a hundred miles. Chiyan tricked her back here and sealed her again, turning her bones into her prison. The array on the ground and her skeleton are used to seal the malevolent energy."

The story seemed fitting for Xinghuo Hall's methods.

"Though this story is known, no one dares to come here because finding this place requires breaking several of Chiyan's mechanisms. This is my first time here as well. The entity that possessed me must have wanted to use your power to break free." Yier speculated that the "woman" had guided me here by possessing her.

But I was puzzled. If the woman was sealed here, how could her spirit control Yier? Why could she not break the seal while possessing Yier? Was human intervention the only way to break it?

"What if a Xinghuo Hall disciple stumbled upon this place and broke the seal?" I couldn't believe no one had been curious enough to investigate over the years.

"The mechanisms are extremely difficult to decipher, and no one ventures here lightly, so everything has remained in balance."

Yier pondered for a moment and then said, "But you have a point. If she could possess me to reach here today, she could have led others here before. If Chiyan's seal could be broken by human hands alone, she would have escaped long ago."

Chiyan was a crafty old fox, setting multiple traps for others and himself alike.

"So, Chiyan must have feared her revenge?"

Yier nodded. "After sealing her, the sect Chiyan controlled fractured, suffering multiple sieges from other cultivation sects, leaving only Xinghuo Hall as their stronghold."

It seemed Chiyan's schemes not only targeted the woman but also weakened himself, leaving him unable to resist the other sects. All his elaborate plans had come to naught.

It's a classic case of reaping what you sow.

"Alright, let's not stay here any longer. If we fall for another trap, it won't be easy to escape," Yier said as she walked towards the exit.

"Yier, do you know the way out?" I followed her.

Yier turned and pulled out a fire striker from her sleeve.

"What, are we relying on that to get out?" I stared at the striker, unable to figure it out.

"Of course not." The striker contained fireflies that guided the way. Yier motioned for me to follow the fireflies as we walked.

Before long, Yier and I returned to the entrance, where Daxian and the others were waiting for us.

"Where did you two go? We saw you walking ahead and called out, but you didn't respond. When we tried to catch up, you disappeared. We were worried sick," Senior Brother Luoxi said, frowning as he walked towards us.

"We encountered…"

"We got lost," Yier interrupted. "Maybe the demonic aura here created an illusion that made us lose sight of each other. Now that the aura has weakened, we managed to find our way back." I didn't understand why Yier lied, but I went along with her story.

Daxian looked concerned. "As long as you're back. Were you hurt at all?"

I smiled at him. "Don't worry, Daxian. Neither Yier nor I got a scratch. Those demons couldn't harm us."

Oddly enough, we hadn't seen any demons on our way in or out. Could they all have hidden?

I still remembered our last encounter; those demons were anything but polite.

Senior Brother Luoxi glanced around. "I can't believe there are demons hiding beneath Lingyun Temple. Qingyue, did you know about this and lead us here on purpose?"

"Guess," I replied.

"Is this the time for jokes?" Lingluo scolded us, then turned to Daxian and said gently, "Senior Brother, we should focus on finding a way out of here. Staying longer can only harm us."

She looked down at her shoes, tried to scrape something off with her foot, then stopped abruptly after another look at the ground.

I couldn't help but tease, "Not necessarily, Sister Lingluo. Staying here could help us uncover Xinghuo Hall's and Lingyun Temple's schemes. The longer we stay, the closer we get to the truth behind the disaster in Luoyang. We can't leave empty-handed after coming all this way."

Seeing Lingluo's displeased expression, Senior Brother Luoxi rubbed his hands, as if he'd thought of a solution. "Simple, we'll catch a demon and bring it back."

I shook my head. "No, we need both evidence and witnesses. Bringing a demon to the people of Luoyang won't explain much. They might even accuse us of capturing the demon ourselves." I pointed to the corpses under the boulder. "Besides, there aren't any demons around here, only some corpses."

Daxian examined the wall and used a spell to probe the ground.

After a while, he withdrew his hand and shook his sleeve in frustration. "This place has collapsed. Whether the demons escaped or are still hiding underground is unknown. Perhaps we should heed Qingyue's suggestion."

"Senior Brother, do we really have to stay here?" It was the first time I saw Lingluo so scared. She seemed extremely repulsed by the filth, even afraid to place her feet firmly on the ground.

Her cleanliness obsession was really severe.

Seeing her pitiful state, I couldn't bear to be harsh anymore. "Actually, we don't have any more leads. We can discuss everything once we're outside."

Senior Brother Luoxi asked curiously, "Outside? How do we get out? We searched everywhere and couldn't find an exit."

"Don't you know?" I nudged Yier with my elbow. She took out the fire striker and released the tiny, cheerful fireflies.

These fireflies were truly a treasure for finding paths. Following them, we quickly found the way out. The fresh air and sunlight were invigorating.

"Yier, where did you find this treasure?"

"Hmm… I caught it by chance. Fireflies are drawn to light, so it's easy to follow them to an exit." Yier twirled her hand, calling the fireflies back into the striker.

"Remember to take me along next time you catch some." I was quite fond of these mysterious night spirits. I recalled how I fell into that trap the first time because I was too focused on catching fireflies.

As I reminisced, I suddenly tripped over something and fell.