Chapter 266
No one spoke.
They couldn’t guess what was in the layers above the seventh one.
Rong Mian looked at them and said, “Above the seventh layer are imprisoned evil spirits.”
As he said this, he looked at Huang Quan and continued, “The death energy you see in this city comes from those evil spirits in the tower.”
Huang Quan was not surprised by this and responded, “When I entered the city, I encountered a soul from the demon race. She told me that many souls were trapped in the tower, and none of them had ever left.”
“They obviously can’t leave,” Rong Mian replied with a faint smile. “Evil spirits generate death energy, and after devouring souls, they grow stronger and produce even more death energy. Once those souls enter the tower, they become food for the evil spirits and naturally can’t escape.”
Rong Mian then looked at Huang Quan and continued, “The soul you mentioned, I’ve seen her. She was lucky; she never entered the tower and later hid in the death energy. Otherwise, even if she didn’t willingly enter the tower, she would have been absorbed by it.”
“The relics are never opened to give you anything; they’re meant to take your lives and souls.”
After hearing Rong Mian’s words, everyone’s expressions grew colder. The relic was essentially a trap, luring them in to claim their lives. Those who entered would never truly leave alive.
Rong Mian observed their expressions and said, “Anyone who comes to the relics has desires. If you have something you want, if you have greed in your heart, don’t think you can leave here.”
Huang Quan looked at Rong Mian and said, “We understand this now. Let’s talk about Chong Yu.”
Chong Yu looked confused as to why the topic had shifted back to him.
Rong Mian glanced at Chong Yu and, after a long pause, said, “The person Chong Yu saw when he returned to the city was one of the four people in white robes.”
“Chong Yu wanted to become a living dead person and stay in the city to see me. The white-robed person said they could only help Chong Yu become a living dead but couldn’t let him see me, so they helped Chong Yu become a living dead.”
“In fact, the reason they agreed to help Chong Yu was to use his soul to threaten me and force me to keep suppressing the tower, but they failed.”
“Chong Yu’s soul disappeared after they extracted it.”
“At that time, Chong Yu had already become a living dead.”
Rong Mian continued, “The white-robed person wanted to kill Chong Yu. I told him that if Chong Yu died, I wouldn’t peacefully suppress the tower. He had no choice but to give up. Plus, their time was up, so they eventually left.”
“Unable to kill Chong Yu, the white-robed person was unwilling. So, he set up a special evil spirit array in the city targeting Chong Yu. Once Chong Yu entered the city, he would be hunted by those souls.”
“I can control the relics, but only under certain conditions. I can only control them through the tower’s realm. Since Chong Yu was a living dead without anyone guiding him, I couldn’t pull him into the tower’s realm, so I chose to enter the tower myself.”
“From the seventh layer out.”
Upon hearing this, Huang Quan looked at him and said, “You succeeded.”
“I tried many times and indeed succeeded once,” Rong Mian said. “That was when the woman saw me. However, I was pulled back by chains shortly after I emerged.”
“That time, I didn’t see Chong Yu.”
“Chong Yu couldn’t truly enter the tower because of the evil spirit array.”
“We’ve never been able to see each other.”
Chapter 267
They knew each other was alive but had never seen one another.
The situation between Chong Yu and Rong Mian was now clear, yet still unclear.
Rong Mian had not revealed why he was determined to die.
Chong Yu looked at him and said, “You were threatened by them because of me.”
“Chong Yu, none of this is related to you,” Rong Mian said with a hint of helplessness. “Why don’t you believe it? Even if they hadn’t used you to threaten me, I still wouldn’t be able to leave here.”
“If I could leave, I wouldn’t have been pulled back after getting out.”
Chong Yu looked at him, his face pale and drained of color.
Rong Mian lowered his gaze, avoiding Chong Yu’s eyes, and said softly, “There’s something Huang Quan was right about. The reason I had him bring you here was to say goodbye.”
“Why did you disappear?”
Chong Yu asked, “You sent them away. They wouldn’t harm you. Why did you disappear?”
“When it’s time to disappear, one must naturally do so,” Rong Mian replied, then turned to the others. “You can leave now. I need to talk to Huang Quan alone.”
After having heard so much, it was odd to dismiss them now.
Jing Chen and the others opened their mouths to protest, but Rong Mian wouldn’t allow it. He raised his hand and sent them away directly.
A burst of white light erupted suddenly, and a large Buddhist lotus appeared.
The giant lotus enveloped Buddhist Heart, blocking the white light. The light had sent the others away but had not taken Buddhist Heart with it.
When the white light disappeared, the lotus opened, and Buddhist Heart looked at Rong Mian with a cold expression. “I came to the relics merely to join the excitement.”
“But upon seeing the deathly aura, I intend to investigate this matter thoroughly.”
Rong Mian looked at him: “What does the deathly aura have to do with you?”
Fo Xin, standing with his hands clasped behind his back, replied indifferently: “I have a friend who has been plagued by deathly aura since birth. Naturally, this matter concerns me.”
“Huang Quan is right.” Huang Quan, surprised that Fo Xin had not been sent away, said: “The person he mentioned is someone I care deeply about. Besides my third brother, he is what I care about the most.”
“There’s a question I’ve always wanted to ask you.” Huang Quan looked at Rong Mian: “The woman told me that the deathly aura in the ruins disappears periodically. Why is that?”
Rong Mian shook his head: “I don’t know.”
Huang Quan looked at him: “Do you really not know?”
Rong Mian, aware of her suspicion, smiled: “Huang Quan, there’s no need for me to lie to you. I had them leave because I wanted to explain to you why they chose me to guard the tower, why I attracted this tower, and why they targeted your third brother. Since I’m prepared to tell you all this, why would I hide that one matter from you?”
Huang Quan looked at him and, after a long while, shifted her gaze: “If you don’t know, then it’s fine. Just tell us what you do know.”
Rong Mian didn’t speak but looked at Fo Xin: “Aren’t you leaving?”
Fo Xin’s gaze was heavy as he looked at him: “If the benefactor can send me away, then you can send me away. If you cannot, then I will not leave.”
In other words, he wanted to stay.
Rong Mian did not say more and looked at Huang Quan: “Do you mind if he listens?”
Huang Quan looked at Fo Xin: “Master Fo Xin, forgive me for the intrusion.”
With that, Huang Quan reached out and touched his face.
Fo Xin was startled and raised his hand to brush her hand away but couldn’t act against her.
Huang Quan observed his expression and smiled.
End of Chapter. Happy Reading!
