dognovel Chapter 1934 7 Years of Solitude
Chapter 1934 7 Years of Solitude
Blazing sun!
The name was stuck on his tongue, but Chu Huai just couldn't bring himself to say it.
My throat felt like it was blocked by something, and I couldn't make a sound.
In the darkness, the aged voice rang out again, this time with a hint of laughter.
"What, you went through all that trouble to find this place, and now you're too scared to come in?"
Chu Huai pinched his palm hard, the pain barely allowing him to calm himself down.
He took a deep breath, gritted his teeth, and took a step in the direction from which the sound came.
One step, two steps, three steps...
The darkness seemed to have a physical form, pressing in from all directions, making it hard for him to breathe.
He didn't know how long he had been walking; perhaps it was the time it takes for an incense stick to burn, or perhaps it was half an hour. In this absolute darkness, time seemed to have lost its meaning.
Finally, a glimmer of light appeared before us.
The light was very faint, like a candle flame in the far distance that could go out at any moment.
But in this all-consuming darkness, that glimmer of light was like a lifeline.
Chu Huai quickened his pace.
The light was getting closer and brighter.
When he finally stepped out of the darkness, he was stunned.
Before them lay an enormous stone chamber, its extent beyond sight; it stretched as far as the eye could see.
The dome was immeasurably high, hidden in a dark red light, and the four walls were covered with densely packed runes. The runes seemed to be alive, slowly flowing and rotating, emitting an eerie golden light.
In the center of the stone chamber, there is a high platform.
A figure sat cross-legged on the high platform.
The figure was so thin and emaciated that it was unrecognizable.
The skin was shriveled and stuck to the bones, like a corpse that had been dried up for millions of years.
He was wearing a tattered, dark red robe, and his hair and beard were a mess, almost completely obscuring his face.
He just sat there cross-legged, motionless, as if he had been sitting there for ten thousand years.
But Chu Huai could sense that the withered body contained an extremely terrifying power.
That power was stronger than Lingxu Zhenren, stronger than Mingchuan, and even stronger than anyone he had ever seen...!
It's like a sleeping, ancient beast that could raze the entire volcano to the ground even if it just turned over in its sleep.
"come over."
The voice rang out again.
Chu Huai then realized that the voice was coming from the gaunt figure.
An inexplicable fear welled up inside him. He gritted his teeth and strode toward the platform.
With each step, the sense of oppression grew stronger.
By the time he reached the foot of the platform, his legs were starting to feel weak, cold sweat was pouring down his forehead, and the back of his clothes was soaked through...
This was the first time in his life he had ever experienced something like this!
The figure slowly raised its head.
Beneath the disheveled hair, a pair of eyes burning with crimson flames were revealed.
The moment Chu Huai met those eyes, he felt as if his very soul had been seen through!
"The successor of Cangming..."
The figure murmured, its crimson eyes narrowing slightly as if recalling something, "That old bastard, he actually actually waited for someone."
Chu Huai opened his mouth, finally finding his voice: "Senior, are you Chi Yang?"
The figure did not answer.
He just stared at Chu Huai, at the Cangming mark between his eyebrows, for a very long time.
Chu Huai thought he wouldn't speak anymore, but then he suddenly laughed.
The laughter was hoarse, like sandpaper rubbing, yet it carried an indescribable desolation.
"Seventy thousand years... a full seventy thousand years, and finally someone has come."
He lowered his head, looking at his withered hands, and his voice suddenly became very soft, "I thought I would die here alone, rot here, and no one would ever know."
Chu Huai was stunned.
He had imagined many scenarios of meeting Chi Yang, thinking that the other party might have gone mad, that the other party might have become a monster, and that the other party might not recognize him as the successor of Cang Ming at all.
But he never imagined that Chiyang would be like this.
It wasn't madness or ferocity, but a deep, almost drowning loneliness...!
"Senior..." Chu Huai began with difficulty, "You...have stayed here for seventy thousand years?"
Chi Yang raised his head, looked at him, and the crimson flames in his eyes flickered.
“Seventy-three thousand years,” he corrected. “From the day the Zhou Tian Zhen Xu Grand Array was set up, I have been guarding this place, never leaving it for a moment.”
Seventy-three thousand years...!
Chu Huai felt a chill run from the soles of his feet straight to the top of his head.
One person guarded a volcano, never leaving it for 73,000 years!
What does that mean?
Human history with written records spans only a few thousand years.
The oldest sect in the Spirit Realm has a history of only a little over ten thousand years.
Seventy-three thousand years is enough for mortals to reincarnate for hundreds of lifetimes, enough for dynasties to rise and fall countless times, enough for the sea to turn into mulberry fields and mulberry fields into the sea.
And this person has been sitting here, motionless, for 73,000 years.
"Aren't you... lonely?" Chu Huai blurted out.
Chi Yang was stunned for a moment.
Then, he smiled sadly.
"lonely?"
He murmured the word repeatedly, the flame in his eyes flickering slightly, "Those first few thousand years were indeed lonely. Back then, I thought every day about how the outside world was doing, whether my sect was still around, and whether anyone remembered me."
"and after?"
"Later..." Chi Yang lowered his head, looking at his hands, "I stopped thinking about it."
His voice grew softer and softer, so soft it was as if he were talking to himself:
"At five thousand years ago, when I thought of their faces, they had begun to blur. At ten thousand years ago, I couldn't even remember their names. At thirty thousand years ago, I had forgotten who I was and why I was guarding this place."
"Then..." Chu Huai's voice trembled slightly, "How did you manage to persevere?"
Chi Yang remained silent for a long time.
Chu Huai waited until he thought he wouldn't answer before he slowly spoke:
"Because of responsibility."
He raised his head and looked at Chu Huai, a complex light appearing in his bloodshot eyes for the first time:
"What I'm guarding isn't this volcano, or this godforsaken place, but what's behind this door."
He raised his withered hand and pointed behind the platform.
Chu Huai followed his finger and looked over, his pupils suddenly contracting.
Behind the platform was a door.
A massive, entirely black stone gate.
The door was covered with the same runes as those on the stone wall, and those runes were now flowing rapidly, as if they were desperately suppressing something.
A strange light shone faintly from the crack in the door.
The light wasn't red, nor gold, but something else entirely...
Chu Huai couldn't describe it.
It was a kind of light that made you feel like your soul was being sucked in at first glance!
"What is that?" His voice trembled.
Chi Yang looked at him and said, slowly and deliberately:
"Return to the Ruins".
Chu Huai's heart skipped a beat.
“The rift to the Ruins of Return is behind this door,” Chi Yang said slowly.
"Seventy thousand years ago, seven of us joined forces to seal it here. I guarded Nanming, Cangming guarded Xuanshui, and the other five guarded five other places. As long as this gate is not broken, Guixu cannot come out."
He paused, then his voice suddenly became very soft:
"But if I die, this door will open."