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Chapter 9: The Secret of the Altar

  Volume 1: Absolutely No Same Parallel Universe Chapter 9: The Secret of the Altar

  Inside the gate was a long tunnel I had seen the night before, with flickering flames burning faintly, my heart racing wildly, not knowing what lay ahead.

  "Ma'am?" A hesitant and puzzled voice came over. I just remembered that Yvette was still beside me.

  I turned back to look at her and said with a pursed mouth: "Ruo Wei, you don't have to follow me in, just wait for me outside."

  "No, ma'am." Ruo Wei bit her lower lip: "I want to go in with you."

  I shook my head and smiled: "Ruo Wei, there's someone inside. You don't know what will happen if you go in. Just find a hidden place nearby to hide and wait for me. I'll be out soon."

  "Madam, I'm not afraid," Jo said firmly.

  "No, I won't let you go into danger." My tone became stern. Since seeing the hill full of poppies earlier, the eerie mystery of this Poppy Fortress has left me startled. How could I let an innocent little girl get involved in a whirlpool? The less she knows, the safer she is.

  "Madam." Yuwei's small face turned red, with a look of being on the verge of tears.

  I smiled and comforted her: "Don't worry, I'm the lady of the castle, there's no danger, it's you who should hide well, don't get caught."

  I gave her an encouraging smile and turned around to step inside.

  The stone gate creaked shut behind me, and I closed my eyes, trying to get used to the darkness here. Unlike the bright sunlight outside, this tunnel was dimly lit and damp. Although there were oil lamps on the stone walls, it was still hard to see the road underfoot. Last night, I was carried out by Ling Yi, and I didn't feel scared at all. Now that I had to go in alone, I couldn't help but feel a chill run down my spine.

  "Fang Ning Xi, you've long been a lonely soul who's lost your physical body, what's there to be afraid of?" I encouraged myself. I started to walk cautiously step by step towards the inside.

  The tunnel was abnormally quiet, so quiet that I could hear the sound of my own breathing. With one hand against the stone wall, I counted my steps and slowly moved forward.

  I don't know how far I walked, but I stopped because the tunnel in front of me split into two. I stared blankly at the two tunnels with identical widths and shapes, trying to recall the route from last night, but couldn't find any clues. The two tunnels and the section I came from formed a "Y" shape, which would divide this mountain belly into three equal parts if it were a circle. I started worrying that I might get lost on my way back.

  I can only choose one now, let's try my luck, it won't be that bad every time. With a plan in mind, I walked forward along the right side, my right hand never leaving the stone wall. I told myself, when I come back, I'll use my left hand to support the stone wall and walk to the left, so as not to take another path.

  My luck wasn't too bad, after going through another long ordeal, I saw the grand hall that I had seen when I woke up the night before.

  I suppressed the excitement in my heart and rushed in, a wave of bloody smell hit me, making me almost vomit. I covered my mouth and nose in horror, staring at the scene in front of me.

  The altar was no longer the same as I saw last night. On the huge dome above, there were giant flags hanging down one by one, with blood-red mysterious symbols drawn on them, densely packed like earthworms; around the sacrificial platform in the center of the main hall, seven giant cauldrons were erected, forming a circle and surrounding the altar; on the ground inside the cauldron, there were blood-red marks, as if someone had used a huge brush to draw a complex symbol connected by its tail, which also surrounded the altar. The strokes of this symbol seemed to have corroded the ground, with dark red blood swirling in the grooves and flowing slowly along the direction of the strokes.

  A huge bloody smell was emanating from there, I gritted my teeth and endured the churning in my stomach, continuing to look up. The altar was empty, but above it, three bronze mirrors were suspended eerily, each with a different shape: round, diamond-shaped, and triangular. The three bronze mirrors formed a circle, their surfaces slanted downwards, casting golden light pillars onto the altar below. At the intersection of the three light pillars, a faintly visible ping-pong ball-sized light sphere was slightly jumping up and down.

  What is this thing? Or what kind of formation is this? I looked at the scene in front of me with horror, remembering Ling Yi's words, and my heart skipped a beat. Could it be that this was for gathering soul fragments for Gu Qingying?

  I was so angry that I forgot my fear, forgot the smell of blood. Gu Qingying, you're dead and that's not wrong, but after your death, you still want to implicate others, that's not okay. Besides me, how many people have you implicated? Look at all this blood, how many people would it take to make up for all this bloodshed?

  A flame of indignation burns in my heart, I almost lost my mind, and immediately rushed to push down these braziers.

  "Halt, don't go past" a hoarse voice sounded from behind me.

  I shuddered at his voice, which was like a splash of icy water on my heart, and I immediately calmed down, turning around to look at him.

  That old Taoist priest who was called Pingyang Zhenren, at this moment, I don't know where he came from, standing behind me with his body hunched over, his face full of wrinkles, making it impossible for me to see his emotions.

  "You can't go back." He spoke slowly and hoarsely.

  "What is this?" I hesitated to ask.

  "You know, it's precisely because you know that I let you in." His voice was devoid of emotion.

  "Why did you let me in?" I asked coldly. If Ling Yi was the mastermind behind my imprisonment, then he was the biggest accomplice, the executor.

  "Because I know you have questions for me."

  I was stunned, what does he mean by this? Is he trying to make amends with me? Or does he feel guilty for capturing my soul? If he had such thoughts, then he shouldn't have done such a despicable thing in the first place.

  I sneered: "Aren't you afraid of the castle owner asking for your crimes?"

  His hoarse voice let out two unpleasant dry laughs like an old crow: "The fortress master won't blame me."

  I was confused by his attitude and hesitated for a moment, wondering if I should ask my question. Could it be that they have another conspiracy?

  "He seemed to see through my thoughts and said, 'You don't have to worry, if there's anything you're unsure about, just ask directly.'"

  Is he really that good? I couldn't shake off the doubts in my mind and hesitated, saying: "Then tell me the whole story."

  "Don't you already know the whole story?"

  "But I don't know how Gu Qingying died." I gritted my teeth at him.

  "This seems to have nothing to do with you?" he replied indifferently.

  Why is it like this again? What's the reason they're all tight-lipped about Gu Qingying's death? Ling Yi won't admit she's dead, Jin Niang and Pingyang Zhenren are keeping their mouths shut. If she died of natural causes, why would they need to gather her soul? I suddenly thought of this, why is it gathering the soul instead of summoning the soul? Could it be that her soul has scattered?

  "What did she do, or what did you guys do, that made her lose her soul?" I stared at him and said. I had to figure out the reason, maybe then I could find a way to stop them from gathering souls.

  His silence confirmed my thoughts, I growled: "Tell me"

  He took two steps forward, as if to conceal his inner unease. I watched him patiently and only heard him say: "You'd better cherish such an opportunity and ask some questions related to yourself."

  "I glared at him furiously, feeling helpless in my heart, but I will figure it out, one day I will figure it out."

  I let out a sigh and said, "Alright, then tell me, can I still go back?"

  He seemed to know I was going to ask this kind of question and shook his head saying "Can't go back."

  "Why?" I pressed him, saying fiercely: "Since you can bring me here, why can't you send me back?"

  "There are two reasons, first, I have been trapping souls with this soul-trapping array, and I never ask about their origins, only whether the soul matches the body. I don't know where you came from, so naturally I also don't know how to send you back." He said indifferently.

  My heart sank, although I had already guessed this result, but I couldn't help asking. The small hope that still existed was also shattered by his cold response. I closed my eyes and asked in a dreamy tone:

  "What about the second one?"

  "Secondly, your soul has been out of body for more than two days, and the original body can no longer be used. Even if you are sent back, there is no body to attach to. Moreover, you have to wait until after the 81st day."

  Is this related to the first point? There is no logic, I close my eyes and smile sadly in my heart. It turns out that I am already dead, long dead. They killed me, they trampled on my life like a blade of grass. What right do they have to dominate my life, what right do they have to change my fate? An uncontrollable anger surges up, I suddenly open my eyes:

  "What's the difference between this and murder?" Anger drove me forward, gritting my teeth, wanting to tear him to pieces.

  His hunched body swayed lightly, nimbly dodging me, and he let out a soft sigh: "I said it before, the Soul-Imprisoning Array doesn't ask about origins. Our intention was to imprison a lost soul, but we didn't expect to capture you instead. Everything has its own destiny, your soul and Miss Qingying's body are the most compatible, so the Soul-Imprisoning Array chose you first."

  "Heaven's will, what is heaven's will?" I laughed in extreme anger: "You are the ones who go against heaven and break the normal rules of the three realms. Don't you fear being struck by heavenly thunder? Since you believe in heaven's will, then I curse you, let all the gods and Buddhas hear my curse, and let heaven come to punish you."

  "This humble monk has long been living in the world, and no longer cares about it." He shook his head and sighed lightly: "And yet, Master Fortress, for Qingying Miss's sake, is willing to take risks and shorten his own lifespan by ten years. This humble monk cannot stop him either."

  "What about me, who has ever asked my opinion? Who has ever asked?" I burst out laughing miserably. I'm the poor wretch in this farce, I've never done anything wrong in my life, why did I end up with such a result? Why?

  "Alas," he sighed faintly, his voice like a whisper from hell: "Since you've come, then rest easy. The castle lord has promised to find you another body, and when that time comes, you can change your appearance and live well in this world. The castle lord will not treat you poorly."

  "Who will treat me well? Who will treat me with kindness?" I laughed maniacally, the sound more painful than crying, tears streaming down my face, my vision blurry.

  "You want to calm me down, you're all in cahoots with each other. Find a body for me, is it that easy? Then why don't you find a new body for Gu Qingying?" I started yelling incoherently.

  "I know you can't accept it, but it's already a fact, just resign yourself." He sighed lightly.

  Resign to fate? When have I ever resigned myself to fate? I will never let you get away with this. I choked back my tears, gritted my teeth and glared at him: "I'll make you all die, send you all to hell, and make sure you're never reborn."

  Alas, Pingyang shook his head and stopped answering.

  The humiliation and anger in my heart made me tremble all over, I stared at the light ball on the altar with a dead gaze, that piercing gold seemed to be mocking me, mocking my pathetic self. I don't want to stay here anymore.

  I turned around and ran out wildly, my temples throbbing violently, everything in front of me was a blur, I ran frantically with chaotic footsteps. At the moment I went out, in the dark shadow where the dim light couldn't shine, there was a black figure standing silently.

  If you think it's still eye-catching, please give me a blue ticket and collect it, thank you.

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