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墨書 Inktalez
Chapter 181 - Vermilion Bird Pavilion
When Ji Zichen and Lin Chuyu arrived at the outskirts of World's End, it was already deep into the night. They were still some distance away from the Divine Dawn Ruins and decided to rest on a small hill.
The moon tonight was large and round, hanging brightly in the night sky. Its silvery light illuminated the myriad stars, casting a gentle glow over the mountains and forests below. Ji Zichen gazed at the moon, contemplating how the rising sun would soon bathe the peaks and trees in a warm halo. For now, these towering heights appeared to him as proud sentinels guarding the forest.
The jungle of World's End was vast, covered entirely by unknown tall trees and vegetation. Beyond this jungle lay an endless sea, stretching infinitely with no one ever having reached its end.
By dawn, they arrived at the entrance of Colorful Ruins. Lin Chuyu placed a hand against the Rainbow Gate, which shimmered with brilliant colors. The radiant light surged and then vanished, revealing a large door that opened before them. Inside was pitch black, reminiscent of the entrance to a Buddhist Temple. Lin Chuyu and Ji Zichen exchanged glances, and Ji Zichen said, "Let's go in."
As they stepped through the door, the scenery inside unfolded before their eyes. Lin Chuyu suddenly gasped, "This... this is Zhuque Chenjing!"
Ji Zichen's expression stiffened. "This is Zhuque Chenjing?"
Lin Chuyu pointed at a section of the mountain wall and exclaimed, "It can't be wrong! In my dream, there were two Zhuque guarding above, and in front was the sea."
Seeing Lin Chuyu's conviction, Ji Zichen felt half-believing but remained skeptical since he had never been here before. Suddenly, Lin Chuyu ran ahead, prompting Ji Zichen to follow suit. Lin Chuyu stopped at the edge of a coastline and said, "Look! There's the sea!"
The vast expanse of water filled Ji Zichen's vision. He couldn't believe it but felt compelled to trust Lin Chuyu's words. "How can this be? Divine Dawn is a relic of the divine race; how could it be located in Vermilion Bird Territory?"
Lin Chuyu gritted her teeth and replied, "It must be that the divine race invaded Zhuque during their last attack and took over this place."
Ji Zichen scanned their surroundings; jagged cliffs surrounded them with not a single boat in sight. He remarked, "This place is strewn with rocks. If the rumors are true, there must be wealth and Divine Tears here, but they won't be found in this location. We have no boat; how can we cross this sea?"
Lin Chuyu looked at Ji Zichen with her beautiful eyes filled with unease. "Brother Ji, I can take you across, but you mustn't be afraid."
Ji Zichen couldn't help but smile. "Since you have a way to get across, I'm more than happy to go; why would I be afraid?"
Lin Chuyu stretched out her limbs and suddenly displayed the Vermilion Bird Form in front of Ji Zichen. Ji Zichen took three steps back in surprise and exclaimed, "You..."
Seeing Ji Zichen react this way filled Lin Chuyu with endless pain. "Do you... do you hate me now?"
Ji Zichen had already prepared himself for Lin Chuyu's transformation, but her sudden change still caught him off guard. However, this wasn't the first time he had seen the Vermilion Bird; he had flown on one before. After the initial shock, his emotions settled. He took a deep breath and said, "I don't hate you. It's just that your sudden change startled me. You look much better like this than when you were hiding."
Lin Chuyu was delighted to see that he wasn't afraid. "If you're not scared, then come up! I'll take you flying."
Ji Zichen climbed on, and Lin Chuyu soared over the sea towards the Stone Peaks. Ji Zichen didn't know how many years had passed since he last visited, but the Stone Peaks looked quite different from what he remembered. The front of the Stone Peaks had transformed into a circular Mountain Valley.
The erosion of time had made the edges of this Mountain Valley uneven, with many new peaks sprouting up, and wild grass and vines covering the cliffs.
They arrived at the center of the Stone Peaks, where some remnants of its former appearance still remained. A bare stone peak stood out prominently, resembling a bald head. This stone peak was consistent with what Ji Zichen had seen before; it was still quite steep, but its summit had become remarkably flat.
Atop this flat peak stood a Watchtower made of Black Stone. They hadn't seen this Watchtower during their last visit; it jutted into the sky, taller than all the surrounding peaks. Below the Watchtower was an abandoned residential area, surrounded by several large iron cages containing remnants of golden feathers, as if they were cages for Vermilion Birds.
However, this Watchtower appeared quite dilapidated and looked as though it could collapse at any moment. It was evident that both the Watchtower and the residential area had been constructed by the divine beings who once lived here; now it was a forgotten land of death.
Ji Zichen merely glanced at the Watchtower while Lin Chuyu flew ahead swiftly. He sensed that Lin Chuyu seemed to have a destination in mind. "Where are you going?"
"To the Vermilion Bird Pavilion," Lin Chuyu replied.
She stopped at a peak where Li Tang's house still stood, though it was now in ruins. Lin Chuyu transformed back into her human form and entered the house with Ji Zichen. Cold wind blew through broken windows, and wild grass intertwined with spider webs danced like ghosts.
The sound of their footsteps broke the silence as they walked into the corridor inside. Ji Zichen was astonished and said, "How can there be such a corridor in this house?"
Lin Chuyu's gentle shadow flickered on the corridor walls, stretching forward due to the light. "I don't know either, but if we follow this corridor out, there’s another room."
The two of them entered another room through the corridor. This room was overgrown with weeds. Lin Chuyu wanted to push open the wooden door, but it was secured with an old iron chain. She shook the chain, which made a sharp sound, and the door could only be opened a crack, not wide enough for a person to squeeze through.
Lin Chuyu paused and said, "Last time I came here, this door wasn't locked."
Ji Zichen replied, "Step aside, let me open it."
Ji Zichen pulled the door open just enough to create a gap, placed the Demon-Slaying Sword against the iron chain, and applied a bit of force. With a clang, the chain snapped in two, and Ji Zichen pushed the door open.
Outside, there had once been a scene filled with birdsong and fragrant flowers, but now not even a single bug could be seen; dry twigs and fallen leaves were scattered everywhere.
The trees in the Vermilion Bird Corridor had all fallen over halfway. Lin Chuyu looked up and saw a lifeless atmosphere surrounding them. They walked through the passageway and flew over the large lake until they reached the entrance of the Vermilion Bird Pavilion. The pavilion resembled a pagoda, but now it exuded no vitality at all. Although the Sparse Pavilion lacked any life, its grand doors remained tightly shut, allowing no one to enter.
On the doors of the Sparse Pavilion was a Formation Diagram that resembled a disk. Inside this disk was a shattered image of the Vermilion Bird. Ji Zichen approached and touched the disk; it seemed to be movable. The disk had three rings: the outermost ring was the largest, the second ring was slightly smaller, and the innermost ring was the smallest. Ji Zichen turned the largest disk to the left, and immediately saw that the second disk moved to the right in response.
As Ji Zichen turned the outer disk to the right while moving the second disk to the left, he wondered aloud, "How do we solve this? It seems like a puzzle; if we rotate these disks to piece together the image, we might be able to get inside."
Lin Chuyu nodded and said, "I know; I've seen it done before."
From the level of decay in this place, it appeared to have been abandoned for at least several hundred years. However, Lin Chuyu's memories of this place were still fresh from just yesterday. Therefore, she clearly remembered how to unlock the disk. Focusing intently on her recollections, Lin Chuyu adjusted the disks accordingly: she pressed on the outer disk five times to the right, then moved the middle disk seven times to the left, and finally turned the innermost disk three times to the right. With a resounding clang, the grand doors swung open.
Ji Zichen immediately praised her with a smile, "You really are something!"
Lin Chuyu chuckled lightly in response, "I just remember the steps."
The two of them entered the Sparse Pavilion and passed through several corridors. To Ji Zichen's eyes, everything was invisible; however, in Lin Chuyu's vision, it seemed as though spirits from her past were appearing along the corridor to guide them. She could almost feel Li Tang's presence beside her again as they walked slowly down that corridor—back when Lin Chuyu and Li Tang had arrived at this evacuation point.
As they walked together, Li Tang had introduced her to this place. There was a Scroll House here. Lin Chuyu stopped outside its door and recalled seeing an illusory female Vermilion Bird flipping through scrolls in front of a bookshelf. Although Lin Chuyu didn't know what exactly that Vermilion Bird was reading at that time, judging by its expression, whatever was in those books must have been incredibly captivating.
Ji Zichen watched Lin Chuyu gazing at the scattered bookshelves and asked, "What are you looking at?"
Lin Chuyu let out a bitter smile and shook her head. "Nothing."
As Lin Chuyu moved forward, they passed through another corridor. This corridor had a window, and at that time, Lin Chuyu could see the scene of the Vermilion Bird and the Serpent Bat Dragon clashing outside. But now, there was nothing there, only peaks covered in vines.
There was a staircase leading down, and they walked all the way to the bottom. At the bottom, there was a door. Lin Chuyu pushed it open, revealing an open area outside.
In the center was an evacuation point, which was a teleportation Barrier. Lin Chuyu remembered that before she evacuated in her dream, many panicked Vermilion Birds were waiting for others to arrive so they could leave quickly.
At such a moment, every Vermilion Bird felt an involuntary chill. Lin Chuyu and Li Tang felt it too. Li Tang took Lin Chuyu's hand, and she could feel the sweat in his palm. As the first wave of evacuees gathered, he stepped forward to open the Barrier, allowing the Vermilion Birds to enter one after another.
Li Tang recalled his younger self, who had once practiced diligently here but still lacked the ability to protect this place. He stood shoulder to shoulder with his fellow clansmen, feeling the tearing aura coming from outside Sparse Pavilion. Zhuque Chenjing held many memories here, but for this place, only memories remained. He let out a faint sound through his nose, prompting Li Tang to turn and look at him.
"Li Tang, you should leave too," he said.
"Are you not going to deal with me?" Lin Chuyu asked.
He smiled bitterly. "Actually, thanks to you returning in time with the news, our casualties would have been much greater otherwise." His heart sank as if something heavy pressed down on his shoulders. He sighed heavily. "You should go while there's still time."
Li Tang held Lin Chuyu's hand as they both stepped into the Barrier together.
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