Dusk Returns to the Ruined Building

Night is like ink splashed across the sky, the cold wind is blowing, and the lonely yellow lamp casts a chilly shadow.

Shen Yichen woke up again late at night. He was lying on a flatbed cart, which was slowly moving forward.

Shen Yichen wasn't dreaming this time. Yixuan was naturally by his side, because the Tianxianglong bracelets on their wrists were still there. On the cliff, it was the Tianxianglong that was stuck on that withered branch.

Shen Yichen turned his head to look ahead and felt a chill run down his spine. His flatbed cart was not pulled by horses or anyone, and it was just moving forward on its own. Directly in front of the cart, a person was carrying a lantern and walking slowly. It was too dark to see the person clearly, but there was a word on the lantern: Ghost!

There was a river beside the road, but there was not a sound, not even from the people or cars passing by.

Shen Yichen's first thought was the Yellow Springs Road, the River of Oblivion, and the guide; that flickering, eerie light was truly unsettling!

Just as Shen Yichen was about to wake Yixuan, Yixuan seemed to have woken up on her own.

"Mother, I want to enter the martial world! I want to see what it's like here! I'm going crazy from being cooped up here!"

Shen Yichen was taken aback upon hearing this; Yixuan must be talking in his sleep.

Shen Yichen turned his head toward Yixuan, wanting to hear more. Ironically, his face was pressed directly against Yixuan's, making it seem as if he had kissed Yixuan.

Shen Yichen was in a state of utter confusion, feeling disgusted and secretly blaming himself.

"You, what did you do to me?"

Yixuan is awake!

Shen Yichen remained motionless; he was pretending to be unconscious, and it seemed to be working.

Yi Xuan was clearly not fully awake yet. Soon, Yi Xuan realized what was happening around him, and he immediately hugged Shen Yi Chen while shaking him.

"Wake up! We're...we're about to die!"

Shen Yichen chuckled inwardly, but he also shared the same feeling: the gates of hell might really be not far away. However, one thing was certain: he and Yixuan were still alive!

Shen Yichen slowly opened his eyes and said, feigning anger:

"Why are you hugging me again? Brother, I really don't have that kind of fetish!"

"Shh, enough nonsense, look around yourself!"

Yi Xuan hugged him tighter. The silence and eeriness of the road made his scalp tingle.

Shen Yichen pretended to look, but he was puzzled. Was the person leading the way deaf? Logically, they should know that he and Yixuan had already woken up.

How are you feeling?

"What else can I do? My true energy is completely depleted, and my meridians are severely damaged!"

Shen Yichen was slightly stronger than Yixuan. He still had true essence in his dantian, but his meridians were injured by the shock. The power of that blade light was too strong.

"Let's both recover first!"

Shen Yichen felt that regardless of whether the people in front of them knew that the two of them had woken up, the most important thing was to recover their health.

After Shen Yichen and Yixuan circulated their internal energy, they discovered that there were restrictions in their bodies, and a section of their meridians seemed to be blocked. They tried for a long time but could not break through them.

Shen Yichen and his companion were both intelligent people; without a doubt, the person in front of the car had tampered with it.

The two sat up, but Tian Xianglong did not retract, and Yi Xuan still could not see through the specific situation.

"Senior, did you save us?"

Shen Yichen politely broke the silence.

Whether Yixuan was genuinely scared or feigning it, she clung tightly to Shen Yichen's arm, making Shen Yichen feel truly uncomfortable.

The person carrying the lantern did not react at all!

Shen Yichen and Yixuan had already guessed that since the person hadn't reacted at all after they'd been talking for so long, he must be deaf.

After discussing it, Shen Yichen and the other man decided to jump off the cart and leave. As a result, many dark blue threads appeared around the wooden cart, like a net.

"Brother Qingchen, was it him who pulled us out of the water?"

The nets outside the flatbed truck looked like fishing nets.

Shen Yichen shrugged, agreeing with Yixuan's statement that the two people who fell off the cliff but didn't die must have fallen into the water.

Shen Yichen and Tian Xianglong both lost consciousness twice during the fall, this time after being blown around by the eerie wind. If it weren't for Tian Xianglong, they would have been separated long ago.

"What should we do, Brother Qingchen? Are we just going to become fish on someone else's chopping board like this?"

Shen Yichen laughed upon hearing this. To be honest, Yixuan's description was quite vivid and accurate; this flatbed cart was indeed a mobile chopping board.

"Let fate decide!"

After Shen Yichen finished speaking, he closed his eyes and secretly began to circulate the cultivation technique that Wan Ning had taught him. This technique operated outside the meridians, so that even if the meridians were blocked, the area outside the meridians would not be blocked.

Shen Yichen quickly finished testing it, and his guess was correct; he could circulate that technique.

Shen Yichen breathed a sigh of relief. He felt much more at ease knowing that he still had the strength to resist. He should have a chance to escape when no one was paying attention.

Shen Yichen felt that Yi Xuan must have a backup plan, since Tian Xianglong was still under Yi Xuan's control.

Yi Xuan knew that Shen Yichen was circulating his internal energy, which was a feedback from Tian Xianglong. He could indeed still control Tian Xianglong, but he was really curious about how Shen Yichen was circulating his internal energy.

Yixuan muttered to himself inwardly:

"Chosen One, huh, I'm getting more and more interested in you!"

Yi Xuan dared not act rashly. Everything was still unclear. Tian Xianglong also needed repair. After breaking through the Qionglu Blade Formation, Tian Xianglong was severely injured. Otherwise, Yi Xuan would not have suffered such serious injuries.

Shen Yichen and his companion sat motionless on the flatbed cart, feeling increasingly uneasy as they walked, because it seemed they were walking on the same endless road. Nothing around them seemed to have changed, but the flatbed cart and the people kept moving forward.

Shen Yichen and Yixuan were both eagerly awaiting dawn. Perhaps due to their intense excitement, they quickly grew tired, slowly closed their eyes, and seemed to fall asleep again.

"Clang... clang..."

A sudden burst of pipa music startled Shen Yichen and Yixuan awake. Both of them were startled, neither of them expecting to fall asleep again.

Shen Yichen and Yixuan both sensed something was wrong. They realized that they hadn't fallen asleep because they were tired, but because someone had been playing tricks on them. Their suspicion naturally fell on the person carrying the lantern in front of them.

Shen Yichen finally sensed the change. It wasn't just the sound of the pipa, but also the lights. It must have been a small courtyard with a small building in the middle. Many lanterns hung in the courtyard and on the building, and each lantern had a character on it.

There is a tree outside the courtyard, but it is not clearly visible.

The flatbed cart carrying Shen Yichen and his companion finally stopped under the tree, and the two of them could now see the back of the person who had led the way.

He was a one-armed man, slightly hunched over, very thin, with short, somewhat messy gray hair.

The person carrying the lantern did not turn around, but pushed open the gate to the courtyard, went inside, and then closed the gate again.

Shen Yichen and Yixuan exchanged a glance, and Shen Yichen hurriedly called out:

"Hey, there are still two people here, have you forgotten?"

The person in the courtyard has disappeared.

"Brother Qingchen, you don't know how to speak properly. In the future, don't rush to speak. You should say, 'Hey, the fish you caught will rot if you leave them outside!'"

Shen Yichen was taken aback by these words, and turned to look at Yixuan. What time was it? Yixuan was still in the mood to joke.

Where is Yixuan? He is actually listening to the sound of the pipa with his eyes closed.

Shen Yichen pointed at Yixuan, wanting to say something to him.

Yi Xuan immediately stopped Shen Yi Chen's hand and made a shushing gesture!

Shen Yichen remained silent for a long time, finally letting out a soft sigh and turning to look at the small courtyard, where a couplet was hanging outside.

The left side is:

"One may have the intention to do good, but even when doing good, one forgets it!"

The right side is:

"Unintentionally succumbing to evil, yet still harboring thoughts of evil!"

Shen Yichen frowned slightly. This must be the difference between good and evil in people's hearts, and it conveyed an unspeakable sadness.

Shen Yichen looked at the lanterns again. Some were written with the word "ghost," some with the word "god," some with the word "servant," and some with the word "messenger."

"curious coincidence!"

Shen Yichen was secretly startled and turned to look at Yixuan.

Yi Xuan was still immersed in the sound of the pipa, which left Shen Yichen speechless!

“Brother Yixuan, this…”

"Hey, Brother Qingchen, listen to the music, the music touches the heart, since we're here, let's make the best of it!"

Yi Xuan interrupted Shen Yichen once again.

Shen Yichen thought for a moment, then closed his eyes and listened, because of that sentence:

"A melody resonates with people's hearts!"

Inside the small building, the sound of the pipa truly touched people's hearts.

After listening for a while, Shen Yichen felt that it was very familiar, and that familiarity came from a long-ago memory.

Shen Yichen took out the purple jade flute and, holding Yixuan's hand, began to play it.

Yi Xuan opened his eyes, slightly taken aback. He had not untied the Heavenly Emblem.

A moment later, Yi Xuan's expression changed slightly, because Shen Yi Chen actually harmonized with the pipa music; Shen Yi Chen actually knew this piece!

Yi Xuan stared at Shen Yi Chen in shock, her gaze was really, really strange!