booktalesy Chapter 4162 Guardian Spirit
Chapter 4162 Guardian Spirit
Chapter 4162 Guardian Spirit
Let's go back five hours.
In the Yi World, somewhere underground in Yungang City.
"Tick-tick-tick-"
The sound of water droplets falling was like tiny needles, pricking the eardrums of the milk dragon.
Milk Dragon felt that its consciousness was like a glass ball suspended in water, rising and falling, with blurriness and awakening becoming two gravitational forces pulling at this glass ball.
It wasn't until the continuous "drip-drip" sound of water entered my ears that my pulled consciousness slowly began to tilt, and the scales gradually tipped toward the side of "awakening".
Consciousness surged in the direction of the "tick-tock" sound, and suddenly it snapped its eyes open.
All that could be seen was an intense, impenetrable darkness, as if everything around them had been soaked in ink.
Although its eyes were open, the milk dragon's consciousness had not yet fully emerged from the chaos. For example, looking at the pitch blackness before it, it was still wondering whether there was something wrong with its eyes, or whether the surroundings were naturally dark.
"Well……"
With a dry and itchy throat and sleepy eyes, the milk dragon subconsciously tried to raise its claws to rub its eyes, but froze the moment it moved... Its wrist was tightly gripped by something cold and hard, causing a painful constriction. With the slightest struggle, the sound of chains rubbing together could be heard.
It tried to struggle, but felt its feet dangling in the air with no cushions around it.
Its struggles only produced creaking sounds.
The situation of being suspended in mid-air and tightly bound instantly cleared its slightly confused consciousness.
Only then did it realize that it was trapped in a pitch-black space and was suspended in mid-air by iron chains...
Although he couldn't see his exact condition, at this moment, Milk Dragon was reminded of the scene when Coleman and the others first entered the Temple of the Corpse God, unfortunately fell into a trap, and were then chained in mid-air.
"woke up?"
Perhaps startled by the creaking and rattling sounds in the air, a slightly weak female voice came from nearby.
Although the voice was muffled by the thick darkness, the milk dragon's unease lessened slightly upon hearing it, because it recognized the voice: "...Na?"
"It's me." Na's voice was weak and low, and she seemed quite far away, about ten meters away: "You were hanging there too?"
"Hmm!" The milk dragon answered eagerly, its tail unconsciously sweeping behind it, but it was also bound by chains, only making a dull clattering sound. "There's nothing beneath my feet, where am I? How are things on your end?"
After a long silence, Na's voice finally broke the silence, and this time, it was noticeably weaker.
“I don’t know. I woke up a little earlier than you and did some groping around. All I could do was confirm that I was tied up in mid-air…” Na paused, her breathing a little unsteady. “However, I can’t confirm anything more… I’ll probably have to rely on you from now on.”
Na's voice grew lower and lower, especially the last few words, which were as faint as a candle flickering in the wind, almost swallowed by the darkness.
"Huh?" Milk Dragon was taken aback. Just as she was about to ask what was wrong, there was no sound from the other end.
The silence in the darkness was particularly agonizing, and the dragon's heart pounded with each passing moment, its claws unconsciously tightening around the chains.
tick-
The familiar soft sound of dripping water was exceptionally clear in the deathly silence.
Milk Dragon's ears twitched, and it was surprised to find that the sound seemed to be coming from the direction of Na.
"Na? Are you alright?" it called out hurriedly. "What happened over there? Did you hear the dripping sound?"
There was another long silence, lasting more than ten seconds, so long that Milk Dragon almost thought she had fainted.
Finally, Na's voice rang out again, weak as if a thread might break at any moment: "...That's not the sound of water droplets."
Milk Dragon: "?"
"If nothing unexpected happens..." Na's voice paused, as if she had exhausted her strength, "It's the sound of my blood dripping on the ground."
Milk Dragon: "!!!"
“The gas explosion in the old town…” Na’s voice was broken and trembling with pain, “I lay on top of you and took most of the impact, but I don’t have your scales… I was injured more badly than you…”
These words struck the milk dragon's mind like a thunderbolt, piecing together the chaotic fragments of memory—
At that time, following the advice of the wine glass, they were taking a detour to the new town of Moranti when they encountered Yi Gui from the new town intercepting the Blood Faction in the sky. Then there was a deafening gas explosion, and they were thrown away by a huge force and crashed heavily into the wall... After that, they remembered nothing.
So, Na was already so badly injured back then?
In the darkness, the "tick-tock, tick-tock" sound continued, each beat striking the heart of the milk dragon. It longed to struggle over and check on Na's condition, but the darkness blocked its vision, and the chains bound its steps.
Milk Dragon: "Na..."
Na: "Don't worry about me... I thought about it for a long time after I woke up. If I bleed to death like this, maybe it's a good thing..."
“I used to think that after I died, everything would have to be entrusted to you. But now I think it’s better to leave it to you. If I ‘die,’ you will also trigger the mechanism and die with me…”
Na thought that this dungeon trip was probably doomed, and that the two of them had been captured by an unknown force.
Most importantly, her injuries were severe. Milk Dragon's injuries might be slightly less severe, but she also faced the explosion directly, so her injuries wouldn't be much less severe.
With such a wounded body, forcing oneself to complete a mission is worse than death.
It's better to trigger the alert mechanism directly and have the main body send in two more people than to let them hold on.
However, before Na could finish expressing her thoughts, a cold voice interrupted her.
"I originally came to check on the situation, but I never expected to hear such talk about living and dying together."
"What a great feeling!"
"A yellow, fat-headed lizard and a black woman of unknown species, actually committed suicide together?"
"Horo horo ho..."
It was a voice they didn't recognize, with a shrill, grating accent.
"Who are you?" Na wanted to ask in a forceful tone, but she was too weak and could only ask in a low, hoarse voice.
"Hehehe... You can't recognize us after hearing our clan's signature laughter? It seems you've come from outside Cloud Harbor City." After the strange laughter, he continued, "However, since I became the Guardian Spirit, it's rare for anyone to ask, so let me introduce myself properly."
"Who am I?" he slowly began. "I cannot tell you my name; that requires the master's permission. However, I can tell you that I am a Grey who has awakened the power of shadow, and also the guardian spirit of this ritual."
"To make sure you die knowing why, I can turn on the lights so you can see my face... Hehehe, although I don't like light, it won't hurt to do it once in a while."
At this point...
The entire dark space was suddenly illuminated by light.
The sudden burst of light made Milk Dragon squint, his eyes filled with a blinding white halo, and it took him a while to adjust.
Once her vision was finally clear, the milk dragon immediately looked around and searched for "Na".
The space they were in was a sealed stone chamber without any windows, only a pitch-black door, like a prison cell.
The walls were bare, with only a dazzling, luminous glass ball hanging overhead.
They were suspended in mid-air by iron chains engraved with strange patterns. Less than three meters below their feet, the entire ground was covered with dark red patterns, like dried blood that had solidified, winding and intersecting to form a huge blood-red pattern.
Na, just ten meters away, was also suspended in mid-air.
Her condition was more serious than Nailong had imagined. Her lips were completely purple and white, and she couldn't even lift her head. Only when Nailong noticed her did she slowly give a look that was almost like she was dying.
Her body was covered in wounds, and thin streams of dark blood dripped from them and onto the ground.
A pool of blood had already formed on the ground!
“Na…”
Milk Dragon wanted to say something, but at that moment, that sharp voice rang out again, carrying a hint of dissatisfaction.
“Hey, I’m not turning on the lights so you two can pour out your hearts to each other, but so you can have the chance to pay homage to the spirit of the guardian deity.”
Nailong and Na both looked at the person who had spoken.
In the shadows of the corner of the room stood a slender figure. He had ashen skin, his body was translucent like a thin mist, and his limbs were so thin that they seemed as if they would break at the slightest touch. Only his eyes gleamed with an eerie green light in the pale light.
This is... a Grey? A Guardian Spirit?
He bent slightly and made a strange gesture toward the two people hanging in mid-air, like some kind of twisted salute: "Welcome to the 'Bloodbound Dungeon,' a fine place to entertain distinguished guests."
"Is being treated like a distinguished guest like this, being hung up like this?" Na asked softly, her voice weak as a candle flickering in the wind, but her eyes showed no fear as she stared straight at Shouyiling.
"Hehehe... I almost forgot about this dark-skinned lady." Shouyiling's laughter was like rusty iron scraping against each other. "Although you have a strange tail, like a little snake, judging from your appearance, shall I call you 'lady' for now?"
Na didn't reply, she just stared at him coldly.
Shouyi Ling didn't care and continued, "You just said you were about to die and wanted to commit suicide with this yellow fat-headed lizard? That won't do."
"Although your fate has already been written by the master, you are destined to die."
He paused, his eerie green eyes sweeping over the two of them. "But not now."
This guardian spirit was a chatterbox, able to talk to itself even when no one was around. As soon as he finished speaking, he conjured a small gray cloth bag out of thin air and began rummaging through it, holding up each item as if showing it off.
"This white stuff looks like cotton, doesn't it?" He picked up a small clump of fluffy white fluff. "Hehehe, don't underestimate it. This is the brain marrow extract of the Dream Beast Star-Spotted Seal, worth three Soul Coins!"
Just as he finished speaking, he suddenly changed his expression and muttered, "Speaking of which, Dream Beast Town is really heartless. It monopolizes all Dream Beast materials. I really hope that Master will go there one day and turn the world upside down."
He suddenly looked up, as if he had just remembered something: "Oh? You want to ask about the purpose of this thing?"
Na: "..." Who asked?
Shouyiling continued on her own, her tone mocking: "This thing, just a small pinch is enough to be the core offering for a hemostasis ritual... Now guess what I'm going to do with it?"
"Hehehe, you guessed it—of course it's to stop your bleeding." He waved the white, fluffy substance in his hand, his eyes fixed on Na's bleeding wound. "Although you'll all die sooner or later, you can't die now."
Nailong and Na exchanged a glance, both seeing helplessness in each other's eyes. This person didn't care whether others responded or not, living entirely at their own pace.
However, this talkativeness has one advantage: it can reveal some information in conversation.
Shouyiling kept taking things out of his bag, each item a sacrificial offering for the hemostasis ritual. He waved each item in front of the two of them, explaining its purpose in a rambling voice, as if he were educating two ignorant children.
Soon, he arranged the six offerings on a small, palm-sized disc, forming the basic outline of the ritual formation.
"Sigh..." Looking at the arranged ritual formation, he suddenly sighed, all the excitement in his voice vanishing instantly. "The only inconvenience of becoming a guardian spirit is that you can't inscribe ritual patterns on your body... You can't even cast spells instantly. Can such a noble spirit still be considered a noble spirit?"
He lowered his eyes, his dark green pupils dimmed, and he seemed to have lost all his energy, his emotions plummeting from the excitement of before to rock bottom.
Nailong even felt as if the air above his head had condensed into a heavy, gray cloud.
Seeing his dejected appearance, Na had just considered whether to speak when the Guardian Spirit's emotions suddenly surged as if a switch had been flipped: "However! There are advantages to becoming a Guardian Spirit, too! I can live forever!"
He spun around on the spot, his semi-transparent body leaving a faint afterimage, but as he laughed, his voice lowered again: "But, ho ho ho... it's still better to have a real body..."
These fluctuating emotions made him seem somewhat neurotic, yet he himself seemed completely unaware of it.
After calming down her disappointment, Shouyi Ling floated to Na's side with the hemostatic instrument tray. After a series of strange laughs, she lowered her voice and instructed, "Next, I'll perform the hemostatic ritual for you. It won't hurt, but don't move."
"What will happen if you move?" Na asked in a hoarse voice, a hint of probing in her eyes.
"Moved? It's nothing." The Guardian Spirit shook her head, her gray, misty hair swaying in the breeze. "At most, I'll just rearrange the ritual array again."
These words sparked a hint of eagerness in Na's eyes.
But Shouyi Ling seemed to see through her thoughts, and the next second she slowly added, "But if you move, I'll have to put you back to sleep. You don't want to stay unconscious until the sacrificial ceremony begins, not even knowing how you died, do you?"
Na's eyes instantly darkened, and she lost all desire to move.
However, something Shou Yiling had just said bothered her.
Sacrifice ceremony?
So, she and the Milk Dragon will ultimately be sacrificed?
That said, since waking up, two questions have been swirling in her mind: Who exactly captured them? And the wine glass—did she also fall into their hands?
The whereabouts of the wine glass cannot be confirmed at the moment, so let's leave that aside for now.
Upon hearing the words "sacrifice ritual," Na suddenly understood something: ever since the invention of leech offerings, the sacrificial rituals of the Yi world have gradually declined, and now only some evil sects still use this ancient ritual.
The number of evil cults operating in the Yungang City area can be counted on one hand: the Bloodlust Cult and the Divine Worship Cult.
So, those who arrested them are most likely from one of these two factions.
The thought flashed through Na's mind, and she felt a sense of relief.
Being captured by the Divine Faction is exactly what they wanted; as for being captured by the Blood Faction, although it's a bit troublesome, if they can smooth things over through Edward's connections, they might be able to find a way out!