Chapter 105: The Night-Gloom Pearl

Sanmu turned around, bowed deeply to Jiang Lan, and said, "Thank you, brave warrior, for saving my life."

Seeing Sanmu in such a state, Jiang Lan understood his intentions perfectly. Smiling faintly behind her mask, she nodded and replied, "You are too kind."

To the bystanders, however, the tone sounded exceptionally cold. They assumed their benefactor was still displeased with the reckless misunderstanding that had just occurred. Everyone quickly helped Sanmu up and shuffled him toward the back of the group, anxious to avoid offending their savior.

Sanmu, relieved, went along with it, though he remained inwardly anxious. He worried whether anyone had grown suspicious when he had accidentally let slip the word "Heir." Fortunately, his quick wit had led him to claim it was a mere hallucination, but he feared his makeshift excuse was riddled with holes. If his true identity as the Heir were discovered, the trouble would be immense. Worried about his blunder, he tapped his head, desperately trying to think of a way to cover his tracks.

Standing at the front of the crowd, Jiang Lan listened to their theories about the bottom of the cliff, occasionally glancing back at Sanmu. The boy was repeatedly clenching his fists and tapping his head—had he landed on it when they first fell?

"Benefactor, what exactly were those things that attacked us?"

Daoist Qingmei, who had been restrained by unseen, intangible forces the moment they landed, shuddered at the memory. If not for Jiang Lan cutting them down with a single stroke of her blade, he would surely have been devoured by the monsters.

"Specter beasts formed from malevolent energy."

"But aren't specter beasts merely illusions? We clearly felt the blood splashing onto us."

Jiang Lan held up the Night Nether Pearl lantern in her hand. "Do you still feel it now?"

The man looked at his hands and robes, only to find not a single drop of blood.

"How is this possible?"

"It was all a hallucination."

"Oh, so that’s why Sanmu said it was a trick of the eye," Daoist Qingmei remarked. Jiang Lan nodded. "The Daoist is right; it was indeed a trick of the eye."

Sanmu, still hidden at the back, was too absorbed in his own damage control to notice the conversation at the center of the group.

"Then how do we get out? It is far too dark down here. Aside from not being able to see one's own hand in front of one's face, we can't even see a yard ahead. We would have been better off staying up above."

Jiang Lan glanced at the visibly agitated Daoist, paused for a moment, then turned and began walking deeper into the darkness, the Night Nether Pearl lantern in hand. The group scrambled to follow. Fearing they might get lost, they formed a line of ten, each holding onto the robes of the person in front of them.

Sanmu was naturally relegated to the very end. The eerie, gloomy chill felt like a tide washing over him, and the further they walked, the more bone-chillingly cold he became.

"Brother Daoist, don't you feel a bit cold?" Sanmu asked the person in front of him.

"No," came the reply.

Suddenly, a ghostly, biting wind brushed against Sanmu's cheek. "B-brother Daoist, did you feel that wind?"

"Wind? What wind? We are underground; where would wind come from? Stop being so paranoid."

Sanmu felt his strength waning. He had been clutching the sleeve of the man in front, but now he grabbed the man’s arm, clinging to him. "Brother Daoist, let’s stay close so we can look out for each other."

An Ren initially wanted to shake him off, but on second thought, it seemed like a reasonable idea. "Fine, but keep your distance."

"Agreed, Brother Daoist."

Jiang Lan, leading the way, was oblivious to what was happening behind her. She held the lantern in her left hand and a keen blade in her right. Whenever loose stones appeared underfoot, she kicked them forward. The sound of the stones echoed away into the distance, never seemingly coming to a stop.

After walking for a long time, something rolled against her foot. Jiang Lan immediately signaled for everyone to halt. The sudden stop made everyone’s heart leap into their throats. Jiang Lan lowered her head, frowned, and crouched down. It was not anything strange—it was simply one of the stones she had kicked earlier.

Just as Jiang Lan picked up the stone, another one came rolling toward her. At first, there was no sound, only the sudden appearance of the stone; the second one made a brief rolling sound as it traveled the distance.

Then, a thunderous roar erupted. Jiang Lan dropped the stone, stood up instantly, and raised her blade.

"Benefactor, what is happening?" Daoist Qingmei, despite his age and experience, had never encountered such a thing and began to panic.

"Silence," Jiang Lan commanded, ignoring his question. The danger in her voice was unmistakable.

The roaring sound grew closer, yet the surroundings remained pitch black. Her ears twitched, and with a swift swing of her sword, a stone was sliced in two. Then came two stones, three stones... then an entire swarm.

Jiang Lan swung her blade incessantly, shattering the stones or slicing them in half. The stones seemed to possess a strange intelligence; realizing they could not bypass Jiang Lan, they began targeting the "soft targets" behind her.

Jiang Lan did her best to protect the group, her sword weaving a dazzling web of light. Daoist Qingmei, standing right behind her, gained a sudden insight from the beauty of her swordplay, but realizing the timing was wrong, he suppressed the urge to meditate and instead raised his own magical artifact to deflect the stones flying toward the rear.

However, even with his heightened senses, the Daoist’s vision was limited to a yard, and the constraints of the darkness were overwhelming. As the stones became more dense, Jiang Lan and Qingmei could no longer manage alone. Many Daoists were struck, losing their places in the line, while others, terrified, began waving their artifacts wildly, accidentally injuring their own companions. Chaos ensued.

"This cannot continue."

Jiang Lan reached into her lantern and removed the wick—the Night Nether Pearl.

"Benefactor, what are you doing?"

Jiang Lan looked at the pearl in her palm. It was a coming-of-age gift from A-Yan, a fruit from the largest Night-Blooming Nether Flower at the very source of the Yellow Springs, refined over a century by his own divine spirit. It was, without exaggeration, a treasure of the Six Realms. It had been delivered to her later by Black Obsidian, who had sent a blue bird to deliver it, fearing she would lack a means of protection once she no longer had the Spirit Jade Talisman.

It was a pity that the demon race was in turmoil and Qing had not yet been found. The blue bird was Black Obsidian’s capable assistant; if only the bird had been sent to stay with her, she could have sat back and relaxed without being bullied by a few measly pebbles.

Though she was reluctant to part with it, lives were at stake. Jiang Lan gripped the pearl tightly, then tossed it into the air. As it began to fall, she punched it, and the sound of shattering glass echoed through the space.

In an instant, a cold blue light radiated outward, filling the void. The field of vision expanded, and the entire underground cavern was illuminated by the ethereal glow.

"A-choo!"

Daoist Qingmei, though unaware of the item's true nature, recognized its extraordinary value. Seeing Jiang Lan lose such a precious artifact to clear the darkness for their sake, he was filled with immense gratitude.

"Benefactor, are you alright?"

Jiang Lan waved her hand to indicate she was fine. "It's nothing. I've just been thought of by an old man."

In a corner of the Six Realms, Jing Yan held a mortar and pestle, watching the woman in the water mirror. His perpetually indifferent face cracked. "An old man?"

With a wave of his hand, he dispelled the water mirror, and the droplet of water returned to the jar outside the courtyard.