NFBE Chapter 214 This Day After Ten Thousand Years
Chapter 214 This Day After Ten Thousand Years
The mountains shook and the earth trembled, with rocks raining down. Loose, cracked rocks that had been lying in place for thousands of years spread and crashed down, splashing up a mist of stone dust.
"Those bastards, Silverfrost! Help! Someone, help me!"
The three junior brothers, Jin and his companion, were unable to move. They watched as the boulder shattered and rolled towards them, their faces turning pale with fright.
Junior Brother Jin cursed loudly, but Xiao Keding and the others were too busy dodging in the rain of stones to pay attention to them.
"Junior Brother Jin, be quiet!"
A pale yellow figure flashed out from behind the rocks, uttered a soft shout, and with a flick of the object in his hand, Zhu Ling and the other two who were lying on their backs beside the rocks vanished without a trace.
The newcomer glanced at the emerging underground palace passageway, and taking advantage of Xiao Keding and the others' inattention, calmly slipped away and fled into the gaps between the falling stones.
As the shaking subsided, the people in the passageway released their hands from the stone wall, staring at the flickering eerie flames in the cracks, caught in a dilemma.
The bold hesitated whether to rush into the underground palace and gain the first advantage; the timid hesitated and retreated, giving others the opportunity to enter first.
Lin Qianxiu made the first decision, pulling Luo Sifan's hand:
"Hold your breath, let's go in and explore!"
Without waiting for Luo Sifan's opinion, he leaped into the crevice entrance.
"do not want!"
The aura emanating from the underground palace instilled a strange fear in Luo Sifan. He tried to push Lin Qianxiu away, but she ignored him. Helpless, he held his breath.
Lin Qianxiu squeezed through the gap, her hand tightening, instantly dispelling Luo Sifan's fear.
The scene that greeted Luo Sifan as he looked over Lin Qianxiu's shoulder made him forget the pain in his hand and open his eyes wide.
A vast, empty expanse of blackness, like a dome, shrouds a desolate mound of graves, its true nature indistinguishable from reality. To be honest, the graves are everywhere, rising straight into the void, built against the mountainside, countless in number. Yet, to be doubtful, the inscriptions on the nearby graves are still discernible, their decaying and scattered appearances varying from one another.
The ghostly light emanated from the top of the burial mound, right in the center of the darkness, like a ghostly moon and fireflies, its thin light like gauze, shifting between light and shadow, making the scene before them even more surreal and indistinct.
Both of them strained their eyes, but could not discern the reality or illusion of the flickering ghostly fire.
"Lin Xiaozhi! My spiritual energy is limited here; I can't even step outside my body. What about you?"
Lin Qianxiu turned to look at Luo Sifan, whose figure was dim, with only the flickering ghostly fire reflected in his dark eyes remaining.
She used her spiritual energy to produce a deep, hoarse voice, and Luo Sifan nodded, suppressing a laugh, indicating that she shared the same feeling.
"This place is too eerie! What kind of immortal tomb is this? I think it's a ghost tomb!"
Lin Qianxiu's voice echoed in her abdomen as before, producing a guttural sound, trembling with a hint of fear.
Incidentally, even the hand that was gripping Luo Sifan's hand trembled slightly.
"Let's exit first and then see."
Luo Sifan imitated her throat-slurring and suggested they back out.
Lin Qianxiu nodded silently, as if she had agreed.
His eyes, however, were fixed on the most conspicuous tombstone nearby, and he remained motionless.
"What's there to see? We should retreat when it's time to leave; we can't linger here!"
Luo Sifan was getting impatient; he had already moved his foot over, but Lin Qianxiu remained motionless.
"The words on that monument... look familiar!"
The eerie fire in Lin Qianxiu's eyes intensified, making the previously obscure inscriptions on the stele seem clearer.
"Wait! Let me see the words on the inscription, I'll exit immediately!"
Luo Sifan's involvement made Lin Qianxiu anxious. Instead of retreating, she stepped forward and dragged the agitated Luo Sifan to the tombstone.
In the blink of an eye, it was as if a veil had been torn away, and everything became much brighter before their eyes.
The once dilapidated and crumbling tombstones, as if time had reversed, gradually became clear and intact before the dazed two people's eyes, as if time had reversed.
The two stared blankly at the inscription, which was now almost decipherable. In unison, their voices resonated within them, and they read the words aloud, one by one:
"Qiao Niang of the Jiao family in Fushan passed away here at the age of 10,001..."
On the right side of the monument, a line of red characters records the name of the person who erected the monument. The red characters, according to Yinshuang's custom, represent someone who is still alive...
Before Lin Qianxiu and her companion could even turn their gaze to the red characters, the light and shadow around them suddenly changed, and the clamor of the marketplace filled their ears once more.
When the two opened their eyes and saw clearly, they were horrified to find that they had returned to the day of the market day in Fushan Town, where the sky was bright and the sunlight was dazzling.
Lin Qianxiu's hands were ice-cold, and she felt a chill as she stood on the bustling street.
How was the scene before her any different from the floating mountain in the illusion? Even the familiar street vendors seemed to recognize her, grinning and greeting her.
"This is absolutely unbelievable..."
Lin Qianxiu parted her red lips slightly, forgetting all about holding her breath.
Luo Sifan was also shocked by the scene before her. She frowned and looked around, taking in the familiar people and things one by one.
"How did we end up back in the illusion?"
Lin Qianxiu dodged the passing crowd and asked Luo Sifan blankly.
“It’s worse than an illusion, Lin Qianxiu, look at the water trough under the eaves…”
Water dripping wears away stone; over the years, the stone troughs under the eaves of the houses in this small town have formed a series of regular stone pits.
Lin Qianxiu looked as instructed, but still didn't understand.
Luo Sifan sighed and said:
"That's because you didn't notice. The water troughs and stone basins in the illusion were much shallower than they are now. Moreover, the wood used for the pavilions is also very different."
If even the illusionary realm could notice such details eroded by time, then the master of the illusionary realm would be far too insane.
"In my opinion, the place we are standing on now is not an illusion, but Fushan Town ten thousand years in the future! The buildings in this town have been rebuilt countless times over the past ten thousand years. The stone troughs and water holes under the eaves are exactly what they look like after being washed by rain over the past ten thousand years."
Luo Sifan simply said it outright.
As for these people…
Luo Sifan waved and greeted them. The pedestrians in the street didn't find it strange at all; on the contrary, they responded warmly, as if they were complete strangers to the two of them.
"Their memories are still stuck at the moment the illusion collapsed."
Luo Sifan lowered his hand and looked at Lin Qianxiu with a wry smile.
"go!"
Lin Qianxiu's expression changed several times. She pulled Luo Sifan along and headed towards Zhiyifang.
Before the two even stepped into Zhiyifang, a joyful cry of "Husband!" rang out.
Qiaoniang lifted her skirt, stepped over the threshold, and rushed straight towards Luo Sifan with a flushed face.
Her dress was elegant and refined, like a young lady from a noble family, dressed up as if she had been waiting for her lover for a long time, completely unlike the vulgarity she showed when they first met.
She threw herself into his arms, unrestrained and passionate, disregarding worldly conventions, yet as bold and resolute as when they first met.
"Qiao Niang!"
Luo Sifan remained calm and embraced Qiao Niang, who rushed towards him.
"You've finally arrived! I've been waiting for you for ages!"
Qiao Niang was nestled in Luo Sifan's arms, her body soft and warm. Luo Sifan wrapped his arms around her, and her toes flew off the ground. She whispered sweet nothings in Luo Sifan's ear as if she were floating on clouds.
The woman seemed still lost in the illusion of her passionate kiss with Luo Sifan.
Only then did Lin Qianxiu believe Luo Sifan's words. With a complicated expression, she watched the bizarre scene of lovers reuniting before her, unable to utter a sound.
"Sister! You've come too? Quickly put me down so I can greet you!"
Qiao Niang caught a glimpse of Lin Qianxiu, reluctantly broke free from Luo Sifan's embrace, her face flushed with shyness, and solemnly bowed to the stiff-faced Lin Qianxiu.
Lin Qianxiu couldn't force a smile, so she just nodded as if to acknowledge it.
"My lord, why is my sister so cold to me today?"
Poor Qiaoniang huddled beside Luo Sifan, leaning half her body against him like a little bird, and asked him in confusion in his ear.
It was clearly this older sister who stirred things up, which led to her and Luo Sifan's passionate affair and eventual love. How could her sister turn on her in the blink of an eye?