A few days later, Tianming returned to the spherical underground palace from another passage.
"Which was the passage where I separated from Feng?"
Tianming wanted to see if Ye Lingfeng had returned. After all, it had been some time since he was back here. He wasn’t holding out hope when he located the passage where Ye Lingfeng’s message was engraved. However, one new thing was the bodies on the ground.
There were eight people and more than a dozen lifebound beasts. They had died very strangely. Despite the blood and stab wounds, these people and beasts had perished with their eyes wide open, as if they were terribly frightened at the moment of death.
"None of them are from the Decimo Dao Palace." Worried about Bai Xiaozhu and the others, Tianming was relieved to discover this.
He didn’t know if they were alive or dead. At this point, he noticed more words on the wall.
"Brother Tianming, I’m back. I’ll be waiting here for you."
Tianming smiled. "Feng says that the monster listens to him. Could they be the ones who killed these people? Is the monster the thing that escaped from the sealed palace?"
Perhaps at the time it escaped, it had fought Dongyang Fengchen for a while and met Ye Lingfeng?
That must be it. In that case, I’ll wait here for Feng, Tianming thought to himself.
"Go!" Just then, Feiling’s voice altered, strongly commanding Tianming.
The person had appeared again!
"Why?" asked Tianming.
In truth, he appreciated every opportunity to speak with this person, but she basically ignored him.
"I said go!" she ordered.
"I’m waiting for my brother here. It’ll take a day or two at most. He’s not far and won’t delay us from collecting the blood spheres. There’s only three left," said Tianming.
"I order you to go." Her tone grew even colder.
Tianming was just about to ask for a reason when footsteps sounded in the distance.
"Brother Tianming, is that you?" Before the visitor showed himself, the voice of Ye Lingfeng spread throughout the passage.
"Yes, Feng!" Tianming smiled, then turned to Feiling and said, "I told you there’d be no delay. My brother’s here."
Hearing Tianming’s voice, Ye Lingfeng headed his way. Tianming was just about to join him when Feiling left his body, her white eyes extremely cold, proving that she was now that person. Staring at Tianming, she said, "Take me away at once, or I'll kill her!”
Tianming was shocked. This was the first time she had seemed so agitated. Everyone had the tendency to speak without thinking while agitated. For example, Huang Ziting.
Take her away at once? Take? This could mean it wasn’t convenient for her to move around in the tomb. Perhaps it was so inconvenient she could only be confined to Feiling.
Me? She now appears as Feiling but said ‘me’ instead of ‘her’. What did she mean? At the moment, the gears in his head were turning. Most importantly, why was she in such a hurry to leave?
Obviously, she was afraid of something, or someone.
Ye Lingfeng was unlikely to be the object of her fear, since he had previously been with Tianming. So was it the monster?
This is the best opportunity! Tianming thought.
He knew there would be risks. However, if he missed this opportunity, he would probably continue being pushed around by this person. Who knows what would happen next? The unknown was the greatest threat.
After realizing that the mysterious person might be afraid of the monster, Tianming wanted to take a risk. The last time, when Dongyang Fengchen was there, she had certainly crossed paths with the monster, yet showed no fear because of the apparent safety. But now she was frightened.
At the moment, Tianming was staring blankly. Without so much as a word, she stretched out her hand and tried strangling Feiling once more, decisively threatening Tianming and exposing her fears.
"Go!" Traces of blood appeared on Feiling’s twisted face.
Tianming immediately pulled away Feiling's hand, his movement smooth, having done this before. On that occasion, he realized that she used little strength despite threatening him with Feiling’s life. As long as Tianming was around, her threats were basically ineffective. Although Tianming couldn't watch her all his life to stop her from ’committing suicide’, what was so difficult about looking out for her in the tomb?
"You’re looking to die!" She seemed angry.
This convinced Tianming that she had a weakness.
He calmly contemplated, First of all, she’s afraid of the monster. Secondly, she can't just kill Feiling! And lastly, there’s some sort of connection between her and Feiling.
Perhaps she couldn't just kill Feiling unless it was a life and death struggle. If they hadn’t entered the tomb, perhaps she would have fought desperately. But now she was obviously close to achieving her goal. How could she just give up?
"Stop! I’ll listen to you. I just want to take Feng with us. Do you have to go so far?" Feigning ignorance, Tianming pulled away Feiling's hand.
Just then, Ye Lingfeng appeared. Behind him, a ferocious and mighty monster covered in gray scales rushed out, eyeing Feiling.
"I’m going to kill you!!”
Its three heads let out a thunderous growl. Tianming finally realized that every time he heard these words, they weren’t addressed to him, but Feiling. Or, more accurately, that person.
What is her connection to the tomb?
This time, they happened to meet Ye Lingfeng and the monster, so Tianming decided to play the fool and take a gamble. He wanted to see how she would react. There was a dangerous look in her eyes as the monster charged toward her.
Then, smiling coldly, she said, "I was going to wait till you gathered nine soul servants to see what kind of fortune the Demon City would bring you. But since you’re trying to be smart, we’ll get down to business!"
Her words were very informative! ‘Soul servant’ and ‘Demon City’ most likely referred to the blood spheres and tomb, respectively. Most importantly, collecting these soul servants wasn’t real business. So what was it? Obviously, it was the reason she had called Feiling to the tomb.
Just then, something shocking happened. The Tomb of the Ancients shook and a big patch of blue bricks under Tianming’s feet gave way. This demonstrated the strange relationship that person had with the tomb. Clearly, she could control the changes in the tomb. The moment the bricks fell away, she attached Feiling to Tianming. In that instant, a huge stone pillar emerged from the ceiling, directly above Tianming's head, pushing him into the abyss below his feet.
"Feng!” Tianming shouted.
The monster suddenly turned into a black storm that enveloped Ye Lingfeng and crashed into the abyss. The next thing they knew, they were pushed downward by the pillar above them.
"What's the thing beside you?" Tianming asked as they fell.
"It's called a Soulfiend!"
As soon as the words left his lips, the pair slammed to the ground. Tianming spat a mouthful blood and his bones felt like they were breaking apart. Enduring the pain, he stood up in the pitch-black space. The moment they entered, the room lit up. Upon scanning the area, Tianming found that it was a huge underground palace, which seemed to have been built at the bottom of the tomb. From where he was standing, he could see a tall and ancient blue altar.
"Brother Tianming, be careful!" Ye Lingfeng called out.
As soon as Tianming saw the altar, a huge shadow appeared behind him. It turned out the Soulfiend was eyeing him and came charging at once. Having dodged its attack, Tianming discovered that its claws had gouged deep marks into the ground.
The Soulfiend didn’t seem terribly strong, but its claws could achieve the same effect as the Grand-Orient Sword.
"Don't touch him!" Ye Lingfeng jumped on its heads, holding it down. The irascible Soulfiend immediately settled down.
Then, a figure darted from Tianming's body and flew toward the blue altar! It appeared to be a pair of Celestial Wings created by Feiling.
"Don't go!"
Tianming chased after her, but felt as if he was trapped in mud. It was Feiling’s Temporal Field. Then he hit a Spatial Wall. Although Feiling hadn’t flown away quickly, her methods were uncomfortable.
"Let it go!" Using his quick wits, Tianming turned to Ye Lingfeng.
All of that had happened in an instant. Everything he did was related to Feiling's life and death.
"I’m going to kill you!”
The Soulfiend ran after Feiling, its hatred for her obvious. As it passed Tianming, he threw out the Thunderfiend Chains, catching one of its arms. With Tianming in tow, the Soulfiend smashed down several Spatial Walls, quickly approaching Feiling’s Celestial Wings.
"Stop her!"
Tianming sensed the mysterious woman’s anger. However, she seemed more afraid of the Soulfiend, hence her desperate dash toward the other side of the palace. Fortunately, the Soulfiend had gone after them.
Soon, they arrived before the altar. Having been tossed, Tianming glanced at the altar and received such a huge shock he could hardly breathe.
In the center of the altar was an ancient crystal coffin. And in that crystal coffin was a stunning woman whose beauty amazed all. She wore a white dress with her eyes closed and hands on her abdomen, lying quietly within. Although a hundred thousand years had passed, time had left no trace on her.
Like an orchid in a ravine, she was graceful and elegant. She had almond-eyes and vermillion lips, reminiscent of a ripe cherry. She was beauty incarnate, so gorgeous she could cause the downfall of a nation.
However, what truly astonished Tianming was the fact that he had spent all his time with this woman, even making a vow to live and die together. She was Feiling!