Pillar of Yita

He looked into the girl’s eyes—beneath those tightly closed eyelids, are there also a pair of golden pupils?

Fang Hong chose to remain silent.

The girl softly asked, a bit puzzled, ”Mr. Ade, did I say something wrong?”

”No,” Fang Hong shook his head and said, ”I was just thinking of something.”

The girl sensitively perceived that he was unwilling to continue the conversation.

She thought for a moment and decided to let go of the question.

Since the two had crossed that cliff, the Dragon’s Claw lurking in the darkness had not reappeared. It was unclear whether it was due to the effect of the Ring of Golden Flame or because this place was closer to that sealing.

He ’looked’ at his own Spirit World, where Nini had just turned over, holding her tail and smacking her small mouth.

Miss Tata was reading a book and looked up at him once.

The two ’sisters’ complemented each other well.

Looking at the community again, there was no news from Tianlan either, indicating that no one had noticed anything on this side of the community.

After walking for a while, the girl suddenly stopped. Fang Hong also raised his head to see a giant stone wall emerging in the dim darkness ahead—a stark contrast to the unmarked underground passage they had grown accustomed to, this abrupt stone wall was quite conspicuous.

Fang Hong saw a massive crack on the stone wall, extending from the top left to the bottom right, spanning over ten meters, and the widest part could accommodate at least two people in and out.

Around the crack, numerous small texts densely covered the stone wall, but in the darkness, he could not see clearly. Even when approaching with the faint light of the Magic Guided Reactor, he could only make out the twisting and turning text.

Those were actually runes.

He immediately realized that someone had set up a massive array here, sealing something within it. What surprised him, however, was that this stone wall wasn’t very old. It looked newer than those man-made tunnels outside.

The earliest tunnels of Idus could be traced back three or four hundred years, while this wall had a history of less than a century.

The construction technique clearly differed from the style of the passages outside.

But as for the sealing itself—Fang Hong looked up—just like R had said, the sealing had long been broken. It’s shattered to such an extent; merely patching it up wouldn’t suffice. Even if it were fixed, whatever was inside had likely already escaped.

He looked at the girl.

The girl appeared unaware, clasping her hands in prayer, murmuring a few words to the sealing. Then she turned around and gently said, ”Mr. Ade, could you place those crystals near the sealing?”

”By that wall?”

”Yes, exactly that one.”

Fang Hong did not object, following her instruction. He found a massive array on the ground opposite the stone wall, with some grooves in it. Understanding her intent, he embedded the Grey Crystals into them one by one.

Although the size of the knocked-off crystals was somewhat inconsistent, they barely fit in, and the girl seemed well aware of the size of these grooves.

After placing all the Grey Crystals, still feeling a bit puzzled, he asked, ”That wall has a giant crack. It seems the sealing is already too broken to fix.”

”Is it?” The girl seemed surprised, thought for a moment but shook her head, ”No matter, it was worse last time. As long as we can fix it, it’ll be okay.”

Fang Hong looked at the cracked stone wall, feeling deeply skeptical about this.

But he probed with a few questions, yet the girl was determined not to change her mind.

Fang Hong watched her walk to the center of the array, hands clasped together, placed under her chin, lowering her head and softly chanting a spell. A faint grey glow rose from her body, or rather from those crystals.

After a few minutes, the glow gradually disappeared.

Yet Fang Hong looked at the stone wall, which did not change its stance—the long crack remained still, showing no signs of improvement. However, the girl turned around, looking as if she was about to collapse, her face pale and forehead drenched in sweat.

She almost fell to her knees.

Fang Hong instinctively reached out to support her—just as he hesitated momentarily, realizing—she had regained her physical form, and you could faintly feel a hint of warmth now, unlike the previous ice-cold chill.

And, at that moment, the crystal hanging around his chest suddenly flickered, then regained its glow.

Fang Hong glanced at the girl in his arms, slightly surprised, but he did not mention this to her.

The girl hurriedly stood up from him, slightly embarrassed, ”Ah, I’m, I’m so sorry...”

”It’s okay,” Fang Hong replied, ”Is the sealing repaired?”

The girl nodded.

”We should head back,” she gently expressed gratitude, ”Thank you, Mr. Ade, you’ve been a great help.”

”You’re welcome,” Fang Hong looked back at the gaping crack in the wall, the dark opening like a wide mouth, silently mocking him. He remembered what R had said to him and suddenly asked, ”What’s behind that sealing?”

”Mr. Ade, you mustn’t go in there,” the girl’s voice grew more serious, ”It’s filled with Dark Force. If you come into contact with it, you’ll lose everything.”

Fang Hong thought to himself that the Dragon Worshipper was still alive and well, proving that the Dark Force might not be lethal upon contact. Moreover, he had seen those Descendants of Flor, who, though not tainted by the Dark Force—weren’t exactly good people either.