124 - Dungeon Growth Log

### Chapter 124: The Picture of the Malevolent Spirit The illusion had faded, leaving Xia Ge standing still outside the door of retrospection, lost in thought. Chu Yi was leaning against the door, his eyes closed as if he had fallen into a coma. The system commented, "He must have entered the door of retrospection." "Everyone can go back to the past through the door of retrospection, but some can take their bodies, others only their souls." Xia Ge didn't ask why. She stood there, stunned, her mind filled with images of the bamboo-sheathed sword of affection, the bloodstained clothes beneath the dark cloak, and that face so familiar it made one's soul tremble. Senior sister. Was that her senior sister? ...No, it was not. She called her... Shuang Shuang. After a while, Xia Ge glanced at the white key in her hand, belatedly asking, "...When will he wake up?" Chu Yi. The system hesitated, "That depends on what he encountered." "Those whose souls enter the door of retrospection often harbor more intense obsessions and delusions than ordinary people," the system hinted, "The more carefree someone is, the more generous the door is." Xia Ge: "..." "Because the less someone cares, the less likely it is they will change the past," the system explained alone. "The deeper the obsession..." The more they wish things had been different back then, the more inclined they are to interfere with past events. "So when will he wake up?" Xia Ge interrupted it. System: "..." After a moment, the system quietly said, "I mentioned... that depends on what he encountered." And what he thought about it. Xia Ge remained silent for a while, looking at the girl leaning against the door, with soft black hair on her forehead and long eyelashes like butterfly wings. She sat quietly on the ground, as flawless as a wooden doll. Xia Ge looked again at the key in her hand. The system offered a friendly reminder, "The life door, one key can only open one person's door." One person, meaning, she couldn't take Chu Yi out. Unless Chu Yi... could bring back the key. How did the key appear? Thinking back, it was completely unfathomable. "...How can a key appear?" Xia Ge asked. System: "...The specifics aren't clear, but it is said that if someone without obsessions develops one, a key will appear. For someone with obsessions, it's not so clear... it's just a myth, after all." Xia Ge sat down next to Chu Yi, feeding him a fasting pill, and took one herself to regain strength. She needed to wait for the little butterfly to return. It didn't matter; she wasn't in a hurry. The system had just said that if someone carefree harbored obsession, the key would appear. Her palm slowly opened, and the white key rested there like the petals of a soft blooming white orchid. Obsession? Xia Ge thought it probably wasn't an obsession. Just that moment. She very much wanted to know what role that person, who resembled her senior sister so much, had played in her confused past. —— In a pitch-black cavern. There was an... unpleasant smell. A faint, nauseating scent of blood. Su Chan walked forward nonchalantly. Although Bai Meng Cave's illusions were intricate, to her pitch-black pupils, these illusions were like childish jokes, insignificant. She was still wearing Mao Qing's outer garment. The blood-dyed maple and plain clothes of Spring and Autumn transformed into Danfeng clothes draped over her body, giving her a peculiar feeling. Living under someone else's skin, leading a different life. Remembering the murmurs of youth in midnight dreams, and the foolish recklessness when Bai Meng Cave appeared. She despised being indebted to anyone. Moreover. Su Chan thought that despite it being someone else's identity, the occasional appearance of such a person in her long monotonous life was rather interesting. Besides saving this intriguing person from Bai Meng Cave, she had another reason for being here. From time to time, the rocky passages shifted and blocked her path. Yet Su Chan was unconcerned, going with the flow, following any path available to eventually reach a clearing. Salt crystals paved the clearing, dazzlingly white, somewhat incongruous within the dark cave. Su Chan paused, taking out a bone flute. The bone flute was crystalline, with a crimson silk knot tied at one end, swaying gently with her movements. "This flute... White Bone Lament." She stood before the clearing, her thoughts momentarily drifting before returning to focus. Seating herself, she played a tune. The flute's gentle notes reverberated through the smothering stone cave, overlapping echoes resonated, transforming the stone cave multiple times, while the beautiful salt crystals in the clearing flickered with bloody light in rhythm to the sound. Eventually, the center of the salt slowly rose, and the splendid crystals fell like flowing sand, revealing a small wooden stand with a box on top. Had Xia Ge been there, she would have recognized this box as strikingly similar to the one she mistook for the patriarch's urn at the forefather's mausoleum. Su Chan reached out, and the box levitated, settling securely into her hand. She opened the box to find the second piece of the map to the Malevolent Spirit Mountain within. Closing the box, a barely-there smile graced Su Chan's lips, an air of enchantment touching Mao Qing's face through her expression. "Searched high and low without results..." she muttered to herself, "yet found it without effort?" Four fragments of the map: one lay in the patriarch's mausoleum, and another in the residence of the Dream Deity. Everyone knew the patriarch's mausoleum was on the back mountain, but the maze she personally set up concealed the entrance tightly. Despite Su Chan's formidable powers, the entangled barriers made it difficult to locate. If not for the fawn leading that child, she reckoned she'd still be without a clue. The child led to the mausoleum by the fawn... Hadn't the bone flute remained unresponsive, she might have mistaken them for— But... recalling the child's foolishness, Su Chan gave a meaningful smile. Xia Wu Shuang might be a bit dim, but she wouldn’t be so reckless for a mere acquaintance. This time, discovering Bai Meng Cave, that child could be said to have made a significant contribution. She drew back her wandering thoughts. Although the path to the remaining two was unclear, once the High Priest returned and deduced their general locations, it wouldn’t be a difficult task. Taking up her flute, Su Chan decided to look for that foolish child in the meantime. The flute melody wafted, layers of illusions overlapped, and anyone observing would be astonished to see the unfolding illusions mirrored Bai Meng Cave's various scenes, Finally settling on the youth sitting between the black and white doors. The youth wore Danfeng robes, with a doll at his waist smiling brightly, next to him a girl slightly shorter than him, her fringe soft and black. Both appeared to be sleeping: the youth seemingly in meditation, the girl apparently unconscious. The bone flute was held a little tighter. For some reason, Su Chan didn't quite enjoy seeing others by this youth's side. Watching Xia Ge, with her eyes closed and long lashes, Su Chan thoughtfully pondered. Not the youth. It's Xia Xia. Su Chan's mouth subtly curved. She looked at the two doors behind the youth. The black door was inscribed with mysterious runes, while the white door had a keyhole. Su Chan recognized them as the doors of retrospection and life in Bai Meng Cave. Xia Ge shifted, revealing the corner of a white key in her hand. ——The key to the life door? So she had been through the door of retrospection? And successfully acquired the key? A child so young, what kind of past could give rise to such an obsession? Su Chan found it intriguing. The door of retrospection could be considered the source of Bai Meng Cave's power. Those entering the door relived their past. The torrent of history was vast, everything had a past. Everyone had a different past. The door of retrospection used the lure of the life door key to entice people to enter, observing their reaction to their past while ensuring it remained unchanged. Using these observations, Bai Meng Cave crafted more captivating illusions. Yet, there were always some not easily swayed by their past or the illusions, those often labeled carefree or determined. Such individuals baffled the door's mission of gathering people's emotions and perceptions of their past. Ultimately, the door presented them with different perspectives, seeking to stir new feelings and obsessions. Once an obsession was born, the door of retrospection completed its task, and the key to exit appeared. "If you've acquired the key..." Su Chan glanced at the unconscious girl beside Xia Ge, letting out a slight scoff, "then leave promptly." She enjoyed this child's foolishness directed at her. But didn't wish for the child to be foolish with everyone. The bone flute was placed against her lips, and the haunting tune gradually rose. The flute's melody, echoing through the ominous dark stone corridor, eerily left no reverberations. Instead, it seemed to sink into the walls, slowly spreading and permeating. Slowly, with a low tone. Carrying an undertone of enticing drowsiness. Xia Ge, initially closing her eyes merely to rest, succumbed unknowingly to a sweet, dark slumber. The flute notes gradually decreased further in pitch. A faint hint of solace and allure. With her eyes closed, Xia Ge slept soundly. Yet her body moved as if guided, as she stood and, with a rigid hand, inserted the key into the lock of the life door. The white life door. The white key. Turned. The door opened. Brilliant white light enveloped the slumbering Xia Ge, extracting her from the illusion-filled Dream Deity's domain and plunging her into a deeper, more profound dream. A dream with no end. The key vanished, and the door to life closed. Su Chan lowered the flute, gazing at the abandoned Chu Yi, chuckling softly, "I'll see you off." —No need to thank me. For a long time. Or perhaps, not so long. Chu Yi slowly opened his eyes. Still, seeing nothing. The life door glowed faintly. Yet such blind eyes had seen a past in the door of retrospection—a vision that brought despair and a reluctance to let go. "...Brother?" Chu Yi murmured, "Don't... abandon me." The only response was the silent stillness of the room. Nothing more. A voice, malicious and cold, rang. "He’s gone." Darkness still filled his vision. Chu Yi pondered. The little butterfly's dream had ended. Yet the night was still long.