A large mass of black mist spewed out from the coffin, about to hit Lu Yao, but she stood as if paralyzed, utterly still.
Ye Huohuo knew something must have happened. Without time to ask, she grabbed Lu Yao’s ankle and pulled her down forcefully. She hadn’t expected the girl, looking so slight, to be so heavy. It took all of Ye Huohuo’s strength to drag her off the coffin lid.
She had used too much force and lost control. Lu Yao landed squarely on Ye Huohuo, and the mass of black mist, hot on Lu Yao’s heels, followed.
Ye Huohuo saw stars but, without a moment to catch her breath, clutched Lu Yao and rolled away.
The black mist, less agile than a person, crashed onto the ground where they had been.
A foul, acrid smell immediately filled the air, making Ye Huohuo’s eyes water. Her throat felt scorched, painful and itchy, and she coughed for a long time, choked by the fumes.
Fortunately, no more black masses shot out from the coffin. The mist seemed to be a self-preservation mechanism; it wouldn’t attack unless attacked.
Ye Huohuo dragged Lu Yao to the wall, leaning her against it. She saw that Lu Yao was still frozen in her previous expression of surprise, her eyes wide with disbelief, not even blinking.
“Lu Yao, wake up!” Ye Huohuo patted her face, hitting her cheek until it turned red, but there was still no reaction.
She picked up Lu Yao’s wrist and felt her pulse. It was erratic, showing signs of qi deviation.
“This is bad, even my supporting actions are more difficult than others,” she muttered, biting her middle finger and drawing a talisman in the air. She then pressed the red rune into Lu Yao’s forehead.
Lu Yao’s forehead flashed with red light, and she jolted awake, blinking. “What the heck was that just now?”
“I should be asking you! Why did you suddenly freeze? What did you see?” Ye Huohuo’s gaze swept over Lu Yao’s face, carefully observing her expression. Seeing that she was fully conscious, Ye Huohuo relaxed. “Just now, to save you, you nearly crushed me to death, almost breaking my bones. I even had to use a spirit-awakening charm to clear your mind. You’re supposed to be assisting, finishing things in two moves, but my assistance made me exhausted. Where can I find justice!”
Lu Yao stood up and stretched her limbs. Her initial movements were stiff, like a puppet’s, her gestures awkward. It took about a minute of movement before she regained her usual flexibility.
Then, she answered Ye Huohuo’s question, “If I told you I saw an open eye, would you believe me?”
Ye Huohuo’s brow furrowed deeply. “Are you kidding me? Was the corpse inside a cyclops? Or did it deliberately keep one eye closed to play with you?”
Lu Yao was not joking at all. “I’m telling the truth. I was standing on top, looking inside. There was a light talisman illuminating the area, and the light reached into the coffin, but it was as if thick black mist filled the inside, obscuring everything. Just as I was about to stab in with my peach wood sword to test the situation, an eye suddenly opened in that black mist.
It was as if that eye was growing out of the mist. It just stared at me coldly, and then I knew nothing else. When I woke up, I saw you hitting my face.” Lu Yao touched her red and hot cheek, pouting. “I think you’re using your authority for personal gain, calling it waking me up when you were actually slapping me!”
Ye Huohuo ignored the latter half of her words, her gaze returning to the coffin. They had both risked danger to go up, but gained nothing substantial. What exactly was in this coffin?
“Are you sure you weren’t caught in some illusion, experiencing a hallucination when you saw that eye?” Ye Huohuo asked.
“Of course not. No matter how poor my Daoist techniques are, I wouldn’t be unable to distinguish between an illusion and reality. I can guarantee I was conscious then and definitely saw an eye, an open eye. However… it felt a bit off!” Lu Yao’s tone suddenly shifted.
She fell into thought, muttering softly, “It was indeed a bit off. What was it?”
“Think hard. Perhaps this is the breakthrough. Let me see if there are any other mechanisms in this room.” Ye Huohuo let her ponder, while she took this opportunity to survey the entire underground room again.
This place was not set up like a ritual altar as she had initially imagined. Not only was there no altar, but not even a single talisman was posted. The walls and floor were bare. It seemed all the secrets of this underground room were contained within that coffin.
Ye Huohuo’s gaze fell back to the coffin. Now, there seemed to be no good way to see what was inside. Standing on the coffin would result in an attack by the black mist, which was not only corrosive but also tracked its target. Even if they found an opening to look inside, they could easily be immobilized by that eye Lu Yao mentioned, by some unknown method.
Fortunately, there were two of them; otherwise, they would have surely fallen prey.
Ye Huohuo felt like a toad trying to swallow a swan egg, with no way to bite down.
“If all else fails, I’ll go up again. I want to see what this eye you’re talking about really is.” There were no windows here, so they couldn’t see the sky outside, nor did they have watches, so they didn’t know the time. She roughly estimated that it was late, around two or three in the morning, and soon dawn would break. They had to hurry. Once daylight came, the guards would wake up, and they would surely be discovered.
Getting into a fight at the detention center, being locked up, and then sneaking out to the basement of someone else’s place was no small offense. She had no idea what punishment awaited them.
What if… what if Li Mohan knew about her ordeal here? Would he step in to help her?
She thought about how he hadn’t even come to see her since she entered the police station. The person outside the interrogation room then, she had thought it was Li Mohan, but it wasn’t. A whole day had passed, and in his heart, she was truly insignificant. It seemed her previous feelings of his concern were just her imagination. Now that she was in trouble, he didn't seem to care at all. If Mei Yingxue were in her place…
Thinking of this, Ye Huohuo gave a bitter smile. If it were Mei Yingxue, he would never have let her end up in a detention center. Given the Li family’s status and connections in Haicheng, all Li Mohan had to do was wish it.
For Mei Yingxue, he had searched for years, and even knowing the high probability of her death, he had never given up.
If it were her, he probably wouldn’t even frown. Mei Yingxue, who was once a thorn in Li Mohan’s heart, had somehow also become a thorn in her own heart. Every time she thought of her, her heart would ache, yet she couldn’t help but remember her from time to time.
A bitter smile appeared on her face.
Ever since Ye Huohuo had descended the mountain and left Wuji Temple, she had roamed the martial world alone, accustomed to handling her own problems. Even when facing life-threatening danger several times, she had never considered relying on anyone. It was disheartening that at this moment, she found herself thinking of Li Mohan.
Taking a deep breath, she steadied her emotions. The light talisman overhead had been shining for a long time, and with the boost of immense spiritual power, it was becoming unstable. Its edges were starting to fray, and its brightness was gradually decreasing, flickering as if nearing its end.
Time was truly running out.
Just as Ye Huohuo put aside all thoughts and prepared to go up again, Lu Yao exclaimed, “Ah! I know what was wrong! That eye, that eye was vertical.”