Chapter 52#
Chapter 52#
Hearing the red-clothed man speak, everyone let go and looked at the two with some confusion.
However, the man did not explain to everyone, but merely glanced at Pei Huang, and whispered, “Follow me.”
After speaking, he turned and left, showing no intention of waiting.
Pei Huang’s eyes, however, were filled with agitation, his legs rooted to the spot, seemingly unable to move.
Xue Jingci vaguely sensed something, reached out and grasped his wrist, gently pressing it, which helped him relax his tense body.
“I’m here, it’s okay.”
Xue Jingci’s tone remained calm, but it added a touch of comfort. Pei Huang loosened his clenched fist, turned and held his hand, and quickly followed.
He didn’t let go the entire way. Xue Jingci understood his nervousness, so he let him pull him along. Soon, the two followed the red-clothed man back to the treehouse.
Below the treehouse was another world. Passing through a long tunnel, the three arrived at a magnificent underground palace.
The red-clothed man clearly had something to say to Pei Huang. Seeing this, Xue Jingci voluntarily stood outside the underground palace and did not enter.
Pei Huang wanted to say something, but ultimately swallowed it, instructing Xue Jingci to wait for him outside.
The system curiously craned its neck to peek behind the palace gate, then nudged Xue Jingci and asked, “Host, aren’t you curious about the little ghost’s background?”
Xue Jingci shook his head: “I only need to know that he is Pei Huang.”
The kitten wagged its tail and said nothing more.
Inside the underground palace, the red-clothed man respectfully knelt before Pei Huang and said, “Your subordinate, Jin Chi, greets the Young Master.”
Pei Huang was startled by these words, and quietly put away the dagger in his sleeve: “Young Master?”
“Actually, when you first arrived here, Young Master, I sensed the aura of the cultivation technique on you, which is of the same origin as the King and the Eldest Princess. It’s just that you are too old, and I didn’t dare to acknowledge you for a while, which caused some delay.”
Pei Huang was a little confused: “Age?”
Jin Chi hesitated to speak: “The Eldest Princess only left eighteen years ago, I didn’t expect you to be so old already.”
Eighteen years?!
Hearing this, Pei Huang could not hide his shock: “As far as I know, my mother went to another world seven hundred years ago.”
Could it be that the flow of time in these two worlds is different?
Jin Chi’s face showed a look of melancholy, but he quickly composed himself and began to talk about bloodlines with Pei Huang.
In this world, bloodlines are supreme, and every bloodline will do everything possible to continue the family’s honor.
The “Burning Hell” bloodline is the most supreme divine bloodline.
Starting from the twelfth generation, the patriarch used forbidden techniques to cast a curse. As long as children were born at the same time, they would devour each other throughout their lives until their bloodline powers merged, leaving only the strongest one.
Pei Huang’s mother was the Eldest Princess, born a dragon and phoenix twin with the current King.
To prevent them from devouring each other’s power, the siblings were separated from childhood, not daring to meet, only communicating through letters.
Later, the uncle ascended to the throne as King, and it became increasingly difficult to suppress the power of the curse. To protect his sister, he sent strategists to search for a solution.
Someone suggested that many years ago, they had encountered a person whose words, actions, and appearance were very strange, seemingly from another world.
That person’s surname was Yan, and he held a sword sheath engraved with the royal family’s insignia. He lived at the foot of the snowy mountain for more than eight years before disappearing.
At first, the uncle didn’t pay much attention. The Burning Hell bloodline was extremely powerful, and many people would engrave insignias to gain power.
If the sword sheath in that person’s hand truly came from the royal family, the royal family should have sensed it.
It was only later, when the King reviewed the royal family’s secret records left by the former king, that he learned that a pair of twins had also been born in a branch of the royal family a hundred years ago. The elder brother, carrying a sword engraved with the royal family’s insignia, disappeared near the Kester Grassland.
Only then did he realize that the grassland was unusual. He secretly sent people to investigate and discovered a space-time passage.
Finally, he and his sister each contributed half of their bloodline power, finally opening the passage and using a teleportation array to send his sister to another world.
Jin Chi looked at Pei Huang and said wistfully, “We all thought the princess would return someday, but unexpectedly, the world has changed, and seven hundred years have passed in that world.”
“Is the princess doing well?”
Pei Huang lowered his eyes, and after a long time, said, “My parents had already passed away when I was born.”
“My mother’s cultivation technique was unusual, deemed a demonic art by the righteous path, making it impossible for her to ascend. But she was soon revered as the Sovereign by the demon realm, which values power. Later, I only heard that they retired, and my mother and father passed away before I was even born.”
Jin Chi was instantly stunned. Pei Huang gave a bitter smile and explained, “I was born in a coffin. It was the undertaker from the mortuary who found me and raised me.”
After hearing Pei Huang’s words, Jin Chi clenched his fists, his eyes reddening.
They were still waiting anxiously, but the Eldest Princess had already died.
Jin Chi suppressed the pain in his heart and looked at Pei Huang, asking, “You’ve returned this time because you want to activate the bloodline power within you, right?”
Pei Huang nodded without hesitation.
Jin Chi sighed: “Your mother left back then because she wanted to avoid all this turmoil. If she were still here, she would definitely not want you to get involved in these troubles, only hoping that you would live a peaceful life.”
Pei Huang looked at Jin Chi, then suddenly lifted his robe and knelt down.
“I must gain power to return to that world, find the true murderer of my parents, and as a child, if I cannot clear my parents’ grievances, I would live in vain.”
Jin Chi stared at him, and only then realized that the Pei Huang in front of him was remarkably similar to the Eldest Princess.
He recalled how he had been disfigured and treated as a monster by the world after a mishap while activating his bloodline power.
It was the Eldest Princess who gave him the Golden Crow mask and taught him how to cultivate.
Since then, he had sworn to follow her until the Eldest Princess left this world.
Jin Chi sighed, “You need to think carefully.”
“Activating bloodline power is fraught with danger. At best, it will disfigure you; at worst, you will lose your mind. Disfigurement can be hidden with a mask, but once your mind is lost, you will completely turn into a monster. Young Master, you must be prepared.”
Pei Huang had dealt with demon cultivators and seen them lose control. He absolutely did not want to become like that.
But if he truly had no power, he would have no leverage to negotiate with those demon cultivators. As long as the true murderer was not caught, his parents’ spirits in heaven would never rest in peace.
Jin Chi looked at him and said, “After my appearance was ruined, I tried many methods that can help the Young Master temper his muscles, bones, and skin, avoiding the danger of fire. But to make your mind unyielding, the Young Master needs something to be bound to.”
People always need something to be bound to in this world; otherwise, without a path forward or backward, it’s easy to self-destruct.
Jin Chi handed him a bell.
“For the next few days, Young Master, you can think about this matter carefully. Once you’ve figured it out, just shake this bell, and I will appear.”
Pei Huang left the treehouse and soon saw Xue Jingci waiting outside.
He seemed a little tired, half-sitting on the ground, squinting, and the kitten was also squinting, their two heads close together.
Hearing footsteps, Xue Jingci instantly woke up. Seeing it was Pei Huang, the sharpness in his eyes gradually faded.
“You’re back.”
Pei Huang nodded, and voluntarily spoke about his background and the two worlds, only omitting the matters of the demon realm.
“I just found out that I actually have a relative here.”
The two left the underground palace and returned to the grassland.
Xue Jingci had actually long guessed that Pei Huang’s background was tragic. When he first saw him, the child was all alone.
After thinking for a moment, Xue Jingci asked, “Is the name Pei Huang something you chose yourself after your parents died?”
Pei Huang, however, didn’t want Xue Jingci to feel sorry for him, so he raised his head and said, “Of course not, it was my adoptive father. He was very good to me.”
“My adoptive father was an undertaker. He said he delivered me from a corpse back then, so I’m a coffin-born child.”
Xue Jingci looked up at him, a little surprised, but then quickly remembered that Pei Huang was very familiar with corpses and coffins.
So that was the reason.
“Although I never met them, my father told me that the chances of being born in a coffin are extremely low. My mother must have used all her strength to protect me.”
Pei Huang smiled, rarely showing a childlike expression, and said softly, “She must have loved me very much.”
Xue Jingci didn’t expect Pei Huang to view his background this way. Others would probably harbor hatred and lament the unfairness of fate, but he always seemed to see the good side.
The warm sunlight fell, clearly illuminating the floating dust.
Pei Huang, being stared at by Xue Jingci, uncomfortably shifted his gaze.
Jin Chi didn’t expect Pei Huang to shake the bell the very next day.
The tunnel of the underground palace was extremely dark and cold. The only light source came from the venomous snake coiled around Jin Chi’s arm. It flicked its tongue, its eyes emitting a green glow, and a “hissing” sound came from its mouth.
Jin Chi looked at Pei Huang and said, “This is the King’s messenger snake, it dislikes light.”
Hearing the words “King’s messenger,” Pei Huang’s expression changed slightly, guessing that the snake must have come from his uncle, whom he had never met. Although he felt a hint of curiosity, he didn’t ask further.
Jin Chi stared at his face, which was remarkably similar to the Eldest Princess, and softened his voice to explain, “The King wants to see you very much, but as soon as you get close, he will unconsciously devour your bloodline power.”
With that, he raised a finger and probed the tip of the snake’s tongue. The fine fangs pierced his finger, instantly releasing a terrifying venom.
The venom flowed through his blood. Before long, Jin Chi’s arm was stained with the venom, revealing dark blue characters.
“You only have half of the royal bloodline. If you want to activate this power, there is a ninety percent chance of failure. Once failed, your soul will be permanently frozen, unable to re-enter reincarnation.”
Jin Chi slowly read the sentences on his arm, and out of the corner of his eye, he saw that Pei Huang’s face showed no fear or hesitation. He felt both relieved and worried.
The venom spread, and the dark blue characters slowly changed, forming other words.
“If you want to take a gamble, Jin Chi will assist you with all his might. The storage ring contains everything you need. If you choose not to activate it, you can also leave with the storage ring; the contents within are enough for you to live a peaceful life without worries.”
“The choice is yours.”
Pei Huang said without hesitation, “I want to activate this power.”
The dark blue characters gradually faded, but soon, they spread across Jin Chi’s arm again, this time seeming to lose their support little by little, and then dispersed.
It was as if there were words on the tip of his tongue, but he hesitated and ultimately did not speak them.
Pei Huang’s lips moved involuntarily, and he responded with a “good.” Although he hadn’t seen his uncle in person, it was as if the two were talking face to face.
Jin Chi bent down, and the snake twisted along his arm and crawled away, quickly disappearing into the cracks in the tunnel’s stones.
He flicked his fingers, and the torches in the tunnel lit up one by one. The dim yellow light shone from both sides, instantly illuminating the surroundings as brightly as day.
Jin Chi looked at Pei Huang and slowly spoke.
“To activate the bloodline power, you need to go to Biyang Lake at the foot of the snowy mountain. I will wait for you there in three days.”