Chapter 112: Chapter 110: A Life-or-Death Gamble: What Is This Eternity?

Song Ciwan stood at the city gates, looking up at the towering guards who resembled weathered stone statues.

The tallest of them was fifty feet high, level with the top of the gate tower—enough to trigger a case of megalophobia in an instant.

In contrast, Song Ciwan, standing at the foot of the wall, was as insignificant as a speck of dust.

Song Ciwan cautiously stepped toward the city gates. She found that the giants neither looked down at her nor paid any mind to her entry.

The moment she passed through the gateway, the green leaf in the pouch on her wrist vibrated gently.

It was as if she had passed through a cool, watery film, stepping into another world with a single stride.

The city’s vista unfolded before her. The first thing she saw was a kind of brilliant decay.

Broken bluestone streets, dilapidated houses, and yet, the air was filled with countless shimmering, dark red motes of light.

The motes drifted down toward Song Ciwan, and just then, an Exorcism Talisman she carried with her suddenly activated.

The Exorcism Talisman emitted a scorching aura that enveloped Song Ciwan, causing the motes of light to retreat.

These points of light, it turned out, were the physical manifestation of the Illusory Nether City’s Nether Qi.

Within the Illusory Nether City, Nether Qi was omnipresent. If a living person were to be contaminated by it, their life force would be suppressed.

Fortunately, this ownerless Nether Qi was of limited power; a single low-level Exorcism Talisman was enough to repel it.

Song Ciwan walked along the street, strange noises emanating from the dilapidated shops on either side.

There was a SLURPING, GUZZLING sound... like some giant beast feeding;

A SCRAPING, GRINDING sound... like a saw cutting through something;

And a WAILING, WHIMPERING cry... it was impossible to tell if it was human or some other strange, unknown creature weeping.

’This isn’t a truly empty city!’

The city streets seemed ruined and desolate, with almost no pedestrians, but the shops on either side were, in fact, quite lively.

As Song Ciwan walked, she could feel countless cold, ghostly gazes from both sides of the road—peeking through windows or from behind cracks in doors—sticking to her, following her every move.

A few moments later, the street view ahead suddenly changed.

In the gloom-toned city, a jet-black river flowed across her path.

An arched stone slab bridge spanned the river. On the left bank, next to the bridge, stood a tall, octagonal pavilion with interlocking brackets and upturned eaves.

The pavilion was immense. From beneath each upturned corner hung a single, dimly glowing, dark red paper lantern.

The lanterns swayed in the ghostly, cold wind. Inside the pavilion, an unknown number of people were packed tightly together.

As Song Ciwan drew closer, a voice from within the pavilion sighed, "Another living one has come."

The standing "people" all turned in unison to look at Song Ciwan.

The next moment, a hand shot up from the middle of the crowded "people." A figure then struggled to push the surrounding "people" away, shouting, "Help! Save me..."

With a muffled thud, the surrounding crowd of "people" pressed down on him again.

A voice said, "If you’re willing to bet, you must accept the loss. Since you’ve gambled away your life to us, you now belong to us."

Then a cacophony of voices followed: "What’s so bad about joining us? Stay here, and you’ll have eternity..."

"The three calamities and nine tribulations, the cycle of birth, old age, sickness, and death—all can be cast aside. The great Dao of long life is right before you! How can you not know what’s good for you?"

"Fool, come quickly. Let me help you sever your mortal ties..."

...

Song Ciwan stood by the pavilion and saw a plaque hanging in the center, bearing the words "Eternal Pavilion" in seal script!

’What arrogance, to name it "Eternal."’

At the edge of the pavilion, one of the "people" suddenly turned around.

This person had a withered face and deathly pale skin. Their eyes were completely white, with no pupils.

He made a grasping motion with the back of his hand toward the center of the pavilion. In that spot, a person had been struggling and shouting "Help!" to Song Ciwan. But with this grasp at the air, the cries for help vanished completely.

In the person’s palm, a handful of beads appeared—a handful of eerily blue beads.

He spoke slowly, "A bet of ten Primordial Longevity Pearls. Passerby, will you take it?"

Song Ciwan had yet to answer when the three Ancestral Dragon Coins she carried with her began to burn hot in her robes!

The next moment, several figures came tearing down another path along the river.

The man running in front had a fanatical expression. He too was holding a handful of eerily blue Primordial Longevity Pearls. From a distance, he shouted, "I’ll bet with you! A bet of ten Primordial Longevity Pearls!"

And this person was someone Song Ciwan actually knew—it was Xie Zhang!

Behind him, several figures were in pursuit.

The figures included men and women, Cultivators and Martial Artists. The fastest, a Cultivator, was holding an ancient-looking Copper Mirror.

As he ran, he periodically formed a Hand Seal, causing the Copper Mirror in his hand to rotate. With each rotation, it shot out a beam of cold, clear light. Wherever the light landed, layers of frost formed on the ground.

This Copper Mirror was called the Cold Frost Mirror, and it was a Lower Grade Magical Artifact!

The Cultivator holding the Cold Frost Mirror roared in fury as he gave chase, "Xie Yunxiang, you’ve got some nerve! How could the Primordial Longevity Pearls be for you alone? You harmed my junior brother. Today, I, Xue, will avenge him!"

Song Ciwan: ...

’Wait, Xie Yunxiang?’

’Isn’t that Xie Zhang up ahead?’

Song Ciwan stood silently to the side, using the Qimen Taoist Skill, A Grain of Sand in the Sea, to minimize her presence as much as possible.

She was overcome with a sense of utter absurdity. The Ancestral Dragon Coins were still burning hot in her robes, so she moved her feet lightly, backing away, and then backing away some more.

Near the pavilion ahead, Xie Zhang, as nimble as a rabbit, dodged the Cold Frost Mirror’s attacks again and again.

Finally, he sprinted into the area under the eaves of the "Eternal Pavilion."

He shouted loudly once more, "Ten Primordial Longevity Pearls! I’ll wager ten Primordial Longevity Pearls against you! Do you take the bet?"

At the edge of the pavilion, the withered-faced person sighed.

"Since the stakes are of equal value," he said, "how could there be a reason not to bet?"

As his voice fell, eight pillars of grayish-white light suddenly descended from the eight corners of the pavilion.

The pillars of light enveloped Xie Zhang under the high, upturned eaves of the "Eternal Pavilion," placing him directly opposite the withered-faced person at the pavilion’s edge.

As for the crowd chasing Xie Zhang, such as the Cultivator surnamed Xue at the very front, his Cold Frost Mirror was still relentlessly attacking. At that exact moment, the cold light from the Cold Frost Mirror collided with the descending pillars of light.

Instantly, the cold light rebounded. Faster than one could blink, it shot back and enveloped the Cultivator surnamed Xue.

The Cultivator surnamed Xue had no chance to dodge. In an instant, he was frozen in place, turned into an ice sculpture!

Farther behind, the people who had been chasing Xie Zhang alongside the Cultivator surnamed Xue all halted in their tracks.

They had learned from the mistake of the one before them. By entering the wager, Xie Zhang had paradoxically gained the protection of the "Eternal Pavilion," a part of this bizarre world!