The Ancient Gods' Whisper-Chapter 789 - 379: The Man in the Coffin, Red King! (Part 2)
No one knows how he broke the illusion of the awakening bell.
But just by looking at him, you would feel that no cage in this world could confine him.
Except for the girl he loved.
"What was the purpose of the Jiang Family activating the awakening bell?"
Old Master Si asked calmly with his hands behind his back.
Jiang Chuge answered calmly, "To test the loyalty of the Dark World."
"No."
Someone interrupted him softly, "You are searching for a way to lift the curse of the Candle Light Divine Tree."
As though thunder roared in silence, these words exploded like thunder in the shrine.
When Jiang Chuge heard the word ’curse’, his hand fell on the Sword Box.
Jiang Mingyan raised her head, her sharp gaze seemed to pierce through the young man.
"The number of traitors within the You Ying Group doesn’t matter anymore. What matters is that someone wants to find some clues about the curse from them to discover a way to save themselves. Talking about loyalty in the Dark World is the greatest joke, were we brought together initially because of belief?"
Gu Jianlin sheathed his sword indifferently, observing the ancient shrine, he said coldly, "I think not. The Dark World is held together by interests. Man dies for wealth, as birds for food, how can loyalty be discussed?"
"The loyalty that Jiang Family Master desires is also based on fear."
He said softly, "He needs others to fear him, like a god high above, eternally worshipped by his followers. The problem is, gods are perfect, they can have no flaws, they cannot lose."
The indifferent voice echoed through the ancient shrine.
As if talking to himself, yet also speaking for someone else to hear.
"Even losing once would cause the fall from the altar, being devoured by millions of followers."
Gu Jianlin shook his head and said, "Perhaps a few might still hold fear for you, continue to be loyal, but such people are of no help to you, they cannot help you solve problems."
This statement was clear in its meaning.
I am not loyal.
Thus, I broke the barrier of the awakening bell and emerged with the strongest stance.
But I am useful to you.
"With Jiang Family Master’s ability, he can certainly kill me."
Gu Jianlin walked to the crimson wooden table, gently placed an old wooden box on it, and said calmly, "Of course, he surely has many ways to torture my soul, but I believe he won’t do that, because he wants too much to survive, wants too much to break free from this curse, and I am the only one who can save him."
He gently pushed the box forward, seriously saying, "Today, I want to know how much Jiang Family Master’s life is worth, what price he is willing to pay to exchange for what I hold."
Jiang Chuge silently turned his head, squinting at the old wooden box.
Being at the Holy Land Level, handling this young man before him would be a piece of cake.
Yet his hand on the Sword Box felt overwhelmingly heavy.
Like turning to stone, unable to move an inch. 𝒻𝑟𝘦𝘦𝘸ℯ𝒷𝑛𝘰𝓋ℯ𝘭.𝘤𝘰𝘮
Because he dared not bet.
Jiang Mingyan remained silent, for she knew her father was watching, everything that happened in the shrine couldn’t escape that tyrant’s eyes, she could only silently sweat, muttering recklessly.
In the oppressive silence, time and space seemed to distort together, black mist spread.
"Commendable courage."
An hoarse voice broke through the silence, like a monster gnashing teeth and sucking blood.
The first to disappear was the wooden box on the table.
Gu Jianlin was also swallowed by the black mist, completely vanished from the shrine.
From start to finish, he did not resist, just sat calmly on the cushion, like a silent statue.
Finally, Old Master Si squinted his cloudy eyes, playing with the Copper Coin in his hand, divining fortune and misfortune.
In the end, he too was engulfed by the mist, vanished without a trace.
Jiang Mingyan heard her father’s old voice, her eyes subtly changed.
"Come to the old residence, bring your daughter."
The old voice sounded like a strange noise from a broken bellows.
It wasn’t these words that truly shocked her, but the legendary old residence.
It was an annex in the Shinjuku Imperial Garden, where only the Jiang Family Master could freely come and go, an absolute forbidden place for others, impossible to set foot in without permission.
Jiang Chuge also heard his grandfather’s old voice, his eyes narrowed.
"You are no longer needed here. Go gather excellent young people. The Qilin Immortal Palace’s second-dimensional gate has been opened, it is time to fulfill the sacred mission, to find that Divine Ruins... "
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When the black mist receded like the tide, the clear lake reflected the cold moonlight, and late cherry blossoms fluttered.
By the lake pavilion, the old man rubbed paint vigorously on the canvas, he was so decrepit, his hunched back nearly breaking, his thin and withered body could hardly support the black kimono, resembling a mummy.
Gray hair hung loose, fluttering endlessly in the wind.
He looked like a madman.
Old Master Si gazed at him across the quiet path, also stunned by the overwhelming madness and pressure, if not for having received the reinforcement of the Ancient Supreme, he would have knelt down immediately, his spirit shattered.
Dark clouds gathered in the sky, the waning moon swallowed by mist, with faint flashes of lightning and thunder.
In the instant of flashing lightning, the old man’s ghostly face was illuminated.
Gu Jianlin silently gazed across the stone table at his fierce, terrifying face, his skin sagged completely, wrinkles etched like deep rings of age, even distorting his features, like a screaming ghost.
