Novel Full Chapter 162 - The Sealed Shells and the Lingering Reflection
Chapter 162: Chapter 162 - The Sealed Shells and the Lingering Reflection
Su Bai opened his eyes.
His expression was ugly.
For a while, he remained seated beside the skeleton.
Then his gaze moved toward the cracked star-metal shells.
After seeing the memory fragments, the cracked shells looked far worse.
That meant a few had escaped.
Su Bai slowly exhaled.
This place could not be ignored.
The others were still collecting the loose star-metal weapon fragments outside.
Ji Ruyue, Chen Feng, Lin Weiyang, and Tang Ziyan were closer to Su Bai.
They noticed his expression immediately.
Ji Ruyue asked, "Junior Brother?"
Su Bai stood.
"The shells are dangerous."
His voice was calm.
That made the others even more alert.
He continued, "I will take care of them."
Lin Weiyang’s eyes moved slightly.
"Let me come too."
Su Bai shook his head.
"No. I will be fine, but it may affect you."
Lin Weiyang frowned.
She clearly wanted to argue.
Before she could speak, Tang Ziyan crossed her arms and said, "Let him."
Everyone looked at her.
Tang Ziyan glanced at Su Bai.
"Even my blood cannot kill him. What can a few shells do?"
The chamber became silent.
Lin Weiyang looked at Tang Ziyan.
Then she looked at Su Bai.
Her expression became strange.
Su Bai paused.
He coughed once.
Tang Ziyan saw his expression and rolled her eyes.
Still, thanks to her, Su Bai did not need to explain more.
Soon, Su Bai walked toward the first intact shell.
The star-metal chain connected to the floor formation.
In the memory fragments, he had seen how the shells were fixed.
The method was not complicated once understood.
The danger lay not in unfastening the chain, but in letting the thing inside notice the opening.
Su Bai placed two fingers against the chain lock.
Qi entered the old formation line.
A faint silver-blue light flickered.
The chain loosened with a dry sound.
From inside the shell, a soft voice whispered.
"Senior Brother..."
Su Bai’s eyes remained cold.
He did not answer.
He lifted the shell with Qi and dragged it away from the wall.
The moment the shell left its original position, the whisper changed.
"Help me..."
Then another voice joined it.
"Don’t leave me here..."
Then another.
"I know you..."
Su Bai ignored all of them.
Outside the boundary, Chen Feng’s face changed.
He clearly heard something.
Ji Ruyue’s gaze became colder.
Tang Ziyan narrowed her eyes.
Lin Weiyang’s bronze markers rang once.
No one had crossed the line.
The sound came only because the voice inside the shell had touched the boundary formation.
Lin Weiyang’s expression turned ugly.
"That voice can affect formation lines."
Su Bai said without turning back, "Do not listen."
No one spoke again.
One by one, Su Bai detached the intact shells from the wall.
He dragged the shells deeper into the underground complex, following a side passage shown in the memory fragments.
The passage led to a deeper stone chamber.
It was empty.
The walls were thicker.
The floor still held remnants of old suppression lines.
This was likely where the defenders had intended to erase the sealed things later.
They never had the chance.
Su Bai placed the first shell in the center.
Then he returned.
Then the second.
Then the third.
Every time he moved a shell, voices followed.
Sometimes they begged.
Sometimes they laughed.
Sometimes they called names he did not know.
Tang Ziyan and the others watched from beyond the boundary.
No one stopped him.
Chen Feng muttered, "I hate this place."
Tang Ziyan said, "Good. Your instincts are not completely useless."
Chen Feng wanted to argue.
Then a shell behind Su Bai whispered his name.
Chen Feng’s jaw tightened.
He no longer wanted to argue.
By the time he finished moving all the shells, the chamber had become deeply quiet.
The shells stood in a rough circle.
Su Bai took out the Petrified Calamity-Magnet.
The moment he held it, the air changed.
He placed the Calamity-Magnet near his chest and stepped before the first shell.
Memory fragments guided his hands.
He pressed two points on the side of the shell.
Qi entered the sealing pattern.
The star-metal seams lit faintly.
Then the shell opened.
Su Bai did not wait.
He did not observe.
He did not ask what was inside.
The moment the gap appeared, dozens of qi-formed needles erupted from his Qi Gateway Reservoirs.
They pierced into the darkness within the shell.
Ashen-Frost Blight Flame bloomed.
Something inside screamed with many voices.
A man’s roar.
A woman’s sob.
A child’s laugh.
All at once.
The figure inside surged forward.
Its body had once been human-shaped.
Now it was only a black-veined mass wearing the memory of a person.
The needles tore through it.
Cold flame spread.
The thing collapsed before it could step out.
Then it bloomed.
Black-red mist exploded from the shell.
The mist tried to spread.
The Petrified Calamity-Magnet pulled it violently toward Su Bai.
In the next breath, all of it plunged into his body.
Su Bai’s back straightened.
His robe dissolved across one shoulder.
The black-red mist entered his flesh, meridians, and inner circulation like poison, curse, rot, and soul-filth woven together.
Then the Reversal Body moved.
The miasma became fuel.
Su Bai closed his eyes briefly.
The benefit was strong.
This was not the same as the red mist outside.
The outside miasma was spread across the ravine.
This was condensed.
As if years of corruption had been packed into a single human shape and sealed until it thickened into poison.
No wonder they had sealed these things.
No wonder they had used star-metal.
Su Bai opened his eyes.
Then he looked at the remaining shells.
His expression slowly changed.
Outside the deeper chamber, Tang Ziyan suddenly felt uneasy.
She looked toward the passage.
"Why do I feel like he smiled?"
Lin Weiyang blinked.
"Brother Su?"
Tang Ziyan’s expression became complicated.
"It is hard to explain."
Inside the chamber, Su Bai opened the second shell.
Needles pierced.
Flame bloomed.
The thing screamed.
The Calamity-Magnet pulled.
The mist entered him.
The Reversal Body refined it.
Again.
Then the third.
Then the fourth.
Su Bai did not show mercy.
These were not people waiting to be saved.
They were traps wearing stolen remains.
If one escaped, the entire group might suffer irreversible damage.
So he killed them before they could speak properly.
He killed them before they could bloom outward.
He killed them before the voices could find listeners.
Shell after shell opened.
Needles rained.
Ashen-gray flame burned coldly.
Black-red mist surged.
The Calamity-Magnet dragged everything into Su Bai.
His robe suffered again and again.
Still, compared with the benefits entering his body, he endured it.
His flesh grew denser.
His spiritual sense became sharper.
His inner circulation pressed the corruptive force into nourishment again and again.
The voices became fewer.
The chamber became cleaner.
By the end, the deeper chamber was silent.
Su Bai stood among empty star-metal shells.
His robe was beyond saving again.
He looked at the remaining cloth.
Then sighed.
Another robe gone.
The cultivation world was dangerous.
But laundry was the real silent tribulation.
He changed into another fresh robe.
Then he looked at the empty shells.
Without the things inside, they no longer gave him that cold, wrong feeling.
They were still dangerous materials, of course.
They needed to be cleaned and checked.
But they were no longer active traps.
And they were made of star-metal.
A lot of star-metal.
Su Bai stared at them for a few breaths.
He had taken out the danger.
He had taken the risk.
Technically, he could keep them all.
His conscience looked at the star-metal shells.
Then looked at the group outside.
Then looked back at the shells.
Su Bai silently stored the shells into his storage ring.
He would divide them later.
Fairly.
Probably.
At the entrance of the deeper chamber, a tiny bronze mechanism silently withdrew into the shadows.
Su Bai did not notice.
The mechanism folded its wings and flew back through a crack in the wall.
Outside, Lin Weiyang caught it in her sleeve.
She looked down.
The mechanism replayed a faint image.
Su Bai opening the shell.
Needles.
Flame.
The black-red mist being dragged into his body.
His robe dissolving.
Su Bai changing robes with a tired expression.
Lin Weiyang’s ears slowly turned red.
She immediately closed the mechanism.
Then opened it again.
Then closed it.
Her face became serious.
Then not serious.
Tang Ziyan glanced at her.
"What did you see?"
Lin Weiyang stiffened.
"Nothing."
Tang Ziyan stared.
Lin Weiyang looked away.
"It was formation-related."
Tang Ziyan’s eyes narrowed.
"Why are your ears red from a formation?"
Lin Weiyang hugged the mechanism to her chest.
"Some formations are embarrassing."
Tang Ziyan looked at her for a long moment.
Then looked toward the passage.
Then slowly understood something.
Her expression turned strange.
A short while later, Su Bai returned.
He had changed into a new robe.
His face was calm, but the group felt that something about him had become even quieter than before.
Behind him, the deeper passage no longer gave off that terrible feeling.
The boundary markers stopped trembling.
The shells had disappeared.
Several cultivators looked behind him.
Then at him.
No one dared ask too loudly.
Su Bai looked at the group.
"Those shells are no longer active threats."
Everyone relaxed.
Then he added, "The star-metal shells will be included in the final distribution after they are purified and checked."
The group froze.
Then their eyes widened.
Several people nearly forgot the fear they had felt earlier.
Treasure had once again defeated terror.
One of the cultivators coughed.
"So... we are rich again?"
Tang Ziyan said, "You were frightened a moment ago."
Lin Weiyang stood nearby, fidgeting slightly.
She kept glancing at Su Bai.
Then looking away.
Su Bai noticed. He looked at her.
"Is something wrong?"
Lin Weiyang straightened instantly.
"No."
Su Bai looked at her for a moment.
Then nodded.
"Good."
Lin Weiyang lowered her head.
Tang Ziyan covered her mouth with her sleeve.
It was unclear whether she was hiding a smile or poison.