Chapter 288: Bluewave city 20.

Then another.

Then a third.

Seven lanterns appeared in the darkness.

The same number as the shells on Su Yubing’s bracelet.

The young man swallowed.

"They are awake."

Far ahead, Su Yubing suddenly stopped walking.

Mo Yuxin turned toward her.

"What is it?"

Su Yubing looked at the mountain.

Her expression was thoughtful.

"Someone just called my name."

Mo Yuxin’s hand immediately found hers.

"Did you hear where it came from?"

Su Yubing pointed toward the summit.

"There."

A bell rang.

Once.

Then twice.

Then seven times.

Mo Yuxin stared at the mountain.

Her eyes narrowed.

"We are not going back."

Su Yubing smiled.

"I wasn’t planning to."

They continued walking.

Behind them, Bluewave City disappeared beyond the trees.

Ahead of them, Ghost Lantern Mountain waited.

And on its highest peak, hidden among the ruined halls of an ancient sect, a stone throne began to glow.

Someone was sitting on it.

The figure looked human.

Almost.

Their face could not be seen beneath the darkness.

But one thing was clear.

They had been waiting for Mo Yuxin and Su Yubing long before the two women ever reached the Southern Continent.

And now that they had finally arrived, the game was no longer about keeping them trapped.

It was about making them remember exactly who they were.

The figure opened its eyes.

Two pale lights appeared in the darkness.

"Come."

The mountain answered with the sound of seven bells.

And the journey continued.

As they climbed, the forest grew quieter.

The ordinary sounds of birds and insects disappeared first. Then even the wind seemed unwilling to enter the mountain path. Moss covered the old stone steps, and broken statues stood on either side of the road. Most had lost their faces, but the remaining carvings suggested a sect that had once worshipped a sword and a crown together.

Su Yubing ran her fingers over one broken statue.

"This place knew us too."

Mo Yuxin looked at the carving.

"Maybe."

"Does that bother you?"

"A little."

"Why?"

Mo Yuxin answered honestly.

"Because every time this world tells us who we used to be, I worry it will try to decide who we should become."

Su Yubing turned toward her.

"Then we decide ourselves."

Mo Yuxin smiled.

"Exactly."

They reached the first ruined gate at sunset.

Seven lanterns burned above it.

The shell bracelet on Su Yubing’s wrist became warm.

A voice came from behind the gate.

"You are late."

Mo Yuxin raised an eyebrow.

"We were sightseeing."

For several seconds there was silence.

Then, unexpectedly, the voice laughed.

"Good."

The gate opened by itself.

Beyond it was a courtyard covered in silver leaves.

At the center stood a stone table.

On the table were two cups of tea.

Still steaming.

Su Yubing looked at Mo Yuxin.

"That is absolutely suspicious."

"Very."

"We are not drinking it."

"Obviously."

They walked past the table.

The moment they crossed the courtyard, the seven lanterns extinguished one after another.

The final lantern went dark.

A door behind them closed.

And from the deepest hall of the ruined sect came a calm voice.

"Now that the two of you have chosen each other again, we can finally begin."

Mo Yuxin stopped.

Su Yubing stepped closer.

Their fingers intertwined.

The darkness ahead shifted.

A pair of golden eyes opened.

Neither woman drew a weapon.

They simply stood together.

Whatever waited beyond that hall, they would meet it the same way they had met everything else.

Together.

And far below the mountain, something ancient smiled.

Mo Yuxin glanced at Su Yubing.

"Do you want to go back?"

Su Yubing shook her head.

"No."

"Even after everything in Bluewave City?"

"Especially after everything in Bluewave City."

She squeezed Mo Yuxin’s hand.

"We came to the Southern Continent to travel. We should actually travel. Besides, if someone prepared an entire ruined sect just for us, it would be rude not to look around."

Mo Yuxin laughed.

"That is the strangest reason I have ever heard for entering a dangerous ancient inheritance."

"You married me knowing I was strange."

"I did."

"Then stop complaining."

"I am not complaining."

They crossed the courtyard.

The golden eyes in the hall slowly opened wider.

A long shadow stretched across the floor toward them.

Yet instead of attacking, the unseen being placed two new cups of tea on the stone table.

Mo Yuxin stared at them.

"Now it is definitely suspicious."

Su Yubing laughed.

"Maybe this time they are actually good tea."

"Still not drinking it."

"Fine."

They passed the table.

Behind them, one cup cracked by itself.

A faint voice whispered from inside the broken porcelain.

"She chose you again."

Mo Yuxin stopped.

Su Yubing looked at her.

"Did you hear that?"

"Yes."

"What did it mean?"

Mo Yuxin looked deeper into the dark hall.

"I don’t know."

She smiled faintly.

"But we have plenty of time to find out."

They stepped into the darkness together.

The doors of the ruined sect closed behind them.

And for the first time since arriving in the Southern Continent, Mo Yuxin and Su Yubing understood that their quiet journey had ended.

Their real journey had finally begun.

Behind them, Bluewave City slept peacefully beneath the stars, unaware that two travelers had already stepped beyond the last safe road of the Southern Continent. The sea remained calm, the lamps remained bright, and the night gave no sign that anything had changed.

But on the mountain, seven dead lanterns suddenly burned again.

And this time, all seven burned blue.

Somewhere beneath the ruined halls, an ancient formation recognized their presence and began counting down from seven, while two quiet hearts beat together in the dark.

The seven blue lanterns burned in the ruined sect for only a few breaths before the ancient formation underneath the mountain went completely silent.

Mo Yuxin and Su Yubing stood in the dark hall, still holding hands. The darkness around them was thick enough that an ordinary cultivator would have had trouble seeing even a finger in front of their face, but neither woman was bothered.