Chapter 1523 - 819: Why Are You Here? (Triple Release Combined)

"Lu Ying?"

Miss Donggong exclaimed in surprise, her voice carrying a hint of the lightheartedness of encountering an acquaintance, which seemed particularly abrupt in the eerie and silent underground stone chamber.

"Why are you here?"

Chen Yi's heart sounded a sudden alarm.

Lu Ying?!

How could Lu Ying possibly be here?

As soon as Donggong Ruoshu's words fell, the figure facing away in the center of the stone chamber moved slightly.

Then, that person slowly, with some difficulty, turned around.

The firelight illuminated her face; it was indeed Lu Ying's countenance, clear-eyed, but there was a kind of pallor that never saw daylight, and her eyes seemed somewhat hollow, her gaze falling on Chen Yi and Donggong Ruoshu as though it couldn't immediately focus.

Her gaze paused on Chen Yi's face for a moment, as if suddenly awakened for a split second, but soon it fell silent again.

Then, she looked at Chen Yi, her lips slightly parted, and said:

"Go back quickly, or it'll be too late."

Chen Yi's heart sank abruptly at her words.

Too late?

What does too late mean? Is there a change outside? Or...?

The most important thing is... why would Lu Ying appear deep underground? Her condition is obviously not right, her eyes vacant, face pale.

Beside him, Donggong Ruoshu shouted again, her tone filled with confusion and concern, "Lu Ying? What's wrong with you?"

This shout seemed to cause the figure in the center of the stone chamber to tremble slightly, Lu Ying's pale face flickered for a moment, as if in a daze, she didn't answer any questions but raised her right hand, fiercely swinging her sleeve toward Chen Yi and Donggong Ruoshu's direction,

The action was brisk, even decisive.

A powerful, unopposable Gang Wind arose out of thin air, instantly filling the narrow stone chamber, rushing toward Chen Yi and Donggong Ruoshu.

Chen Yi reacted extremely quickly, his guard already rising at the moment Lu Ying raised her hand, now with the Gang Wind hitting him, he pulled Donggong Ruoshu to his side, his vital energy running through his body, steadying his stance.

However, this odd Gang Wind exceeded his expectations; it didn't directly impact the flesh but made him feel as if the ground beneath his feet was being entirely pushed away, creating a strange sense of instability even with his cultivation.

This was absolutely not the power Lu Ying should have possessed.

In a flash, he took one last look at the center of the stone chamber, Lu Ying still stood there, her figure blurred in the dust stirred by the Gang Wind, only those eyes briefly regained clarity, deeply, complexly looking at them, especially Donggong Ruoshu, her lips silently moved, then it was covered again by the rising emptiness.

The next moment, the world spun.

They didn't tumble to the ground but felt disoriented, only sensing light and shadow twisting before them, the sound of the wind howling by their ears, their bodies uncontrollably retreating rapidly.

In merely one or two breaths, their feet found solid ground.

The wind noise abruptly ceased.

Chen Yi steadied himself, keeping Donggong Ruoshu protected in his arms, cautiously looking around.

They were standing in a corridor, still the same corridor from before, but there was no fork in the road.

As if everything that happened earlier, including the path, the stone chamber, the Lu Ying, was just a brief illusion.

Chen Yi frowned tightly, the Heavenly Eye carefully scanning that rock wall, it fit perfectly, without any flaw.

"Chen Yi..." Donggong Ruoshu peeked from his embrace, her face also showing signs of shock, she whispered, "Is Lu Ying angry?"

Chen Yi didn't answer.

He listened closely, ahead and behind the corridor was deathly silence, where were Qiao Tumen and those supervisors from the Inspection Department? They should have been right behind.

"Are they still inside?"

A somewhat blurred, slightly anxious unfamiliar voice faintly came from closer to the exit in the front, hard to hear clearly.

Following that was Qiao Tumen's familiar hoarse voice, saying:

"No idea." His voice paused, seeming annoyed as well, "They suddenly disappeared yesterday, we searched back and forth and couldn't see where they ran off to."

Yesterday?

Chen Yi's pupils shrank suddenly, he and Donggong Ruoshu had entered that fork in the road, stayed inside for at most... a few breaths? Definitely not more than five minutes.

A chill quietly crept up his spine.

Was what Lu Ying meant by "too late" referring to this?

Not allowing him to think deeply, the indistinct voices and light ahead indicating the exit was not far, he steadied his mind, suppressing his surprise and skepticism, taking Donggong Ruoshu's hand.

"Let's go, head outside first."

The two quickly walked along the corridor, indeed, before long they saw sunlight streaming through the gap between shifted Dragon King's statue base slabs, as well as the outlines of several silhouettes moving.

Chen Yi reached the bottom of the slab, pushing his way through the slab's gap outward.

"Ah!"

"Who is it?!"

Above, several short startled cries and the light sound of drawing swords rang out, shadows in a flurry.

The stone slab covering the entrance was pushed upwards, moved aside.

The afternoon sunlight, somewhat dazzling, instantly flooded the entrance of the passage, Chen Yi squinted slightly, adjusting to the change in light, then slowly stood up from the opening.

The dust rose slightly.

Around the entrance, Qiao Tumen, a few supervisors, and two men dressed as ordinary household servants with sharp eyes were looking, faces full of astonishment, at the two emerging from the ground like phantoms.

The air seemed to freeze for a moment.

Chen Yi's gaze calmly swept across Qiao Tumen's shocked face, then looked at the sky.

The sun was leaning west, indeed like... the afternoon of the second day.

......…

"Because Emperor Qin Shi Huang and the Second Emperor did things without order, built the Great Wall, erected great palaces, cruelly abused the people, Han Gaozu was sent by the heavens."