“Is this the Soul of the Dragon Resentful Spirit?!” Chihuang gasped, her beautiful eyes filled with shock and terror.
“So many resentful spirits gathering here—just what happened in this place?!”
“Is this really the ancient training ground of our Red Dragon Clan?” A chill crept down her back.
This Secret Realm had been used by the Red Dragon Clan for training since ancient times, right in the very core area.
It wasn’t as if no peerless geniuses had ever appeared among the Red Dragon Clan, but no one had ever discovered that this Core Secret Realm actually concealed another world within.
At that thought, an inexplicable sense of dread rose up from the bottom of Chihuang’s heart.
Jiang Huai’s brows furrowed tightly. His Yin-Yang Body was especially sensitive to negative energy, and the depth of resentment here was overwhelming.
His gaze swept toward the entrance of the town, where a Broken Black Stele stood tall.
Upon it were several lines of rules inscribed in some ancient dragon script, the characters dark red, as if written in blood.
“What does it say?” Jiang Huai frowned, unable to make sense of the ancient text.
Chihuang stepped forward. The dragons’ innate inheritance allowed her to instantly recognize the script of the Ancient Dragon Clan. She read aloud in a soft voice:
“Rules of Crimson Dragon Town.”
“One, after the third quarter of midnight, you must not make eye contact with any townsfolk.
Two, upon hearing the Evil Dragon’s Roar, you must immediately hold your breath for three counts.
Three, each day you must assist three townsfolk in fulfilling their last wishes.
Four, you must not refuse any request made by a Red Dragon child.
Five, you must leave before the Blood Moon’s Fullness.”
A chill ran up all three of their spines.
These rules brimmed with a deep sense of foreboding and strangeness.
Jiang Huai immediately drew the sword from his waist, asking in confusion:
“What’s with these rules and strange tales?”
What exactly was this place? Why were there such bizarre rules? How had they ended up here?
“Playing tricks!” Chihuang forced herself to remain calm, letting out a cold snort, but her tightly clenched fists betrayed her inner tension.
She, as the Holy Maiden of the Crimson Dragon, actually knew nothing of such an evil and strange place lurking in the depths of her clan’s Secret Realm.
Jiang Huai looked back and found that the path they’d come from had already vanished.
“The path… the path is gone,” Chi Lian said softly, fear in her voice.
Jiang Huai sighed.
“We’ll have to take things one step at a time. According to those rules, I’m afraid we can only leave before the Blood Moon’s Fullness.”
“No need to panic for now—let’s wait a bit and see if my wife and the Crimson Dragon Clan Chief can enter.”
“But I have a bad feeling about this…”
Just as Chihuang had said, this Secret Realm had been with the Red Dragon Clan for ages. Qin Qingyue and Chi Hong might not be able to get in.
If that was the case, then many matters would fall to the three of them to resolve.
“Let’s just wait for now.”
With that, Jiang Huai began to cautiously scan their surroundings.
Chihuang thought for a moment, feeling Jiang Huai’s words made sense, and drew her crimson longsword, her aura fierce and unyielding.
No matter when, Chihuang never lost that imposing manner of hers.
Jiang Huai glanced at the sword in her hand, then at Chi Lian’s clothing, a thoughtful look in his eyes.
Just as the three were about to pretend to play dead, trouble found them first.
A resentful spirit of a middle-aged woman carrying a worn-out basket, swaying her plump figure, slowly approached the three.
She lifted her hollow eyes, her voice hoarse and grating like sandpaper:
“Young ones, could you help me find my lost Fire Crystal Stone?
It’s… it’s just over in that corner.”
She pointed to a shadowy bend at the side of the street.
Though still possessing the plump Red Dragon figure of a matron, Jiang Huai felt that there was no trace of allure left in her—only a lifeless aura remained.
Rule number three: Each day you must assist three townsfolk in fulfilling their last wishes.
Jiang Huai and Chihuang exchanged glances, each seeing the seriousness in the other’s eyes.
“What should we do?” Chihuang suddenly asked Jiang Huai, a little uncertain.
Truthfully, she had broken into many Secret Realms before, but never had she encountered such bizarre events.
After all, the legendary Outworld Heavenly Demon had long since disappeared without a trace.
Jiang Huai was silent for a moment before whispering, “I’ll go take a look. You two stay here.”
He carefully made his way toward the corner, and sure enough, beneath a pile of rubble he found a dusty, lusterless red crystal stone.
When he handed the crystal back to the matronly resentful spirit, her hollow eye sockets suddenly turned toward him, a wave of intense resentment surging forth.
Her face twisted into a grotesque expression as she shrieked sharply:
“Why are you still alive?! Why?! We’re all dead! All dead!”
“You came too late! Yin-Yang Body! You came too late!”
With her wails, two streams of blood-red tears, thick and scorching like molten lava, began to trickle from her translucent eye sockets.
The blood tears dripped to the ground, making a “sizzle sizzle” sound, burning small holes into the earth.
Jiang Huai stiffened, forcing down his discomfort as he quickly backed away.
Flames leaped from Chihuang’s body as she prepared to strike, but Jiang Huai stopped her.
“Don’t act yet. The resentful spirits here are a little different.”
After that outburst, the resentful spirit reverted to a numb state, clutching her basket, and swaying her way to the end of the gray street, soon vanishing from sight.
It was as if nothing had happened, except that she clung tightly to the crystal stone in her hand.
“That just now was…” Chi Lian’s face was pale, her voice trembling.
“One of the rules,” Jiang Huai said in a deep voice.
“We help them, but we also trigger their resentment.” Although Jiang Huai had no idea what significance the crystal held for her, it was indeed her last wish.
Just then, a faint, sorrowful, and unwilling Evil Dragon’s Roar seemed to rise from deep underground, echoing eerily over the entire town.
Rule number two: Upon hearing the Evil Dragon’s Roar, you must immediately hold your breath for three counts.
“Hold your breath!” Jiang Huai barked, quickly holding his own breath.
Chihuang and Chi Lian followed suit at once.
Those three counts felt like an eternity.
That Evil Dragon’s Roar burrowed into their minds, dredging up the saddest memories from deep within, tempting them to respond, to breathe.
Cold sweat even broke out on Chihuang’s brow, as if recalling something dreadful.
Chi Lian’s legs buckled and she collapsed against Jiang Huai.
Jiang Huai quickly used the Two Energies of Yin and Yang to envelop the two dragons, easing the situation a little.
Not until the Evil Dragon’s Roar completely faded did the three of them dare to exhale, each feeling as if they had escaped the jaws of death.
“What is this place? Are we supposed to go into the town?” Chihuang gasped for air, reluctant to set foot inside.
Chi Lian slumped weakly against Jiang Huai, her voluptuous figure pressing down on him. Rubbing her eyes, she quietly asked,
“Miss, if something happens to us, will we become resentful spirits trapped here too?”
Hearing this, Chihuang’s face turned pale, and she snapped softly,
“Don’t talk nonsense! Nothing will happen.”
Jiang Huai swept his gaze over the two women, more or less understanding.
No wonder Chihuang was always so arrogant.
“This place is too strange.”
Chihuang, still rattled, found much of her former arrogance worn away by reality’s bizarreness.
“Why aren’t you affected?” she suddenly asked Jiang Huai, observing the spiritual energy flowing through him with curiosity.
“What did she mean by Yin-Yang Body just now?”
Jiang Huai’s expression grew complicated as he gazed deeply at Chihuang.
“I don’t know.”
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