Chapter 38: The Abyss
Legend has it that the world was originally dark, then 48,000 years later, the great god Pangu opened up the heavens and the earth, transforming mountains and rivers; and another 48,000 years later, Nuwa created man.
Legend has it that the first light in heaven and earth was born in the darkest place.
Zhang Xiaofan only felt cold, cold into the bone marrow, that kind of cold, as if not only the body, even the heart is also cold, the feeling of dying.
But he did not feel afraid, not even the slightest fear, just feel never tired, even the strength to open his eyes are not the general. Strangely enough, when his body was extremely sleepy and weak, his mind gradually became clearer.
It seemed that there was something that surrounded him, very gentle and careful, yet cold as ice, slowly sucking the heat from his body, while carrying a strange feeling of comfort, so that one couldn't help but want to sleep comfortably just like this.
If it wasn't for the fact that in his right hand, there was a familiar and cold breath that rose up as if it were guarding its owner; if it wasn't for the fact that he suddenly felt that in his left hand, he was still holding a cold and soft hand.
He opened his eyes with difficulty, minute by minute, in his sleepiness!
It was in the eternal darkness, a light!
In the endless and boundless darkness, but only in front of Zhang Xiaofan's eyes, a bit of light quietly lit up, it was a ghostly, light light light with a white color, she floated uncertainly in the darkness, entangling Zhang Xiaofan, like the most gentle woman, holding onto her beloved lover, and entwining with him in this way.
She is also like a puff of light smoke, with some emptiness, in mid-air, beside Zhang Xiaofan, gradually transformed into a beautiful and bleak face, towards the lips of the teenager, kissing!
Between those lips, there was a faint fragrance, there was a hint of confusion, and what was left was only coldness!
Cold into the heart of the cold!
Burning Stick Huo Ran rose up, Xuan Qing light blocked in front of Zhang Xiaofan's body, that burst of light smoke like white light illusion of beauty face, seems to be a little afraid of this, had to retreat backward. Zhang Xiaofan's body was shaken, rolled over and rose up, and then realized, lost his voice and exclaimed, "Yin Spirit!"
Ancient legend, life and death, only the soul does not perish, the end of a life, there will be a soul out of the body, to cast the next life, life and death, reincarnation is unending.
However, in the world, but there are grievances where the spirit, to greed, anger, dementia, three poisons, to fear, evil, fear of fear, attachment to the earthly world, looking back to the dust, unwilling to go to the next life, it is the "Yin spirit".
Of course, the Yin spirit is the Yin spirit of things, naturally like to stay in the shade and wet place, this dead spirit in the abyss of darkness and humidity, there are such ghosts is not surprising.
But Zhang Xiaofan life has never seen such things, as a child in the grass temple village to listen to the adults said that the world has ghosts, and then in the big bamboo peak to hear the brothers said that this is called the spirit of the Yin, the heart will be some fear, this suddenly see, really is from the head to the feet of the cold.
He called out, only in the darkness far out, in the surrounding darkness, his voice seems light, after a long time, but vaguely faint echo came back. Also with this call of his, as if it had startled something, in the darkness around him, it silently lit up again.
Zhang Xiaofan only felt his heart skip a beat, and then as if the heart within his chest had actually stopped, he held his breath and watched as a beam of ghostly white light, almost identical to the one from the Yin Spirit just now, lit up in the darkness in front of him.
Then, the left side lit up, the right side lit up, the front side lit up, the back side lit up, and even when he looked up, even the top of his head lit up above him, flashing that ghostly white light.
There were actually countless Yin Spirits, as if awakening from their long slumber, sensing the warmth of that human body that had appeared for the first time in hundreds of years, gathering towards this place.
The gusts of smoke-like white light drifted about, manifesting countless faces, male or female, old or young, beautiful or ugly, yet at this moment, in Zhang Xiaofan's eyes there was only one sensation: coldness.
The thought of these countless Yin Spirits swarming up to surround himself made his scalp numb. However, fortunately, after the initial shock, he then realized that these Yin Spirits seemed to be quite fearful of the burning stick in front of him, not daring to get close to the arcane green light emanating from the burning stick.
However, before Zhang Xiaofan could breathe a sigh of relief, those Yin Spirits floating in mid-air seemed to have discovered something again and flew towards Zhang Xiaofan's left side.
Zhang Xiaofan was stunned for a moment, and then lost his color, the soft hand he was holding in his left hand had gradually cooled down at this moment. He hastily pulled hard, a sound of water rang out, Lu Xueqi was pulled to his side.
With those ghostly light around, Zhang Xiaofan only saw Lu Xueqi's face pale, eyes closed tightly, but a probe breathing is still normal, roughly looked at, she did not seem to have suffered any injuries, then put down his heart, looking around, carefully observe the surrounding environment.
He and the unconscious Lu Xueqi two people, at the moment somehow in a bay of water, in the darkness can not see the size of the water, I do not know this is a small pool of water, or a big lake, or the legend of the huge underground deep sea.
Zhang Xiaofan did not know why he would suddenly have this idea, however, he was in the water, but he felt that the water is not static, a burst of tidal drumming waves, such as a gentle hand caressing his body.
However, this water was truly cold to the bone!
Zhang Xiaofan stood up with difficulty, if he stayed any longer, even if he wasn't harmed by these Yin Spirits, I'm afraid that the two of them would freeze to death in this water first. As soon as he stood up straight, he only felt a gust of dizziness, and his body couldn't help but shake a little.
When he was on top of the platform, his back was hit by Boss Nian, as well as Wild Dog Taoist and Liu Hao at the same time, and his injuries were really not light. At the same time, the burning stick's arcane green light dimmed for a moment as if it was sensing it. Almost at the same moment, the ghostly lights of the countless Yin Spirits around him simultaneously lit up, and the faces of those who had been transformed into human beings revealed infinite longing.
Zhang Xiaofan was taken aback and hurriedly fixed his mind, the light of the burning stick re-lighted and subdued those Yin Spirits. Zhang Xiaofan strained to pull Lu Xueqi towards the shore, this short distance, but it made him feel this long.
Finally, they reached above the hard ground, and Zhang Xiaofan sat down on the ground at once, panting heavily.
Around them, countless Yin Spirits fluttered and wandered outside the Burning Stick's arcane green aperture.
Zhang Xiaofan stared blankly at those drifting ghostly lights, recalling the last memories in his mind before he fell unconscious, recalling Lu Xueqi flying over and pulling his hand, recalling the endless dark abyss beneath them as they fell, and he even vaguely remembered that before he lost consciousness, there had been a familiar Buddha's cry that resounded on that platform.
That should be the arrival of Dharma Phase Senior Brother and the four of them!
Zhang Xiaofan chanted this in his heart, with the strong assistance of the four of them, along with Qi Hao and Zeng Shushu's own cultivation of the Dao, he should be fine. If Senior Brother Qi was fine, I think Senior Sister Ling'er wouldn't be sad, right?
But, but, Zhang Xiaofan asked himself almost simultaneously, if I die, will Sister Ling'er be sad? Perhaps she would also be a bit sentimental! After all, over the years, he and her day and night together, know that the appearance of beautiful and strong this sister, in fact, in the heart, also has a gentle and weak side.
If she heard from childhood to play to big Zhang Xiaofan brother unfortunately died, must also shed some tears right? Must also be broken heart, right? Will not be able to find the body of the case, in the Bamboo Peak on the head of a grave for him right?
I wonder how many times she will come to the grave in the years to come?
If so, would I be like the spirits around here, longing for her, refusing to go to the afterlife, only lingering between the graves, quietly hoping for the figure in my memory...
In the silent darkness, the young man sighed in a low, unrecognizable way!
****
"Yelp."
She let out a soft cry and slowly awoke, opening her eyes.
Thousands of years ago, there was an ancient question: if you sleep for a long time before waking up, the first person you want to see, who will it be?
Who knows whether Lu Xueqi had ever heard of this seemingly boring question, and at the moment, what was reflected in her eyes was Zhang Xiaofan's concerned eyes amidst the ghostly white light.
That was the only warmth in the darkness!
Zhang Xiaofan was overjoyed and said joyfully, "You've woken up, Senior Sister Lu!"
Lu Xueqi didn't answer immediately, she looked as if she froze for a moment, but very quickly, she returned to normal, and her face reverted from initially carrying some confusion, to a somewhat cold frost. But as she looked around, she couldn't help but move once more.
"Yin Spirit!" Lu Xueqi called out as Zhang Xiaofan had just done.
Zhang Xiaofan nodded and comforted her, "Yes, but don't be afraid, they seem to be a bit afraid of my Burning, Burning Stick, they should be fine for now."
Lu Xueqi also realized at this moment that the countless floating Yin Spirits around did not pounce on them, they only wandered around the periphery and seemed to be very fearful of Zhang Xiaofan's short black stick, and after settling down, she couldn't help but say, "What is this magic treasure of yours called, how come it's so powerful?"
Zhang Xiaofan face a red, said: "called, called, I call it do⋯ burning stick, I do not know how it will be so powerful."
Lu Xueqi wondered, "Burning Stick?"
Zhang Xiaofan looked at the woman in front of him in the ghostly white light, skin like snow, although some pale but more beautiful, can not help but lower his head, said: "Yes, I am responsible for cooking on weekdays on the Big Bamboo Peak, use it to do the burning stick."
Lu Xueqi could not speak for a moment, staring blankly at the unsightly short black stick in mid-air, and a long time ago Fang said in a low voice: "Burning Stick! I have been preached by my master, practiced hard, and have the Tianya Divine Sword, but I lost under a burning stick?"
Zhang Xiaofan's heart suddenly jumped, only to feel that Lu Xueqi's face in this moment a few more white, almost can not see the slightest color of blood, could not help but say, "Sister, at that time, but you won ah! Moreover, I heard that if you hadn't used up so much of your energy when you competed with me, you wouldn't have lost to Qi Hao in the finals..." He said in a low voice.
The more he spoke, the quieter his voice became, and then it was gradually reduced to silence, only because Lu Xueqi silently looked up and coldly looked at him, so that he could no longer speak. The ghostly white light, shining on the two of them.
Lu Xueqi lowered her head again, breathed deeply, and said, "How did we manage to escape?"
Zhang Xiaofan froze for a moment, his heart also quite confused, and said, "I don't know." Then he remembered something, pointed his hand to the water's edge of the bay, and said, "But when I just woke up, both of us were lying on the water's edge, could it be that we were lucky enough to fall into the water before not dying, and then washed to the shore by the tide?"
Lu Xueqi looked in the direction he pointed to, lined with the ghostly white light emitted by the Yin Spirit, and saw that there was water in the distance, and the "rustling" sound of the tide rushing over the shore was also faintly heard. On the contrary, although most of his clothes are dry, but also some wet, sticking to the body is very cold.
It could be imagined that if it wasn't for this Zhang Xiaofan pulling himself onto the shore, he would have frozen to death before he even came to his senses.
"Thanks a lot." Lu Xueqi suddenly whispered.
Zhang Xiaofan froze for a moment, and hurriedly shook his hand and laughed, "It's okay, it's fine..."
Suddenly, both of them froze.
In the middle of the two people, between the two people's hands, until this moment, still tightly held each other.
As if it is flesh and blood connected, as if so has been many years, there is not the slightest feeling, even seemed to be so, even like two people have forgotten the general!
Lu Xueqi slowly drew back the hand, Zhang Xiaofan smiled awkwardly, hand in the side of the left and right, but do not know where to put.
After a while, it was Lu Xueqi who opened her mouth and said, "Before you fell down, you had taken a heavy blow from the Demon Sect Demon, how do you feel now?"
Zhang Xiaofan was like an amnesty, listening to this frosty woman didn't seem to blame him, and hurriedly said, "Fine fine."
Lu Xueqi said, "Can you still control the sword?"
Zhang Xiaofan slightly luck, then felt the pain in his body like needles, bitterly smiled and shook his head.
Lu Xueqi glanced at him and said, "I can't either, let's get up and check the surrounding area to see if there's a way out, otherwise we'll keep waiting like this, surrounded by all these Yin Spirits, and sooner or later, we'll be sucked dry by them."
Zhang Xiaofan sucked in a breath of cool air and nodded, "Yes."
Lu Xueqi stood up, all over the body, there is no big external injuries, but the internal meridians and qi and blood is a little messy, the whole body is weak, it seems to be with the mountain and river fan that fight, the force of the recoil is too strong due. And she is most concerned about the Tianya Divine Sword, at the moment is intact back to her back within the scabbard.
She turned her head to look at Zhang Xiaofan again, but saw that he stood up with some effort, his figure was not very flexible, obviously still suffering from injuries, and at the same time also knew that just now he pulled himself out of the water, how much mental energy he had spent.
"How many layers of the Taiji Xuanqing Dao have you cultivated to?" Lu Xueqi suddenly said to Zhang Xiaofan.
Zhang Xiaofan was stunned for a moment and didn't say anything, but Lu Xueqi thought that he intentionally didn't answer, and turned her head, faintly saying, "It doesn't matter if you don't say anything, but I've heard my master say that your cultivation is only up to the fourth layer as well, and that it was all because of that wacky magic weapon that was so powerful, and at that time, I didn't believe it. Today, I have seen it with my own eyes, if it wasn't for your high cultivation and strong meridian foundation, you would have collapsed under those Demon Cult Demons."
Zhang Xiaofan scratched his head, momentarily did not know what to say, because he himself on his own cultivation at the moment is also a little confused, then vague past.
In fact, Lu Xueqi where know, if it is alone on the Taiji Xuanqing Dao cultivation, Zhang Xiaofan at the moment is really only the fourth layer of the realm of cultivation, that is, just can use the realm of the magic treasure, but in Zhang Xiaofan's body, there is another kind of Buddhist supreme true law "Great Brahma Prajna", is the key to the truth.
Buddhist cultivation, originally more than Taoist focus on self-realization, Zhang Xiaofan five years to practice Da Fan Prajna, although the cultivation is still shallow, but in the body of the meridians of the foundation of the solid, in his day and night practice of Buddhism and Taoism two great masters of the true law, far more than the same cultivation of the same door of the young disciples.
Because of this, he was hit by the devil demon, taiji xuanqing dao protection body blocked a layer, dafan prajna at the same time and blocked a layer, this is lucky not to die.
At that moment, the two of them stood up, Zhang Xiaofan recalled that burning stick to his hand, and the Xuanqing light spilled out, surrounding the two of them. Lu Xueqi slightly pondered, pointed in the opposite direction of that water's edge, and the two of them walked towards the depths of that endless darkness.
This walk, also don't know how long, this direction actually seems to have no boundaries in general, after a long time, the two of them are still walking on top of the empty clearing, under this Dead Spirit Abyss, in addition to the amazingly large, there is actually not a single sign of living beings.
There is, just in their surroundings fluttering wandering, still greedy for that flesh and blood taste of the Yin spirit, up and down noiselessly floating.
Zhang Xiaofan and Lu Xueqi both are the more they go the heavier their faces, at the same time feel the surrounding Yin Qi like a tide, and Zhang Xiaofan at the moment only feel qi and blood surging, there is a burst of dizziness came.
In fact, although he has a solid foundation, but his cultivation is not high after all, at the same time, he suffered from the Nian Boss, Wild Dog Taoist and Liu Hao's blow, the damage to the meridians in his body is still extremely great.
A moment later, Lu Xueqi also realized that Zhang Xiaofan wasn't quite right, and was surprised, "What's wrong with you?"
Zhang Xiaofan forced a smile and said, "I'm fine, let's go!"
Lu Xueqi glanced at him and said, "Do you want to rest..."
She rested "rest" word has not yet said, but saw Zhang Xiaofan suddenly body swaying, body soft, actually fell down. And the burning stick in his hand, also with his body fell, quickly dimmed.
Lu Xueqi was shocked, rushed to help him, touching the cold hand, shocked Zhang Xiaofan has actually fainted. In that instant, she, who had always been known for her calmness among her fellow disciples, actually had a trace of panic.
Immediately afterward, she thought of another even more frightening problem.
With the Burning Stick out of action, what would be used to fend off these countless Yin Spirits around her?
Almost at the same time when Lu Xueqi thought of this question, the countless Yin Spirits emitting ghostly white light around her seemed to be stunned for a moment, and then, in front of them, two living flesh and blood bodies stood there without a trace of defense.
In the darkness, it was as if there were countless voices laughing and roaring in triumph at the same time, and the countless shadowy spirits seemed to freeze in mid-air for a moment, and then, like ravenous beasts, they rushed towards these two people who stood helplessly in the darkness.
