Chapter 116: The Abyss of Lost Return

Chapter 116: The Abyss of Forgetting to Return
Chapter 13: The Bitter Waves of the Sea of Love Meet the Slender Shadow; The Mysterious Cave in the Immortal Abyss Reveals Ancient Treasures (Part One)

Ye Hua felt the chilling wind grow increasingly fierce, the powerful energy pressing against his body as if a master of cultivation was striking with all his might. As time passed, the force intensified, cutting into his flesh like thousands of tiny knives. The pain was unbearable, spreading throughout his entire body.

He lost count of how far he had fallen—thousands of zhang, perhaps—and suddenly, there was a thunderous roar in his ears. He sensed the inner energy within him dissipating rapidly, like a breached dam flooding out or being sucked away by an overwhelming force. In an instant, the energy in his dantian was completely exhausted. Shock and fear filled Ye Hua’s heart as a sudden thunderclap echoed in his mind. His vision darkened, and he fainted.

How long he remained unconscious, he couldn’t say. Gradually, a faint hum escaped his lips as he slowly revived and opened his eyes. Darkness enveloped him; everything was indistinguishable. Yet, to his left front, faint ripples shimmered, like a stretch of lake water gently undulating, reflecting the sky’s light.

After catching his breath for a moment, Ye Hua pieced together recent events in his mind. Suddenly, a jolt of realization struck him: “Where am I? I remember a sudden sharp pain in my head, then I stepped on nothing and fell! Could it be... have I fallen into the Abyss of Forgetting to Return?!” His heart trembled with alarm at the thought.

He tried to struggle to his feet, but the movement tugged at his wounds, sending fiery pain coursing through his body. Gritting his teeth, he sucked in a cold breath. He felt wet and cold all over, as if he had just crawled out of water. Biting the pain down, he forced himself upright and, after catching his breath, exhaled a faint flame. The weak fire illuminated the space around him for several meters.

He found himself on a shallow shore. Several meters behind him lay a pool of water, its waves surging. Not far ahead was a stone wall covered in moss. Sharp stone teeth jutted out below it, and jagged rocks made the place perilous and eerie. Stone stalagmites, resembling swords and halberds, gleamed with crystalline clarity. Beyond that, darkness stretched endlessly.

Contemplating the pool behind him, Ye Hua suddenly understood: “I must have fallen into the pool. When the tide ebbed, it washed me onto this shallow shore. I was lucky to survive!”

He smiled bitterly at the irony. “The Abyss of Forgetting to Return is reputed, according to the Hong brothers, to be bottomless. No one has ever reached its depths. Yet here I am, at the very bottom. Seems the name ‘Abyss of Forgetting to Return’ needs revising! Ha!”

Recalling the sharp pain in his head before he fell, he frowned deeply. “That old sick man must have done something sinister! His final strike was no ordinary attack.”

Shambling forward slowly, Ye Hua probed his spirit and saw a large, blood-red rune swirling erratically in his spiritual sea. The rune’s scarlet glow was vivid and eerie. Startled, he muttered, “It’s a blood curse! What am I to do now?”

His heart sank. The blood curse was among the most vicious of curses, destined to torment its victim for life—neither dying nor dissipating. Worse, the caster used his own blood as a medium, freely altering the curse’s form. Its variations were endless, making it nearly impossible to break. The victim endured ceaseless suffering, often driven to self-destruction. It was a poison of utmost cruelty and despair.

After a long moment, Ye Hua resolved to leave life and death to fate. With slow steps, each movement pulling at his wounds and causing pain, he pressed on. After some time, he reached a dry stone platform. Panting, he sat down, exhaling deeply. From his bosom, he produced several porcelain bottles—medicinal pills he had bought the day before at the Drizzle Pavilion. Unexpectedly, they were needed now.

He took out a few Silver-Melting Pills, Platinum Pills, and several Jade Heart Pills, swallowing them. Soon, warmth spread through his dantian, a heat radiating along his meridians, filling his body with a comforting warmth that gradually dispelled the chill.

However, when the heat reached his arms, sharp pains shot through them. Then a flash of red light appeared, as thin blood-red lines surfaced, blocking the flow of warmth. The heat dissipated, and Ye Hua frowned, muttering, “This is severe.”

No wonder—he had taken the fierce strike of that gaunt old man, who had employed the deadly Heavenly Doom Claw, one of the most insidious techniques in the Tianfang region. Were it not for Ye Hua’s cultivation of the Great Brightness Body and various fortuitous encounters that had toughened his body beyond the ordinary, this claw would have crippled his arms instantly, reducing them to powder. Although wounded, the blood lines were especially strange, penetrating muscle and bone like festering sores, impossible to dispel easily.

Ye Hua pondered his options. Perhaps one day he could use the Six Origins Wonderful Heaven Wish technique to try and cleanse the curse. With that thought, he took more pills and entered meditation. Time passed, and he finally exhaled a long breath, rising with renewed vigor. His inner energy, once nearly depleted, had recovered by three to four tenths, and his external wounds no longer throbbed uncontrollably.

He beckoned with his hand, summoning the Vermilion Crow Dagger, which burst into radiant red light, illuminating the surroundings clearly for the first time. He saw he was in a narrow, deep crevice. The stone walls on either side soared upward into the deep sky, their tops lost in gray mist. Between the walls stretched a deep pool, about a hundred zhang wide, its waters dark and unfathomable—the very place he had fallen into.

Ye Hua glanced around, confused. He followed the stone wall, but the deeper he went, the more perplexed he became. Hours passed, yet he saw no end to this abyss. Surprised, he recalled the Hong brothers’ words: the Abyss of Forgetting to Return, though vast, was only about a hundred zhang wide and a li long. It was more a colossal, narrow chasm than a simple abyss, but even so, this cave beneath the surface far exceeded his imagination in scale.

After continuing further without sight of its end, Ye Hua stopped for a rest. Though he had traveled several li, there was no sign of human presence—no footprints, not even those of animals. It was an utterly natural scene.

He sighed softly, thinking, “This abyss is extraordinarily deep and vast, but there’s nothing unusual or secret to discover here. I’d better leave quickly to avoid worrying the Hong brothers.”

With that, the Vermilion Crow Dagger shimmered in his hand. He formed a hand seal, preparing to soar on his sword.

Suddenly, the gray mist above the abyss rippled and descended, hovering only a dozen zhang above his head. Ye Hua’s heart tightened in alarm, sensing the mist’s peculiarity. He unleashed the Vermilion Crow Dagger, which blazed like a fiery dragon. Yet the gray mist surged like a tide, engulfing the dagger. Upon contact, the dagger could not resist; it emitted a mournful cry as its radiance burst and dissipated like bubbles. Ye Hua’s face paled in shock. Before he could reclaim the sword, the dagger plummeted straight down.

Frantically, Ye Hua surged upward, stretching his right hand several feet to catch the falling sword. Looking closely, he saw the dagger’s once-silver blade now wrapped in a faint gray aura. After a moment, the gray dissipated, restoring its silver sheen. Ye Hua wasted no time, channeling internal energy to reignite its radiance. Fortunately, its spirit remained intact.

Seeing this, a flicker of unease crossed Ye Hua’s face. He thought to himself, “This gray mist is strange—like the dreaded Nine Yin Malevolent Qi. I once encountered that poisonous aura at the Grand Mansion Temple in Little West Mountain. That poison was so deadly, ordinary treasures touched by it would be ruined. This gray mist is not as venomous, but its power to nullify spiritual energy is even greater!”

His mind raced. “When I fell, my inner energy vanished so quickly. I thought it was due to that old man’s sinister technique, but now I suspect this gray mist. If that’s true, escaping this place won’t be easy.”