Zhang Xiaofan hadn’t expected Bi Yao to react so strongly. Startled by her, he pointed at the cave ceiling and said, “There are a few red stones up there…”
Bi Yao immediately drew closer, carefully examining the ceiling. Sure enough, through the falling droplets, she saw seven red stones—each about half the size of a palm—embedded in the rock wall. Their texture was identical to the surrounding stone; only their color set them apart.
Seeing Bi Yao’s tense expression as she stared at the ceiling with rapt attention, Zhang Xiaofan grew curious as well. He stood up and looked in that direction, only to see the seven red stones arranged crookedly across the cave top in what looked rather like a strange ladle shape.
Especially that color—who knew how many years water had washed over them in this cave—yet they remained as crimson as blood. Even the crystalline droplets flowing past these red stones were dyed a blood-like red before falling, so that they dropped like blood from the ceiling. Yet once they fell far enough from the red stones, the droplets returned to their transparent state.
As he watched, he suddenly heard Bi Yao muttering beside him: “Dripping Blood Cave, Dripping Blood Cave, Dripping Blood… Ha!” Her face suddenly lit up with joy, and her right hand struck Zhang Xiaofan with heavy force. His face immediately paled; the power behind that palm was truly no light matter.
Fury flared in Zhang Xiaofan’s heart, and he was about to demand an explanation when he saw the girl smile sweetly, completely unbothered, her face full of excitement. “That old devil Blackheart, to think he built the Dripping Blood Cave in a place like this! No wonder we searched dozens of times over eight hundred years and never found it.” Zhang Xiaofan was stunned, but after a moment’s thought, he recalled that when they first met, Bi Yao had pressed him about the “Dripping Blood Cave.” Understanding suddenly dawned on him. He snorted, “Demon heresy!” Bi Yao was in excellent spirits at the moment and didn’t get angry at all. Smiling, she said, “So what if I am demon heresy? I should even thank you for helping me find this place!” Zhang Xiaofan felt even more reluctant, especially after seeing Bi Yao’s increasingly beautiful smile. From somewhere deep within, a surge of inexplicable anger rose. He felt that by unintentionally helping this witch of the Demonic Sect, he would surely be severely punished by his elders when they found out later.
But the moment he thought this, he remembered that he couldn’t even get out right now—what was the point of thinking about later? His spirits immediately deflated, and he sat down in silence.
Bi Yao was overjoyed at the moment and paid no attention to Zhang Xiaofan’s inexplicable expression. The Demonic Sect had an extremely long history, with numerous factions and branches that rose and fell over time.
Eight hundred years ago, the Bloodforging Hall lineage to which Blackheart Old Man belonged was hailed as the foremost faction of the Demonic Sect, with formidable strength and experts as numerous as clouds. Blackheart Old Man himself was an ancestor-level figure on the path of cultivation. But as time passed and they clashed repeatedly with the Righteous Path, Bloodforging Hall gradually declined, replaced by other factions.
In the present age, four great factions stood at the head of the Demonic Sect: the Joyous Union Sect, the Myriad Poison Gate, Longevity Hall, and the Ghost King Sect. Yet none could compare to the dazzling glory of Bloodforging Hall at its zenith.
Moreover, within the Demonic Sect, a legend had persisted for eight hundred years: after the great war between the Righteous and the Demonic, although the main leaders of Bloodforging Hall had all perished, many secret treasures and magical artifacts had been hidden in a secret place called the “Dripping Blood Cave,” deep beneath the Myriad Bat Ancient Grotto—the foundation of Bloodforging Hall.
Over these eight hundred years, countless members of the Demonic Sect had secretly descended into the Myriad Bat Ancient Grotto, even searching every corner of the Abyss of Dead Spirits, but all returned empty-handed.
Though Bi Yao was young, she was already an important figure in the Ghost King Sect, one of the four great factions. Her journey to a perilous place like the Abyss of Dead Spirits this time had been entrusted with the utmost importance by the Ghost King Sect’s leader. Now, the very place that countless predecessors over eight hundred years had failed to find was right before her eyes—how could she not be ecstatic? For a moment, she completely forgot that she was trapped in a desperate situation.
Overjoyed, Bi Yao stared unblinking at the ceiling. She immediately leaped up, carefully reaching out to touch the red stones. They felt ice-cold to the touch, no different from the surrounding rock. She gently tapped them as well, but nothing happened. By now, her expression held a few degrees of nervousness in addition to her excitement.
She then pulled, knocked, pried, smashed, and tugged—every method imaginable. She touched every single red stone, but everything remained normal; nothing out of the ordinary occurred.
Watching from below, Zhang Xiaofan felt a burst of delight and couldn’t help laughing. “I don’t think this is the Dripping Blood Cave at all—you guessed wrong!” Helpless, Bi Yao dropped back to the ground and glared at him fiercely. But inwardly, she too was puzzled. Could she really have guessed wrong?
For the next two hours, Zhang Xiaofan sat on the ground watching the water-green-clad girl pace back and forth, brows tightly furrowed, lost in thought. From time to time, she would leap up to try some new method on the red stones, but every attempt ended in failure.
As he watched, Zhang Xiaofan suddenly felt his stomach grumble twice—he was hungry. He reached into his robes for the dry rations he carried, only to find them gone. Most likely, they had been lost when he fell into the water earlier. He immediately groaned inwardly. He was starving, and there was nothing to eat in this cave. The pool before him was crystal clear—so clear that not even a single small fish or shrimp could be seen.
As his hunger grew heavier and more unbearable, Zhang Xiaofan had no recourse but to cup some clear water and drink it. It helped not at all.
He sighed miserably. It seemed he might very well starve to death here.
At this moment, Bi Yao felt no hunger at all; her entire mind was focused on the seven red stones. But after busying herself for so long with no success, she finally sat down in defeat, though her eyes still stared blankly at the stones.
Watching her from the side, Zhang Xiaofan couldn’t help saying, “What’s the point of staring at those? If we don’t find a way out soon, we’ll starve to death first.” Bi Yao stirred, seeming to remember that there was a young disciple of the Righteous Path beside her. She turned to look at him and suddenly asked, “Are you hungry?” Zhang Xiaofan refused to lose face before her. He immediately lifted his chin. “No.” *Gurgle, gurgle.* His stomach, as if deliberately opposing him, growled twice right after he spoke.
Bi Yao couldn’t help but burst out laughing. Zhang Xiaofan’s face flushed red, utterly embarrassed. He wished he could crawl into a crack in the ground.
After laughing twice, Bi Yao took out a portion of dry rations from her robes and handed them to Zhang Xiaofan. With a straight face, she said, “I think you’d better quickly help me think of how to open the Dripping Blood Cave!” Zhang Xiaofan snorted and turned his head away, refusing to look at the food. “You think a portion of dry rations can buy me? Dream on!”
Bi Yao was startled. Her eyes turned, and then she smiled. “You’re wrong. I mean that we’re trapped in a desperate place right now. If we don’t find a way out, we’ll really die here. But there’s a Dripping Blood Cave before us. If we find what’s inside, there might be another way out!” Zhang Xiaofan considered this and found it somewhat reasonable. To survive, finding this Dripping Blood Cave first wasn’t a bad idea; otherwise, they could only wait for death.
But his nature was quite stubborn. He firmly ignored the rations Bi Yao offered, stood up, and looked at the red stones again. Bi Yao wasn’t angry. She merely watched his figure, smiled faintly, and also stood up to look at the ceiling.
The seven red stones arranged like a ladle remained embedded in the ceiling. Apart from their crimson color, they were no different from the surrounding rock. Zhang Xiaofan watched for a long time but gained nothing. He considered going up to tap them one by one, but then he thought of how Bi Yao had just tried every possible method, so he gave up.
The two of them started by observing with heads raised, then grew tired and sat on the ground. Later, Zhang Xiaofan simply abandoned all etiquette—since they were as good as dead anyway—and actually lay down on the ground, staring at the ceiling. Who knew how much time passed with still no discovery? In the end, he drifted into a drowsy sleep.
He slept in a daze, not knowing how much time had passed before waking. Opening his eyes, he saw that Bi Yao was still glaring at the seven red stones with her bright eyes.
At this moment, Zhang Xiaofan actually felt some admiration for this woman. He sat up, but the moment he moved, his stomach suddenly gurgled again. It seemed he was terribly hungry, utterly disrespecting its master.
In this cave, apart from the sound of dripping water, there was no other noise. The gurgling sound immediately reached Bi Yao’s ears, and she turned to look.
Zhang Xiaofan was nearly mortified. A man could die, but his face must never be lost. He immediately turned his head the other way, not looking at Bi Yao, yet his face still felt hot. He let out two awkward dry laughs, walked to the small pool, and wanted to cup some clear water to drink, to slightly relieve his hunger and thirst.
The clear water in this pool was likely spring water welling up from underground. Besides being ice-cold, it was clear and refreshing, even seeming to carry a hint of sweetness. But after Zhang Xiaofan drank two mouthfuls, the feeling of hunger in his belly grew even stronger.
After all, water couldn’t substitute for food. Zhang Xiaofan sighed softly and stared blankly at the water’s surface. He saw water droplets fall from the cave ceiling, strike the surface, and ripple outward in circles. Beneath the water, his somewhat haggard face was reflected, slightly red…
Slightly red?
Zhang Xiaofan suddenly realized—how could there be red in his reflection? He hurriedly focused his gaze and indeed saw several red patches on his face in the water. But then he realized something was wrong. Looking carefully, he raised his head to the rock wall above. It turned out that the red stones in the ceiling were reflected in the water, overlapping with his own reflection to create this effect.
Only then did Zhang Xiaofan breathe a sigh of relief. But at that moment, something stirred in his heart. He stepped back and stared intently at the water. As the ripples gradually settled, the reflection of the seven red stones slowly emerged in the pool. Because it was a reflection, their arrangement was no longer that strange ladle shape; instead, it somewhat resembled a person’s palm.
Zhang Xiaofan stood in place, silent for a moment. In that instant, he suddenly hesitated, as if he had suddenly found himself standing at a crossroads, not knowing which way to go.
The feeling flashed past. He turned around and called out, “Hey!” Bi Yao was still looking at the ceiling. Carelessly, she said, “I’m not called ‘Hey.’ That’s what you said when we first met.” Zhang Xiaofan choked. The words that had reached his lips nearly flooded back down. But somehow, facing this woman who seemed somewhat flippant, he found unusual patience. “Then what are you called?” Bi Yao turned her head, a smile appearing on her face. “I’m called Bi Yao.”
Zhang Xiaofan silently repeated it twice, shook his head, and said, “Come over here and look!” Bi Yao felt slightly surprised. She stood up and walked over. “What?”
Zhang Xiaofan pointed at the water’s surface. Bi Yao bent down to look. The water rippled, but after focusing her attention, she slowly made out the reflection of the seven red stones in the water, arranged like a palm.
Bi Yao’s body trembled. She quickly turned around. “This is…” Zhang Xiaofan shook his head. “I also saw it by accident. Maybe it’s nothing…”
Before he could finish, Bi Yao cut in, “No matter what, we have to try.” Without another word, she splashed into the water.
Zhang Xiaofan was startled. In mere moments, the falling droplets had soaked Bi Yao’s clothes, but she paid them no heed whatsoever. She merely held her breath and waited.
The water surface, disturbed by her entry, gradually calmed again. Bi Yao quietly waited for the reflection of the seven red stones to reappear in the water. From the shore, Zhang Xiaofan watched as pearl-like crystalline droplets gently drifted down from the air, landing on the beautiful woman’s hair, shoulders, face, and clothes.
Transparent, clear droplets slid from her jet-black hair tips, slowly flowing over her snow-white skin, as if even her face had become so beautiful it was nearly translucent.
Zhang Xiaofan suddenly stared in a daze. The splashing sounds of water in the cave seemed to suddenly fade into the distance. In his eyes, there was only the pure, elegant woman standing in the water like a lotus emerging from the water, carrying a beauty that shook one’s very soul, rushing toward him.
The reflection of the seven red stones slowly appeared, like a palm, quietly floating in the water. Bi Yao fixed her position, slowly extended her right hand, and pressed down where the palm was.
Her jade-like hand passed through the gentle water ripples, reaching downward. The reflection of the red stones drifted faintly in the water. The surface sparkled with light from some unknown source, illuminating the beautiful woman’s face with a faint glow.
The pool was very shallow. Bi Yao’s hand quickly reached the bottom, where a thin layer of sand and gravel lay. Where her palm touched, she felt five slightly raised spots right beneath her five fingertips. Joy surged in her heart. She gently brushed away the sand and indeed found five small stones embedded in the ground beneath, faintly glowing with red light.
Without another thought, Bi Yao pressed down with her five fingers, then looked up.
There was no movement whatsoever.
The joy on Bi Yao’s face instantly froze. Her gaze met Zhang Xiaofan’s on the shore for a moment, then turned back.
Zhang Xiaofan was about to say a few words of comfort when he suddenly saw Bi Yao seem to remember something. She focused on the water’s surface, carefully searching near the reflection of the other two red stones. Sure enough, she found two more small stones. This time she seemed more nervous. Carefully, she pressed her left hand down as well, then simultaneously pressed all seven small stones.
For an instant, both Zhang Xiaofan and Bi Yao thought they had failed again. The cave was completely silent; apart from the sound of dripping water, there was no other sound.
However, after they waited for what seemed like an endless moment, a harsh yet heavy *click-clack* sound rang through the cave.
Bi Yao and Zhang Xiaofan looked simultaneously. Behind the waterfall curtain, the once seamless, incomparably hard stone wall was actually retreating backward in one piece. Though slow, it finally revealed a new opening.
Zhang Xiaofan stared blankly at the opening of the secret cave. He felt some excitement, some fear, but deep down—something he himself was reluctant to admit—he was also somewhat curious.
What could be inside this holy ground of the Demonic Sect, sealed for eight hundred years?
Bi Yao slowly walked ashore and stood beside him. Her eyes rippled with flowing light, brimming with smiles. Zhang Xiaofan glanced at her and saw her skin like snow, peerlessly pure and beautiful. By her face, crystalline water droplets gently slid down and fell, almost as if striking directly upon his heart.
His body trembled. He dared not look again and turned his head away, saying in a low voice, “Congratulations.”
Bi Yao seemed startled for a moment, but the smile in her eyes didn’t diminish in the slightest. Her voice also carried a few degrees of gentleness. “This is all thanks to your attentiveness.” Zhang Xiaofan didn’t know why, but his mouth felt a bit dry and his face somewhat feverish. He took a step to the side, subconsciously moving farther from this woman. “Then why don’t you go in and take a look?” Bi Yao looked at him and suddenly smiled. “You seem a little scared of me?”
Zhang Xiaofan immediately shook his head like a rattle drum. “No, no…”
Bi Yao looked at him for a long while, then nodded. But the smile remained on her face. “Then let’s go in together!”
Zhang Xiaofan was startled and hesitated. “No, that’s not good. This is your Demonic Sect’s place. You should go yourself…” Bi Yao snorted. “Then if there’s a way out inside, do you refuse to enter as well?”
Zhang Xiaofan stared blankly, scratched his head, and said, “That’s true too. Then, then let’s go!”
A smile appeared on Bi Yao’s face. She nodded, stepped back into the water, passed through the waterfall curtain, and entered that cave. Zhang Xiaofan hesitated for a moment, but finally followed.
This was a deep tunnel. The luminescent objects on the rock walls were clearly much fewer than in the outer passage. Though one could barely see the path, it was extremely dim.
Zhang Xiaofan and Bi Yao walked very carefully. After all, this was the first time anyone had come here in eight hundred years. No one knew whether those old monsters of Bloodforging Hall back then had left behind any particularly powerful restrictions.
Along the way, things were fairly peaceful, and no accidents occurred. It was just that the passage was rather winding, deep and long, and gradually sloped upward. Zhang Xiaofan roughly calculated in his mind that the two of them had probably reached the center of the mountain belly by now.
Just as he was thinking, Bi Yao, who was walking ahead, suddenly stopped and said in a low voice, “We’re here.”
Zhang Xiaofan’s heart skipped a beat. He looked forward and saw that at the end of the tunnel ahead, a ray of bright light shone through. There, he could faintly see a large stone chamber. The two exchanged a glance. Bi Yao took the lead and walked toward it.
As they gradually approached, the two could clearly make out the situation in the stone chamber. The entire chamber was circular in shape, with the tunnel ending in its center. Opposite them, there was actually another passage extending inward—it seemed this was not the only end.
On the left side of the stone chamber stood two massive stone carvings. One had kind brows and benevolent eyes, standing with a smile, its robes carved so lifelike that they seemed stirred by the wind—somewhat resembling Guanyin of the Buddhist tradition.
The other was an entirely different appearance—savage and ferocious, with a black face and ghostly horns, eight hands and four heads. There was even a trace of fresh blood carved flowing from the corner of its mouth, making one’s blood run cold at the sight.
In front of the two statues was a stone table with an incense burner on it. Beside it lay several bundles of incense and candles, all covered in dust. Presumably, no incense had been offered here in eight hundred years.
As for the other end of the stone chamber, there were only a few meditation cushions casually tossed on the ground, nothing else.
Zhang Xiaofan watched, puzzled, when he saw Bi Yao’s solemn expression. She stepped forward, picked up a cushion, shook off the dust, and placed it before the stone table with the statues. Then she took the incense and candles from the table, struck a flint from her robes to light them, and inserted them into the burner. She walked back to the cushion and knelt down with a grave expression.
In the stone chamber, wisps of light smoke slowly rose as she prostrated herself on the ground.
Zhang Xiaofan stood behind her and heard her voice echo throughout the stone chamber.
“Holy Mother Youming, Ming King Tiansha, your devoted disciple Bi Yao of the Holy Sect’s forty-third generation sincerely pays her respects. The Holy Sect has suffered calamity and declined for long; countless disciples have poured out their hearts and blood, throwing themselves into the task of revitalizing the sect. I only beseech the Holy Mother and Ming King to pity all living beings, bestow blessings upon me, restore the Holy Sect, deliver all beings, and guide us together to the realm of eternal life and blissful joy!”
Zhang Xiaofan thought briefly and understood. These two statues were likely the evil deities worshipped by the Demonic Sect’s people. He couldn’t help but let out a cold snort, turned his head away, and looked no more.