chsdbacks Chapter 224 Searching for the Source
Chapter 224 Searching for the Source
"It seems we've stumbled upon a place closer to the 'source' by accident." Nie Lingfeng walked back to Chen Duo's side, a resolute glint in his eyes. "Since we can't go back to town and have been forced here, why don't we... go and see for ourselves what's going on with that 'Nanmu Cave' and the singing thing?"
"Go see...the stinky thing in the cave?" Chen Duo put down the biscuit, her emerald green eyes looking at Nie Lingfeng, not with fear, but with seriousness. "It sings, and it gives people nightmares. It's wicked."
"Yes, it's bad. So, we'll go find it, figure out what it is, and how to stop it from singing and harming people," Nie Lingfeng said, his tone calm but carrying an undeniable determination. "However, before we go, you need to fully recover and better control your 'fire.' What happened last night was too dangerous."
Chen Duo recalled how she almost exposed herself last night when she lost control of her strength, and her face tightened again. She nodded vigorously, "Yes! I will study hard! I can't let it run wild!"
"Alright, I'll teach you when it's fully light." Nie Lingfeng glanced at the sky; the pale light in the east was rapidly expanding, tinged with a faint golden-red. Dawn was approaching.
The two quickly finished their simple breakfast and drank some stream water (which Nie Lingfeng had heated with his internal energy). Nie Lingfeng then had Chen Duo sit cross-legged, and he sat opposite her.
"Close your eyes, relax, and feel the 'fire' within you." Nie Lingfeng's voice was deep and calm, carrying a strange, soothing power. "Don't be afraid of it, and don't force it. Imagine it flowing slowly through your body like a stream, warm and bright, a friend to you, a part of you..."
He began guiding Chen Duo through the most basic and core practice of controlling the Phoenix True Fire. It wasn't about advanced techniques, but about the most fundamental aspects of "perception" and "communication." He conveyed his profound understanding of subtle power control to Chen Duo in the simplest way possible. Simultaneously, he mobilized the power within him, infused with the characteristics of Phoenix Blood, allowing it to flow gently through Chen Duo's meridians, as if demonstrating, enabling her to more intuitively experience what a "stable" and "restrained" energy state felt like.
Chen Duo studied diligently. Although some parts remained obscure for her, she possessed astonishing intuition and an innate affinity with the phoenix bloodline. Under Nie Lingfeng's patient guidance and her own diligent efforts, the golden phoenix true fire within her gradually shed its restlessness and "wildness" from the previous night, becoming increasingly docile and concentrated. With her breath, it flowed slowly along specific meridian pathways in a more stable and efficient rhythm. She could even attempt to condense a wisp of true fire at her fingertips, transforming it into a small, stable, warm, and non-scorching golden flame, which she could then control to flicker slightly or slowly extinguish at her will.
"Yes, that's it. Feel it, guide it, don't command it." Nie Lingfeng nodded approvingly. Chen Duo's progress was faster than he had expected. Perhaps, although last night's loss of control was dangerous, it was also like a "tempering," which qualitatively improved her understanding and control of her own power.
As the morning light grew brighter, golden rays finally pierced through the dense canopy, casting beams of light through the forest and shimmering the damp air with a hazy glow. Countless dust particles danced within these beams of light, like lively golden sprites. The chirping of insects and calls of birds grew clearer and louder, and the rainforest was fully awakened from its slumber, brimming with vibrant life, creating an eerie contrast with the lurking, sinister "field" beneath the surface.
After practicing for about an hour, fine beads of sweat appeared on Chen Duo's forehead, but her face shone with an unprecedented focused and bright glow. She could feel that her "control" over the warm power within her body had significantly increased.
"Alright, take a break." Nie Lingfeng told her to stop and handed her a water bottle.
Chen Duo took the drink, took a big gulp, and then looked at her outstretched palm, the warmth of the flame still lingering there. She looked up, her bright green eyes sparkling as she gazed at Nie Lingfeng, a slight smile of pride and satisfaction playing on her lips. "Nie Lingfeng, I feel... it's much more obedient now. Like a kitten, I can pet its head." (๑•̀ㅂ•́)و✧
Nie Lingfeng was amused by her analogy and ruffled her hair: "Hmm, very impressive. However, it's much more powerful than a kitten; it's a great helper for us in dealing with 'stinky things'."
"Mmm!" Chen Duo nodded vigorously, then looked at the increasingly bright light around her, touched her stomach, and whispered, "I... I'm a little hungry again. The compressed biscuits... are all gone."
Nie Lingfeng also realized that food supplies were running low. In the rainforest, food and water were paramount for survival. He looked around, his gaze falling on the stream and the surrounding vegetation.
"Let's go find something to eat." Nie Lingfeng stood up. Although he wasn't a wilderness survival expert like Chen Duo (who came from the Medicine Immortal Society), he still had the basic ability to identify and obtain food, not to mention that his current strength far exceeded that of ordinary people.
He led Chen Duo upstream along the stream for a while. The water was clear, and they could see some small fish and shrimp. Nie Lingfeng casually picked up a few thin, sturdy grass stems and, using a simple trapping technique, quickly caught several palm-sized, shimmering stream fish in a gentler backwater. He then used a sharpened branch to dig out some plump, yam-like tubers (which he confirmed were non-toxic) from the soft mud along the stream bank.
Back in the open space, Nie Lingfeng built a simple stove with a few stones, gathered some dry branches, and lit them with his internal energy (controlling the fire very weakly, producing almost no smoke). He then wrapped the cleaned fish and washed tubers in large, clean leaves and buried them in the embers under the stove to roast.
Soon, an enticing aroma filled the air. It was the natural, rustic fragrance of fish mixed with starchy plant tubers, grilled together. Chen Duo watched intently, her little nose constantly twitching, her mouth practically watering. (☆▽☆)
After roasting, Nie Lingfeng carefully peeled back the charred leaves, revealing snow-white, tender fish meat and sweet, powdery tubers inside. There was no salt, no seasoning, but for the two who had been hungry all morning and exhausted, it was an unparalleled delicacy. Chen Duo ate with a glistening sheen, repeatedly saying "Delicious," even carefully sucking away the fish bones.
After a simple yet satisfying meal, the two regained their energy and vitality. The sun was high in the sky, the mist in the forest had dissipated, and the visibility was much clearer.
"It's time to go." Nie Lingfeng packed his things and completely covered the traces of the fire with soil and stream water. He determined the direction; the source of that evil "field" and the upstream direction of the stream both pointed to the deeper, higher mountains to the west.
"Stay close to me, watch your step, and watch your surroundings," Nie Lingfeng instructed Chen Duo. This time, it wasn't an escape, but an active exploration. The goal—to find the entrance to "Nanmu Cave" and uncover the truth behind the eerie singing and the evil "field."
The two stepped into the dense rainforest again, but this time they moved much slower and more cautiously. As Nie Lingfeng walked, he carefully observed the changes in terrain and vegetation, as well as the flow of the earth's energy. Chen Duo followed beside him, her emerald eyes warily scanning the surrounding bushes and canopies, occasionally spotting poisonous insects or thorny plants hidden among the branches and leaves, quietly reminding Nie Lingfeng to avoid them. Her keen perception of the natural environment proved unexpectedly useful in this situation.
As they ventured deeper, the terrain began to rise gently, the trees grew older and taller, and the vines and aerial roots became increasingly thick and menacing. The malevolent "field" in the air became more palpable, even subtly inducing a sense of psychological oppression and unease. The stream became swifter, its roar echoing. More importantly, Nie Lingfeng began to discover traces of human intervention on the ground and rock walls.
Although covered by thick moss, lichen, and creeping plants, the regular cross-sections and obvious chisel marks are by no means naturally formed. In some places, you can even see broken iron spikes and fragments of mine cart tracks that are almost fused to the rock.
Is it the abandoned mine that Azan Ki mentioned?
Nie Lingfeng's spirits lifted, and following these traces, he quickened his pace. Chen Duo also sensed something, her expression becoming even more serious. Her little hands unconsciously formed the Phoenix Seal again, a faint golden halo flowing from her fingertips, as if the Phoenix True Fire within her body had also sensed the increasingly intense evil aura ahead and spontaneously entered a state of alert.
After passing through an exceptionally dense area of vines that almost completely obscured the sun, a huge, dark cave suddenly appeared ahead, like the gaping maw of a prehistoric beast!
The cave entrance is an irregular oval, about seven or eight meters high and over ten meters wide, with jagged edges covered in a mixture of water erosion and human carving marks. Above the entrance, the rock wall is covered with a thick layer of dark red deposits, resembling dried blood or some kind of special mineral, reflecting an eerie sheen in the sunlight. A chilling current, several times stronger than before, mixed with heavy moisture, mineral corrosion, and an indescribable, extremely unsettling sweet, fishy, and malevolent aura, continuously blows from the cave, carrying a low, mournful sound, like the sighs of countless people.
The ground around the cave entrance is littered with more man-made relics—broken miner lamps, rusted tools, and even several twisted skeletons of miners, half-hidden by vines and moss, silently telling the story of the horror and death here.
What made Nie Lingfeng's gaze most grave was that on the rock wall to the left of the cave entrance, he saw some blurry, extremely ancient and eerie patterns and symbols drawn with some kind of dark red pigment (perhaps cinnabar mixed with something else). These patterns were twisted and abstract, neither human nor beast, exuding a strong aura of blasphemy and madness similar to that of the "Blood Moon" will and the research of the Yaoxing Society! Furthermore, the arrangement of several symbols subtly echoed the shape of the black resin given by Azanki and the dark green crystal on the one-eyed monster's chest, creating a strange resonance!
This is the entrance to the abandoned mine leading to "Namu Cave"! It is also one of the core sources of that eerie singing and evil "field"!
Nie Lingfeng stood in front of the cave entrance, feeling the chilling and evil aura that rushed towards him, almost solidified. The Qilin tattoo on his chest felt slightly warm, and the power within his body spontaneously accelerated its flow, issuing a silent warning and a fighting spirit.
He turned around and looked at Chen Duo beside him. Chen Duo's face was also a little pale, her emerald green eyes were fixed on the dark hole that seemed to devour all light, her body was slightly tense, but there was no retreat in her eyes, only a kind of focused vigilance, and the increasingly solid golden halo at her fingertips.
"Are you scared?" Nie Lingfeng asked softly.
Chen Duo shook her head and answered earnestly, "I'm not afraid. It's just... it stinks inside. It stinks even more than that stinky thing from last night." She paused, looked at Nie Lingfeng, her eyes clear and firm, "But you're here. Together, we'll burn all that stinky stuff inside clean."
With a firm resolve, Nie Lingfeng reached out and grasped her slightly cool yet exceptionally determined little hand.
"Okay, let's do it together."
He took a deep breath, no longer hesitated, took Chen Duo's hand, and stepped into the dark cave that resembled the mouth of a giant beast, exuding endless evil and the unknown.
Darkness instantly swallowed their figures.
Only the mournful wind at the cave entrance and the faint, clear, alluring yet blasphemous ancient song, seemingly emanating from the depths of the earth, echoed eerily at the edge of the desolate rainforest…
(To be continued) (๑•̀ㅂ•́)و✧