books44 Chapter 372 Phantom in the Fog
Chapter 372 Phantom in the Fog
Hu Qing struggled to wake up from the chaos, his consciousness seemed to be torn apart and then barely pieced together.
He slowly sat up and suddenly felt a severe headache, as if thousands of tiny needles were stirring in his skull.
He subconsciously reached out and pressed his temple, his fingertips trembling slightly. He rubbed it hard for a long time before the sharp pain was slightly relieved.
The surroundings were hazy, and the grayish-white fog floated like a veil, blocking the view.
He tried to mobilize his spiritual power to investigate, but as soon as he activated his spiritual power, his expression suddenly changed.
The meridians were empty, and the spiritual power that was originally surging like a river disappeared without a trace!
At this moment, he was no different from an ordinary person.
"What's going on..." Hu Qing murmured softly, his voice sounding particularly clear in the silent fog.
At this moment, a dark shadow appeared silently in front of him.
The shadow's outline was blurry, as if condensed from mist. Even though it was close, Hu Qing could not see the other person's face clearly. He could only feel a cold and strange aura.
The shadow stared at him quietly, then suddenly chuckled. The voice was ethereal and vague, like a man or a woman, old or young, as if it came from all directions at once:
"Interesting little guy, how about we discuss a collaboration?"
“…What kind of cooperation…”
Hu Qing's heart tightened and he instinctively took a half step back, but before he could respond, the black shadow suddenly turned into a black smoke and rushed towards him!
He had no time to dodge. He felt a piercing chill instantly invade his body. His vision went dark, and his consciousness fell into chaos again...
"Ah Qing! Ah Qing!"
Hearing an anxious call in his ears, Hu Qing suddenly opened his eyes. The dazzling light made him subconsciously raise his hand to block it.
When his vision gradually became clear, he found that he was lying under a tall tower. Above his head was the dark sky unique to the Central Region, and the thick clouds pressed very low, as if they would collapse at any time.
"He's awake! He's really awake!" Gu Yang's voice was choked with sobs, and his eyes were slightly red, obviously he had just cried.
He grabbed Hu Qing's shoulders and said in a trembling voice, "You haven't woken up yet. Elder Xia used his spiritual sense to check, but he couldn't sense your consciousness... I thought you..."
Hu Qing was stunned, the fog and strange black shadow flashed through his mind, but his memory seemed to be covered by a veil, and he could not grasp the details.
He shook his dizzy head and simply stopped thinking about it. He looked around and frowned and asked, "Why are we back in the Central Region? Weren't we in the Great Zhou Dynasty before?"
Hu Qing looked at the people in front of him and subconsciously touched the back of his neck, but found nothing.
However, what he didn't know was that deep in the hair at the back of his head, a blood-red skull mark was quietly emerging, flickering slightly like a living thing, and then disappearing...
The Sword God's gaze swept across Hu Qing and Gu Yang like a sharp blade. Seeing that the two were still somewhat dazed, he explained to them in a deep voice:
"I don't know what taboo you've touched upon in your deduction mirror. The dragon veins of the Great Zhou Dynasty have suffered a severe backlash, and the damage this time is more severe than ever before."
When Hu Qing heard this, the pair of huge eyes he saw in the deduction mirror suddenly flashed through his mind.
Cold and indifferent, as if it were above all living beings, the mere memory of it sent chills down his spine, and he shuddered involuntarily.
Gu Yang's face turned pale in an instant, and his fingers unconsciously clenched his sleeves.
"When you were forcibly ejected from the simulation mirror, you covered your eyes tightly with your hands and screamed in agony."
The Sword God's voice was filled with a certain solemnity. "Then he passed out, with blood oozing from the corners of his eyes."
Hu Qing subconsciously raised his hand and touched his eyes. When his fingertips touched his skin, he could still feel a slight residual sting.
Gu Yang also touched his eyelids and murmured softly: "No wonder my eyes were sore and swollen when I woke up..."
The Sword God continued, "I saw the situation was not good, so I took Zhou Li out of the core of the dragon vein. However, the luck that the dragon vein had accumulated with great difficulty had already collapsed again. Zhou Li was so angry that he almost fainted."
Old Xia snorted coldly, his beard raised, and said unhappily:
"Because of this, the Central Region had to compensate the Great Zhou Dynasty with a batch of cultivation resources, and also offer additional natural treasures to make up for the bad luck!"
Hu Qing and Gu Yang looked at each other, laughed awkwardly, and didn't dare to respond.
The Sword God shook his head slightly and continued, "I took you back to Jingxin Garden to recuperate, but you didn't wake up. I'm not very proficient in medical skills, so I had to use the teleportation array in the capital of the Great Zhou Dynasty to first reach a city near the Central Region and then rush back here."
Gu Yang rubbed Xiao Zi's dragon head. Xiao Zi whimpered softly and rubbed his palm with his head, as if he was also worried about his master's condition.
Gu Yang sighed and said, "I just woke up not long ago, but Elder Xia said that your consciousness is completely silent, as if your soul has left your body. I was really scared."
Hu Qing scratched the back of his head, looking innocent: "I don't know what happened, I just felt like I slept very deeply, like I fell into a bottomless abyss, and I couldn't wake up."
Old Xia glared at him, raised his hand and slapped him on the head. The force was not strong, but it was filled with a hint of disappointment:
"Still sleeping soundly? Both of your souls are so damaged that you can hardly wake up!"
Hu Qing shrank his neck and did not dare to refute Mr. Xia's reprimand.
He calmed himself down, closed his eyes, and carefully looked inward at his soul.
This sight made his heart tighten immediately - he saw that the soul, which should have been as bright and smooth as jade, was now covered with dense cracks, like glass hit by a heavy hammer, which could completely shatter at any time.
He suddenly opened his eyes and looked at Gu Yang, and found that the other party was also looking at him with a pale face, obviously he had also noticed the abnormality of his soul.
"Mr. Xia...can this kind of injury be recovered?" Hu Qing's voice trembled a little.
Old Xia stroked his gray beard, frowned, and looked so solemn that it seemed as if water could drip out of it.
Seeing this, Hu Qing and Gu Yang felt their hearts sink and they couldn't help but hold their breath.
Just when the atmosphere was becoming extremely oppressive, Master Li, who had been silent all along, suddenly chuckled and said:
"Mr. Xia, please stop scaring them. Look how scared these two kids are. They can't even speak."
Old Xia rolled his eyes at Master Li in anger, then his expression softened slightly and he said calmly:
"I want them to learn a lesson! The soul is the foundation of cultivation. If you are not careful, your soul will be shattered and you won't even have a chance to revive!"
Hearing the word "salvation," Hu Qing and Gu Yang felt as if they had been granted amnesty. They quickly patted their chests and promised, "We will be careful next time! We will never dare to mess around like this again!"
Seeing that the two men admitted their mistakes sincerely, Old Xia's expression finally softened.