The nightmare lasted for a long time until the man leaned his head on his shoulder and said those words.
Zong Ci was awakened by the deep voice of "Senior Brother" which seemed to reveal infinite paranoia and madness.
When he woke up, the night was still going on. The sky was so dark that he could not see a single star. It was all vast and boundless wherever he looked.
Not far from where we had just camped, a flame suddenly appeared, illuminating the dark forest, and sweeping away the flying ashes and fallen leaves with the hot wind.
The young man, covered in cold sweat, leaned against the tree. His black hair, soaked in sweat, hung down and stuck to his body, making him feel extremely uncomfortable.
Zong Ci stared at the blazing fire over there, and felt as cold as if he was immersed in a cold pond, and the temperature could not reach him at all.
In a daze, he heard Liu Meng's exclamation from a distance: "Fire is useless against them!"
The sound seemed to come from thousands of mountains.
For a moment, Zong Ci couldn't tell whether this was reality or a nightmare that he couldn't escape.
"Brother, thank God, you finally woke up!"
Far away, Wang Bing took his mind off the fierce battle, turned around and shouted towards us, "We accidentally broke into the territory of the black-backed hairy spider yesterday. If Brother Liu hadn't reacted in time and woke us up, we would have almost been caught!"
As if to confirm this statement, in the light of the fire, among the layers of tree shadows, Zong Ci clearly saw three or four large spiders crawling over densely. Their huge hairy limbs easily cut off a tree as thick as a bowl, with amazing destructive power.
He was in no mood to recall the seemingly real dream, and struggled to stand up. But perhaps because he had been in the dream for too long, Zong Ci had no strength in his body. As soon as he stood up, his eyes went dark, and he stumbled forward two steps, almost falling to the ground.
"Are you okay?"
A cold arm reached out steadily from the side and hugged him around the waist.
Zong Ci's pupils shrank slightly.
There was no other reason. The voice that was so close to him was so similar to the voice in his nightmare just now, to the point of being almost identical.
The blue-shirted disciple stood beside him. When Zong Ci looked up, he curled his lips and showed a harmless expression. "Just now, I saw that Zong brother was sleeping too deeply, as if he was in a nightmare. I was afraid that Zong brother would have an accident, so I stayed here to guard him."
"... ... Well, I'm fine, thank you."
Because of this strange coincidence, Zong Ci was somewhat confused and uncertain.
He tried hard to wipe away the darkness in his eyes caused by exhaustion and pushed away the arm blocking his way.
The strange and absurd dream content, the seemingly true words, the identical voice, combined with Liu Yuan's identity as a ghost cultivator... ...
Zong Ci had a vague clue in his mind, and if someone could just smooth it over, maybe it would become clear.
At this moment, something suddenly happened ahead.
Liu Meng and Wang Bing had limited strength. As the number of black-backed hairy spiders increased, they could even hear the rustling sounds of them crawling in the darkness from a distance, so they would occasionally become careless and unable to take care of themselves.
Seeing a black-backed hairy spider breaking through the blockade, its long legs trying to stab Wang Bing's back, Zong Ci didn't even bother to pick up the sword, and the cold white sword energy burst out from his fingertips, piercing forward like lightning.
"Sizzle—"
The thick spider legs were cut off by the sword energy, and the smelly green blood spilled on the ground, emitting a "sizzling" corrosion sound on the cracks in the rock. The black-backed hairy spider howled sharply and was about to fight back, but another sword energy directly cut its body, so it finally rolled to the ground and stopped moving.
The current situation is urgent and does not allow him more time to think.
Zong Ci had no choice but to put aside these suspicions and specious clues for the time being, and stepped forward to join the battle, shouting to Wang Bing and Liu Meng: "Retreat first, now is not the time to talk, you go first, I will cover the rear!"
"good!"
Wang Bing nodded and did not refuse. After accurately killing a black-backed hair spider, he immediately pulled Liu Meng back.
He and Liu Meng have been resisting for a while and are now showing signs of fatigue.
Just now, Zong Ci couldn't wake him up no matter how hard he tried, so Liu Yuan had to take care of him. Now that this recognized outer sect's strongest fighter had woken up, Wang Bing breathed a sigh of relief.
Wang Bing was naturally confident in Zong Ci's strength. The sword energy he used in Taiyan Sect Square that day was enough to show that letting him cover the rear was the best choice.
"Since my brother is the last one to leave, I will lead the way."
After Zong Ci finished saying this, the blue-shirted disciple also pulled out an iron sword from his storage bag and naturally walked to the front of the team.
"Black-backed hairy spiders are afraid of water. As long as we find a water source, we won't be entangled by them anymore. We are now roughly in the north of Sunset Forest. If I remember correctly when I looked at the map, there is a water source a few miles away. As long as we get there, these black-backed hairy spiders won't be a problem for us."
"Brother Liu is right." Wang Bing was overjoyed and nodded repeatedly. "These hairy spiders are very likely to make enemies. Since we have killed so many of their companions, they may not give up for a while. If we continue like this, the consequences will be disastrous."
Liu Meng also nodded in agreement, "Without further delay, I'll trouble Brother Liu to lead the way."
Zong Ci had a bad feeling in his heart, but his men had to continue using their swords to buy time for Wang Bing and Liu Meng to retreat.
The pressure was the greatest at the rear. It was pitch black under the night sky, and he had no time to see what Liu Yuan was planning. He could only retreat in the direction he was leading.
The four of them were running in front, and the rustling sounds behind them never stopped.
But the further he ran, the more strange Zong Ci felt.
Others may not know, but Zong Ci, who had once rolled around in the Sunset Forest, knows it very well.
These black-backed hairy spiders are social creatures, and usually they will circle out a piece of territory in the forest as their activity area. Although the individual strength is average, the terrifying thing is the huge number, and few wild animals dare to provoke them.
It was no wonder that Wang Bing and his team had not discovered it before, because black-backed hairy spiders are usually active during the day and rarely appear at night. They entered the forest at night, so it was normal that they did not discover it.
But it was understandable to be careless for a moment, but it was a bit strange to pursue them relentlessly. They had chased them so far, and they still didn't seem to give up.
Zong Ci felt that there were more and more doubts, as if there was a hand controlling everything from behind, but he couldn't guess what the other party was planning.
"Look ahead! We're almost there!"
The cold crescent moon finally peeked out from behind the dark clouds, spreading its bright light all over the earth.
After running at full speed for nearly half an hour, their vision suddenly became clear.
Not far from them, a river hidden in the woods gradually appeared. The moonlight sparkled on the flowing river, emitting a quiet and clear light.
Zong Ci was added at the end, so it was not clear. But when Wang Bing saw the destination, he shouted excitedly, raised his sword and walked forward, passing the blue-shirted disciples in front of him. He did not mind the cold water and jumped into the water first, turning back to wave at them, "You guys hurry up—"
However, before he could finish his words, his cheerful expression just now froze forever.
The next moment, a rich color suddenly emerged from the cold moonlight on the river surface, bubbling up unstoppably, mixing with the river water, dyeing everything within sight a dazzling bright red.
"Wang Bing!"
Liu Meng screamed, and the hook in her hand flew out, hooked onto the corner of the man's clothes on the surface of the river, and pulled him up along the silk thread, trying to rescue the man from the river.
But it was too late.
Wang Bing, who was dragged out, had his eyes wide open with a look of surprise on his face. He opened his mouth as if he wanted to say what was going on, but he could only vomit out streams of blood containing broken internal organs.
The person who was dragged out by the □□ was only half of his body.
Zong Ci raised his eyes and saw this scene.
His pupils suddenly shrank, and he quickly stepped forward, pulling Liu Meng back, "Don't go over there, there's something in the water!"
As if in response to these words, the next second, the horrible creature hiding in the river revealed its true appearance under the cruising moonlight.
—It was a giant snake lurking in the river, covered with green scales, with a huge red boil on its head, and bloodstains on its pointed fangs, and one could even see torn clothes still stained on them.
This is a python, whose strength is at least at level five. It is simply not something that those of them in the foundation-building stage can deal with.
"What, what should I do... There's a black-backed hairy spider behind us." Liu Meng was so scared that his face turned pale.
Although he was a disciple of the sect, it was normal for him to be scared when he suddenly saw Wang Bing's tragic death. Besides, the situation was now a tiger in front and a wolf behind, and neither side was optimistic. Liu Meng was frightened at first and grabbed the sleeve of the boy next to him tightly, like a drowning man grabbing a floating log.
"The gap in strength is too big. We can't win. Let's send a signal to the sect first."
Zong Ci held Liu Meng with one hand and ran to the other side of the river, while quickly thinking of a strategy in his mind.
"good."
Liu Meng looked at the boy's calm expression in the dark and finally regained his composure.
She took out the sect's signal talisman from her storage bag and slapped it into the air.
This is the signal symbol that Taiyan Sect issued to all disciples. It can be used when encountering an irresistible crisis in the Sunset Forest. After receiving the signal from the signal symbol, the sect's law enforcement hall will immediately send out disciples to bring them back.
While Liu Meng was performing a series of operations, Zong Ci took the time to look at the sky, and suddenly felt something was wrong.
At this moment, Liu Meng's surprised voice also sounded: "How could it be?! The signal symbol cannot be used!"
There is only one possibility if the signal symbol cannot be used.
—They are not within the northern border of Taiyan Sect.
They walked out of Taiyan Sect's barrier.
But the northern territory covered by the Sunset Forest is so vast, how is it possible to run out of the barrier in just half an hour
Unless you're walking in a straight line, or... ...someone has tampered with it.
Zong Ci turned around suddenly.
While he and Liu Meng were discussing countermeasures, Liu Yuanzheng was following them leisurely, keeping a distance between them.
When Zong Ci looked over, a cold breeze blew by, slightly lifting the hem of his blue shirt.
Under the hem of the dress was a piece of blood-red jade, which disappeared in a flash in the deep, moonless night and was covered by the clothes again.
With the help of moonlight, Zong Ci saw the pigeon blood color emanating from the jade, as well as the ominous patterns on the surface that were wriggling like living things.
He was horrified.
Zong Ci had seen this evil creature before, but it was in his previous life.
That is the sacred object that has been worshipped by the demon clan in the underground demon tower from generation to generation - the Soul-Locking Lamp.
The Soul-Locking Lamp is indeed a lamp, but few people know that what is revered as a sacred object by the demon clan is not actually the complete Soul-Locking Lamp, but a part of it - the wick.
As everyone knows, half a year ago, the Lord of the Ghost Realm launched a lightning-fast attack on the demon clan in order to obtain the demon clan's sacred objects.
At this point, Liu Yuan’s identity is about to be revealed.
But the first thing Zong Ci thought of was not this, but the red light that flashed and disappeared in the nightmare just now.
It was a dove-blood color that he could hardly remember incorrectly.
As if sensing the boy's gaze, Liu Yuan slowly raised his eyes and looked over, slowly raising the corners of his mouth.
It was too far away, Zong Ci could only see the intense darkness dancing in those black eyes, the undisguised joy on his face. And more than that, there was a kind of inexplicable expectation mixed with a deep madness.
What is he expecting
Could it be that...
Zong Ci reached out his hand belatedly and touched his neck stiffly.
Liu Meng saw him stop and turned back. When he saw his neck, he suddenly exclaimed, "Brother Zong, why is your neck bleeding? Such a big wound... Did you get hurt while traveling? Brother Zong, why didn't you say anything? It looks like a scab has formed."
"No, I wasn't injured on the road." Zong Ci muttered to himself, his fingertips slowly sliding across the hideous wound.
It was only then that Zong Ci realized—
Whether it was the python that suddenly appeared and bit Wang Bing to death in one fell swoop, or the black-backed spider that had been chasing them relentlessly, all of them were silent.
There was silence between heaven and earth; even the noisy chirping of insects in the mountains faded away, leaving no sound, freezing the boy's heart.
Because Zong Ci clearly remembered that in that nightmare, he was stabbed in the neck and strangled, like a fish thirsty for water. The only clue was a red light and that sentence... ... which was terrifying when you think about it carefully.
It turned out that what he thought was a nightmare was not a nightmare, but the real truth.
Zong Ci's heart suddenly sank to the bottom.