Shi Jingzhi had never experienced near-death.
He had a deep memory of the time when he was in love, but after more than 20 years, he could not taste the bitter taste. This time was different. The blade that cut through his throat was cold to the bone, and a burning pain followed. Su Si's move was very accurate, and he did not cut his throat, but the gushing blood still made Shi Jingzhi horrified.
He felt as if he was sinking into an icy lake. Every movement took a lot of effort. All sounds seemed to be separated by cotton, mixed into a blur of fragments. A deep fear surged up, almost chewing him alive.
Shi Jingzhi hoped to faint. However, his heart was beating wildly, and panic and fear made his limbs numb, forcing him to stay awake. The heavy fear came over him, causing severe pain in his brain. He could not see anything, nor could he catch anyone. All he could feel was suffocation and fear.
It was like being imprisoned in a dark room, listening to the clanking of invisible torture instruments. This torture was too much, and ordinary people might not be able to endure it, let alone those who wanted to have children.
… Was Yin Zizhu also in such pain after being buried underground for more than eighty years
Thinking of Yin Ci vaguely, Shi Jingzhi regained some consciousness. In this dull pain, he seemed to have grasped a hand and calmed down.
However, as Shi Jingzhi gradually regained consciousness, he vaguely remembered what he had felt.
Life gradually drained away, and Shi Jingzhi's five powers lost their effectiveness one by one. A very faint consciousness emerged -
There seemed to be countless invisible "thin roots" around him, and countless essences were flowing along them, constantly pouring into Shi Jingzhi's meridians. He was like a strange plant, and could vaguely sense the boundaries of this strange "root system".
When they first discovered the mystery of the Meat Statue, their guess was correct.
At the end of the "root system" were all cities with temples built for the emperor. The densely populated cities like Yidu, Qizhou, and Yongsheng were particularly rich in energy. People knelt in front of the statues and prayed with desire. And the energy mixed with desire was absorbed by the magic, and finally filled the flesh and blood of the worshiper.
…But this was something they had already guessed.
These essences poured in day and night, not to mention ensuring that he would not die, they would swell to death themselves. Shi Jingzhi carefully felt the "root system of the temple" spread all over the country, trying to find the mystery.
The coldness and despair of death clung to him, making it particularly difficult to search. Unconsciously, he had completely lost all sense of the outside world. Shi Jingzhi tried his best to keep his wits about him, forcing himself to feel more deeply—
Despair only takes a moment to come.
As if sensing Shi Jingzhi's struggle, another force emerged from the void. It was chaotic and ignorant, but it carried a strong sense of oppression, like a giant hand that was about to descend, covering Shi Jingzhi in its palm.
The power emerged and dissipated in a split second. It was like a firework exploding in the dark night, illuminating the darkness with a fleeting light. It was also like waves rising in black water, with ripples hitting unknown reefs.
I don't know whether it was fortunate or unfortunate. At that moment, Shi Jingzhi's remaining energy happened to be focused on the "roots of the temple". Thanks to this power, he also "saw" another outline.
It's the root system.
His "shrine roots" that are spread across mountains, rivers, lakes and seas are completely wrapped up in another set of "roots".
It was denser, more secretive, and more terrifying. Its growth direction was opposite to that of ordinary plants, with its roots pointing straight to the sky, like the complex ancient roots of a thousand-year-old giant tree. Even though Shi Jingzhi had endless energy, he couldn't find the source of the root system for a while.
He only saw countless roots piercing the ground, with the ends protruding from the surface, absorbing the essence of all things. The tiny part that protruded from the surface was the gray-red "bare branches" covered with fine roots that reached straight into the sky.
…It is also the “bald branch” that is mixed in Yin Ci’s body and makes him immortal.
The bare branches are all over the country, densely packed and piercing the sky. There are thousands and tens of thousands of times more than the temples. If Yanbudu's jade eyes could teach people to see the whole country, I am afraid that all the prosperity would be buried under the gray and red bare branches. That is to say, mortals cannot see or touch it, so they live in peace until now.
It couldn't end yet, Shi Jingzhi suppressed his fear and pushed himself forward a step.
Although his original intention was just to test the Immortal Guidance, he would not have a second chance of dying, so he had to see clearly. He took a deep breath, almost giving up half his life, and continued to explore regardless of anything.
Who knew that the more he explored, the more terrifying and absurd everything became. In a trance, Shi Jingzhi felt like a small insect measuring a giant elephant. This strange creature seemed to have no boundaries. He explored until his head was splitting and he almost lost consciousness before he could barely find the "trunk" of this thing.
Just like the root system hanging upside down, the end of the root system, the "trunk" of this monster also goes deep into the ground, and its shape is extremely twisted. As for the thickness... If the vast land of Dayun is divided into ten parts, the thickness of this "trunk" can account for one-tenth or twelve-tenth.
Further down was pure darkness. His brain was almost boiling and he was almost exhausted. He could no longer see anything.
Shi Jingzhi tried his best, but he could only find a tiny part of the monster. His artificial "root system of the shrine" was sparse and weak, only a shallow layer. In comparison, it was like the young roots of a seedling, totally insignificant.
Shi Jingzhi floated in the darkness in a daze, watching the bare branches on the ground soaring into the clouds, and the bare branches underground gradually becoming thicker and twisted, merging into the unimaginable giant. With just a little hazy consciousness, it pressed down on him and made it impossible for him to breathe.
I see.
No wonder Yin Ci couldn't use his internal force, his disciple was not a "leak". As soon as he merged into the roots, Yin Ci's meridians connected to the "upside-down giant tree". No matter how deep Yin Ci's internal force was, no matter how he practiced in the future, he couldn't use his internal force - how could you expect the river to become salty if you sprinkled a pinch of salt into the rolling river
For unknown reasons, Yin Ci connected to the "upside-down giant tree" and absorbed its essence, so he could not die normally.
… So the imperial masters used Yin Ci’s body as a base to build a shrine to imitate the flesh statue. They experimented with it generation after generation and copied a set of “small roots” that absorbed essence.
The lustful children of all generations are the monsters raised by this small root system.
Unfortunately, human imitation is very poor, and it is no match for this huge monster born and raised by nature. Everything is excessive, and the essence is very mixed, and it is constantly poured in day and night. Not only did the child fail to achieve immortality, but he lived even shorter than ordinary people.
Those ambiguous, mysterious and difficult to understand places seem to have answers.
Why is the magic in his blood so complicated? It doesn't seem to be constructed by mortals, and only has traces of human modification - that magic was copied from this monster and modified, so it is naturally complicated and difficult to understand.
Why does the "Heaven's Disgust" phenomenon occur in Dayun? The small artificial roots are naturally rough and cannot do such troublesome things. But if it is such a huge monster, even if it extracts the "useless" people to death, it is probably possible to give back some of their essence to the strong laborers.
If poultry or livestock are suffering from minor diseases or injuries, they should be cured as soon as possible. However, if the treatment is difficult or the animal's roots are damaged, they should be killed and eaten immediately, otherwise the feed will be wasted.
Who could have expected that what Yan Qing said during the casual conversation in the north would come true.
There was indeed something feeding them and controlling them. With a quick glance, he could see it clearly.
Thinking of this, Shi Jingzhi shuddered suddenly.
If this evil creature was more straightforward, would it be able to drain people dry in a short time? The God-summoning Formation, the God-summoning Formation, what exactly is it summoning? … Have the imperial masters of all generations known about the existence of this "giant tree"
Shi Jingzhi could not help but reach out to those bare branches again. At this moment, in his mind, they were no longer weird and funny monsters, but the pen of the judge who held the power of life and death over everyone.
Unexpectedly, this time he explored again and actually found out some things.
Among the countless roots, the "upside-down giant tree" had two roots that were particularly twisted, and the texture was very different from the surrounding roots. They were the color of human skin, and one of them was close to him, and it must have been Yin Ci. The other one led to the distance, and he could not see the end.
What kind of person is connected over there? Or, in other words, what “thing” is connected over there
As for what this "upside-down giant tree" looked like, and what the end of the darkness looked like, Shi Jingzhi was no longer able to know, let alone imagine.
Only deep despair overwhelmed him.
Before, Shi Jingzhi thought his opponent was just the Immortal Guidance, or at worst, a vague "immortal". At best, it was just an equal contest in the mortal world. Now, it seems that his opponent is too huge, too ancient, and too strong. He hasn't even figured out a way to destroy his "small root system", so how can he deal with this huge demon as big as the world
What Jianghu, what imperial court, are just mortals playing house. If Jiang Youyue knew about the "upside-down giant tree" from the beginning, if the imperial masters had a way to negotiate with the monster. I am just an ant in the world. Even if I have thousands of love and hate, I can't resist the fingertips of evil gods and demons.
Even if Yugong moved the mountain, it would still take countless years for his descendants to move it. Now my life span is running out, and I can't even do it slowly.
Can't win.
No matter how hard he tried, Shi Jingzhi couldn't find the way out.
… He couldn’t win, couldn’t think of any way to do it.
What can he do in the face of the current situation? If he refuses to see the flesh, he will undoubtedly die. This death is not a moment, the flesh is in his hands, and he will have to endure endless hesitation and torture before he dies. If he does not refuse to see the flesh, his resistance all the way is nothing but a joke.
The worst thing is that Shi Jingzhi still doesn't know what will happen after eating the meat. This unknown hope alone is enough to give rise to thousands of excuses and ignite all his anxious desires.
In the midst of all despair, a cold thought pierced through Shi Jingzhi's heart -
If I didn't have any human feelings now, everything would be so much easier.
At first, he would only focus on surviving, and thus, through the game set up by the Immortal Guild, he would obtain the Vision Meat after many twists and turns. For such a simple and interesting thing, he did not need to see any darkness, nor did he need to have any doubts. At the moment of eating the Vision Meat, before the unknown came, he would even be extremely happy.
But he couldn't even hate Yin Ci. When he thought of that person, he couldn't hold back his anger, and it all turned into bitterness and grievance.
Or maybe it would be easier to just go crazy. Whether it's suicide or losing your mind, it's better than facing the torture of despair. Now that I think about it, it seems that lustful people are destined to take this path - hoping for an impossible ending and taking the initiative to embark on the road of self-destruction.
But he still cherished a little warmth in his heart. He hadn't watched the lanterns with that person yet, and hadn't tasted the feeling of letting go of the burden and living with others. He didn't want to die.
… He had no way to go, but he couldn't stop.
In this suffocating despair, Shi Jingzhi opened his eyes. His lips were chapped, and there was still pain and itchiness in his throat. He couldn't say a word. Seeing Yin Ci's concerned eyes, Shi Jingzhi hadn't figured out what expression to put on before tears started to flow.
What a shame, he thought.
But he just couldn't stop the tears. Under the gentle gaze of the other party, all the despair and grievance seemed to burst out. Unable to control his emotions, Shi Jingzhi moved his body without caring about anything, desperately hugged Yin Ci, and escaped from the world for a moment.
Yin Ci seemed to sense his despair and did not urge him or ask. The man just spoke softly, as if it didn't matter if the sky fell.
His tortured lover had no idea what kind of absurdity was hidden behind this "immortality" or what kind of evil scene lay on the other side of this beautiful land.
Shi Jingzhi swallowed his saliva, and his throat felt like it was being torn apart. He hugged Yin Ci tighter and finally uttered a hoarse word.
"Give up on your own and leave you alone."
He hasn't wiped away his tears yet.
"How can I... be willing?"