bookcurios Chapter 180 Died Gently
Chapter 180 Died Gently
For the rest of the journey, Zhu Wuyao didn't bother to strike up a conversation, and all he could hear were the two men chatting idly while rushing to catch up on the ride, with almost no useful information.
It seems that their unexpected misfortune was truly a fluke.
Before long, the prison cart entered a grotto.
The lights were extremely dim, and the different sections were almost separated by stone pillars. Zhu Wuyao smelled the stench of blood and heard the sound of nails and chisels. People coming and going seemed to take the arrival of the prison cart for granted.
She even saw a prison van heading in another direction, probably carrying a couple, pleading in terror.
The sound crashed against the stone wall, making it sound even more hollow and eerie.
Someone must have been bored, because a silencing spell was cast, leaving only large tears falling, soaking the dusty driveway, which dried quickly after being stepped on by shoes.
Only one or two people noticed the sealing incantation and greeted them with slight surprise:
"You two actually managed to capture a cultivator, you've done a good deed, haven't you?"
"You know what, this is like a windfall."
The prison wagon twisted and turned, and the two brothers driving it lowered their voices noticeably as they talked, as if the person they were going to meet was a formidable figure.
The ground was uneven, but the wheels didn't jostle on it.
The lights ahead were brighter, but the darkness seemed even greater. The flickering candlelight illuminated the niche carved into the stone wall, which surprisingly contained many books.
If Zhu Wuyao hadn't known this place was a mine, he would have surely thought it was a library.
"Master Shu, we've captured a cultivator, and we reckon it was her a while ago."
Zhu Wuyao looked warily at the old man in front of the stone table. He had a gray beard, was unkempt, had a slightly hunched back, and was wearing a gray coarse cloth coat.
The man known as "Old Bookman" slowly raised his head.
Like an elderly person, their reactions are somewhat slow.
However, the two brothers driving the carriage were exceptionally respectful. One of them quickly stepped forward, bent over, and presented Zhu Wuyao's belongings, saying:
"Master Shu, my brother and I have captured another sword cultivator. His storage bag can be sold for some spirit stones, but there's nothing good inside."
The old man stretched out his withered, bark-like hand and grabbed the storage bag.
They didn't seem to care much about the two brothers lining their own pockets, and didn't even bother to check.
He casually tossed Zhu Wuyao's storage bag together with two other storage bags, presumably waiting for them to be sent away in batches.
His voice, equally aged, seemed to carry a hint of gloom:
"What you took is the reward for this. Bring the person down so I can see him."
The two brothers pocketed five or six hundred spirit stones.
It wasn't a lot, but for a Qi Refining stage cultivator, it wasn't a small amount either, especially since capturing Zhu Wuyao was far too easy.
They bowed and scraped, saying yes, opened the prison cart, dragged Zhu Wuyao out, and shoved her in front of the old man.
The next moment——
Before Zhu Wuyao's eyes could see, the man known as the Old Man of Books flashed in front of her and grabbed her wrist.
Cold, hard fingers, like chicken claws, gripped her wrist, as if they were holding not a person, but a withered skeleton.
This sensation sent a shiver down Zhu Wuyao's spine.
She suppressed her instinct to resist, lowered her eyes, and concealed her various emotions.
Those who know the current affairs are handsome.
We are at their mercy, like fish on a chopping board.
Zhu Wuyao remained silent, his mind churning with various thoughts. However, in the next instant, a powerful force coursed through his meridians and coursed throughout his body.
A sharp pain shot through her, as if her bones were cracking, and her vision blurred. A metallic taste filled her throat, and she coughed up blood, collapsing to the ground instantly.
His wrist was flung away, and Zhu Wuyao heard the old scholar snort coldly and say:
"He's useless."
Zhu Wuyao tried to move his fingers, but they only trembled slightly.
She asked, "What...cough...what does this mean?"
Before the old scholar could answer, he turned and sat back down at the table, clearly not caring to acknowledge Zhu Wuyao. The two carriage drivers beside him sneered:
"What else could it mean? It means you're too useless. You can't even hold up Elder Shu's strength. You won't live for many more years."
The old man raised his hand slightly, and the two brothers immediately fell silent, understanding that he meant "drag them out."
The two brothers grabbed Zhu Wuyao's arms from either side and dragged her outside.
This action caused Zhu Wuyao to feel as if her whole body was breaking apart. She gritted her teeth and didn't make a sound, trying her best to see the surrounding scene clearly.
The three gates appear to have been repositioned by a formation, requiring the use of a token.
They still had to walk through a long, narrow passage with a steep slope, making it impossible to rush out at once.
The overhead bell netting is designed to detect any disturbance during operation.
The place was dark and oppressive, except for the Instant Pearl embedded in the wall, which emitted a faint glow from a great distance.
At the end of the passage, there was a circular pattern on the ground resembling a yin-yang symbol, with interlocking shapes, and a person in full armor guarding it.
Upon seeing someone approaching, extend your arm to stop them and verify their identity.
Then, he opened the circular hole in the ground and said:
"Throw the person down."
"Yes, I understand!"
Zhu Wuyao was thrown down into the hole and crashed into the barrier with a "thud".
Only when the upper circle re-spinned did the barrier below separate, throwing Zhu Wuyao down again. This happened three times before he finally crashed heavily into the actual mine.
Even if spiritual power is restricted, the changes to the body during the cultivation process cannot be erased.
Her five senses remain sharp.
I heard human breathing in the distance.
Its aura was deep, steady, and long, like a giant beast lurking in the shadows.
Zhu Wuyao tightened his fingers slightly. This was... a body cultivator far stronger than himself.
She forced herself to sit up and leaned back against the stone wall, becoming extremely alert and keeping her eyes fixed on the dimly lit area ahead.
But soon she realized that as long as she was there, she was safe.
But people need to eat and drink, and they can't hide here forever. Besides, those who fall later might be even stronger.
Therefore, one must always leave.
The ground around him was covered in reddish-brown stains, indicating that there were people weaker than himself who had been seriously injured when they first entered the mine.
Before she went into seclusion, she was a dying person whose consciousness was about to be eroded.
Upon opening his eyes, he unexpectedly found himself dying in a different way.
With the road ahead bleak and hopeless, Zhu Wuyao, finding a bit of humor in his misery, thought of his storage bag and remembered the plaque that read, "Thank you, Wuyu, for saving my sister's life."
I thought of Mr. Silent's storybooks, and the drafts of the later chapters.
There are three ways a person can die—
The first type knows the timeframe for death; although alive, they live each day in a countdown.
The second type is social death, such as when someone's true identity is revealed. Although the harm is minor, it can cause a person to die spiritually and gently.
The third type is living in hell. Although they are alive, they cannot experience the joy of life, cannot see any hope, and live like walking corpses, suffering every day.
In the midst of her busy schedule, she still took a moment to mourn for her pseudonym.
As for the other misfortunes, they were so bad that Zhu Wuyao was still a little overwhelmed.