Hunyuan Immortal Sect

Chapter 531 Escape intact
After looking around, Nice's gaze quickly focused on the six-winged Vajra demon statue. Since the hall was empty and had nothing in sight, the presence of this huge statue in the center would seem very out of place to a normal person.

Song Xian also pretended to examine the Six-Winged Vajra Ghost, and even went forward to touch it.

Nice stared at the statue for a while, but found nothing unusual, and then began searching other areas.

"It seems there is no passage out of the mural world here." Song Xian had been secretly observing him, and only after he had searched the entire hall without finding anything did he tentatively say this.

Nice did not answer, but returned to the six-winged Vajra Demon and examined the statue again.

Song Xian continued to hint and guide, trying to distract him.

“To find a way out, we must figure out how we got to this mural world. We were all in front of the mural in the main hall. I only remember that Fellow Daoist Aibu reached out and touched the mural. After that, the mural emitted a black light, and I felt as if I was enveloped by something warm. When I could see my surroundings, I was in a place with lush vegetation. Did Fellow Daoist Nis experience the same thing?”

Nice withdrew his gaze and nodded seriously: "My situation is the same as Fellow Daoist Song's, but there is one question I don't understand: why are we in such different positions after entering the mural world, even though we were both in front of it?"

Song Xian pretended to ponder: "I've been thinking about this too. If we take the mural we saw in the hall as a microcosm of this world, I remember standing in front of that lush greenery scene, and I was deeply impressed because there was a group of butterflies in the picture."

"When I entered the mural world, there was a group of butterflies around me. Could it be that our position in the mural world was determined by our position in front of the murals inside the hall?"

Nice's eyes lit up: "That's right, that's exactly it. Now that Fellow Daoist Song has mentioned it, I remember that the mural I was in was in a desert, and after entering the mural world, I was also in a desert."

“That’s right. The place where we appeared in the mural world is the same place we were standing in front of the murals inside the hall. It’s just that once we entered this mural world, the space was magnified countless times.”

"If that's the case, how do we leave?"

Song Xian remained silent. He couldn't be too obvious, or it would arouse suspicion. What he needed to do was guide Nice to think for herself and let her figure it out herself.

This is why he is waiting here for Nice to arrive.

Apu and Aibu are not in the mural world. They must have tricked the three of them into coming here to retrieve the valuables left by Master Tiantong in the outer room.

Song Xian could not accept being treated like a fool and manipulated, nor could he accept being betrayed and then left unresolved.

He certainly wouldn't let these two go so easily, but he couldn't deal with them on his own.

Neither of these two are weaklings, and if they were to actually fight, he would most likely be no match for them.

Therefore, he must win over Niss and Afar, who, if they knew the truth, would probably not let Ap and Abu off easily.

What he had to do was guide the two of them to find out the truth. In this way, the two of them would neither doubt him nor be willing to be used by Ap and Abu and do their bidding.

Nis pondered for a moment, then said to himself, "Although this hall looks the same as the one in the secret space, we didn't come to this mural world immediately after entering the hall. Instead, we stayed in front of the murals for a while before arriving here."

"If we consider this as a mirror world, then the key is not entering the main hall, but finding the same mural."

Seeing that he was about to uncover the truth, Song Xian pretended to ponder and gave a suggestive guidance: "No, we didn't enter this world by standing in front of the murals in the main hall. Rather, we entered this place after Fellow Daoist Aibu touched the murals with his right hand."

Nice nodded: "Yes, it was at that moment that the mural suddenly emitted a black light, enveloping me, and then I arrived here."

Following this, Song Xian continued, "Is it possible that Fellow Daoist Aibu touched it with his right hand, thus activating some kind of restriction?"

“Very likely. We stood in front of the mural for quite a while, and nothing changed. But the moment he touched it, the mural burst into light.” Nice’s eyes grew brighter, as if he had thought of something.

"If the way out isn't in this main hall, it might be on the mural pattern that Fellow Daoist Abu touched. We've entered a mirror world; if we find the scene that Fellow Daoist Abu touched on the mural, perhaps we can leave?"

Song Xian remained calm and said, "The best course of action now is to try whatever method is available."

“In that case, let’s go find Fellow Daoist Aibu and get together. I remember he was standing to my left. If I’m not mistaken, his position after entering this world should also be to my left.”

"it is good."

The two turned and left the hall. As they looked into the distance, they saw a small black dot rapidly approaching them on the horizon.

"It seems to be Fellow Daoist Afar; he's found his way here too." Song Xian scanned the area with his divine sense, detecting the spiritual energy fluctuations of the newcomer, and felt a slight joy in his heart.

He had been thinking about how to subtly persuade Niss to meet with Afar first, and then go out together to settle scores with Ap and Abu, but now he didn't need to bother with that anymore.

Soon, Afar's escape light arrived in front of them.

Like Nice, he also carefully verified the identities of the two men before lowering his guard and talking to them.

Nice repeated his earlier speculation, and after listening, he agreed it made sense, so they went together to find Abu.

Before the rugged hillside, the three of them landed in a flash of light, which was the very spot in front of the mural where Abu was.

Tall stone statues stand all around, each with a different appearance. One statue in particular stands out: a centaur statue with an indistinct face, yet it is surrounded by a host of other statues in the center.

It was when Abu touched the statue on the mural that he activated the projection space of the Qiankun Mountain and River Map, bringing everyone into the inner room.

The secret to leaving lies here: this centaur statue is actually the entrance and exit of the Qiankun Shanhe Tu projection space.

“I remember that the place where Fellow Daoist Aibu touched the mural was this centaur statue.”

At this moment, Song Xian stopped pretending and went straight forward to feel around the centaur statue. He first pretended to search around, then put his hand into the statue's open mouth. Inside was a protruding stone block that looked like a secret passage mechanism. When he pressed the stone block down, the whole world instantly turned into darkness.

The feeling of being enveloped by warm clouds returned, but it was only for a moment. When their vision cleared, the three of them were already inside the main hall.

"came back?"

"Look at this mural."

Afar and Nice spoke one after the other, the former sounding somewhat doubtful, the latter surprised.

The three of them appeared in front of the mural, which was then disappearing.

Song Xian also feigned surprise and contemplation, explaining that the reason the projection space disappeared was because he had brought out the Qiankun Mountain and River Map.

"With the murals gone, will Ap and Fellow Daoist Ek be forever trapped in that world?" Afar asked.

“Perhaps they left long ago.” Nice’s eyes flickered slightly.

Upon hearing this, Afar realized what was happening and looked surprised and doubtful: "What does Fellow Daoist Nis mean?"

Seeing that the two had become suspicious, Song Xian pressed his advantage and added insult to injury: "Fellow Daoist Afar, do you still think that Abu just happened to come across the centaur pattern on that mural?"

Upon hearing this, Afar's eyes flashed with hostility: "Could this be a trap they set long ago?"

“We’ll find out soon enough. If this was all their doing, it must be to get rid of us and take all the treasures for themselves. Let’s look around. This place isn’t big; if there really is a hidden treasure, we should be able to find it quickly.” After saying this, Song Xian strode out without waiting for the two to reply.

The two exchanged a glance and followed behind him.

Passing through this hall and continuing forward, you soon reach the end of the mountain's interior.

Song Xian walked straight to the secret passage, turned a stone on the wall, and the stone door opened, revealing a narrow passage.

Because there were obvious signs of friction and overturning, and some stone dust and debris on the ground, the three of them could easily spot the anomaly with their eyesight and attention, so he didn't need to pretend to search around.

After passing through the narrow passage, a circular hall came into view.

In the center is a huge black disc, the top of which has been opened, and several stone pillars around it, which are engraved with dense black characters, have also collapsed.

Upon seeing this, Song Xian's face immediately turned gloomy.

From the jade slip of Master Tiantong, he not only learned that all his valuables were kept here, but also that taking them away would not be easy, because he had set up a restriction here.

Unexpectedly, Apoo and Abu had already mastered the method to break the seal and took the contents inside.

He originally intended to corner the other party with Afar and Nys, but it was too late. Since the other party had taken the contents, they must have already left this secret realm.

Afar and Niss also looked grim. Without needing to say anything, they both understood what was going on.

"Bang." Afar's eyes flashed with ferocity as he slammed his fist into the stone wall beside him: "If I ever see those two bastards again, I'll make sure they die a horrible death."

“Now that they’ve taken the treasures here, they’ll definitely leave this secret realm. If they close the passage, we might be trapped here and die.” After saying this, Song Xian turned and left.

The other two also left, and the three of them traveled all the way to the entrance of the secret realm. They saw that the rotating black hole above had not yet disappeared.

Song Xian went into the inner room first, and after a dizzying moment, he returned to the island.

(End of this chapter)