Chapter 43: Reborn (2/2)
Han Shuo’s mental strength was sucked away like a whale drinking in water, and it flowed quickly into the round ball within the jade box. The pain in Han Shuo’s mind increased as his mental strength continued to be siphoned away.
Finally, just when he thought that his mind would explode, his thoughts moved and the magical yuan pooling in his lower abdomen suddenly flew up into his mind. There was a loud roaring sound in his mind as increased pain caused him to roar out loudly in pain. At the same time, his surging mental strength returned with the force of leveling mountains and draining seas, instantly filling Han Shuo’s mind.
Han Shuo abruptly sank bonelessly to the ground and panted heavily. His entire mind felt groggy and stuffy, and this condition maintained itself for a while. He slowly returned to normal and only felt that his mental strength had indeed increased significantly. Han Shuo stared involuntarily at the round ball with glee.
Suddenly, Han Shuo saw that strands of green light had started rippling through the ball. These strands of light wove together continuously, as if a pen was tracing out a drawing. A picture formed in the midst after a short while — a strange, grey castle.
Briefly revealed by the green lines, it suddenly vanished without a trace leaving only the drop of red in the center flashed continuously as it actually formed the shape of a red arrow. It froze momentarily, then pointed south.
What did this mean? What did it mean when the arrow pointed south?
Han Shuo was momentarily dumbfounded as he gazed at the spot of red in the center, lost in thought. His thoughts churned madly and finally confirmed one thing. The red arrow within the round ball had delineated a direction, like an objective to travel to.
He hesitated and gazed at the sky as his curiosity had been thoroughly piqued. He finally grabbed the jade box and quickly ventured south, in the direction that the jade box was pointing at.
Throughout this entire process, Han Shuo could feel that the further south he traveled, the more he heard sounds from large magical creatures. Dangers abounded along his way and he was quite wary. His eyes occasionally flicked to the round ball and noticed that the arrow continuously changed direction, as if pointing out the correct path for Han Shuo.
He proceeded in this way for quite a while when the red arrow in the round ball he grasped finally disappeared. The red blood-like drop reappeared, and the green light emitted from the ball became stronger. Strong magical pulses travelled out from the ball.
Han Shuo stopped, surveyed his surroundings and realized that this was a common area filled with weeds, shrubbery and towering trees. An unknown, enormous tree with twisted, entwined branches was present not too far off, and its strange shadow, illuminated by moonlight, appeared like that of a monstrous creature’s on the ground.
Han Shuo concentrated his attention and suddenly noticed something strange. In other parts of the Dark Forest, sounds from bugs would carry on no matter how quiet it was, but upon reaching this place, Han Shuo realized that this place was almost desolately quiet. There wasn’t a single insect’s call and not a hint of life to be found.
Bizarre. Han Shuo felt that the entire area was filled with a strange aura, hidden under an ordinary exterior. This aura felt familiar and friendly to Han Shuo, as if he’d long since grown used to some things, but upon thinking carefully, Han Shuo realized that he had no idea what was going on.
Just as Han Shuo was completely lost and deep in thought, the round ball within the jade box suddenly levitated into the air as the ball used the green light on the surface to draw beams of magical lines through the air. Han Shuo could feel the strong magical pulses through the air, and that they were growing stronger the more the ball’s green light shone out.
After Han Shuo had noticed, he suddenly realized that the area bathed in the green light underwent changes that made his eyes bug out and his tongue tied. The weeds and shrubs on the ground would suddenly vanish without a trace whenever the green light touched it, to change into dry, grey, and dusty earth with piles of stark, white bones piled on it.
The leafy boughed, towering trees on the side also underwent eerie changes under the green light, changing into the skeletons of monstrous, dead creatures. If Han Shuo’s memory served him right, those enormous skeletons were the legendary bone dragons, the most terrifying kind of dark creature.
Death. An empty, desolate wilderness morphed into an eternal land of death under the rays of the green light.
There was an enormous grey castle half floating in air, half buried underground. A few odd, sharp spikes encircled the castle as numerous pictures of dark creatures were carved on the castle walls.
Han Shuo looked on for a while, completely gobsmacked. He finally muttered to himself in astonishment. “This… is this the legendary cemetery of death?”