Chronicles of Heaven's Chosen - Chapter 75

But Gu Zhaozhao soon seemed to remember something.

She began gasping in terror, almost unable to breathe.

“Don’t be afraid.” Yuan Yao held her gently by the shoulders and tried to soothe her.

Tears filled Gu Zhaozhao’s eyes. “Grandma was eaten…waaah…”

“What did you see?”

Her tears fell like pearls from a broken string. She bit down on her lower lip.

Yuan Yao looked at her with aching sympathy and patted her lightly on the back. “You don’t have to think about it.”

“It was a really big monster…” Gu Zhaozhao sniffled and struggled to hold back her tears. “Fairy Sister, please help me save Mother! I promise I’ll make Grandpa repay you properly!”

“If I can save her, I promise I will,” Yuan Yao reassured her.

Gu Zhaozhao wiped her tears with her sleeve, quickly pulled a paintbrush from inside her clothes, and began drawing on the floor.

Even Qiu Xingwen could not help moving closer to look.

Yuan Yao knew that she was drawing the monster.

Its shape slowly emerged beneath Gu Zhaozhao’s brush. It had a skull for a head, while its lower body consisted of a vast cloud of black fog. A gigantic, gaping maw opened at the center of that darkness.

Yuan Yao frowned slightly at the completed image.

Qiu Xingwen crouched down beside it. “Could this be the culprit that caused the residents of Yunming City to fall unconscious?”

Gu Zhaozhao put away her brush and raised her head. Her tears spilled down her cheeks like floodwaters breaking through a dam.

“It ate Grandma…” Her voice choked and trembled.

The memory of that terrible night still filled her with fear.

Mother had brought her to Yunming City to visit Grandma. But that very night, thick black fog swallowed the city.

Even more terrifyingly, people who had been perfectly alive moments before began collapsing without warning, one after another, and could not be awakened.

Mother tried to take Gu Zhaozhao and Grandma away from that eerie place, but it was already too late. The moment they attempted to pass through the city gates, a powerful force descended and trapped them.

Their consciousnesses sank.

When they opened their eyes again, the entire world had changed beyond recognition.

Everything was dull gray, without the faintest trace of light. The once-bustling streets had fallen into complete ruin.

Gu Zhaozhao saw crowds gathered outside.

At first, everyone searched for a way out.

But on the morning of the third day, countless blood-red tentacles spread from the ground and began dragging people away by force.

Mother shielded Gu Zhaozhao and Grandma behind her and fought the tentacles.

In the end, however, she was no match for them. She was thrown violently to the ground, struck her head, and lost consciousness.

The blood-red tentacles dragged Mother away.

To save her, Grandma forcibly sacrificed her own blood essence, compelling the monster to reveal its true form.

And in the end…

Grandma was eaten.

Gu Zhaozhao herself was dragged into this room. At first, the people trapped here had all tried to escape. Yet as time passed, the longer they remained inside, the more muddled and incoherent their minds became.

Struggling against her grief, Gu Zhaozhao told Yuan Yao the whole “coming dragon and departing vein” of what had happened.

Qiu Xingwen asked doubtfully, “Was your Grandma very powerful? She actually forced that monster to reveal its true form?”

“Grandma was very powerful!” Gu Zhaozhao’s reddened eyes flashed with fury at his doubt, and she shouted at the top of her lungs.

Qiu Xingwen flinched.

Yuan Yao turned to look at him, and embarrassment crossed his face.

“Fairy Sister…”

Yuan Yao explained seriously, “I’m not really a fairy. You can call me Sister Yuan.”

Gu Zhaozhao wiped away her tears and nodded. “Sister Yuan, do you know how to get out?”

Qiu Xingwen also looked toward Yuan Yao.

“I don’t know yet, but we will find a way.” Yuan Yao stroked Gu Zhaozhao’s head.

The girl’s spirits sank. She knew Sister Yuan was only trying to comfort her.

Even Grandma had been unable to defeat the monster. How could Sister Yuan possibly do it?

Yuan Yao stood and took out another third-grade pill, which she fed to the old man.

Qiu Xingwen watched with visible distress.

*What kind of wastrel is she?*

That was a third-grade Mind-Clearing Pill!

And she had given one each to two ordinary mortals?

Yuan Yao glanced at the orange-robed youth, who had remained sitting in meditation in the corner.

“Did you arrive before him, or was he already here?” she asked Qiu Xingwen.

“He came first,” Qiu Xingwen answered quietly. “He was already like this when I arrived. He hasn’t moved from that meditative posture once in the past several days.”

“Has anyone tried to wake him?”

Yuan Yao suspected that the orange-robed youth was quite powerful. Perhaps she could join forces with him and Qiu Xingwen to find a weakness in their prison.

“Yes.” Qiu Xingwen immediately guessed what she had in mind. His face grew grave as he warned her, “You must not provoke him. Someone took a dislike to him before and tried to give him a ‘show of force upon dismounting.’ But before that person could even get close, his power blasted him away and left him severely injured.”

“He’s that strong?”

Yuan Yao was surprised.

Qiu Xingwen lowered his voice. “The injured man was at the peak of late-stage Foundation Establishment. This person must be at the Golden Core Realm or higher.”

Yuan Yao studied the orange-robed youth, puzzlement flashing through her eyes.

If he was so powerful, why had he never tried to leave?

After thinking it over, Yuan Yao still decided to approach him.

“Fellow cultivator, do you know a way out?”

The orange-robed youth remained seated with his eyes closed, as though he had not heard her.

“Big Brother, can you help us?” Gu Zhaozhao sniffled.

There was still no response.

The child lowered her head in disappointment. A warm, soft hand stroked the top of her head.

“We will find a way,” Yuan Yao said gently.

She recalled the mental-power technique she had practiced inside the mental space and lifted her gaze toward the door.

She decided to try.

Yuan Yao walked over to the door.

Qiu Xingwen’s expression changed. “Don’t tell me you’re going to force it open. I’m warning you—doing that will only injure you.”

“Sister Yuan…” Worry appeared on Gu Zhaozhao’s small face.

Yuan Yao glanced back at them with a smile. “Don’t worry. I’m only going to examine it.”

Turning to the door again, she focused her mind and stared at it intently.

The instant her mental power touched the door, an even more powerful force struck back. A sharp pain exploded through her sea of consciousness.

Neither Qiu Xingwen nor Gu Zhaozhao noticed anything unusual.

But the orange-robed youth in the corner seemed to sense something. Slowly, he opened his eyes and stared at Yuan Yao’s back.