Chapter 245 — Earthshaking
The Sword Questions the Heavens · Page 3 of 6
The next moment, the entire ice-cold stone chamber lurched violently. Then a strange, thick stench of blood gushed forth in an instant, filling every corner. From the hard stone walls all around came a series of alarming crisp cracks—*pop-pop-pop-pop*—and the original fissures abruptly widened again, countless stones large and small shaken loose from the walls.
The ground shook ever more violently, and perhaps because the walls had split and widened, the chamber's soundproofing was far worse than before; from afar came faintly the desperate, frantic cries of people. Amid the blood-stench that turned the stomach, Mr. Gui and Ming Li both changed countenance again.
That mysterious, uncanny power, which had lain quiet for ten days, had in this moment awakened once more.
The stone walls and floor around them shook ever more violently. This time the uncanny force seemed to erupt with particular ferocity, showing not the slightest sign of abating. Ming Li darted to the ice-cold stone platform and shielded Bi Li's body, while Mr. Gui looked around, brows tightly knit, saying not a word, as though pondering something, a faint unease and doubt upon his face.
From afar, roars and shrieks rose and fell; it seemed the outside world had plunged once more into its former terror and madness. The cracks in the walls were still slowly widening, and the ceaselessly falling stones, amid the endless trembling of the ground, seemed all the more startling.
"Boom!"
Suddenly a great crash came from the stone door at the chamber's entrance. A massive boulder had been shattered to pieces by sheer force and scattered across the floor. Amid flying rock fragments, a figure darted in with incomparable speed, face full of urgency—it was the Nether King.
The moment the Nether King entered, he looked toward the stone platform. Ming Li was already stationed at Bi Li's side; though the ground shook violently and rubble kept falling from above, every stone that fell within the range of the ice-cold platform was sent flying by a mere gesture of Ming Li's hand. The Nether King breathed a sigh of relief, somewhat eased at heart, but his expression did not relax. Then his gaze shifted and he saw Mr. Gui, of all people, on the other side of the chamber. His brows knit, and he said to Mr. Gui, "What are you doing here? Go at once and—"
Halfway through, the Nether King suddenly broke off. Mr. Gui seemed to understand; he nodded, and his form stirred as though to leave, but then he suddenly recalled something and turned his eyes to the ground. There lay the jade plate—whether one called it the "Star Plate" or the "Qiankun Reincarnation Plate"—quiet upon the floor. Mr. Gui took a step toward it, then suddenly felt a sharp gaze strike his back, icily cold. He slowly turned his head; Ming Li had casually batted away a falling boulder, and his eyes were fixed upon him.
Mr. Gui was silent a moment, did not step forward again, then slipped out of the chamber. His dark figure flickered a few times like a ghost, and he was seen no more.
Now only Ming Li and the Nether King remained in the chamber. The Nether King glanced at the jade plate on the ground, then looked at Ming Li. Silent for a moment, he seemed about to speak but held back, and only gave a soft sigh. Setting aside why Mr. Gui had been here, Ming Li had brought that jade plate into the ice-cold stone chamber, naturally in the hope of saving Bi Li—and from the look of things, there was no need to ask: Bi Li had shown not the slightest improvement.
The Nether King walked silently to the other side of the ice-cold platform. Just then a boulder overhead, unable to hold on amid the violent shaking, finally came loose and fell. The Nether King gave a light wave of his hand; the boulder, as though struck by a heavy blow, flew off at an angle in midair and, with a great boom, smashed to pieces against the neighboring wall.