It was a scene both strange and terrifying. The Lion Dragon, a beast of unmatched battle prowess, had vanished without a trace, as if it had not even had time to struggle.
The three skeletons seemed to sense something. The lotus-brand imprints on their foreheads flickered with divine light like dancing flames as they warily scanned their surroundings, preparing for battle.
Keke, meanwhile, had jumped directly onto King Qin Guang's skull. Its snow-white body shimmered with a multicolored radiance, and its large, bright eyes were fixed unblinkingly on the sacred mountain.
An extraordinarily sinister aura emanated from the mountain, spreading to shroud the endless primeval forest. The sacred mountain became even more ethereal and indistinct. Even standing at the correct vantage point, with the bright moon hanging directly overhead, the towering peak before them grew hazy, as if enveloped by an impenetrable thick fog.
The aura emanating from the sacred mountain was deeply unsettling. It felt as if one were standing in a grim place littered with floating corpses, a chill crawling up one's spine.
All of Keke's fluffy white fur stood on end. With a soft whoosh, it suddenly charged forward—straight toward the terrifying mountain.
Xiao Chen hurriedly gave chase. The three skeletons exchanged glances and followed. But Keke was far too fast; Xiao Chen could not close the distance.
Fortunately, Keke stopped at the foot of the mountain. Xiao Chen grabbed the fluffy little snowball. To his surprise, it did not lash out but stood quietly, gazing at the sacred mountain.
Seven or eight enormous stone tablets stood at the mountain's base, each over fifty meters tall. They cast vast shadows across the ground, creating a scene of extreme dread and gloom. The lifeless monoliths were covered in carvings of ferocious dragons—vicious dragons, lion dragons, sword dragons, thunder dragons—each carved with divine craftsmanship, startlingly lifelike.
Now that they were at the base of the mountain, there was no need to shift positions. The mist-shrouded sacred mountain was visible from every point.
Xiao Chen found himself walking forward involuntarily. Though he knew it might be extremely dangerous, the urge to explore the unknown compelled him to move his feet.
"I'll go twenty meters and then turn back," he reminded himself. He desperately wanted to know how the Lion Dragon had vanished so silently, and what secrets the sacred mountain held.
One meter... two meters... ten meters...
Xiao Chen advanced twenty meters without incident. Of course, twenty meters barely rose above the mountain's base.
The sacred mountain was completely barren of vegetation, its surface a dark, rusty red, as if soaked in blood.
Not far ahead stood the first ancient and mysterious great palace. It loomed there, weathered by ages, exuding an immeasurable sense of antiquity.
Yet the deathly silence of the sacred mountain, combined with an indescribable eeriness, lent that vast palace a sinister quality.
Twenty meters... twenty-five meters... thirty meters!
Xiao Chen was utterly captivated. He had forgotten his self-imposed limit and was desperate to enter that ancient palace, which looked as if it might collapse at any moment.
Just twenty meters from the majestic hall, Xiao Chen suddenly felt as if he had stepped into an abyss. The moonlight vanished in an instant. Deathly stillness enveloped him. He felt himself sinking into hell.
But in that brief moment, a brilliant light burst forth from the endless darkness. Xiao Chen was wrapped in a dazzling radiance and pulled back toward the light.
Xiao Chen felt cold sweat on his back. In an instant, he was back on the moonlit sacred mountain. What had just happened?
He noticed his body was still cloaked in a faint glow. Behind him, Keke sat atop King Qin Guang's skull, waving its tiny paws, enveloping Xiao Chen in divine light and pulling him back.
Keke had saved him.
Xiao Chen retreated five or six meters to stand beside the three skeletons and Keke. He had calmed down, but he still did not understand what had happened—why he had suddenly felt as if he were plunging into an abyss.
"Keke, did you see anything just now?"
Keke, perched on King Qin Guang's head, made a clawing gesture, as if describing something. Xiao Chen was utterly baffled.
"Let me try again. If something happens, Keke, be quick," Xiao Chen said. Though he felt the place was deeply sinister, he was not overwhelmed by fear. He stepped forward once more, but this time nothing happened at the same spot.
Curious, Keke also ran over, hopping and jumping in place, but again nothing unexpected occurred.
Xiao Chen tentatively advanced toward the ancient palace once more. This time, after moving ten meters, his hair suddenly stood on end. In an instant, he again felt as if he had plunged into an abyss—a terrifying stillness, not a glimmer of light, sinking into a hell filled with deathly aura.
But before the darkness could claim him, divine light enveloped him. Keke had once again dragged him back into the moonlight.
Cold sweat beaded on Xiao Chen's brow. A chill ran down his spine. He felt as if he had truly walked through hell. He dared not test further. Slowly retreating, he took one last look at the ancient palace, so close yet so treacherous, then strode away.
"Let's go. This place is too eerie. We cannot stay any longer." Xiao Chen made a decisive retreat.
There were few ancient palaces at the base of the sacred mountain; they only became more numerous from the halfway point upward. If every palace vicinity was this sinister and dangerous, then this mountain was truly a place of ill omen.
A grim aura permeated the area around the sacred mountain. They had reached the foot. Though Keke felt a strange pull toward the mountain, it was unusually quiet, making no attempt to charge in.
Just then, a dragon roar that seemed to split the clouds erupted. The trees shook violently. In the profound silence, such a thunderous roar was truly startling. Xiao Chen quickly covered his ears to avoid bursting his eardrums.
He turned to look. The Lion Dragon that had vanished on the sacred mountain had reappeared!
It had emerged out of thin air near the same palace area. Its fifty-meter-long body, golden and radiant, charged down directly, landing at the mountain's base with such force that the ground cracked open in huge fissures.
The Lion Dragon seemed somewhat listless. It did not linger but surged away with a fierce, baleful aura, kicking up a bloody wind as it fled the mountain. The earth trembled violently.
Keke seemed very displeased by the Lion Dragon's roar. Like an aggrieved little beast king, it growled lowly at the retreating Lion Dragon's back. It even crouched, as if about to spring forward in pursuit.
Xiao Chen was astonished. This little fuzzy creature was truly remarkable—it showed no fear under the oppressive might of the Lion Dragon's aura. Any ordinary beast would have been trembling and prostrating itself, for even a dragon that had lost its divine abilities was still royalty among beasts, let alone a Lion Dragon, a prince among the dragon royal lineage.
No comments:
Post a Comment