The Key

"My ability can only be used two more times at most. What if your future has no Abyss?"

"Then wouldn't there still be one chance?" Jiang You asked.

"If both chances are used up and I die a worthy death, that wouldn't be a bad fate either."

Jiang You tilted her head and smiled faintly. "Besides, didn't you say you once saw fragments of me appearing within the Abyss? Or are you saying you lied to me about that?"

The High Priest fell silent.

"I did see images of you appearing somewhere, but I can't be certain that place was the Abyss. After all, the only place we've ever been was A Yue's memories.

Jiang You, I tried to see you, but you're different.

Your future is too blurred. Even the images I saw flashed past in an instant. The failure rate for peering into your future is simply too high."

Jiang You said, "Even without certainty, I have no other choice. Looking at you now, I doubt you have many days left. Rather than wait to be assimilated by the Black Flame, it's better to take a gamble."

Hearing this, Vermilion Bird raised her head and silently glanced at Jiang You. Behind the lifelike Vermilion Bird mask, tears filled her eyes.

The High Priest sighed, then suddenly waved at Vermilion Bird, signaling for her to leave.

Vermilion Bird slowly emerged from the darkness. On her way out, she closed the door behind her.

At this moment, the High Priest shakily reached toward his mask.

Seeing him like this, it seemed he intended to remove it.

Jiang You still remembered the intensely handsome, magnetic face in Xu Rizhao's photograph. Yet when the mask came off, she saw a face covered in deep, crisscrossing furrows. He looked like an ancient tree,