When Yang Qing returned safely, everyone's eyes reddened.
They all wrapped their arms tightly around Yang Qing, and the group held one another in an embrace.
Only after a long while did Yang Qing speak again. "Let's keep going."
Keep going? The greatest treasure here had already fallen into Yang Qing's hands. Was there any need for them to continue?
Besides, ever since Yang Qing had taken the Wooden Box, the Ancestral Shrine had begun to decay at a devastating pace, like rotten wood crumbling before a sweeping blow.
The once lofty, brightly lit interior of the Ancestral Shrine was now nothing but a haze of gray. Even the vivid lettering on the spirit tablets had become indistinct.
Yang Qing and the others had stayed in the courtyard for only four hours, but for the Ancestral Shrine, it was as though decades had passed.
Without anyone to guard it, the Ancestral Shrine had begun to show signs of ruin.
"Everything here is the same as in the Four-Square Land, except for what was inside this Wooden Box."
Jiang Zhizhou carefully examined everything in and around the Ancestral Shrine.
They knew that Yang Qing had obtained a key there last time. The Wooden Box he had acquired here now ought to go with that key.
"But why was there a ball of flame inside the Wooden Box? And why couldn't any of us get close to it?"
After helping Yang Qing sit down to one side, Bu Er immediately voiced his questions.
He also held his two fingers, their skin charred black by the flames, in front of Yang Qing for him to examine.
"Look. If I couldn't still see these two burned fingers, I'd honestly think everything we just witnessed was an illusion."
Yang Qing smiled and nodded. "Never mind