A Fragile Flame
It seemed like a voice inside him kept telling him:
"Because this is your fate."
He didn't know where the sound came from. He searched desperately, but it was as if something was covering his eyes, and he couldn't see what was ahead.
His world consisted only of boundless chaos.
It felt like a very, very long time had passed.
Only then did he see that in the chaos before him, an invisible and shapeless mass of darkness was gradually gathering.
Then he heard a faint voice enter his mind:
"You did nothing wrong. That's just how the world is."
Do you want to change it?
Go change it.
"Destruction and annihilation are the right thing to do."
"Look, isn't all life ultimately just a prelude to death?"
"Come with me, and you will see a whole new world..."
The sound was like cold icy spikes piercing Tong Jialiang's brain, each one like a dull drumbeat striking his heart, causing him unbearable pain.
He clutched his head in great pain and collapsed to the ground.
"Shut up...!"
But the voice persisted relentlessly:
Surrender to annihilation, for annihilation is eternal.
"Shut up..."
"Destruction is the only eternal power..."
In the chaos, the dark shadow kept spinning and absorbing, growing larger and larger.
The tiny figure crawling on the ground kept shrinking in front of it.
"Shut up..."
Until it became a tiny dot, like a fragile flame in the boundless darkness, which could be easily extinguished by a mere breeze.
--
At this point, the number of people on the Heart-Questioning Road had decreased significantly.
When Liu Yunan and the others arrived at the foot of the Ten-Li Peach Blossom Tree, they saw that those who were being tested on the Heart-Questioning Road were all surrounded by a faint black aura.
At this moment, everyone on their faces had their brows furrowed, some even with contorted expressions, as if they were going through some extremely difficult predicament.
It's important to know that due to the unique nature of the Heart-Questioning Road, the resulting dreamlike feeling is incredibly realistic.
Because of the pursuit of ultimate realism, the connection between the consciousness in dreams and their physical bodies in reality is extremely small.
Otherwise, it's very easy to wake up from a dream.
However, right now, the feelings these people experience in their dreams are clearly so intense that they are so obviously reflected in their real bodies.
Seeing this, everyone was anxious but dared not make any rash moves, as they had never seen anything like it before.
Only Lin Xiao knows the specifics of the Heart-Questioning Road, but he has not yet emerged from seclusion.
Everyone turned to look at Liu Yunan.
Liu Yunan glanced at his identity token at his waist, and seeing that it didn't react, he addressed the crowd:
"I'm going to check the control room. You all stay here and keep watch. If the situation becomes critical, send me a message, and I'll forcibly shut down the Heart-Questioning Road!"
With that, he turned and sped toward the control room.
Under Qin Jianghe's arrangement, the others immediately entered the Heart-Questioning Road and began to check each person's physical condition one by one.
After checking on a group of people from the beginning, everyone's initial anxiety eased slightly.
So far, the black aura has not had any effect on their health.
However, we cannot let our guard down; we must continue to monitor the situation at all times.
Suddenly, Qin Jianghe's voice came from the middle of the mountain path:
"Yigao! Come quick and take a look!"
Hearing his call, Sun Yigao moved slightly and arrived beside him in the blink of an eye.
Those who were checking on others nearby also rushed over upon hearing the commotion.
When everyone arrived at Qin Jianghe's side, they saw that in front of him was Tong Jialiang, whom Sun Yigao had been responsible for treating for the past few years.
With just one glance, they knew why Qin Jianghe had suddenly called Sun Yigao.
At this moment, Tong Jialiang was shrouded in black energy, almost as if he were about to be swallowed by it, which was completely different from the faint black energy of the others around him.
Not only that.
Upon closer examination, everyone discovered that the black aura surrounding him was actually emanating from his eyes, ears, nose, forehead, and heart.
The black mist initially swirled tightly around him, but as it grew thicker and more abundant, it began to spread outwards.
However, the black mist did not linger around Qin Jianghe and the others. If it encountered them on their way, it would simply pass right through them without them noticing.
Then they saw wisps of black energy spreading one after another to the other people around them who were undergoing the test of their Heart-Questioning Road.
The crowd reached out to try and touch the black mist, and also tried to use their Spiritual Qi energy to intercept it.
However, they found nothing.
These black energies seemed to exist in a different space from them; no matter what they did, they could not touch them or hinder them in the slightest.
Someone couldn't help but ask:
What's going on?
Sun Yigao quickly grabbed Tong Jialiang's wrist and probed it with his Spiritual Power to examine it carefully.
However, no problems were found in his body.
After checking it several times, he finally looked up at everyone with a serious expression and shook his head.
"I don't see anything wrong..."
Therefore, the problem must be in his mind, in his dreams...
Jiang Youfu approached and carefully observed it for a while, then sniffed it with a slight twitch of his nose and said:
"His appearance is different from that of a cultivator Qi Deviation, and he even smells different."
As he spoke, he saw Sun Yigao use the third stage of Purification Technique — the Heart Purification Technique —on Tong Jialiang.
However, the black aura showed no sign of disappearing.
In fact, this result was within Sun Yigao's expectations.
After all, in the past few years, ever since he learned that Lin Xiao and the others had successfully used the Heart Purification Technique to purify the inner demons of the Yuan Household's Nascent Soul Ancestor in the Immortal Cultivation Realm, he had tried it on Tong Jialiang a few times.
Perhaps because of the different symptoms, the Heart Purification Technique, which works for Nascent Soul Cultivator, had no effect on Tong Jialiang.
Right now, nobody has any good ideas, and he just wants to give it one more try.
Jiang Youfu also lost his appetite for fried beans, and looked at the people shrouded in black mist with some worry.
"What should we do? We don't even know when Brother Xiao will emerge from seclusion."
If Brother Xiao were here, he would definitely have a way to solve this.
Faced with the current situation, no one had any good solutions, so they could only stand by and monitor everyone's physical condition with their Spiritual Power.
We will ensure that Liu Yunan is notified immediately if any problems arise.
On the other side.
After entering the control room, Liu Yunan immediately began to follow Lin Xiao's instructions, using his hand to access the Heart-Questioning Road" control option on the main console.
Only after confirming that the [Close the Heart-Questioning Road] button was operable did I breathe a sigh of relief and begin to explore the other options.
That way, even if something goes wrong in the end, he can always turn off the Heart-Questioning Road.
But after searching around, Liu Yunan couldn't find a solution to his current state of Heart-Questioning Road.