A Fantasy Love Story Across the Warring States Period

Chapter 89 The Mysterious Palace and Hidden Crisis

The wisps of mist, carrying an unknown danger, slowly spread towards the group. Huanmo felt a chill run down his spine. He stared intently at the writhing, indistinct creature within the mist, his mind a jumble of thoughts. "This palace is eerie in every way. I wonder what kind of demons or monsters are lurking in that mist. But there's no turning back now; I can only grit my teeth and face it head-on." Huanmo thought to himself, his grip on his sword tightening unconsciously, spiritual energy surging around the blade, as if ready to strike at any moment.

The woman in black swallowed hard, her eyes fixed on the approaching mist. Her palms were already soaked with sweat. She tried to calm herself, but her voice still trembled slightly: "Everyone, be careful! This place is very eerie. Don't get touched by that mist." The man in white frowned, his eyes scanning the surroundings quickly, trying to find the source of the sinister laughter. He held his jade flute horizontally in front of him, just in case. He thought to himself, "This palace must be full of traps and dangers. It's probably more troublesome than the ones we've encountered before. We need to be extremely careful." Ling'er clutched her ribbon tightly, moving closer to Huanmo. Her big eyes were full of fear, but she forced herself to be brave and said, "Ling'er isn't afraid. Everyone's here. We can definitely defeat those bad things."

As the fog drew closer, the group finally made out the writhing creatures within it—semi-transparent, ghostly figures with distorted faces and eerie green glowing from their empty eye sockets, emitting chilling growls. These ghostly figures floated before them, extending long, ethereal arms to grab at them.

Huanmo swung her sword at the ghosts first, but the blade passed right through them as if it had struck thin air. The ghosts were completely unaffected and continued to pounce on the group. "What can we do? Ordinary attacks are useless against them!" Huanmo shouted anxiously, dodging the ghosts' grasps while quickly thinking of a solution.

Seeing this, the woman in black robes also tried to drive them away with her sword, but to no avail. She was frantic: "Are we going to be trapped here to die?" The man in white robes' eyes flashed; he remembered that his spiritual energy and musical melodies might work. He immediately channeled his spiritual energy into his jade flute and began to play a strange melody. The melody transformed into sound waves, spreading towards the ghosts. This time, the ghosts seemed to be disturbed; their forms swayed, and their attacks slowed.

"It's working!" Ling'er exclaimed excitedly, quickly waving the ribbons. The light emitted by the ribbons combined with the sound waves of the music, causing the ghosts to let out painful howls and begin to retreat. Seeing this, everyone was overjoyed and immediately intensified their attacks. Huanmo also gathered his spiritual power and poured it into his sword, unleashing a spiritual sword technique that resonated with the power of the white-robed man and Ling'er, forming an encirclement that trapped the ghosts within.

Under the combined attack of everyone, the ghosts gradually became unable to resist, their forms becoming increasingly illusory, and finally turning into wisps of green smoke and dissipating into the air. The sinister laughter also stopped abruptly, and the surroundings temporarily returned to calm. Huanmo wiped the sweat from his forehead and breathed a long sigh of relief: "We've finally dealt with this wave, but there are definitely more dangers waiting for us in this palace."

After a short rest, the group walked towards the palace gate, which was slightly ajar. Passing through the gate, they were greeted by an extremely spacious hall. The hall's dome was incredibly high, inlaid with countless shimmering gems, like stars in the night sky, illuminating the entire space. The floor was paved with single slabs of black marble, engraved with intricate and difficult-to-understand patterns and runes, faintly exuding a mysterious aura.

Rows of tall stone statues lined both sides of the main hall, each with a different form—some human, some animal—as if guarding something important. The group walked cautiously, each step echoing slightly in the empty hall. The sound seemed particularly jarring in the silence, sending a chill down their spines.

As they reached the center of the hall, suddenly, the runes on the ground shone brightly, beams of light shooting out from them and connecting to the stone statues. Then, as if imbued with life, the statues began to move slowly, their heavy steps encircling the group, causing the ground to tremble slightly with each step.

Huanmo's heart tightened. Seeing the approaching statues, he shouted, "These statues have been activated! Everyone be careful!" With that, he charged towards a humanoid statue, swinging his sword at its leg, trying to interrupt its movement. However, the statue's material was extremely hard; the sword only sparked a few flecks, while the statue remained unharmed. Instead, it swung its massive stone arm, smashing towards Huanmo.

The woman in black robes, the man in white, and Ling'er each attacked a stone statue. The woman in black robes' swords left shallow scratches on the statues, but could not cause any real damage; the man in white robes' sonic waves could make the statues sway a few times, but could not stop their advance; Ling'er's colorful ribbons hitting the statues were like ants trying to shake a tree.

The group gradually found themselves in a fierce battle, constantly dodging the stone statue's attacks but unable to find an effective way to break free. Huanmo was extremely anxious, dodging the rain of stone arms while looking around the hall, trying to find the statue's weakness. Just then, he noticed a small protrusion on the wall at the far end of the hall. The pattern on the protrusion was somewhat similar to the runes on the ground, and it seemed to be emitting a different kind of light, as if beckoning them.

"Look, there seems to be something strange over there! Maybe it's the key to controlling these statues!" Huanmo shouted. Hearing this, the group, while fending off the statues' attacks, struggled to move towards the protrusion. But the statues wouldn't let them go so easily; their attacks grew increasingly fierce. Whether they could break through the statues' obstruction and reach the mysterious protrusion, and whether they could truly escape their current crisis, remained uncertain. Their fate once again hung in the balance within this dangerous palace…