pertwk Chapter 2345 Terrible News
Chapter 2345 Terrible News
Chapter 2345 Terrible News
"When I first entered this secret realm, it still retained the scene after the destruction of Panlong City, frozen like a painting." Although he had been there twice, He Lingchuan looked around and said, "It still looks exactly the same as it did when I left last time."
The South Gate Square was spacious and unobstructed by any plants. Aunt Zhu immediately spotted the broken stone carvings beneath the South Gate and pointed there with her front paw:
"Was the black dragon statue already broken when you last came?"
In the real Panlong Ruins, this stone carving was perfectly intact, attached to the high wall behind the city gate; but in the secret realm, it was shattered on the ground, the huge dragon body stone carving broken into several pieces, and two blood-red wild lilies grew from the ferocious dragon's mouth, swaying in the wind.
He Lingchuan watched intently: "I should say that before I left for the first time, I witnessed its destruction firsthand."
On his first entry into the secret realm, he successfully activated the black dragon statue. However, what resided on the statue was not the dragon god himself, nor the city's guardian beast, but rather the consciousness left behind by Zhong Shengguang!
After killing Sun Fuping and Nian Songyu, it seemed to have completed its mission, handing the broken sword to He Lingchuan before falling to the ground and shattering itself.
He Lingchuan walked to the statue and bent down to gently press the dragon's head. The stone sculpture remained unchanged, lying down as if nothing had happened.
So, what has changed here?
Dong Rui asked him, "What are we looking for?"
Strictly speaking, this Panlong Secret Realm exists neither in the present world nor entirely in the past—
"—It is the boundary between the virtual and the real."
When He Lingchuan first entered this place, he was somewhat bewildered, but as his life experience grew, especially after experiencing the Battle of the Upside-Down Sea and becoming the sole winner, his understanding of the Panlong Secret Realm also improved.
“The problem with the Great Square Pot is likely to manifest within the Panlong Secret Realm.” He looked around. “Therefore, I need to find something unusual within the secret realm.”
"Uh." Dong Rui scratched the back of his head. This was the first time he and Aunt Zhu had been here. For them, everything here was unusual.
He Lingchuan thought for a moment: "Come with me."
The first places he visited were the tombs of Zhong Shengguang and General Hong.
The first time he entered the Panlong Secret Realm, he paid homage to Zhong Shengguang and offered him wine.
The wine cup used at that time is still placed in front of the tomb, only now it is covered with a little sand and dust.
However, although the tomb is intact, there is a crack about one finger wide on the stone tablet, which extends from the top to the bottom.
He Lingchuan reached out and touched the crack, frowning as he said, "It wasn't cracked when I came here last time."
"Perhaps the man surnamed He also tried to dig up Commander Zhong's tomb and damaged it."
He Lingchuan shook his head: "I know everything he did. He Jing didn't touch this tomb."
This is not right. This is very wrong.
"Time should stand still here, and everything in the secret realm remains almost unchanged unless there is external intervention." For example, the two times that the He family father and son entered the secret realm both had an impact on certain parts of it.
What happened in the secret realm after they left?
Why is it Zhong Shengguang's tombstone that is cracked?
Upon arriving at General Hong's tomb, Aunt Zhu pointed to the burial pit and asked, "Has General Hong's tomb been robbed?"
The graves were dug up in a very crude manner, but they were empty.
“This is the cenotaph of General Hong.” He Lingchuan sighed. “The last time I came here, He Jing, the Heavenly Palace Envoy, sent people to dig up this tomb in an attempt to find the Great Square Pot.”
As soon as He Jing died, Master Sanshui appeared. He Lingchuan used General Hong's armor to defeat him, and the secret realm disappeared, leaving him no more time.
As he spoke, He Lingchuan took out an iron shovel from his storage ring and filled the pit with the nearby soil.
Aunt Zhu also said, "General Hong is an unparalleled hero. These people have no respect for him and deserve to be killed!"
After saying that, it grew larger and moved its eight legs to help He Lingchuan fill the grave with soil.
Its speed was more than eight times that of He Lingchuan; in just over ten breaths, the tomb was restored to its original state.
Just then, a few loud crashes came from not far away, as if something heavy had fallen.
Before He Lingchuan could speak, the number 66 that Dong Rui had just summoned rushed over.
A short while later, it returned and reported:
A large section of the wall behind the woods collapsed.
The wall collapsed? He Lingchuan frowned and rushed over.
General Hong's tomb was separated from the city wall by only a small grove of trees. He Lingchuan ran out of the grove and saw that a large section of the city wall had collapsed again.
This is the outer city wall of Panlong City. Although it's not as imposing as the south gate, it's not something ordinary siege weapons can break through. In the past, the Panlong army itself tested it, using special weapons to attack the city, and after a long time, they only managed to get a few dozen white dots.
It was standing here perfectly fine, so how did it suddenly collapse on its own?
A shadow crossed He Lingchuan's mind.
Just then, a post station ten zhang away from the wall suddenly collapsed. The pillars and beams could not support its own weight, and the roof tiles crashed to the ground with a few loud noises.
Number 66 went over for a while, then came back and shook his head at Dong Rui:
There were no signs of life inside, nor any traces of human damage; it collapsed on its own.
This is the first stop after entering the city from the East Gate. In the Panlong World, He Lingchuan had slept on this post station countless times. He knew that its base was as thick as two people could hug, and it was made of ironwood that had been retrieved from the bottom of the sea. Even if you tried to cut it with swords for a long time, you couldn't cut it.
Why are the city walls and post stations laid out like building blocks?
It's as if there's an invisible hand here; wherever it pushes, that place collapses!
He Lingchuan stood up and looked around. A bad feeling had just crossed his mind when Dong Rui spoke up for him:
"Could it be that the entire Panlong Secret Realm is collapsing?"
Panlong Secret Realm was originally a post-war ruin, with east and west collapsed and buildings incomplete. In addition, He Lingchuan fought against different opponents twice when he entered, which also caused great damage to the terrain and buildings. Therefore, he had a hard time distinguishing whether the dilapidated buildings around him were always like this or collapsed in recent years.
If the Panlong Secret Realm continues to slowly collapse, this is absolutely terrible news!
It exists within the large square pot, at the boundary, or rather, the connection, between the virtual and the real.
What would happen if the Panlong Secret Realm completely collapsed?
He Lingchuan had seen the ancient city completely collapsed in Qianhuan's sea of consciousness, in the Panlong City transformed by the Dayan Heavenly Pearl.
He absolutely does not want to go through that again.
After the city wall collapsed, Dong Rui stood by the hole in the wall, peering inside. He then turned to them and said:
"There was a forest in the distance, shrouded in red mist, looking eerie."
A forest? Red mist?
He Lingchuan was taken aback, strode over to his side, and looked outside.
"That's the direction of the Singing Sand Forest!"
But the terrain of the valley looked somewhat familiar, and the drifting dark red mist also felt somewhat welcoming.
(End of this chapter)