Chapter 766 The identity of the mysterious man?
Luo Chen swung his sword among the bats, and each sword was accompanied by the sound of wind and thunder, knocking down the bats one by one.
His movements were vigorous and powerful. Although his clothes were soaked with sweat, there was no fear of retreat in his eyes.
"Luo Chen, be careful on your left side!" Qingshuang's voice sounded in the melee. She cast spells while being alert to the movements around her.
Luo Chen turned quickly and chopped off a bat that tried to sneak attack from behind.
He panted, but still maintained the rhythm of the battle, "Thank you, Qingshuang! You and Hongling should also pay attention to safety."
Hongling was not far away, her long whip danced like a spirit snake, and each swing accurately wrapped around a bat, and then threw it hard and threw it against the rock wall.
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Her movements were both elegant and deadly, but her face also showed fatigue.
"These bats seem endless. Can we really hold on to the end?" Hongling asked in the interval of the battle.
"We must hold on!" Qingshuang answered firmly. Her spells exploded in the bats, and frost covered their wings, making them temporarily lose the ability to fly.
Luochen shuttled among the bats, and his swordsmanship became faster and faster, as if he was one with the sword.
He knew that only by constantly attacking could he create opportunities for Qingshuang and Hongling.
Finally, with the joint efforts of the three, the bats began to gradually decrease.
The collapse of the nest made them lose their hiding place, and Luochen's sword and Qingshuang and Hongling's spells made them nowhere to hide.
"Look, the nest is about to collapse completely!" Hongling pointed to the cave in front and shouted excitedly.
Luochen and Qingshuang also saw hope, and they attacked the remaining bats more vigorously.
Finally, with a huge roar, the bat's nest collapsed completely, and the bats disappeared.
The three of them panted and supported each other to stand firm.
They looked around and confirmed that there were no missed threats before they slowly relaxed.
"We did it." Luo Chen's voice was a little tired, but more satisfied.
"Yes, we did it." Qing Shuang responded with a smile, her eyes flashing with trust and pride in her companions.
Hong Ling breathed a sigh of relief, she looked around, and then said: "We'd better rest here and recover our strength. The dangers of the Nine Nethers are far more than these."
Luo Chen nodded, and they found a relatively clean place to sit down and began to recover their strength.
In the Nine Nethers, every battle may be a life-and-death contest, and they must always be in the best condition.
After a short rest, Luo Chen stood up and patted the dust on his body, "Let's keep going, there is still a long way to go."
Qing Shuang and Hong Ling also stood up. They knew that the road ahead was full of unknowns and dangers, but they also understood that only by moving forward can they find the treasures they are pursuing.
They continued to follow the map and went deeper into the Nine Netherworld.
As they went deeper, the surrounding environment became more and more strange.
There was an unsettling atmosphere in the air, as if something was watching them from the dark.
"Do you feel like something is following us?" Hong Ling suddenly stopped and looked around vigilantly.
Luo Chen and Qing Shuang also stopped. They listened carefully, trying to catch any abnormal sounds.
"Indeed, something is following us." Luo Chen whispered, his hand tightly gripping the hilt of the sword, ready to respond to possible threats at any time.
The three of them stood back to back in a circle, their eyes vigilantly scanning the surroundings.
In the darkness, it seemed that something was moving slowly, but it was difficult to capture the exact shape.
"Whatever it is, we can't let it affect our mission." Qing Shuang said firmly.
Luo Chen nodded, he took a deep breath, and then said loudly: "Whoever you are, if you want to stop us, then come out!"
His voice echoed in the empty Nine Netherworld, but there was only deathly silence in response to him.
"Maybe it's just testing us." Hong Ling guessed.
"Anyway, we can't stay here for too long." Luo Chen said, he took the lead and continued to move forward.
Qing Shuang and Hong Ling followed closely behind, they remained highly alert, but at the same time tried to relax their minds to avoid excessive tension and consumption of too much energy.
In this way, they walked for a long time until a strange light appeared in front of them.
The light was not dazzling, but gave people a warm feeling.
"What is that?" Qing Shuang asked curiously.
"It looks like some kind of light source." Luo Chen replied, his eyes flashing with a glimmer of exploration.
They walked towards the light carefully, and as the distance got closer, they found that the light came from a small cave.
The entrance of the cave was covered by some strange plants, which emitted a soft glow.
"I have never seen these plants before." Qing Shuang exclaimed, she reached out and gently touched a leaf, and the leaf actually made a pleasant sound.
"This place seems a little unusual." Luo Chen said, his intuition told him that there might be important clues hidden here.
They decided to go into the cave and find out what was going on.
The interior of the cave was more spacious than they had imagined. The glowing plants were all over the space, filling the cave with soft light.
"Look over there!" Hong Ling pointed to the depths of the cave, where there was a huge stone with some ancient symbols engraved on it.
Luo Chen and Qing Shuang walked over and carefully observed the symbols.
They were ancient and complex, and seemed to contain some mysterious power.
"I have never seen these symbols, but they give me a familiar feeling." Qing Shuang frowned and said.
"Maybe these symbols are related to the ancient gods." Luo Chen guessed.
They decided to try to interpret these symbols, hoping to find some clues.
After some effort, they finally found that these symbols seemed to be an ancient text, recording a legend about the ancient gods.
According to the legend, the ancient gods were a powerful warrior who had guarded this land and fought countless battles with the evil forces in the Nine Netherworld.
In the end, he sealed his power in the Tianxin grass.
And this Tianxin grass was exactly what the ancient gods wanted them to find in the Nine Netherworld.
"Tianxin grass..." Luo Chen whispered, his eyes wandering around the cave, trying to find the legendary herb.
"If what these symbols record is true, then Tianxin grass should be nearby." Qingshuang said, with hope in her eyes.
Hongling seemed a little cautious. She looked around and whispered, "We have to be careful. Nothing in the Nine Netherworld is simple. If Tianxin grass really exists, there may be guardians around it."
Luo Chen nodded, knowing that Hongling's worries were not unreasonable.
The three of them continued to explore the cave, taking every step carefully, for fear of triggering any traps or disturbing unknown creatures.
Time passed slowly in the cave, and they finally found a herb emitting a faint blue light in a hidden corner.
The leaves of the herb were heart-shaped, with a crystal clear dewdrop in the center, as if it was the brightest star in the night sky.
"This should be Tianxin grass." Qingshuang said softly, her eyes full of surprise.
Luo Chen and Hong Ling also came over, and they carefully observed this magical herb.
Luo Chen stretched out his hand and wanted to touch the dewdrop, but just as his finger was about to touch the dewdrop, an invisible barrier suddenly appeared and bounced his hand back.
"It seems that this Tianxin grass is not easy to obtain." Luo Chen frowned and said.
"Maybe we need to unlock some mechanism or complete some ritual." Qingshuang pondered.
Hong Ling suggested: "Let's not rush to act, and observe carefully whether there are any clues around."
They began to look for possible clues in the cave, carefully checking every corner and every stone.
Finally, on the other side of the cave, they found a stone slab with some words engraved on it that were similar to the previous symbols.
"These words seem to be telling a ritual." Luo Chen carefully identified it, and he began to try to follow the instructions on the stone slab.
He followed the instructions and moved the stones around the Tianxin grass in a specific order.
As the last stone returned to its position, the whole cave suddenly shook, and the ground around the Tianxin grass slowly cracked, revealing a deep hole.
"Be careful!" Qingshuang shouted, and she and Hongling quickly stood on both sides of Luochen, ready to deal with any possible situation.
From the cave entrance, a transparent ball of light slowly rose, and the ball of light contained a more dazzling Tianxin grass.
Luochen stretched out his hand, and this time there was no obstacle, and he gently took the ball of light down.
"Success!" Hongling shouted excitedly.
Luochen handed the ball of light to Qingshuang and said, "This should be the final goal of our mission. Now we should go back."
Qingshuang took the ball of light, and she could feel the powerful power contained in it.
The three decided not to stay any longer and began to return along the original route.
However, just as they were about to leave the cave, a low voice suddenly sounded: "Do you think you can leave easily like this?"
The three quickly turned around and saw a figure slowly walking out of the darkness.
It was a mysterious man in a black robe, his face was blocked by the shadow and could not be seen clearly.
"Who are you?" Luochen asked vigilantly.
The mysterious man did not answer, but slowly raised his hand, and a black light shot out from his hand and headed straight for Luo Chen.
Luo Chen dodged quickly, but the light seemed to have life and chased after him.
Qingshuang and Hongling also joined the battle immediately. They knew that only by defeating this mysterious man could they leave safely.
The battle was extremely fierce. The mysterious man's spells were powerful and strange. Although Luo Chen and the other two cooperated tacitly, they still felt great pressure.
Just when they were about to collapse, Luo Chen suddenly remembered the power of Tianxin Grass.
He quickly raised the light ball of Tianxin Grass above his head, and a powerful energy surged out of the light ball, surrounding the three of them.
With the blessing of that power, Luo Chen's swordsmanship became more fierce, Qingshuang's spells became more accurate, and Hongling's long whip seemed to have life. Every swing accurately hit the mysterious man's weakness.
The mysterious man seemed surprised by this sudden change, and his offensive began to become messy.
Luo Chen seized the opportunity, rushed forward, and pointed the tip of his sword directly at the mysterious man's chest.
Qingshuang and Hongling followed closely, each performing their strongest spells and moves.
With the combined efforts of the three, the mysterious man finally revealed a flaw.
Luochen's sword pierced his chest, and Qingshuang's spell enveloped him in a dazzling light.
Hongling's long whip tightly wrapped around the mysterious man's body, making him unable to move.
As the mysterious man fell, the cave suddenly became quiet.
The three panted and looked at each other, and saw a trace of fatigue and relief in each other's eyes.
"We did it." Qingshuang said softly, and the light ball in her hand still emitted a warm light.
"Yes, we did it." Luochen responded, his eyes turned to the mysterious man who fell to the ground, his heart full of doubts.
Hongling began to examine the mysterious man's body, trying to find out his identity.
However, when she unveiled the mysterious man's veil, the three were shocked.
"How is this possible?" Hongling's voice was filled with disbelief.
The mysterious man turned out to be an old man they had met on their journey before, who had given them a lot of help and guidance.
The three of them could never have imagined that this seemingly kind old man would be their enemy.
"Why did he do this?" Qingshuang's voice was filled with sadness.
Luo Chen was silent for a moment, then slowly said: "Perhaps, he also has his own difficulties, perhaps... he is just controlled by some kind of power."
Hongling nodded, she knew that Luo Chen was right.
In this world full of mystery and unknown, the truth is often much more complicated than it seems on the surface.
The three decided to bury the old man's body in the cave as a thank you for his help.
They quietly dug a grave, placed the old man in it, and then piled stones into a simple grave.
After completing all this, they left the cave with Tianxin grass.
The three of them took Tianxin grass and set off on their way home.
Along the way, they talked about the old man, trying to understand why he became the mysterious man who guarded Tianxin grass.
Luo Chen proposed a hypothesis, perhaps the old man had also come for Tianxin Grass, but was eventually attracted by its power and lost himself.
"Power is always a double-edged sword," Qingshuang sighed, "It can help us, but it can also destroy us."
Hongling fell into deep thought, she recalled the help the old man had given them, those warm words and selfless guidance.
She couldn't connect the kind old man with the mysterious man in the cave.
"Perhaps, we will never know the truth." Hongling said softly, with a trace of sadness in her eyes.
Luo Chen reached out, patted her shoulder gently, and comforted her: "We can at least remember his good side and remember the help he once gave us."
