Chapter Fifty-Nine: Boredom

Su Yuanbai turned to watch as the woman in the sky-blue Taoist robe departed abruptly, his calm expression betraying no surprise. His gaze moved toward the end of the dim, yellowed corridor—the bronze door carved with the fearsome beast motif.

“Almost every cell here has a similar deep passage, and at the end of each is a single-use teleportation array. Only the array beneath your cell leads to the Underworld, and it is not single-use, but it has already been deliberately destroyed,” Xi Chunxue explained to Su Yuanbai.

After tracing the pull of her soul to her own body and returning to life, she had not rushed to leave the deep passage she had fallen into. As she suspected, the passage did not lead directly to Hell. At its depths, she found an intricate array. Though the array had been damaged, rendering its full structure unknowable, Xi Chunxue detected the scent of Black Nether Grass in the dark powder used to engrave its runes.

Black Nether Grass grows in the northernmost, shadow-haunted lands of North You Province. If ordinary folk consume it, their souls are immediately torn from their bodies.

There were no banners around the array, indicating that it was not powered by any artifact or item as its core. Whoever constructed it must possess extraordinary mastery over arrays; otherwise, it would be impossible to create an array merely by scattering powder.

Xi Chunxue then instructed Duan Lingqi not to follow the passage back upward, but instead to dig leftward. Sure enough, before long they encountered another deep passage. The array within was intact and single-use, its core a fine-grade black crystal, now drained of all spiritual energy and useless as a stone.

Xi Chunxue continued to have Duan Lingqi dig, and passage after passage appeared before her, each containing a similar single-use teleportation array.

“There are prisoners here adept at tunneling, but how were the materials for these arrays smuggled past the guards?” Xi Chunxue mused aloud.

“There must be a traitor in the Prison Administration!” Duan Lingqi nodded, instinctively stroking his goatee, only to touch the cold scales on his chin.

“I fear it’s not as simple as a traitor,” Xi Chunxue replied, her voice heavy. “The prisoners in this dungeon vanished overnight twenty years ago, prompting the transfer of the Warden and the appointment of the current Warden Zhang. According to what that evil flood dragon said, Deputy Warden Li came with Warden Zhang twenty years ago, while Deputy Wardens Shen and Lin have always been here.”

Xi Chunxue spoke slowly, her gaze fixed on Su Yuanbai’s back.

“Deputy Wardens Lin and Shen are suspicious!” Duan Lingqi declared decisively.

“That was my first thought, but then I remembered the guard mentioning that Warden Zhang visited before leaving the island, and the other three deputy wardens also visited the dungeon. Did none of them notice anything amiss?” Xi Chunxue asked, looking at Su Yuanbai.

“Then they’re all suspicious!” Duan Lingqi shouted.

“The most suspicious one is him.” Xi Chunxue extended her finger toward Su Yuanbai.

“Him? ... Wait, wait, surely you’re mistaken! The Honored One couldn’t possibly be involved!” Duan Lingqi was about to agree, but upon seeing whom Xi Chunxue pointed to, he hurriedly slapped her hand aside in protest.

“Not just him, you’re suspicious too. You have the ability to dig tunnels—did you not notice the soil around your excavations was loose?” Xi Chunxue countered, turning to Duan Lingqi.

“I’m no earth-walking mole! I don’t spend my days digging tunnels, and in my three hundred years of imprisonment, the only tunnel I’ve ever dug was at the Honored One’s command… What’s that got to do with you?!” Duan Lingqi realized something was off as Xi Chunxue questioned him.

“I must find out what you are all planning,” Xi Chunxue exhaled, a thread of clear light swirling around her fingertips as she drew a circle at the feet of Duan Lingqi and Su Yuanbai.

“Warden Zhang is a direct disciple of a Real Master from Jade Pillar Cave on Zhongnan Mountain. Deputy Warden Lin is a disciple of Chaoyuan Temple on Pingdu Mountain. I don’t know the origins of the other two deputy wardens. Aside from demonic influences here, I cannot fathom why two Taoist disciples would be assigned to guard this prison,” Xi Chunxue said gravely, watching Su Yuanbai turn toward her.

Ignoring Duan Lingqi’s attempts to escape her ‘Circle of Confinement’ spell, she focused on the silent, handsome man, her true adversary.

“The dense golden runes on your face, though I haven’t deciphered them all, I recognize several as ancient Golden Immortal seals meant to subdue primordial demons. Coupled with the Nine Nether floral mark you placed on the guard’s soul in the Underworld, it’s hard for me to see you as a good man,” Xi Chunxue said, her body tensing.

Moreover, with the death of the beast, the profound array suppressing the prisoners was destroyed, allowing him to escape.

“Not so,” Su Yuanbai suddenly said.

Even though Xi Chunxue hadn’t blinked for a moment, she couldn’t see how Su Yuanbai had appeared before her; her ‘Circle of Confinement’ spell had been completely obliterated.

“These arrays cannot hold me,” Su Yuanbai said calmly, looking down at Xi Chunxue.

She was momentarily at a loss for words—perhaps he was right.

“Not necessarily. You can command that evil flood dragon and other prisoners. The array meant to confine you was unique, but you used some other method to destroy it,” Xi Chunxue replied, drawing a deep breath.

“That’s possible,” Su Yuanbai nodded, not denying the speculation.

Seeing his response, Xi Chunxue’s expression grew serious, her fingers hesitating over the spell she considered casting at him. She knew it would not harm this beautiful man in the slightest.

“But I didn’t kill the beast, nor am I involved in these events,” Su Yuanbai said coolly.

“You’ve lost your memories—how can you be sure?” Xi Chunxue retorted coldly.

“Even if I have forgotten, I find all this far too tedious,” Su Yuanbai replied with a light laugh and a shake of his head.

“Then what, pray tell, is not tedious to you?” Xi Chunxue asked sharply.

“To contend with the heavens—that is endless delight,” Su Yuanbai answered, calmly raising his head. His dark, profound eyes seemed to pierce through the dungeon, through the pouring rain, through the oppressive clouds, to gaze upon the vast expanse above the sky.