Chapter 1646: Chapter 1646

Although not driven to madness, no one wanted to stay here as it was more miserable than braving the elements.

The two only had one last place left to explore. It wasn’t around the altar—Li Yifei had already explored there. This was just an ordinary spot, with a skeleton on the ground. The skull had been kicked away by Li Yifei. Skulls could leave because they were lifeless objects, while living beings couldn’t, despite Li Yifei having tried countless times over the last few days. All the corpse skulls within the formation had been kicked out like a soccer ball by him.

Having not shaved for more than ten days, Li Yifei’s beard had grown very long, becoming a full beard, making him look much older. Thankfully, there was rainwater that allowed him to wash his face and body frequently, otherwise, he would’ve looked even more disheveled.

Xu Shanshan stood in front of the last unexplored spot, arms crossed. Her top clothes were gone, leaving only underwear below. In this environment, wearing or not wearing didn’t make much difference. Initially, when they stripped down, there was some embarrassment, but later on, they focused on exploration, losing any such thoughts.

Li Yifei stood beside Xu Shanshan, saying, "Let me do it. You go lie down for a bit. If we get out, we’ll need to conserve some energy."

After speaking, Li Yifei licked his dry lips, raised his hand to rub his face, stepped forward, took a deep breath, held his breath, concentrated, and began exploring.

Xu Shanshan clenched her fists, looking very nervous. This was the last unexplored area. If nothing was discovered here, it would mean that the six or seven days of effort and perseverance by the two would be in vain.

Half an hour later, Li Yifei finished exploring. He still refused to open his eyes. This was the last spot unless the two could fly and explore the temple’s ceiling above. The grounds had been thoroughly explored.

There was no discovery. The stone pillars remained stone pillars, the stone walls remained stone walls, and the stone ground had no anomaly. The formation still existed, matching the force you exerted with equal resistance. Air could come in, rain could fall, but people couldn’t leave.

Li Yifei was at his wit’s end. He finally opened his eyes, looking at the disheveled Xu Shanshan, who had expectant eyes, and shook his head slowly, saying, "It’s still not working."

"Alright!" Xu Shanshan’s body jolted, nodding resignedly, swaying slightly before collapsing to the ground. Li Yifei walked over, sat in front of Xu Shanshan, forced a smile, and comforted, "We will get out, trust me."

"I believe!" Xu Shanshan nodded again, but her expression was a bit off. She stuck out her tongue, licked her dry lips, and with drooping eyelids, suddenly widened her eyes, saying to Li Yifei, "Yifei, my husband, you... you should just eat me."

"I’ve said not to talk like that, or I would die right here!" Li Yifei showed annoyance. Xu Shanshan’s words evoked memories of that day, lying weak and hungry on the ground, beside an injured comrade burning with fever and uttering gibberish. On the other side, a usually cheerful and active comrade.

No one had food or water. Hunger, thirst, and the constant threat of being found tortured them. The scene shifted, showing the cheerful comrade greedily sucking the injured one’s blood....

Li Yifei shook his head vigorously, driving away these images. At this moment, both he and Xu Shanshan were under enormous pressure. He feared losing his mind and behaving like a beast.

No, absolutely not. Li Yifei’s action of licking his lips was merely a subconscious expression of dehydration and hunger, but it startled him!

Absolutely cannot do that, or else what would he become! Li Yifei shook his head forcefully, repeatedly, feeling dizzy and then plopping down on the ground, staring blankly.

Xu Shanshan was startled too, hastily crawling over to check, realizing Li Yifei had fainted from exhaustion and hunger, only then did she sigh in relief.

When they both came to, Li Yifei quickly stood up and walked around the interior of the formation, mumbling, while Xu Shanshan’s gaze followed him.

After circling once, Li Yifei stopped in front of Xu Shanshan, an unhealthy flush on his face, his beard trembling as he expressed his excitement. Before Xu Shanshan could ask, he exclaimed, "Have you noticed? All the bodies inside here...none of them had weapons!"

"No weapons?" Xu Shanshan repeated in a low voice, recalling that it seemed true. Over the past few days, they had looked at almost every skeleton; clothes had long turned to dust, blown to corners by the occasional breeze, leaving only bones, and weapons would rust and corrode, but... there should be traces. Even if scattered similarly by the wind, the ground should bear rust marks, especially for some weapons treated to resist oxidation—there should be at least one or two.

But here, besides bones, there was nothing else.

Could it be possible that these experts, like Li Yifei and Xu Shanshan, also fled here in desperation, carrying nothing on them?

How is that possible? The two of them rushed in all alone, that was just an accident. If Xu Shanshan hadn’t nearly been bitten by the giant snake and Li Yifei hadn’t dived to save her, causing both of their backpacks to fall, things wouldn’t have ended up . At least the food in the backpacks would have lasted them half a month, or even more than twenty days if they were frugal. Thɪs chapter is updatᴇd by 𝕟𝕠𝕧𝕖𝕝⚑𝕗𝕚𝕣𝕖⚑𝕟𝕖𝕥

No weapons, no other traces, just some debris in the corner, which also seemed to be clothing-related.

"There can’t be no weapons, but the weapons are indeed not here, so..." Li Yifei tapped his fingers on the ground, saying excitedly, "So there must be a way out."

Xu Shanshan followed up, "It’s also possible that someone else or something else took the weapons away."

"That’s right, it must be like that. We must not give up hope; there’s a way out here!" Li Yifei said confidently.

This new hope lifted their spirits. Since there was a way out, they couldn’t give up. After discussing for a while, they decided to meditate for a few hours to restore as much of their energy as possible. Once they recovered, they would look for a solution.

Waking up from meditation, Xu Shanshan looked at Li Yifei. She had no ideas of her own and could only hope that Li Yifei could think of something.

"I have an idea. Help me analyze it," Li Yifei said, opening his eyes and looking at Xu Shanshan.

Xu Shanshan nodded, and Li Yifei shared his thoughts. Xu Shanshan’s eyes gradually widened as she seemed to agree with the idea. She nodded slightly and said, "We can give it a try."

"Okay, then let’s do it the way I taught you!" Li Yifei said.

The two lay down and pressed several key points on their bodies, sealing them, then closed their senses. A few seconds later, their heartbeats even began to stop...

It was unknown how long had passed when Li Yifei first woke up. The surrounding was pitch black. Li Yifei and Xu Shanshan had just sealed their senses, entering a state of suspended animation, but this state couldn’t last long, especially given their physical condition. Reaching out, Li Yifei could feel Xu Shanshan’s presence; her body temperature was gradually returning. Li Yifei decided not to wake her up immediately and quickly checked the surroundings instead.

They were on an altar, similar to the previous altar, but the space they were in was different. It was completely dark, so dark that it felt thick, seemingly devoid of light. Li Yifei slowly propped himself up to sit and observed the surroundings. He sensed Xu Shanshan beside him; she was already breathing, her body slowly recovering. Li Yifei adjusted his breathing and slowly released his aura to feel the surrounding environment.

The space here was vast, and Li Yifei extended his aura as far as possible, about dozens of meters. Within this large range, he sensed nothing.

A few minutes later, Xu Shanshan woke up. She first called out to Li Yifei, who held her hand. She then said, "Yifei, are we... out?"

Li Yifei, holding Xu Shanshan’s hand, said excitedly, "Yes, we are out, finally out!"

To live after dying first, this was the method Li Yifei had thought of. In his heart, he lacked certainty, so he just wanted to try it, not expecting it to actually work.

Regarding the Formation Method, Li Yifei knew too little. Once they were out, he definitely needed to seek guidance on it from Murong Yuanqing and the others.

The two began to explore this new place. It was very dark, and their vision was only dimly perceptible, so they did not venture far. This was a new space, or rather a cave, with an uneven ground. After just a few steps, Xu Shanshan tripped, and Li Yifei almost tumbled as well, kicking a stone and wincing in pain.

This was a cave. They groped through the darkness for some distance, moving very slowly. After what seemed to be a turn, a glimmer of light appeared before them, accompanied by the faint sound of water. This sight filled the weary duo with joy, feeling anew strength flowing into their bodies.

Xu Shanshan let out a soft gasp, gripping Li Yifei’s hand tightly, saying, "We are out, Yifei, we are out!"

"Yes, we are out," Li Yifei took a deep breath. The air here seemed fresher than in the temple. The presence of light and water ahead signaled they could find food and survive, and it also implied they might find the legendary place where the Eastern Han master left the Bai Shan.

Hope was ahead. The two could not bother resting and quickened their pace toward the light.