CHAPTER 2074: CHAPTER 2072: YOU KNOW TOO MUCH

Bai Ruozhu’s lifted leg fell back down, and it was as if she had lost her mind, stepping towards the stone pillars one step at a time.

Suddenly, her eyes cleared a bit, and she gritted her teeth, turning her head away to avoid looking at the glowing stone pillars. This was definitely a kind of spiritual temptation, making her irresistibly want to touch them, but it was too dangerous!

She hadn’t yet recovered from the shock of the patterns on the stone pillars; each painting depicted people who committed crimes and were punished by being sent somewhere, and the last painting conspicuously had the character "罪" (crime), and the valley imprisoning the criminals looked exactly like the Jiuli Clan, with a peach forest that seemed meant for a fairyland!

The Jiuli Clan always prided themselves on being a people favored by the gods, claiming to be descendants of the gods. They were naturally exceptional, surpassing ordinary people whether in raising poisonous insects, practicing martial arts, or learning mechanical techniques. If not for the advantage of utilizing the overflowing inner strength from Fen Jiu, Bai Ruozhu would not be the match of the Jiuli people with just her poison skills.

But these stone pillars indicated that the Jiuli Clan was not god’s descendants, but exiled criminals from another tribe!

This answer was extremely ironic. Was it the ancestors of the Jiuli tribe who covered up this fact, or was it an illusion produced by the Jiuli tribe over time?

Or were these paintings on the stone pillars fake, but how could the trial ground of the Jiuli dare to depict paintings that disgrace the Jiuli?

The weathering of those paintings seemed to have been there for a long time, making Bai Ruozhu more inclined to believe that the paintings were real.

One painting showed people being sent to the Jiuli Clan, where five stone pillars were depicted, just in a corner of the scene, but Bai Ruozhu thought of the teleportation array, and wondered if touching the stone pillars would activate it, sending her to the tribe where the Jiuli Clan’s exiles were?

She couldn’t imagine the world-renowned Jiuli Clan being criminals from a tribe exiled here. What kind of powerful existence would those tribe people be?

And were those strangely shaped yet exquisitely crafted mechanical puppets also their work?

Bai Ruozhu thought of all this, yet only a few breaths had passed in her mind before she was again attracted by the red light of the stone pillars and uncontrollably touched one.

It felt as if some force was guiding her; she clearly didn’t know the order in which to touch the stone pillars, but she followed that force. She resisted inside, yet there was a vague expectation or perhaps curiosity.

Finally, she touched the five stone pillars in succession, and a wind swirled at the center of the pillars, as if a tornado was forming.

Bai Ruozhu now could control her body, knowing she had caused great trouble, hurriedly retreating, but the whirlwind in the middle became more violent, sucking her in bit by bit.

Dammit! She gathered all her inner strength to retreat, yet even turning around was difficult. If she were really dragged to another world and couldn’t return, wouldn’t she and her family, lover, and children be separated forever?

Just as she was about to enter the space, a shadow suddenly flashed over, and she was pulled away by someone to the distance.

She caught a faint scent of peach blossom at the tip of her nose, quickly realizing who it was.

Once she reached safety, she turned her head and, sure enough, it was that mysterious Feng Cheng.

"You can’t go there, or you’ll only find death." Feng Cheng’s face was stern, his eyes fierce. Bai Ruozhu had seen him a few times, always finding him pale, indifferent, or calm as the breeze and clouds, but she had never seen him like this, and guessed he was angry.

"I didn’t want to go either; some force from the stone pillars controlled me." Bai Ruozhu explained, then said: "Thank you for helping me again."

Feng Cheng’s face softened slightly, then he sighed and said, "You’ve already learned too much. I shouldn’t let you go, but you’ve helped me before, and I can’t bear to kill you. You know what to say and what not to say, right? Otherwise, I can’t protect your life."

"You...," Bai Ruozhu paused, "are you one of the people from the tribe that exiled the Jiuli?"

Feng Cheng said nothing nor did he deny it.

"Then why did you previously say you were from the Fen Family?" Bai Ruozhu raised an eyebrow.

"Don’t ask too much; this is not a place to linger. You should return." Feng Cheng furrowed his brows.

Bai Ruozhu felt somewhat unwilling, "Is this how the trial ends?"

"Rest assured, when you leave, the trial ground will automatically grant you a reward." Feng Cheng said.

"What kind of person are you exactly? Are you staying in the Jiuli Clan just to watch over them?" This was like a mystery that had just been half-revealed, leaving her itching for more answers.

She asked again, "If I was just sucked in, would I have been taken to your tribe’s world?"

Suddenly a cold light flashed, and a sharp blade was at Bai Ruozhu’s neck, she could even feel the cold air and slight sting on her skin; she knew the sword had already cut into her neck a little.

She dared not breathe heavily, initially thinking Feng Cheng wouldn’t kill her, but it was perhaps too naive of her.

"Stop asking, leave," Feng Cheng retracted the sword, the fine blood trail on her neck stung his eyes. He did not want to harm her nor any Jiuli people.

Bai Ruozhu heaved a big sigh of relief inside, but what followed was a strong sense of disappointment and unwillingness, making her stubbornly confront Feng Cheng once more.

"Since their ancestors were criminals sentenced to exile here, why do I need to mind my words, why fear them knowing the truth?" she asked defiantly.

She wasn’t a true Jiuli person, but if she had grown up in Jiuli, she wouldn’t want to be oblivious like a fool.

"Shut up!" Feng Cheng was angered again this time, but didn’t strike, instead raised his voice considerably, "You think I want it this way? Quickly leave, or the consequences won’t be yours to bear!"

Having said this, he waved his sleeve, using his inner strength to send Bai Ruozhu far away, yet without injuring her.

Struggling to stabilize herself, Bai Ruozhu saw the scene shift suddenly, she found herself back in the place she had just entered a short while ago; the next second, a surge of purple gas rushed towards her. Before she could think much, she sat down cross-legged, striving to absorb it.

Meanwhile, shadows flashed through her mind like a lantern; she endeavored to remember, realizing they were martial arts moves.

She sat there unaware of time, not noticing a day passed outside, people watching grew fewer, many shaking their heads as they left, saying no one ever stayed in the trial ground this long, Bai Ruozhu must have died in there.

Someone else mentioned that the light from the Enlightenment Gate had faded almost completely, Bai Zepei fearing he’d be driven mad if not dead.