An Lin discovered that he was currently situated within an extremely strange space.
Everything around him was pure golden in color with no end in sight.
The ground was golden and quite substantial. He didn’t know what material it was made from, but it was quite soft and warm to step on.
A golden river flowed before them with no beginning nor end in sight.
This was actually a pretty nice place to stay.
However, that river was an extremely horrifying sight.
The river did not reflect his features. Instead, it was filled with countless images, all of which were depicting unspeakable and horrifying torture.
For example, there was a living being who had insect eggs injected into their bodies. The eggs hatched into parasitic insects, which fed upon the host’s body, making their body rot and decay day by day. The parasites then grew into adult form and finally devoured their host, leaving not even a single bone behind. All of the living beings were wailing with anguish and despair, as if they were experiencing pain even worse than death.
There were countless depictions of torture that were even more terrifying than that one.
All of the different images formed an endless river that continued to flow into infinity and beyond.
Shangguan Yi made her way over to An Lin. “If it wasn’t for the fact that Chen Chen unleashed a spell technique to transfer us onto the riverbank before we fell into the river, we might have to experience all of the forms of torture depicted in this river.”
An Lin’s flesh crawled upon hearing this.
Any one of those torture methods delivered pain that was worse than death, and he had almost experienced all of them?
His expression darkened as he looked at the river flowing before him. “There’s no f*cking end to this! This must be the most terrifying hell under the heavens!”
“Perhaps the Heavenly Time God has incorporated all of the torture methods she has ever seen into this river.” Shangguan Yi also had lingering fear in her heart.
“How cruel… She said that she would make us die countless deaths in an eternal time loop, but I didn’t expect something like this…” An Lin shuddered.
He suddenly felt like Xu Xiaolan feeding him poison was heaven in comparison!
The Heavenly Time God’s self-detonation was on an entirely different level to her Thousand-Year Sword technique.
Wait a minute, Chen Chen was able to defend himself against the Heavenly Time God’s self-detonation and even save them in the process. How bad*ss was that?
“By the way, where is Chen Chen?” An Lin asked.
Shangguan Yi pointed a finger at the river. “He’s in the river.”
An Lin was astonished upon hearing this, and he choked up with sobs. “Senior Student Chen Chen sacrificed himself to save us…”
“What are you thinking…” Shangguan Yi rolled her eyes at An Lin. “Chen Chen has gone into the river to look for the way back. Perhaps there are some leads that can tell us how to go back within this river of time.”
“Is he going to be ok?” An Lin asked with a concerned expression.
Shangguan Yi replied with a smile, “Your upperclassman, Chen Chen, is very impressive. He has a special way to prevent himself from being affected by the power of the river of time. He has already taught that method to the Great Empress, Meng Zhi, and the Celestial Thearch. All four of them are currently within the river of time, looking for a way back, while I’m responsible for staying here to look after you.”
“Everyone is out there risking their lives…” An Lin looked at the vast expanse of golden space around him and slowly came to terms with the fact that he had been trapped in this peculiar space.
They could not use any spatial-type abilities here since there was no sense of direction. The only clue they had that could potentially provide a way out for them was this relentless river in which all types of brutal torture methods were being depicted.
Looking at this river too much would make one nauseous.
An Lin was already starting to feel the effects of this.
This was much more terrifying than watching some horror films.
An Lin found a place to sit and pulled out a spirit fruit to munch on.
Shangguan Yi made her way over and sat down beside An Lin with a hint of a smile on her flawless face. “It feels bad, right? I fared even worse than you when I first saw this river. I threw up immediately.”
An Lin was a little surprised as he turned toward Shangguan Yi. He didn’t think that the legendary reincarnation of the Ice Matriarch would have such a low threshold to things of this nature.
Shangguan Yi folded her legs and tucked her chin on her knees. The regal gold in her eyes gradually disappeared and returned to their former black and white as a hint of vulnerability appeared on her face.
She then said in a soft voice, “Look at all of those suffering living beings. Even if I were to exhaust my imagination, I wouldn’t be able to think of even ten-thousandths of these torture methods.
“But torture methods of these types are almost boundless and infinite in this river of time… We’re all living beings, why are there so many living beings who are degraded to such an extent?”
An Lin couldn’t help but burst into laughter upon hearing this. “There are all kinds of fish in the sea.”
“Can we think of a way to kill all of the bad fish within the sea? Or completely deprive the bad fish of the opportunity of being born?” Shangguan Yi mused.
“Er…” An Lin faltered slightly upon hearing this. He felt like this was the ramblings of a little girl.
All bad people should just go and die!
“In this world, there are both good and evil people.” An Lin spoke after thinking to himself for a moment, “Perhaps the purpose for the existence of bad people is to accentuate the goodness of good people.”
Shangguan Yi chuckled upon hearing this.
His words made sense.
In this world, there was black, but there was also white. The kind and pure things would only stand out with the existence of the putrid things. If demonic sects didn’t exist, no sect would be considered as a sect of justice.
However, no one liked those dark and putrid things. It was just like how everyone liked to be clean. Who would want to be dirty and disgusting all the time?
“I’ve actually always wanted the snow maidens to become living beings that everyone would like.” Shangguan Yi turned toward An Lin and said, “It’s just a pity that even though all of them are very beautiful, they all have cold personalities, making it difficult for people to coexist and interact with them. As time went by, no other living beings wanted to interact with us anymore.”
An Lin smiled. “So the warm and enthusiastic welcome I received was quite rare?”
“Not just rare, even the Great Empress has never been treated so warmly by them.” A vibrant smile appeared on Shangguan Yi’s face.
An Lin recalled the fawning, enthusiastic snow maidens attending to his every need, and he too was savoring the memory.
“An Lin…” a gentle voice sounded beside him.
An Lin turned to discover Shangguan Yi looking at him with rippling eyes and trembling lips, as if she wanted to say something.
An Lin’s heart jolted with shock. We can’t do this, Sister Shangguan! Xiaolan will force me to drink medicine!
“An Lin, I’m sorry. I really am…”
An expression of guilt and remorse appeared on Shangguan Yi’s face as she lowered her head.
An Lin faltered slightly upon seeing this. Things seemed to be heading in a direction that was not what he anticipated.
“I brought all of this upon you. If it weren’t for my request, you wouldn’t have come here, and you wouldn’t be in this situation. I’m the epitome of bad luck. It’s all my fault…”
She buried her face into her arms, and she curled up into a ball as her body was wracked by sobs. “Anyone who met me would be blighted by bad luck… I’ve tried so hard, but I still bring bad luck upon others despite my best efforts. Should I just close myself off to everyone? Or perhaps I simply shouldn’t exist?”
An Lin looked at the sobbing woman beside him and was momentarily at a loss for what to do.