Ye Ziling woke up.
She opened her eyes to darkness.
Sitting up and looking around, she realized she was in a stone cave resembling an underground palace.
The surroundings were bone-chillingly cold, but thankfully, her cloak was thick enough.
This sensation of her whole body falling apart was exactly the same as when she fell from the sky during that cataclysm, except this time her primordial spirit wasn't shattered, nor had she fallen as hard.
She could survive falling from the Nine Heavens, so how could a mere broken cave claim her life?
The air was cold and damp, filled with a pungent smell of mold, making her almost gag. More agonizing was the fact that her wrist was tightly bound by something cold.
Was this a vine?
Looking down, she saw her wrist encircled twice by a thumb-thick green vine, tied in a knot.
Following the end of the vine, an exceptionally stunning, peerless visage came into view.
Ling Xi was leaning against the stone wall, his eyes closed in slumber, his brows peaceful, like a long-dormant sculpture.
His pair of narrow, enchanting phoenix eyes were slightly hooded, with thick, long lashes cast upon his jade-like cheeks, highlighting his perfect profile.
Ye Ziling stared blankly at that handsome face for a long time before snapping back to reality, realizing the other end of the vine was indeed him.
Sensing movement in the surroundings, the man subconsciously became alert. His eyelashes quivered slightly, and his deep pupils slowly opened, a pair of phoenix eyes flowing with a hazy luster as he looked up at her.
Ye Ziling felt inexplicably guilty and averted her gaze, scanning the surroundings indifferently.
Seeing the exquisite man, his heart settled. He examined her up and down for a while, then looked at her with a frown, asking, "Are you injured?"
Ye Ziling paused for a moment, then shook her head, her eyes regaining their usual coldness. "I'm fine."
At this, Ling Xi's gaze shifted to the vine wrapped around his wrist, a flicker of doubt crossing his brows, his eyes darkening.
What is this?
"Contract Vine?!"
Both of them pondered the vine for a moment, then understanding dawned upon them. They looked at each other simultaneously, their eyes lighting up.
Ye Ziling pursed her lips, feeling a little surprised. She wanted to say something but ultimately held back.
Both of them were well aware of what a contract vine was.
This type of vine connected two hosts, forming a life-and-death contract. If one of them died, the other would not survive, their lives bound by the contract, hence the name Contract Vine.
Sounds romantic, doesn't it?
But encountering such a vine now, and being bound to Ling Xi for life, it was far from romantic.
However, if they could escape this accursed place, perhaps there would be other ways to break it.
Now, they were in the same boat. Either both died, or both lived. To live, they had to consider the other's life.
Ye Ziling tugged the vine and walked towards the stone wall, her hand feeling for a mechanism. Her palm pressed against the wall, brushing over the uneven stone surface until she felt a square-shaped recess.
Ling Xi followed her. With a light poke of his finger, a flame illuminated the stone wall brightly.
Ye Ziling confirmed a square recess in the stone wall and pressed it without hesitation.
But after trying several times, she found that no matter how hard she pressed, the mechanism did not respond.
Seeing her brows furrowed and her expression not panicked but far from relaxed, Ling Xi lowered his head and asked, "How is it?"
As a disciple of the Jiuling Palace, she should know the mechanisms of this stone cave better than him.
The surroundings were so quiet that only the sound of dripping water could be heard. The stalagmites around the cave entrance were of various shapes and peculiar forms, looking like a pile of white bones from afar, making one's hair stand on end.
The dampness of the surroundings mixed with a moldy smell, and coupled with the bone-like stalagmites, it gave the illusion of smelling rotting corpses in a mass grave.
Ye Ziling remembered that this mechanism was personally created by a former palace lord, intended to imprison and subdue untamable demonic beasts. These beasts were inherently too ferocious and powerful, so they could only be locked away here.
After she ascended the throne, the demonic beasts had their demonic cores extracted, so this mechanism had remained empty.
She couldn't possibly be mistaken; the mechanism she felt just now was indeed the one to open this cave entrance.
Could someone outside have tampered with the main mechanism, locking it?
"The mechanism is locked from the outside, this place can't be opened at all," Ye Ziling said, her brows knitted, looking at Ling Xi. "There is only one exit here. If I'm not mistaken, someone outside has tampered with the mechanism, and we are likely to die here."
"Why did your Jiuling Palace set up this mechanism?" Ling Xi gazed at her, a flicker of curiosity in his eyes.
"This is a place where ancient demonic beasts were imprisoned. Those beasts were ferocious and possessed excessive demonic power. The Celestial Realm was helpless, so they sealed them here."
"I see." Ling Xi understood and then asked, "Are there any other exits?"
Ye Ziling's expression stiffened. Recalling the memories from that time, she clearly remembered there was only one exit.
"There shouldn't be."
Ling Xi's gaze fell on the recess in the stone wall. Looking into her deep eyes, a hint of doubt flashed in his dark pupils, but his expression remained as calm as ever, as if he had anticipated this.
A faint smile appeared on his lips. At this critical moment, he didn't forget to tease, "It is indeed an honor to be trapped here with Miss Ye."
Seeing his smile, as if he had gained a treasure, Ye Ziling's face gradually darkened.
He could still joke at a time like this; his heart was truly too vast.
"Do you have a way?" After spending some time together, despite how uninhibited this man was in front of her, his talent and abilities were undeniable. His confident demeanor suggested he had a plan, and she always felt that he knew no less than she did.
Ling Xi smiled lightly and remained silent. He raised his right hand, forming his index and middle fingers into a sword, and drew a peculiar rune on his left palm.
The rune was golden, with the shape of a golden dragon appearing on it, lifelike.
He retracted his fingertips and placed the rune in the center of his palm, pressing it against the stone wall. A golden light suddenly flashed on the wall, and clear formation lines gradually appeared.
"Is this... a map?" Ye Ziling recognized it. The lines of the formation were, in fact, a complete map.
Ling Xi withdrew his palm and looked at her. "Miss Ye has sharp eyes."
The demonic beasts were enormous, yet the place they fell into was small. How could a demonic beast that had lived for tens of thousands of years enter here? There couldn't only be one exit.
"So, there's another exit here?" Ye Ziling looked at Ling Xi. At this moment, he lowered his head, staring at the formation for a moment, his gaze deep and silent.
"We can only follow the map and take a gamble. If we win, we get out alive. If we lose," Ling Xi tilted his head slightly, pausing for a moment. Seeing her listening intently beside him, he hooked his lips. "If we lose, Miss Ye will have to accompany me to the netherworld."
Seeing his expression that suggested it was no loss whether they lived or died, Ye Ziling hesitated to speak. She had never wanted to punch someone so badly in her life.
The vine on her wrist suddenly tightened. She slightly lowered her brows, seeing the tightening contract vine in her hand, and immediately released her just-clenched fist.
Ling Xi observed everything, quickly capturing the helplessness in her eyes, and pointed it out directly, "Miss Ye, you aren't thinking of making a move here again, are you?"
After speaking, he raised his wrist and waved it in front of her. "Now that our lives are bound by this vine, the more killing intent you harbor towards me, the tighter this vine will coil. Miss Ye doesn't want to die, does she?"
Although Ye Ziling disliked his smug look, she still released her fist and gave him a beaming smile, threatening, "It would be best for Scholar Ling to shut his mouth, lest I get agitated and forget myself, sending you on your way prematurely."
Ling Xi curled his lips, smiling wantonly. "It's no loss to have Miss Ye accompany me."
"..."
The two walked for a distance. The stalagmites gradually became fewer, the dripping sound in their ears disappeared, and the previously rugged ground gradually became flat. A faint light appeared at the end of the path.