Chapter 346 Really

As expected.

He couldn't hide it from Master Qianye.

Gu Shen shook his head and said, "This is indeed not my dream... but it's very important to me."

"Little Gu, you need to understand." The tomb keeper said softly, "Divination is indeed very powerful, but it's not omnipotent."

Divination can discern most things in this world... but there are always exceptions, such as god seats, fire seeds, and even thoughts that someone has never spoken.

In a sense, divination is indeed a magical art of foresight.

But its "cause and effect" are not reversed.

In other words, something will not "happen" just because divination says it will "happen."

"So... you can't see the location of this snowfield either?" Gu Shen was a little disappointed.

"..."

The tomb keeper neither nodded nor shook her head.

She gave a meaningful suggestion, "Go to Mount Shenci. Perhaps there you will find what you are looking for."

...

...

"Sister..."

"Sister!"

The summit of Mount Shenci.

Li Qingsui, carrying the [Lantern], let out a cry of surprise the moment she arrived at the old house.

As usual, she would visit Mount Shenci every so often... but this visit, she received no response. It wasn't until she reached the summit that she found her sister collapsed on the ground of the shrine, unconscious, as if she had a serious illness. Her breathing was incredibly weak.

"Sister, wake up..."

The little girl quickly put down the [Lantern] and rushed to the wooden cot. She gently picked up her sister, beads of sweat seeping from her forehead, at a loss for what to do.

Aside from calling her sister's name... she couldn't do anything else.

Li Qingsui was anxious but helpless.

Was this the reason for using the "Prayer Art"?

She knew that using the Prayer Art came at a hefty price... Seeing her sister so weak, she subconsciously associated this appearance with the "Prayer Art."

Fortunately, after two calls... Li Qingci slowly woke up.

Li Qingsui was so anxious that tears were about to fall. Seeing her sister wake up, she breathed a sigh of relief.

"Silly girl, I'm fine."

Li Qingci rubbed her forehead with difficulty. She wiped away the tears on Li Qingsui's face with the back of her hand, her lips dry and pale, her voice hoarse, "Be good... don't cry..."

"Is it the Prayer Art?"

Li Qingsui gritted her teeth, "Did you use the 'Prayer Art' again?"

Li Qingci was stunned.

She shook her head and smiled softly, "It has nothing to do with the Prayer Art. I just... had a nightmare..."

The little girl, who was called a silly girl by Li Qingci, wasn't really silly.

She stubbornly looked at her sister. Although she didn't say anything... the meaning in her eyes was clear.

She didn't believe it.

Li Qingsui felt very distressed. This was just what she was seeing with her own eyes during this visit.

If it were at other times... her sister would often be like this, and she wouldn't even see it.

Li Qingsui hugged her sister tightly.

She didn't want her sister... to keep working so hard.

"Little silly... I'm really okay..."

After comforting the little girl, Li Qingci gradually recovered.

She looked up and saw the four bronze figure lamps in the old house. She suddenly remembered something very important and quickly said, "You're here at the right time... help me contact Mr. Gu. I want to see him..."

"You want to see Gu Shen?" Li Qingsui was slightly taken aback.

"Yes."

Li Qingci said solemnly, "The content of this dream is very important... perhaps it's related to the bronze figure lamps, perhaps it's related to the divine embryo."

As soon as she finished speaking.

There was a knock on the door outside the house.

...

...

Not long after.

The shrine regained its usual tranquility.

Li Qingci took a sip of water, and some color returned to her pale face.

Across from her, Gu Shen also looked solemn.

Both of them wanted to see each other... and so this coincidental meeting took place.

Outside the old house, a little girl sat in the black garden. Li Qingsui was worried about her sister and declined all of today's family affairs. She just waited on the summit, not leaving an inch, waiting for the end of this conversation.

"Last night I had a dream..."

"I had a dream..."

Two voices sounded simultaneously in the narrow environment of the old house.

Both of them were stunned.

Gu Shen and Li Qingci both stopped talking, signaling the other to speak first, and the small house fell silent again.

"I'll go first..." Li Qingci smiled bitterly, "It was a nightmare."

Gu Shen looked solemn, adopting a pose of listening attentively.

"Just yesterday, I used the Prayer Art to seek the future of the 'divine embryo'... the four bronze figure lamps suddenly produced an extremely abnormal reaction." Li Qingci still had lingering fear as she looked at the four bronze lamps placed in the four corners of the old house.

In the swaying light and shadow.

The four ancient figures "bowing to the end" looked somewhat eerie and terrifying.

Gu Shen narrowed his eyes.

"Usually when praying... they will give help from the dark. You can understand it as if there is a scale in the ethereal space. The more formal and grand the prayer ceremony, the harder it is for the scale to appear. The existence of these four bronze figure lamps can greatly increase the success rate of the Prayer Art."

Although Gu Shen had never practiced this art.

He roughly understood.

This was probably a "supplementary instrument."

"I have performed many 'divine embryo' deductions. I tried to see what the 'divine embryo' looks like..."

Li Qingci smiled weakly and said, "Even if I can't see clearly, it doesn't matter. Even if I just see a blurry face, I can be sure... that the divine embryo exists."

She was indeed a clever and fearless woman.

She actually used the Prayer Art to determine the information of the "divine embryo."

It was just... the price was a little too high. If the deduction was successful, how much lifespan would she pay?

"However, all previous deductions have failed... the scale does not accept my offerings." Li Qingci said in a low voice, "So I added weights little by little. Just yesterday, there was an abnormality in the deduction."

"It succeeded?" Gu Shen was shocked.

"No... judging from the results, this Prayer Art should still be a failure because my offerings were not taken." Li Qingci shook her head and said, "But... in a sense, it seems to be successful. Because I saw what I wanted to see."

Gu Shen was a little dazed.

"The four bronze figure lamps suddenly shook violently after the prayer was activated!"

"The entire shrine was plunged into chaos... At that moment, I had a kind of illusion, as if the entire Mount Shenci was about to collapse!"

Li Qingci said seriously, "In the chaos, I saw the four bronze figure lamps, with their original expressions appearing on their faces, which were... joy, anger, sorrow, and happiness respectively."

As expected.

These four bronze figure lamps had their own emotions.

"Then... I saw a blurry figure standing outside the old house..."

Li Qingci rubbed her brow, painfully saying, "That seemed to be the divine embryo... 'He' was standing by the well, just wrapped in a cloud of mist. I finally saw 'him' as I wished, but I didn't get any information, just a standing humanoid mist. When I woke up again, I became the way I am now."

After waking up, she found that everything was just a dream?

This was indeed a nightmare, but was the shaking of the bronze figure lamps a dream? Was the chaos of Mount Shenci also a dream?

"No, it's not a complete loss." Gu Shen comforted in a low voice, "At least you can be sure... that the divine embryo exists."

Li Qingci covered her head and hissed, "Mr. Gu, I can't understand... why wasn't I charged a price for this 'prayer'? Is this some kind of gift-giving hint?"

Gu Shen silently walked to the corner of the old house.

As before.

He forced himself to "stare" at the bronze figure lamp in the corner, watching the faceless man bowing to him with his sleeves folded... staring for dozens of seconds, the thought of resisting in his heart became deeper and deeper.

Gu Shen's eyebrow center, the blazing fire, was stimulated and flew out on its own.

"Rumble—"

There was even a clear sound of burning in the old house.

"Did you... see anything?"

Li Qingci held her breath, not daring to disturb him. After a minute, Gu Shen shifted his gaze, and she carefully opened her mouth.

"I think... there's something strange."

Gu Shen closed his eyes, his eyebrow center still surrounded by the blazing fire.

Because he was staring at the [Bronze Figure Lamp], tears uncontrollably flowed from the corners of his eyes...

Gu Shen slowly asked, "Miss Qingci, do the successive generations of Dharma protectors clean the old house of the shrine?"

Li Qingci was stunned, "Of course..."

Gu Shen asked again, "Then, what about these four bronze figure lamps?"

Li Qingci shook her head and said, "The rules left by the ancestors are that these four lamps are objects for suppressing the mountain."

The bronze figure lamps were the most precious sealed objects of the shrine. They themselves carried a strong sense of "deterrence and distance," making people unable to help but shift their gaze after looking at them twice!

So over the years, no Dharma protector had ever touched the lamps.

If they were not careful, the shrine would collapse. No one would take the risk of fiddling with this antique.

But over the years... not a single speck of dust had fallen on these bronze figure lamps.

They were too clean.

A very absurd idea suddenly emerged in Gu Shen's mind.

He suddenly reached out his hand.

"!!!"

Li Qingci's pupils shrank, and she subconsciously wanted to shout to stop him.

But Gu Shen's shot was very fast. The moment he raised his hand, the boundary wonder within the old house burst out with the intention of "stopping," and after the blazing fire enveloped his eyebrows, Gu Shen forcibly resisted this intention and pressed his palm against the wooden wall of the corner.

The flames did not go out.

The old house was still quiet.

Li Qingci looked shocked as she watched one of the four bronze figure lamps... completely pierced by Gu Shen's palm.

The palm passed through the lamp, passed through the large sleeves and robes of the bronze figure.

It also passed through the faint burning flame.

"This..."

"This... how is this possible?!"

For so many years, the Dharma protectors had served the "shrine," served these four bronze lamps, carefully and cautiously, without daring to be the slightest bit negligent.

But this lamp was actually just... a wisp of phantom?

It was fake?!

As a Dharma protector of the Li family, Li Qingci could not accept this truth.

And Gu Shen, who reached out and passed through the bronze figure lamp, with his palm touching the wooden wall, was in tears.

The previous tears were because the lamplight was too dazzling.

The tears at this moment... were because an unstoppable "sadness" welled up in Gu Shen's heart, an emotion that directly acted on the spiritual level, surging like the sea.

He withdrew his palm and sat on the ground of the old house, weeping while silently looking at his palm. After withdrawing from the bronze lamp, the surging emotions slowly subsided.

Four bronze lamps.

Symbolizing... joy, anger, sorrow, and happiness.

The one just now should have been sorrow.

Then, he reached out again to touch the second bronze lamp... it was still a phantom.

Gu Shen couldn't help but touch the second lamp.

His body began to tremble, and his chest seemed to be burning with a raging fire.

Gu Shen quickly withdrew his hand and silently recited the word "control anger" dozens of times in his heart. Then he looked at the lamps in the other two corners... and at the same time looked at Li Qingci and asked, "If you don't mind, we should try the remaining two..."

Li Qingci looked complicated.

In fact, she probably had the answer in her heart.

She randomly picked two, and the result was like this... then the remaining two were likely to be fake as well.

For so many years, had no Dharma protector discovered... that the bronze figure lamps placed in Mount Shenci, which were considered top-level sealed objects, were actually just virtual projections!

Seeing that Li Qingci did not object, Gu Shen reached out and touched the third lamp. His eyebrows raised, and he said in a light voice, "This lamp... is joy."

On the other side, Li Qingci also tried.

With her back to Gu Shen, she forcibly withstood the intention of "repulsion," reached out and passed through the bronze lamp, touching the wooden wall. Her figure suddenly froze, and she withdrew her hand as if shocked by electricity.

The fourth lamp... was also a phantom.

Gu Shen was a little strange about Li Qingci's reaction.

Joy, anger, sorrow, and happiness... this fourth lamp should be "happiness," but Gu Shen didn't quite understand how to distinguish between joy and happiness if they were four of the same emotion.

Slender fingers recoiled as if shocked by electricity.

Li Qingci stared at her bare hand and said softly, "Joy, anger, sorrow, fear, love, hate, desire, the seven are learned without being able to... the 'happiness' contained in this fourth lamp is actually 'desire' and 'love'."

Gu Shen was stunned.

The fourth lamp... desire and love?

No wonder Li Qingci's reaction was so intense after touching it. The emotions in these four lamps were too strong. Once you touched the phantom, you couldn't help but resonate with them involuntarily.

After taking two deep breaths.

Li Qingci regained her composure.

She slowly turned around, looked at Gu Shen, her voice carrying sorrow, "Mr. Gu... are these... all fake..."

For so many years, only four lights and shadows had been placed in the shrine.

This... was really a joke.

"No."

Gu Shen shook his head. He narrowed his eyes and looked at the four lamps again, muttering, "I don't think they are fake. On the contrary... I think they are real."

Li Qingci was a little puzzled.

"The fire that lights these four lamps is all normal fire... If the lamps did not exist, or could not carry the flame, could not support the old house, then the successive generations of Dharma protectors would have discovered the clues long ago." Gu Shen said slowly, "But their functions are normal. In other words, even if only phantoms remain, they still condense an entire complete 'small wondrous realm,' allowing the shrine to stand for hundreds of years in the black flowers."

"The reason I started to have doubts... is because of the emotions you mentioned."

"All practitioners, no matter how powerful, must ensure the coordination and unity of spirit and matter... even 'god seats' cannot avoid this."

Li Qingci listened and nodded slowly.

"Wait a moment!"

She suddenly realized something and murmured, "...Could it be that these four lamps are purely... spirit?"

Gu Shen smiled with relief, "Yes. These four lamps should be purely 'spirit'."

Bearing matter.

But transcending matter.

"In fact, this also indirectly confirms that the warning left by the Li family's ancestors was correct... only in a place like 'wondrous realm' can the spirits of these four lamps be preserved. Therefore, in fact, we were destined from the beginning to be unable to take these four lamps away."

Gu Shen shrugged and said, "Who can take away pure spirit?"

Speaking of this, he frowned.

No... that's not right.

Li Qingci said in a low voice, "Matter and spirit should have been unified."

Since these four lamps retained their spirits on the summit of Mount Shenci... then what about their material bodies!

"If there are the bodies of the [Bronze Figure Lamps] outside the wondrous realm... then find the bodies and put them back in the house..." The last missing link was completed here. Gu Shen murmured, "Perhaps, this sealed object will truly be complete."

Losing the spirit.

The [Bronze Figure Lamp] was just scrap iron.

"Not bad..."

Li Qingci's expression had not completely recovered from the shock just now, and she remembered another thing.

She pursed her dry lips, and her voice was already a little hoarse, "Have you ever thought about why the ancestors placed these four bronze figure lamps here?"

"Joy... anger... sorrow... happiness..."

These were actually the four most basic human emotions.

And as long as one was human, born, they would have the ability to sense joy, anger, sorrow, and happiness.

Of course... there were also exceptions.

Gu Shen came up with the most likely answer: "This is for... hatching the divine embryo?"

Li Qingci nodded slowly.

"I was thinking, the scene I just saw... is likely a reminder left by the ancestors to future generations. The reason I didn't pay the price is because the price had already been paid by the predecessors." She smiled palely and said, "The previous Dharma protectors used the Prayer Art to send this important reminder to the 'correct era.' This is... the era of the divine embryo's hatching."

Countless clues burst forth in Gu Shen's mind.

Chu Ling and Li Qingsui had a sense of having met.

Chu Ling's gradually awakening authority... and humanity.

The divine embryo of Mount Shenci.

The four bronze figure lamps enshrined here, providing emotions.

These clues were like strands of spider silk, extending and converging!

Finally... pointing in some incredible direction.

Gu Shen slowly sat across from Li Qingci. He took a deep breath and said, "I dreamed of a snowfield last night... Miss Qingci, this may be an important clue... I hope you can use the Prayer Art to help find the specific location of this snowfield."

Li Qingci was stunned. She did not understand how the dream Gu Shen said was related to the previous [Bronze Figure Lamp].

She carefully looked at the snowfield displayed by spiritual power.

"Seeing only such a picture, is it possible to find the real place?"

After waiting quietly for Li Qingci to finish watching, Gu Shen asked carefully.

"It should... be no problem."

Li Qingci narrowed her eyes, "The Prayer Art's ability is 'believe is where it is.' In the face of this ability, the snow scene that cannot be distinguished by the naked eye actually has no meaning. As long as the offering on the scale is taken away, the guidance given is absolutely correct..."

Gu Shen breathed a sigh of relief. At the same time, he remembered that the matter of prayer still had a terrible price, and quickly asked, "Does finding such a place... require a great price?"

"Are you worried about me?" Li Qingci smiled and said, "You seem to have always been curious about what the Prayer Art is like... Do you want to try it now... the taste of putting life on the scales?"

It was actually just a casual remark.

Unexpectedly, Gu Shen nodded solemnly.

"If possible... I want to experience it. Please let me pay the price for this prayer."

...

...

Li Qingsui squatted in front of the flower bed, thinking she would be waiting for a long time.

But in just an hour.

Gu Shen and her sister walked out of the shrine together. The former's expression was a bit pale, and he was actually being supported by her sister...

The little girl was a little angry when she saw this scene. It was obvious that her sister was the one who was sick.

She walked forward unhappily, just about to open her mouth and satirize a few words, when she immediately felt something was wrong... Gu Shen's aura was a bit weak, and this weakness was often seen on her sister.

This was... using the Prayer Art?

"No need to support me... I can walk." Gu Shen smiled bitterly, squatted down slightly, and supported his knees with both hands, "It's just... need to slow down."

Li Qingci comforted softly, "The first time is like this... you'll slowly get used to it later."

"Did you perform a prayer..."

Li Qingsui rarely wasn't sarcastic.

She looked at Gu Shen with some curiosity and asked seriously, "What does prayer... actually feel like? Is it really that painful?"

"I thought... it was just a severance, exchanging unwanted lifespan for chips."

Gu Shen shook his head and showed a wry smile.

"In fact... the feeling of prayer is like losing something. At the moment of completing the prayer, it's like being cut in the heart by the Grim Reaper's scythe. This taste... is very uncomfortable."

It was really hard to imagine that this kind of pain was commonplace for Li Qingci, and she had to experience it every few days.

No wonder this girl was so... emaciated.

If it were someone else, with insufficient willpower, they would probably not be able to withstand a few prayers and would fear, be afraid, and retreat.

"What exactly... did you pray for?"

Li Qingsui pursed her lips.

"It's very simple... I just looked for a dilapidated snowfield." Gu Shen smiled and said, "Lost thirty days of life."

"Thirty days?" Li Qingsui was taken aback, "Are you crazy?"

"Crazy?" Gu Shen raised his eyebrows and smiled, "Maybe... but I think it's worth it."

The little girl muttered in a low voice, "A dilapidated snowfield... is it worth using the Prayer Art to find it? What could be there?"

Gu Shen said meaningfully, "Something that can make you cry your eyes out."

Li Qingsui's eyes widened, and she immediately covered her forehead, taking a step backward.

Something that can make you cry your eyes out?

Wouldn't that be...

Gu Shen said faintly, "Don't worry. It's not a brain flicker."

...

...

(ps: 1. A few days ago, the comments in this chapter were swallowed by the network purification activity, but now it should be back to normal. 2. I wrote until 2:30 in the morning, fulfilling the promise of a large chapter, please vote. This chapter was sent without checking. If there are any typos, I will wake up tomorrow morning and fix them.)