Inky and Lily
With the exception of Zhixiang, all of the Chosen who had come to the Immortal Ancient Daoist Rite Temple were shaken. They were now… starting to feel convinced about Meng Hao.
Some had been skeptical before, but then, one bizarre thing after another appeared. The strange sights, the cold wind, the shocking aura… made it so they had no choice but to believe.
This was especially true when apparently, Meng Hao’s crazed weeping and laughing resonated with his surroundings. It left the onlookers with tingling scalps. The bizarre phenomena in the place, the inky black hair, the swinging vine, the voices rising up from the ground, all of it appeared to them to have been caused by Meng Hao.
Even Zhixiang stared with eyes wide from disbelief. If she didn’t already know Meng Hao, she would have been completely astonished.
If everything went as planned, it might be able to buy Meng Hao some time, but not much. The people here were all extraordinary, and the slightest misstep could arouse their suspicions. All it would take would be for one person to attack him, and the charade would be broken.
In fact, it was at this moment that an elder member of the Ji Clan suddenly moved forward, eyes glittering, clearly with the intent of testing Meng Hao out.
Meng Hao sighed as he realized that these people really weren’t easy to fool. However, it was at this point that the old man from the Ji Clan suddenly stopped in place, and his face filled with astonishment. Everyone else’s expressions also flickered, and not a few people actually gasped.
Meng Hao was taken aback and wondered what he had done to provoke such a reaction.
It was at this point that a cold wind gusted against his back. It almost felt like ice on the nape of his neck. Reflexively, he turned around to see….
A head floating up from the well behind him. It was a head that looked like it had been rotting away in the waters of the well for millions of years!
When Meng Hao turned around, the head floated over toward him, and just when it seemed it would touch him, he blinked. Then he turned back to the crowds and, his voice placid, said, “This is Inky. There’s no need to fear her.”
He cleared his throat and then pointed over to the swinging vine that dripped with black blood. “Over there is Lily. Come on, Lily, say hello to everyone.”
As soon as he spoke, the vine stopped moving. Then the dripping blood began to move, as if an invisible figure were walking over to stand next to Meng Hao.
Even Meng Hao was shocked by this. He looked at the black blood dripping to the ground next to him and could just barely make out the image of a little girl standing there, but it was unclear whether she was staring at the crowds of people, or at him.
Meng Hao wasn’t sure how much longer he could keep this up. Giving a firm look at the crowd of nearly a thousand people, he sat down cross-legged and closed his eyes to meditate.
He was starting to feel that he might have taken things a bit too far….
In the eyes of all the onlookers, Meng Hao, with his tattered robe, placid expression, and ancient air, seemed to be at one with the temple. As he sat there cross-legged, the pale-white head floated behind him, surrounded by drifting strands of inky blackness.
Next to Meng Hao was some invisible being that dripped black blood down onto the ground. Each drop that splashed onto the ground echoed with strange power that filled their hearts with shock.
No one dared to move a muscle, not even Zhao Yifan from the Sublime Flow Sword Grotto, who stood there hesitating. Further off, Fan Dong’er was staring at Meng Hao, a brilliant light flickering in her eyes.
Ji Yin sat cross-legged some distance away, Karma swirling around him in such a way that it was impossible to even see him clearly.
The three Chosen from the Fang Clan all sat down. Occasionally, Fang Yunyi would look over at Zhixiang with a look of adoration. Fang Donghan stared the temple, his eyes flickering with desire.
Song Luodan sat with the Song Clan, proud and aloof. Occasionally he would look at Meng Hao, and the desire to fight could be seen flickering in his eyes.
As for Li Ling’er, it was impossible to tell what she was thinking. Her head was bowed and she seemed to be studying the earth in front of her. Occasionally she would gently stroke her hand across the surface of the ground, apparently performing some type of augury.
Wang Mu sat there with flickering eyes that made it impossible to read his thoughts.
The Chosen of the other sects, churches and Holy Lands were all lost in thought in the darkness of night. Shockingly, they sat there in front of the Immortal Ancient Daoist Rite Temple for an entire night.
At dawn, the oil lamp winked out. Meng Hao knew that once night ended, the lamp would stop burning. However, only when it was truly extinguished would the trial by fire actually be over.