NOVEL NEXT Chapter 499: Running Away
The energy of the red light pillars felt ancient, suffocating, and vast... nothing like the tranquil or balanced Qi of cultivation.
This was something primordial, raw, and heavy with intent.
Han Yu covered his eyes with one arm as the light grew too bright to bear. Even from his distance, it was blinding. The crimson radiance reflected in his eyes like molten fire.
Chitterfang squeaked again, hiding inside his sleeve, his small body trembling.
The towers continued to blaze, each one humming with deep, resonant vibrations that seemed to sync with the rhythm of Han Yu's heartbeat.
HOOOONG HOOOONG HOOOONG HOOOONG
Smaller beams of light began to appear between the larger ones, rising from the inner parts of the ruins that he could not see from his position.
Together, they formed a massive pattern across the sky, interlinking like the lines of a grand formation.
Han Yu felt his skin prickle. Whatever this was, it was no random occurrence. This was a ritual or a reactivation, a structure coming alive after endless years of silence.
And above it all, the illusory sky, usually calm and still, began to shimmer as if something behind it was responding. The stars flickered faintly, distorting under the pressure of the light.
Han Yu's breath quickened. "No… this cannot be natural."
The entire tomb seemed to pulse once, like a living creature drawing breath after a long slumber. The crimson light spread across the horizon, its reflection shimmering in his eyes.
He stood frozen, rooted in place between the forest and the ruins, unable to tear his gaze away. His heart pounded in both fear and fascination, his mind struggling to comprehend what he was witnessing.
The ruins were not just remnants of the past.
They were awakening.
Han Yu stood frozen in place, his body trembling as the crimson light from the distant towers surged skyward.
The pillars of radiance blazed like spears of divine wrath, splitting the heavens with their intensity. Every pulse of that light carried with it a suffocating pressure that made his heart race and his bones feel as if they were about to crack.
The air itself quivered under the force, vibrating in time with the deep rumble that emanated from the ruins.
He tried to focus, forcing his spiritual sense to extend outward, but it was like trying to breathe underwater.
The Qi in the air was chaotic, fluctuating wildly between oppressive heaviness and strange, alluring calm. His head throbbed from the imbalance, yet slowly, minute by minute, his breathing began to stabilize. His spirit sense adjusted, dulling the weight that pressed on his chest.
The initial panic finally began to subside enough for him to think.
Still, even after his senses steadied, he could not shake the overwhelming dread clawing at his gut.
Han Yu's fingers twitched against the hilt of his weapon. His thoughts raced, clashing between curiosity and self-preservation.
'What was this light? A formation activating? A seal breaking? Or perhaps something far worse?' His instincts screamed that whatever it was, he should not be anywhere near it.
The rational part of his mind whispered that this could be an ancient array reawakening, possibly linked to the tomb's secrets. There might be clues, hidden treasures, or even a way out of the inner realm connected to this place.
For a brief moment, that familiar spark of scholarly curiosity flared within him.
RUMBLEEEEE!!
Then the ground shook again.
A thunderous boom echoed from the direction of the ruins, and a pulse of energy blasted through the forest like a shockwave. It made the trees sway violently and sent leaves scattering through the air. The crimson light intensified, turning the sky a blood-red hue.
The world seemed to tremble in fear.
And that... was the last straw for Han Yu.
His eyes went wide as his body finally obeyed what his instincts had been yelling at him since the start.
"Fuck this shit, I'm out!" he muttered aloud, his voice cracking with both terror and disbelief.
Without a second thought, he turned and bolted straight into the forest.
Branches whipped against his face, leaves tore at his robes, and vines clung to his legs, but he did not stop.
His only goal was distance. He did not look back. Every heartbeat was a drum urging him forward, every breath a desperate gasp for survival. The world around him blurred as he pushed his body to its limits.
The soft earth beneath his boots turned into a blur of greens and browns.
Han Yu vaulted over fallen logs, slid down slick moss-covered slopes, and smashed through clusters of low shrubs that dared to slow him down. His halberd, which he carried in one hand, cut through obstacles like paper.
He barely registered what he was doing, his body was acting purely on instinct.
His chest burned from exertion, and sweat rolled down his forehead.
Despite the chill in the air, he felt as though he were on fire. Every muscle screamed, but fear numbed the pain. The red light from behind him still illuminated the edges of the forest canopy, faint but unmistakable. It followed him like an omen, like the eye of some slumbering god that had suddenly awakened.
The deeper he ran, the heavier his breathing became, and the more frantic his thoughts turned.
"Too close. I need to get farther. If something's awakening there, I don't want to be within a thousand li of it."
His steps became uneven as fatigue began to creep into his limbs. The weight of his supplies, even though considerably lightened by their consumption, pulled against his shoulders, and his knees trembled from the sheer force he had exerted.
He slowed slightly, gasping, and looked around.
But even now, despite the distance he had covered, the forest still looked the same. The same trees, the same lifeless silence, the same eerie emptiness. It was as though he had not moved at all.
Panic began to rise again in his throat as he gazed at the vast expanse of the forest extending like the gaping maw of a beast.