Ye Fan quickly retreated a few steps.
A few breaths later, the surface of the statue completely peeled away.
A beautiful young maiden, full of life, appeared before everyone!
Seeing so many people, the maiden seemed frightened.
She clutched the front of her clothes tightly and instinctively stepped back a few paces.
"Who... are you people..."
Ye Fan and the others were even more bewildered!
It was one thing for a living person to emerge from a stone, but now *she* was asking who *they* were?
The surroundings fell silent.
The scene became exceedingly awkward...
Suddenly, the maiden reached up and clutched her temples, her expression one of great pain.
No one stepped forward, they simply watched her struggle.
Her allegiance was unknown, and this was hardly the time for misplaced sympathy.
Not immediately blasting her with some arcane spell was already the height of their mercy!
A long while later...
The maiden ceased her struggles and gasped for air.
She slowly raised her head and looked at Ye Fan and the others.
Her beautiful eyes were filled with terror!
"Your presence here now means the barrier has been opened..." the maiden said, trembling. "It's over... it's all over..."
"What exactly happened?" Ye Fan immediately asked. "Can you elaborate?"
Ye Fan dared to ask because he sensed no immediate hostility from her.
He couldn't detect any cultivation aura from her either.
Whether she was truly a mortal or had concealed her presence, he couldn't be sure.
However, appearing in such a bizarre location, Ye Fan doubted she was just an ordinary person...
"This... was once my home..."
The maiden began to speak slowly, recounting the past.
Her name was Gussna.
It was the name of a type of bird they had, symbolizing freedom and beauty.
The era she belonged to was a very, very long time ago.
She didn't know exactly how long.
She only knew that there were no cultivators or immortals then; everyone lived in tribal communities.
This massive palace was built by their tribe for sacrificial rituals.
Even though there were no immortals back then, they had their own beliefs.
They worshipped a being named Kugu Ta.
In their language, Kugu Ta meant harvest.
It was also known as the God of Harvest.
As for whether gods truly existed in this world, she didn't know.
All she knew was that the word had existed for a long time before her birth.
She had once asked some elders in the tribe, but they were all unsure.
Perhaps, the existence of this god was no longer important.
Ultimately, it was merely a beautiful aspiration and a spiritual anchor for the people.
Her life had been filled with happiness and joy before...
When the men went hunting, the women managed everything at home.
Their lives were humble, but they were deeply content and happy.
Until...
That day arrived!
She woke up early that day and began preparing meals.
But after leaving her room, she discovered her entire family had vanished!
She rushed outside, intending to find her relatives.
However, the scene outside completely terrified her!
The people of the tribe were fleeing in panic.
Behind them, a group of terrifying monsters was in pursuit!
The monsters were enshrouded in purplish-black mist, their flesh seeming to melt, hanging disgustingly.
And when she saw the tattered clothing on the monsters, she completely broke down!
Because judging by the clothes, these monsters were clearly her own kin!
Why...
Why had all my kin become terrifying monsters...
Can anyone tell me...
What happened...
...
Soon, those monsters caught up with the fleeing tribespeople.
As soon as they made contact, the flesh and blood of the normal tribespeople began to melt away...
In just a moment, they became new monsters!
Then it joined the monster horde, pursuing the remaining intact tribespeople...
While Gussna stood in a daze, a monster lunged at her!
At the critical moment, a dark figure yanked the stunned Gussna away.
Gussna finally snapped back to reality and fled frantically with that person.
"Priest, what is this..."
"Don't ask so many questions, just run!"
The two ran all the way to the Great Priest's residence before stopping.
By the time they arrived, many tribespeople had already gathered there.
Some strong male tribespeople were desperately holding the door shut, preventing the monsters from breaking in.
The Great Priest stood before the altar, chanting complex and profound syllables.
Gussna had seen this scene before.
The Great Priest was performing divination.
After a while, the Great Priest finally stopped.
He turned around, trembling.
His eyes, as he looked at everyone, were filled with despair.
"A cataclysm, this is a cataclysm!"
"It is the incarnation of all calamities and curses, and everything will be destroyed by it!"
Upon hearing the Great Priest's words, despair washed over everyone's faces...
The Great Priest's divination would not be wrong.
They would all perish soon...
"Gussna." The Great Priest called out.
The young Gussna hurried over, her expression extremely tense and apprehensive.
"The prophecy told me that you are the last hope."
"I will use all my power to seal the evil here."
"Your task is to guard this seal."
"If, one day, the seal is broken, the entire world will be destroyed!"
"But Great Priest... what should I do..."
Gussna asked nervously.
This responsibility was too immense for her young self.
It was so heavy that she couldn't bear it...
"You don't need to do anything, just wait here."
"One day in the future, a group of people will appear before you."
"Evil and destruction will finally be ended by them."
Having said these words, the Great Priest unleashed all the power within him.
An invisible seal enveloped the entire palace complex.
Then, Gussna was pushed by a force to the outside of the palace.
The moment the gate closed, she saw the monsters surge into the Great Priest's residence.
The tribespeople struggled and resisted, but inevitably, they all transformed into new monsters...
Beyond the gate, the sounds of the tribespeople's struggles and cries could be heard intermittently.
But they soon ceased...
As days turned into days, the cries grew fewer and fewer.
Gradually.
They disappeared completely...
Gussna finally turned around and gazed into the distance.
She was waiting.
Waiting for the appearance of the group of people the Great Priest had spoken of.
The long wait made her completely lose her sense of time.
Later.
She slowly turned into a statue.
It wasn't until Ye Fan and the others arrived today that she was able to see the light of day again.
...
"Today, I've finally waited for you all..." After recounting her past, a trace of relief flashed in Gussna's eyes. "The souls of my poor kin can finally find release..."
As she spoke, the skin on Gussna's body began to crack.
"What's happening inside?" Ye Fan asked urgently. "What exactly is that so-called source of curse and evil?"
"I don't know..." Gussna shook her head lightly. "From now on, it's up to you..."
With these words, Gussna dissolved into specks of fluorescent light.
The question caught in Ye Fan's throat was choked back...
Ye Fan felt extremely frustrated.
It was one thing to inexplicably become the chosen one of prophecy.
After finally encountering an NPC at the entrance of a dungeon, just when he thought the NPC would give him a quest or some useful information, she had died like this...
Died...
The only information provided was that it was dangerous inside.
But honestly, did they need her to tell them that?!
Even an idiot would know that!
Damn it...
However, by now, Ye Fan had a general understanding of the cause of the beast tide.
A super powerful boss was sealed here, and it was like spreading a plague, turning nearby people into monsters.
The monsters infected people, and people became monsters.
What he had seen in his illusion before was identical to Gussna's description.
The only difference was that the location seemed to be elsewhere.
Their Great Priest was probably quite capable, having managed to seal the monsters here.
But as time passed, the sealing power had weakened.
And with the weakening of the seal, that purplish-black mist began to permeate outward.
Demonic beasts infected by that substance became violent, thus triggering the beast tide.
The misty circle they had entered earlier was likely a localized breach in the seal.
This allowed the purplish-black mist to seep directly out from the breach, making the demonic beasts even more powerful.
This was also why the intervals between beast tides became shorter and the strength of the infected demonic beasts grew stronger.
The early-stage demonic beasts they had encountered before were the best proof of this.
Ye Fan had been involuntarily summoned and controlled to come here.
But now, he was taking the initiative!
After all, if the seal continued to break down, the ensuing disaster would be unimaginable.
The annihilation of the Yade Empire was just the beginning.
Eventually, the entire continent would suffer, and even hiding would be useless.
Damn it!
His luck was truly something else.
He had just reached the Golden Core Nascent Soul stage and was already facing an existence that could scare off those in the Out of Body stage...
With a feeling of utter frustration, Ye Fan placed his hand on the door.
"Screeeech—"
Perhaps due to the immense age, the door let out a teeth-grinding friction sound.
"Hiss—!"
Upon seeing the scene within, everyone couldn't help but gasp in shock!