"This crying sound..."
Ye Ling heard the sound coming from the secret passage, his brow furrowed slightly. He then shielded Vivian and Bai Lan's souls, who had followed him in, and instructed, "The power within this place has a mind-蛊惑 effect. No matter what happens next, you two must not leave my side. If it becomes too much, you can return to my small world first."
"Understood!"
The two women responded, following closely behind Ye Ling.
To be honest, both Vivian and Bai Lan were incredibly interested in this new world, the Chuyuan Realm, and wanted to explore it personally. If they were to be absorbed into Ye Ling's body like Guoguo at this moment, it would be too regrettable.
Ye Ling had great confidence in Vivian and Bai Lan. After reminding them, he didn't linger and continued to advance into the secret passage.
The walls of the secret passage could absorb souls and block exploration. Furthermore, the spiritual energy within was extremely chaotic, and the crying sound seemed to come from the walls, fluctuating in intensity. These factors combined made it difficult for even Ye Ling to pinpoint the source of the crying.
The three of them traveled through the secret passage for some time. The crying continued to ebb and flow, and the surrounding walls remained unchanged. Coupled with the dim lighting, it was easy to lose all sense of spatial distance.
Vivian, who had been following closely behind Ye Ling, couldn't help but ask, "Boss, are we just going in circles? Based on the distance we've traveled, we should have already left that white palace. Why haven't we reached the end?"
Bai Lan also nodded, "I feel it too. Some kind of power is subtly influencing us. We've been walking on a flat surface the entire way, and that palace couldn't possibly support such a long secret passage."
Ye Ling shook his head and said, "No... we are still advancing. It's just that because this space is layered, we might unknowingly transition from one layer of space to another."
"As we moved through the secret passage, we've unknowingly passed through numerous layered spaces, and each layer has a section of the secret passage. With these layers of space overlapping, what appears before us is this continuous secret passage."
Vivian: "If that's the case, Boss, when will we reach the end? Although there's only that faint crying sound around, listening to it for too long feels unsettling."
"If it weren't for Boss's power assisting me, I probably would have gone mad walking alone in this secret passage!"
Ye Ling replied, "This space isn't infinite. From the information I received from Mo Zhi Jian, the Endless Cloud Sea is comprised of nine thousand layers of space. Even if we started from the topmost layer and are heading to the bottommost layer, at our current speed, it won't take much time to reach the end. Don't worry, just keep moving."
With that, Ye Ling continued to advance. Not long after, the pervasive child's crying suddenly intensified.
Bai Lan's pupils contracted slightly upon hearing the cry, and she exclaimed, "It sounds like the voice is nearby!"
Vivian: "I hear it too. Have we reached the end?"
"It seems so," Ye Ling nodded slightly. "You two, stay alert. This is the Chuyuan Realm, and there are many rules that even I haven't figured out. There might be danger ahead!"
"Okay!"
The two women responded earnestly, entering a state of readiness and cautiously guarding their surroundings.
The spiritual energy in the secret passage had been exceptionally chaotic during their journey, a clear sign of past battles.
Although this was the territory of the Chuyuan Realm's consciousness, and the child's crying didn't seem threatening, there could be a terrifying enemy lying ahead.
Ye Ling's expression also turned serious as he took the lead and moved forward!
As Ye Ling stepped across a boundary, his surroundings underwent a dramatic change.
Ye Ling found himself in a cave filled with gold and treasures. Atop a mountain of gold coins sat a little girl in a red dress, weeping with her face buried in her hands.
In front of the gold mountain where the loli sat, a woman in a green dress lay in a pool of blood.
The woman in the green dress lying in the blood was motionless, with no breath. However, the blood on the ground had not yet solidified, indicating that the woman in green had died not long ago.
Bai Lan, upon entering the cave and seeing the crying red-clad loli, asked with concern, "Little sister, what happened?"
The red-clad loli, still covering her face, cried, "Sister is dead, and a bad person broke in!"
Bai Lan continued to ask, "Who is the bad person? Where are they? Sister can help you get revenge!"
The red-clad loli covered her face and said, "The bad person... the bad person is you!"
Suddenly, the red-clad loli shrieked. She looked up abruptly, revealing a face covered in blood and resembling a monster, startling Bai Lan greatly. "You... you!"
The red-clad loli's eyes were bloodshot, her voice hoarse, and a sinister grin spread across her face.
She glared ferociously at Ye Ling and the other two, saying, "I finally managed to kill my sister, and I haven't even had a chance to enjoy the fruits of my victory, when you vermin who appeared from nowhere have ruined my mood!"
"Now, you have come here, and you will accompany my sister to the grave!"
The red-clad loli screamed, her body rapidly melting into blood before transforming into a bat-like monster, attacking Ye Ling and the other two!
Ye Ling watched the monster approach him with a blank expression, not even moving a hand. Numerous runes materialized in the cave, suppressing the monster and forcing it back into its original form.
In less than a blink of an eye, the red-clad loli completed the transformation from human to monster and back to human.
"Let, let me go!"
The red-clad loli struggled under the runes pinning her to the ground, shouting at Ye Ling.
Ye Ling ignored the suppressed red-clad loli and walked directly to the woman in green lying in the blood. He used Mo Zhi Jian to decompose the woman and read her information.
A moment later, Ye Ling's brow furrowed slightly.
Vivian, seeing Ye Ling's expression, asked, "Boss, did something happen?"
"Yes... it's a bit troublesome."
Ye Ling withdrew Mo Zhi Jian and stood up, saying, "The deceased woman in green was the representative of the Chuyuan Realm's consciousness. And because of her death, the Chuyuan Realm's consciousness has now disappeared without a trace."
"The Chuyuan Realm no longer has a consciousness."
Vivian was stunned, "The Chuyuan Realm's consciousness has disappeared? Then what do we do?"
They were entrusted by the Primal Chaos Consciousness to come to the Chuyuan Realm to help. But as soon as they arrived, the Chuyuan Realm's consciousness had an accident. How were they supposed to proceed with their work?
Ye Ling took a deep breath and said, "A complete, ordered world, without consciousness to control it, will rapidly become unbalanced and ultimately lead to its demise."
"If we don't find the Chuyuan Realm's consciousness soon, I'm afraid that before the Skywalkers and the Watchers even start their war... this Chuyuan Realm will be gone."