Chapter 375: Music Box
Hui Yue moved back to the monument uncertain what to do. Should he awaken the small black and white fox that he held in his hands, or should he move towards the final corner of the platform and see what this great treasure was?
“No rush, no rush,” The voice said while laughing, “I already picked you as my successor; I will not allow anyone else to enter my final resting place before we have finished what we are doing. Wake up Little Huli and see if she likes you,” The voice made the decision for Hui Yue, and he nodded his head. He was in no rush.
Biting his finger, blood flowed down as he moved his hand to the seal on the little fox’s chest. As soon as the blood came into contact with the seal, the blood started flowing through the black threads that were entangled around the fox’s body.
As more blood entered the seal, the chains loosened, and the slow, steady heartbeat sped up beating more rapidly, and more natural. The seal on the fox’s chest slowly started to fade and as soon as the chains were completely gone the seal had faded completely as well. Her cute little round eyes opened, and her eyes shone silvery in the light that lit up the grave.
“Little Huli,” The soul fragment’s voice was incredible gentle as it said the fox’s name. The moment the voice spoke the long ears of the fox piqued, a gentle purr could be felt running through its body as Hui Yue held it to his heart.
“Little Huli, the boy who holds you now has a new contract with you,” The voice said speaking to the fox as though it could understand everything that was said.
As soon as the words were said, the fox turned slightly and looked directly at Hui Yue. Seeing the fox peering at him he had the odd feeling that she could completely see through him, but it also seemed that the fox liked what it saw as it nestled closer to Hui Yue. Although the soul fragment said that the little fox had a contract with Hui Yue, there was nothing that connected the two. If a contract had appeared, it only affected the fox itself.
“Her name is Little Huli. She is as old as I am, so don’t treat her like a pup. She will be of great assistance to you and is a great companion to have by your side. I am almost jealous; seems like she likes you far better than she liked me the first time we met,” The voice continued jokingly. It was clear that this soul fragments enjoyed speaking with Hui Yue. It had clearly been alone for a very long time, and now that there was a human by his side the soul fragments had become very talkative.
‘Quickly gather these treasures.’ Lan Feng said from within the dantian cave. ‘The green pearl seems to have understood the general situation, but all she does is glare at me so there seems to be no rush in dealing with her. Letting her cool off first will be for the best.’
Nodding his head, Hui Yue once more looked at the monument in front of him. Bowing to it, he turned his back and moved towards the final corner of the platform.
While bowing, Little Huli in his arms was very uncomfortable with the sudden squeeze; therefore she slipped out of his embrace and climbed onto his shoulder. Here she stood proudly as she observed everything happening around the two of them.
‘You are quite lucky,’ Lan Feng said slightly hesitant. ‘The beast cannot speak to you, but I have the feeling that she is not as simple as she seems. When she sensed my aura, she did not become fearful or humble but instead seemed happy. She is not scared of me at all.’
Slightly puzzled Hui Yue pondered on it for a second then made a mental note to think more about this later. He was not in a position to do anything about it right now, and so he moved towards the final corner.
Reaching it did not take long, but when he did he was very confused. In front of him was a small box, around the same size as the universe box, however, it looked nothing like it.
The box was crafted from a golden metal, but whether or not it truly was gold, Hui Yue did not know. The sides were heavily adorned with carvings of a beautiful lady who was dancing, and it depicted her various poses on the different sides.
Picking up the box he looked at it before returning to the monument in the center of the platform. Although he was incredibly tempted to open the box and see what was inside of it, he did not do so. He instead waited to hear if it was safe to open it.
“This item is truly outstanding, try opening it,” The voice said, and Hui Yue opened it. The moment he lifted the lid a golden lady sprung into the air, and a soft, gentle melody started to spread through the air.
The moment the music started, Hui Yue felt his mind turn foggy, his body became sluggish, and his train of thoughts almost stopped. His heart started to beat slower and slower, and eventually he fell to the ground.
While Hui Yue collapsed, a mist appeared in front of the monument. A mist which soon took the shape of an elderly man with a greedy expression on his face.
“Sorry my little successor,” He said with a snicker on his face. “I am not willing to die just yet. This music box is without a doubt my most treasured item as it can weaken the soul of anyone who hears it.”
“Now your soul will be weak enough for me to take over your body. I like that you are not an old expert but a talented young genius. It is time for my second spring and to become a renowned person in this world! I need to gain strength to get revenge on those who killed me!”
Hui Yue was not paying attention to the voice or anything he said as his soul was under enormous pressure. He used everything within his body to try and suppress the blackness which was appearing around him.
“Just a few moments more and I will be able to take over your body,” The soul fragment said impatiently with a sinister smile. Moments after Hui Yue, who had collapsed on the floor, opened his eyes and stood up as though nothing was suppressing him at all.
“This body is not for you to take,” A different voice sound from Hui Yue’s mouth, a voice filled with haughtiness. The voice clearly belonged to Lan Feng who had taken over the body. Although he was slightly affected by the music box, it was nothing like how Hui Yue was affected.
The moment Lan Feng appeared, Little Huli started purring far louder than she had been before and she jumped to the ground in front of him. Her fur was standing on end as she bared her teeth at the old man created from the soul fragment.
Seeing Little Huli baring her fangs at him, the dead expert was genuinely shocked. They had gone through hell and back together yet now the beast had completely turned against him.
Not only that, the music box he had been absolutely confident in was suddenly incapable of suppressing this person in front of him causing him to suddenly feel fearful.
This dead expert was not even fearful when he had been mortally wounded. He had known about the music box, and he understood that it was possible for him to come back to life. By making a massive grave, it would undoubtedly be found someday, and when it was noticed, the top experts of the world would gather together. By making traps, he could get rid of the lower ranked experts and only the elite was able to appear in the innermost section of his grave. As long as it was an elite who arrived, then the dead expert would be satisfied.
Unfortunately, the one who had shown up was not a usual expert but one who had multiple souls. Although Hui Yue was indeed affected by the music box, he was currently capable of fighting it as his soul had been strengthened by the merger with the wolf and the monk, not to mention the souls he had absorbed back in the war where his attack had wiped out a small army.
Fighting the darkness, it soon turned to a twilight color and after a few more moments the darkness completely vanished as Hui Yue once more had his soul under control. The music box kept playing but unlike before the sweet and comforting sound only caused Hui Yue to feel relaxed; it no longer had the ability to threaten his soul.
“I see, so being your successor was nothing more than finding a host for your damaged soul,” Hui Yue said while he cracked his neck and looked at the mist in front of the monument.
“You are nothing more than a fragment of a long dead soul. Although your soul has been able to stay here, your strength has long since dissipated into thin air. You are no threat to me, but I have no interest in fighting you either. Having you stay in this grave for the rest of your life is fine with me.” Hui Yue said as he grabbed the music box and closed it. Placing it in a storage stone, he looked at the mist whose eyes was filled with disbelief and grief.
“I’ll take this as compensation for trying to trick me,” He said before he turned around. Little Huli jumped from the ground and landed on Hui Yue’s shoulder where she rolled herself around his neck. She started purring while Hui Yue stepped down the stairs.
Hui Yue had been at the top of the stairs for a few hours and this whole time his friends had been pacing back and forth at the foot of the stairs. When they saw Hui Yue descend, they were filled with relief. It was clear that they had heard nothing the soul fragment had said.
“I paid respect to the owner of this grave,” Hui Yue said explaining why he had been away for some time. However, he did not explain what happened. He gestured for the friends to follow him as they reached a door leading out of the room. In total there were four doors. Two doors were closed, and two were open. One door in east, one in west, one in a north and one in the south. The one in the south and the one in the east had both been opened already. The south door was the entrance to the chamber, the one they had gone through when arriving at the chamber. Whereas the door to the east led to the treasury where the other group of experts were at.
Thinking for some time, Hui Yue looked at the west and north doors before he made a decision. “Xiao Ning you take the three other guys and enter the north door, and I’ll take the west door. When we finish gathering the treasures, we will share the loot equally between all of us. This way we can get a lot of treasures without fearing that other groups will take them instead.”
Hearing the words ‘share the loot equally’ their hearts once more filled with gratitude. They gladly rushed towards the north entrance instantly opening the door and entering the darkness.
Looking at his friends vanishing into the darkness, Hui Yue stood still for a short while. Although he was busy gathering treasures, he took a quick glance into his lower dantian.
The green pearl had turned into a woman, and she was seated in the cave where the green pearl was originally located. The Wu Wei wings were shining brightly, and the red gemstone in the final open cave was glistening as if sunlight was reflecting off it. These many lives in his body were truly challenging but also a great benefit to him.
Sighing, Hui Yue withdrew his consciousness from the lower dantian and started moving to the west door. Reaching the door, he opened it and stepped into the darkness.