The moment Ning Yitao saw the Prophecy Bird, her eyes widened in disbelief. How was it possible? The Prophecy Bird had died right in front of her eyes. How could it be resurrected?
Under Ning Yitao's shocked gaze, Henry explained, "The staff resurrected it. At that time, someone managed to blind the eyes of the person behind and stall for time. That person is extremely powerful and still hasn't noticed anything amiss with us. Someone created a false illusion to cover the original image of the black - cloaked man monitoring us. That's how the staff found the opportunity to resurrect the Prophecy Bird. Only it can know the final answer."
Ning Yitao connected the dots. It must have been Duan Qinghuai's wisp of divine sense that stalled the time. Naturally, the black - cloaked man couldn't detect it. It was the power of a superior god. But Ning Yitao didn't know how long this stall would last.
Since the divine sense was dissipating, they had to find the formation eye and destroy it as soon as possible before the black - cloaked man noticed.
Ning Yitao saw the Prophecy Bird again. The black bird was still muttering, "All things will perish. All things will perish..."
Ning Yitao's eyes darkened. "There must be a way."
Chu Zhiyuan was still in a coma. Ning Yitao originally wanted Yun Lianmeng to take Chu Zhiyuan to stay in the protection circle with Duan Qinghuai and the others while she went to find the formation eye.
But Yun Lianmeng suddenly grabbed Ning Yitao who was about to leave and said seriously, "Be careful. There's a monster with a snake's head and a human body. It's him who has been keeping us trapped in this place. We thought he would hurt us, but it turns out he just wanted to trap us here. He didn't do anything else."
After Yun Lianmeng finished speaking, she timidly pointed in the direction of the cave entrance and said, "He's over there, deep in the cave."
As soon as Yun Lianmeng described the snake - headed and human - bodied figure, Ning Yitao guessed who it was.
Actually, it was the guardian god of this mountain forest. Every mountain had a mountain god to protect the safety of the creatures on the mountain.
But due to the selfish actions of the villagers, the mountain god of this forest was in a bad situation.
The plants on the mountain lost their vitality, and the mountain god lost its source of power. Naturally, it failed during the transformation process and retained its original features.
Based on what Yun Lianmeng said, it seemed that this mountain god was trying another way to save the mountain whose life was coming to an end.
He wanted to use soul - replenishment.
Sacrifice souls to the mountain to prolong its life.
Yun Lianmeng was captured because of this.
Now the mountain god must have sensed the danger and quickly abandoned Yun Lianmeng and hid.
Yun Lianmeng was lucky enough to find her own body and escape.
It was the mountain god who had hidden her body.
The cloth bag on the mountain god's back actually contained Yun Lianmeng's body. He originally wanted to offer the whole body to the mountain for it to absorb nutrients. But as soon as he returned to the forest, he felt a great sense of crisis approaching.
The breath of death surrounded him.
Ning Yitao just glanced in the direction of the cave and happened to meet a pair of eyes peeping out. The mountain god immediately dodged and hid in the cave.
Ning Yitao said to Yun Lianmeng, "Don't worry about him. He won't come out. I've added talismans on you. He can't get close to you. Yun Lianmeng, take Chu Zhiyuan to the village entrance. There are people waiting for you there. You'll be safe with them. I'll be back soon."
After saying this, Ning Yitao followed the direction of the Prophecy Bird.
If the mountain god was scared enough to hide, then the formation eye must be in this mountain forest.
Henry and Ning Yitao followed the Prophecy Bird's guidance and walked deeper into the forest.
The sky was dim and overcast. The bright moon was hidden behind thick clouds, and only a faint light managed to shine on the ground.
The forest was filled with a stuffy atmosphere, as if the sky was about to collapse, making people feel suffocated and panicked. This kind of weather was like a precursor to a rainstorm.
The oppressive atmosphere made Henry and Ning Yitao feel uncomfortable.
The atmosphere from the depths of the forest was even more ominous.
But the Prophecy Bird continued to fly deeper into the forest, so Henry had to brace himself and follow into the mountains.
The staff was of little use now.
The staff had exhausted a great deal of its energy to resurrect the Prophecy Bird and was still recuperating. So it couldn't fully control Henry but could only influence him.
The staff thought that Henry would be scared and run away after feeling such a strong oppressive force. But unexpectedly, even though the boy was afraid, he didn't flee.
The staff originally thought it would have to divert some energy to control Henry's desire to run away.
It seemed that this child had really grown up.
Guided by the Prophecy Bird, the two found a tunnel in the forest.
The moment they looked at each other, their eyes sparkled. They finally found it.
But neither of them dared to act rashly for fear of alerting the enemy.
Ning Yitao shielded the auras of herself and Henry and sneaked into the tunnel.
As soon as the door of the tunnel opened, there was darkness, an endless abyss.
The Prophecy Bird flew straight into it.
This sight stunned Henry, and he didn't know what to do.
Ning Yitao didn't hesitate at all and directly jumped into the devouring black hole.
No one knew what was down there.
Ning Yitao was worried that she might encounter Duan Yushu the moment she went down, so she waved her hand to shield the aura of the Prophecy Bird in front of her as well.
She couldn't let Duan Yushu kill the Prophecy Bird again.
Only by following the white bird closely could they crack the prophecy of the black bird.
The two birds were intertwined in life and death.
Ning Yitao's vision was completely dark, and the only sound in her ears was the whistling wind of the descent. The Prophecy Bird landed at the bottom first, and Ning Yitao landed steadily right after, and by the way, caught the at - a - loss Henry.
Ning Yitao observed the scene inside. There was an inexplicable sense of terror in the air. Cold winds blew intermittently, and the dead branches and leaves made her feel a sense of despair and helplessness.
The space here wasn't very large, like a landing platform.
No one knew why there was such a strong wind flowing in the otherwise closed underground.
It was completely dark, and there was only a solitary door standing in front of them.
It was like a temptation, waiting for them to open it.
The color of the door was very similar to that of the wall. If it weren't for the fact that this area wasn't very big, they might have needed some time to find this door.
The Prophecy Bird just stood quietly beside the door, tilting its head to signal Ning Yitao and the others to open it.
If the Prophecy Bird stopped here, maybe the formation eye was inside.
Ning Yitao didn't hesitate. No matter what was waiting for her ahead, she would resolutely open this door.
Ning Yitao took a step forward, but Henry stopped her and said, "Let me do it."