Chapter 28: The Dark Song (Part 2)

  I don't know how long it's been since I got this book, but I haven't left the house since then. It seems to have a kind of magic that deeply attracts me. To sum it up, this is a sheet music book with five songs, each one very strange. I set up a boundary, not strong, but at least able to block sound from going out. These past few days, I've been entangled with the first song, and no matter what, I just can't get into it.

  "The Smile of the Hibiscus" Just hearing the name sends shivers down one's spine, but its effect is indeed powerful, capable of plunging opponents into a realm of illusions, summoning their most painful and darkest memories. Those with weak abilities will immediately lose their combat capabilities, while those with strong abilities will experience a brief pause. The duration of this pause depends on the opponent's strength. However, if one encounters an opponent stronger than themselves or with immense spiritual power, it will trigger a backlash, equivalent to the attack rebounding back. Moreover, playing this melody requires a significant amount of one's own soul energy, which is drawn from the darkest corners, causing harm to oneself while attacking the opponent, albeit less severely. Indeed, not everyone can master it; prolonged practice will lead to losing one's soul, becoming a controlled spirit.

  Lost in the most beautiful dream, sleeping until death.

  "The Soul Binding Melody" erases all memories, being manipulated, becoming an eternal slave.

  "Fukuzawa Banri" originally thought the name sounded good and should be relatively gentle, but unexpectedly, this one is even more overbearing, with a group-oriented attack target, similar to scattering poison, and terrifyingly, it's an instant kill. This level requires very high demands, and the consumption of soul energy is enormous, almost exhausting all combat power after just one song.

  The last song of "Melancholy Soul" doesn't have any notes about its purpose, but I don't care either, the first four songs are enough for my practice.

  But what Nian said was right. If I could use the power of pure sound to play it, then maybe I could make up for its shortcomings. After thinking about it repeatedly, I decided to give it a try.

  "Jiū Mèi, come out for a moment." I can only summon Jiū Mèi, he is within me, naturally and I can feel the same dark power, he knows my current situation best, and his strength is very high, once something goes wrong, he can help me.

  "I understand, you start." Jiuyi nodded.

  I closed my eyes and played "The Smile of the Hibiscus" on my bone flute. Suddenly, I too fell into a dark abyss. Everywhere was filled with blood, that was... it was my school in the mortal realm, inside it was very quiet, I walked in, all were corpses, they stared at me with anger in their eyes, the blood kept increasing, my shoes were soaked in the bloody water. Suddenly, someone grabbed my foot, it was my best friend, her whole body was covered in blood, I was like a rooted tree, unable to move, she glared at me angrily, her face streaming with blood, "Why, why did you become a Dreamweaver? It's you, you who summoned so many ghosts, it's you who killed us, you should die too!"

  "No, I don't, I'm here to save you, believe me, please believe me, it's not possible." I struggled free from her and ran out of the classroom. Behind me were many ghosts, chasing after me non-stop. I pushed open a door, but inside was also a corpse. No matter how hard I ran, I couldn't escape the school. Just as I was about to be caught, I pushed open another door. Oh god, it's not possible... in front of me were Yin Yue, Ye Gui, Xiao Pu... and many familiar figures, they were all killing people, and they were all my classmates.

  "Stop it, stop it, don't, don't kill anymore, ah!" But they just acted as if they didn't know me and continued to eat those people. Why, why, you are all my friends!

  "Do you want them to come back to life? Haha, then give me your soul, I want your soul, just give it to me and I can save them." The ghosts all disappeared, leaving behind a field of corpses. The voice was neither male nor female, and sounded very disgusting.

  "Choose, little girl, you will save them, won't you? Just offer your soul and all your wishes will come true."

  "Everything you want will come true." The voice kept echoing in my ear, what to do? A golden light flashed, and a golden cloak wrapped around me. Then a white light appeared, and the corpse gradually disappeared. At that time, the pure sound was purifying? I felt much lighter on my body, more comfortable.

  "Ah, save me, no, no, no!" That nauseating voice again, it seems the pure tone won.

  "How are you? Are you okay?" I was looking at him, but he looked very anxious.

  "I'm fine, just a bit tired." I rubbed my temples with my hand, as if I had been through a life-and-death struggle.

  "You were just shrouded in a layer of dark energy, your hair and eyes turned blood red. It seems that this power is indeed terrifying. If there wasn't the sound of purity inside you, I estimate you would have died already. Fortunately, it finally purified the dark energy."

  "Is it really that dangerous?" I couldn't believe it, this pure and holy sound was actually a divine object, yet it was so difficult to purify. It seems that this book can't be taken lightly.

  "I advise you to stop practicing while your skills are still weak. This is just the first piece and it's almost taking your life away, wait until your skills improve a bit more before trying again."

  "Hmm, I think so too. This first piece of music is almost learned, and my strength should be enough. However, I still don't understand, this place is originally the underworld, a dark place, how can the dark energy of this book be different from the darkness here, and differ by so much?"

  "You're wrong, this isn't the darkest place. I've heard my father mention that in the underworld, there's a corner that's even darker, where even demons and ghosts struggle to survive. Only the strong have the qualifications to go there, but they can't stay for long either, or it'll devour their soul energy until they lose their spirit. However, as long as you come out alive from that place, you'll definitely become stronger. I plan on going to find that place after a while."

  "What's it called?"

  "The Cave of Ten Thousand Devils." Just hearing the name made me shudder; if possible, I'd rather not go there.

  "Then looking at this book, will it have anything to do with that place?"

  "I'm not sure, I've never been there either."

  "I know you want revenge, but you must also protect yourself. As long as you're alive, that's the greatest comfort to your parents."

  "It's nothing, I'm going back." After finishing speaking, Jiuyao's expression was uncomfortable and disappeared. He seemed to be very troubled, what's wrong?

  "All students, please gather at the playground immediately. All students, please gather at the playground immediately." I don't know where the voice came from, but anyway, let's go to the playground first, probably it's about a competition.

  "Xi Meng, here I am." Just as I stepped out the door, I saw Xiao Pu running towards me. I couldn't help but think of the illusion from earlier and my subconscious mind was startled again, that terrifying feeling reappeared. It seems that dark power shouldn't be underestimated.

  "What's wrong, why are you spacing out?" Xiao Pu looked at me curiously. What's wrong with me, Xiao Pu is so good to me, what am I thinking about?

  "Nothing, how did you get here?" I smiled at her.

  "By the way, haven't you recovered yet? The instructor said that you need to rest for a few days, so I didn't bother you and don't know if your body has gotten better."

  "It's all right now, you want me to go to the playground with you, let's go."

  "Uh, I came as soon as I heard the news, let's hurry up, haha." I really envy Xiao Pu, she can always laugh so brightly.

  It wasn't until we got here that we realized it was already full, whether it was the stage around us or the playground. Fortunately, it didn't get chaotic, and Xiaopu and I started looking for our instructors' positions according to the signs.

  "Xi Meng, Xiao Pu, over here." It was Nian's sister's voice. She was waving at us from up ahead.

  "Master, we're here," said Little Pu.

  "Alright, good job Little Pu. You go watch the stage first, our class's students are already seated. Xi Meng, you come with me." Nian said succinctly.

  "Alright, I'll go first, you take care and work hard, Xi Meng." After saying that, Xiao Pu waved his hand and left.

  "I'll take you to the first-year student preparation area, where all the students who came to participate in this competition are from different colleges. Let me introduce them to you briefly. The contestants are the top ten comprehensive colleges, with our college ranking first. You need to pay special attention to one of them, Lianba College. Although it's a civilian college, its strength is very strong, and it has been competing with our college for hundreds of years. Last time we won narrowly, but this time they are determined to win, and they indeed have great strength. In order to highlight the educational level of the colleges, this time the most important thing is you new students. The high-grade students don't need to be mentioned, everyone knows what level they are at, but you are all starting from zero, entering college for one semester, so your strengths and weaknesses symbolize the strength of the college."

  "But, Nian sister, isn't this cheating?" I wasn't a zero-level from the moment I arrived here.

  "You're being honest, but when the time comes, you can't say that. I've already thought about it, and I'll say that you're a highly talented student, they won't be able to do anything about it, after all, you are indeed at this age. Alright, let's get to the main topic. The competition rules state that each academy sends 10 students, including substitutes. First is the team battle, with five students from each side, and the opponent is decided by drawing lots. Five pairs of students will compete simultaneously in five different regions. Each match will have a rest period before moving on to the next academy. The top five academies that win the most matches advance, then it's a round-robin tournament, with each team still having five members, and they take turns sending out one student at a time, if you win, you continue, if you lose, you switch to the next student, and the team that wins the most advances. In the end, two academies will advance to the final round, and each sends out one student to start the final match."

  "I roughly understand."

  "Alright, this time I'm expecting you to come in first. You'd better work hard. But the problem isn't big, new recruits won't have more strength than you, I still have some confidence in that. However, don't be careless, things are unpredictable."

  "Got it, when is my turn?"

  "No rush, you're in the substitute team for now. I'll let you know when it's your turn to go up. Alright, looks like we're about to start, go gather with the team first."