Just as Lin Wan's fingertip was about to press [Receive], a rustling sound suddenly came from the depths of the cave.
She frowned, spiritual energy instantly condensing around her body as she warily gazed into the darkness.
In the next moment, dozens of figures emerged from the shadows, surrounding her completely.
These people wore ancient and peculiar clothing—long robes sewn from animal hides adorned with bone ornaments, necklaces made of beast teeth hanging around their necks, dark red totem patterns painted on their faces, and brass bells wrapped around their wrists and ankles that jingled with every movement. Their attire was identical to the ancient witch clan recorded in historical texts, emanating a cold and mysterious aura.
Lin Wan's eyes darkened as she quietly condensed a thread of sword energy at her fingertip, ready to strike at any moment.
However, when these witch clan members saw her face clearly, they were all stunned.
"An outsider!" one of them exclaimed.
Immediately after, this group of witch clan members actually began cheering, revealing looks of ecstatic joy: "Wonderful! It's an outsider! We're saved!"
In an instant, the entire cave boiled with excitement.
The wrinkles on the witch clan members' faces smoothed out, their turbid eyes bursting with astonishing radiance.
They embraced each other, dancing strange dances, their bone necklaces and brass bells jingling wildly with their vigorous movements.
Several elderly witch clan elders fell to their knees, their withered fingers deeply inserted into the earth, their shoulders trembling violently as they sobbed.
The younger clansmen raised their arms high, singing hoarse songs in an ancient language, the melody echoing through the cave and startling countless dormant poisonous insects.
Um... is being an outsider really worth this much happiness? Lin Wan thought to herself with some confusion.
These people's celebration continued.
An old woman with a snake pattern painted on her face collapsed to the ground, tears washing away the totem pigments on her cheeks. "The ancestral witch's prophecy didn't lie to us..."
Several witch clan children emerged from the gaps in the crowd. Their small bodies were similarly covered with runes, and they were now looking at this sudden celebration with innocent eyes.
A girl wearing a bone hairpin suddenly threw herself against the rock wall, kissing the ancient patterns filled with curses.
The leading witch clan elder raised his head and let out a long howl, the sound waves shaking the stalactites on the cave ceiling.
He untied the skull artifact hanging from his waist, drank the deep red liquid treasured inside in one gulp, then smashed it violently onto the ground. The dark red wine splashed onto the bones scattered on the ground, looking very much like some kind of sacrificial ritual.
Laughter and weeping intertwined, forming a strange echo in the damp cave.
On those twisted faces, tears washed away the heavy face paint, revealing the withered and haggard true faces underneath.
It seemed they had been waiting for this moment for far, far too long—so long that they had forgotten how to normally express joy.
...
Lin Wan: "...?"
She quietly retreated half a step, quickly calculating escape strategies in her mind. These people looked crazy, especially with this appearance of being hungry for centuries and ready to feast—it all looked very strange, and she didn't want to be inexplicably dragged into some troublesome situation.
However, before she could secretly crush her escape talisman, the leading witch clan elder had already quickly stepped forward, respectfully performing a strange ceremonial gesture. Then he raised his head, his turbid eyes staring straight at her, his voice hoarse and trembling:
"Greetings... may I ask, are you the offspring of the Holy Master?"
Lin Wan's fingers froze in mid-air.
Her pupils contracted slightly, and her entire body stood frozen in place like she'd been struck by lightning.
Chapter 423: Ancient Witch Clan (Part 2)
Lin Wan's heart trembled violently.
The Holy Master... what Holy Master?
She clearly remembered that she had just come to this world not long ago and hadn't even figured out the basic situation yet. How could she possibly be related to some "Holy Master"?
Seeing Lin Wan's reaction, a trace of disappointment flashed in the witch clan elder's eyes, but then it was replaced by even greater anticipation.
"Could it be... you don't know yet?" the elder asked tentatively.
Lin Wan frowned slightly, her mind racing.
If she denied it, these people might turn hostile; if she admitted it, she might be dragged into unknown trouble.
Between the two, she chose to remain silent.
The witch clan elder seemed to interpret her silence as tacit acknowledgment. He excitedly turned to the clan members behind him and shouted:
"She is indeed the Holy Master's descendant! The prophecy has been fulfilled!"
Once again, the cave erupted in celebration.
Lin Wan felt a headache coming on.
She probably understood now—these people had been trapped here for who knows how many years, waiting for some so-called "Holy Master's descendant" to appear.
And she, unfortunately, had become their target.
But what exactly was going on?
Lin Wan carefully recalled the memories of her original body. This body's owner was just an ordinary cultivator from a small sect, with decent talent but nothing special. How could she be connected to an ancient witch clan?
Unless...
"Excuse me," Lin Wan finally spoke, "what exactly is this Holy Master you speak of?"
The witch clan elder was stunned, clearly not expecting this question.
But he still respectfully replied: "The Holy Master is our witch clan's supreme guardian, the one who sealed the great evil back then. According to the prophecy, the Holy Master's descendant will one day come here and lift the seal for us."
Seal?
Lin Wan's mind moved slightly.
She looked around and found that the cave was indeed surrounded by various strange runes. These runes emitted a faint light, forming an invisible barrier.
"I understand now," Lin Wan thought to herself.
These witch clan members were sealed here, and she had accidentally become their hope for release.
But the question was—did she have the ability to lift this seal?
And more importantly, should she help these people?
Lin Wan fell into thought.
She wasn't a saint, but she wasn't a cold-hearted person either. If these people were truly innocent victims, helping them wouldn't be a problem.
But if they were actually evil beings...
"We were once the guardians of this land," the elder seemed to sense her concerns and took the initiative to explain. "Back then, a great evil descended upon this world. The Holy Master sacrificed herself to seal it, and we were tasked with guarding this place. But we didn't expect the seal to trap us here as well."
Lin Wan listened quietly, feeling that something wasn't quite right.
"Where is this great evil now?" she asked.
"Still sealed," the elder pointed to the depths of the cave. "But the seal has been weakening over the years. If it's not reinforced soon, it will break completely."
Lin Wan followed his finger and saw a huge altar deep in the cave.
On the altar was a massive array formation, and at the center of the formation, she could vaguely sense a terrifying presence.
"Can I take a look?" Lin Wan asked.
"Of course," the elder nodded. "Please follow me."
Lin Wan followed the elder deeper into the cave, the other witch clan members parting to make way.
As she approached the altar, she felt the spiritual energy around her becoming increasingly chaotic.
This was indeed a powerful seal, and the thing trapped inside was no ordinary entity.
Lin Wan extended her spiritual sense to probe the altar, trying to understand its structure.
Just as her spiritual sense touched the array formation, a strange resonance suddenly occurred.
Lin Wan felt a mysterious power awakening within her body.
This power... was connected to the seal!
Chapter 424: Gate of Causality (Part 1)
Passing through the stone gate carved with runes, the scene before Lin Wan made her pause slightly.
She had expected to see an even more sinister and eerie witch clan secret realm, but unexpectedly, behind the gate was an expansive underground world.
Countless glowing mushrooms grew on the rock ceiling above, their speckled fluorescence like stars in the night sky, illuminating the entire space like a dreamlike fantasy. In the distance, a stream babbled, the water's surface rippling with faint phosphorescence. Strange fluorescent plants grew along the banks, their branches spreading out and emitting a soft glow.
The air was filled with the moist scent of earth, mixed with the fragrance of some kind of vegetation, giving one the illusion of being in a secret realm paradise.
Lin Wan raised an eyebrow, thinking to herself: "These witch clan people certainly know how to pick a place. They live quite comfortably."
However, her thoughts were quickly proven wrong.
The witch clan leader led her through this beautiful "underground garden" and turned into a narrow tunnel. As they went deeper, the surrounding light gradually dimmed, and the number of fluorescent mushrooms sharply decreased, replaced by damp rock walls and the smell of mold. Finally, they arrived before a cluster of low cave dwellings—
This place was simply like an underground slum.
Crude stone houses were crowded against both sides of the rock walls, their roofs barely constructed from withered vines and animal hides, many already half-collapsed. Sewage flowed across the ground, emitting a rotting stench. Several skeletal witch clan members huddled in corners, their eyes hollow, only lighting up slightly when they saw Lin Wan's face.
Lin Wan's footsteps unconsciously slowed. She saw a little girl squatting in the corner, holding an equally scrawny black cat in her arms. Both the girl and the cat had wide eyes, looking at her timidly. Several elderly people sat on worn straw mats, their witch robes already tattered beyond recognition, revealing the skeletal ribs underneath. Further away, a few young people were using bone knives to divide some unknown wild beast, their movements mechanical and numb.
The leading witch clan elder brought her to the largest stone house among them—saying "largest" was relative, as it was only slightly more spacious than the other houses. The animal hide roof had already turned black, and the walls were covered with mold spots.
Lin Wan stood at the entrance and finally couldn't help but speak: "You guys... are living pretty miserably."
Her voice was soft, but in the silent cave, it was exceptionally clear.
The witch clan elder smiled bitterly, not answering, only respectfully making a gesture inviting her in.
Lin Wan frowned and stepped into the house.
The interior of the stone house was even more primitive than it appeared from outside. Except for a stone table and a few straw cushions, it was almost empty. In the corner, several clay jars were piled up, containing moldy grain. A few worn witch robes hung on the wall, the runes embroidered on them already faded. The only thing that appeared "valuable" was a bronze lamp placed on the stone table, its wick burning with a weak green flame, illuminating a small area of the room.
Lin Wan looked around, and a question rose in her heart—these witch clan people clearly possessed supernatural powers, and this place didn't appear to lack resources, so why had they fallen to such a state?
She turned to look at the elder, waiting for an explanation.
...
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