svetikya Chapter 1067 Silent and Unnoticed
Chapter 1067 Silent and Unnoticed
She sat down.
It wasn't that I sat down on my own; my body sat down on its own, like a tree that had finally found suitable soil to grow in, its roots automatically taking hold, unwilling to move again.
She sat cross-legged on the bluestone slab outside the halo, less than three feet from the pool of wolf blood. Her eyes closed, her breathing slowed, and her heartbeat calmed. The moonlight surrounding her no longer exploded outwards, but instead slowly swirled around her in circles, like a silver ribbon dancing in the wind.
Chu Yang stepped forward, squatted down, and glanced at her.
Her expression was calm, so calm that it didn't seem like she was after a fight, but rather like she was at peace after doing something she had been waiting for a long time.
"I've entered a meditative state," Chu Yang said.
Sun Wukong also came over, squatting down on the other side of Su Wanwan. He tilted his head to look at her face, then at the moonlight surrounding her. Unusually, he didn't speak loudly, but instead lowered his voice: "This kind of meditation? When will you wake up?"
"I don't know," Chu Yang said. "It could be a few hours, or it could be a few days."
"So, shall we just wait here?"
"Otherwise what?"
Sun Wukong thought for a moment, shrunk the golden cudgel and put it behind his ear, sat down on the ground, leaned his back against the light wall, crossed his legs, closed his eyes, and actually began to meditate.
Chu Yang glanced at him: "What are you doing?"
"I, Old Sun, will also soak up some of the moon's energy," Sun Wukong said with his eyes closed. "This place is comfortable."
Tang Sanzang stood inside the halo, remaining silent. His eyes never left Su Wanwan, from the moment she began her meditation to the appearance of the wolf demon, from the wolf demon's injury to Su Wanwan's return to meditation. Now, gazing at Su Wanwan's serene face, he softly murmured "Amitabha," his voice so low that only he could hear it.
Bai tide's voice came from the void, this time very softly, as if afraid of disturbing something.
"Don't touch her," she said. "She's having an epiphany. This kind of epiphany might only happen once in a lifetime."
Chu Yang nodded, stood up, and stepped out of the light circle. He drew an invisible circle three feet around Su Wanwan—not a real drawing, but a boundary marked with his aura. He would know if anyone approached this circle.
The white donkey had somehow descended the stone steps and stood at the entrance of the hall, peering inside cautiously. Seeing Su Wanwan sitting beside the pool of blood, her body glowing, it twitched its ears forward, hesitated for a moment, then slowly walked over and lay down beside her. Its body rested against Su Wanwan's knees, warm and cozy, like a living blanket.
The hall fell silent.
The moonlight poured down from above, shining on Su Wanwan, the white donkey, Chu Yang and Sun Wukong, and also on the pool of wolf blood that was slowly congealing in the distance.
Deep within the stone wall, the dark red light on the black wolf skeleton completely went out.
The seal has stabilized somewhat.
On the third day of Su Wanwan's meditation, things began to change.
For the first two days, everything seemed normal. She sat on the bluestone slab outside the halo, her body enveloped in a steady, flowing silvery-white aura, like a slowly meandering stream. The white donkey lay beside her, occasionally dozing off, sometimes raising its head to touch her knees with its nose to make sure she was still warm, before lying back down. Chu Yang and Sun Wukong took turns watching over her, one keeping an eye on Su Wanwan while the other meditated and recovered inside the halo. Tang Sanzang sat at the very innermost part of the halo, hands clasped together, eyes closed, silently reciting scriptures without uttering a single word.
Bai tide would come in once a day to check on Su Wanwan's condition. Each time, she would stand three zhang away, neither approaching nor touching her, only observing. After observing, she would leave, leaving behind the words: "She's still meditating. Don't disturb her."
On the third night—if one could count day and night in Uchizuka—things changed.
Chu Yang was leaning against the stone platform, resting with his eyes closed, when he suddenly opened them. He heard no sound and saw nothing unusual, but his body woke up on its own, like someone throwing a boulder into deep water, causing ripples to spread from the depths and making every leaf on the surface tremble.
Sun Wukong opened his eyes almost simultaneously. His reaction was more direct than Chu Yang's—his hand had already reached for the golden cudgel behind his ear. The cudgel had grown larger as it slid out, and by the time he grasped it, it was already in battle stance.
"You felt it?" Chu Yang asked in a low voice.
"Hmm." Sun Wukong stood up, his gaze fixed on the stone wall deep in the hall, covered in runes. "There's something. Alive. Not the kind that seeps out from cracks, it's..."
He didn't finish speaking, but Chu Yang understood what he meant.
It didn't seep out; it was already there.
For the past three days, the black mist and wolf demons seeping from the cracks in the seal had all been "leaking" in—like water seeping from a broken dam, sporadic, scattered, and insignificant. But the aura emanating from the other side of the stone wall now was not leaking; it was complete, concentrated, and conscious. It was as if someone was standing behind the stone wall, observing them through the seal.
The aura was incredibly strong. So strong that Chu Yang's skin broke out in goosebumps; so strong that the white donkey awoke from its slumber, trembling as it buried its head in Su Wanwan's arms; so strong that Tang Sanzang, inside the halo, unconsciously clenched his prayer beads, his knuckles turning white.
But there was no killing intent in that aura.
This is the strangest place.
Chu Yang had encountered many powerful beings—powerful demons, powerful humans, powerful half-human, half-demon. Their auras were all different, but most of them shared a common element: a sense of oppression. It was a signal that said, "I can easily crush you; you know I can, so you should be afraid." But the aura emanating from behind the stone wall lacked this oppressive feeling. It was simply powerful, purely powerful, so powerful that it instinctively made one want to retreat, but it didn't chase after you or force you to retreat.
It's more like a declaration: I'm here.
Sun Wukong clearly noticed this as well. He lowered his golden cudgel from his fighting stance, holding it horizontally in front of him, but didn't raise it. He stared at the stone wall for a few moments, then suddenly grinned.
"Interesting," he said. "More sensible than I, Old Sun, expected."
The runes on the stone wall began to change.
It wasn't cracking, it wasn't collapsing, but rather slowly, piece by piece, lighting up. The runes' light was different from before—previously, the silvery-white light from the center of the moon radiated outwards through the runes, like water flowing from the center outwards. Today, the runes started lighting up from the edges, beginning with the outermost ring of purple, spreading inwards in circles, turning purple to blue, blue to cyan, cyan to gold, gold to silver, finally converging on the fox claw print in the very center of the stone wall.
The claw marks emitted a blinding white light.
The white light lasted for about two breaths, then slowly dimmed. As it dimmed, a hole appeared in the center of the stone wall. It wasn't a crack, nor a hole smashed through, but rather the stone wall itself receded like water, revealing a narrow, downward-extending passage behind it.
Two wolves stood in the passage.
These weren't mist wolves, nor the grayish-black wolf demons that Su Wanwan had injured that day. These two wolves were white, not snow-white, but a silvery-white with a grayish tinge, like frost covering withered grass on a winter morning. They were a size larger than ordinary wolves, with long limbs, elegant necks, and tails that hung low but weren't tucked between their legs. They stood very straight—not the kind of straightness of standing on their hind legs, but a posture of upright backs and heads held high, like some kind of trained honor guard.
Their eyes weren't amber, but a very pale gray, like the sky on a cloudy winter day.
The two white wolves stood quietly at the entrance of the passage, neither entering nor retreating. They looked at Chu Yang and Sun Wukong with calm, unambiguous, and objective gazes, showing neither hostility nor flattery.
The white wolf on the left tilted its head slightly, as if confirming something. Then it spoke.
"Guests." Its voice was neither loud nor soft, carrying a peculiar resonance, as if it came from the depths of the chest rather than from the throat, "Our king, please come over for a chat."
Sun Wukong raised an eyebrow: "Your king?"
"The Wolf King," the white wolf on the right added, "the current generation."
Chu Yang glanced at Sun Wukong, and Sun Wukong glanced at him back. In that instant, the two exchanged about seven or eight thoughts, so quickly that Tang Sanzang only saw them look at each other briefly before Chu Yang spoke.
"OK."
Just one word.
Upon hearing the word "okay," the white donkey's fur bristled like a hedgehog. It abruptly stood up beside Su Wanwan, blocking her path, baring its teeth and growling at the two white wolves in the passage.
Chu Yang walked over and patted the white donkey's neck: "You stay here. Watch over her."
The white donkey wouldn't listen; it stiffened its neck, rooted itself to the spot, and wouldn't budge.
"It's not safe for her to be here alone," Chu Yang said again, his voice low but firm. "It's more useful for you to watch over her than for you to come with me."
The white donkey's ears twitched. It looked at Chu Yang, then back at Su Wanwan, who was meditating with her eyes closed. After hesitating for a few moments, it finally slowly retracted its bared teeth, retreated to Su Wanwan's side, lay down, rested its head on its front legs, and stared intently at the white wolf in the passage, not letting its guard down for a moment.
Chu Yang turned and walked towards the passage.
Sun Wukong followed, his golden cudgel slung over his shoulder, swaggering as if he were strolling in his own backyard. When they reached the entrance to the passage, he stopped and smiled at the two white wolves: "Lead the way, will you?"
The white wolf on the left turned and walked ahead, while the white wolf on the right stepped aside to make way for Chu Yang and Sun Wukong, and followed behind.
The passage was much longer and deeper than Chu Yang had imagined.
The stone steps descended, one after another, the stone walls on either side gradually transforming from rough bluestone to smooth black rock. A thin layer of moisture clung to the surface of the rock, making it cool and slippery to the touch. The scent in the air changed—the moonlight faded, replaced by a dry, furry, and dusty aroma. It was the scent of wolves, strong but not pungent, like stepping into an old house that had never been cleaned in many years.
After walking for about the time it takes for an incense stick to burn, the stone steps came to an end.
Ahead lies a vast underground space.
It's not a cave. Caves are natural; this place isn't. Its dome is flat, its floor is flat, and its walls are as straight as if they'd been cut by a knife. Countless luminous stones are embedded in the dome, not with the silvery-white light of the moon's center, but with a warm yellow hue, like the sunlight at dusk. The light streams down from the dome, illuminating the entire space brightly and softly.
Huge stone slabs covered the ground, and small, unidentified plants grew in the gaps between them. They were short and close to the ground, with dark green leaves that gleamed with a dull luster in the warm yellow light.
In the center of the space, there is a raised platform.
A wolf was lying on the platform.
It was lying down, but Chu Yang could tell at a glance that even lying down, this wolf was larger than an ordinary person. Its shoulder blades were high and prominent, like two small hills; its head was twice the size of an ordinary wolf, with a wide and short muzzle, and even with its mouth closed, the tips of its canines could be seen protruding from below its lips; its fur was neither white nor gray, but a very deep brown, like old tree bark, like dried blood.
Its eyes were closed.
But Chu Yang knew it was awake. Because when its eyes were closed, the tip of its tail was swaying slightly, once, twice, three times, slowly and rhythmically like a pendulum.
The two white wolves stopped three zhang in front of the platform, lowered their heads, tucked their ears back, and tucked their tails between their legs. The wolves looked as if they were being pressed down by something, and their bodies were almost touching the ground.
"Your Majesty," the white wolf on the left spoke, his voice much lower than it had been in the passage, carrying an almost reverent respect, "the person has been brought."
The brown wolf on the platform opened its eyes.
Its eyes are golden.
It wasn't amber, nor gray; it was a true, pure gold, like molten gold. The moment those eyes opened, the light in the entire underground space changed—the warm yellow light became deeper and more intense, as if someone had added an amber filter to the dome. The temperature in the air seemed to rise slightly, or perhaps it was just Chu Yang's illusion, but the atmosphere definitely changed.
The feeling of oppression is coming.
It wasn't intentional, not deliberate, not even conscious. It simply opened its eyes, and that aura washed over it naturally like a tide, silently engulfing everything.
Sun Wukong's golden cudgel twirled gently in his hand. This was him controlling himself—not out of nervousness, but to suppress some instinctive urge to swing the cudgel.
Chu Yang made no move. He just stood there, hands in his sleeves, looking at the brown wolf on the platform, his expression no different from when he looked at the stone wall, the mist wolf, or the white donkey.
The wolf king looked at him.
I watched for a while.
Then it laughed.
Su Wanwan had seen a wolf laugh before; it was a provocative, contemptuous laugh. But the wolf king's laugh was different. The corners of its mouth were only slightly upturned, revealing just the tips of its teeth, and a very faint smile appeared in its golden eyes, like an undercurrent beneath deep water, almost invisible unless you looked closely.
But it was definitely a smile. (End of Chapter)