Chapter 178-Sleeping in a Stone Uber

Night gradually fell, shrouding the sky. Far away in the Royal Capital, Qing Jin suddenly opened her eyes.

She gazed in the direction where the sun had set, as if sensing something, but said nothing.

Yet the air around her grew colder and colder, as if she were standing in the midst of a harsh winter. The entire palace was enveloped in this icy aura, as if even time itself had frozen within the chill.

---

At the same time, Hui Lian’s right hand suddenly trembled, causing her to knock over her teacup.

“Your Highness, are you all right?” The little maid beside her asked with concern.

“I... I don’t know.”

Hui Lian’s body trembled slightly as she instinctively looked toward the west. A deep unease and sorrow wound tightly around her heart.

“It’s Songyuan City! Something must have happened to Songyuan City...”

---

As the death notification sounded, a faint, illusory spirit drifted out from Vicky’s body.

With an apologetic look, she waved at Bai Yue Ling, her lips forming a silent ‘sorry.’

Then, an overwhelming force dragged her, forcing her toward the bottomless pit. She was pulled away, vanishing into the darkness.

Watching this scene, not far away, Gu Si burst into wild, unrestrained laughter: “Hahaha! A beautiful red rose should wither at the height of its beauty, and this withering—this is my art of slaughter!”

“What’s wrong, priest hero? Why aren’t you crying? If you don’t show me your sorrow and despair, my happiness is cut in half!”

Bai Yue Ling took a deep breath and slung Vicky’s body onto her back like a backpack, letting Jelly secure it tightly.

Then she raised her head, her expression blank as she fixed her gaze coldly on Gu Si and said, “Shut up, you disgusting trash... I’ve got other things to deal with right now. When I’m back, I’ll make you pay.”

Gu Si was momentarily stunned, then burst out laughing in fury: “Hahahaha! Things have come to this, and you still think you can do something? The dead can’t come back to life—even a three-year-old knows that!”

A strand of web shot from her fingertip, aiming straight at Bai Yue Ling. “Pity you’re just a traveler from another world, so I can’t send you to join Vicky. Guess I’ll just torment you back to level one!”

The web struck Bai Yue Ling, but instead of piercing her, it was absorbed by her Slime Skin, which quivered and devoured it completely as if nothing had happened.

Jelly muttered, “So that’s the kind of toxin it is... Give me a moment, I’ll have an antidote ready in an hour.”

With Gu Si’s command, the black-clad men surged forward like a pack of wolves.

Bai Yue Ling instantly unleashed a barrage of dazzling [Holy Light Orbs]. Explosions rang out one after another, crisp as firecrackers, and the black-clad men fell in droves.

She retreated to the edge of the pit, gave Gu Si a cold glare, then, carrying Vicky, leapt into the bottomless abyss.

Gu Si clutched her scorched wound as she walked to the pit’s edge, cursing at the silhouette of Bai Yue Ling fading into the darkness, “Damn bastard...!”

A black-clad subordinate beside her asked, “Milady, should we go after them?”

“...Forget it, just a traveler from another world.”

Gu Si hung herself midair with a strand of web and spread her arms wide. “Tomorrow morning, the entire World of Destiny will know that Songyuan City has fallen. No one can stop us—unless the Archbishop comes in person.”

“Maybe some dragon dug this tunnel... No time to worry about her, keep planting the explosives.”

---

Bai Yue Ling plummeted downward like a shooting star. In no time, she spotted Vicky’s soul in the distance.

She had no time for revenge on Gu Si and the black-clad men, nor to thwart the Church’s conspiracy.

She had something more important to do: to bring Vicky back to life.

[Quest Name: Withering Rose]

[Difficulty: Legendary]

[Description: Follow Vicky’s soul and search for a way to resurrect her.]

[Reward: NPC [Vicky] Resurrection]

[Note: Move forward—surprises await you.]

Almost the instant the death notification sounded, the quest to revive Vicky had been triggered. Bai Yue Ling, whose heart had fallen to the bottom of despair, instantly reignited with hope.

If Vicky truly died, she didn’t know how she could face Qing Jin and Hui Lian—how she could ever explain it to them.

Fortunately, since the system had issued a quest, that meant there was still a chance to bring her back.

But reviving the dead was extremely difficult. It was said that, aside from the Goddesses, only the Holy Pontiff of the Iris Church possessed such power.

No matter what, she would follow the quest for now.

Bai Yue Ling’s gaze stayed locked on Vicky’s faintly glowing soul, plummeting like a meteor after it.

---

As she dove deeper and deeper, it felt as if she was crossing through time and space, drifting within a starless cosmos. Everything around her was cold and lifeless; only the endless sensation of falling kept her company, chasing the illusory hope in the distance.

Gradually, faint light began to appear ahead. Jewels glimmering with pale radiance were embedded in the earth and stone. As Bai Yue Ling streaked downward, they shot past her like a meteor shower.

By their light, Bai Yue Ling saw her surroundings clearly.

Colossal bones, as tall as mountains, lay buried deep within the earth, exuding an overwhelming sense of awe, as if silently telling ancient, mysterious tales. Neither dragons nor giants could compare to their immense size.

Bai Yue Ling widened her eyes, trying to determine which race these enormous bones belonged to, but her knowledge couldn’t even begin to comprehend the secrets hidden within them.

Filled with confusion and dread, Bai Yue Ling asked, “Anlisa? Jelly? Do you know what these bones are?”

Unexpectedly, there was no response at all.

“Anlisa? Jelly?” Bai Yue Ling patted her Slime Skin in confusion.

Anlisa was silent, as if she’d fallen into a deep sleep, while Jelly had reverted to being an ordinary piece of equipment—completely motionless.

“What’s going on?” Bai Yue Ling murmured into the bottomless darkness. “Just where... am I going?”

Suddenly, she saw Vicky’s soul pause below, as if they’d finally reached the bottom of the pit.

Imagining a parachute, Bai Yue Ling’s Slime Skin on her shoulders rapidly swelled, actually transforming into a parachute to help her land safely.

It seemed that even without Jelly’s presence, she could still use the Slime Skin with ease.

“What is this place?”

Bai Yue Ling looked around, only to find herself inside a skeletal structure of unimaginable size. It was like a city; the skull alone was so vast she couldn’t see its boundaries at a glance.

“It feels like this whole pit was dug by this creature back when it was alive.” Bai Yue Ling muttered.

The world was silent. Only Vicky’s soul drifted ahead. She seemed to have found something and floated forward.

After a long while, Vicky’s soul finally stopped, but her figure gradually dimmed, eventually fading into nothingness.

“Wait!”

Bai Yue Ling shouted and chased after her, but Vicky’s soul had already vanished.

“What’s going on? Shouldn’t a soul return to the Underworld River? Why did she just disappear?”

Bai Yue Ling looked about blankly, then felt her foot step on something hard.

She looked down. There, lying in the rock, was a pitch-black stone coffin, its lid already cracked open—as if silently inviting her inside.

“Could it... be here?”

Hesitating for a moment, Bai Yue Ling gathered Vicky’s body in her arms and lay down together in the stone coffin, pulling the lid shut from inside.

Before long, the stone coffin trembled slightly. With a deep rumbling, it began to sink as if into a marsh, and then disappeared without a trace.