Transmigrated into the villain? Watch my epic comeback in the ethereal fairy realm!

Chapter 149 New Signs of Danger in the Spirit Sea, First Glimmer of Gloom

Just as Dai Yao was about to cheer, "Perfect finish! Extra chicken leg tonight!", a strange chill shot from the soles of her feet straight to the top of her head. The chill was like an icy snake crawling through her body, and Dai Yao couldn't help but shiver.

Wait, something's not right! What happened to the peaceful and tranquil life we ​​were promised? The surrounding spiritual energy, which was just now dancing joyfully like a dragon dance during the New Year, is now trembling like a flock of quails. Dai Yao can hear the uneasy rustling sound of the spiritual energy flowing.

Xiao Ling tugged at Dai Yao's sleeve, her little face scrunched up: "Sister Yao Yao, I feel... chilly." Dai Yao reached out and touched Xiao Ling's hand, feeling its icy touch. "It really is chilly," Dai Yao thought to herself, her back already breaking out in a cold sweat, the sweat soaking her clothes and sticking stickily to her back.

It felt like she'd just defeated a boss and hadn't even had a chance to return to town to heal when the system announced: "High-energy warning ahead! The ultimate boss is about to appear!" Dai Yao was torn between two conflicting thoughts. Should she charge in recklessly, or play it safe and focus on building up her resources? After all, everyone had just gone through a fierce battle and was exhausted. They hadn't even had a chance to catch their breath before another battle was about to begin. Who could stand that?

The mysterious figure walked up to Dai Yao and gently took her hand. Dai Yao could feel the warmth and strength of his hand, and he gave her a reassuring look: "Make sure everyone is safe first."

Dai Yao frowned, looking worried: "But if we don't act now, and this crisis snowballs and gets bigger and bigger, it will be difficult to control later."

Just as the two were locked in a stalemate, Dai Yao suddenly felt a heat in her chest. Looking down, she saw that the jade pendant she was wearing was emitting an eerie red light. The red was just like the fiery clouds at dusk, or like... fresh blood.

"Not good!" Dai Yao's expression changed drastically. "This thing is going to cause trouble again!" Before she finished speaking, the jade pendant shone brightly, and a powerful force pushed Dai Yao and the mysterious figure backward. Dai Yao felt as if a pair of invisible hands were pushing her forcefully, and her body flew backward uncontrollably.

"Sister Yao Yao!" Xiao Ling exclaimed, reaching out to grab it, but only grasping at nothingness.

Dai Yao felt dizzy and the wind was whistling in her ears, as if countless tiny needles were pricking them. When she opened her eyes again, she found herself in a completely unfamiliar place.

"Where is this place?" Dai Yao murmured to herself, an unprecedented sense of crisis enveloping her like an invisible net. A thin layer of mist hung in the air, making everything appear indistinct and blurry.

The mysterious figure looked around, his expression grave: "It seems we're in trouble."

Suddenly, a voice rang in their ears, deep and hoarse, as if from the depths of hell, like sandpaper rubbing against their eardrums: "Welcome to...my world." Dai Yao rubbed her sore bottom, still feeling the pain from the impact. She thought to herself: This jade pendant is a total rip-off! Where's the promised cheat code? This is clearly a random teleportation talisman!

The mysterious figure reached out to help Dai Yao up, his eyes filled with concern: "Are you hurt?" Dai Yao waved her hand, feigning nonchalance: "It's nothing, a piece of cake! Back in my day, I..." Before she could finish, the mysterious figure stopped her with a look. Dai Yao immediately shut up, inwardly thinking: Seriously, I don't even have the right to brag anymore!

The mysterious figure sighed helplessly. This girl is really something else!

"Sister Yao Yao, are you alright?" Xiao Ling's voice came from afar, tinged with a sob.

Dai Yao looked in the direction of the sound and saw Xiao Ling and Zi You running anxiously toward them, followed by Xing Ying with a suspicious look on her face.

It seems that the teleportation function of this jade pendant is quite "thoughtful", it even comes with a team-up service!

"Don't worry, I won't die!" Dai Yao grinned, revealing a set of bright white teeth.

Zi You carefully examined Dai Yao and the mysterious figure's bodies, and only breathed a sigh of relief after confirming that they were unharmed: "Fortunately, they were just teleported to another place and were not injured."

Only then did Dai Yao have the mind to look around. Good heavens, this place was eerie, filled with a putrid smell that made Dai Yao wrinkle her nose involuntarily. It was even more thrilling than a haunted house!

"What kind of place is this?" Dai Yao couldn't help but complain. "The yin energy is so strong, could it be some kind of mass grave?"

"Don't talk nonsense!" The mysterious figure gently tapped Dai Yao's head. "Be careful what you say."

Dai Yao pursed her lips, but her mind began to wander. Something was definitely amiss; there was something wrong with this place!

Thinking of this, Dai Yao immediately activated her golden finger—the special ability to sense the direction of the flow of Qi. She saw the Qi in her spiritual sea converging towards a dark corner like tiny streams, like a group of mice sneaking into a hole. Dai Yao could almost see the trajectory of the Qi flow faintly before her eyes.

"I've discovered something..." Dai Yao pointed in that direction and told everyone what she had found.

After a moment of contemplation, Zi You deduced based on her knowledge: "If I'm not mistaken, that direction should be... the forbidden area!"

Although Xingying remained skeptical, seeing that Dai Yao had successfully resolved the Spirit Sea crisis before, she chose to believe her this time. This brought Dai Yao a sense of relief; it seemed she had finally gained the approval of this "troublemaker."

"Let's hurry and go check it out!" Dai Yao waved her hand and took the lead in that direction. The mysterious figure followed closely behind, a determined glint in his eyes. Xiao Ling and Zi You also immediately followed. Only Xing Ying hesitated for a moment, then gritted her teeth and followed.

Just as they were heading in the direction they had guessed, a dark figure silently appeared behind them, its cold gaze fixed intently on their backs...

“Interesting, getting more and more interesting…” The dark figure let out a low chuckle, the sound of which seemed particularly sinister in the silent environment.

Dai Yao and her group cautiously advanced towards the forbidden area. The stench of decay in the air grew stronger, making them feel as if they were in a giant tomb. The surrounding trees were twisted and grotesque, their branches entwined with unknown black vines, resembling menacing monsters that sent chills down their spines. Dai Yao could see tiny hairs on the vines, which looked rather glaring in the dim light.

"This place is so creepy, it's even more thrilling than the haunted house escape room I went to last time!" Dai Yao rubbed her arms, which were covered in goosebumps, and couldn't help but complain, "Luckily I'm brave, otherwise I would have peed my pants!"

"Shh, keep your voice down!" The mysterious figure gestured for silence, glancing warily around. "Be careful, the walls may be listening!"

As soon as she finished speaking, a rustling sound suddenly came from the surrounding bushes. Then, a group of strange-looking little creatures darted out and pounced on the group. These creatures resembled mutated crabs, covered in sharp spines that gleamed with an eerie green light; they were clearly no harm. Dai Yao could clearly see the cold glint of their spines and their pairs of malevolent little eyes.

"What the hell is that?!" Dai Yao exclaimed, quickly hiding behind the mysterious figure. "Protect our damage dealers!"

Without a word, the mysterious figure drew his sword and stood in front of everyone. With a flash of light, Dai Yao heard the hissing sound of the sword cutting through the air. Several small creatures were instantly cleaved in two, and green blood splattered on the ground.

Xiao Ling was equally unyielding, waving her staff and unleashing a barrage of ice arrows. The ice arrows streaked through the air, making a soft whistling sound, freezing the small creatures that pounced on them into ice sculptures.

"Sister Yao Yao, these little creatures aren't strong individually, but there are too many of them. We need to think of a way!" Xiao Ling shouted anxiously while fending off the attacks of the small creatures.

Hiding behind the mysterious figure, Dai Yao carefully observed the attack patterns of these small creatures and discovered that although their attacks were chaotic, they followed a certain pattern. They always attacked in groups of three to five, and their targets were always the people closest to them.

"I've figured out their attack pattern!" Dai Yao shouted excitedly. "They always attack in groups of three, and their target is always the person closest to them! If we spread out, we can take them down one by one!"

"Great idea!" The mysterious figure gave Dai Yao an approving look. "Everyone, do as Yao Yao says!"

The group immediately dispersed, and the small creature's attacks indeed became more scattered, no longer as concentrated as before.

Taking advantage of the opportunity, Xiao Ling released a wide-range freezing spell. Dai Yao could feel the surrounding temperature dropping sharply, as if countless cold needles were pricking her skin, freezing all the small creatures around her.

"Now!" the mysterious figure shouted, wielding his long sword with the speed of a storm. Dai Yao heard the whooshing sound of the sword flashing through the air as it instantly annihilated all the frozen creatures.

Everyone finally breathed a sigh of relief, but before they could even recover, a chilling voice suddenly came from behind them: "It seems you've discovered my little pet..."

Dai Yao turned around abruptly and saw a person dressed in black with a strange mask standing not far away, staring at them with a sinister gaze.

"Who are you?" Dai Yao asked warily.

The man in black let out a low laugh: "Who I am is not important, what is important is... you will soon become my... test subjects!"

Before the man in black could finish speaking, he vanished from the spot in a flash.

Before Dai Yao and the others could react, they felt a powerful suction force pulling them into an unknown space.

"Holy crap! What's going on?!" Dai Yao exclaimed, feeling dizzy and her vision blurred. Her body felt like it was being pulled into a huge vortex, with various forces pulling at her.

When she opened her eyes again, she found herself in a dark, damp cave. A pungent, fishy stench filled the air, a smell like rotting fish mixed with spoiled blood, making her want to vomit.

"Cough cough cough..." Xiaoling covered her nose, looking disgusted. "What kind of awful place is this? It stinks even more than a pigsty!"

"Stop complaining, let's see if there's an exit." The mysterious figure looked around and found that the cave walls were covered with strange runes that emitted a faint red light. The red light flickered in the dark cave, somewhat dazzling.

“These runes… seem familiar…” Zi You frowned, carefully examining the patterns on the runes. “I remember now! This is an ancient forbidden technique—the Blood Sacrifice Array!”

"A blood sacrifice formation?!" Dai Yao's expression changed. "What is that thing?"

"This is an extremely evil formation that can absorb the life essence of living people to enhance the caster's cultivation," Zi You explained. "If we are trapped in this formation for too long, our life essence will be drained, and we will turn into dried-up corpses!"

"Holy crap! That's too cruel!" Dai Yao couldn't help but curse. "I don't want to turn into a dried-up corpse! We have to find a way out right now!"

Just then, a deep chanting sound came from the depths of the cave, sounding like some kind of ancient incantation. The sound echoed in the cave, as if it came from all directions, or as if it were ringing directly in their ears.

"Oh no! The formation has been activated!" Zi You exclaimed. "We must destroy the formation as soon as possible, or it will be too late!"

The mysterious figure drew his sword, preparing to attack the runes on the cave wall, but was stopped by Dai Yao.

"Wait!" Dai Yao's eyes flashed. "These runes are connected, forming a complete array. If we destroy it rashly, it might cause a backlash. We need to find the array's core first before we can completely destroy it!"

"But where is the core of the formation?" Xiaoling asked anxiously.

Dai Yao closed her eyes, concentrated her mind, and sensed the flow of spiritual energy around her. Soon, she found the location of the array's core—a huge red crystal at the top of the cave.

"Found it! The key to the formation is right there!" Dai Yao said, pointing to the red crystal.

"But how do we get up there?" Xiaoling looked up at the high cave ceiling, her face full of helplessness. "I don't have wings!"

"I have a way!" The mysterious figure smiled slightly, took out a long rope from his storage bag, fixed one end to the stone wall of the cave, and threw the other end towards the red crystal.

"Yaoyao, you go up and destroy the core of the formation, we'll cover you!"

Dai Yao nodded, grabbed the rope, and started climbing. She could feel that the rope was a bit rough, and her palms hurt a little from rubbing against it.

However, just as she was about to reach the red crystal, a chilling laugh suddenly echoed from the depths of the cave: "Hehehe... You think you can escape like this? How naive!"

Dai Yao turned around abruptly and saw that the man in black had appeared deep inside the cave at some point, holding a dagger that gleamed with black light.

"Oh no! He's going to destroy the array's core!" Zi You exclaimed in alarm.

Dai Yao's heart sank, and she quickened her climbing pace. However, the man in black was even faster. He flashed and appeared next to the red crystal, raising his dagger and stabbing it fiercely.

"Stop!" Dai Yao shouted, but it was too late.

The dagger pierced the crystal with a crisp sound that was particularly loud in the cave.

Immediately afterwards, the entire cave began to shake violently, and rocks fell from above. Dai Yao could hear the rumbling sound of the falling rocks and feel the stinging sensation of dust rising and hitting her face.

"Run!" the mysterious figure shouted.

Everyone hurriedly ran towards the cave exit.

However, before they could run a few steps, a huge spiritual energy barrier suddenly appeared in front of them, blocking their way.

Dai Yao stared at the enormous spiritual energy barrier before her, her expression grave: "What...what is this thing?"