novelraw Chapter 89
Chapter 89
89. The Other Shore
"Your Highness, we're ready."
Carolin brought the freshly prepared Meng Lian and her two companions before Aurora.
Aurora was dressed in full formal attire today, wearing a pure white gown. At this moment, Meng Lian noticed she was holding a black box.
So familiar...
Meng Lian vaguely remembered that when the ferrymen came to collect those who failed the entrance exam, or when Tao Yao captured those undercover witches, they also took out this kind of black box. The style and design of these boxes were very similar, making Meng Lian think a bit more.
Could there be people inside this one too?
"Miss Yelena, this is my most precious possession."
Meng Lian's expression was too easy to read, so Aurora explained at just the right moment.
"Haha..."
Meng Lian felt a bit awkward and gave a hollow laugh.
She was probably overthinking it. Who said these black boxes could only hold people?
"Let's go."
Seeing that all supplies were prepared, Carolin led the group to the other side of the Elven Forest.
Here, the vegetation grew sparse. There were no elven guards. As Meng Lian walked out of the forest, she immediately felt like she had entered another world.
Not far away was a blood-red world. The boundless sky was completely crimson, and even the earth looked as if it had been soaked in blood. Meng Lian looked carefully and discovered that those were actually seas of blood-red flowers. There was something indescribably eerie about them.
"Those are Equinox Flowers. Be careful not to touch them."
Carolin gazed at the endless sea of Equinox Flowers with a complicated expression.
She really didn't want to come here again.
Above this red sea of flowers floated a tiny island, like a sesame seed, hidden within blood-red clouds. Occasionally, blood-red lightning flashed, making it look like a place where no life could possibly exist.
"That... is the Sky City?"
Tiane looked at the faintly visible sky island and pursed her lips.
She had an intuition that something extremely terrible had happened to the Sky City.
And the parents she had never met might also...
Tiane couldn't stop her mind from wandering. Just then, she felt a soft sensation in her hand. She looked down and found that Meng Lian was holding her small hand.
"Don't let your thoughts run wild."
Meng Lian knew that overthinking would only add to her worries. Tiane seemed to take a reassurance pill, her heart gradually calming down.
"How do we get up there?"
Meng Lian looked at the endless sea of Equinox Flowers. Hearing Carolin say not to touch those flowers, she was puzzled.
These Equinox Flowers were densely packed. How could they possibly cross the Other Shore without touching them?
Were they supposed to fly over?
"You can't fly over. The Other Shore has a no-flight magic formation. Haven't you noticed there isn't even a single bird here?"
Carolin saw Meng Lian's confusion and shook her head.
Hearing this, Tiane and Tina tried to chant dragon spells, only to find that it was exactly as Carolin said. They couldn't fly at all.
The dragons' physiological structure wasn't enough to support their flight. They could fly entirely through dragon spell enhancement. Now that the Other Shore had a no-flight magic formation, their dragon advantage was gone.
"We need to go there. There's a teleportation formation to the Sky City there."
Carolin pointed in a direction, directly below the Sky City.
"And to cross over and reach that place, we need to eat this first."
Carolin took out a small white bottle and poured out five small green pills.
"This can mask our presence and prevent the evil spirits on the Equinox Flowers from sensing us. But it only lasts three days, which means we must reach the teleportation formation within three days."
Carolin distributed the pills to everyone. Meng Lian saw Aurora and Carolin take them without any hesitation, so she also put one in her mouth.
It tasted like fresh grass, slightly bitter.
"In that case, why do you need us? The two of you could cross the Other Shore with these pills, couldn't you?"
Meng Lian asked seemingly casually. That pill was currently hidden under her tongue, and Tiane and Tina, having received Meng Lian's signal, hadn't swallowed theirs either.
For a moment, the atmosphere was somewhat heavy. It was Carolin who broke the silence.
"Besides evil spirits, the Other Shore also has some unknown magical beasts. These beasts seem to have been corrupted by evil spirits. They have no reason, only the instinct to kill. My abilities alone are limited, not enough to protect Her Highness's safety."
"Miss Yelena, please rest assured. I made this pill myself. There's no harm in it."
Aurora noticed Meng Lian's wariness and spoke with a smile.
Meng Lian also knew she was overthinking it. If the other party really meant her harm, they wouldn't need to go through so much trouble. Besides, Tiane had just signaled Meng Lian that she didn't detect any dangerous components.
Seeing this, Meng Lian quietly swallowed the pill. Tiane and Tina swallowed theirs as well.
Fortunately, there was no discomfort.
Meng Lian breathed a sigh of relief.
"Let's go. If you notice anything unusual, please speak up immediately."
Carolin was the leader of this small team. From how familiar she seemed with the place, this probably wasn't her first time here.
Meng Lian walked through the sea of Equinox Flowers. Everywhere she looked was blood red. After watching for a while, she even felt a bit dizzy.
Perhaps because of that pill, they didn't encounter any so-called evil spirits. Meng Lian took the opportunity to observe the Equinox Flowers beside her.
Their blood-colored silk-like petals curled backward into the void. Each one looked like solidified flame, yet exuded the coldness of frost and snow. Six thread-like stamens hung down like golden threads, their tips bearing dark red bulbs nearly black in color, like blood drops suspended but never falling. The stems were rugged like white bones, trembling slightly even when untouched, as if resisting gravity by lowering their heads even further. These flowers were born with a solitary arrogance, even their blooming was a posture of looking down from above.
The most eerie thing was the distance between the petals and stamens. They seemed within reach, yet were forever separated by a finger's width of space. When wind passed through this tiny canyon of death, it would let out a whistling sound like sobbing. No leaves, no others of their kind, not even reflections. It was as if the flower was just a crack in the real world, and all its brilliance was borrowed illusion. If one looked closely, they would find that the seemingly thick red color was slowly evaporating, leaving fine crystalline dust in the air. For this flower, blooming was an omen of withering.
Occasionally, pure white variants could be seen. But that whiteness wasn't the color of snow. It was more like bones bleached by moonlight, even the nectar seeping from the flower's core had a pearl-gray tint. Regardless of color, all had seven serrated black spots at the calyx, like the seal marks of some ancient contract.
But at this moment, Meng Lian seemed to see something extremely terrifying. She retreated in fright, bumping right into Tiane behind her.
"Dear, what's wrong?"
Tiane steadied Meng Lian's body and asked with confusion.
Meng Lian's pupils had turned into golden vertical slits, but quickly returned to normal. Tiane and Tina were behind Meng Lian and didn't notice. When Aurora and Carolin ahead heard the commotion and turned around, Meng Lian's pupils had already returned to normal. No one discovered the strangeness in Meng Lian's eyes.
"Why are there palm-sized dragons inside these flowers?"