The most secure job in Dajin

Chapter 457, The Nine-Story Prison Tower

Knowing that the skull platform in front of her was most likely the entrance to the Ghost Fire Well, Hua Changxi slowly walked around the skull platform.

The entire rift valley was deathly silent, like a tomb, and the area around the high platform was so desolate that it was chilling.

In many places, the ground was cracked like a spider web, with dark green moss seeping from the cracks, emitting a foul smell of decay and sulfur.

The ground, which may have once been paved with patterned jade bricks, has long since been crushed into dust by the years and covered with countless years of accumulated ash and bone fragments. It feels soft as mud when you step on it, yet it is also icy cold.

The four Vermilion Bird stone sculptures, guarding the four corners of the east, south, west, and north respectively, should be majestic and ready to spread their wings and sing, but at this moment they are covered with a thick layer of gray-black dust, as if they have been forgotten and sealed away by time.

There is also a Vermilion Bird stone sculpture beneath the Lingguang Hall and the Chuangong Hall.

However, the Vermilion Bird stone sculpture came back to life after Hua Changxi made the Vermilion Bird Oath.

Later, as more and more members of the Vermilion Bird Army joined, the eyes of the Vermilion Bird stone sculpture seemed to be infused with a soul, becoming lifelike.

The four Vermilion Bird stone sculptures in front of us seem to be still asleep and have not yet been awakened.

The same applies to the skull platform.

Apart from the gaping maw that exudes ghostly energy and the two eye sockets where green flames flicker, the rest of the place is a scene of utter silence.

The entire platform was like an abandoned gate, with no guards or patrols.

After surveying the area below the platform, Hua Changxi lightly touched the ground with her toes, her figure fluttering down like a crimson feather, and flew onto the platform, standing steadily on the edge of the skull's wide-open mouth.

As soon as their feet touched the ground, a dense, chilling aura, like a venomous snake, burrowed into their bodies from the soles of their feet and rushed straight to the top of their heads.

At the same time, the ghostly energy spewing from the skull's mouth suddenly boiled and twisted, transforming into countless distorted faces that opened their mouths and shrieked, rushing straight at Hua Changxi's face.

"Boom!"

Flames rose, blocking the approaching ghost face. Hua Changxi was bathed in flames, his expression turning solemn and wary.

After the ghostly face melted away, Hua Changxi, who was surrounded by flames, peered into the skull's gaping mouth, trying to see everything inside.

Unfortunately, aside from the pitch-black ghostly aura and the intermittently appearing green flames, nothing was found.

Seeing this, a fire lotus once again condensed in Hua Changxi's hand, and then the fire lotus flew into the skull's big mouth.

As the fire lotus fell in, the surging, boiling ghostly energy receded like a tide.

Under the glow of the fiery lotus, a downward-extending passageway slowly revealed itself—narrow and eerie, like the throat of a giant beast, leading to an unknowable abyss.

"Um?!"

The fire lotus went out less than a hundred meters down the passageway.

Hua Changxi was deeply shaken by this.

You should know that the fire lotus had not been extinguished even after we came down from the ground where the mass grave was located and the ghostly energy in the entire rift valley had dissipated. But now, less than a hundred meters inside the skull, the fire lotus had been extinguished.

This gives you an idea of ​​just how astonishing the concentration of ghostly energy inside the skull must be!

Afterwards, Hua Changxi condensed several more fire lotuses and poured them into the skull.

Although the fire lotuses went further into the depths later on, they still couldn't escape being extinguished in the end.

"Whoo~"

Hua Changxi breathed a sigh of relief. Since she couldn't explore the inside of the skull from the outside, she had no choice but to go inside herself.

"Boom!"

Hua Changxi's flames blazed brightly, and then a fire lotus quietly bloomed between her feet. The next moment, enveloped by the fire lotus, she stepped into the skull.

The skull was completely shrouded in ghostly energy, which was as thick as ink. Inhaling it would make one feel a chill in their soul and disrupt their spiritual energy. If she hadn't been burning with the Southern Bright Fire, she wouldn't have been able to stay inside for long.

Walking along the passageway, you hear the howling wind, like the wails of wronged souls, and every now and then you can hear the sound of chains scraping against the ground.

The wails and the scraping of chains mingled together, forming a sinister and terrifying melody that echoed in every corner, sending chills down one's spine.

At the same time, the temperature inside the skull is extremely low; this chill is not ordinary cold, but a kind of eerie cold.

This chill can penetrate clothing, seep into the bone marrow, freeze a cultivator's spiritual power, and even freeze their soul. Even a highly skilled cultivator, if enveloped by this chill for a long time, will feel stiff all over and unable to move.

"This is indeed a good place to imprison errant cultivators!" Being here is definitely torture. As they went deeper, the light became increasingly dim.

Hua Changxi felt that if she suppressed the fire lotus, the only light source inside the skull would be those flickering green ghost flames.

It seems that even sunlight and moonlight cannot penetrate into this place.

The light of the fire lotus was compressed by the ghostly energy, unable to illuminate very far, only able to outline a blurry shape in the darkness.

Finally, after going nearly a kilometer into the tunnel, a spacious square appeared.

“Guarding Post!” These three large red characters are engraved on the stone wall at the edge of the square.

To the left of the square is a row of black iron stone houses, and to the right is a row of black iron cage houses.

Hua Changxi first looked at the black iron hut on the left, and then at the black iron cage on the right.

The guardhouse is on the left, and the prisoner's quarters are on the right.

Clearly, the guardhouse was where the soldiers were stationed, while the prisoner escort room was where prisoners were transferred before being sentenced.

Hua Changxi didn't look around much, but lingered in the first guard room for a while.

There was nothing special about it; in the center of the room was a stone mirror with the words "Well Mirror" engraved on it.

Hua Changxi wondered if this stone mirror could be activated to monitor the movements of the entire Ghost Fire Well.

On the side of the guardhouse, there was no passageway leading down, so Hua Changxi continued deeper into the prison cell until she reached the end, where she saw a staircase extending downwards.

What is the internal layout of the skull?

"Where is the Will-o'-the-Wisp Well?"

Hua Changxi went down the stairs, and at the end of the stairs was a circular corridor.

The corridor is lined with densely packed cells, all built of black stone. Inside, two chains formed of ghostly energy hang, their surfaces gleaming with an eerie green sheen.

"One layer deeper."

Hua Changxi saw a landmark sign at the junction of the corridor and the staircase.

Does this mean she's currently on the first level of the Ghost Fire Well prison?

The stairs continued down, and soon Hua Changxi arrived at the second-floor corridor.

The layout of the second-floor corridor is exactly the same as that of the first floor.

Continuing down, you'll find the third-floor corridor, which retains the same layout.

Upon arriving here, the fiery lotus burning on Hua Changxi's body began to wilt. This was because, in some of the cells on the third floor, green ghost flames were burning on the chains formed by the condensation of ghost energy.

The corrosive power of will-o'-the-wisps is dozens of times stronger than that of ghost energy.

By the time they reached the fourth-level corridor, the Fire Lotus was already struggling to maintain its strength.

On this floor, not only were will-o'-the-wisps burning on the chains in the cells, but they also appeared in the corridors.

Hua Changxi knew that she couldn't go any further with the Fire Lotus, so she stood on the corridor and looked down.

Although all she could see were ghostly auras and will-o'-the-wisps, she had now figured out the layout of the skull's interior space—it was shaped like a tower, with a hollow center that connected to the skull's large mouth like a skylight.

She didn't want to keep going down the stairs, floor by floor.

"boom!"

Crimson-gold flames exploded from Hua Changxi's body, rising and blurring her figure as it elongated and transformed into a ethereal form.

In the blink of an eye, the figure vanished, replaced by a Vermilion Bird engulfed in flames—its feathers were like molten gold, its eyes like the sun, and its tail feathers trailed crimson flames.

The firebird raised its head and let out a clear cry that reverberated in all directions. Then, with a flap of its wings, it leaped down from the corridor like a fireball falling into an abyss.

At this moment, the inside of the skull was completely illuminated by the firebird—it was a nine-story prison tower.

Wherever the firebird passed, the ghostly aura dissolved and the will-o'-the-wisps vanished!

Finally, only in the dark well at the very bottom of the prison tower, did green will-o'-the-wisps still burn. (End of Chapter)