Chapter 421 - 230: The Truth Beneath the Eerie Ancient Well

Jiang Che’s Clone silently slipped away from the bustling crowd. With a few leaps, he arrived at the small grove in front of the Li Mansion he remembered.

Though it was noon and the sun was blazing, the moment he stepped into the woods, his surroundings turned abruptly cold. The light seemed to be mostly devoured, leaving everything dim and murky.

The area was deathly silent.

There were no chirping cicadas, no birdsong, not even the rustle of leaves in the wind.

The only sound was the faint crunch of the thick, rotting leaves under his feet.

Jiang Che’s Clone slowly walked over to the abandoned, dried-up well.

The mouth of the well was still overgrown with weeds, exactly as he remembered.

He peered down into it. The bottom of the well was pitch-black, but he could vaguely make out the surface of murky, greenish water that smelled of old, rotting wood.

’Looks like nothing has changed...’

Just as the thought crossed Jiang Che’s mind...

"RUSTLE... RUSTLE..."

A faint sound, like footsteps on dry leaves, suddenly rang out from behind him again, without any warning!

Jiang Che’s heart leaped!

His True: All-Seeing Eye was operating at full power, its Perception covering a radius of several miles.

And yet, his Perception detected nothing behind him!

There was no sign of life, no fluctuation of energy, not even the slightest change in the airflow!

And absolutely no warning of any danger!

But the sound was so clear, it was as if it were right next to his ear!

Jiang Che whipped his head around!

Behind him was an empty clearing, with nothing but the mottled shadows of the trees.

’It’s happening again...’

Jiang Che’s eyes narrowed, an inexplicable chill rising within him.

He was now a powerhouse at the Second Layer Peak of the True Master Realm, and his Divine Soul was incredibly strong.

Even a True Master Assassin skilled in stealth couldn’t possibly get this close to him without being detected.

But those footsteps were terrifyingly real!

’Just a cheap trick!’

Jiang Che snorted inwardly and made a decision.

He turned back to face the well.

「A moment later.」

"RUSTLE... RUSTLE... RUSTLE..."

The eerie footsteps started up again.

This time, Jiang Che didn’t turn around.

Instead, he listened as the owner of the footsteps walked toward him, step by slow step.

The sound grew closer and clearer.

Ten paces... five... three... one!

The muscles in Jiang Che’s back tensed, the True Qi within him coiled and ready to strike.

He desperately wanted to turn and blast whatever it was with a twenty-five-fold Azure Dragon Annihilation.

But he resisted the urge.

Besides, this was just a Clone. It didn’t matter if it died!

He was determined to see what was behind these cheap tricks!

The footsteps finally stopped right behind him, almost pressing against his back.

Jiang Che held his breath, perfectly still.

However, the attack he expected never came.

The next moment, something happened that made his blood run cold.

"RUSTLE..."

The footsteps started up again, and...

...they continued forward!

It passed right through Jiang Che’s body!

Jiang Che felt an indescribable chill pierce through him, but when he looked down, he saw nothing!

No physical form, no sensation of contact.

It was as if the sound existed in a parallel time and space, overlapping his coordinates but never truly interacting!

The footsteps continued forward, stopping above the mouth of the well.

Then, over the empty air above the well, the rustling sound of walking continued!

Then, it seemed to walk down into the well!

The sound descended deeper and grew fainter until it disappeared completely.

Jiang Che was shaken to his core.

He could tell this wasn’t a form of invisibility like Shadow Escape.

The owner of the footsteps truly did not exist in this world!

It didn’t exist!

Gazing into the deep well, an incredibly bold thought suddenly occurred to Jiang Che.

’If I can’t see it, then... I’ll just have to follow it down!’

’This is just a Clone, anyway. Even if I lose it, my Divine Soul will only suffer a minor injury. A few days of rest, and I’ll be fine!’

With that thought, Jiang Che didn’t hesitate any longer.

He leaped straight into the pitch-black well.

"SPLASH!"

Jiang Che’s body plunged into the water at the bottom of the well.

The walls of the well were slick and wet, surrounded by a dead, silent darkness.

The water reeked of decay, and a thick layer of fallen leaves floated on the surface.

But other than that, there was nothing.

Jiang Che continued to dive deeper.

The water was pitch-black; he couldn’t see his hand in front of his face.

Jiang Che felt an instinctual sense of oppression.

However, his True: All-Seeing Eye sent no warning.

This meant there was no immediate danger in the water.

Steeling himself, Jiang Che continued to descend.

But the well seemed to be a bottomless pit.

He dove for a long time but still hadn’t reached the bottom.

The thick darkness completely enveloped him.

But Jiang Che was determined to get to the bottom of it.

He kept diving deeper.

「After an unknown amount of time.」

Suddenly!

Jiang Che felt a strange resistance from below.

It didn’t feel like the surface of water, but more like a layer of...

a tough, viscous, transparent membrane!

The membrane blocked his path.

He tried to see what was behind the membrane, but even when he pressed his eyes against it, all he saw was darkness.

An idea struck Jiang Che. He controlled his Clone, circulated his True Qi, and plunged downward with all his might!

"POP!"

It felt like passing through a bubble.

In that instant, the world turned upside down!

The feeling of falling vanished, replaced by the sensation of standing on solid ground.

The darkness vanished in an instant!

When Jiang Che finally saw the scene before him, he was so stunned he froze on the spot.