Chapter 28

The crisis had not yet been resolved, and Qi Xiang could not feel at ease.

This was a matter of utmost urgency, causing him to lose his composure and feel anxious.

"Stay calm, stay calm..." Qi Xiang took a deep breath. In his panic, he suddenly thought of a way and quickly grabbed the turtle shell, then focused his mind to communicate with it, hoping to use its power to leave the grotto world.

However, when he tried, Qi Xiang felt despair. When he entered the grotto world earlier, everything went smoothly. But now, the turtle shell showed no response at all.

In fact, Qi Xiang understood that this was not the turtle shell's fault. The cause was definitely external factors.

Raging turbulence filled the entire space of the grotto world.

Rocks pierced the sky, and waves split the clouds, generating a terrifying force. Even with the protection of the turtle shell's aura, Qi Xiang could clearly sense the danger.

The most terrifying thing was that under the force of this terrifying power, the turtle shell's aura began to waver. The originally bright and radiant light gradually dimmed.

Qi Xiang did not know how long the aura could last. If it flickered out, the consequences would be unimaginable. He dared not think further and involuntarily curled into a ball, his soul trembling.

The fear between life and death is great; who would not be afraid?

If he died directly, he might not even feel it, a quick and clean end. However, the most terrifying thing in the world might be slowly waiting to die, a torment and suffering that cannot be described...

"Phew!"

At this moment, the turtle shell's aura suddenly went out. Qi Xiang gave a bitter smile and closed his eyes, waiting for death as if it were a release.

The surging chaos immediately engulfed him. For a moment, Qi Xiang felt as if his bones were breaking, the immense pain causing him to faint.

After a very long time, Qi Xiang suddenly woke up, his eyes opening to a daze...

The sky was blue, the clouds white, the sun shining brightly.

The sun's rays were intense, making him instinctively close his eyes.

"Wait..." Qi Xiang opened his eyes again, and memories flooded back, making him both surprised and confused: "I didn't die?"

He struggled to get up but felt a wave of soreness and pain throughout his body, causing him to groan and sweat on his forehead.

Pain was also a good thing...

At least it proved he was still alive. Qi Xiang smiled, pulling the corners of his mouth. Surviving a great disaster was truly wonderful.

"Where am I now?" Qi Xiang turned his head to look around, finding himself lying on a wild grassy field, surrounded by rolling hills, green mountains, and lush vegetation.

"Is this the grotto world, or another dimension?" Various thoughts flashed through Qi Xiang's mind: "Could I have traveled through time?"

He swallowed, closed his eyes, and sensed. The turtle shell silently appeared in his palm.

Qi Xiang immediately felt reassured and quickly examined the turtle shell, discovering that it seemed to have suffered severe damage. Its texture was no longer smooth and lustrous, but dry and rough, like inferior jade.

Qi Xiang silently rubbed the turtle shell, feeling both heartache and gratitude. As if sensing his feelings, the turtle shell faintly glowed in response.

The light was as weak as a flickering candle, seemingly about to go out at any moment.

At the same time, Qi Xiang knew that the turtle shell was conveying information about what happened after he lost consciousness.

"Fortunate to be alive..."

Qi Xiang felt relieved, finally understanding how he had escaped the crisis. It seemed that the violent force of the chaos was so terrifying that it tore through the grotto world, creating a spatial rift.

He was very lucky to fall into the rift, thus saving his life.

"Heaven's protection!"

Qi Xiang exhaled, feeling a sense of happiness throughout his body.

"But, where am I now?"

Qi Xiang took a deep breath, enduring the soreness in his muscles, and struggled to sit up. At this moment, something fell from his clothes, shimmering faintly in the sunlight.

"What is this?" Qi Xiang was taken aback and quickly looked. Some sand and gravel were not worth mentioning, definitely remnants from the grotto world.

However, among the sand and gravel, there was a small, thumb-sized object that shimmered.

Qi Xiang hesitated for a moment, then carefully picked it up to examine it. As soon as he touched it, he felt its weight; despite its small size, it was very heavy, indicating a high density.

The object seemed to be a piece of broken stone but had a metallic texture, very hard. Most importantly, when viewed in the light, it showed very fine, star-like blue light.

Qi Xiang studied it repeatedly, examining it carefully for a long time, but still did not know what it was. However, his intuition told him that it was definitely something valuable and precious.

After all, the object came from the grotto world, which was not just a ruin...

Qi Xiang suddenly thought that even though the grotto world had become a ruin, the vast palace city was filled with many treasures. Even if the palace city was destroyed, those treasures might still be buried in the ruins.

Thinking of this, Qi Xiang's heart raced, realizing that the ruins were not ruins but a great treasure.

Qi Xiang's mouth was dry, and he wished he could return to the grotto world immediately. However, he immediately thought of the terrifying temporal chaos and felt disheartened, as if doused with a bucket of ice water, feeling cold all over.

Not only was his heart cold, but his entire body ached.

At this moment, Qi Xiang faintly heard footsteps nearby. He quickly hid the blue-shimmering object and held his breath, waiting quietly.

A minute passed, but it felt like an eternity.

Suddenly, a middle-aged man in simple clothes, carrying a machete, walked over. He had a bamboo basket on his back, containing some green herbs.

The two men met, and Qi Xiang immediately felt relieved. The familiar face and attire indicated that he had not left China and had not traveled to another dimension.

The middle-aged man was taken aback, then quickly approached, asking anxiously, "Kid, what happened to you?"

The heavily accented Mandarin made Qi Xiang feel a sense of familiarity.

Qi Xiang felt a great weight lifted off his shoulders and forced a smile, "I was climbing a mountain and fell..."

"How could you be so careless..."

The middle-aged man did not suspect anything; Qi Xiang's condition really looked like he had rolled down a mountain. His face and arms had blood streaks, and his clothes were torn and tattered, looking very disheveled.

Qi Xiang knew that saying too much could lead to mistakes, so he just smiled awkwardly, with a hint of pleading.

"Come, can you walk?" The middle-aged man quickly extended a hand to help.

Qi Xiang used the support to stand up, feeling a slight pain in his legs and feet, but he could manage to walk.

"Let's go, back to the village first, and find a doctor to check you..." The middle-aged man said, half-carrying and half-supporting Qi Xiang, moving slowly.

"Thank you..." Qi Xiang was very grateful. His luck was good, and with the help of the middle-aged man, they only had to cross two mountain ridges before reaching a village.

The village was small, with about twenty to thirty households scattered in the valley. Qi Xiang noticed that the village was quite prosperous, with every household having built cement brick houses, giving it a modern feel.

As they approached the village, the middle-aged man called out, and some enthusiastic villagers came to help, supporting Qi Xiang to the village's only small clinic.

The doctor at the clinic was a man in his sixties. He examined Qi Xiang's entire body and concluded, "Your muscles and bones are sprained, but there's no serious injury. Apply some medicinal wine and rest for ten to fifteen days, and you'll be fine."

As he spoke, the doctor skillfully cleaned the wounds, applied medicinal powder, and bandaged them...

Qi Xiang remained still, despite the pain, showing a demeanor similar to Guan Yu's calmness during bone scraping. In reality, he was looking at the calendar and banners hanging on the wall.

The calendar was a traditional almanac, thick and with a page torn off each day.

The page that hadn't been torn off was today's date!

Qi Xiang saw it, maintaining a calm exterior, but his pupils slightly contracted. He realized that today was a week after he entered the grotto world.

In other words, he had stayed in the grotto world for at least seven days?

"Is it really that long?" Qi Xiang suddenly felt a bit dazed, as he did not feel he had stayed in the grotto world for that long. At most, it was two to three hours, definitely not seven days.

"Wait, could the legends be true..." Qi Xiang suddenly thought of some legends.

One day in heaven, one year on earth, the story of the rotten chessboard!

The grotto world seemed to be a fairyland, where time differed from the real world.

"Ouch..."

Qi Xiang suddenly felt a sharp pain in his arm and immediately came to his senses. Looking down, he saw the old man applying some spicy red medicine to his most severe wound.

The pain was intense!

Qi Xiang felt his scalp tingle, and his face twitched.

"Endure it, it'll be over soon." The old man offered a somewhat insincere comfort and continued applying the medicine.

Qi Xiang quickly looked away, trying to shift his attention. His gaze fell on the banners on the wall, and he noticed a detail. Words like "miraculous hands" and "benevolent heart" could be ignored, but the place names mentioned were worth pondering.

"Xianju?" Qi Xiang thought for a moment and suddenly remembered that Xianju was near Tiantai, though there was some distance between them.

He entered the grotto world from Chicheng Mountain in Tiantai but fell out in Xianju, which was indeed a strange occurrence.

While he was lost in thought, the old man had finished treating his wounds.

Qi Xiang subconsciously reached for his wallet, only to find it cracked, and the money had fallen out, leaving only cards.

"Um..." Qi Xiang felt embarrassed, "Can I pay by card?"

"Pay by what card..." The old man glanced at him and casually said, "There's a bank in town, go there to withdraw money."

Qi Xiang looked at his leg, tightly bound with bandages, and realized he couldn't walk.

"Don't worry, I'm not rushing you for money." The old man smiled, walked to the side to wash his hands, and said, "Stay here for the night, or call someone to come pick you up..."

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