Chapter 67: Undercurrents: Xie Wujiu's Ultimate Poisonous Scheme

As Shen Yan’s finger moved away from the phone screen, the Terminal Interface suddenly trembled, and a line of crimson text popped up: 【Warning: Emotional Variable interfering with Main Process, System stability decreased by 37%】. He frowned, tucked the phone into his robe, and tried to stand up on his own.

The chill of the cold jade bed hadn’t completely dissipated yet, and his legs gave way, nearly causing him to kneel. Pei Yue immediately reached out to support his arm, her fingertips icy cold as she whispered, “You can barely stand, why push yourself?”

“I have to try,” he gasped. “If I keep relying on you for power, I’ll drain you dry sooner or later.”

Even as he spoke, after taking just two steps, his Consciousness Sea felt as if struck by a hammer, his vision swimming with stars. Gritting his teeth, he steadied himself and forcibly activated the “Meridian Topology Scan” module in his mind. As the Golden Code flowed just beneath his skin for a single cycle, the Terminal issued another alarm.

【Detected abnormal spiritual pressure fluctuations—Location: Upstream of Water Source Underground Channel】

【Data trend: Groundwater spiritual pressure decreased by 41.6% within three hours, unnatural fluctuation】

【Suggestion: Investigate Corruption Source immediately】

Shen Yan’s pupils contracted. These numbers were abnormal, as if someone had poured something into the water veins.

“Something’s wrong,” he grabbed Pei Yue’s wrist. “Do you smell it? There’s a metallic scent in the air, like rust mixed with rotting grass.”

Pei Yue’s breath hitched, then she nodded. “It’s residual Demonic Energy… but very faint, unnoticeable to most.”

“This isn’t normal,” Shen Yan quickly opened the Background Log, performing reverse sampling of the moisture content in the air. A few seconds later, the water quality detection Script produced results. “The Formation Eye of the upstream water storage has been tampered with. Now, the entire Medicine Valley’s water supply system is slowly being poisoned.”

Pei Yue’s expression changed. “Three hundred Disciples are still on duty. If they all lose control…”

“Then don’t let them drink,” Shen Yan gritted his teeth. “Let’s go, to the source.”

The two didn’t take the main path, instead sticking to the shadows along the mountain wall as they hurried forward. The wind and snow hadn’t stopped, but the closer they got to the water source, the more stifling the air became, as if something was blocking their breath. Shen Yan ran while typing Code on his phone, his fingertips burning—his Mental Power couldn’t sustain the high-load calculations, but he didn’t dare stop.

When they reached the outside of the water storage Formation Eye, the sight before them sank their hearts.

The originally softly glowing spiritual spring Formation now had dim, twisted Runes. The central crystal had been replaced with a fist-sized black crystal, its surface covered in spiderweb-like cracks, continuously seeping gray-black mist. The mist, upon touching the water, immediately transformed into fine black threads, spreading downstream along the water veins.

“That’s a Demonic Energy crystal!” Pei Yue whispered. “And it’s a refined composite Corruption Source, capable of eroding Spiritual Consciousness and inducing Inner Demons.”

She raised her hand to seal the Formation with a hand seal, but Shen Yan pulled her back. “Don’t touch it! This thing has a trigger mechanism. If you act, the entire water vein will explode.”

Before his words faded, the Terminal flashed green:

【Detected high-risk pollution Code】

【Suggest initiating reverse water circulation Program for purification】

【Warning: Requires sustained output of stable Source Code Spiritual Root Energy. Host’s current condition is unsuitable for execution】

“Who cares about suitable or not,” Shen Yan sneered. “If we delay any longer, everyone in the valley will go mad.”

He sat cross-legged, his phone laid horizontally on his lap, his hands swiftly tapping in the air as if typing on a keyboard. In his mind, segments of Code rapidly constructed themselves: an isolation layer, a decomposition engine, a Conduit Channel, a regeneration core—four sub-modules loaded in parallel, forming a complete “Reverse Water Cycle Program.”

Golden Code overflowed from the tip of his finger, crawling along the ground toward the Formation Eye, wrapping around the black demon crystal like a living creature. The crystal trembled violently, black mist roiling as it attempted to counterattack, only to be firmly suppressed by the barrier formed by the Code.

“Begin extraction,” Shen Yan muttered through gritted teeth. “Purification progress, 10%… 25%…”

Pei Yue crouched beside him, one hand pressed to the ground, slowly releasing the power of her cold veins to form a thin layer of ice around them, preventing the contamination from spreading. Watching the cold sweat beading on his forehead, she couldn’t help but ask, “Can you still hold on?”

“Just a minor scene,” he replied, forcing a slight smile. “It wasn’t this intense even when the furnace exploded last time.”

The progress bar steadily climbed—35%, 50%, 60%… Just as it was about to break through seventy percent, a fragmented song suddenly rose from beneath the ground.

It was a Children’s Rhyme.

The melody was wildly off-key, yet eerily synchronized with the rhythm of the Code he had written. With each line sung, the Code Flow trembled faintly, as if being recalibrated by some invisible force.

【Warning: External audio Signal intervention】

【Detected biological wave spectrum match: 98.7%】

【Main Program Run efficiency increased by 21%, but risk of control hijacking exists】

Shen Yan’s heart tightened. He immediately cut off the wireless connection and switched to manually writing Code to continue the process. Yet the Children’s Rhyme persisted, one note after another, as if emerging from the depths of the earth, striking directly at his nerves.

“This sound…” Pei Yue narrowed her eyes. “It’s coming from below. There seems to be a hidden passage entrance.”

As she moved to stand and investigate, Shen Yan abruptly grabbed her wrist. “Don’t go.”

“Why?”

“It’s not attacking,” Shen Yan said, his voice tense as he stared at the smoothly operating Code on the Screen. “It’s helping me optimize the Program… But I don’t recall anyone else in this world who could understand my Code.”

Pei Yue froze.

Shen Yan took a deep breath, tracing the final Command on his phone with his finger. “Whoever it is, now isn’t the time for exploration. Let’s clear the contamination first.”

The Golden Code suddenly surged, enveloping the demon crystal completely like a spiderweb. The extraction speed accelerated sharply, and the progress bar soared—75%, 80%, 90%!

At that moment, the Children’s Rhyme abruptly stopped.

The surroundings fell into a terrifying silence.

The Terminal flashed with green light, displaying a new Notice: 【Purification completion: 97.3%. Remaining portion cannot be parsed, suspected encrypted contamination Segment.】

Shen Yan stared at the string of numbers, his brow furrowed. Falling short by this margin meant it couldn’t be considered a success.

Just as he was about to forcibly inject higher-level Permission to crack it, the ground beneath his feet trembled faintly. An extremely fine crack extended from the edge of the Formation Eye, emitting a faint blue glow from within, as if some Ancient Formation was awakening.

Pei Yue instinctively took half a step back but was stopped by Shen Yan, who shielded her behind him.

“Don’t move,” he whispered, his gaze fixed on the crack. “Something inside is responding to my Code… And it recognizes me.”

Before he could finish, the Terminal automatically switched pages, displaying a Log record he had never seen before:

【Historical Operation Traceback: Twenty years ago, a “Tribulation Inheritance Ceremony” was performed at the same coordinates】

【Operator Identity: Unknown】

【Associated Person: Female with copper coin hair tie (Data incomplete)】

Shen Yan’s breath caught.

Copper coin hair tie?

Yu Xiaotang had one too.

Before he could think further, a low murmur echoed from the crack once more—not a Children’s Rhyme, but a series of rhythmic taps, three long and two short, like some kind of Morse code.

Immediately after, his phone vibrated.

A message with no sender appeared:

“Every line of Code you write echoes the blood-written letters of that year.”

(End of Chapter)