She had been dead for endless ages; although her physical body was not destroyed, she had no signs of life. How had she come back to life now?
This matter was truly inconceivable.
Chen Nan stared at the woman in red with his eyes fixed, struggling to calm his heart. Was this woman before him just an image resembling the ancient corpse from the Underwater Cave Mansion, or was she indeed the same person?
Suddenly, Chen Nan’s pupils contracted.
He noticed nine holes in the red-dressed woman’s garment, which looked exactly like they were pierced by swords.
He also vividly remembered that the female corpse initially had nine Flying Swords plunged into it, each completely piercing the body, and the locations closely matched these holes.
She was that ancient corpse!
Chen Nan was utterly shocked. Nine Flying Swords had pierced her, not just through the viscera; her Divine Soul must have been crushed.
Yet now, this woman in red had walked up to this place.
Was she merely a walking dead, like the ancient corpses in the Stone Coffin, or was she fully resurrected?
Chen Nan watched her vigilantly.
After the woman in red stepped through the Stone Gate, she stopped.
Her expression was very calm, and she looked at Chen Nan, saying faintly, "The one capable of awakening my consciousness indeed possesses exceptional gifts."
Chen Nan was deeply moved. The woman before him was not just a walking corpse like those ancient corpses; she was fully resurrected, as those corpses could not possibly speak.
"You... you have been resurrected?"
The woman in red nodded and then shook her head, murmuring, "The extremity of life leads to death, the extremity of death leads to life. I have never truly died."
"What did you mean by saying I awakened your consciousness?" Chen Nan asked.
The woman in red replied, "Between Heaven and Earth, everything is predestined. The heavens intended for you to awaken me ahead of time."
"Ahead of time? What do you mean?"
Chen Nan was completely puzzled, the more he heard her talk, the more confused he became.
The woman in red shook her head, "If you do not understand, then there is no need to ask further."
Chen Nan still did not understand what she was trying to express and tentatively asked, "Then... why have you come here?"
"To retrieve an item."
The woman in red spoke calmly, then with a gesture, the severed arm in Chen Nan’s grasp immediately flew towards her and she caught it in her hand.
"Give it back to me!"
Chen Nan, overwhelmed with emotion, forgot about the fearsomeness of the woman in red and was about to rush over.
"This hand does not belong to you."
While speaking, the woman in red pointed a finger, and a beam of red light instantly enveloped Chen Nan, Zhao Han, and the Black Feathered Chicken, rendering them immobile, their bodies completely frozen.
"Return the arm to me!" Chen Nan roared.
For him, the ring on that arm was too crucial. It was the only possible item that could suppress the Poison Fire at the moment.
The woman in red ignored him and turned to walk towards the Mechanical Door.
Chen Nan shouted loudly, but his body seemed paralyzed and unable to move.
The speed of the woman in red was incredibly fast, as if traversing through space. Her figure flashed, and in the next moment, she completely disappeared while the Mechanical Door began to close with a thunderous sound.
The moment the woman in red disappeared, Chen Nan and the others regained their ability to move. Without a thought, he quickly lunged toward the Mechanical Door.
Just as the Mechanical Door was about to close, Chen Nan rushed in, while Zhao Han and his group were a step too slow and were blocked outside.
The moment he entered through the Mechanical Door, Chen Nan was stunned.
Because everything he saw was so familiar, the other side of the Mechanical Door was actually the Underwater Cave Mansion!
Last time, it was here that he had seen the woman in the red dress!
Chen Nan found it hard to believe what he was seeing.
Last time he had entered the Underwater Cave Mansion, it had been from Ningjiang City, and the location of the cave should have been within the boundaries of Ningjiang City.
But now, he had entered this Underwater Cave Mansion again from beneath the Dead City.
The location of the Dead City lay within the domain of the Corpse-controlling Sect, thousands of miles away from Ningjiang City, yet how did he just cross through the Mechanical Door and find himself in the Underwater Cave Mansion located in Ningjiang City?
All of it was too bizarre.
Chen Nan couldn’t make sense of it, and it was completely inexplicable by science.
The Underwater Cave Mansion located in Ningjiang City was somehow connected to Dead City!
Chen Nan surveyed the inside of the cave mansion, he was now standing behind the main seat of the cave. Below him, two rows of dried corpses were neatly standing, and right next to him was the main seat of the entire mansion, where the woman in the red dress was now sitting, inspecting a severed hand.
In front of the woman, nine Flying Swords lay scattered on the ground, the very swords that had been previously stuck in her body.
Gazing at Chen Nan, the woman in the red dress slightly opened her red lips, "You actually dared to follow me, are you not afraid of death?"
"I think you are not one to forget favors and betray them," said Chen Nan.
The woman’s brows furrowed slightly, her voice tinged with a hint of coldness, "What favor do I owe you?"
"You said it yourself, it was I who woke you up, is that not a favor to you?" While Chen Nan’s heart was in turmoil, he tried to appear calm on the surface.
"The earlier one wakes up, the greater the responsibility."
The woman sighed and said, "Are you here for this Crystal Ring?"
Chen Nan didn’t understand the responsibilities she was referring to, and he was too lazy to ask more, quickly nodding, "Yes, this ring is very important to me, I hope you can return it to me."
"This ring was never yours."
"It doesn’t matter to whom it belongs, it was I who obtained it first, and you took it from my hands."
The woman shook her head and ignored him.
Knowing that it would be a waste of effort to start a fight with her, Chen Nan kept spouting soft words on the side, but the woman ignored him completely. Eventually, she even closed her eyes, as if she had fallen asleep, although her other hand took the Crystal Ring off the severed arm.
Her hand shimmered with a red light, and the woman flicked her jade finger lightly, forming a Dharma Seal that hit the Crystal Ring.
The Crystal Ring trembled slightly, and the chilling aura it emitted was immediately reduced by a great deal, though it still carried a cold breath, but the chill was not as intense as before.
Chen Nan was excited in his heart, and he hurriedly took the ring, which was still very cold but the temperature was bearable.
Chen Nan could see that she had sealed the ring.
Otherwise, with the chilling aura of the ring, with his level of cultivation, he could not have touched it at all.
The woman frowned, seemingly displeased by his manner of address, then waved her hand, "Do not attempt to unseal it, or you wouldn’t even know how you died. I have my own mission to complete now, you should leave."
As her words fell, the woman in the red dress disappeared into thin air within the cave mansion, leaving no trace behind.