Chapter 177: Now Evening, What Evening?

The sound of the zither suddenly stopped.

Yan Zhaoge’s gaze was fixed on the scene in front of him.

His pupils contracted slightly.

At some point, in front of him and Shi Jun, there stood a person.

It was a woman, dressed in a white gown. Her features were indistinct, as if she were a ghost or a wisp of smoke. It was impossible to see her face clearly.

However, her mere presence was terrifying. The aura she emitted made Yan Zhaoge feel as if he were facing the arrival of Doomsday, the destruction of everything.

The woman stood there quietly, but it was as if the entire world was about to collapse and shatter because of her.

Not a single blade of grass grew within a hundred miles around her.

Not a single living creature existed.

Only Yan Zhaoge and Shi Jun, two individuals who could barely be considered “living,” remained in this lifeless space.

Yan Zhaoge’s heart thumped wildly.

He forced himself to calm down. His gaze swept across the woman’s body.

Even though her features were indistinct, Yan Zhaoge could tell that this woman was astonishingly beautiful. Her form was graceful, her waist slender, and her presence transcendent and refined, as if she were an immortal descending to the mortal realm.

And most importantly, the feeling this woman gave him was not of a real person.

It felt like a fragment of consciousness, a remnant of a will.

Shi Jun was trembling slightly. He could not move, his body frozen in place.

The woman looked at Yan Zhaoge and Shi Jun.

She spoke, her voice ethereal, as if it came from beyond the heavens.

“Now evening, what evening?”

Yan Zhaoge stared at her.

He took a deep breath and spoke slowly.

“Senior, now is the age after the Great Cataclysm.”

The woman was silent for a moment. Then she spoke again, her voice tinged with confusion.

“After the Cataclysm? What Cataclysm?”

Yan Zhaoge’s heart sank.

He tried to answer calmly. “The Great Cataclysm of the calendar era. Senior, you don’t know about it?”

The woman still seemed confused. “Cataclysm… I remember… there was a great change… but it should have been a long time ago…”

Her voice seemed distant, as if she were struggling to recall something from the depths of time.

“Perhaps it’s the same thing,” Yan Zhaoge said. “The Great Cataclysm caused the destruction of civilization and the changing of the celestial bodies. The past is now obscured, and future generations know very little about what happened before.”

The woman was silent for a long time.

Then, she spoke again, her voice carrying a hint of melancholy.

“I remember… it was a moonlit night… the stars were bright… the world was silent…”

She seemed to be talking to herself.

“My mind is in disarray… there are too many fragments… which part is it… I cannot remember…”

She raised her hand, as if trying to touch her forehead, but her hand passed through the air like a wisp of smoke.

Yan Zhaoge and Shi Jun watched her silently.

After a while, the woman’s figure began to fade.

Her voice, distant and mournful, echoed in the air.

“Now evening, what evening… I must have forgotten… forgotten…”

Her form became increasingly faint, like a fading dream.

Finally, she disappeared completely.

The oppressive atmosphere that had permeated the air also vanished, leaving behind only the chilling cold.

Shi Jun collapsed onto the ground, his face pale, his body trembling uncontrollably.

Yan Zhaoge also felt a wave of exhaustion wash over him. He leaned against the wall, panting heavily.

He wiped the cold sweat from his brow and looked at Shi Jun.

“Shi Jun, are you alright?”

Shi Jun finally caught his breath and shook his head weakly.

“I… I’m fine… Junior Uncle Yan… what was that?”

Yan Zhaoge frowned.

“I don’t know. But it seems to be related to the history before the Great Cataclysm. A very, very long time ago.”

He looked at the place where the woman had stood.

“Just a fragment of consciousness left behind after death… but even so, it’s incredibly powerful.”

He paused, then said slowly, “It seems the secrets hidden in the depths of this place are even more astonishing than I imagined.”

He helped Shi Jun up. “Let’s go. Be careful.”

They continued to move forward, their hearts still pounding from the encounter.

The further they went, the more the desolate and lifeless atmosphere intensified.

It was as if they were walking through a graveyard of a forgotten era.

Suddenly, Yan Zhaoge stopped.

In front of them, the path ended at a large stone door.

The door was ancient and weathered, covered in strange symbols that Yan Zhaoge had never seen before.

A faint light emanated from the door, giving off a chilling aura.

Yan Zhaoge’s gaze fell on the symbols. They seemed to pulse with a hidden power.

He felt a strange pull from the door, a sense of destiny.

“This is it,” he murmured. “This must be the place.”

He took a deep breath and reached out his hand towards the stone door.