Chapter 85: Pandora's Box

North of Torrent City lay mostly small towns and villages, the terrain flat and the spring breeze gentle.

The two journeyed swiftly, and before they knew it, night had fallen. The road was remarkably peaceful; thanks to the Desolation Wall in the west, all dangerous races were barred beyond its reach. In truth, the stretch from Torrent City westward to the Desolation Wall was the safest region of all.

Night deepened, and a bright moon hung high in the sky, its silvery light spilling over the lake below, crystalline and clear.

Ye Ran glanced around. Dense forests flanked either side, and up ahead, faint firelight glimmered—most likely a small town.

“Miss, let’s rest at the town ahead,” Ye Ran said, wiping sweat from his brow. He was weary after a day’s journey; if not for the witch’s wind magic, his pace would have been even slower.

The witch smiled, “No need. Let’s rest here.” She drew a small box from her bosom—black, adorned with intricate, colorful patterns.

She set the black box on the ground and recited an incantation. The box responded to the wind, swelling in an instant to nearly three meters tall.

Ye Ran stared, dumbfounded by the marvel. He had studied only physical arts since childhood and knew little of magic. When he chanced upon others practicing minor spells, he always thought them unimpressive, even ridiculous, as if such magic were nothing more than idle tricks.

But the witch’s box was altogether different—it was a truly practical spell.

Black mist swirled around her fingertips as she chanted, sketching a door upon the box. She opened it, revealing the interior.

Ye Ran’s heart stirred. “Are you Pandora? The witch Pandora?”

Though his knowledge of the world was scant, the tale of Pandora and her box was familiar enough.

Pandora, a witch whose beauty toppled kingdoms and sparked wars among kings, was said to have been fashioned by the gods as the perfect woman. From the moment she appeared, every sovereign on Ramhorn Continent coveted her. For her sake, the six great nations went to war, plunging the continent into chaos and suffering. Yet in the end, none could claim her.

Legend held she possessed a box filled with monsters and evil spirits; should the box ever be opened, disaster would befall the entire continent.

The witch turned back and smiled, “You guessed right, little one.”

Even veiled behind black gauze, Ye Ran could feel the allure of her smile.

Yet he dared not follow her into the enlarged box. In legend, it contained demons, malevolent spirits, calamity, and plague...

“Come in. Those things you fear have already been sealed away by a hero,” Pandora said, stretching lazily as she entered the box, her graceful figure on full display.

Ye Ran hesitated outside for a while but finally steeled himself and stepped inside. He failed to notice that, upon entering, he quickly shrank, becoming no bigger than a matchbox, concealed in the darkness.

The box’s interior was far vaster than he’d imagined. From outside, it appeared just two meters high and three meters wide, but within, it was a world apart.

The floor seemed paved with jade, each step shimmering with faint light. Though there was no visible source, the space was bright and radiant.

Pandora led him through the living room into a long corridor. On either side were small chambers—not solid rooms, but compartments formed of vapor, each emanating a chill, sinister aura.

Ye Ran felt a sudden icy draft as soon as he stepped into the corridor, as though wild, bloodthirsty eyes watched him. Each step was a struggle.

Occasionally, terrifying growls echoed from the vapor chambers, sending chills down his spine.

Pandora laughed, “These are ancient monsters and evil spirits. They might leap out and bite you.”

Seeing Ye Ran’s solemn, vigilant expression, she giggled, “I’m teasing. Someone has suppressed them at the cost of their life. To escape their prisons, they’ll need to struggle for another fifteen hundred years.”

“Unless someone forcibly breaks the seal.”

“Someone? Who?” Ye Ran asked.

Pandora covered her mouth, laughing. “A very powerful hero. As for their name, I won’t tell you.”

Ye Ran pressed on, enduring the weight, and reached the bedroom.

He rubbed his eyes; he wasn’t mistaken—the corridor’s end had originally held just one bedroom, yet now there was another.

He looked at Pandora in surprise.

She merely tapped his forehead with her finger. “Sleep well. The nights here are dangerous. Though the evil spirits are suppressed, their power grows at night—some can send projections out.”

Ye Ran nodded and entered his own bedroom.

His room was modest, yet far better than his home on Mudbrick Street in Torrent City. After bathing, he lay down.

From next door came the sound of water and a beguiling tune. In such a night, Pandora’s enchanting song mingled with the water, stirring restless thoughts.

Soon, low growls echoed from the corridor. Through the crack beneath the door, Ye Ran saw pairs of feet wandering past. He sat up abruptly, cold sweat breaking out.

“Sleep easy, they can’t come in,” Pandora’s voice called from the adjoining room.

Ye Ran stayed alert for a while. When he saw the evil spirits could only prowl and howl at the door, he relaxed somewhat, finally drifting into a hazy sleep toward dawn.

At sunrise, Ye Ran and Pandora stepped out of the magic box together. Pandora still wore her black dress and gauzy hat. She held her slender, pale wrist before Ye Ran’s nose. “Smell.”

Ye Ran blushed and stepped back. “Smell... smell what?” He was unaccustomed to such intimacy with women.

Pandora laughed, “See if the strange fragrance is still there. That’s a scent men can hardly resist.”

She had carried that captivating aroma since birth, intoxicating and irresistible. Last night, she’d worked hard to wash it away with herbs and mask the magic aura.

Ye Ran said, “It’s gone. I can’t smell it.”

Pandora smiled, tucked the magic box away, and, sensing the air currents nearby, said, “That little girl Shari has tracked us down. She’s quick.”

Ye Ran frowned; with Shari’s power as a divine envoy, even Pandora, the witch, might find her difficult to handle.

“But she’s headed the wrong way. Let’s go—we must cross the Desolation Wall,” Pandora said with a sly smile.

The journey ahead was much shorter. In just two days, they reached the edge of the Desolation Wall.

The climate turned bleak and cold; thick snowflakes drifted down. In the distance, Ye Ran saw the soaring wall and instinctively pulled his clothes tighter, standing atop a roof to gaze at the winding, dragon-like fortress of ice and snow.