Chapter 296 - The Scum Is Curious

Shashan Pass. 

Cheng Sheng, Fei Yin and Wu Yuan looked at the tall and jagged but cracked boulders of rocks surrounding the mountain. 

Meanwhile, Sha Yan loudly cursed and stepped a few steps backwards, his body almost fell on the ground. He stared at the mountain wide-eyed in shock. "How… h-how…?" he muttered, his lips and face pale. "AH!" he exclaimed when he tripped on a rock and he fell backwards. "Ugh." He cried when his butt hit the ground. 

"What're you panicking for?" Fei Yin asked. 

From the moment they left the mainland – the North, East, South, West and Central, and reached the Southernmost Region, he had dropped his cold façade. Wu Yuan didn't ask anything, as he isn't a nosy person, and instead a taciturn person. Thus, Fei Yin showed his true colors. A black-bellied and playful shixiong of Cheng Sheng. 

"That… that – " Sha Yan raised a hand to point at the mountain. However, in the end, he lowered his trembling hand and held it with his other hand, his position defensive. He warily looked at the mountain. 

"What's wrong with the mountain?" Wu Yuan asked and glanced at the rocky mountain afar. "This is the Sand Sea Mountain?" he turned back to Sha Yan. 

"Yes, it is." Sha Yan answered. 

"Then, what're you panicking for?" Fei Yin asked. 

Cheng Sheng who was silently surveying the spaces between the broken boulders spoke. "Did something change in the mountain?" he asked. 

Fei Yin and Wu Yuan turned to him. 

Sha Yan gasped. "Yes! Yes! There's something that changed!" he said as he immediately rose from the ground and walked towards Cheng Sheng. His expression agitated. He was about to grab Cheng Sheng's hands when Fei Yin immediately pulled Cheng Sheng back, maintaining a distance between Cheng Sheng and Sha Yan. 

"What changed in the mountain?" Wu Yuan asked. 

Sha Yan turned to Wu Yuan. "Before, there are less boulders in the mountain." He answered. "However, now…" he turned to look at the Sand Sea Mountain before he immediately withdrew his gaze and turned back to Wu Yuan who looked pleasing to the eyes. "The Sand Sea Mountain became more ominous. Look at those boulders!" he told them. "Not only did their number increase, but their size did, too!" he explained. 

"What?!" Fei Yin exclaimed and stared at the Sand Sea Mountain. "As far as I know, only living things can grow. But, rocks are obviously non-living things!" he said. 

Cheng Sheng nodded as he observed the large boulders of rocks. "Say…" he spoke after a while. "Do the rocks… look like moving?" he asked. 

"Huh?" Fei Yin and Wu Yuan turned to him before looking at the boulders of rocks to observe. "They don't?" they answered. 

Cheng Sheng frowned. "Really?" he asked as he narrowed his eyes to stare at the rocks. 

"Yeah." Fei Yin answered while Wu Yuan nodded. 

Cheng Sheng released a breath, feeling disappointed. "Since there's something wrong with the rocks, let's find a place around to camp tonight." He said. 

They have been travelling for five days. Sha Yan almost fainted after two days without a plant in sight as the source of water. Cheng Sheng fed him a Nutrition Pill to save him. Fortunately, after two more days of travel, they have found the Shashan Pass. 

The Shashan Pass is situated between two slanting mountains. They chose to camp at the foot of one of the mountains. 

"These mountains are called the 'Twin Sand Mounds'." Sha Yan said as he watched Fei Yin and Wu Yuan left to climb the mountain and look for some branches for the fire. 

"'Twin Sand Mounds'?" Cheng Sheng opened his eyes when his interest was piqued. "Sir Sha. You're very knowledgeable, yes?" He said and smiled as he looked at Sha Yan. His eyes are filled with curiosity. 

Sha Yan averted his gaze. "I was once an adventurous person, travelling around with some strangers to look for treasures." He said. 

Cheng Sheng lowered his gaze and decided not to press Sha Yan telling him his background. "Why are the mountains called 'mounds'? Aren't they mountains?" he asked. 

"They are called mounds because they are shorter than the Sand Sea Mountain." Sha Yan answered. 

Cheng Sheng chuckled. "That's not only it, right?" he asked as he raised his gaze and met Sha Yan's aversive gaze. "You know I am a curious person. Now that my interest is piqued, you should be responsible, ne?" he told him. 

Sha Yan coldly sweated. "No, no. You misunderstood!" he shook his head and waved his hands as he retreated to the wall, away from Cheng Sheng. "I only wanted to tell you about these mountains because I don't want you and your friends to be in danger!" he said. 

"But, my shixiong and senior Wu have already left." Cheng Sheng said. "And, you told me this after they left. Say, isn't this deliberate?" he asked and tilted his head as he looked at Sha Yan. 

Sha Yan's eyes widened in shock. 

"Or…" Cheng Sheng spoke as the corners of his lips curled up. "You are trying to lure me into the mountains by telling me that my friends will encounter danger?" he asked. 

Sha Yan's jaw dropped. He gaped at Cheng Sheng, dumbfounded. 

"I hit it, right?" Cheng Sheng said. Before Sha Yan could react, Cheng Sheng pulled him by his collar and thrown him on the ground. 

"Ugh!" Sha Yan groaned in pain when his back hit the solid ground. He tried to look at Cheng Sheng, but right this time, the sun has already set and darkness blanketed the world. The cold wind blew, bringing some sand and cold into their skin. "N-no…" he spoke and coughed when he felt his chest hurt. "I – I know you… I've heard of you – " he said and cried in pain when Cheng Sheng's elbow pressed harder on his chest. "I'm an ordinary person. You already noticed it. I am not a threat to you! And, I know you are very strong! I don't dare trick you!" he told Cheng Sheng. 

"Then, why did you tell me that there's something wrong with the Twin Sand Mounds after my shixiong and senior Wu left?" Cheng Sheng asked. 

"It… it's because – " Sha Yan said and averted Cheng Sheng's gaze again. " – it's because I'm afraid that your friends would beat me up after they'd hear what was I about to say." He answered. 

"Oh?" Cheng Sheng smiled, urging for him to continue speaking. 

Sha Yan coughed. "The… the two righteous cultivators before… they told me that – " he looked at Cheng Sheng's eyes. " – if someone would come to find them, I have to tell them to stop looking for them." He told him. 

Cheng Sheng froze. "Tell me everything." He said, the look in his eyes changed and his voice sounded harsh. 

Sha Yan, for a moment, thought he is going to die. However, he saw Cheng Sheng's expression looked normal. He thought it must have been his imagination what he saw earlier, but his instincts warned him that what he saw was real. 

Cheng Sheng really wanted to kill him earlier, since he felt his killing intent that pierced his skin, and bore into his pores, making his muscles tense and his blood freeze, chilling his bones. 

"It… it happened when they heard the Ni Lai." Sha Yan started. "When they heard that there is an entrance to the demonic cultivators' territory, they wanted to investigate. I told them to stop, since it is very, very dangerous and the situation in the Heilong is definitely ten times worse than in Huilong." He said. "The continent is already in chaos after the resurface of the demonic cultivators. How will it be then if they have gone to Heilong, the land of the demonic cultivators?" he asked. "And so, I dissuaded them. However, they insisted that they have to investigate. They have to find something that could help the righteous cultivators defeat the demonic cultivators." He sighed. "How can an ordinary person, me, stop them?" he shook his head. "When they heard a group is going to Ni Lai, they went with them. I was worried, since those two are obviously seeking for death!" he hit his head. "I took a friend with me and followed behind them." 

"What happened when you've reached the Shashan Pass?" Cheng Sheng asked. From the sound of Sha Yan's voice earlier when he mentioned the Twin Sand Mounds, he knew that something is very wrong. 

Sha Yan's face looked tired. "There is no Shashan Pass." He said. 

"… what?" Cheng Sheng thought he heard wrong. 

Sha Yan turned to look at him. "There was no Shashan Pass." He told him. 

Cheng Sheng's eyes widened. "Then… this place…" he said and looked around. Suddenly, he felt the ground is shaking. 

Sha Yan laughed bitterly. "'Shashan' (sand mountain)?" he said. "It's 'Shashan' (killing mountain)!"

Cheng Sheng pupils constricted. 'sha'… 'kill'… he gaped when he heard something rolling. He raised his head and saw a large boulder of rock is falling towards them!