Chapter 324 - Hoodwinked

Chapter 324 Hoodwinked“Kid, didn’t I tell you to stay away from this place? Why are you here again?!” Suddenly, a woman’s voice rang inside Xiao Chen’s mind. Su Xiaomei was awake.

Xiao Chen imbued the Frigid Jade Pendant with his Divine Sense. “You’re up, Senior Su? Do you know what’s underneath?”

He wasn’t sure if there was something sinister lurking underneath. If there was, the group—all eighteen of them—must not go down there.

Su Xiaomei replied, “I have no idea, but this is an exceptionally frightening place. For some reason, I’m terrified. I-It’s like… I’m going to be sucked in. The Qi here doesn’t belong to the human world. No, I’m scared, I’m going to seal myself…”

The tremor in her voice worsened as she reached the tail of her sentence. She didn’t wake even when Xiao Chen called her name three times. What was it that frightened her so? Since the first day he met her, he had never seen her this uneasy.

Sighing to himself, Xiao Chen cast a spell and summoned a ball of True Energy to envelop the Frigid Jade Pendant. This was to ward off as much of the surrounding Qi as possible. Though Su Xiaomei was strong when she was alive, she was nonetheless a person who had died for thousands of years and was now a mere soul body. Were it not for her cultivation, she would be no more than just a desolate ghost. What was it that struck such deep fear in her…?

Xiaoyue whipped around and said calmly, “Brother Xiao, what do you think we should do now? I find Senior Ling’s words reasonable. Why don’t we divide into two teams and…?”

Xiao Chen raised his hand. “Fairy Xiaoyue, did you forget what happened in Wuwang Wind Cloud City?”

Back in Wuwang Wind Cloud City, they had divided themselves into two teams after entering the cave of Vampire Bats. The halving of their strength ultimately led to the injury of the first team that entered.

Xiaoyue swept her horsetail whisk. “Never mind. You’re the leader of the group this time. We shall listen to your orders.”

No one raised any objections. Unhappy as Ling Fei and Wan Yanyan were, what was the point of them protesting when Xiaoyue had assented to the decision?

Their priority now was figuring out a way to go down there. It would be foolish to just descend alongside the Flying-cloud Stone, given that the abyss was overflowing with Devil Qi. Even if everyone had consumed the Carnage Destruction Pills, injuries would be inevitable. Moreover, the Flying-cloud Stone might very likely cease to function amidst the fog of Devil Qi.

“There’s an end to everything. I refuse to believe that this small canyon will go on forever.” Su Zimu opened his folding fan, returning to his usual elegant and carefree demeanor.

Xiao Chen nodded. “Brother Su is right. Let us find the end of the canyon and enter from there.”

The Flying-cloud Stone immediately set into motion, going southward along the canyon for half an hour. Sure enough, the canyon seemed to stretch on without an end. Fortunately, the Devil Qi was beginning to get a lot lighter as they traveled. After flying for another fifteen minutes, they found themselves in a spot without any trace of Devil Qi.

The group maneuvered the Flying-cloud Stone downward until they reached the floor of the canyon. Peeking from the lush and full vegetation was a small, hidden path. Su Zimu chuckled as he flicked his fan. “Were it not for Devil’s Carnage Qi, this would be quite a picturesque place.”

Unlike the deathly stillness of the other side of the canyon, the mouth of the canyon was filled with red flowers and lush grass. Moreover, the black fog was collected in the air, leaving the grass and water underneath looking verdant and limpid.

“Meow! It’s an illusion! This must be an illusion, a diversionary tactic that the Great Demon made to trick us into entering!” Zhiluan hid behind Xiao Chen, still refusing to set foot in this place.

“So, do we enter now?” Xiao Chen turned around and asked for everyone’s opinion.

“No reason to retreat now that we’re here. Let’s go!”

Everyone felt a lot less stressed after seeing that it wasn’t as terrifying here than it had been above. Whatever danger they would encounter later, their skills would likely allow them to leave unscathed.

Half an hour later, everyone finally stepped into the belly of the canyon. There were blooming flowers and thriving plants everywhere with multi-colored butterflies fluttering in the air. The place was so tranquil that it felt like a utopia.

It was this sense of peace that stopped everyone from lowering their guard. Xiao Chen and Xu Gu led the way while the rest stayed in the middle. Ling Fei and Wan Yanyan held up the rear. They were all determined to be the first to escape the moment anything untoward happens.

Zhiluan was lying on Xiao Chen’s shoulder. He was so frightened that his teeth were chattering. “Me-Meow… Don’t you guys find it strange? How is there light here when there’s so much dark fog up there?”

Xiao Chen’s frown never eased. “It’s strange everywhere you look. You must all be careful…”

His warning was unnecessary. Everyone here had all prepared themselves. Xiaoyue added, “There are countless illusory Barriers designed to hoodwink people. I, Brother Xiao, and the rest had once experienced such a situation in Wuwang Wind Cloud City. Everyone, you mustn’t let down your guard.”

The group continued to walk for another few hours. Not only did they find nothing, but they felt like they had walked right into a maze. The path in the canyon was long, winding, and tedious. The scenery looked the same in many places. The group walked round and round the place but felt like they were always returning to square one.

The only difference was, the deeper into the canyon they went, the more sinisterly cold it became. The cold gloominess wasn’t the weather, but rather that of spirits. No matter how much they tried to ward it off with their energy, they couldn’t block the Negative Qi.

Zhiluan couldn’t stop shuddering. Whether out of fright or cold, no one knew. He said in a shaking voice, “I’d dare bet that a lot of tragic deaths must have taken place here in the past… Have you ever heard of walking in the Yellow Springs?”

The rest were so stressed that naturally, no one would have time for his nonsense. Zhiluan continued, “The road to Yellow Springs is a path that every spirit and ghost must take. But if a living being takes the path, he’ll turn into a spirit and ghost himself within 45 minutes. Only, he wouldn’t know that he’s dead. I feel like we’re walking along the road to Yellow Springs…”

It was becoming colder and colder. Zhiluan’s words didn’t help and everyone began to panic. Qingyu and Liu Feiyan could feel hair raising on their skin and goosebumps all over their bodies.

Zhiluan seemed to have frightened himself as well. He trembled before continuing, “There’s an old saying that tells you to light two red candles in front of your dressing table at midnight. If you see your reflection dressed in burial clothes, that means you’re already dead…”

Qingyu and Liu Feiyan’s fear deepened as they listened. Zhiluan flew over to them and bared his claws. “Did any of you bring a copper mirror?”

The girls looked away, refusing to acknowledge him. Zhiluan then flew up to Ziyun’er. “D*mned lass, did you bring a mirror with you…”

Ziyun’er swatted him away with a slap. “Don’t tell ghost stories in broad daylight!”

Zhiluan somersaulted twice on the ground before taking flight again. “I’m not telling you stories! If you look into the mirror and see a long-haired female ghost in red on your back, that means the ghost has caught hold of your life. She’s there to make you her scapegoat…”

Following Zhiluan’s incessant and horrifying storytelling, Qingyu covered her ears. Liu Feiyan stomped her foot and huffed in anger. “Xiao Chen! Aren’t you going to control your cat? This place is scary enough without him telling us all these stories!”

Xiao Chen frowned. “That’s enough, Leopard Cat Spirit! Be good and shut up!” That said, he could indeed detect bizarre Negative Qi in this place. This Qi didn’t belong to the human world, that much he was sure.

Zhiluan flew back to his shoulder and whispered, “Why don’t we go back, kid? I’m telling the truth. The Yellow Springs might very well be up ahead…”

Out of the blue, Su Zimu raised his head and laughed. “Immortal Zhi’s words may not necessarily be false. There are many unexplainable mysteries in the world, but we’re cultivators seeking immortality. We need not fear monsters or spirits.

His words bolstered everyone’s courage. Even if there were things like monsters or spirits here, they were upright cultivators of immortality who had no need to fear these creatures. It would be laughable if they did.

Suddenly, a gust of cold wind hit them, sending them trembling. Zhiluan screeched. “We’re dead! We’re dead! It’s about to get dark! The dark is when the ghosts would come out!”

Everyone calculated the timing. It had been quite a few hours since they got off the Flying-stone Cloud. The sky should be dark by now, but this place… Out of the blue, their surroundings began to change at a break-neck pace and the light started dimming.

“Oh no! It’s really a diversionary tactic!”

The group whipped out their Immortal’s Swords and magic treasures. Then, they saw the flowers, plants, and trees around them withered in an instant. The multi-colored butterflies fluttering in the air also gradually turned into putrefied dead leaves. The ground became filled with countless bones of the dead that looked like a boundless sea from afar. It was a hair-raising sight.

Everyone exchanged looks of shock and horror. In an instant, they had found themselves in hell.

Zhiluan was so terrified that his hair was standing on its end. “W-W-We’ve been hoodwinked! I told you there are ghosts here but you just wouldn’t believe me! We’re dead, dead I tell you! We’re going to die!”

The moment his voice left his throat, a faint white radiance emerged in the distance. Upon closer look, the group saw that it wasn’t some white radiance. Nether Spirits were coming from afar!