The commander looked at the night and said, “Although we met by chance, I still advice you that the Tomb of Youshan is a place of curse. It is said that the reason why this place fell down was completely due to the fact that a heavenly god had put the seal of blood curse on the ancient demons here.”
Lin Xuanzhi said, “Thank you for reminding us. It’s just that we have already arrived here, so we have no reason to go back the same way.”
The commander nodded and did not persuade him much anymore. He gave Lin Xuanzhi a bone whistle and said, “If you can come out alive, blow this bone whistle and I will pick you up.”
Lin Xuanzhi said, “Thank you.”
The commander waved his hand and took his comrades into the carriage, and the man-horse shook his hooves and went back.
Although there was still some distance from the Tomb of Youshan, looking forward from here, they could already see the black hole that seemed to be able to devour all life in the world.
“Look at the sky,” Yin Nian said.
Lin Xuanzhi raised his head. At this time, the sky had become a bloody red. There were three miserable white moons hanging in the East. One of them was shaped like a machete, one was round, and the other one seemed to have been bitten by the heavenly dog — a corner was missing.
A blood red sky was an inauspicious sign for people in the world of immortal cultivation; this was the color that the demons in the demon world would prefer.
In the nine years since Yan Tianhen came to the Nine Lands, he once went to the Demon Realm with You Ming. However, even in the Demon Realm, the sky seemed to be filled with fire and clouds. It was a bit beautiful and confusing, probably because there were still distinct clear clouds in the sky.
But the sky here was red as if it was about to drip blood, and when they looked around them, the atmosphere gradually became thick and bloody. The place completely turned into thick black where they could not see the end.
This should be a more terrifying place than the Demon Realm.
The Tomb of Youshan was like an enormous bloody maw, and it was like a whirlpool from hell. When people looked at it, their whole body would be cold and afraid, and they would want to turn around and leave immediately.
When they arrived, the Yin and Yang Umbrellas emerged from the umbrella.
The Yang Umbrella said, “We entered from here last time. If we go straight ahead, we can see a path that seems to be a trail. If we go down that path for ten hours, we can reach the first huge depression.”
Yin Umbrella’s eyes were a little grave. “That place is a cliff. Before, I came with a live chicken. I threw it down, and only a few seconds later, I heard the scream of a live chicken then was immediately replaced by the sound of chewing, so Gege and I did not intend to continue.”
Yin Chongyue had already drawn his sword; his eyes were cold as he looked at the unknown in front of him. “Let’s go and see personally what’s inside this Tomb of Youshan.”
Before Lin Xuanzhi came, he had planned for the worst, but the worst plan did not include dying here.
Everyone got ready. All life-saving things like magical weapons, talismans, pills, etc., were all put in the most convenient place, waiting to be used in time in case of an accident.
Under the guidance of the Yin and Yang Umbrellas, Lin Xuanzhi and the others soon came to the entrance of the path which was said to have been walked on. Surrounded by a dark and dense forest, these dark and disorderly leaves looked like black due to the dim light. The path was very messy. Looking forward, you could see that the surrounding bushes had blocked the path. There had never been a path to the Tomb of Youshan. They had to create a path themselves.
Lin Xuanzhi said, “I will lead in the front, Ah Hen will follow me.”
Yin Chongyue said, “I’ll take care of the back.”
Nobody had an objection to this arrangement. Among all the people present, Lin Xuanzhi and Yin Chongyue had the highest cultivation level.
Just after walking for a short time, Hu Po, who had returned to his tiger form, sniffed the soil on the ground and said with disgust, “Master, there is dead air in the soil here. It smells so bad.”
Ah Bai also raised his head and climbed up to Yan Tianhen’s shoulder with his short legs. He said with a howl, “It’s very uncomfortable and rotten here.”
Demonic beasts were more sensitive to the environment than people.
Hu Po rubbed his paws and looked at Lin Xuanzhi in front of him. Yan Tianhen saw this, bent over to pick Hu Po up, rubbed his fur, and said, “Dage has to lead the way, don’t disturb him.”
Hu Po obediently let Yan Tianhen hold him.
Yin Umbrella let out a sneer, “How old are you? You’re still acting like a baby.”
Hu Po made a very fierce expression at him.
Taotian transformed into a human upon entering here, and walked in front of Yin Nian, in the center of the team.
Taotian covered his nose with disgust and said, “The miasma here is too heavy. I definitely would not choose to take root in this kind of place.”
Yin Nian said, “You don’t want to stay in the auspicious treasure land of Ethereal City and instead, insisted on coming here with us and risking your life. Do you have a pit in your head?”
Taotian didn’t mind Yin Nian’s unpleasant words. He said, “Ethereal City is too boring. The outside is still more interesting. I haven’t seen such a dark tree yet.”
Yin Nian wanted to laugh at Taotian’s ignorance. Suddenly, a rancid smell came from the darkness. Yin Chongyue shot a sharp cold light quickly at the tree from the side, and cut the snake that rushed towards Yin Nian into two parts.
“Pooh – Pooh” – black blood splashed all over the floor.
Yin Nian was startled. Before he could speak, he saw the trees beside him. There were stiff thick rope-like things on them. They had flat triangular heads, and their bodies were like snakes. But they had more feet than snakes, and their skin had lots of lumps, as if they had tumors.
All these snake-like things were staring at these intruders with their evil little scarlet eyes, as if all of them would rush out in an instant, and they densely covered the trees.
Yin Nian, ….Ahhhhhhh! In this case, there’s nothing to wait for.
Lin Xuanzhi suddenly remembered that when he wrote to Xuan Wushe a few days ago, he mentioned the Tomb of Youshan. Xuan Wushe told him that in a place that never saw the light of day, the aura of living people would attract the attention of these demonic beasts who remained dormant in the dark all the year round, just like bees were naturally attracted by nectar. The snakes seem to be waiting for a signal to attack.
Lin Xuanzhi, however, chose to strike first. His sword light was the signal of an attack. The Zhige sword broke through the air, and the first two rows of snakes were cut into several sections and sloppily fell down from the tree.
When the signal was sent out, everyone joined the battle.
The snakes also hissed and attacked these outsiders nonstop. Although their flat heads looked small, if they were opened, you would find that the mouth of these snakes was actually as big as an arm. In the big mouth, a slender tongue stretched out, and a black bug the size of a thumb flew out.
Lin Xuanzhi watched as a bug rushed straight to Yan Tianhen. He used the air to pinch it with his left hand and threw the insect on the tree next to him. The tree, which was as thick as three people, caught fire in an instant and became ashes in the blink of an eye. The snake-like things that were entwined on it had no chance to escape, so they were burned to ashes.
“What the hell was that?“ Yin Nian howled with fear as he killed the snakes.
“Never seen them before.” Yin Chongyue was protecting him by the side. After a few palm moves, a large swath of snake-like things flew out; he said, “But there are similar insects in the Demon Realm, which are called fireflies.”
“Everyone, be careful, don’t touch that kind of bug.”
As Lin Xuanzhi said this, he and Yan Tianhen made a big move. Fierce gales of sword Qi coiled around the burning Yin Flame Whip, like a black fire dragon, and darted into the snake group at full speed. It aimed for the places where there were many snakes, as if it had eyes of its own. The shrill scream suddenly sounded in the wild mountains, and the burning sound was endless.
“Beautiful.” Yin Chongyue snapped his fingers and said to Yan Tianhen, “Very tacit cooperation.”
Yan Tianhen rubbed his hands excitedly and said, “I’ve wanted to do this for a long time, but this attack is too destructive that I can’t find any place to use it. Today I can finally use it to take them out.”
Lin Xuanzhi watched him and just smiled.
Although these snakes were not difficult to handle, it made them realize the danger of the Tomb of Youshan, which made these people, who were not optimistic to begin with, feel deeper pressure.
Next, on the way down, Lin Xuanzhi and the others all paid the utmost attention to their surroundings for fear of being attacked.
Fortunately, it was still the outermost edge of the tomb. It couldn’t be considered the actual Tomb of Youshan. Although the road was dark and bumpy, the demons living in the dark here were not powerful. Although there were no fewer than ten sneak attacks along the way, under the double protection of Lin Xuanzhi and Yin Chongyue, all the dangers were turned into a breeze and the enemy was quickly wiped out.
The deeper they went inside, the stronger the malevolent Qi and miasma there was.
Taotian’s reaction was the most obvious. He was a plant spirit. He had the deepest sensitivity to the soil and air. If the soil in a direction had the most hidden filthy things, he would be the first to find out and warn people to avoid that place.
In this way, they saved a lot of effort.
Ten hours later, the vigilant people finally reached the cliff valley mentioned by the Yin and Yang Umbrellas.
The bottom of the cliff and deep valley could not be seen, but from the top, it was covered with the branches of the trees, which extended out for thousands of miles, and the thick and hard vines spread along the trunk towards the front, crisscrossing and entangled together, which meant people couldn’t even see the sky clearly.
“This is the deepest point that Little Yin and I reached when we came to the site last time.” Looking at the cliff under which countless sharp vines were slanting up, the Yang Umbrella said, “It gave us a very bad feeling here. Originally, the Yin and Yang Umbrellas were pathways that connected the Yang Realm to the underworld, but the death Qi here is even worse than that of the underworld.”
The Yang Umbrella didn’t need to mention it; Lin Xuanzhi had already felt the desperate, depressive, and icy aura — it was an aura that contained a mixture of death, decay, and malevolence.
The trees here were crawling with moss everywhere, and there were withered and old branches hugging white skeletons. They were tightly attached to the trunk, and the branches were deeply stabbed into the bones. It seemed that they could see the picture of the people who had set foot into the forest being devoured by the branches as cannon fodders.
Yin Chongyue took out a scroll from the storage ring. After opening it, he squinted at it for a while and said, “If this map is correct, Youshan should have been formed after the Puluo Mountain and all the mountains within a thousand miles sunk down. The blood cypress tree was originally in the center of the mountain, and I’m afraid, even now, it is still in the center.”
With that, Yin Chongyue looked up and looked forward.
