Chapter 5: Midnight Specter
Six people, including Lu Yun, traveled south for about an hour after leaving the mortal realm and arrived at a very high mountain peak. This mountain peak was somewhat different from other places because while other places were barren and lifeless, this mountain peak had a strange plant growing all around it. The plant looked a bit like a vine from the mortal world, curved and twisted in a fascinating way.
At this time, the black sun in the sky had disappeared. The light around us had dimmed unknowingly. Looking up at the horizon, Lu Yun said: "It's dark, everyone be careful. Remember when we came, the leader said that a day in the Ghost Domain is like two days on Earth, I'm afraid this night will also be very long. At first, our line of sight could reach ten zhang, now how far can you all see?"
The five of them heard this and carefully looked around, their faces slightly changing. Since it was always relatively dark here, the five people who were used to being in the human world were temporarily not accustomed to this place. From the moment they arrived, the five people had subconsciously regarded this place as nighttime in the human world, so they hadn't really paid attention to how far they could see. Now that Lu Yun asked, everyone paid attention and only then realized that they could only clearly see things within three zhang, anything further away was blurry.
Yun Feng said: "I can only see things three zhang away now, Lu Yun, are you the same? I didn't expect this ghost domain to be really different from ours, with color changes that aren't obvious, otherwise we would have discovered it earlier."
Lu Yun said, "I'm the same, I can only see things within three zhang. Now, let's continue on our way, be careful of this high mountain below, it seems to be different from other places." After saying that, he stopped being curious and planned to fly directly over it.
A line of six people moved quickly, and in the blink of an eye they reached the top of that high mountain. Just as the six people had flown over halfway, Lu Yun suddenly released a probing true energy wave, which rebounded back to him, causing his heart to skip a beat as he realized they were in trouble again. Glancing at everyone, Lu Yun shouted loudly: "Stop immediately, everyone be careful, it seems like there's something hidden ahead, slow down!"
Zi Yang Zhen Ren heard this and said: "Lu Yun, did you discover something? It seems like there's nothing around us. How can you say that there's something hidden? I didn't notice anything, Yun Feng, did you find out anything?"
Yun Feng looked around, carefully searching again, but found nothing unusual. Looking at Lu Yun, Yun Feng said: "Hey, I couldn't find anything, did you make a mistake? Won't we all be unable to find it, only you can find it? Shifu, did you two find anything?" After finishing, he looked at Ao Xue and Cang Yue, but the two women just shook their heads lightly, their eyes fixed on Lu Yun.
Lu Yun checked again, and this time there was nothing. It's really strange. After glancing at everyone, Lu Yun said: "Let's slow down a bit, we're not familiar with the place now, it's better to be cautious, let's go." After finishing speaking, he continued forward, but slowed down a lot.
After flying for about three miles, Lu Yun suddenly felt that the six of them seemed to have lightly broken through something. It was very light, so light that except for Lu Yun, the other five people didn't feel anything. Lu Yun's heart sank slightly as he thought about it, and his speed slowed down even more, instantly falling behind. Yun Feng glanced at Lu Yun, wondering if he had just pretended to deceive him, and whether there was really nothing there after all.
However, just as Yun Feng was lost in thought, his body, which was flying at the forefront, suddenly crashed into a layer of transparent air. The intense impact sent Yun Feng flying back, and he cursed loudly in pain. Ao Xue and Cang Yue stopped their movements hastily upon seeing this, narrowly avoiding the same thing from happening to them. Everyone else looked at Yun Feng strangely, not quite understanding what had just happened to him.
Ziyang Zhenren stopped in mid-air and said, "Yun Feng, what's going on? You were fine just now, but suddenly you turned back. It scared us all." Yun Feng smiled bitterly and said, "Master, look at me like this. Do I look like I'm not busy? You don't know, there's an invisible wall in front of us, like a strong barrier that repels everything. The rebound force is extremely powerful, and I was bounced back immediately. It's really strange, what kind of ghostly thing is this, to trick people and make me lose face." Everyone listened, their faces changing slightly, their eyes shifting to Lu Yun, as if they wanted to ask him if this was the hidden thing he had mentioned.
Lu Yun looked ahead, his voice low and serious: "Indeed, there is a very strange barrier in front of us, blocking our way. Now we have only two options to get past it, the first is to force our way through, the second is to go around it, what do you all think?" After finishing speaking, he swept his gaze over the crowd.
Yun Feng said hastily: "Why detour, this ghost thing makes me lose face, I'll break it and see how it deceives people. Just as you said, if we keep detouring, when can we arrive at the Ghost King City?" Lu Yun heard this and nodded slightly, glancing at Ao Xue and Cang Yue.
Cang Yue said in a soft voice, "Now that we've decided on this matter, let's first try the first method. If it proves to be too difficult and we need to conserve our strength, then we'll choose the second approach." Ao Xue heard her words and was in complete agreement, nodding without saying another word: "I also agree with Cang Yue's opinion. At present, apart from rushing against time, we must also try our best to conserve our strength. Otherwise, even if we rush to Gui Wang City, it would be no different from sending ourselves to death."
Ziyang Zhenren said, "Since that's the case, let's give it a try. Yunfeng, you're the one who wants to break it, go ahead and try, be careful." Yunfeng said, "Alright, watch me break this ghostly thing!"
Yun Feng's body moved forward, and when he felt the seal boundary a zhang away, he stopped his movement, and his whole body began to prepare for an attack. In the dark sky, a mysterious blue-green light flashed, with strong rays of light illuminating everything within tens of feet, making it all clearly visible. Yun Feng's right hand swiftly waved the sword incantation in front of his chest, while the Slashing Wind Sword on top of his head spun wildly, forming a cloud of layered silver light above him.
A loud shout, Yun Feng's hands moved outward, the beheading sword on his head emitted a dazzling light column, and suddenly chopped down. Around him, all five people were watching Yun Feng's movements, and at this time, they saw that the dazzling light column encountered a layer of black light flashing boundary when it was halfway through. The silver light column and the black boundary produced high-speed friction, and the hissing sound in the night sky seemed exceptionally piercing.
Yun Feng's eyes revealed a hint of shock, his entire body radiating a brilliant light as he exerted all his strength to wield the Wind Slashing Sword. Instantly, the sword's brilliance intensified, slowly pressing downwards. At the intersection of the light pillar and the barrier, countless lights danced like scattered fireworks, utterly captivating. The dense thunderclaps, accompanied by an immense resisting force, burst forth with a powerful gust of air around the light pillar, causing Lu Yun, Zi Yang's clothes to flutter wildly, while Cang Yue, Ao Xue, and Xu Jie's long hair flew about.
Suddenly, the light was extinguished, and the dazzling pillar of light was instantly dispersed. Immediately afterwards, a muffled sound was heard, and Yun Feng let out a cry of surprise as his entire body was rapidly sent flying back. Lu Yun's eyes changed, and with a slight sway of his body, he appeared behind Yun Feng, using a gentle yet powerful force to support Yun Feng's body that had been knocked backwards. Bringing Yun Feng along, Lu Yun stopped beside Ao Xue and Cang Yue. After glancing at everyone, Lu Yun said: "This seal is extremely powerful; for now, let's not bother with it and see if we can find a way around."
Zi Yang Zhen Ren's face was heavy, and he nodded slightly: "Alright, looking at Yun Feng's move, it's clear that this seal is very powerful. Let's conserve our energy and go around." After speaking, he turned around and flew to the left.
Lu Yun pulled Yun Feng, following the three women from behind, flying forward. But just as they flew out less than ten zhang, they heard Zi Yang Zhen Ren exclaim in surprise, his body was bounced back three zhang. This made Lu Yun and the others simultaneously feel a sense of foreboding. Ao Xue said: "We'll head back immediately, this place is strange, if we get trapped here, it won't be easy to deal with."
Lu Yun let out a soft sigh and said, "I'm afraid Ao Xue has already hit the nail on the head. Each of you should ride your sword ahead to avoid another collision. Let's try the right side as well, I think it might be the same as this side." Xu Jie's expression changed slightly as he said, "It can't be that strange, can it? We didn't encounter anything unusual when we came here earlier." As he spoke, he rode his sword towards the right side.
The Haosnow divine sword's light flashed, and it flew back to its original path at high speed. She followed closely behind, walking alongside Cangyue. However, the two women had only flown out a few dozen feet when a purple light flashed, and the divine sword Purple Shadow rebounded, stopping above Haosnow's head. On the other side, Xu Jie's treasured sword also flew back at the same time, hovering above her.
Ziyang Zhenren, Yunfeng, Cangyue, Aoxue, and Xu Jie all had a slight change in their expressions, their eyes lingering on Lu Yun as if asking him what to do next. Lu Yun glanced at the five of them, his face calm and not showing any surprise. At this moment, momentum was crucial, and he absolutely couldn't let everyone lose heart, or else they would be finished.
Lu Yun took a careful look around and his Mind Divine Light was rapidly analyzing this strange seal. The result came out quickly, but it shocked Lu Yun greatly. Because the analysis of the Mind Divine Light showed that this was a completely sealed space seal. All around, as well as above, were all sealed off, and only below was not closed. However, the Mind Divine Light also detected that there were some very strange powers hidden below, specifically what they were, Lu Yun couldn't understand for the time being. And what shocked Lu Yun the most was that this seal was composed of countless ghostly energies. Except for Lu Yun having a glimmer of hope to pass through, the other five people had never practiced the Ghost Sect's techniques, and their entire body's aura was mutually repelled by the seal, making it absolutely impossible for them to pass through.
Lu Yun looked around at everyone and said, "Everyone be careful, we're descending downwards. There's an unknown power hidden down there, it's the only place that hasn't been sealed off. Now, each of you should start cultivating your internal energy to protect yourselves, be vigilant and guard against any unexpected changes." After finishing speaking, he descended first. In mid-air, six dazzling light shields could be seen, displaying various colors, as they fell downwards one after another.
Soon, Lu Yun stopped in mid-air three zhang away from the ground, carefully examining those strange plants. It could be seen that these plants were scattered far and wide, with countless branches stretching out to about one or two zhang above the ground before spreading out horizontally, forming a vast expanse of dark green vines. These plants were very strange, without a single leaf, but rather countless tiny branches densely packed together, each plant having four main branches that spread out in all directions and intersected with those of other similar plants. Upon closer inspection, it could be seen that on this entire mountain, almost all the main branches of the plants had merged together seamlessly, without leaving any trace.
When Lu Yun approached, a dazzling green light suddenly rose, and all the plants emitted a faint green glow. The entire mountain range turned into a mysterious green in an instant. The invisible boundary that had trapped Lu Yun and the others suddenly flashed with black light, revealing itself completely to the six people. Reflecting the green color below, the boundary quickly became shrouded in a layer of green light, looking ominous.
A low, mournful sigh began to emanate from the perimeter of the seal, starting out almost inaudible but growing louder and more distinct. The eerie, blood-curdling wails of vengeful spirits, the ear-piercing shrieks of malevolent entities, and the soft, melancholic calls of female ghosts all blended together to create an atmosphere of unspeakable horror and eeriness. As time passed, the sounds grew louder and more terrifying, until the six individuals were completely immersed in a realm of unmitigated terror, their hearts gripped with unbearable tension.
Lu Yun exchanged a glance with the other five, and everyone's face showed a shocked expression. Xu Jie said in a low voice: "This scene is so strange, in the past on earth, I have never encountered such a strange thing. This sound is scary, and these glowing things, what are they? Why do they look like a piece of something that shines at the same time?"
No one could answer her question, and everyone was guessing what was going on in front of them. Zi Yang Zhen Ren spoke up: "Lu Yun, now that this strange thing has appeared, what do you think we should do?"
Lu Yun raised his head, focusing everyone's attention on himself, and couldn't help but sigh: "To be honest, I'm just like you all, it's my first time coming to this Ghost Domain. In the past, when I heard about how treacherous the Ghost Domain was, I didn't think much of it. But now that I've personally experienced it, I realize that it's even more sinister than I imagined. We've been here for less than a day, and yet we've already encountered so many things. Looking at the current situation, you're probably all unaware that the truly most dangerous thing is actually that slowly growing sound."
Yun Feng was quick to speak, immediately asking: "This sound, what's wrong with it? Besides being unpleasant to listen to, does it seem like it doesn't have any other use?" Lu Yun looked at him and lightly sighed: "I don't even understand, in your Yin-Yang incantation manual, what kind of nonsense is recorded. This sound, besides being unpleasant to listen to, the most frightening thing is that it contains an aura that erodes everything. At first, everyone might not feel anything, but before long, by the time you all realize it, it will already be too late."
"Ao Xue said: 'Now that things have come to this, do you have any good ideas to resolve this crisis?' After finishing speaking, she quietly looked at him, her eyes containing a hint of gentle affection and trust."
She glanced at Ao Xue, and Lu Yun's heart felt a slight sweetness. That thread of trust and tenderness moistened Lu Yun's proud heart. She shifted her gaze, inadvertently catching a glimpse of Cang Yue, only to discover that her eyes seemed to be hiding a hint of emotions as well. Lu Yun's heart skipped a beat, and a complex expression flickered in his eyes.
Looking at the unknown plants below, Lu Yun said: "Now that we are trapped here, the only way out is to break through this seal, perhaps from down there. Looking at these plants, what I'm most worried about is that if they're all connected by their meridians, it would be extremely difficult for us to break through or harm them with our own strength. However, we have no choice now, once the strange noise around us grows louder, we'll probably lose our chance to escape. Let's join forces and strike together, targeting those plants below, let's see if there's any hope." After finishing speaking, his body shone brightly as he began to prepare.
Lü Yun and the others saw that Lü Yun had already begun, with five people standing in five directions, forming a six-harmony formation with Lü Yun. Each of them fully displayed their magical techniques. In the mysterious boundary, only Lü Yun and Zǐ Yáng True Person's bodies were flashing with dazzling red light, while Yún Fēng and ào Xuě's bodies were flashing with dark blue light, and Cāng Yuè and Xǔ Jié's two women's bodies were shining with bright yellow light. The six groups of different colored lights became stronger and stronger, gradually rotating as a whole in mid-air.
Only to see the colorful light gathering together, instantly forming a five-colored light ring. The six people's shadows were completely hidden in the light ring, and the six different sword pillars formed a rotating five-color light pillar in the center of the light ring, striking down fiercely in an instant. Around, the airflow was instantly sucked empty, a powerful force with destruction, only for an instant, collided with the plants below. Instantly, only to see the rotating five-colored light pillar, and a strong and dazzling emerald green light, violently colliding. The powerful force, under high-speed friction collision, instantly turned into a terrible explosion, forcibly destroying everything around.
Only the barrier above was radiant and flowing, after a fierce fluctuation for a while, it returned to its original state. And below, the glowing plants were strongly supported for a while, suddenly turned into pieces of green mang, revealing the dark land. The dazzling five-colored light column, after destroying the plant, violently struck the ground. Suddenly a loud noise, with flying black soil in the sky, a deep and bottomless big hole appeared before the eyes of the six people.
Lu Yun said loudly: "We'll rush down, and think of a way later. Otherwise, the plant will recover immediately, let's go quickly." The other five people heard this, looked around at the mysterious plants, and indeed, the green light was rapidly gathering towards the center. Once they gathered together, it would become the original scene again.
A burst of light, and the six figures immediately shot into the deep cave. Lu Yun led the way, his sword bursting forth with dazzling red light, illuminating everything around them. The other five followed closely behind. As they descended, the six of them gazed at their surroundings in unison. They saw that the cave was approximately three zhang in diameter, and its walls were now flowing with a dark red liquid, just like blood. The three women's hearts were shocked, while Lu Yun and the other two men also had looks of astonishment on their faces, their emotions highly tense.
Lu Yun flipped over in mid-air, landing on his head and feet, saying softly: "Everyone should also switch now, everything here can no longer be explained by the theories of the mortal realm. We must remain calm no matter what we encounter. As the saying goes, 'seeing the strange as not strange, the strange will defeat itself.' We must remember this. Now that the top has been sealed again, our only option is to try and find a way out from below. My true energy has already scouted ahead, it seems like there are two passageways below, one on the left and one on the right, both of which are being vertically penetrated by the deep hole we forcefully broke open. Hopefully, we can find an exit from there. Everyone be careful, we're almost there." After finishing speaking, his gaze was fixed on the scene below.
Before long, two dark openings appeared before the eyes of the six people. They looked about the same size as the cave they were in, but it was unclear how they had appeared hundreds of feet underground. At this time, the Purple Yang True Person at the top inadvertently raised his head, and a hint of shock flashed in his eyes. Above them, a two-meter-tall ghostly head had appeared at some unknown point, its enormous and terrifying blood-soaked face flying silently towards them. The green eyes that flickered with an eerie glow exuded a faint aura of malevolence, extremely frightening.
Ziyang Zhenren shouted loudly: "Get down quickly, there are ferocious ghosts and monsters above!" As he spoke, the long sword on his head suddenly burst out with a powerful light, striking the ghost's head with one sword. The others heard this and looked up, their faces changing greatly, the shocking degree was so great that everyone's heartstrings were stretched taut, it was truly too strange and frightening, soul-stirring and terrifying.
Due to the two entrances, the six of them didn't have time to discuss which one to enter and had to make their own choices. In the chaos, Ao Xue and Lu Yun chose the left entrance, while the other four chose the right one. The dark wind swirled around, and the ghost head was struck by Zi Yang Zhen Ren's sudden attack, but nothing happened, instead it accelerated its descent. With just a hair's breadth of difference, it swallowed Zi Yang Zhen Ren whole.
As soon as they entered the cave, Lu Yun shouted loudly: "Separate for now and think of a way to contact each other later, be careful!" After finishing speaking, he turned around and rushed forward with Ao Xue. On the opposite side, Cang Yue glanced at Lu Yun and said softly: "Take care, be careful." As soon as she finished speaking, her body had already shot out ten feet, flying forward along the passage. Zi Yang Zhenren looked back and was suddenly shocked, shouting loudly and advancing at full speed. That ghost head was right behind them, pursuing relentlessly.
On the other hand, Lu Yun and Ao Xue flew out for a distance before Lu Yun turned his head to look back, revealing an expression of extreme shock in his eyes. He had not detected at all that behind him was actually following a ghost-headed snake. Originally, he felt that the ghost-headed snake had chased into another cave, but unexpectedly, behind him and Ao Xue, a ghost-headed snake that he had never seen before appeared silently.
The so-called ghost head snake, in Lu Yun's view, was a monster with a huge snake body and a fierce ghost head. The two eyes of the ghost head flickered with two strange lights, one red and one green, which looked particularly terrifying in this dark passage.
Lu Yun's expression changed slightly, but he quickly regained his composure. With a swift motion, he swung his sword, and the dark passageway was suddenly illuminated by a brilliant red glow. A powerful, eye-dazzling crimson sword energy burst forth from the Like-Intent Heart-Soul Sword, striking the Ghost Head Snake's body in an instant. The wind howled, and a strange, eerie cry echoed through the air as the Ghost Head Snake's entire body flashed with black light. Its eyes shot out two beams of red and green light that collided with Lu Yun's sword.
Aoshuang was startled by the muffled explosion and strange cry, and couldn't help but turn her head back. She was immediately frightened by the ghostly snake head. Lu Yun saw Aoshuang turn her head and quickly pulled her jade hand, advancing at full speed. Without time to look back at the ghostly snake head, Lu Yun said: "Let's first take a look at the situation ahead before saying anything else. This place is very strange, and it's likely that even in the Ghost Domain, it's an extremely ominous place. Our best approach this time is not to engage in a fierce battle with these ghosts and monsters, but to avoid them if possible. We didn't come here to seek out the mysterious or explore the strange, so we don't have time to entangle ourselves with these troublesome ghosts."
She glanced at him with a slightly strange expression, her eyes revealing a shallow tenderness. Without saying a word, she allowed him to hold her small hand, everything going according to his wishes. Behind them, the furious and eerie howls, carrying an icy and chilling aura, pursued them relentlessly. The ghost's red and green eyes flickered with anger, seemingly unwilling to let them go.
At this moment, however, Ao Xue didn't mind that terrifying voice at all, and instead quietly looked at Lu Yun.
