Misguided practice of sinister cultivation techniques: Slander! The problem lies with you all, not me!
Chapter 305 - 213: A Bizarre Night, Whose Toad is Wearing a Bellyband? (Please Subscribe)

Chapter 305: Chapter 213: A Bizarre Night, Whose Toad is Wearing a Bellyband? (Please Subscribe)

Overcast skies, ancient trees whispered somberly.

Beside the road, green ponds were scattered with floating duckweed, yellow and green, accompanied by a mist rising from the water surface, a vision of deep desolation.

It must be said that even without the rumors of zombies and the mystery of the corpse carriers, the area would still convey feelings of mystery and terror.

When Duan Yun and the Murong brothers reached this place, even their mounts, Little Grey and the horses, slowed their pace uneasily.

This boundary, not even to mention things like zombies, simply the poisonous insects, snakes, and the erratic miasma, would be unbearable for the average person.

Even some of the Martial World people, should they rashly venture here, would likely perish along the way.

Just on the path they had passed, they had seen many bones of horses and people, presumably travelers like themselves who had met with misfortune.

Some places seem to naturally be shrouded in mystery.

As dusk approached, Duan Yun and the Murong brothers began to look for a place to stay.

The fog and miasma here at night were too thick; one careless step and you could become lost, making it impossible to travel.

But there was really no village ahead and no shop behind.

Apart from the occasional skeletons that startled their mounts and the poisonous creatures they encountered on the path, there was nothing.

Not even a dilapidated hut to shelter from the wind and rain.

By now, the sky had completely darkened.

Little Grey and the horses moved even slower, every rustle in the bushes startling them.

"No wonder they call it Netherworld Mountain Villa, only ghosts would visit such a hellish place," the Murong brothers grumbled.

Just then, a gust of wind shook the hanging vines in the trees, making them sway like poisonous snakes, or like the ghostly claws baring their fangs.

The Murong brothers shrank their necks, already regretting their earlier joked.

Joking around in such a haunted area was as good as looking for trouble.

Suddenly, the Murong brothers felt Little Grey sink beneath them.

They quickly looked down and asked, "Little Grey, what’s wrong?"

At that moment, they saw that all four of Little Grey’s stubby legs were sinking into the mud, with its body continuing to sink further.

The Murong brothers quickly dismounted, channeled their True Qi, picked up Little Grey in their arms, and managed to pull it out.

"This wet mud swallows people whole," the Murong brothers exclaimed.

Without their inborn strength to pull the donkey out, both mount and rider would have been lost.

Duan Yun patted the horse’s behind, signaling it to keep moving.

This kind of marshy mud could swallow an ordinary person, but it was of no consequence to masters like them.

Even if the Murong brothers and their mounts were both stuck, Duan Yun could use the Beiming Divine Skill to extract them.

No one understands the power of suction better than I do!

The duo arrived at a hillside.

Suddenly, the Murong brothers’ eyes lit up, "There’s a fire!"

Down below, in the distance, there indeed seemed to be a bonfire.

Where there was fire, there were people.

It was common for people of the Martial World to camp out in the wilderness and gather around campfires.

Duan Yun remembered the first time he camped in the wilderness, the area was as bustling as a marketplace, no doubt related to the fire he had made.

After two days without seeing anyone, it would be good to at least ask for directions.

Too bad Duan Yun’s Beiming Divine Skill had its limitations, only allowing him to merge minds and tremble together with another person, and even then, the revelations were limited.

Before setting out, he had learned that Netherworld Mountain Villa was in the Yuanling area, in a place called Evil Wind Valley, and thought it would be easy to locate... but it turned out to be quite a hassle...

So, one whipped their horse and the other spurred their donkey, as they headed towards the bonfire.

Upon reaching it, both Duan Yun and the Murong brothers were taken aback.

Because it wasn’t a fire left by travelers camping, it was a shrine.

The fire was real, but not burning wood—it was a person.

A person with their limbs removed, being burned at the stake, facing a six-armed deity statue.

The statue’s features were blurred, with no discernible face, looking like an unfinished stone embryo, yet the folds of its robe were intricately carved.

Duan Yun could even picture the quivering flesh as if the statue would move.

In the darkness, such a scene—with a person burning before such a deity—was unspeakably sinister and horrifying.

The heavens and earth darkened, as if only this cluster of flames remained.

"This person hasn’t been thoroughly burnt; whoever did this can’t have gone far," Duan Yun analyzed.

Murong brothers doubted, "You want to chase after them? It’s not clear whether they are humans or ghosts."

Indeed, such a sinister sight, along with the legends of Yuanling, made it difficult to discern truth from fiction.

"Afraid of ghosts?" Duan Yun questioned.

"Who’s afraid? I, Murong, am never afraid!" the Murong brothers replied.

"That’s right, if this person was a good person and met such a fate, even if he’s become a ghost, I’ll avenge him!" Duan Yun declared firmly, standing in front of the burning corpse.

The Murong brothers watched, as the light of the fire cast Duan Yun’s face—so similar to their own—in a strange and somewhat terrifying light.

This old devil could indeed be more frightening than a ghost at times.

So the two heroes continued their pursuit.

But the more they advanced, the more bizarre the journey became.

If that corpse was burned by people as a sacrifice to the sinister deity, there should have been some traces left behind.

Yet there were no footprints or any other signs on the path.

Even for Duan Yun and the Murong brothers, achieving this would be difficult.

Did this mean those who left had better Qinggong, or maybe, they were ghosts to begin with?

Ghosts would often float in the air, ethereal, naturally leaving no trace on the ground.