Chapter 267: Cliffside
Chapter 267: Cliffside
Elder Yu slammed his hand on the table and exclaimed, "Damn them!"
For over two hundred years, countless Demon Hunters had gone missing in Great Dark Mountain. While some had undoubtedly fallen prey to demonic beasts, who knew how many had been slain by the evil lurking in the depths of the mountain, their bodies dragged away and hidden.
The most alarming part was that no one had suspected a thing for all these years.
Elder Yu's thoughts turned dark as he considered the possibility that the treacherous nature of Great Dark Mountain had been used as a cover, allowing these villains to carry out their heinous acts without anyone being the wiser.
The more Elder Yu thought about it, the more he realized how deeply scheming and evil these people were. He took a deep breath and said to Mo Hua, "I will spread the word about this, whether it turns out to be true or not. It's best to be cautious. Your movement techniques are exceptional, but you must still be careful."
Mo Hua nodded. "Rest assured, Elder Yu. I will be careful."
Elder Yu nodded in relief. If not for Mo Hua's keen observation and attention to detail, they might never have uncovered this threat lurking in Great Dark Mountain, even after a hundred years.
'A tiger sleeps by your bed,' he thought grimly.
Elder Yu sighed and furrowed his brows. He then proceeded to share the news about the depths of the mountain with the other Demon Hunters, leaving them shocked and outraged.
Among the missing Demon Hunters over the years were their fathers, elders, brothers, and friends.
Demon hunting was already a perilous endeavor, with life and death hanging in the balance. When someone went missing, there was little that could be done.
The hunters could only bury their sorrow deep within their hearts and continue their dangerous work.
But now, learning that there might be a hidden threat within the mountain—that their missing companions may not just be lost but brutally murdered with their bodies hidden—the hunters' hearts burned with anger and a desire for justice.
In the days that followed, the Demon Hunters entered the mountain with heightened vigilance, determined to find any trace of the evil cultivators or clues that might lead them to the locations marked on the map.
However, they found nothing.
The villains had hidden themselves well for centuries, and it would take more time to uncover their trail.
The hunters seethed with righteous indignation, yet they were helpless.
Deep within Great Dark Mountain...
Mo Hua sat cross-legged on a large boulder, gazing at the mist-shrouded mountains before him. The spiritual energy he sensed was chaotic and fragmented, making it difficult to discern anything clearly.
It was as if countless threads of multicolored spiritual energy had been tangled together, forming a chaotic mass that obscured everything within the mountain.
"The black mountain's heavy fog hides a treacherous abyss," Mo Hua murmured to himself as he recalled the saying. He then unfurled the map, focusing on the area where the inner mountain and the depths met, carefully comparing the terrain.
The deep mountain's thick fog made it impossible to navigate without a sense of direction, and attempting to venture in directly would undoubtedly lead to one's demise.
There must be a special path that allowed the evil cultivators to enter the depths.
If Mo Hua's suspicions were correct, the map given to him by the bald monk was actually a guide to navigating the depths of the mountain.
When these evil cultivators, wanted by the Dao Court, found themselves with no other options, they could use this map to find their way into the depths and hide from pursuit.
Otherwise, with such dense miasma, not only would outsiders like them be unable to find their way, but even local Demon Hunters would lose their bearings.
Since it was a guide, the map must lead from the inner mountain toward the depths.
In other words, part of the route on the map belonged to the inner mountain, while the other part belonged to the depths.
This explained why Mo Hua found it both familiar and foreign.
The familiar parts were those of the inner mountain, while the foreign sections pertained to the depths.
As long as he could find the locations marked on the map, he would be able to navigate through the heavy fog and enter the depths, discovering the evil cultivators' hiding place.
However, finding the specific locations based on the incomplete map was no easy task.
The bald monk had obtained the map as a contingency plan, knowing that as a sin cultivator, he could be hunted and killed just as easily as he hunted others.
With this map, he could escape into the depths of the mountains and find refuge if things turned sour.
However, the map's incompleteness posed a problem, as it didn't reveal the entrance to the mountain's interior.
Additionally, his reliance on his movement technique ultimately led to his capture and imprisonment, as it couldn't save him from the Ink Painting's grasp.
His initial reluctance to divulge the truth may have stemmed from a faint hope of escape.
With his stash of illicit goods confiscated from the valley, he had lost everything he had accumulated over the years. If he could somehow break free, the map offered his only chance of survival.
It was the same for all fugitives like him—a last resort.
Now that they had a lead, they could at least start searching for Ink Painting.
After several fruitless days of searching, Ink Painting finally found a location that resembled the map by about sixty or seventy percent.
This place marked the boundary between the inner mountains and the deeper, more treacherous regions.
The mountains on either side seemed to echo each other, rising and falling in a rhythmic dance, each peak supporting the other.
Despite being in the inner mountains, the fog here was denser, carrying with it a hint of the aura unique to the deeper mountains, whispering through the mist.
Ink Painting's spirits lifted, and he consulted the map as he walked.
But soon, his progress was halted by an imposing cliff that blocked his path.
The cliff was vast, its edges disappearing into the distance.
Below lay an abyss of unknown depth, shrouded in mist, striking fear into the hearts of those who gazed upon it.
Ink Painting couldn't hide his disappointment.
After searching for so many days, this spot seemed to be the most similar to the map, yet it appeared to be a dead end.
Giving up now felt bitter, and Ink Painting hesitated.
He surveyed his surroundings once more, his thoughts racing.
"The black mountain's heavy fog hides a treacherous abyss," he murmured to himself, recalling the saying. "This abyss could refer to the sin cultivators, as vile as the depths, or perhaps it hints at the bottomless pit before me."
Could it be that they were hiding in the abyss below the cliff?
Ink Painting's eyes glinted with a spark of hope.
Perhaps it wasn't an impossible notion.
"But how do I get down there? Do I just jump?"
He peered over the edge of the cliff, and goosebumps rose on his skin.
The cliff was incredibly deep, and falling would surely result in his body being shattered to pieces.
"Maybe the cliff isn't as deep as it seems and is only obscured by the fog?" Ink Painting speculated.
He found a large stone nearby and, with great effort, dragged it to the edge of the cliff. He then pushed it over the edge.
The stone disappeared into the mist, emitting a "gui-zhi" sound as it struck the cliff face and then tumbled downward, the echoes fading away.
"It truly is unfathomably deep," Ink Painting mused.
He released his spiritual sense, scanning the area around him.
In his spiritual vision, the world took on a hazy quality, filled with various energies.
There were faint traces of spiritual energy, nearly imperceptible, mingling with yellowish miasma, wisps of white fog, and the vague silhouettes of mountains, trees, and rocks.
Yet, there was still no sign of a path.
Ink Painting sighed. Perhaps this wasn't the right place after all.
He continued his search for several more days, but it proved fruitless, and he had to temporarily set aside this endeavor.
The demon hunters in the mountains would keep a lookout during their patrols, and with their numbers, they might stumble upon some clue.
Ink Painting had another important task at hand.
He had completed the Nine-and-a-Half Reverse Spirit Formation and could now seek out Mr. Zhuang to learn the Concealment Formation.
With this knowledge, he would be able to use concealment techniques even with his imperfect spiritual root.
(End of Chapter)
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