Two years later, Qin Ming was astonished to run into the long-armed man here of all places. Too many questions lingered in his mind, and he yearned to understand what had truly happened back then.
Cui Hong spared him only a single glance before throwing himself back into the fierce battle. He dared not let the Old Elephant notice anything amiss, fearing that something might go wrong.
This mysterious, troublesome group of mutants had already inexplicably abducted Cui Chongyi; if they took Cui Chonghe as well, it would truly drive him mad.
In that fleeting instant, Qin Ming caught a series of shifting emotions flitting across the man's face—astonishment, joy, guilt—all flashing past in a heartbeat.
Why would he wear an expression like that? Doubts arose in Qin Ming's heart.
At the very last second, the long-armed man's expression had turned exceedingly complex, laced with an inner conflict that seemed unnatural for a reunion.
Qin Ming watched him, the heat and excitement born of seeing his savior gradually cooling into calm.
With the road ahead blocked, the traveling merchant's caravan was halted. A wave of unease rippled through the people, for combat of that caliber was truly terrifying to behold.
When the Old Elephant trumpeted, the surrounding mountains seemed to shudder with it. The deafening roar set everyone's ears ringing, and they all clutched the sides of their heads in agony.
To the right of this rugged trail lay a boundless desert, pitch-black as an abyss, while to the left stretched an unbroken chain of steep, precipitous mountains.
The Old Elephant was white as jade all over, radiating heavenly light. Whether it was the blade-gleam slashed out by its trunk or the tusk-blades affixed to its upper limbs, both possessed astonishing destructive force. Whenever they struck the cliff face to the left of the path, massive boulders collapsed in relentless succession.
People wondered if even the towering mountain would be bored through by its strikes.
Cui Hong practiced the renowned Tongtian Art. His arms possessed ten thousand jin of crushing might; as his heavenly light erupted, it seemed poised to tear the night sky asunder. He clashed head-on against the Old Elephant with sheer ferocity, refusing to yield an inch.
The human powerhouse clashed against the high-tier mutant. Heavenly light surged and roiled as boulders weighing thousands of jin tumbled down from the mountain, burying the trail ahead.
The itinerant merchant Xu Sheng cursed his rotten luck. Why had he run into such a disaster? He led his followers back step by step, terrified of getting caught in the crossfire of experts and having the entire caravan wiped out.
"Terrifying!" someone whispered in awe, while most were simply stricken with fear.
The duel between the two masters actually shattered a cliff face. Amid rumbling roars, an avalanche of stones poured and plummeted like a torrent, kicking up billowing plumes of dust in a horrifying spectacle.
The onlookers watched with trembling hearts, their faces drained of color.
Xu Sheng felt his head throbbing. Why hadn't the two experts left yet? By now, they had reached the latter half of the rugged trail. They were supposed to clear the edge of the desert before deep night fell, but with the path ahead blocked, any further delay might mean they wouldn't make it in time.
If they turned back along the way they came, there clearly was not enough time either.
The crowd noticed with dread that while the heavenly light radiating from the two masters illuminated the steep cliffs clearly, the desert to the right remained profoundly dark; even bathed in the radiance of heavenly light, it did not stir so much as a ripple.
"Old Elephant, I will not pursue this with you any further. How about we call it quits?" Cui Hong spoke.
"Fine, then be on your way," the Old Elephant agreed. Despite its massive bulk, its movements were extraordinarily agile, drifting like a phantom as it leapt onto a mountain peak in an instant, turning as if to leave.
With a darkened expression, Cui Hong said, "Since we are calling it quits, can you release the person?"
"The interrogation isn't finished yet," the Old Elephant replied.
Cui Hong said in a heavy voice, "You should know where we come from."
"Yes, Cui. A millennium-old clan is indeed formidable, holding sway over all creatures and famed across the vast lands beneath the night sky. But we aren't so shabby either. We dwell upon a famous mountain, decent enough to be called one of the blessed lands by your kind," the Old Elephant answered calmly.
Cui Hong's expression grew dead serious. "Let us talk. There must be a misunderstanding here. We only just arrived in this area; it is impossible for us to have offended you."
Fearing for Cui Chongyi's safety, he wanted to clear the matter up as quickly as possible. At the same time, he intended to lure the Old Elephant away so he could slip back later in secret to see Cui Chonghe.
...
Seeing the two experts confront each other on the cliff for a moment before finally vanishing, Xu Sheng shouted at once, "Move! No, run with me!"
Time was running short. He led the group into a dead sprint, desperate to clear the desert's outskirts before deep night settled.
Fortunately, everyone present was a Newborn. Otherwise, with the collapsed cliff blocking the way, it would have taken ordinary mortals an age to clamber across.
They sprinted with all their might, panting heavily from the exertion.
Suddenly, a thick fog rolled in ahead. Even though the rugged mountain trail lay right beneath their feet, it was rapidly disappearing from view.
Moments later, even Xu Sheng ground to a halt. The dense fog made him hesitate to take another swift stride; if they strayed off course and wandered into the desert, the consequences would be catastrophic.
"Brother Xu, what do we do?" someone asked uneasily.
Xu Sheng said in a low voice, "Don't panic. Along the way, we haven't shown any disrespect toward the desert; whenever we spoke of it, we were reverent. Whatever you do, do not panic! Grab the clothes of the person in front of you and don't let go, even on your life! I'll take the lead at the very front!"
Many tried to clutch his clothes, feeling safer closer to him, but he snapped immediately, "Stop crowding! If anyone falls into the desert, I won't go looking for you!"
In truth, Xu Sheng had no confidence either. An old traveling merchant had told him that one hadn't truly completed their apprenticeship until surviving a dozen brush-with-death night journeys. Could this be one of them?
Qin Ming remained silent, gripping Xu Sheng's clothes tightly. His reaction had been quicker than the others, making him the first to rush forward.
At a time like this, sticking close to the experienced merchant was naturally the safest choice.
He worried that someone in the middle of the line would drop the ball at a critical moment and fail to hold on, completely losing contact with the guide.
Xu Sheng took out a torch, intending to light it and illuminate the way. Yet he tried several times, and each attempt failed.
Half of the caravan carried light sources and tried to ignite them as well. Soon, someone's voice quavered with unnatural tremors, "Brother Xu, it feels like... something is blowing a chill, putting out my flame over and over."
"Shut up!" Xu Sheng cut him off, for he, too, felt a cold breath wafting against the back of his neck, making his fine hairs stand on end.
The fog had grown unnaturally dense. The mountain on the left was gone, the road underfoot was gone; there was only endless darkness, rendering their eyes virtually useless.
Qin Ming kept quiet. The atmosphere was stifling and eerie. The fog had risen without warning, obscuring everything so thoroughly that even his senses could not extend outward.
"Brother Xu, no need to light torches! There's a party ahead—they've already lit theirs! It's a bit distant and hazy, but if we follow them, we should be able to get out!" someone called out in pleasant surprise.
"Hey, there really is a procession deep in the fog! Shadows moving, and the leader is holding a torch, lighting the way ahead."
The others spotted it as well, their faces lighting up with relief.
Qin Ming could clearly feel Xu Sheng stiffen before tensing completely, as if goosebumps had broken out all over his body.
"Don't look at that torch! Don't stare at that procession!" Xu Sheng's voice was low and urgent as he warned everyone. "Before we approached the desert, back at the supply outpost, I made a point to ask around. Aside from us, absolutely no other group set out today!"
"Hiss—!"
"Mountain God protect us!"
Everyone sucked in a breath of the night fog, utterly stunned. Just what kind of procession was ahead of them?
"Damn it, don't shove me so suddenly! You nearly squeezed my soul right out of my body!"
Qin Ming's gaze darkened. He looked into the depths of the night fog and saw the shadowy procession. There were indeed quite a few figures, their dim torches illuminating the way as though meant to guide them forward and show the direction.
Yet over there, all was dead silent, without the slightest sound.
Including Qin Ming, everyone took only a few quick glances before hurriedly lowering their heads, looking away and heeding Xu Sheng's warning.
"What... what on earth is that?" In situations like this, the more nervous some people were, the more compelled they felt to speak.
"According to the old traveling merchants... Forget it, I won't say. It'll scare you to death." Xu Sheng swallowed his words halfway through.
Were it not for the wrong time and place, several of the stronger Newborns in the group would have punched him. Saying nothing would have been far better than trailing off like that—wasn't leaving it half-said even more terrifying?
"Brother Xu, you might as well say it! You brought it up only to stop, and now we're even more terrified!"
"The old merchant's tale would genuinely frighten the fainthearted among you to death. So let's use the esoteric sect's explanation instead: a ritual tied to deities is likely underway, and under no circumstances may we join it. Neither you nor I have the standing to draw near. If you stare at that torch for too long and end up joining that procession, you will inevitably end up as a side dish on someone's dining table, devoured raw and bloody."
Silence fell over the crowd.
Qin Ming remained silent as well. Beneath the shroud of night on this earth, for ordinary Newborns to take a single long-distance journey was fraught with such peril; it was truly grueling.
He had not even fully left this remote region, yet he was already facing such bizarre horrors. If he ventured deep into the vast continent, what else would he encounter?
"Is there... another explanation?" The more frightened some were, the more they wanted to dig to the bottom of it, curiosity mingled with terror as they sought the truth.
Xu Sheng said, "There is also an ancient explanation: an unfathomable existence in the desert was offended. This fog is its fury, and that torch is the fire of its burning wrath. Do you wish to throw yourselves like moths into the flame?"
Suddenly, he halted in his tracks, not daring to take another tentative step. He realized he was on the verge of losing his bearings completely; aside from looking up at that torch, he could no longer tell which side was the desert and which bordered the towering mountain.
Qin Ming also realized something was wrong. The mountain was supposed to be on their left, and the desert on their right—yet right now, his left foot was sinking into sand.
It was precisely because Xu Sheng had encountered the same thing that he had abruptly stopped. He slowly pulled his left foot out of the sand, not daring to advance another step.
"Don't push!" Someone behind couldn't stop in time.
"Don't bump into me—oh, it's a lady. Traveling away from home isn't easy. It's alright, no need to panic."
Even in the pitch-black and amid their overwhelming dread, the crowd couldn't help but quietly look down on the fellow.
"I say, miss, you don't need to be afraid... Why are you climbing all over me? Fine, I'll carry you on my back. Hold around my neck."
Yet the man's voice soon began to tremble. "Miss, why are your fingernails so long... and freezing cold? Don't grope around on my neck, al... alright?"
Those who had just sneered at the man now felt the hairs on their skin stand on end. Hearing his words, none of them could keep their composure.
"Miss, say something... Stop touching my neck. It seems... I'm bleeding, it hurts a bit." The man's voice had turned hoarse.
Behind him, a youth spoke up, face bloodless. "Brother, y-you... stop talking. I..."
The man asked in a shaking voice, "Little brother, are you... holding the lady's clothes? Can you give me a hand and pull her off me?"
"I feel like... I'm holding very long hair..." The youth's voice trembled violently.
The man's voice grew faint. "Someone help me... It's so hard... to breathe. My neck is bleeding, it hurts... I can't pry the lady's hands off, these fingernails are too long..."
No one made a sound. Every single person tightened their grip on their weapons.
Chapter 64