“Found it?!”
The others were all really excited to see the hole.
Chu Liuyue glanced inside. It was dark, and barely anything could be seen.
“Use this.” A hand suddenly stretched over. On the palm was a grape-sized luminous pearl.
Chu Liuyue took it and nodded at Gu Mingfeng. “Thanks.”
“No problem.”
Using the light from the luminous pearl, Chu Liuyue could see into the hole. “The path in the hole leads downward. There are stairs, so please be careful.”
With that, she led the way down.
Mu Hongyu picked up the golden mane bear cub, kept it in her embrace, and followed suit. She smiled when she passed by Gu Mingfeng. “Gu Mingfeng, you have a lot of things hidden on you, huh! Luminous pearls are really valuable!”
Gu Mingfeng’s status in the Gu family was low. He was usually somewhat frugal in the academy, so both Mu Hongyu and Cen Hu were surprised to see him produce the pearl.
Gu Mingfeng looked down without saying anything, and he caught up to Chu Liuyue.
Mu Hongyu froze and looked at Cen Hu. Did I say something wrong? However, I did not say much?
Chu Liuyue’s interest was piqued, but it looked like Gu Mingfeng did not want to talk about it. Thus, she did not ask and continued forward.
…
It was a narrow and long passageway.
Even though they could only see what was directly in front of them, they sensed that the road was full of twists and turns.
Chu Liuyue secretly calculated the distance they had walked and wondered if they had arrived at the foot of the mountain. However, she was unclear about their current direction.
The most important thing now was to get away from the fiends’ attacks.
“Oh my goodness! This golden mane bear is amazing. A passageway like this should have taken a lot of effort, right?” Cen Hu marveled at the path as he walked.
“This is a big project for regular people. However, it’s not much, given the golden man bear’s size and strength.”
Cen Hu was stunned. “No matter how strong it was, you defeated it, didn’t you? I still think you’re the scariest, Liuyue!”
Chu Liuyue laughed. She had said that defeating the golden mane bear was a team effort several times, but Cen Hu seemed to think that she had hidden abilities. He greatly admired her because of this.
Cen Hu was a simple guy. Once he understood something, it was hard for him to change his mind. Thus, Chu Liuyue gave up on explaining and let him be.
After walking for a while, they still did not see the end.
Cen Hu felt a little frustrated. “When is this going to end…”
Before he could finish speaking, the golden mane bear cub in Mu Hongyu’s arms suddenly moved.
Chu Liuyue was relieved when she saw that. “We’re almost there!”
The few of them continued. As expected, the road in front of them cleared up! It opened up and led to an enormous cave!
Cen Hu walked faster and headed over first. He looked around, and the excitement on his face faded away. “… That’s not right. Liuyue, why isn’t there an exit here?”
Chu Liuyue rubbed her temples a little. “The golden mane bear hibernates here. This place is meant to prevent disturbances, so why would there be an exit here?”
“How are we getting out then?”
Chu Liuyue walked over and looked around. “We’re breaking our way out, of course!”
Her tone was even and calm as if she was describing the weather. She did not think that her words were very surprising.
However, even Gu Mingfeng could not help but frown. “Break our way out? From here?”
Chu Liuyue nodded. “If we combine our strength, it shouldn’t take too long.”
“Liuyue, are you serious?” Mu Hongyu stared at her dazedly. “We don’t even know where this is! What if we’re at the very bottom of the mountain? Won’t we be stuck here digging for months then!?”
“It won’t take that long. I’ve taken a look around earlier. The walls here are the same material as those in the cave, so we’re still in the mountain. The cave was at the heart of the mountain, so we’re definitely nearer to the surface now. It won’t be a problem as long as we make ourselves an exit.”
Chu Liuyue looked at the others, who were still stunned. “Do you all have any better ideas?”
They remained silent.
Gu Mingfeng took a deep breath. “So, where do we begin?”
…
As Chu Liuyue and the others traveled through the passageway, the situation outside got increasingly tense.
Slowly but surely, fiends had completely surrounded the mountain.
The murderous aura in the air was terrifying. However, the fiends did not attack. Instead, they lined up neatly. It was as though they were waiting for something.
Anyone in the right mind would definitely sense that something was amiss, but not Gu Mingzhu.
She found a deserted corner and hid behind a rock. She was relieved when she realized that the fiends did not attack after a while.
Thankfully, not all hope is lost. Even though I do not know why they have stopped, I am relieved. What I need the most now is time!
She reached towards her belt eagerly. As long as nobody interrupts me, I should be able to get away safely!
However, her smile suddenly froze as she looked towards her belt in disbelief. That’s not right! I clearly put that thing there! Why is it gone now?!
…
Somewhere in Wan Ling Mountain Range.
Wen Yan was hurrying along when he heard footsteps. He carefully looked around and turned, only to see that it was Bai Chen.
Following behind him were Si Ting and the others. They seemed as if they were rushing somewhere.
Wen Yan went forward and asked, “Bai Chen, where are you going? Did Si Ting and the others get hurt?”
Bai Chen hurried forward when he saw Wen Yan, his expression somber. “Wen Yan, do you feel that something is amiss?”
Wen Yan paused. “Are you talking about how Wan Ling Mountain’s fiends are more aggressive?”
Bai Chen nodded and then shook his head. “Not entirely. We saw inklings of this yesterday. The teachers and elders knew about this yesterday, and we’ve sent many heavily-injured students out. However, there’s something more pressing now.”
“Oh? What happened?” Wen Yan asked.
Bai Chen took a deep breath and explained what Si Ting and the others had told him after running into him.
“… In reality, they’re not the only ones who have run into something like this. If I’m not mistaken, the fiends in Wan Ling Mountain seem to have received some kind of call or order! This is why they’re so in sync! Most importantly, they always headed into the mountain range during the previous Fiend Tidals. However, this time…”
Wen Yan’s heart was in his mouth. “To be able to control these fiends, I’m afraid it would have to be…”
Hong!
A loud explosion came from the sky.
Everyone looked up and saw a mountain peak explode as an enormous demonic beast spread its wings and soared towards the sky!
Heavy pressure spread across the land.
“That’s… an advanced demonic beast!”