Chapter 577: High-Walled Village

"This time, I don't know whether to say you are unlucky or lucky. You actually ran into the once-in-a-century eruption of Spirit-Extinguishing Qi! This made the tearing of the spatial rift this time much larger than usual. Anyone who runs into this, no matter how great their ability, has nowhere to escape. However, because of this, those Yin Beasts that usually stay in the belly of the mountain have mostly left this place. Otherwise, the moment you fell in, you would have been gnawed clean immediately." The lean man looked back at the two of them and said indifferently.

Upon hearing this, Han Li's heart sank slightly. But on the surface, his expression remained unchanged as he asked:

"Please forgive my presumption! Could you tell us where exactly this is? Judging by your tone, this place seems extremely dangerous."

"Dangerous? Hehe! 'Dangerous' is not enough to describe it. I don't care what you two did outside or what prominent mortal status you had before. But in this Yin-Underworld Land, there are no freeloaders. As long as you can move, you must do your part. Otherwise, you'll just be feed for the Yin Beasts." The man re-examined their attire, seemingly noticing that he and the woman were not ordinary people, and said with a cold laugh.

Han Li frowned, and just as he wanted to ask something more, the man waved his hand impatiently:

"This is an extraordinary time; I don't have the time to explain things in detail to two outsiders. Everything can wait until we return to the village. In a while, a large group of Yin Beasts will be returning to their lair. Quickly block this secret exit. We'll use it again in the future." The man's last sentence was spoken sternly to the others beside him.

Immediately, those men and women picked up stones from nearby and, in a flurry of activity, blocked the exit tightly.

"Let's go. If things go smoothly, A-Hu and the others should be meeting up with us halfway. If we don't leave now, we won't be able to return once the Yin winds start blowing." The lean man looked up at the dark clouds in the sky and said with a gloomy expression.

Afterward, he turned and left. The other men and women followed closely without a word. No one even bothered to greet Han Li and the woman.

Seeing this, Han Li's eyes flashed with a strange light, revealing a look of contemplation.

"Should we follow them?" The beautiful woman with Han Li, seeing those people gradually moving away while Han Li stood in place, lost in thought, asked with some unease.

Having lost her magic power, she was nothing more than a helpless, weak woman, and naturally regarded Han Li, who had remained calm and composed throughout, as someone she could rely on.

"Go, why not! Let's first go to that so-called village and take a look. Perhaps we can find a way there to restore our magic power." Han Li looked up and said calmly. Then, watching the backs of those people, he strode forward without further hesitation.

The woman felt a sense of relief and hurriedly followed behind Han Li.

"By the way, I still don't know your surname, Fellow Daoist. My surname is Han, and I am a loose cultivator." Han Li asked the woman casually as they walked.

"My name is Mei Ning. I came with my brother. I was clearly sucked into the Ghost Mist together with my brother, but why isn't he here?" This beautiful woman was the gentle one from the Mei siblings; mentioning her brother now, a look of worry appeared on her face.

"That is normal. Those black lightning bolts clearly have the ability to teleport randomly. We were teleported into the belly of the mountain, while your brother might have been teleported elsewhere. Otherwise, with so many cultivators present at the time, it would be impossible for only the two of us to have been teleported here. We can look for him slowly later; we will surely be reunited." Han Li said with an unchanged expression.

The woman felt much more at ease after hearing Han Li's words. At the same time, her curiosity about Han Li grew.

The person before her had an ordinary and unfamiliar face. She had definitely never seen him before. Could he be a cultivator who entered the small island from another direction? The woman guessed with some confusion.

She was full of questions she wanted to ask Han Li, but feeling they weren't very well acquainted, she hesitated for a while and didn't speak.

Just as the woman was feeling conflicted, the two caught up to the back of the group. Although they lacked magic power, the bodies of cultivators, having been cleansed by marrow-washing, were far superior to ordinary mortals.

The lean man, seeing that the two could keep up without falling behind, had a flash of surprise in his eyes. But he still said nothing, just kept his head down and walked, increasing his speed by thirty percent.

The pace of the other men and women also quickened.

Seeing this, Han Li was slightly startled.

The movements and pace of these people were far more agile than ordinary people. Although they didn't seem to possess any profound internal energy, they clearly practiced some crude external martial arts. It seemed that in this place, only martial arts skills could be put to use.

However, having said that, Han Li had been feeling some doubts about this Ghost Mist all along.

In the classics he had read, although the Ghost Mist was terrifying, it shouldn't have been so extreme that there was no chance of escape. To be affected and have one's magic power sealed before even coming into contact with the thing was simply too outrageous.

If the Ghost Mist that appeared in the past had always been this terrifying, even Nascent Soul stage cultivators would likely not have been spared. Yet, there were clearly many examples of people seeing the Ghost Mist and successfully avoiding it, including many low-tier cultivators.

But the eruption of the so-called "Spirit-Extinguishing Qi" mentioned by the lean man just now cleared up some of Han Li's confusion.

Just hearing the name, one knew that the sealing of their magic power and spiritual sense must have a great deal to do with it.

It seemed they were just unlucky enough to run into an exceptionally powerful Ghost Mist and were all teleported in together. It was estimated that the cultivators who were still alive were likely in other corners of this place as well.

Just as Han Li was pondering, the lean man in front suddenly paused and abruptly turned his head to look to one side. The other men and women also stopped and looked in that direction.

In the desert to one side, a yellow dragon appeared in the distance, rolling with dust as it flew toward them.

"It's A-Hu and the others!" A young man with a childish face shouted in surprise. The others also became restless.

The lean man nodded, a look of relief appearing on his face, but his smile immediately froze.

Because at this moment, several sharp, shrill roars came from within the yellow dragon.

"Everyone, hurry over and help! They are being chased by Yin Beasts." The man's expression changed drastically as he roared, drew the white long saber from his waist, and charged forward like a flying arrow.

The other men and women also realized what was happening, drew their sabers and swords, and rushed to meet them.

Han Li remained where he was, just watching the yellow dragon in the distance with a strange look on his face.

Those men and women charged into the yellow dragon in the blink of an eye. Inside, the roars of beasts grew loud, and the yellow dragon suddenly stopped, turning into clusters of yellow mist that scattered in all directions.

In the dense dust, the shouts and screams of men and women intertwined with unknown roars.

After a full cup of tea's time, the sounds gradually faded from high to low, and finally, everything returned to calm.

A moment later, a burst of cheers came from within. Then, these men and women walked out of the yellow mist, everyone splattered with fresh red beast blood. It was unclear if anyone was injured, but everyone was beaming with joy, as if they had some unexpected windfall.

These people soon returned to their original route, and among them were several tall men Han Li had seen in the belly of the mountain, carrying those huge leather bags on their backs.

These people looked at Han Li and Mei Ning with a few traces of surprise.

But after the lean man whispered a few words to them, these people's expressions turned to realization, and they were no longer surprised.

With the addition of these people, the group's speed increased even more.

After walking for a full hour, they finally walked out of this desert, and a patch of dark, chaotic stone piles appeared before their eyes.

Like the desert, Han Li couldn't tell how vast these stone piles were; he just couldn't see the end for the time being. But the stones within the piles were all strangely shaped and pitch-black, giving Han Li a gloomy feeling that was extremely uncomfortable.

However, as soon as this group saw this place, they all breathed a sigh of relief, their expressions revealing a sense of security.

At this moment, the dark clouds in the sky began to roll uneasily, and blue lightning became suddenly frequent, occasionally striking the ground nearby, leaving behind stone pits of various sizes.

Han Li and Mei Ning were startled by this scene, but the others seemed accustomed to it and walked into this area quickly without caring at all.

Furthermore, the lean man called out:

"Everyone, move faster. The village is about to seal its gates; don't get trapped outside."

Following this shout, the group immediately began to sprint, charging forward with all their might.

Han Li and Mei Ning looked at each other; although they didn't know what was going to happen, they didn't dare to be slow and followed closely.

Thus, led by these people, Han Li turned left and right through the chaotic stone piles until the view suddenly opened up, and a tall stone wall appeared before them, pitch-black.

These stone walls were all built from huge stones the size of a zhang, reaching twenty or thirty zhang in height.

The distance between the two ends of the stone wall was over a thousand zhang. Furthermore, every few zhang, a sharpened piece of hardwood protruded from the wall, looking ferocious and vicious. Directly facing Han Li and the others, there was a huge wooden gate hanging, standing imposingly. On both sides of the wooden gate, more than a dozen men holding white long spears stood there vigilantly.

These guards, upon seeing the lean man's group return, immediately greeted them loudly with excitement.

Then, a huge "rumbling" sound came, the giant gate was lowered, and they were welcomed inside.

Net ===== CHAPTER 578 =====