Chapter 570: Shadows Flickering

The group followed the map's markings and arrived at a certain spot where the rocks had collapsed; there, between two tilted, fallen boulders, was a half-meter-wide crack.

By squeezing through that crack, one could enter the hollow interior of the rockfall, and by passing straight through that hollow interior, one could bypass this obstacle.

The group walked up to that half-meter-wide crack, put away the map, and prepared to enter the interior of the rockfall.

Standing there, looking from this angle, they could see that on top of the rockfall were many protruding, deep-red flower buds; some of those buds were the size of a fist, while others were the size of a human head—evidently, they were all mature Ghost Thorn Konjac.

No wonder the map advised them not to climb over; looking from here, the Ghost Thorn Konjac on top of the rockfall were almost in vast, continuous patches.

This Ghost Thorn Konjac contained deadly poison and was extremely troublesome; a single plant would be enough for them to suffer, so wouldn't such a large, continuous area of Ghost Thorn Konjac cost them their lives?

Seen in this light, the wording of the map's advice was truly too mild! It was as if two paths really existed, and it was merely suggesting they take the hollow interior route to pass through.

But looking at the current situation, climbing over the top was simply a path to certain death!

However, this was not strange; the map spoke of the situation twenty-nine years ago, and after so many years, the situation had naturally changed a lot. Perhaps twenty-nine years ago, the Ghost Thorn Konjac here was not as rampant as it was now, though it must have been enough to make people suffer quite a bit back then.

After all, the vines of those Ghost Thorn Konjac could hide in the rock crevices and suddenly spring out while people were climbing over, catching them off guard.

They had already agreed on their division of labor and formation beforehand, with Guo Tian's group responsible for keeping watch.

Guo Tian and Yang Sui had already raised their lit torches.

Holding a torch, Guo Tian glanced at the others, then was the first to squeeze into the half-meter-wide crack, flashing into the pitch-black darkness.

After Guo Tian went in, Jiang Hanyan and Su Xinjue, who were responsible for guarding the sides of the formation, also squeezed through.

Afterward, Duan Rong, Lu Chu, Xu Hui, and Du Wan squeezed in, and only then did Yang Sui, holding a torch, squeeze into the crack last.

Once inside, they discovered that the space beneath the rockfall was actually quite large. Under the illumination of the torchlight, they looked up and saw several rather huge stone pillars lying horizontally; it appeared this space was propped up by these massive pillars.

Inside this space, it was pitch-black, and a thick, damp air was permeating...

The group stood there, having already arranged their formation: Duan Rong, Lu Chu, Xu Hui, and Du Wan were in the middle, two torches were burning noisily at the front and back of the group, and Jiang Hanyan and Su Xinjue stood on the sides.

Guo Tian took a look; in the pitch-black distance, a faint light filtering in from afar was the other exit of this space. He immediately lifted his foot and walked toward the direction of that exit, and the group followed him toward that side.

This stretch of the journey did not seem very far; it looked to be about one li or so.

Yet, as soon as they entered this pitch-black space, their hearts began to tense; after all, they had only encountered an Evil Spirit a few hours ago, and they were still somewhat sensitive to dark environments.

However, reason told them that the probability of an Evil Spirit being in this space was truly not high.

Within the entire God-Demon Relic, there would be at most only two Evil Spirits.

This was determined by the overall size of the God-Demon Relic; it could give birth to at most two Evil Spirits.

They had only been in the God-Demon Relic for one day, and they had already bumped into one Evil Spirit; this was already considered extremely unlucky.

Could it be that having just escaped the "Ghost Bride" Evil Spirit last night, only a few hours ago, they would encounter a second Evil Spirit in here? That probability was even lower than stepping in two piles of dog excrement in a row after leaving the house in the morning!

As for that "Ghost Bride" Evil Spirit, they were very certain that the Evil Spirit had not followed them along this path.

But after all, they were in a dark, enclosed environment, so the group remained cautiously on guard against their surroundings; even Duan Rong and the others in the middle of the group did not relax their vigilance in the slightest.

The group walked further and further toward the center of the darkness; the dampness inside seemed to be getting thicker, and there was vaguely a strange, indescribable odor permeating...

They stepped on the soil, and the rustling sound of footsteps echoed in this deathly silent space, but no one noticed that the complexion of Yang Sui, who was walking at the very back of the group, was becoming increasingly pale; he held his torch and kept looking back, scanning left and right into the darkness beyond the torchlight.

He did not know why, but he always felt that something in the darkness behind him was following him... But when he looked back to scan, he only saw the thick darkness beyond the torchlight.

Yang Sui had no choice but to follow the group and continue walking forward; he somewhat suspected he was just letting his imagination run wild.

Yet, after he followed the group for a while longer, he vaguely sensed that extremely faint sounds had started up behind him again. Yang Sui pricked up his ears, and involuntarily, a layer of cold sweat had already broken out on his forehead.

As Yang Sui walked, he suddenly and abruptly turned his head; in that instant, he clearly saw a pair of pitch-black eyeballs filled with bloodshot veins flash eerily in the darkness behind him, then vanish...

Yang Sui's teeth began to chatter instantly; although it was only for a moment, he was certain he had not seen wrong.

There was an Evil Spirit in this space!

Yang Sui said with a trembling voice: "Guo Tian, there is something behind me in there!"

Guo Tian, who was walking at the very front of the group, heard this and his footsteps paused; everyone also turned their heads to look at Yang Sui, who was standing at the back of the group, holding a torch, covered in cold sweat, and deathly pale. The torchlight made the cold sweat on his face shine brightly.

Guo Tian walked over and stood there, scanning into the darkness, but he did not discover any abnormalities.

Lu Chu looked at Yang Sui and said: "Don't scare yourself; we just encountered one Evil Spirit, how could we possibly encounter another one here?!"

Yang Sui said: "It's true! I just saw a pair of terrifying, crimson eyeballs in the darkness."

As Yang Sui spoke, a flash of fear crossed his face.

Everyone could see that his fearful appearance and terrified gaze could not possibly be faked; he must have seen something.

Duan Rong suddenly looked at Yang Sui and said: "Yang Sui, has there been a faint sound following behind you the whole time just now?"

Hearing this, Yang Sui looked at Duan Rong with a stunned expression and said: "You heard it too?"

Duan Rong nodded and said: "When you stopped, I also stopped twice."

Guo Tian looked toward Duan Rong, seemingly waiting for his opinion.

Duan Rong said: "Let's move quickly! Let's leave here as soon as possible!"

The group immediately resumed their formation and continued walking forward.

This time, their pace had clearly quickened by a lot; they knew there was something in the darkness, very likely an Evil Spirit. Their pace quickened, but they were also paying even more attention to the situation in the surrounding darkness.

The group had not walked far forward when Su Xinjue suddenly caught a glimpse of a black shadow in the darkness to her right, flashing past with terrifying speed.

Su Xinjue let out a cry and said: "Something just flashed past over there."

From the front of the group, Guo Tian's cold and resolute voice came: "Maintain formation! Move quickly!"

They continued walking forward without slowing down. Since Su Xinjue said something had flashed from the darkness on the right, everyone's attention was focused on the darkness to the right; perhaps that Evil Spirit was hiding over there at this moment.

Even Jiang Hanyan, who was standing on the left side of the group keeping watch, glanced toward that darkness from time to time, as if something terrifying in that thick darkness were staring at her...

Just then, she suddenly heard a burst of faint rustling sounds nearby.

Her heart skipped a beat, and she turned her head abruptly; in that instant, she saw a pair of pitch-black eyeballs filled with dripping bloodshot veins staring fixedly at her from the darkness.

Before Jiang Hanyan could even scream, something dark-green lunged out from the darkness.

That thing was like a large rat, its movements extremely agile; with one lunge, it had already pounced onto her back.

Jiang Hanyan screamed repeatedly in terror. At this moment, everyone saw the thing: it was a creature with a massive head and thin limbs, the head taking up almost half of its body, with crimson eyes and a dark-green body—it was clearly a "Ghost Infant" Evil Spirit!

The ghost infant was extremely agile, flashing and climbing across Jiang Hanyan's back, waist, and between her legs...

Jiang Hanyan was so terrified that her whole body trembled; she dared not reach out to swat it, tears welled up in her eyes, and she cried out urgently for help...

The others did not know what evil arts this ghost infant Evil Spirit possessed, so for a moment they dared not get close. Guo Tian drew the broad-bladed saber from his back and lunged over, but the ghost infant's speed was too fast, and since it was climbing on Jiang Hanyan, he found himself in a difficult position, fearing that if he struck rashly, he would not only fail to injure the ghost infant but would instead harm Jiang Hanyan.

Just then, a silver light suddenly flashed; Duan Rong had already put on his Phosphor Silk Gloves and swiped at the ghost infant.

The ghost infant's speed was incredibly fast, and Duan Rong also unleashed his Capture techniques. For a moment, one could only see two streaks of light—one dark blue, one silver—leaping and flickering all around Jiang Hanyan!

Duan Rong was greatly shocked; even with his full cultivation realm unleashed, he was unable to capture the ghost infant for the time being.

After a standoff, Duan Rong had no choice but to jump back, his expression somewhat grim.

At this moment, the "ghost infant" Evil Spirit had its two slender arms hooked over Jiang Hanyan's shoulders, hanging its entire dark blue body on her back, and looked at Duan Rong with a pair of bloodshot, eerie, and terrifying eyes; a flicker of playfulness actually flashed within those eerie, terrifying eyes.

Jiang Hanyan knew the ghost infant was clinging to her back, but she dared not move recklessly; she only turned her head while sobbing, looked at Duan Rong, and pleaded, "Duan Rong, save me..."

"Jiang Hanyan, don't move!" Guo Tian suddenly roared. A cold light flashed, and the broad-bladed saber in his hand slashed toward the ghost infant hanging on Jiang Hanyan's back.

The ghost infant's blue shadow flashed, and it darted to the front of Jiang Hanyan's waist, wrapping its two hands around her waist.

As soon as the ghost infant hugged her waist, it raised its head and gave an eerie smile at Jiang Hanyan, who was hanging her head and weeping. Jiang Hanyan shuddered in fear. At this moment, a silver light flashed, and the palm wind from Duan Rong had already arrived. The ghost infant swayed and once again hugged Jiang Hanyan's lower back.

Guo Tian and Duan Rong's pincer attack failed to harm even a single hair on the ghost infant.

Guo Tian said angrily, "Jiang Hanyan, stand still and don't move, so I don't accidentally hurt you. Duan Rong, leave Jiang Hanyan's back to me, and you take the front!"

"Alright!"

As soon as Duan Rong spat out the word "alright," Guo Tian's broad-bladed saber slashed down from above, almost grazing Jiang Hanyan's back. Duan Rong's hands also flashed with silver light, waiting in front of Jiang Hanyan; the moment the ghost infant darted over, he would strike with a palm.

But just then, a blue shadow flashed over Duan Rong's right arm. The ghost infant did not dart to the front of Jiang Hanyan at all; instead, it leaped up, jumped directly onto Duan Rong's right arm, and then used the momentum to vault onto Duan Rong's back.

Duan Rong gave a forceful shake, turning his back toward Guo Tian, and shouted, "Brother Guo! It's here!"

Guo Tian shifted his blade and slashed toward Duan Rong's back.

The ghost infant's blue shadow darted, and it leaped down.

As soon as the ghost infant landed, it sensed a red shadow beside it. It turned its head abruptly, only to see a blood-red Red Bridal Veil drifting down from above.

The ghost infant was so scared that its soul flew out of its body!

The ghost infant had just been clinging to Duan Rong's backpack, and when it jumped down, it had accidentally brought out the Red Bridal Veil that Duan Rong had previously put inside!

Seeing the drifting Red Bridal Veil, the ghost infant acted as if it had seen something extremely terrifying; it let out a strange cry, darted into the darkness, and vanished.

Seeing the Red Bridal Veil drifting to the ground, the others thought the "ghost bride" Evil Spirit was chasing them again, and their faces turned deathly pale!

Duan Rong said, "I destroyed the ghost face under that Red Bridal Veil earlier, so I just grabbed one to study it."

The others looked at Duan Rong with strange expressions, but they also breathed a secret sigh of relief.

Du Wan said, "That ghost infant just now... seemed very afraid of this Red Bridal Veil..."

Duan Rong nodded, his eyes flickering. The ghost infant had clearly been scared away by this Red Bridal Veil just now; otherwise, it probably would have jumped onto someone else.

At this time, Jiang Hanyan was crouching there, covering her face and sobbing; she had clearly been terrified just now. Su Xinjue was crouching beside her, patting her shoulder and comforting her.

Duan Rong bent down and used his Phosphor Silk Gloves to pick up the blood-red Red Bridal Veil that had drifted to the ground.

"Huh! This is..."

After Duan Rong picked up the Red Bridal Veil, his gaze froze. On the ground illuminated by the firelight, where the Red Bridal Veil had just been covering, there was actually a slender leaf.

The edges of the leaf were serrated, and there were small white spots on its surface.

Duan Rong's eyes moved; he picked up the leaf and sniffed it under his nose.

Du Wan leaned over, took a look, and said, "It looks like a leaf from a mature Green Flame Grass!"

Duan Rong nodded; this was indeed a leaf from a mature Green Flame Grass, characterized by those small white spots on the surface of the leaf.

Duan Rong pinched the leaf and looked into the surrounding darkness.

They had not seen any Green Flame Grass along the way, so where did this leaf come from? It was very likely that it had been stuck to the ghost infant and brought over by it.

In other words, the ghost infant was related to the Green Flame Grass.

The reason Duan Rong had entered the God-Demon Relic was for the Red Arrow Flower and the Green Flame Grass, these two Divine Medicines.

The Red Arrow Flower was easy to obtain, but the growth environment for this Green Flame Grass was quite harsh, and mature specimens were even rarer.

Thinking of this, Duan Rong's eyes shifted; this space was not only a shaded area but also quite damp, which was exactly the rare growth habitat for Green Flame Grass.

It was actually not strange that there were mature specimens of Green Flame Grass here.

Duan Rong stared blankly into the surrounding darkness; he knew that somewhere in this darkness, there must be mature specimens of Green Flame Grass.

(End of this chapter)