Chapter 342: A batch dies first!

The team marched to the entrance of a narrow valley.

On both sides were black cliffs up to several dozen zhang high, with no grass growing, and in the middle was a passage about two or three zhang wide, with dim light and a depressing atmosphere.

Just as the team was carefully passing through this canyon and reached the middle section, a sudden change occurred!

Influenced by the special geographical environment here and some unknown energy field permeating the air, deep inside a narrow crevice on the right cliff of the canyon that only allowed one person to pass sideways, faint, colorful, misty fog suddenly permeated.

Immediately after, a strange power that was invisible and intangible, but went straight to the human heart and hooked the deepest desires and obsessions in the bottom of the heart, spread out like water waves!

Illusion!

What everyone saw, heard, and felt in their hearts suddenly changed!

This illusion was not a simple distortion of the outside world, but acted directly on the human spirit, reflecting the strongest desire or deepest fear in everyone's heart.

"Beauty! Peerless beauty! Wait for me!"

"Profound Weapon! That's a High-Grade Profound Weapon! Mine! It's mine!"

"Dad! Mom! You're not dead? That's great!"

"Dog thief! Take your life!"

"Treasure! Endless wealth! Hahaha!"

Exclamations, wild laughter, roars, and cries erupted in the team in an instant.

At least a dozen Innate martial artists were instantly completely confused by the illusion, their eyes red, their expressions crazy, completely losing their reason, like moths to a flame, regardless of everything, rushing toward the crevice in the cliff that emitted seductive light!

They danced and made ugly gestures, making unintelligible screams, as if they were already in the world of their dreams or nightmares, turning a deaf ear to the calls and obstructions of their companions, and plunged into the depths of the dark and unknown crevice, leaving only creepy echoes reverberating in the canyon.

The remaining people, including Tong Shoutian and his guards, were also more or less affected, their faces changing, their eyes struggling, obviously trying hard to resist the temptation of the illusion that permeated everywhere.

Chen Mu also felt his spirit sway slightly, as if countless fragmented sounds and broken pictures were trying to pour into his sea of consciousness, hooking some thoughts deep in his heart.

However, as the Three-Laugh Buddha Beads quietly emitted a warm, auspicious, and barrier-breaking power, this weird spiritual intrusion instantly vanished into nothingness.

His eyes were clear, and he watched coldly as the dozen or so Innate martial artists who were completely controlled by the illusion rushed toward the crevice in the cliff like demons.

Just as they rushed to the edge of the crevice and their bodies were about to be submerged in the colorful misty fog—

Chi! Chi! Chi! Chi!

At the edge of the crevice and inside the stone wall, the black whisker-like objects that looked like ordinary vines and were seemingly still suddenly sprang up like living poisonous snakes!

These black vines were covered with dense barbs, their tips were sharp as needles, and their speed was so fast that they only left trails of afterimages in the air.

Pfft pfft pfft pfft...

A series of teeth-grinding sounds of blades entering flesh rang out!

The dozen or so martial artists, whether they saw beauty, profound weapons, relatives, or enemies, all shook their bodies at this moment!

One or several black vines precisely pierced their vital points such as chests, throats, and heads.

The moment the vines pierced in, they were like the greediest leeches, wriggling wildly to absorb the blood and vitality in their bodies!

"Ugh... ho ho..."

The madness on these people's faces instantly solidified, turning into extreme pain and fear, their eyes bulged, and their bodies withered at a speed visible to the naked eye.

Their skin lost its luster and clung to their bones, as if all the moisture and life essence had been drained in an instant, turning into hideous and terrifying mummies.

The whole process took no more than two or three breaths!

【Corpse discovered, do you wish to pick it up?】

"Yes!"

With the card in hand, Chen Mu remained calm.

"Run! Everyone wake up! Leave this place!"

Tong Shoutian's face turned pale, but he seemed to have been psychologically prepared, or he was wearing some kind of treasure to resist spiritual intrusion, and he could still keep a clear head at the moment.

While shouting loudly with his cultivation, trying to wake up his companions affected by the illusion, he quickly untied the water bottle from his waist and splashed the cold water inside onto the faces of several martial artists nearby who were struggling with their eyes and moving slowly.

The cold stimulation plus Tong Shoutian's shouting made the remaining people jump, and they broke free from the edge of the illusion.

They happened to see the terrifying scene of their companions turning into mummies, and they were so scared that their souls flew away, so how could they dare to stay?

"Run! Run fast!"

"Leave this ghost place!"

"..."

The awakened crowd, along with Tong Shoutian and his guards, no longer cared about the formation, and ran wildly toward the other end of the canyon like a frightened herd of beasts.

Chen Mu also mixed in the crowd, his speed neither fast nor slow, as if he were just following the crowd to escape.

In one breath, they rushed out of the canyon and returned to the relatively open area. Only then did the crowd stop in shock, looking back at the deep valley entrance, as if looking at a giant mouth that devoured people, with lingering fear and after-fear.

"Thank... thank you, Young Master Tong, for waking us up in time!"

"Just now... just now that was..."

"Almost planted it."

"Thank you, Young Master Shoutian!"

"..."

Everyone thanked Tong Shoutian one after another, their tone full of gratitude and lingering fear.

If it weren't for Tong Shoutian's loud shout and cold water stimulation, I'm afraid a few more people would have been folded in.

Tong Shoutian waved his hand, his face still a bit pale, and said panting, "Everyone, you are welcome. Since we are companions, we should support each other. That illusion and demon vine are weird, and although they are mentioned in the ancient book, I didn't expect them to be so dangerous. Next, everyone must be more careful, concentrate, and don't be confused by external objects again!"

Everyone nodded repeatedly. After this experience, everyone's vigilance was raised to the highest level, and no one dared to be careless anymore.

The look at Tong Shoutian also added a bit of conviction and reliance.

The team rested for a while and counted the number of people, finding that nearly a quarter of the manpower had been lost, and the atmosphere became heavy and murderous.

But there was no turning back, so everyone had to bite the bullet and continue to march toward the center of the island under Tong Shoutian's leadership.

This time, the speed of advance was much faster, and everyone held their weapons tightly, scanning every inch of land and every piece of rock around them like hawks.

In the evening, the afterglow of the setting sun dyed the island a layer of blood.

The team finally arrived at the central area of the island.

The terrain here was relatively high, and it was a bare, desolate mountain composed mainly of black rocks.

On the mountain, there were dense, large and small, bottomless wind caves. The sea breeze poured into these holes from all directions, making various high and low, shrill and sharp whistling sounds, which mixed together to form the loudest and creepiest "Ghost Cry" ensemble in this area, making people uneasy.

Tong Shoutian took out a yellowed animal skin ancient scroll and carefully identified it by comparing the surrounding terrain and the distribution of wind caves.

His eyes finally locked on a semi-collapsed wind cave at the foot of the mountain, partially covered by a few giant rocks, with a relatively large but extremely inconspicuous entrance.

He walked a few steps closer, concentrated his senses, and a look of irrepressible joy suddenly appeared on his face! ===== CHAPTER 343 =====