Chapter 199: Eight-Corner Altar

The red circles drawn on this map, with the four characters 'Heart of the Earth Vein' written inside—look at this posture, it's probably deep inside Wan Yao Gu. Zhang Jun pointed at an eye-catching mark on the animal-skin map, and beside it was a line of tiny ant-sized characters: 'Shadow''s central garrison, its strength far surpasses that of ordinary guardians; proceed with caution.

He let out a heh, flexed his wrist: "Central garrison? Sounds a bit tougher than that scrawny old geezer before. Perfect, I'm feeling fired up."

Lin Xue carefully stored the few jade slips together with the animal-skin map; the medicinal fragrance in this cave indeed nourishes one, and smelling it makes the mind feel noticeably lighter.

"According to True Person Shouyi's jade slips, the 'Heart of the Earth Vein Stabilizer' is a device the Shadow Organization uses to wreak havoc on Wan Yao Gu, and to feed earth-vein spiritual energy into something called the 'Nine Abyss Soul-Devouring Grand Formation'." Zhang Jun rubbed his chin; the Yang Jade in his palm warmed slightly, which somewhat matched his current thoughts.

"So, destroying it would cut off the Shadow Organization's roots?"

Lin Xue pondered: "That's what the jade slips say. However, True Person Shouyi also mentioned that the stabilizer is laced with deadly traps; if we barge in, we'll likely summon the entire Wan Yao Gu Shadow Organization's lackeys as soon as we act, and then we'll be in trouble."

"However," Lin Xue shifted tone, pulling from her bosom a tattered scroll of the Hundred Herbs Classic, she lightly tapped the yellowed animal-skin with her fingertip, "there's a recipe here left by True Person Shouyi, using medicinal mutual counteraction; perhaps it can cause the stabilizer to malfunction temporarily, at least letting it calm down for a while."

"Oh? Is that method reliable?" Zhang Jun leaned in.

"True Person Shouyi wrote it himself, so it shouldn't be fake. We just need a few special medicinal herbs; luckily this cave's herb garden isn't lacking." Lin Xue said, already rising and walking toward the thriving spiritual herbs.

Zhang Jun didn't ask further, standing guard warily near the cave entrance; the hunched old man who had escaped earlier remained a hidden threat.

Lin Xue, meanwhile, focused intently as she weaved through the herb garden, carefully identifying and picking the needed herbs with gentle motions, fearful of damaging these heavenly-earthly spiritual plants.

Not long after, she had finished gathering, returned to the stone platform, took out her personal small mortar, and processed those dew-covered herbs one by one—either pounding them into paste, extracting their juice, or grinding them into powder—her movements orderly; soon the air filled with a strange mixed medicinal fragrance.

Soon, two kinds of medicated ointments were prepared.

One portion was pale green, emitting a fresh, slightly bitter scent when smelled; the other was dark green, its medicinal aroma rich but not overpowering.

"Applying this pale green one to the body can conceal most of our aura," Lin Xue handed one portion to Zhang Jun, "the dark green one is an antidote, stronger than what I made before; it should let us withstand the toxic miasma outside the valley for a while."

Zhang Jun put away the ointments, then unfolded the animal-skin map, pointing at a winding thin line: "According to this map, can this route reach the core area they mentioned?"

"Mm, when True Person Shouyi investigated back then, he took this very secret passage. It's a pity he ultimately failed, but the map clearly marks the dangerous spots and hidden checkpoints along the way, which should save us considerable trouble."

The two then delayed no further, each adjusting their breath. Lin Xue, drawing on the cave's rich spiritual energy, completely dispelled the lingering traces of toxic miasma she had picked up, making her whole body feel lighter. Zhang Jun also silently circulated his inner strength, raising his condition to its peak.

"Move out." Zhang Jun rose first.

Lin Xue responded with an acknowledgement and followed behind him.

Leaving the cavern that housed the Hundred Herbs Classic, the two followed the map's guidance and slipped into an even more concealed stone-cleft passage.

This passage indeed was twisted, with seven turns and eight bends; some sections were so narrow that one had to press sideways against the stone wall to squeeze through, but consequently it avoided the overt patrols outside the herb garden.

The concealing ointment Lin Xue prepared worked extraordinarily well; combined with Zhang Jun's keen sensitivity to surrounding movements, several hidden sentries along the way were silently bypassed by them.

After feeling their way forward a stretch, Zhang Jun suddenly raised his hand, signaling Lin Xue to stop, and lowered his voice: "There's movement ahead."

The two immediately restrained their breath and hid behind a jagged rock.

Not far off, at the edge of a cliff, two individuals in black garb of the Shadow Organization were peering over the edge, muttering something.

One voice, tinged with impatience: "Is whatever's in that pot ready or not? Tonight we still have to send it over to the stabilizer's side; if we delay the Supreme's business, both our lives are forfeit!"

The other voice sounded overconfident: "Why the rush? This concoction needs a full four hours to boil; the medicinal properties won't come out otherwise. Wait another half hour and it'll be fine, no harm done."

Zhang Jun made a gesture; the two said nothing, silently circling to the other side of the cliff.

From a crack in the cliff wall looking down, there indeed was a small platform below, on which sat a large black pot, the fire beneath burning vigorously, the pot gurgling and belching black thick smoke, a pungent odd smell drifting up on the wind.

"Is the medicine they spoke of just this stuff in the pot?" Lin Xue lowered her voice.

Zhang Jun also wondered: "Something this important, just left out in the open to boil? Aren't they afraid of mishaps?"

Lin Xue focused, sniffed the strange odor carefully, then after a moment said: "What's being boiled in that pot smells like some kind of starter; it's probably not the main medicinal ingredient."

The two dared not disturb the two individuals guarding the medicine pot, and continued forward along the secret passage.

The deeper they went, the heavier the air seemed to become; Zhang Jun even felt his breathing turn somewhat sluggish.

"Something's off," he suddenly grabbed Lin Xue and halted himself, "there's something ahead; this sinister vibe is no weaker than that scrawny old geezer—it's a formidable figure."

Before his words finished, he had already yanked Lin Xue and darted into a narrow stone cleft beside them.

Almost the instant they had concealed themselves, an extremely faint yet hair-raising rustling sound accompanied by a yin wind swept past from the passage ahead.

After a while, having confirmed there was no movement outside, the two cautiously poked their heads out.

Not far ahead at a turn, several corpses clad in Shadow Organization attire lay twisted and contorted on the ground.

Their deaths were gruesome; their bodies appeared to have been forcibly twisted into knots, faces frozen in an instant of extreme terror.

Lin Xue frowned at the sight: "This doesn't look like infighting among their own."

Zhang Jun stepped forward two paces, squatted to examine one of the corpses: "Not long dead—at most half an hour. The wound… is strange, like it was torn open by some sharp claw, the edges showing signs of corrosion."

In the air, besides the bloody smell, there mingled a faint, cold, sinister qi.

The two dared not be careless, lightening their steps as much as possible, they detoured around those horrific corpses and continued feeling their way forward.

Turning a bend, the view ahead suddenly opened up.

A huge natural cavern unfolded before them.

At the exact center of the cavern stood a wholly black eight-corner altar, silently erected.