Chapter 66

The direction Tan Ba pointed was exactly a famous location in Wulong Mountain—the Heavenly Pit Drum. The so-called Heavenly Pit Drum was a deep sinkhole with a radius of more than half a mile, sinking more than twenty zhang. Looking down from Jade Maiden Peak, it looked just like a large drum buried in the ground, except that the drum skin above the large drum had been broken.

Liu Xiaolou had also been to the Heavenly Pit Drum before. Apart from the special terrain, there was nothing unusual. The forests and shrubs that should grow under the pit were all there, and many bats and poisonous insects made it their home, especially with dense mosquitoes, making it unsuitable for long-term residence. Therefore, no fellow daoist of Wulong Mountain would choose to settle here.

But the Heavenly Pit Drum at this moment was different from the past. A huge vine grew from the bottom of the pit, rising several zhang above the ground, looking like a mountain. The long vine branches danced and swayed in all directions, baring fangs and brandishing claws. The top of the vine was like the head of a giant beast, where ferocious eyes and a large mouth with sharp teeth could be vaguely seen.

It was not just a mountain, but a demon!

Liu Xiaolou's eyes stared straight. Like Tan Ba, he was so shocked that his mouth could not close—when did such a giant demon grow in Wulong Mountain? He had heard of demons, but he had never seen one in his life, let alone such a giant demon. His jaw truly dropped in shock.

More than ten Mountain Gods surrounded the Heavenly Pit Drum, tall and short, large and small, each with its own form. Only when looking carefully did he discover that among the dancing branches of the vine demon, there was a Mountain God three zhang tall, wearing a flaming golden crown and a purple-gold jade belt, holding a Phoenix-Wing Gilded Halberd, fighting fiercely with the demon vine.

This Mountain God's figure was less than one-tenth of the demon vine, but he was agile, moving and shifting with extreme flexibility. Although the long vine arms danced by the demon vine were as dense as a net, they could never touch him in the slightest. Instead, he burned them with the flames spewing from his Phoenix-Wing Gilded Halberd, causing bursts of black smoke.

But after all, the disparity in size was too great, and the demon vine was extremely resistant to burning. After burning one vine, a new one would grow, and the vine net formed became denser and denser, and its direction became more and more precise, gradually suppressing the Mountain God into a precarious situation.

After watching for a long time, Tan Ba was very anxious and said indignantly, "What are these Qingyu Sect people doing? Are they just sitting by and watching the tiger fight? With such a giant demon, why talk about rules? Wouldn't it be better to swarm it? This is demon extermination!"

After all, treating Wulong Mountain as home, Liu Xiaolou and Tan Ba had the same thoughts. At this moment, they only hoped that the Qingyu Sect would exterminate this demon as soon as possible; otherwise, how could they return home in the future?

As for the three sects fighting one sect, that could be discussed after the demon was exterminated!

Standing on Jade Maiden Peak, the surroundings could be seen quite clearly. The Qingyu Sect experts were all gathered at the Heavenly Pit Drum. They also left manpower at the Northwest Half-Acre Gorge and the Southeast Guzhang Mountain as peripheral guards. There were also people at Ghost Dream Cliff, but they were not the main force. Most of their attention was focused on the Heavenly Pit Drum, and they were not very concerned about the three sects that were about to attack from outside the mountain.

After watching for a while longer, Liu Xiaolou suddenly understood a little and said, "Is the Qingyu Sect honing its disciples?"

Tan Ba also saw the clues and muttered, "Is this how they hone them? Truly a prominent sect..."

Liu Xiaolou pointed to Ghost Dream Cliff: "Brother Tan!"

On Ghost Dream Cliff, a golden-armored Mountain God was climbing the cliff. Because his figure was over a zhang tall, he looked very conspicuous. Under his arm, he was also clutching a person.

Arriving at the stone cave on the cliff, the golden-armored Mountain God put down the person he was clutching. The Qingyu Sect cultivators guarding in front of the stone cave stepped forward to lift the person, pulling and dragging him, pushing him into the cave.

That person had clearly had his meridians sealed and was unable to resist. Before being pushed into the stone cave, he still turned his head to look at the surrounding peaks, hoping that someone would come to save him, but after looking for only a few glances, he was kicked in the butt by a guard and flew into the cave, disappearing.

The light of the golden-armored Mountain God gradually faded, turning into a fifteen or sixteen-year-old boy. He took the cowhide wine bag handed over by the guard and took a large gulp.

The guard said respectfully, "Young Master has worked hard."

The boy said, "It can't be called hard work, but this fellow is unruly. After seeing my manifestation, he still dared to resist, wasting some of my effort."

The guard laughed, "Such wild cultivators are stubborn; just kill them. Why did Young Master capture him? What is the use?"

The boy shook his head, "He didn't confess anything either, just pointed out a tunnel, saying he wanted to perform a meritorious service. But there are many rats running rampant on Wulong Mountain, and ten or eight such hiding places have long been discovered. What is strange about it? It's just that his identity and background are unknown, so I'll investigate in detail later."

As he spoke, he turned and walked away, "I'll go patrol the mountain again to prevent those sects from sending people to disturb Brother Jing's training. By the way, there are thieves who want to meet at Jade Maiden Peak. Who knows about Jade Maiden Peak? That fellow didn't confess clearly either..."

The guard said, "Young Master, wait a moment. I'll go in and find a wild cultivator familiar with this place to ask..."

The trees on Ghost Dream Cliff were sparse, with little cover. Tan Ba saw it clearly from Jade Maiden Peak and could not help but feel gloomy: "Brother Hutou..."

Liu Xiaolou was also very regretful: "He is still a very good person. Why did he fail?"

Tan Ba's eyes were slightly red: "Brother Hutou is a good person. I have known him for less than a month, but he is heroic and broad-minded, enthusiastic as fire. Although he is a rogue cultivator wandering the world, he has the demeanor of a prominent sect. Interacting with him makes one admire him!"

Liu Xiaolou blamed himself deeply: "It's my fault. I shouldn't have agreed to let him split up to investigate. He is unfamiliar with the terrain, so it's inevitable that he would be captured."

Tan Ba said painfully, "Now that a great battle is about to start, being captured while investigating the mountain must mean he is regarded as a spy. Brother Hutou is so heroic and righteous, he will definitely keep his mouth shut. In this way, I fear he is finished!"

Liu Xiaolou broke three branches and stuck them in the ground: "Brother Tan, since we have known each other, let us pay our respects."

So the two bowed three times to the branches.

This time, the purpose of entering the mountain to scout had been achieved, and the harvest was not small. It was important to leave the mountain quickly to receive the reward. Just as they were about to descend the mountain, a huge change suddenly occurred in the Heavenly Pit Drum. The Mountain God who was fighting fiercely with the demon vine suddenly erupted with purple light. Even though they were on the top of Jade Maiden Peak, Liu Xiaolou and Tan Ba were dazzled and could not open their eyes.

Following the sudden eruption of purple light, muffled thunder rolled, shaking the mountains. The huge demon vine burst open in the light, and countless burning vine branches flew in all directions.

The two were shaken by the muffled thunder until their eardrums ached, and they were instantly deafened, looking at each other in horror.

Tan Ba was shouting something, his face ferocious, and Liu Xiaolou could not hear clearly either.

Liu Xiaolou also shouted loudly: "Quickly—run—"

But he could not even hear his own voice. Although he could not hear, the shattered bodies of the demon vine flying all over the sky were about to fall with flames. It was the right thing to leave quickly.

Who knew if one would be injured after being touched by such firelight that could shatter the demon vine!

A ball of fire flew over Jade Maiden Peak, then burst open again. Liu Xiaolou and Tan Ba rolled and crawled to escape down the peak, both shouting, one yelling "Jump," the other yelling "Ah"...

Liu Xiaolou only felt a heat in his throat, as if something had crawled into his stomach.

When the two finally rolled down from Jade Maiden Peak and found a quiet place, Tan Ba bent over and vomited violently, vomiting a ball of bloody phlegm. A seed in the phlegm was rolling in the blood foam, just like a living thing.

The seed rolled and struggled for a while, then turned into foam in the wind. Tan Ba gasped for air and said, "That was close!"

Liu Xiaolou, on the side, was so anxious that he shouted, "Brother Tan, why can't I vomit it out?"