Chapter 120: There Was Originally No Path in the World

Tang Luo stood, his hands hanging loosely at his sides, unmoving.

The snake demons also remained still, the one beneath his feet included, allowing Tang Luo to stand on its head.

"Such violent, chaotic demonic aura—it basically can't attain cultivation, it's hopeless," Tang Luo said, his eyes refocusing as he spoke.

The heavy pressure that had solidified into substance, imprisoning all the snake demons, suddenly eased.

Like a flood bursting through a dam, it poured out, and the motionless snake demons instantly went mad, opening their blood-filled maws and lunging at Tang Luo.

There were simply too many; many bit other snake demons, yet did not stop—instead, they frenziedly tore into and devoured each other.

Tang Luo pressed his palms together before his chest, and his feet sank slightly.

The snake demons around his feet exploded outward, revealing a circular expanse of blood-red "empty ground."

His clasped hands blurred, appearing less solid, as palm shadows and fist shadows filled the air around Tang Luo.

Thousand Hands cannot defend!

This time it was not for digging, but for its true purpose—slaughter!

Every snake head that came near Tang Luo burst upon contact with the blurred hand shadows, blooming blood mist filling the midair.

Moreover, the flying bone fragments, teeth, and even bits of flesh all turned into terrifying weapons.

In less than half a minute, Tang Luo was surrounded by piled-up remnants of snake bodies, nearly burying him, thick dark blood flooding over him—only to be blocked by the faint light emitted from the Merit Jade Lotus.

Tang Luo leapt up, stepping on the head of a snake demon that had lunged at him, then pushed off a stone pillar, touching its top with his hand.

As he was about to land, he touched the bottom of the pillar again.

He reached out and grabbed—Tang Luo's hand felt like it sank into tofu as he pulled free the stone pillar, too thick for two people to embrace, holding it in his hand and sweeping it outward as a weapon!

A dull, howling sound echoed in this nearly sealed cavern, gradually forming a raging wind.

In the gale, blood rain drifted.

Truly, a wind of stench and blood!

"Boom!"

A tremendous roar shook the cavern twice, the stone pillar driven into the ground by Tang Luo's blow, standing upright beside him.

The cavern now had almost no intact snake demons—only remnants everywhere, blood staining the ceiling dark red.

Only Tang Luo remained unstained, his monk's robe and even the soles of his feet untouched by a single drop of blood.

In this blood-soaked, filthy space, the "white lotus" instead gave off an extreme sense of eeriness and danger.

"The snake demoness isn't here after all." No pillar of light descended to indicate Tang Luo had completed his task.

A nest of snake demons, with no demoness he needed to subdue.

"But..."

Tang Luo grabbed the stone pillar again, pulled it free, swept it before him, clearing a space.

On the cleared ground lay a snake demon that appeared mostly intact, save for blurred flesh on its tail.

The moment it was swept out, the snake demon sprang up—not to attack Tang Luo, but to flee.

Tang Luo would not let this "escaped snake" get away; he dropped the pillar, leapt after it, caught up in an instant, and pressed his hand to its head.

However, Tang Luo did not unleash force to explode its head, but instead deployed the Soul-Degree!

For a moment, extreme resentment and yin energy condensed into the deepest black, filling the entire underground space.

Ordinary people in such resentment would likely die within seconds.

Even a first- or second-stage God-Demon Walker would likely feel suffocated, icy, and pressured from all sides by endless pressure.

Tang Luo's soul grasped a gourd.

Same shape as Liu Jian's soul, but much larger.

Yet unlike Liu Jian's gourd, formed from a single human shape twisted into one, this gourd was made of many people fused together.

Seven... twisted faces screamed, intense resentment pouring from the enlarged black mouth and hollow eyes.

"Seven gourd babies?"

Tang Luo understood what Liu Jian meant by "many"—that "this isn't really a gourd baby" was the meaning.

The "gourd" before him clearly had half a foot already stepped into the gate of "fallen evil."

"Uh—could it be I made this?" Tang Luo couldn't help but freeze for a moment.

When he first slapped the giant snake to death with an empty palm, he had vaguely felt something, like when he struck Liu Jian in the lake—something had escaped from within.

As expected, this is the gourd baby—temporarily call it that—the trap he had made.

It had lured Tang Luo into a cavern teeming with snake demons.

At first he had been cautious, but in the end Tang Luo had indeed caught the gourd baby, suspecting it was no good thing, yet never imagining it would be like this.

Seven gourd babies squeezed and twisted into one—could it be because Tang Luo destroyed their original gourds?

"No, it's not that simple..."

Such intense resentment, twisted fusion—absolutely not something formed overnight.

Just as Tang Luo dazed for a moment, the gourd's primordial spirit began to struggle, seeking to break free from his "control."

Tang Luo instinctively clenched his hand, and the gourd's primordial spirit shattered under his power, vanishing without trace.

"It ran away."

Lowering his hand, Tang Luo furrowed his brow—the gourd's primordial spirit hadn't died, but had severed its tail to survive, fleeing.

Quite strong, or rather, possessing a notable trait—not so easily killed.

Eliminating these violent snake demons likewise granted Tang Luo some merit power, exceeding that from killing the toads.

Around him lay some scattered white bones, resembling human bones to a degree.

Surveying the surroundings, this cavern had only one entrance, now sealed shut, becoming a dead end—unknown where that gourd primordial spirit had fled to.

This time, there was no need for another large-scale AOE; doing so again would be like burying himself alive.

Tang Luo walked to the stone pillar on the ground and reached out to press his hand against it.

Enlightenment!

Light covered the stone pillar for a moment, then slowly faded away.

"This strength should be about right." He reached out and grabbed the stone pillar, setting it upright again. Tang Luo raised his right hand and threw it upward.

Then, he kicked with his left foot, striking the base of the stone pillar.

With a deep, muffled boom, the stone pillar shot up like a rocket, instantly bursting through the hole above, like a drill, soaring straight to the horizon!

There was originally no path in the world; opening one up is just a normal operation.

"I didn't expect there to be a village here."

"Hidden so deeply, if it weren't for that sudden earthquake, we might not have discovered it."

Tang Luo entered the labyrinthine underground world.

Qin Menglan and the others, meanwhile, found a village, a village hidden in a forest far denser than the surrounding woods.

If it weren't for the earthquake affecting this area as well, they might not have necessarily discovered this place.

Naturally, everyone walked into the village, hoping to find relevant clues.

At the center of the village was an abandoned dry well, and the entire village was deserted, with not a single person.

Various wooden huts radiated outward from the dry well in all directions, arranged haphazardly.

The tallest wooden hut had two floors, while the vast majority were single-story, just like the ones Qin Menglan and the others had seen outside, built from stone and wood together.

Many wooden huts also had small sheds on either side, enclosed by bamboo fences outside.

"It feels like it's been abandoned for quite a while, but why isn't there even a single weed growing?" Qin Menglan said.

The ground beneath their feet, including around the huts, showed not a trace of weeds.

Theoretically, after being abandoned for a period of time, such a place should definitely be overgrown with weeds, reclaimed by nature.

Moreover, even if people lived in this village, it would be impossible to clear the weeds so thoroughly.

"This place isn't small; let's split up to find clues faster." Zhao Gelun said, these guys are just dragging their feet.

After saying that, everyone ended up looking at him with a strange gaze.

The scene felt very familiar.

Zhao Gelun immediately became unhappy. Others aside, Jin Gang, why are you also looking at me like that?

"Haven't you watched horror movies?" Jin Gang said.

"No, I don't like watching that kind of film." Zhao Gelun said.

"Even if you haven't seen them, you know the rule 'splitting up means certain death,' right? Even if you don't die, something bad will definitely happen." Jin Gang said.

"Huh?" Zhao Gelun froze for a moment, "Then why did you initially split up with us?"

Others aside, Jin Gang, what gives you the right to say that? You clearly were the first one to split off from everyone.

"First, back then the surroundings weren't dangerous. Second, back then I also had confidence in myself." Jin Gang said.

"But now there isn't?"

"No." Jin Gang's voice sank slightly, "This mission is more dangerous than we imagined."

"Don't be afraid; if we work together, we can definitely accomplish this!" Zhao Gelun said.

"... I said this to remind you not to act recklessly, not to have you comfort me." Jin Gang said, tone dissatisfied, "Old man, do I look like someone who needs comforting?"

"Oh, oh." Zhao Gelun responded twice.

"Meow!"

At that moment, the Xiao Tian Quan, which had been quietly sitting on Qin Menglan's shoulder, suddenly jumped to the ground and let out a cat's cry.

Unlike the cute "meow meow meow," this cat-like cry sounded somewhat mournful, a threatening low growl.

"There's something! Be careful!" Qin Menglan said, she remembered that "the dog" had quite impressive detection abilities.

Last time it even uncovered the hidden "Little Li Flying Dagger."

"Where?"

Zhao Gelun instantly entered a combat state, his aura sharp and alert.

"..." Qin Menglan looked at the Xiao Tian Quan, indicating the direction—danger should come from there.

But this time, the Xiao Tian Quan wasn't frozen, staring fixedly in one direction; instead, it slowly turned its body—meaning danger came from all around.

"Maybe, danger is everywhere." Qin Menglan took a deep breath and said.

Could it be that giant toad again?

But the surrounding forest is absolutely not a place where such a toad could roam freely.

"Someone!"

Zhao Gelun suddenly shouted loudly, and everyone looked toward the direction he pointed.

Behind a small hut, an arm stretched out, almost stopping at the roof's position.

Although it's only one story, this level is still over two meters high.

Under normal circumstances, an ordinary person wouldn't deliberately raise their hand to stop at such a height—was he planning to crawl out from behind the hut?

"... Not human." Yun Xuanhuan said.

On the roof of the wooden hut, a pair of antlers slowly appeared, resembling deer antlers somewhat.

Then, a deer head emerged.

Except, this deer head was a white bone skull, with two black eye sockets, though there were no eyeballs inside.

Everyone also felt a sensation of being stared at by it.

"Playing ghost tricks!"

Ye Kai Yunxiao Huan let out a cold snort, flicked his left hand, and a stone flew out, heading straight for the deer's head.

The white skull shattered upon impact with the stone.

It looked fragile, far lacking the shocking presence it had when it first appeared.

After all that fuss, it turned out to be a dud?

"Good grief... I go, what is this!" Zhao Gelun's voice came with a wave of uncontrollable nausea and dry heaving.