Chapter 165 - 161: Gazing into the Abyss

Chapter 165: Chapter 161: Gazing into the Abyss

"Chen Yue, how dare you slaughter the Lord’s people like this!"

A shrill voice exploded from the depths of the black shadow, a sound that mixed Cui’s piercing shriek with Chen Yuqing’s cold tone.

The two tones intertwined, forming a bizarre duet.

Chen Yue ignored the voice. His Palm Force continued to press deeper, his Qi and Blood Power pouring into the shadow’s interior inch by inch, like molten iron.

Cracks began to appear on the shadow’s surface. They grew larger and deeper, extending from the exterior all the way to its core.

In the deepest part of the fissures, Chen Yue saw a black channel.

The edges of the channel squirmed continuously, like the wound of some living creature.

Chen Yue’s gaze passed through the channel and fell upon a place far beyond.

Then, he saw a city gate.

It was an archway of blue-gray stone, and on the lintel above were three large characters: Youlin County.

Chen Yue’s eyes widened slightly. His gaze passed over the city gate, looking deeper within.

Inside the gate, he saw a large number of the former civilians of Youlin County, walking back and forth on the streets.

They moved like puppets on strings, their faces expressionless, their eyes empty and vacant, as if their souls had been ripped from their bodies.

As Chen Yue watched them, an indescribably complex emotion welled up inside him.

The moment Chen Yue saw them, they all stopped moving. At the exact same time, they turned in unison.

All their gazes passed through the city gate, through the black channel, through the endless void, and landed squarely on Chen Yue.

"Drag him in! Drag him in!"

Cui’s sharp roar erupted from the depths of the shadow, her voice filled with a frenzied excitement, as if she had been waiting for this moment for a very, very long time.

Chen Yue looked up and saw the faces of Cui and Chen Yuqing in the depths of the shadow.

Cui’s face was twisted almost beyond recognition. Her features were scrunched together, her mouth gaped open, and her eyes were filled with crazed, bloodshot veins.

Chen Yuqing’s face was ashen, without a trace of color, like a sheet of white paper. Her lips were a dark purple, and her eyes were fixed on Chen Yue, his figure reflected in her pupils.

As Cui’s words fell, a multitude of ghostly hands began to surge out from the depths of the black channel.

They reached out from the channel’s darkness. These ghostly hands were not grabbing for Chen Yue’s body. Their target was his Heart Spirit.

At the same time, all the figures inside Youlin County rushed out of the city gate.

They were incredibly fast, no longer moving with their previous slowness, but swarming recklessly toward Chen Yue’s Heart Spirit.

In an instant, a terrifying, chilling Yin Qi enveloped Chen Yue’s Heart Spirit.

"ROAR!"

The celestial tiger roared.

The Heart Tiger in Chen Yue’s Sea of Consciousness erupted with its full power at this moment.

The tiger’s roar exploded within his Heart Spirit, like a sun rising in the darkness. The ghostly hands that had just seized his Heart Spirit shattered inch by inch in the blast.

The onrushing ghosts shrieked miserably at the sound of the roar and scrambled back. Some were even directly shaken until their souls shattered and scattered.

The entire black channel began to distort violently, and the previously stable fissures started to crumble.

Chen Yue stared at Cui. The next instant, a flash of saber light shot out from his Heart Spirit.

Furious Wave Saber Intent—Godslaying!

Cui had no time to react.

As the saber light passed, a perfectly straight cut appeared on Cui’s form, running from the crown of her head to her jaw and splitting her body in two.

Cui’s distorted expression froze.

Her eyes were still wide, but the madness and excitement that had filled them were rapidly fading, replaced by a look of utter disbelief.

She had thought she was hiding in a safe place, that Chen Yue could never possibly harm her.

But that flash of saber light had struck her very existence.

Endless resentment emanated from Cui’s body. A rotten stench poured out from her bisected form.

She did not find release. On the contrary, in her final moment before death, she felt a pain more intense and a resentment deeper than any she had known in life.

Her lips trembled, as if trying to say something, but no sound came out.

Then, her body began to dissipate.

Nothing was left behind.

Chen Yuqing’s expression changed drastically. No longer trying to drag away Chen Yue’s Heart Spirit, her figure flickered and transformed into a black shadow, frantically rushing toward the Youlin County gate.

Chen Yue’s gaze followed her retreating form. The Furious Wave Saber Intent in his Heart Spirit gathered once more, ready to strike again, but he subconsciously raised his head.

A giant, crimson eye had appeared above the city gate at some unknown point.

A chill rose from within Chen Yue’s Heart Spirit. The crumbling channel instantly stopped breaking apart.

Chen Yue’s expression flickered. He condensed his Furious Wave Saber Intent to its peak and slashed at the crumbling point of the channel.

The saber light flashed. The channel, already at its breaking point, could no longer hold and collapsed with a BOOM.

Shards flew in all directions. The chill that had emanated from Youlin County vanished the instant the channel closed.

「In the courtyard.」

The red glow of the lanterns became clear again, and a gentle breeze once more brushed against their cheeks.

The people who had collapsed to the ground let out low groans as they slowly regained consciousness. Shen Dujiang was supporting Lin Quan, while Hu Shaoyu clutched his saber, both of their faces etched with tension and worry.

Chen Yue’s eyes snapped open.

He found himself standing in the center of the courtyard, holding the posture of a palm strike, the red halo in his palm slowly receding.

Shi Zhen Shu’s body lay a short distance from his feet. Her face was pale, but the rise and fall of her chest proved she was still alive.

Chen Yue took a deep breath and slowly exhaled. But the image of that crimson eye lingered in his mind, impossible to dismiss.

’That Mountain Monarch... it seems to have grown even stronger.’

Chen Yue couldn’t help but narrow his eyes, a grave look flashing in their depths.

’If that Mountain Monarch were to truly appear here, with my current strength, I probably wouldn’t survive a single encounter.’

It was not an existence that someone in the Marrow Refining Realm or even the Refining Organ Realm could fight. It was a terrifying demon that even Innate Realm experts would have to face with utmost gravity.

’Fortunately, it hasn’t arrived yet!’

Chen Yue lowered his head, and his gaze suddenly fixed on a black object gleaming faintly not far from Shi Zhen Shu’s body.

It was irregularly shaped, with edges as sharp as a blade and a surface as smooth as a black mirror.

Chen Yue crouched down, reached out, and gently picked up the shard with his fingertips.

The instant he touched it, an icy sensation spread from his fingertips, but it was quickly dispelled by the Qi Blood automatically circulating within his body.

He held the shard up to his eyes and studied it for a moment. It strongly resembled a fragment of the black channel from before.

After a moment’s thought, Chen Yue placed the shard into his Storage Ring.

’This might be useful later,’ he thought.

The courtyard suddenly fell silent again, the red light of the lanterns still swaying gently.

Shen Dujiang and Hu Shaoyu approached Chen Yue at almost the same time. Shen Dujiang looked at Shi Zhen Shu on the ground, a flash of killing intent in his eyes.

Just as Shen Dujiang was about to fully draw his long saber, a hand blocked him.

"It has nothing to do with her. She was just coincidentally possessed," Chen Yue said in a low voice.

His gaze fell on Shi Zhen Shu’s face. It was now pale as paper, her lips bloodless. Her brow was slightly furrowed, as if she were enduring some unseen pain.

This was the body of an ordinary woman, with no foundation in the Martial Dao.

The ghosts had chosen to possess her not because she was strong, but precisely because she was weak.

Shen Dujiang’s hand paused, the blade halting at the mouth of the scabbard. He didn’t draw it any further. Hu Shaoyu let out a long sigh.

"Chen, what in the world just happened?"

Hu Shaoyu’s voice was strained, with the rasp of someone who had just survived a disaster. "Those things just now... those two faces... What were they?"

Chen Yue frowned and remained silent for a moment.

"The two ghosts you saw were people from the former Chen Family. One was named Cui, the other Chen Yuqing."

He paused, his gaze shifting slightly to glance at Lin Quan, who was still unconscious nearby.

"They were acquaintances of mine and Master Lin’s."

Shen Dujiang’s and Hu Shaoyu’s eyes widened simultaneously. That disaster was something they had escaped with their lives.

They had thought that by escaping to Celestial State Prefecture, those things could no longer catch up to them.

But now?

Those things had found them.

Shen Dujiang’s voice was a little dry. "To think it even involves people from Youlin County... Is it that Mountain Monarch?"

"We’re so far from Youlin County,"

Hu Shaoyu’s voice sounded faint. "Is that Mountain Monarch already that powerful? Or could it be..."

He paused. An even more terrifying thought surfaced in his mind, making his face turn a few shades paler.

"That the Mountain Monarch is right outside Celestial State City?"

This speculation was even more unsettling than the first.

Shen Dujiang shook his head.

"If it were really outside Celestial State City, with all the experts here, all the Innate Realm masters, would they all be completely unaware?"

Celestial State City was a Prefecture City, filled with experts as numerous as clouds. The Panshi Sect’s main gate was just outside the city, and they had more than one Innate Realm expert.

If the Mountain Monarch were truly lurking outside Celestial State City, given its aura and Yin Qi, it would be impossible for it to go completely undetected.

But if it wasn’t outside the city, how did those Chong Ghosts find them?

A flicker passed through Shen Dujiang’s eyes, as if he were searching for something in his memory.

"I once heard that when a person becomes a ghost, the first thing they do is seek out the people closest to them. These Chong Ghosts... could it be the same for them?"

Shen Dujiang looked at Hu Shaoyu, as if seeking confirmation.

Hearing this, Hu Shaoyu thought for a moment. "There does seem to be a saying like that. Ghosts don’t find people with their eyes; they rely on a kind of unseen connection, like the string of a kite. No matter how far it flies, there’s always someone holding the other end."

He stopped abruptly at this point, as if he’d remembered something.

"But so many people died in Youlin County. Why did only they come looking for Master Lin?"

Hu Shaoyu’s brow furrowed into a knot. "We lived in Youlin County for so many years and knew plenty of people. How come not a single ghost has come looking for me?"

"Are you saying you actually want a ghost to come find you personally?" Shen Dujiang glanced at Hu Shaoyu, the corner of his mouth twitching slightly.

Hu Shaoyu’s expression changed, and he quickly waved his hands. "That’s not what I meant! I just find it strange. Why Master Lin specifically?"

Shen Dujiang didn’t answer Hu Shaoyu’s question immediately. His gaze lingered on Shi Zhen Shu on the ground for a moment before rising to look at Lin Quan, who was still leaning against a nearby wall.

"It must be because Lin’s Qi Blood is weak, so he was targeted."

He paused, then pointed a finger first at Chen Yue, then at himself and Hu Shaoyu.

"Needless to say, Chen’s Qi Blood is as vigorous as a furnace; Ghostly Creatures would be burned just by getting close. You and I have some Martial Arts, and while our Qi Blood is no match for Chen’s, evil spirits can’t lock onto us either."

Hu Shaoyu nodded in agreement.

"Besides, I suspect the Mountain Monarch didn’t send these Chong Ghosts just for us."

Shen Dujiang’s eyes glinted slightly. "Celestial State Prefecture is a Prefecture City, filled with experts. The Mountain Monarch sending its Chong Ghosts here might well be its way of probing Celestial State Prefecture."

A look of understanding dawned in Hu Shaoyu’s eyes. The things that had been muddled and confusing suddenly became clear.

Just then, the people who had fainted in the courtyard began to wake up one by one.

The first to awaken was the middle-aged woman slumped over the stone table. Her fingers twitched slightly, and then her eyes shot open.