Trapped in a Maze… Again
Mu Yu, in self-denial, did another lap at a slower pace to exam everything in detail. In the end, he was back to where he was.
“It doesn’t matter how many laps you do. You’re stuck going in circles. I can tell you I’ve tried over a thousand times.”
“Is this area under elemental demons’ jurisdiction?” Mu Yu reasoned it couldn’t be the work of wood elemental demons since there weren’t plants, but it could’ve been water demons since there was a river.
“Elemental demons? Haven’t they been gone ages ago? It’s not. Why the question?”
“It’s not?”
“Elder Ageless Ku Mu set this maze. We’re trapped in it. The river bank appears to be a straight path, but you’re going in circles.”
“The river travels bends?”
“The valley and river stream are straight. Even if it is winding, it wouldn’t be a loop. We’re trapped. You can’t believe what you see in here.”
Sadly, Mu Yu didn’t have a compass. Nonetheless, there was always a way to defuse every formation.
The man queried, “What’s your name?”
“Mu Yu.
“You can call me Ol’ Tan.”
Mu Yu shifted his weight to sit down but shifted over after spotting the skeleton.
“What is this place?”
“You seriously don’t know? Didn’t anyone tell you to stay out?”
“I sneaked in, so…”
“He must be an unfortunate disciple of some sect. I presume you don’t know Ageless Ku Mu. Owing to his advanced cultivation, odd temperament, lack of affiliation with any sect at any point in time and lack of disciples, he is famous and feared. This valley used to be an ordinary place. Five years ago, the stone tablet at the entrance suddenly popped up. The text on it read, ‘There is a celestial fiend fruit in the valley. He who can retrieve it shall be rewarded handsomely.’ That was also when the dense fog overran the valley. There’s a restriction stopping anyone from Body Severing Realm and above from entering…
“People don’t know how to deal with him because of his peculiar temperament. While he’s neither good nor bad, he is a man of his word and expert on poison. One whiff is all it takes to kill cultivators. Word in the world of cultivation is that he is searching for a successor so that he can lead the life of a recluse here. The obstacles are supposed to be a test for candidates. Until today, nobody has cleared the challenge.”
Over the five years, people had died in the green mist for the fruit, seeking adventure or wanting to ask Ku Mu to take them on as a pupil. The place was eventually ruled out of bounds, and sects warned their disciples not to venture into it. In the end, though, it didn’t circumvent people from exploring it.
“I’ve never even heard of this place. We purely wanted to find some food and money,” Xiaoshuai innocently cried.
“Gathering from what you said, there should be lots of dead people, but I have only seen a dozen or so skeletons,” Mu Yu pointed out.
“The bank is not a haven for civility at night. Fiend beasts scour the riverbank for food at night and will eat anything they can get their claws on. If they have leftovers, they drag it into the water. Most of them don’t venture into the green mist section,” informed Ol’ Tan, wiping his sweaty hand on his robe.
“How come this skeleton is fully intact?” Mu Yu pointed to the skeleton next to Ol’ Tan.
“One of the fiend beast types in the water is called water-fusion fiend. Their toxin can melt human flesh. He wasn’t able to find shelter in time at nightfall and ended up one of the victims. Nobody touches anyone they killed in case the toxin spreads to them.”
“How have you avoided the fiend beasts’ attack all this time?”
“Look up. There’s a cave someone opened. That’s my safety zone. We can’t fly here, and the higher you climb, the tougher it gets.” Accompanying a sigh, Ol’ Tan added, “it’s been half a year since I’ve spoken to anyone.”
“We just saw someone enter; unfortunately, we lost him,” stated Xiaoshuai.
“He’s probably on the other side of the river.”
“Can we cross the river?” Mu Yu questioned, seeing a faint contour in the mist. The river was roughly a hundred metres wide.
“No, there’s a vortex in it. Unless we can fly, we’re history the moment we’re close. The good news is we can drink the water. I would be dead already, otherwise.”
Cultivators could stave off hunger using their spiritual qi. The ominous aura of the spiritual qi in the valley was terrifying. Therefore, it wasn’t apt for cultivating. As such, drinking water was the only way to get by.”
“Don’t the live vines on the cliff face attack people?”
“They do, but you just need to be careful. During the day, it’s best to stay down here. I’ve been wondering about this for a while now since Golden Core Realm cultivators haven’t been able to make it here. How did you come here?”
“I was born immune to poison,” Mu Yu jabbered with a smile.
“Do you possess the legendary infinite body type?”
“Infinite… body type?” repeated Mu Yu, curiosity piqued. That said, he was keener to know if he could escape as opposed to some infinite body type.
“Wait, you don’t know what that is? Those with infinite body type are immune to poison and impervious to harmful things to the body. They are also immune to illness. The spiritual qi they absorb from the outside world is the purest kind, thereby granting them the fastest cultivation rate.”
Ol’ Tan let Mu Yu share the stone cave with him once night fell. He wasn’t lying when he said it was a tough climb. It was only a metre or so tall and just over two metres wide originally. Ol’ Tan expanded its depth to three metres, and that took half a year.
Ol’ Tan stated the spiritual qi there was scarce. From Mu Yu’s perspective, nevertheless, it was similar to what was available at Moyun Mountains, so he quickly adapted.
They used pill flame stones to start a fire. Mu Yu shared the last roast goose he had with Ol’ Tan out of gratitude. Ol’ Tan gnawed into it ferociously after being deprived for half a year. At the end of the day, the nutrients enhanced recovery more than spiritual qi and satisfied a natural need as humans. Mu Yu shut down Xiaoshuai’s vehement protest.
There were no animals or insects making sounds at night. The sound of water flowing and rustling was the only audible sound. Mu Yu wasn’t sure if he was imagining fiend beasts climbing up to shore and back into the water. Mu Yu left Ol’ Tan to his own devices, unsure if the latter was sleeping or meditating.
Annoyed and regretful of his decision, Mu Yu wanted to sleep it off. To his ire, he wasn’t sleepy, and the sound he couldn’t get off his mind perturbed him.
“I hear a fight,” stated Ol’ Tan, opening his eyes and heading to the entrance to check. Mu Yu jumped up and bang. He hissed as he rubbed his head that hit the stiff ceiling.
Previous Chapter l Next Chapter
