Translator: CinderTL
Xu Sanyan smiled. "Excellent. With the Huai Lake Seven Heroes as companions, we should be much safer."
Zuoqiu Hui smiled faintly, then lowered her gaze, casting a subtle glance at Zuoqiu Shen. Seeing him standing unguarded before Xu Sanyan, an odd feeling stirred within her.
Even if Zuoqiu Shen was familiar with this disciple, he shouldn't be completely without caution in this secret realm. She keenly sensed that something was amiss between the two.
Beside her, Zuoqiu Xin remained oblivious, smiling as she said, "I have a close relationship with Immortal Maiden Luo Qingwei of your sect. Our sects are allies, so we should naturally support each other in this secret realm."
Xu Sanyan nodded in agreement. "The Immortal Maiden speaks truly. That is only right."
"Let's talk as we walk. Please," Zuoqiu Hui said, tugging Zuoqiu Xin's arm and secretly pinching her.
Zuoqiu Xin's expression remained unchanged, but a sense of alertness rose in her heart. Though not as clever as her elder sister, she wasn't foolish. If Third Sister was warning her to be careful, she must have noticed something.
Xu Sanyan, oblivious to their subtle exchange, walked side-by-side with the two sisters.
Strangely, the two sisters remained wary of Zuoqiu Shen, their own kin, maintaining a safe distance from him at all times.
Xu Sanyan shook his head inwardly. Anyone who had cultivated to this level was no fool; even the slightest inconsistency would raise their guard.
"Brother Shen, have you met Brother Xu before?" Zuoqiu Hui asked, her sharp eyes never leaving Zuoqiu Shen. She didn't address Xu Sanyan directly, knowing she could glean more from observing her long-acquainted brother.
Zuoqiu Shen's gaze flickered upward, casting a fleeting glance at Xu Sanyan before settling back down. After a moment's pause, he shook his head. "No, I don't recognize him."
Zuoqiu Hui, who had been watching Zuoqiu Shen's every move, felt alarm bells ringing in her mind.
In that brief exchange, she noticed two glaring inconsistencies.
First, if the two men were strangers, why had Zuoqiu Shen walked ahead without any caution when they first met? Wouldn't he fear a surprise attack?
Second, when she posed the question, Zuoqiu Shen paused, his gaze shifting toward Xu Sanyan with a questioning look. They were family, bound by natural kinship. Why would he turn to an outsider for confirmation?
Unless... Zuoqiu Shen was under someone else's control!
Could this person have poisoned Zuoqiu Shen?
Or used some other method?
Zuoqiu Hui lowered her head slightly, a sharp glint flashing in her eyes.
The four continued walking south through the city, chatting casually as time passed. The sun gradually sank in the west, bathing the land in a golden-red glow.
Within this secret realm, everything seemed no different from the outside world—the same rising moon and setting sun, with the passage of time nearly identical.
Xu Sanyan stopped abruptly. Zuoqiu Hui subtly placed a hand behind her back, signaling "be careful" to Zuoqiu Xin, while asking, "Brother Xu, have you noticed something?"
Xu Sanyan's eyes held an enigmatic expression, a faint smile playing on his lips. "Do the two Immortal Maidens seem wary of me?"
Zuoqiu Hui's heart tightened. Her beautiful face froze momentarily before she regained her composure. "Brother Xu, you're mistaken. I'm merely being cautious of our surroundings."
Whether Xu Sanyan believed her or not, he nodded lightly. "Very well. I received word that strange phenomena may occur in this secret realm after dark. We should find a place to observe."
"Oh? Brother Xu, where did you hear this?" Zuoqiu Hui pressed for more information.
Xu Sanyan raised the mother-child stone in his hand. "Senior Brother Luo sent the message."
Zuoqiu Hui pondered briefly, then nodded. "If that's the case, very well."
Tonight was their first night in the secret realm, and no one knew what might happen. Waiting a night for safety's sake was a prudent move.
While Zuoqiu Hui considered this, she used the child stone to relay the message to her eldest sister, who would then inform the rest of the group.
The four of them casually chose a house with its massive wooden door ajar—taller than the city gates of mortal realms, making them seem utterly insignificant by comparison.
The interior resembled an ordinary home: a wooden table and chairs, a pile of dry firewood beside the stove, and a simple cabinet holding bowls and chopsticks. In the innermost room stood a bed piled with quilts.
It looked like a commoner's dwelling, but with one crucial difference: everything was colossal. A single bowl could nearly contain a person.
As their gazes swept across the room, Xu Sanyan felt a warmth in his hand. He glanced at the mother stone and saw a line of text floating on its surface:
[Ren Xu warns: Holy Son, stay far from the well inside the city. There's something in it!]
Ren Xu was none other than Elder Ren.
Xu Sanyan's brow furrowed as a sudden realization struck him. He jerked his head up, his gaze sweeping across the courtyard to the massive wellhead constructed from bluestone. A sense of impending danger washed over him.
In an instant, the last sliver of daylight vanished completely from the horizon. A gust of wind swept through, carrying a chilling draft that raised goosebumps on his skin.
"Yin wind..." Zuoqiu Xin murmured, staring out the door with a solemn expression.
Xu Sanyan's eyes darted nervously. Yin wind, he knew, was formed when concentrated Yin Qi lingered and drifted with the wind, typically appearing in mass burial grounds or corpse pits.
But why was yin wind manifesting here?
When night falls and the wind rises, ten thousand demons will return to life...
Could those words... be coming true?
The four of them scrambled to find hiding places. Xu Sanyan ducked behind a table leg, peering through the door crack at the wellhead outside.
It was too late to find a better hiding spot; he had to make do with this for now. Clutching the mother stone, Xu Sanyan sent the message "Stay away from the wellhead" to the others.
Squeak... squeak...
"Ah..."
"Giggle... giggle..."
Strange cries echoed from the well, sending chills down their spines, as if countless ghostly creatures lurked below.
Whoosh!
In the pitch-black night, a massive, pitch-black figure shot out of the well and vanished into the sky in the blink of an eye.
In that fleeting moment, Xu Sanyan caught only a glimpse of its shadowy form, vaguely resembling a hawk or falcon, but entirely featherless, its fleshy wings bald and unsettling.
Zuoqiu Xin, huddled in a corner, had a clear view. Her stomach churned; she loathed such repulsive creatures.
The four dared not make a sound, even their breathing reduced to barely audible whispers.
The noises from the well persisted, growing denser, like countless snakes and insects crawling and writhing against each other, their rustling and scraping sending shivers down their spines.
Hiss... hiss... hiss...
A shadow slithered out of the well. Xu Sanyan instantly averted his gaze—for a split second, he felt as if he had locked eyes with the monster!
It was a scaleless, elongated creature covered in festering, fleshy blooms. A thin, forked tongue hung limply from its mouth, neither flicking nor retracting. Its eyes were utterly blank, hollow voids.
It looked... dead!
Xu Sanyan narrowed his eyes, his unease intensifying. Could it be a corpse demon?
Rustle...
Crash!
The sound of the massive wooden gate being smashed open echoed clearly through the silent night. Zuoqiu Shen shuddered violently, suddenly regretting ever entering the Hundred Saints Secret Realm.
Though the secret realm was said to be filled with countless treasures, including rewards of cultivation methods and mystical arts, what good were they if you didn't have the fate to claim them?
(End of the Chapter)
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