It is said that 500 years ago, the 800-li Jigong Mountain was a beautiful scenic spot in the southeastern part of the mainland.
The mountains and rivers are beautiful, birds and animals abound, and there are countless fertile fields in the valleys and plains.
There are even quite a few cultivation sects that have specifically set up their mountain gates here.
However, five hundred years have passed, and Jigong Mountain has been completely changed.
The area was barren and desolate, devoid of birds and beasts, a desolate wasteland.
Countless refugees and bandits filled the eight hundred miles of mountains, turning this place into a living hell.
Cannibalism has long been the norm, even forming an inherent food chain.
The deep cave was filled with a foul stench, and every few steps, one could see human skeletons scattered on the ground.
Most of them were scattered bones, with only a few complete skeletons. The flesh had been shaved off, and the bones emitted a cold, white light.
Each skeleton was covered with teeth marks resembling fish scales.
Chen Ke could almost imagine that when the bear-man was eating people, it was like a child sucking on a stick.
Suddenly, a fork in the road appeared in front of the cave.
Chen Ke's ears twitched, and he walked towards the passage on the left.
A foul stench assaulted his nostrils, along with the faint, weak sound of breathing, which Chen Ke clearly caught.
At the end of the passage was a prison, or rather, a breeding farm.
Inside a cage made of dead wood and vines, more than a dozen naked humanoid creatures were imprisoned.
They were covered in filth, emaciated, and some of them had begun to rot, oozing red and white pus and blood.
Most of them had probably lost their souls, lying among the filthy excrement, their eyes wide open and empty.
Chen Ke felt a chill run through his body, and finally simply closed his eyes.
Taking out his longbow, Chen Ke fired arrows one by one with his mind, killing the "food" raised by the bear-men.
He couldn't save them, and he couldn't help them.
For them, death was probably a relief.
"Don't kill me, don't kill me!" Suddenly, a cry for mercy came from one of the cages.
Chen Ke suddenly drew back the bowstring and opened his eyes.
In the filthy cage, three or four rotting corpses were soaking in muddy soup, while a man in front of him knelt on the ground, pulling at the vines with his hands. His face, covered in mud, revealed a pair of eyes that were both terrified and excited.
Hey, it really is a person.
Chen Kela removed his cloak, strolled to the front of the cage, and remained silent.
Without him saying a word, the clay figure kneeling on the ground had already revealed everything.
Hmm, you were a commander of a thousand men in the Qin state?
After their defeat and rout, they were forced to take refuge on Jigong Mountain.
Are all your men old Qin people, and you have seven or eight hundred others?
What? You got tricked by your brother and stupidly went into this cave?
Well, it wasn't closed for too long, only about half a year.
The centurion, kneeling in the cage, wept so loudly that his tears flowed so freely that they left deep, yellowish lines on his dark face.
Without much thought, Chen Ke cut the ropes of the cage and strode away.
Regardless of whether what this person said is true or false, he is still a human being.
Whether he's a general or a scoundrel is none of his business.
The centurion crawled out of the cage, knelt on the ground, and looked at Chen Ke's back as he burst into tears: "I can't thank you enough for your great kindness. From this day forward, my life, Liao Changhe's life, belongs to my benefactor!"
"Remember your words." Chen Ke didn't turn around; his figure disappeared into the darkness.
When they reached the fork in the road, Chen Ke walked down the road to the right.
The air here is much better; it's clearly a place inhabited by bear-men.
At the end of the road was a huge cave.
Before he could even look around, Chen Ke was drawn to a person lying on the ground.
He was naked, with a chain around his neck, and a broken wooden basin in front of his containing some unidentifiable food scraps.
Chen Ke felt a chill; this scene resembled a scene from Resident Evil.
Hearing footsteps, the boy lying on the ground suddenly sat up and barked happily.
However, when he saw who it was, his throat felt like it was being tightly choked, and he could no longer make a sound.
The next moment, the boy collapsed to the ground, wailing, "Whoever you are, please, let me go, let me go!"
Chen Ke swung his longsword, severing the chains, and said coldly, "Get out of here!"
I couldn't bear to look at it anymore, or even think about it. The boy's mouth was torn, his legs were covered in blood, and his back was covered in scratches.
After the boy climbed out, Chen Ke looked around.
This was indeed the den of the bear-men, with various animal hides on the ground and piles of gold and silver jewels all around, though their colors had become incredibly dull.
Just as Chen Ke was about to step forward, he suddenly remembered something, took out a pellet from his storage space, and threw it forward.
This pellet was a medicine he specifically obtained before entering the Seven Kill Secret Realm.
The bullets emit a strange fragrance that repels snakes, ants, and mosquitoes within a radius of tens of meters.
Sure enough, when the blue bullet landed on the animal hide, wisps of blue smoke rose up, and the hide immediately began to ripple.
Countless poisonous insects and snakes, densely packed, crawled out from under the animal skin and spread out in a swarm.
Some panicked and fled along the only exit, while others squeezed into non-existent cracks in the rocks.
Several minutes passed before the poisonous insects finally disappeared. Chen Ke then held his breath and walked forward.
All the gold and silver jewelry was stored in the ring's space, and then... nothing more.
Chen Ke was extremely disappointed, but suddenly an idea struck him, and he looked at the animal hide at his feet.
The cracks in the rock are so small that even if poisonous insects could squeeze in, they shouldn't completely disappear.
Could it be that there's another secret room down there?
Leaping into the air, Chen Ke hovered in mid-air, thrusting his bone sword downwards repeatedly.
One by one, the animal hides were peeled off and flew outwards.
Some stubborn poisonous insects were exposed and hurriedly crawled out.
Unveiling the last layer, sure enough, a hole sealed by a stone was revealed to Chen Ke.
I knew it! There really was a secret room.
Chen Ke landed, grabbed the rope holding the square stone, pulled up the stone, and threw in two more blue pellets.
The entire swarm of venomous insects mobilized, transforming into a black tide that surged outwards, a scene as spectacular as a subway entrance during rush hour in a first-tier city.
When the smoke and dust cleared, all the poisonous insects emerged.
Chen Ke stood there for a moment, still feeling uneasy, then walked to the cave entrance and activated the radar window.
The centurion in the cage and the handsome guy with the dog leash have probably already escaped. Chen Ke can't hear any noise, and the radar doesn't show any powerful presence.
Chen Ke'an calmed down and went to the entrance of the underground chamber, walking down the rough steps.
His heart was filled with anticipation. A powerful bear-man and an orc who could set up a secret room—surely there would be some surprises to come!