Chapter 346

Chapter 347: Into the Shadows

That sudden “killing intent” from the little doll scared everyone at once, especially Yu Sheng, whose last few lifetimes had been short; his whole body snapped tight in an instant, and [he even pictured how he might die in the next second].

Fox fire floated up in sheets around Foxy, Luna snapped the fingertip blades from a hidden thigh compartment with a click faster than Yu Sheng had ever seen, and Xuan Che sank his breath, lowered his stance, drew a Medicine Gourd with one hand, and set the opening pose of the Medical Brawl Exploding Fist with the other.

The group stood at the crowded entrance of the Lingxi Mining Park like they were ready to meet an enemy from every side while Yu Sheng died in the middle, and after facing the empty air for half a minute, more and more onlookers gathered.

Yu Sheng poked the doll on his shoulder and asked in a low voice: “Where is this killing intent?”

Irene answered with perfect confidence: “It’s gone!”

A vein throbbed on Yu Sheng’s forehead: “You-”

“But it was real,” Irene insisted. “I felt something sweep a glance over me. When I tried to look back, I felt a hostile something nearby, even if it was only for a moment.”

Yu Sheng had been about to grab her and twirl her like a windmill, but he noticed there was no prank on her face. He frowned: “Really?”

“Why would I lie to you?”

“I did not sense any malicious spying,” Xuan Che said, shaking his head. “But Irene’s senses are sharper than mine in this field. It’s possible she noticed ill will others cannot.”

Luna sheathed her fingertip blades and said slowly: “No hostile reading detected.”

“Either way, let’s stay sharp,” Yu Sheng murmured, exhaling as he spoke softly. “Head for the Otherworld entrance. No need to draw attention here.”

Xuan Che nodded, noticed the growing crowd, flicked out a charm to gently disperse bystanders, then led the way. The group moved quickly through the park gate and headed deep into the “mining scenic area.”

Yu Sheng didn’t know the route, so he kept behind Xuan Che, turning left and right, through wooded paths and corridors. They passed a wide geological zone that had been developed later for display, then went through halls and courtyards full of old mechanisms and machines. The farther they went, the emptier and quieter it felt.

A bit farther, Yu Sheng felt as if they crossed a kind of boundary. No more idle people were in sight. A faint pressure hung around them.

“We’ve entered the restricted zone,” Xuan Che said quietly. “My master left a ward here to keep people away from the dangerous Otherworld entrance. The entrance lies below a slanted shaft ahead.”

Yu Sheng nodded and studied the area.

The so-called “mine ruins” were even bigger than he expected. Long ago, immortals who came to this moon to dig spirit ore must have worked a giant belt of mines, with large processing plants and living quarters built all around. They had just passed through old living zones and processing zones, and the display yards of mechanisms. Now, this was where the old mine belt lay.

He saw a wide, barren hilly stretch. Though centuries of development had given this colony moon a thick man-made atmosphere and a working ecology, these hills still kept a raw alien look. Weird pale rocks with hints of blue dotted the cracked ground. Old ore rails and hulking machines of unknown use sat among the stones. Several slanted shafts opened in the distance, each flanked by fierce beast statues, likely linked to the local traditions around the Grand Void Spiritual Axis.

They headed toward one shaft, but before they’d gone far, streaks of rosy light flashed overhead. A few young men and women in blue robes descended in front of them.

A beautiful woman holding a sharp sword whose edge gleamed with chilling light landed first, cool and steady in manner. She bowed deeply to Xuan Che: “Eldest senior brother.”

Xuan Che returned the bow: “Su Yun, thank you for holding this post.”

The other young cultivators saluted as well. A few stole careful glances at Yu Sheng’s group, especially at a certain “silver fox High Immortal” with nine tails.

Foxy grinned and flashed her teeth at one of them, just for fun; everyone jolted in unison and snapped their eyes away.

The woman Xuan Che had called “Su Yun” bowed lower at once: “High Immortal, forgive them.”

Yu Sheng waved both hands quickly: “Don’t be nervous. She’s teasing you… she doesn’t bite.”

“They are guests my master invited from the Borderland,” Xuan Che said, introducing each one. “This is Mr. Yu, and these are Foxy, Luna, and Irene.”

He raised a hand toward the woman leading the team: “This is my junior sister, Su Yun. Before I returned, she was in charge of guarding this Otherworld.”

“That Otherworld is too strange. Master no longer allows regular disciples to go inside to ‘test’ it,” Su Yun said, sounding like she could finally relax. “We only guard the entrance now. We also set wards around the old mine district and arranged four patrol teams.”

Xuan Che nodded, then seemed to recall Irene’s earlier “killing intent.” He frowned: “Has anything odd happened today?”

“No,” Su Yun shook her head at once. “I’ve watched that entrance the whole time. Besides the shadows swelling and shrinking now and then, there’s been no change.”

Xuan Che inclined his head and told Su Yun to lead the way. They brought Yu Sheng’s group to the slanted shaft where the weirdness began.

It was a very wide mouth. Fierce beast statues stood to either side. Inside was a long, gentle slope that seemed to go on forever. Rails and hanging tracks lined the slope. Though the shaft had been abandoned, the entrance still held lights: unknown “pearls” were set into beast-head sockets on the walls, giving off a cold glow.

Yu Sheng stood at the top and looked down. The depths were hazy. The wall lights stretched below, but the farther they went, the more the light felt pressed down by something, dimmer and dimmer, wrapped in layers of shadow.

“This is where the eerie secret realm begins, and its entrance is easy to spot, that hazy place below,” Su Yun said. “If you go down the slope, the lights on both sides will grow dimmer. The shadow under your feet will grow stronger and darker. When everything around you is shadow and the wall lights cannot brighten the road ahead, you have reached the border of the Otherworld. If you turn back at that point, you can still see the way you came and walk out. If you keep going, you drop straight into the depths of the Otherworld.

“Down in the depths you’ll see strange scenes, nothing like a mine. The way you came will vanish. To get out, you must follow places with light or where you hear wind, always moving in the direction that goes ‘up.’ It might be stairs, a dirt slope, or a mountain path. Take any such path forward, and if nothing gets in your way, you will slowly pass through darkness again. When the ground under your feet becomes the mine slope, you can walk back the way you came.

“According to senior brothers who went down before, there are no ghosts or demons inside. The problem is the mood. The place is gloomy, and a chilling pressure keeps rising and falling. It shakes the heart. Stay too long and your temper grows fierce. You may start thinking everyone around you wants to hurt you. You can resist it by will, but if you get trapped and can’t get out for a long time, something terrible could happen.”

Yu Sheng and Xuan Che traded a look.

“Shall we go take a look?” Yu Sheng asked.

Xuan Che smiled: “Gladly.”

“Good,” Yu Sheng nodded, then glanced at Irene on his shoulder. “Do me a favor and check something.”

Irene blinked: “Check what?”

Yu Sheng put on a serious face: “See if I’m going to bleed today.”

“Oh. Oh, okay,” Irene said, then cupped Yu Sheng’s face with her tiny hands and studied him with solemn care. After a long moment, she nodded with dignity: “Yes, but not much blood.”

Yu Sheng’s mouth twitched: “Wow, thanks for the precise forecast.”

Watching from the side, Xuan Che had no idea what the two were doing; he guessed it was some kind of secret pre-mission ritual.

He ordered Su Yun and the guards to keep watch at the entrance and keep outsiders away. Then he and Yu Sheng stepped onto the deep, endless slope.

With each step the light faded.

The mood began to change.

Yu Sheng couldn’t name the change, but he felt a boundary drawing near. He stared at the part of the slope that the wall lights no longer reached and felt as if an endless abyss lay below, where some vast presence looked up from the depths, quiet and cold, watching him.

The feeling vanished in a blink. He shook his head and only saw ordinary darkness and shadow.

The Otherworld had no good or evil, no reason. It simply waited, calm and patient, for uninvited guests.

Foxy walked at his side. Luna had her fingertip blades on. Xuan Che held a paper charm between his fingers. Sparks of electricity danced at Irene’s fingertips.

Then the darkness rose from every side.

In that flicker of trance, he seemed to hear countless distant, commanding shouts rolling like thunder. He could not tell what they said, but he caught a few words: “…activate… the grand array!”