Chapter 2044: Want to Live

Shangguan Jiu turned to look at Ye Chen when Tianmo was mentioned.

Ye Chen didn't reply. His brows were furrowed, and his eyes narrowed to slits. He was certain he hadn't sensed wrongly; the depths of Guishan indeed held a faint Tianmo aura, hidden but unable to escape his perception. In this world, no one was more sensitive to Tianmo than he was.

How could there be Tianmo here?

This question weighed heavily on Ye Chen's mind.

At that moment, he thought of the Qingtian Mozhu, the body of the Tianmo emperor hidden in Lingyu, and the Tianmo he had encountered multiple times in the space black holes.

Logically, for the Tianmo to enter the various heavens, they needed the Qingtian Mozhu as a conduit. If the Mozhu were destroyed, it would cut off their source, and the Tianmo would perish on the spot. This had been proven during several previous invasions.

But how had the hidden Tianmo army in Lingyu survived? And how had the Tianmo he encountered in the space black holes remained intact?

Now, with Tianmo in Guishan, he was even more perplexed.

Could there be a remnant Qingtian Mozhu hidden somewhere in the various heavens?

Ye Chen's thoughts raced, and after considering all possibilities, this guess seemed the most plausible.

Seeing Ye Chen silent, Yang Xuan stepped forward and nudged him.

However, Ye Chen was like a soulless shell, standing still and saying nothing. His mind was still on the Tianmo. The presence of Tianmo in Guishan was not good news; it could lead to disaster. He had fought bloody battles against the Tianmo before and knew their terror all too well.

Now, whether to advance or not became a difficult decision.

Advancing meant facing the Tianmo, and in his current mortal state, he was likely no match. Forcing a fight would only lead to a pointless death. But retreating would be even riskier, as the Tianmo were constantly siphoning the Yuanjing's spiritual power. If they succeeded, it would trigger a catastrophic calamity.

Hesitating, he tried to communicate with the Evimo in his mind, hoping she would respond.

Regrettably, there was no reply.

"Lost in some demonic trance?" Yang Xuan leaned in and waved a hand in front of Ye Chen's face.

"Or perhaps bewitched by some evil spirit?" Shangguan Jiu murmured.

As they spoke, the two exchanged a meaningful glance, understanding each other perfectly. They began rummaging through Ye Chen's belongings, scattering bottles and jars everywhere, as if searching for something.

Soon, they found a water flask. The liquid inside smelled awful, with a pungent, stale odor—it was the legendary Tongzi Niao.

Quick as a flash, Shangguan Jiu uncorked the flask and splashed it towards Ye Chen's face.

Whoa! What a shock!

Ye Chen, deep in thought, snapped back to reality, his mouth twitching.

"Hey? It actually worked." Yang Xuan grabbed the flask, ready to splash more.

But Ye Chen was faster, swatting it away with a slap. The Tongzi Niao spilled out, splattering Yang Xuan's face, with a couple of drops even going into his mouth. The taste was far more vivid than strong liquor.

Yang Xuan's face turned green instantly. He doubled over, retching violently.

Ye Chen's expression darkened even more. He yanked off his outer robe and threw it far away, then used clean water to wash the Tongzi Niao off his face. As the majestic emperor of Great Chu, a ruthless figure who had slain emperors, getting urine splashed on him was utterly humiliating.

Shangguan Jiu couldn't help but chuckle, cleverly dodging out of the way.

After this little incident, Ye Chen didn't press deeper. Instead, he sat down on a rock.

"Are we still going?" Shangguan Jiu asked.

"I need a moment to think." Ye Chen rubbed his brow, still undecided.

Seeing Ye Chen's serious expression, Yang Xuan, who had been about to speak, swallowed his words. Shangguan Jiu, with good judgment, also remained silent.

Ye Chen pondered for half an hour.

Yang Xuan and Shangguan Jiu grew restless waiting. They considered wandering elsewhere, but without Ye Chen to guide them, they didn't dare venture off recklessly—Guishan was too treacherous.

Time passed second by second in the world, and in the blink of an eye, three hours had gone by.

During this time, groups of people passed by, all in a sorry state, clearly tormented by evil spirits. As they went by Ye Chen and his companions, they couldn't help but glance over, their eyes full of curiosity, as if wondering: What are these three doing just standing here?

Ye Chen paid them no mind, and Yang Xuan did the same. If anyone came looking for trouble, they wouldn't hesitate to loosen up with a fight.

Silently, night fell once more.

Guishan at night was even more foreboding, shrouded in eerie mist. Screams echoed from all directions—people who had entered seeking treasures, only to provoke evil spirits and lose their lives.

Worse than that were the howls of fierce ghosts in the mountains, sending chills down Yang Xuan and Shangguan Jiu's spines.

"Decided yet?" Yang Xuan, unable to stand the boredom, finally asked.

At his words, Ye Chen truly stood up and headed deeper in.

He had chosen to confront the Tianmo. It wasn't out of recklessness or overconfidence, but a decision made after careful thought. Since the Tianmo knew about the Yuanjing but didn't dare seize it openly, only stealing its power, it proved one thing: They feared Yin Yue Huangfei and avoided direct confrontation. Or perhaps, in their weakened state, they desperately needed spiritual power.

With that realized, he couldn't delay any longer.

He understood the principle of striking while the enemy is vulnerable—if the Tianmo fully absorbed the Yuanjing, everything would be too late. Even if he and the Huangfei joined forces then, they would surely be defeated.

"Hey, what exactly are you thinking?" Yang Xuan tugged at Ye Chen.

"Thinking about survival." Ye Chen took a deep breath.

"Don't scare us—you mean even you could be in danger of being wiped out?" Shangguan Jiu raised an eyebrow.

"The world is vast, and there are plenty of beasts out there." Ye Chen replied casually.

As the tenth emperor of Great Chu, his words were always straightforward.

Yang Xuan and Shangguan Jiu decided not to ask more, afraid that if they did, they'd be tempted to splash Ye Chen with Tongzi Niao again. The guy had a way with words that was just too snappy.

Before long, the three arrived at a graveyard.

These graves were ancient, weathered by time, with cracked tombstones and illegible inscriptions. No one knew who was buried there.

As a graveyard, the yin energy was overwhelmingly heavy, enveloped in gray fog.

When the three arrived, there were already three or five people there, all martial arts experts, wandering around like headless flies.

"What's going on?" Shangguan Jiu asked, looking puzzled at the people.

"What else? They dug up graves and got their comeuppance!" Yang Xuan snorted. He observed more closely—several mounds had indeed been excavated, recently by the look of it. Coffin lids were flipped open, and bones scattered everywhere. The grave robbers were clearly those three or five people still stumbling around. Obviously, they were trying to loot treasures from the tombs.

"They're supposed to be from the martial world—how could they be so unscrupulous? Doing things that damage their karma like this." Shangguan Jiu muttered under his breath. "The dead deserve peace."

"It's a ghost wall." Ye Chen said lightly, then stepped around the graveyard without intending to save them. If those martial artists had any conscience, they could rebury the bodies, kowtow a few times, and maybe find their way out.

Since Ye Chen wasn't saving them, Yang Xuan and Shangguan Jiu followed suit. Not stabbing them was already merciful—digging graves in Guishan showed their true colors.

The three moved on, but the people in the graveyard kept circling, unable to escape.

The so-called ghost wall was a mysterious phenomenon, essentially a delusion where one's mind fell into an illusion, leaving the body wandering in reality. Without freeing the mind, the body couldn't escape.

On the other side, Ye Chen and his companions crossed another mountain range.

By now, they were deep enough that the yin energy was incredibly thick, and strange occurrences multiplied.

For instance, some martial artists had tied ropes around their necks and hanged themselves from trees.

Another example, a mystic was disheveled and crouched on the ground, sobbing—at first glance, he looked like a ghost.

Then there were groups of mystics and martial experts who had gone mad, stripping naked and running wildly through the mountains with sticks holding their clothes.

"Witnessing all this really upends your worldview!" Yang Xuan sighed as they walked, amazed by the endless oddities.

"Why aren't any women stripping?" Shangguan Jiu stroked his chin, muttering while scanning around, especially focusing on those who had lost their minds—all men, without exception.

If a woman showed up, the scene would be quite... enticing.

Though they sighed and chatted, Yang Xuan and Shangguan Jiu's hearts weren't at ease. Guishan wasn't just dangerous—it was outright sinister. So many martial experts and mystics had been killed, maimed, or driven insane. The sight was desolate and bloody.

Ye Chen, however, remained composed. In such a profoundly yin place, a few strange events and deaths were only normal. Otherwise, it wouldn't live up to Guishan's reputation.

At some point, Yang Xuan and Shangguan Jiu started getting busy, helping out as fellow martial world members. Along the way, they'd seen acquaintances and lent a hand where they could—it was also a way to build favors.

Ye Chen didn't stop them and even pitched in at times.

He saved those with good karma.

As for the truly wicked, he dealt with them in passing, calling it "upholding justice for heaven."

After saving the virtuous and punishing the evil, the three passed through the forest.

Three hours later, they stopped because the path ahead was blocked by a cliff, bottomless and shrouded in fog, with nothing visible below.

"About twenty or thirty zhang across—we'll need lightfoot skills to leap to the other side." Yang Xuan pondered.

"Don't cramp up mid-jump, or you'll die ugly down there." Shangguan Jiu leaned over and peered down—even a thrown stone didn't echo back.

Ye Chen surveyed the area. The cliff stretched north to south for over ten li, and the distance to the opposite cliff was indeed twenty or thirty zhang. For most martial artists, this gap was impossible to cross without a foothold. Only those with advanced lightfoot skills could make it.

"Huh?" Ye Chen, Yang Xuan, and Shangguan Jiu all exclaimed softly.

Following their gazes, they saw someone in the distance leaping to the other side—a figure in a black robe, face hidden.

Though far away, Ye Chen could see clearly that the person was young, around twenty years old, with graceful movements and exceptional lightfoot skills. The twenty or thirty zhang distance was effortless for them, and their inner force was even stronger than Yang Xuan's or Shangguan Jiu's.

Beside him, Shangguan Jiu and Yang Xuan turned to Ye Chen with odd expressions.

"Why are you looking at me?" Ye Chen said casually.

"Has your Dugu family's Feitian Yunzong been passed on to outsiders?"

"What are you talking about?"

"Don't play dumb." They scolded. "The lightfoot skill that person just used was the real Feitian Yunzong. In the entire martial world, only you, the Dugu Sword Saint, can perform it. Now that he's using it, it must be from you."