CHAPTER 605: CHAPTER 584 SECOND UPDATE

Heir Zong Yunqian and his two companions did not hesitate to enter the dungeon again. This time, Zong Yunqian moved notably faster; at least, he was certain that there were no guards at the entrance.

Gu Dao and Xi Feng cast another doubtful glance at the surroundings of the entrance. Although the outside guards seemed rigorous, once inside the dungeon, it appeared that aside from a team of Disciples of Ghoul Ravine, no one else was present.

Were they not afraid of someone escaping from inside?

Zong Yunqian had already reached halfway to the entrance, where the black smoke had once again started to swirl around him joyfully, gathering towards his entire body. However, following behind, Gu Dao and Xi Feng noticed that this black smoke seemed to have no interest in them.

Zong Yunqian furrowed his brows; there seemed to be something off about this dungeon. However, before he had a chance to figure it out, suddenly, a figure appeared behind them.

Gu Dao and Xi Feng swiftly turned to counter-attack, but upon seeing the newcomer, they quickly restrained themselves.

"Heir Zong, please get out quickly. You cannot be here—" Ju Nanyi immediately said.

Zong Yunqian was taken aback but still felt something was amiss, making it hard for him to breathe. Without another word, he immediately made his way towards the exit.

However, he was a step too late. By the time Zong Yunqian had almost reached the entrance, the converging black smoke had already woven into a thin net around him. Initially, he felt nothing, but as he ventured deeper, the black smoke almost eagerly pushed him further in. Yet, now that he wanted to leave, it was apparent they were unwilling to let him go.

The drifting black smoke, which seemed to possess some form of spiritual wisdom, strived with all its might to prevent Zong Yunqian from leaving.

Zong Yunqian now truly sensed that something was definitely wrong—the feeling of breathlessness as if some force was stopping his feet from moving forward. He reached out in front of him but touched nothing.

Gu Dao and Xi Feng took a couple of steps before they realized that Zong Yunqian had fallen behind. They quickly turned back to assist him.

Ju Nanyi stopped. The situation with Zong Yunqian only confirmed what Master Huo Yi had said—all was true about this dungeon, and there was definitely something inside. Ju Nanyi had entered it last night and hadn’t encountered any issues because he wasn’t a mage from Qiandao Temple.

However, this entity posed a deadly threat to the mages of Qiandao Temple.

Zong Yunqian’s complexion was now off, his legs felt as if they were stuck in a marshland. Although there appeared to be nothing, his body felt completely devoid of strength. Gu Dao and Xi Feng immediately realized something was amiss, but there was nothing visible around them.

A fear of the unknown began to seize everyone’s heart. Just as Zong Yunqian was about to employ spells to see if he could disperse something and alleviate the current situation,

Ju Nanyi stepped forward and grabbed Zong Yunqian’s arm.

"Drag him out quickly—" Ju Nanyi spoke decisively. Since those "things" had no effect on them, the only ones who could possibly find a solution were they themselves.

Upon hearing this, Gu Dao and Xi Feng sheathed their weapons immediately and, together with Ju Nanyi, grabbed Zong Yunqian’s arms, with one person pushing from behind.

They soon realized Zong Yunqian seemed "rooted" to the ground. The strength of three men was not entirely ineffective, and with full force, Zong Yunqian finally moved forward two steps.

Everyone felt a surge of relief and persisted in pulling him. Fortunately, Ju Nanyi had arrived in time, and since Zong Yunqian hadn’t fully entered the dungeon, they were able to get out.

Finally, Zong Yunqian, who had been dragged out, was brought behind a thicket by the trio, who by then were drenched in sweat, panting heavily.

Since Zong Yunqian had spent only a short time inside, he began to recover upon exiting the cave; his previously unresponsive limbs were slowly regaining sensation.

None of them spoke at first. Amid the darkness, they all tried to quiet their heavy breathing to avoid alerting the patrolling guards.

Lost in thought, Zong Yunqian realized why Master Huo Yi and Master Yu Sheng, along with all the brothers from Qiandao Temple, had vanished without a trace from the start.

It seemed they had underestimated Ghoul Ravine and Yin He.

"Have you been inside?" Zong Yunqian asked impatiently, noting that the dungeon seemed to target only the mages, as Gu Dao and Xi Feng were unaffected.

Ju Nanyi nodded without concealing anything.

"Not only did I enter, but I also saw Master Huo Yi," Ju Nanyi said.

Zong Yunqian immediately turned to Ju Nanyi, eager to learn about their condition. But the next moment, he realized that if he had ended up in such a state just by reaching the entrance, the fate of everyone from Qiandao Temple inside would have been far worse.

"Does Master have a plan?" Zong Yunqian wasn’t naïve; Ju Nanyi wouldn’t have appeared here for no reason, saving him and directly revealing that he had seen Master Huo Yi—surely, the Master must have told him something.

"To be honest, Master Huo Yi does have a plan, but it is impossible for Ju alone to accomplish it," Ju Nanyi admitted.

"What is Master’s plan?"

"Now, Ghoul Ravine has mastered a kind of evil art that can drain the energy from the mages of Qiandao Temple for their own use. You’ve seen, however, this evil art has a fatal weakness. Master Huo Yi isn’t worried about the people in Ghoul Ravine; he’s concerned that if one day they lose control of themselves, these entities will emerge from their bodies, and that will be far more troublesome."

Zong Yunqian listened intently without interrupting. While he couldn’t fully grasp the significance of the, not evil arts, but rather evil beings that Ju Nanyi spoke of, he understood what it implied and that Master had become aware of their existence. Moreover, Ghoul Ravine possessed entities even more sinister than the Ghost Shadow.

"What is the Master’s plan?" Zong Yunqian couldn’t help but ask.

Ju Nanyi glanced at Zong Yunqian. He wasn’t sure whether Master Huo Yi’s plan was feasible, but he knew that the cost to attempt it would be high, and success wasn’t guaranteed.

"Master Huo Yi’s plan is to feed the still-living mages poison, and when these mages are taken for their blood to be drained, to block all of the Disciples of Ghoul Ravine..." Ju Nanyi spoke slowly.

The expression on Zong Yunqian’s face shifted dramatically, an even greater struggle to accept this than when he first heard it the day before. Ju Nanyi said no more, realizing that Zong Yunqian needed time to come to terms with the plan.

"Is there no other way?" Zong Yunqian trembled. Considering the corpses he had discovered on the back mountain today, one could imagine how many mages from Qiandao Temple were left. Was the Master planning for mutual destruction?

But what kind of poison would work? Would this method even be effective? What if it only killed their brothers, leaving Ghoul Ravine completely unharmed?