abnabooks Chapter 257 The scheme may not be large, but it's very insidious.
Chapter 257 The scheme may not be large, but it's very insidious.
Chapter 257 The scheme may not be large, but it's very insidious (4200)
That clear, cold voice seemed to fall directly into Lu Yuan's ears from a snowy night in the far distance.
Lu Yuan's brow twitched slightly.
It's finally here!
Lu Yuan felt a "hum" deep within his dantian, as if an old furnace that had been dormant for a long time had been suddenly ignited.
The fire was not fierce, but extremely steady.
The lingering chill in my meridians from the previous battle with the altar spirit, the churning, uneasy feeling in my chest, and the bruise on my right shoulder from the impact of the evil spirit.
Everything slowly melted away with this warm current.
The body's Qi (vital energy) flows smoothly, from scattered to gathered, from stagnation to free flow, as if being gently straightened by an invisible hand.
The first thing to change was the hand that held the sword.
My finger bones felt slightly warm, and deep within my meridians, I felt a layer of profound strength.
Immediately afterwards, the Seven Star Sword that guards the pass trembled slightly in its sheath, as if it had sensed something.
The murderous aura contained within the sword subtly merged with the newly generated true qi within Lu Yuan's body, making the already heavy old sword even more stable and imposing.
Lu Yuan slowly closed his eyes, then opened them after only a moment.
In that glance, there was a profound sense of tranquility.
That's not an outward sharpness, but a kind of "sinking" that only comes when one's spiritual attainment truly advances.
Like a frozen river in winter, it appears calm on the surface, but underneath it can withstand even larger waves.
He didn't make a sound, keeping those system notifications to himself and remaining calm on the surface, as if the strange event had never happened.
But Lin Zhaoxuan, who was sitting not far from him, seemed to have vaguely sensed something and suddenly looked up at him.
"Brother Lu?"
Lin Zhaoxuan lowered his voice: "Why did your breathing suddenly become heavier?"
Lu Yuan did not answer directly, but simply said, "The spirit of the altar is strong enough."
"By taking advantage of its scheme, I also managed to improve my skills a bit."
Upon hearing this, Lin Zhaoxuan was first startled, then revealed a complex expression.
He knew Lu Yuan was formidable, but he never expected that this fierce battle would actually boost his cultivation level so much.
In the Daoist sects outside the Great Wall, talent, opportunity, and ruthlessness are all indispensable.
It's truly rare to see someone take another step forward in such a life-or-death situation.
Song Qinghe, who was standing to the side, also looked up and asked softly, "Are you alright?"
Lu Yuan shook his head and said calmly, "It's alright."
"It's just that the flow of Qi is smoother."
The night in Savage Valley becomes completely quiet in the latter half of the night.
Only a ring of dark red embers remained around the fire, occasionally popping with a soft "crack" and scattering a few embers, which were quickly extinguished by the valley wind.
The waning moon in the sky shifted slightly to the west, and its light slanted down from the mountain ridges, casting a cold, white glow on the stone path at the bottom of the valley, as if someone had spread a thin layer of frost over this wasteland.
No one was fast asleep.
After experiencing the altar ceremony, everyone knows that you can't really relax in a place like this.
Even though the evil altar is now broken, it still needs to be kept alive to prevent other unclean things in the mountains from taking advantage of the situation.
But having just returned from the brink of death, once the tension that had been building all day eased, drowsiness slowly crept in like a mountain mist.
Zhou Heng leaned against the rock, nodding his head slightly, with a short knife resting on his knee.
Lin Zhaoxuan closed his eyes, the Thunder Token pressed under his palm, and his breathing was much more even than before.
After Song Qinghe put the sealing disc into his cloth bag, he curled up on a warmer stone by the fire, wrapped in his coat, and slowly dozed off.
Silent all night.
The fire eventually died down to almost nothing in the latter half of the night, leaving only a few dark red embers that occasionally glowed.
The group took turns keeping watch, and slept intermittently for several hours. When the first hint of gray appeared on the horizon, the wind in the valley changed from cold to crisp.
The oppressive, eerie feeling of the night was gone.
Its daybreak.
The mountain breeze blew in from the valley entrance, carrying the dew and the damp coolness of the grass and trees.
Lu Yuan was the first to wake up.
He stood up with great steadiness. The injury on his shoulder was no longer a problem, only the corner of his clothes still bore some dust marks left from last night's battle.
He glanced at the few people still fast asleep by the fire, his gaze finally settling on Lin Zhaoxuan, Zhou Heng, and Song Qinghe. After a moment of silence, he spoke: "Wake up, all of you."
Zhou Heng was the first to open his eyes, wiped his face, and asked in a hoarse voice, "Is it dawn?"
Lu Yuan stood by the stone, his tone calm, yet more somber than the night before: "I have something to ask you."
Lin Zhaoxuan sat up, straightened his clothes, and seeing Lu Yuan's serious expression, he knew it was no joke.
Lu Yuan looked at the three of them and said directly, "Going down there will only make things more dangerous."
"I told you before, this is not an ordinary evil site, but a place where evil gods are worshipped."
"The altar spirit is just a gatekeeper outside this place. He's powerful, but he's not the main deity."
As soon as he finished speaking, the expressions of the people by the fire changed.
Isn't this the main character?
Then the main person must—
Lu Yuan nodded and continued, "You saw it last night too."
"Even a gatekeeper altar spirit could push us to that point."
"That means the real thing inside is only more vicious, more sinister, and even harder to touch."
He looked up, his gaze sweeping over the faces of the three people one by one.
"So I have to ask you."
"Are you going to follow or not?"
This is a very direct and serious question.
Lu Yuan wasn't trying to scare them; he was simply laying out the most realistic facts for them.
After last night's battle, Lin Zhaoxuan could no longer easily activate his Thunder Command as before, resulting in a significant depletion of his thunder intent, making it difficult for him to exert great power again in the short term.
Song Qinghe's sealing disc was covered in cracks; although it was still usable, it had reached its limit.
Zhou Heng, Xu Erxiao, and Wang Chengan were able to hold on, but they relied more on their courage and perseverance.
If we continue to go further in, the danger will more than double.
Lin Zhaoxuan didn't speak at first, but looked down at the Thunder Token in his palm.
There were several fine scorch marks on the back of the old token, indicating that the forced suppression of the thunder last night had depleted a lot of the token's contents.
After a moment, he raised his head and gave a bitter laugh.
"My Thunder Decree is indeed almost ready."
"If we push it any further, it might damage our vital energy."
He paused for a moment, then added, "But then again, now that we've come this far, it wouldn't be right to back down now."
Song Qinghe sighed softly and lowered her head to touch the cracked edge of the sealing disc.
"This plate is mostly ruined."
"But he's not completely dead yet."
"I can fix it, I can repair it, I can hold on for a while."
She raised her eyes, her voice low but steady: "You're right, it's more dangerous down there, but now that we know this is the place where the evil god makes offerings, we can't just stop after seeing a single layer of the altar."
"If we really keep this place, who knows how many more people will suffer in the future."
Lu Yuan listened quietly without speaking immediately.
A mountain breeze swept through the valley, ruffling the stray hairs at his temples and gently flattening the withered grass in the distance.
He knew that none of these three people were reckless.
The fact that they were able to survive in that situation last night demonstrates their courage and sense of propriety.
But courage is one thing, but going further in is not something that can be sustained by mere brawn.
Lu Yuan pondered for a moment before saying, "Since you are still willing to come, then I will not stop you."
"But let me say a few things first."
"From now on, we can't force things like we did last night."
"This place enshrines an evil spirit, not an ordinary malevolent spirit."
"The way to deal with this kind of thing is to first cut off the incense offerings, then break the path of worship, and only then can you deal with the main deity."
"We can't just go head-to-head with it right away."
Lin Zhaoxuan nodded slightly: "You mean, first find the root of the offering?"
Lu Yuan nodded in agreement: "The place of offering must have an incense path, a guiding thread, offerings, and a gate."
"The altar spirit is merely a gatekeeper; its job is to devour intruders or deliver messages inside."
"If we want to go inside, we first need to find out where it sends its breath, who is consuming this breath, and which god it is worshipping."
Song Qinghe listened attentively and added softly, "If it really is a place where evil gods make offerings, there will most likely still be incense altars, cellars, and traces of past human sacrifices there."
"There may even be fake temples set up under the name of local gods."
"In this kind of situation, the hardest part is not fighting, but debating."
Lu Yuan glanced at her and nodded slightly.
That makes perfect sense.
"So I'm asking you, are you still going to join or not?"
"If you follow along, you'll have to play by the rules from now on."
"First stabilize people's hearts, then stabilize the equipment, and finally stabilize the roads."
"No one should try to be strong."
After listening, Zhou Heng suddenly looked up at Lu Yuan, grinned, and smiled, still showing signs of fatigue from the night before.
"Brother Lu, your question doesn't sound like you're asking us whether we'll join or not."
"It's as if we've already been included in their calculations."
Lu Yuan also showed a very faint smile, which was rare for him.
"To be honest, I'd rather you left."
"But if you were still here, I would have to take you all out with me."
This statement, though simple, is inexplicably more reliable than any grand pronouncement.
Zhou Heng fell silent.
A moment later, he stood up, dusted himself off, tucked his dagger into his waistband, and said decisively, "Fine, then let's see this through."
"You saved my life last night, I, Zhou Heng, am sticking with you."
Lin Zhaoxuan also stood up and squeezed the Thunder Token in his hand.
"Although I can no longer force Lei Yi like I did last night, I still have some foundation."
"If we really need to find a supply route or cut the lead wire, my little bit of stuff can come in handy."
"Besides, thunder magic is meant to suppress the underworld, so there might still be a chance."
Song Qinghe glanced at the two of them, then at Lu Yuan, and finally nodded gently.
"Me too."
"The sealing disc is cracked, but it hasn't completely shattered yet."
"With a little supplementation, it can still hold its own."
After listening, Lu Yuan finally stopped asking questions.
He raised his hand, took the Seven Star Sword from the side, held it horizontally in his palm, and slowly swept it across the three people.
"Since everyone is still following along, let's first replenish our Qi, our organs, and our bodies."
"After it's completely light, set up a simple array at the valley entrance to suppress all the lingering energy from last night."
"Go further north."
"Since this place is a place of worship for evil gods, it's impossible that it only has one altar for worshipping spirits."
"The road ahead will only be longer and more dangerous."
After he finished speaking, he took out several yellow talismans from his pocket, pressed his fingertips on the surface of the talismans, and whispered a few very short purification incantations.
The incantation was short but profound, like a breathing technique commonly used by old Taoist priests in the Northeast during the Republican era. The words were brief and focused on calming the mind.
"The sky is clear and the earth is bright; the wind and fire return to their hiding places."
"When people's hearts are not disturbed, all evils will not grow."
"Hurry, hurry, as the law commands!"
As the last sentence fell, Lu Yuan flipped his wrist, and with a gentle shake, he pasted the talisman on the four corners of the stone where the three of them were temporarily sitting.
The movement looked ordinary, but it was actually very steady.
As soon as the talisman was cast, the remaining gloomy atmosphere around them immediately subsided a little further.
The already limited chill in the valley was completely suppressed by these talismanic energies and returned to the ground.
Seeing this, Lin Zhaoxuan's eyes flickered slightly: "Your cultivation level seems to have deepened again."
Lu Yuan did not deny it, but calmly said, "I broke through a threshold last night."
Hearing him say this, everyone felt a little relieved.
This concludes the night, and only here does the journey truly begin.
As dawn broke over the Savage Valley, the clouds were gradually pushed aside by the morning breeze, revealing the gray-white outlines of the distant mountains.
The fire at the bottom of the valley went out completely, leaving only lime, paper ash, and half a piece of dry firewood.
The traces of the altar's worship have long since vanished, as if the tragic events of last night were merely a dream in the mountains.
After Lu Yuan and his group finished packing, they prepared to leave the valley.
Zhou Heng sheathed the dagger back at his waist, took a couple of steps to make sure his legs weren't as weak as they had been the night before, and then turned back to nod at Lu Yuan.
Lin Zhaoxuan carefully put the Thunder Token, which already had scorch marks, close to his body. Although the token's power was greatly diminished, it was not completely unusable.
Song Qinghe wrapped the sealing disc tightly, and then wrapped it with a thick cloth, as if afraid that it would suffer even the slightest bump.
Lu Yuan walked at the front, with the Seven Star Sword of Zhenguan slung diagonally behind him. His steps were not fast, but they were as steady as if they were nailed to the ground.
The road out of the valley is not long.
But the further they went, the more they could feel that the lingering power of the evil spirit left by the altar last night had been almost completely suppressed by Lu Yuan's sword.
The grass on both sides of the mountain road, which was originally damp and black, is slowly showing a bit of dry gray-green.
Occasionally, a few mountain birds chirped, their clear calls flitting through the treetops, so crisp they almost made one feel dazed.
It was as if the danger of the previous night was just an illusion in the mountains beyond the pass.
But Lu Yuan did not completely relax.
When he reached the mouth of the valley, he suddenly stopped.
On the left side of the mountain path ahead, there is an inconspicuous pine forest. Several crooked stones stand at the edge of the forest, with a few dry grass stalks stuck in the cracks between the stones.
If it were someone else, they would probably just think of it as a common rocky slope in the mountains, and no one would give it a second glance.
But Lu Yuan narrowed his eyes slightly.
He raised his hand, signaling everyone to stop.
"Don't move."
Zhou Heng immediately stopped and asked in a low voice, "What's wrong?"
Lu Yuan did not answer immediately, but walked step by step toward the pine forest.
A mountain breeze blew through the forest, carrying a very faint scent of incense ash.
The smell was very faint; if he hadn't just broken the altar to worship the spirit and was particularly sensitive to the smells of incense, paper ash, and lamp oil, he would have hardly been able to smell it at all.
Lu Yuan squatted down by the rock, picked up a bit of soil from the ground with his finger, and looked at the shallow pits blocked by grass stalks outside the pine forest. His eyes darkened slightly.
"This is a road affliction."
Song Qinghe took a few steps closer, followed his gaze, and said softly, "It looks like someone has been driving across the intersection here."
Lu Yuan stood up, his gaze falling on the few blades of grass between the stones: "It's not as simple as just covering the intersection."
"Look at these grass stalks, three stalks bundled together, with a thin hemp thread wrapped around them."
"It's not like the wild men randomly stuck them in the mountains; it looks like they were specially marked."
Lin Zhaoxuan squatted down and took a look, his brows furrowing.
"This is neither a suppression of evil spirits nor a sedition."
"More like giving directions."
Lu Yuan nodded: "It's a guide grass."
"In the old customs outside the pass, some people were afraid of getting lost in the mountains, so they would mark the way with grass at the crossroads to tell passersby which way to go and which way not to go."
"But these few straw stalks are pressed down crookedly, and the air vent is off by half an inch, deliberately leading the 'path to life' towards the path of death."
"It looks like giving directions, but it's actually misleading people."
Upon hearing this, Zhou Heng immediately realized what was going on, and his expression changed slightly: "Was this deliberately arranged?"
Lu Yuan gently parted the few grass stalks: "It's not necessarily that someone placed them there by hand."
"It's more like borrowing the residual air from the old road and re-pressurizing it to create a small mystery."
"The scheme wasn't large, but it was very insidious."
"If someone who doesn't know this happens to pass by, they'll probably follow it into the depths of the forest and eventually end up in a ravine."
As he spoke, he took two more steps forward, bent down, and pulled out a small pinch of charred incense ash from under the rocks, examining it in his palm.
The incense ash contained a tiny bit of very fine red residue, like incense sticks that hadn't burned through.
Lu Yuan closed his eyes, gently rubbed his fingers together, and whispered, "This is not what the spirit left behind at the altar last night."
"It's something from earlier."
7