Chương 32: Growing Suspicions

At that precise moment, a scene of visceral horror unfolded before their eyes. From beneath a thick, suffocating carpet of rotting leaves, a tawny, serpentine monstrosity erupted with explosive violence. Its maw unhinged, revealing rows of jagged, obsidian fangs that clamped down on the unsuspecting strange bird in a single, sickening crunch. Dozens of scythe-like appendages, shimmering with a cold, metallic luster, tore the avian creature into a gory mess in the blink of an eye.

Within seconds, the bird was devoured, leaving not even a feather behind. Having sated its immediate hunger, the predator—whose hide perfectly mimicked the hue of dead foliage—began to settle. Its massive body rippled and shuddered, shifting the earth and leaves back into their original positions until the forest floor looked undisturbed once more. The beast sank back into its lethal lethargy, disappearing into the environment.

Reyn and his companions exchanged looks, their throats dry as they simultaneously swallowed hard. The terror in their eyes was unmistakable. Had they taken even a few more steps forward, they would have walked directly into that deathtrap. The mere thought of those scythes rending their flesh made their scalps prickle with a numbing dread. Though the multi-legged beast had moved with blinding speed, Reyn's sharpened senses had caught its true form.

It was over thirty meters long, its ochre body supported by a terrifying number of three-foot-long legs that curved like sickles. Those legs glowed with a faint, eerie blue light—a clear sign of a toxin so potent it could likely fell a cultivator in seconds. Reyn's heart hammered against his ribs. Given that creature's sheer velocity and lethality, he knew with grim certainty that he would have had zero chance of survival had it targeted him.

Sensing the group's questioning gazes, Chu Dian forced a mask of composure over his pale face.

"That beast is incredibly fast and laden with venom; its raw power is formidable," he whispered, his voice tight.

"However, it is born with poor senses. It relies almost entirely on acoustic vibrations to track prey. As long as we remain absolutely silent, it won't detect us. Furthermore, its intelligence is low. Once it has fed sufficiently, it will retreat to its lair to hibernate. We will wait for that window to cross." The group nodded in grim agreement. Reyn's eyes flickered with a calculating light, but he remained silent, observing Chu Dian's every micro-expression.

Sure enough, two hours later, after the horror had ambushed and devoured two more stray beasts, it began to stir. It dragged its massive, segmented body away, disappearing into the deeper reaches of the woods. Only after they were certain the vibration of its movement had vanished did the group dare to creep forward, their movements ghost-like and cautious. The subsequent leg of the journey was a gauntlet of terror. They encountered several more high-level demon beasts, each more nightmare-inducing than the last.

Under Chu Dian's surprisingly expert guidance, however, they managed to bypass most threats. The only true crisis occurred when they skirted the territory of a Three-Eyed Black Leopard. Di Yun had been a fraction too slow, resulting in a harrowing chase. Fortunately, his injuries were not life-threatening, and they managed to lose the feline predator in the dense undergrowth.

"Finally, we've arrived," Chu Dian said, a visible wave of relief washing over his features as he gestured toward an unremarkable stone crevice.

"This is the entrance to the ancient cultivator's abode." Reyn watched him closely, a shadow of suspicion crossing his mind. Di Yun and Di Meng were too busy exhaling sighs of relief to notice anything amiss, while Wu Shengli remained an enigma, standing silently behind Chu Dian like a shadow, his thoughts locked behind a stoic mask.

"Junior Brother Chu Dian," Di Yun growled, his face darkening as he clutched his bandaged left arm. Blood was still seeping through the cloth.

"The path here was a death march. Why didn't you warn us? I nearly lost my life back there!" Chu Dian's expression turned icy in an instant.

"The path is dangerous, yes, but there is no danger if you follow my instructions to the letter," he snapped, his voice cutting like a blade.

"The Three-Eyed Black Leopard only noticed you because you were greedy enough to try and snatch that discarded spirit tool from the ground. You brought that upon yourself! Let me be clear: the dangers ahead only grow. If you cannot follow my lead, you are merely digging your own grave."

"You—!" Di Yun's face flushed a deep crimson, a mix of shame and fury burning in his eyes.

"I'm done with this. I'm leaving! Di Meng, are you coming with me or staying with this madman?"

"Leave?" Chu Dian chuckled coldly.

"Without my guidance, you won't make it a mile through these woods before you're inside a beast's stomach." Di Yun's face went deathly pale. His bravado crumbled instantly, his posture slumping as the reality of their isolation set in. Reyn's eyes narrowed, his gaze fixed on Chu Dian with a newfound coldness.

"Now, now, fellow Daoists, why the hostility?" Wu Shengli suddenly interjected, his voice smooth and conciliatory.

"We've come so far and haven't even seen the treasure yet. Let's not fall into infighting. Everyone, take a step back. We need to cooperate to unlock the secrets of this abode." This book's true home is on another platform. Check it out there for the real experience. Di Meng pulled his brother aside, whispering urgently into his ear. Eventually, the tension simmered down, though the air remained thick with resentment. Chu Dian, perhaps realizing he had pushed too hard, cupped his hands toward Reyn.

"Senior Brother Shu Yun, please do not take offense. I mean no ill will. We are here for the treasure; once it is in our hands, we shall depart this place together." Reyn offered a non-committal grunt, the chill in his eyes receding but not vanishing.

"I hope for your sake that is true," he said flatly. With a fragile peace restored, the five moved forward. Chu Dian led the way, followed by Wu Shengli and the Di brothers, with Reyn bringing up the rear—a position that allowed him to watch everyone's back. The interior of the cave was a void of absolute darkness. Prepared for this, each cultivator produced a Moonlight Stone, the pale luminescence carving out a path through the gloom.

They traveled roughly three hundred meters before the tunnel opened into a vast, echoing grotto. Seven yawning tunnels branched out from the far wall, leading into the unknown.

"Only one of these paths is correct," Chu Dian explained, stopping at the center of the grotto.

"I spent months exploring this place, nearly dying a dozen times before I mapped the way to the next level. But beyond this point, we will be entering uncharted territory together." Without hesitation, he strode into the fourth tunnel. The group followed closely, their footsteps echoing rhythmically. They reached a hall roughly thirty meters wide without further incident. The room was eerily barren, save for three massive, blood-red doors set into the far wall. Each door pulsed with a faint, sanguine light.

The floor, however, was a charnel house—littered with the pulverized remains of skeletons, as if the bones had been systematically crushed by an immense force.

"This hall is the furthest I've ever ventured," Chu Dian cautioned, his voice dropping to a whisper.

"I suspect only one of these doors is safe. Choose incorrectly, and we'll end up like the dust on this floor." Reyn nodded, channeling spiritual energy into his eyes. His vision sharpened, piercing the gloom to reveal faint, swirling inscriptions atop the doors. The characters were twisted and serpentine—the same 'Tadpole Script' he had seen on the Golden Seal. Death! Severance! Extinction! The three blood-red glyphs seemed to vibrate with a malevolent power.

As Reyn stared at them, a sudden surge of mindless fury erupted in his chest. A primal urge to destroy everything in sight—to tear his companions limb from limb—threatened to overwhelm his reason. Reyn slammed his eyes shut, immediately circulating the Hunyuan True Scripture. It took several long breaths before the icy clarity of his cultivation suppressed the rising madness.

"Friend Shu Yun, what happened?" Chu Dian asked, his voice laced with tension. The others had felt the sudden, violent aura erupting from Reyn and were now on high alert.

"Do not look directly at the characters on the doors," Reyn warned, his voice raspy.

"They possess a soul-warping influence. They can shatter your mind." He felt a cold sweat on his brow; had his Divine Sense not been bolstered by the Hunyuan True Scripture, he might have succumbed. The bones on the floor were likely the remains of those who had gone mad and slaughtered one another.

"The doors are labeled Death, Severance, and Extinction," Reyn continued.

"How do we choose?""'Severance' implies a dead end, a path cut off. We can rule that out," Chu Dian mused, his eyes shining with a strange intensity.

"That leaves 'Death' and 'Extinction.' As the saying goes, one must find life within the land of death. I propose we take the Door of Death. What do you think?" The Di brothers wavered, their faces etched with indecision. Wu Shengli remained as silent as a statue, offering no opinion. Reyn watched Chu Dian. Beneath the man's calm exterior, Reyn caught a fleeting glint of anticipation in his pupils. It was well-hidden, but not well enough.

Reyn's suspicion deepened into a cold certainty: Chu Dian knew more than he was letting on.

"Since Friend Chu Dian is so confident, we shall follow the path of Death," Reyn said, his voice devoid of emotion.

"Very well," the Di brothers agreed, having no better alternative. A flicker of triumph crossed Chu Dian's eyes. He stepped forward, his fingers dancing through a series of complex mudras. With a low rumble, the Door of Death swung open, revealing a long, well-lit corridor. Unlike the gloom of the hall, this passage was lined with glowing Night Pearls and Moonlight Stones. There were no immediate traps or magical ambushes. Relieved, the group stepped inside.

The silence of the corridor was absolute, but as they advanced, they stumbled upon a gruesome sight. A skeleton, severed cleanly at the waist, lay sprawled on the floor. Its upper half was frozen in a desperate crawling posture, its bony fingers having carved deep, jagged furrows into the hard stone floor in a futile attempt to escape. The marks stretched back for hundreds of meters. For someone to survive such a wound and crawl that far, they must have been at least a Foundation Establishment cultivator.

Beside the remains lay a shattered blade. Chu Dian picked it up, examining the jagged edge.

"A spirit tool, and a high-grade one at that," he muttered.

"This person was likely at the mid-stage of Foundation Establishment." The discovery cast a heavy pall over the group. The air seemed to grow colder, the light of the Night Pearls feeling clinical and heartless. Another two hundred meters in, they found the lower half of the skeleton. The surrounding walls were riddled with pits and gouges, evidence of a catastrophic struggle. The tension in the group reached a breaking point, yet they pushed on.

Soon, they encountered a pair of life-sized statues flanking the path—guards in stone armor wielding massive greatswords. Despite the weathering of ages, they looked fierce and imposing, their hollow stone eyes seemingly tracking the group's movement. After a tense inspection revealed no mechanical triggers, they proceeded. As they delved deeper, the corridor became lined with more statues. The Stone-armored Guards gave way to Silver-armored Guards, their craftsmanship becoming more intricate and lifelike.

But the most chilling realization was the lack of a culprit. They saw the carnage, the broken weapons, and the shattered stone, but they had yet to see the thing that had hunted a Foundation Establishment master to his death.