Chapter 90 — The Mantis
劍問蒼天 · Page 5 of 6
Yuyang Zi nodded slightly, then turned around, steadied himself, and raised his one remaining right hand, sweeping it heavily forward through the night. At once shadows stirred in the darkness, and moments later a great host of Changsheng Hall disciples appeared, racing with practiced ease toward the direction Yuyang Zi had indicated.
The night was vast and dark, bleak and brimming with killing intent!
The Dead Marsh, the Bottomless Pit.
This stretch of land looked flat by day, yet for some reason bore such an odd name. Only the villagers who had lived near the Dead Marsh for years knew that in this area, the great stretch of ground in the middle looked no different from its surroundings—all tangled weeds and wild grass—but was in fact a huge bottomless mud pit, and the mud within had an extremely powerful suction. An ordinary person who stepped in by mishap would be sucked down in moments, to rot forever, silent and unmarked, in the depths of the marsh.
That was how the Dead Marsh got its name: the marsh held countless such terrifying places that killed without a trace!
And yet these young people of the righteous path were clearly not to be compared with ordinary folk.
The dozen or so Canglan Sect disciples had traveled through the Dead Marsh for several days, meeting along the way disciples sent by the Brahma Sound Temple and the Fenxia Valley. The three parties joined together, and it turned out each had acquaintances present.
The Brahma Sound Temple was still led by Fa Cheng and Fa Jing. Among the Fenxia Valley disciples were Li Xun and Yan Fei, but after they met, the relations between the groups were rather different. The Canglan Sect disciples led by Xiao Yichen got along harmoniously with the Brahma Sound Temple people, laughing and talking, but the Fenxia Valley group kept a faint distance from both great sects, as if deliberately maintaining a gap.
Everyone understood the subtlety in their hearts, but on the surface they remained courteous. The three great righteous sects were still of one mind, slaying demons and vanquishing evil for the justice and morality of the world, and destroying the Demonic Cult!
That night the group camped near the Bottomless Pit. They lit a bonfire, and after repeatedly warning his juniors not to wander off, Xiao Yichen drew Fa Cheng of the Brahma Sound Temple and Li Xun of the Fenxia Valley aside and conferred with them in low voices.
At that moment Li Xun wore a slight frown, a faint contempt hidden deep in his eyes, though his face still kept its amiable look. He said in a low voice, "Senior Brother Xiao, aren't you overthinking this?"
Xiao Yichen smiled faintly. "If Senior Brother Li has any insight, pray speak! I am all ears."
Seeing that both Xiao Yichen and Fa Cheng had turned their eyes to him, Li Xun paused, then said, "In my view, ever since our three sects entered the marsh, we have swept all before us. The Changsheng Hall disciples sent against us have been routed again and again. And after the battle of Canglan Mountain years ago, the Changsheng Hall's masters are dead or wounded. Apart from Yuyang Zi still stubbornly holding things together, the rest are not worth worrying about. Yet you say tonight is full of hidden peril, Senior Brother Xiao—isn't that going too far?"
Xiao Yichen pondered a moment, then said, "What Senior Brother Li says is indeed reasonable. But among the Changsheng Hall of the Demonic Cult, the master Yuyang Zi has extremely high cultivation—he alone is not to be underestimated. Moreover, from the time the Changsheng Hall rose to rank among the four great factions of the Demonic Cult, eight hundred years have passed. A centipede, though dead, does not stiffen; and they are determined to have this treasure of the Dead Marsh. They may well turn desperate and strike at any cost. We had best be careful!"
Fa Cheng nodded and said, "Senior Brother Xiao speaks sense. We must indeed be on our guard."