Chapter 151 — Purgatory
The Sword Questions the Heavens · Page 4 of 6
In truth everyone present understood that reasoning well enough; it was only that, for some unknown reason, something eerie in that valley seemed to work silently upon each person's mood, filling them with dread. Fa Jing, the junior brother who had followed Fa Cheng all along, answered in a muffled voice and stepped to his senior brother's side.
"Let's go." It was not Xiao Yichen who spoke, but Lin Jinghong. He tightened his grip on the Slaying Dragon Sword, his face grave, and took the lead into the Viper Valley. Lu Xueling followed behind him, and Li Xun fell in as well. Xiao Yichen and Fa Cheng exchanged a glance, each seeing the faint worry in the other's eyes, but after a moment everyone stepped inside.
The vast valley, the endless forest—as the group walked through Viper Valley, all around them was a dead silence. Not a single animal was to be seen; even the customary birdsong was nowhere to be heard. The land surrounding this valley seemed to have become a lifeless realm of ghosts.
The stench of beasts and demons hung in the air, thick as ever, but as the group pressed deeper, every brow knitted tighter and tighter. Now another breath drifted toward them on the valley wind—a foulness so dreadful that it was enough to make one retch at a single whiff—and it too grew ever stronger.
The mountain path twisted and turned, and the group advanced slowly, wholly focused on guarding their surroundings. Ahead lay a bend, a hollow in the hillside, and by the time they reached it the stench in the air had grown unbearable. Suddenly Yan Fei, walking in the middle of the group, rushed to the roadside. The others were all startled. Li Xun cried out in alarm, "Junior Sister, what's wrong—" He stopped halfway through, for he and the others had all seen Yan Fei standing in the weeds by the path, retching with all her might.
No one spoke a word of mockery, for none of them knew how much longer they themselves could hold out. Though this valley had yet to reveal its true face, it already seemed more terrible than almost any place in the world. Yan Fei stopped, gasping, her face pale, and walked back to the others. "I'm sorry," she whispered. "I—I just couldn't..."
Fa Cheng forced a smile. "Junior Sister Yan, it's all right."
Xiao Yichen said as well, "Indeed. No one could stomach this stench. Think nothing of it. If you truly cannot go on, why not wait for us outside the valley?"
Yan Fei hesitated, then shook her head. "Let's go."
Li Xun came over and nodded to Yan Fei, a look of comfort in his eyes. "Be careful," he said softly. "Don't push yourself too hard."
Yan Fei nodded in assent. Xiao Yichen turned and said, "Good, let us continue. We do not know what monsters or dangers lie ahead—everyone must be on guard."
The others nodded one after another and pressed forward once more. Lin Jinghong still led the way, and as they drew closer and closer to the bend in the hollow, cold sweat began to seep into the palm that gripped the Slaying Dragon Sword. By now the air was so foul it was hard to breathe. Lin Jinghong's face paled slightly; he gritted his teeth, sprang forward in a single stride, rounded the bend—and saw what lay within the valley.
In an instant his whole body went rigid.
Those behind him immediately noticed Lin Jinghong's strange state and could not help but grow tense. Xiao Yichen called his name softly twice, but there was no response at all—his eyes were fixed dead ahead. Lu Xueling was the second to step up, and then Li Xun, Yan Fei, Xiao Yichen, Fa Cheng, and Fa Jing, one after another, rounded the bend in the hollow and saw what lay in Viper Valley.
And then every one of them stood frozen.