403 Encountering Danger (1/2)
A row of people was heading forward in the flourishing natural forest. They were silent and exceptionally swift, as though they were hawks and falcons flying through the air. The tough mountainous terrain was not affecting them in any way at all. After an hour, the row of people had already covered over 100 kilometers before finally stopping at the peak of a huge mountain.
There were many traces of construction going on around the area. On the surrounding cliffs, there were many newly built wooden platforms with observation decks. They even had some entertainment facilities. Evidently, they had already arrived at the tourism development area undertaken by the Blue Ocean Group.
”The people of the Ghost Lair use tourism development as a facade. In reality, they are building a huge sacrificial altar on this peak. The Ghost Lair has been peaceful for dozens of years, and it seems as though these boring times will not last as troubling times are ahead of them.”
Pei Fengwu looked at the mountain peak before her eyes and sighed slightly. Her status was different from the average Executor in the Huatian Palace, and she thus knew some things that others did not. The land of Hua Xia may have appeared peaceful on the surface, but it would not be so in future.
Mo Wen's eyes scanned his surroundings, and he asked, a little stunned, ”Is this place really the land of haze?” Everything appeared normal, and he did not actually notice any area that was especially hazy.
”That land of haze is located in the depths beneath the mountain's peak. It is extremely difficult for the average person to notice. However, for the people of the Ghost Lair, it is not difficult to find such a place,” Pei Fengwu explained. She looked at Mo Wen with slight shock. A normal ancient martial art practitioner would not be able to have discovered the land of haze. Even standing there would not have triggered any senses. How had he managed to deduce that the land of haze was not on the Earth's surface?
”Since that land of haze is not on the Earth's surface, do you mean that the Ghost Lair has dug a passageway leading beneath the ground?” Cai Yan asked in shock.
”That's right, follow me.” Pei Fengwu nodded. She rushed around the mountain peak for a certain distance before finding a cave that was hidden amid the grass and trees. After checking it in detail, she wiggled down the hole first.
When most of them had witnessed this, they followed behind her one after the other. The cave was very deep, and it led straight down to an underground area. A row of people had already traveled 1,000 meters, and yet the end was still not in sight. However, the markings on the walls inside the caves were still rather new, and it seemed like the passageway had indeed been dug recently.
Mo Wen furrowed his brows and had a tugging feeling that something was not quite right. They had already entered the passageway, but they had not even encountered a single person from the Ghost Lair. Logically speaking, since the Ghost Lair had spent so much money and gone to so much trouble to build the sacrificial altar, they must value it greatly. If they had not set up multiple levels of security along the passageway, they should have at least stationed a couple of people to guard the area. Yet, throughout their entire journey, they had not seen a single person.
Mo Wen suddenly stopped in his tracks, and he said with a solemn expression, ”It feels a little odd.” Right from the beginning, he had not detected any aura of haze. By right, even if the land of haze was hidden underground, it was not possible that they would have no feeling of it at all after they had already traveled down so deeply. He had not even been able to detect a single aura of haze.
”You've noticed as well?” Pei Fengwu raised her brows and did not continue to proceed forward.
”Could it be that there was some mistake in the information, and this area is not actually the sacrificial altar that the Ghost Lair is building?” Cai Yan asked.
”Huatian Palace's information may not necessarily be correct. However, the chances that it is incorrect are not high, unless…” Pei Fengwu's expression turned ugly. Unless it had been a trap right from the start, and the Ghost Lair had released some fake news on purpose, which would cause them to take the bait. Although it was not easy to bluff Huatian Palace's intelligence agents, the Ghost Lair was different. They had some very deceptive tactics that could mess with the vision and hearing of the average person. Even though something could have been very obviously fake, they could make one believe it so wholeheartedly, it would be as though they had witnessed it for themselves.
A member of the Fengwu team asked, ”So what should we do now?”
”Retreat!” Pei Fengwu said very decisively. Since there was a mistake in the information, it was very possible that the rest of the information was also fake. If it was a trap, it was possible that their entire team would be destroyed. Such a thing was unprecedented in the Huatian Palace.
”You guys are indeed the Executors of the Huatian Palace to be so quick-witted. Since you have already come, you shouldn't leave.” A weird laugh suddenly rang out within the cave. It resounded continuously and made one's hair stand on end.
However, the members of the Fengwu team did not seem to care about the weird laughter. One by one, they changed into flashes and dashed out of the cave at a high speed. They were not panicked at all, and they showed no signs of shock as they had very strong personal qualities.
That voice said calmly, ”You people of the Huatian Palace really do not know how to learn from your mistakes. You actually still only sent such a small team of people for the mission, and there is not even a single Seven-Stars Executor. Could it be that after being the big brother for many years, you no longer view us as a strong and significant power?”
With his words, the caves in the surroundings began to morph into weird shapes. Hence, the people dashing towards the entrance of the cave all noticed that the scene in front of them had changed. It was as though as they were traveling through a different dimension. They simply vanished from the passageway all of a sudden and had appeared within a huge underground cave.
”This is not good. From the start, we had already entered the enemy's psychedelic array. That passageway was actually fake.” Pei Fengwu's expression changed slightly, and she suddenly became alert. Beforehand, the entire process of them running in the passageway was very possibly all an illusion. They had already unknowingly fallen into the Ghost Lair's psychedelic array.
”Stratagem techniques.” Upon hearing that, each and every one of them inhaled sharply. Although they had been in the Huatian Palace for a long time and had seen quite a number of amazing stratagems, they absolutely lacked the ability to fight against them.