903 From The Abyss To The Abbey (1/2)

Sangsang was right. When they traveled, it was always Ning Que's call. She never commented or objected. In Ning Que's words, it was not because she was stupid. She just did not care about trivial things and would rather leave it to him.

Ning Que kept quiet and stepped ahead of her. Just a few steps had made him breathless and pale.

He had gone through countless rounds of savage torture. The slow slicing and arm breaking had almost drained him. If it was not for Sangsang, he would have died several times. Although he was still alive and no wounds could be seen on his body, the newly grown flesh was not fully integrated with his mind and body. The fall triggered his previous wounds. With every step he took, his spirit s.h.i.+vered and he suffered from tremendous pain.

Sangsang could feel his pain but remained indifferent.

Ning Que stood on the rotten leaves and rested for a moment. He found a pretty strong stick and crutched on it, then walked in frustration and pain into the thick fog.

Deep down the abyss under the cliff behind Peach Mountain, it was covered by clouds and fog all year round. There was no way out, unlike the abyss at the Back Hill of the Academy. It was isolated from the rest of the world and no one knew what kind of creatures lived there and how dangerous they could be.

They walked in the foul fog without worrying because nothing could ever hurt Haotian. They were the only ones who were able to hurt each other.

Sangsang looked at the back of Ning Que, emotionlessly and quietly.

She could have easily controlled him, chained his Mountain of Snow and Ocean of Qi again and dragged him back to the Divine Halls of West Hill. There he would be her slave until eternity and never to be freed again.

However, Ning Que showed his determination by jumping off the cliff. It would be meaningless to take him back to the Divine Halls. Furthermore, she had her own plan in mind.

Having made up her mind, Sangsang held her hands behind her back and followed Ning Que wandering in the thick and moist fog. She was fascinated by the grotesque vines.

Ning Que was tired and sat on a rock to rest. He looked at the relaxed and cheerful Sangsang and said, ”I know you despise my tricks, but I had no choice. You are way too powerful than me. I had to make those embarra.s.sing scenes to get you out of Peach Mountain. It should have been your tricks. I just borrowed them.”

Sangsang did not reply to him and walked towards deep into the dark vines. She looked above with her eyes wide open and seemed curious. Ning Que was surprised by her reaction and felt some hope again.

After a while, Ning Que regained some strength and stood up crutching to the stick. He pa.s.sed by the dark vines and called to her, ”Time to go!”

Sangsang walked out of the vines still without any expressions. It seemed that she had found nothing interesting, but Ning Que noticed some slightly rosy stains by her lips and several bright red fruits in her hands. Those fruits should taste good, he thought.

Ning Que said nothing but kept walking. The fog thickened in the abyss. In a few steps he could no longer see Sangsang's face clearly. The surroundings became increasingly vague and there were only random shadows of the vines and weird growls.

After coming down to the abyss, Sangsang was obviously different from her previous self inside the Divine Hall of Light. She showed great interest in the things around her. She wanted to taste the fruits and became curious of the unknown, just like how human beings were. However, she definitely did not feel fear as they did.

Due to her increase in curiosity and her lack of fear, Sangsang found the foggy abyss exceptionally interesting. From time to time she disappeared from Ning Que's sight and went into the fog. She went somewhere and saw some things then came back to him silently.

Ning Que was not even aware of her being away at the beginning. When he found that she was disappearing, he started to worry instinctively. Then he realized that he was just being absurd.

— In Haotian's world, who could ever hurt her? He did not need to worry about her getting lost either because no matter how thick or dim the foul fog was, as long as he tried he could sense where she was and knew that she would come back. He also did not worry about himself as long as she was by his side.

For years, the abyss had been under the dark rule for years. The foul fog carried the resentment of numerous former prisoners in the Secluded Pavilion and also poisonous particles from nature. When combined, the two could be very dangerous. Although Ning Que became immune to poison after he practiced Haoran Qi, he still felt dizzy after walking in the foul fog for a long time. However, when Sangsang came back to his side, he became refreshed and restored immediately. Nothing could ever poison him again.

The real danger inside the abyss was not the foul fog, but rather the creatures in it. In order to survive in such a hostile environment, these creatures had acquired brutal vitality and vital killing skills. Ning Que spread his psyche power towards the fog and sensed the vitality from the old moist vines, snakes, and beasts that were hiding among them and even under the rotten leaves. He felt tingled.

Along their way in the fog, he and Sangsang came across with several grotesque creatures. They were mostly snakes. One of the snakes was covered in mucus and had degenerated eyes, so it used its emerald hiss to sense the environment. Most of the snakes were dazzling and colorful, even in the thick fog.

However, what most horrifying was the sound of swaying vines and branches. They sounded like crying and howling. Ning Que knew that there must be creatures jumping from trees to trees. He sensed their rapid speed even though he was not able to see them clearly. However, he was not aware of one thing. What was the creature that was hiding under the rotten leaves? This made him extremely cautious and scared.