Chapter 1446: Ancient Secret
Seeing that Xi He was leaving, Zu An and the others sighed in relief. Zu An quickly used the Primordial Origin Sutra to treat his injuries.
Suddenly, several figures swiftly approached, calling out, “Nuba is over here!”
The group could vaguely make out someone waving their sleeves, sucking in all the smoke and dust. The visibility in the area immediately improved considerably, revealing several strange individuals dressed like shamans gathered nearby.
In addition to that, Nuba’s corpse was present. However, there was only a head left over, with no trace remaining of her body. Zu An had to admit that Nuba’s cultivation was shocking. Her explosion had been even stronger than a nuclear bomb, and yet her head still remained intact!
The lead shaman wondered with a sigh, “Nuba, why did you have to go this far?”
Nuba didn’t reply, as she was already dead. All that remained was the unwillingness and anger visible in her open eyes.
All of the shamans sighed. Then, they chanted some cryptic syllables, as if reciting a sacrificial text. Nuba’s expression finally eased up a bit, and eventually, she closed her eyes.
Zu An and the others were amazed when they saw that. Was this a scripture that helped a departed soul find peace?
Just then, the shamans also noticed them. They quickly surrounded the group and stared at them with unkind expressions.
Zu An finally got a good look at them, and thought that calling them human would be stretching it a bit. That was because they all had extremely strange features. Their faces were smeared with different colors of paint; some of them wore sinister masks, and others wore large necklaces strung with the bones of unknown beasts, giving them a terrifying countenance.
“They are with the Golden Crows. Kill them to get revenge for Nuba!” one shaman exclaimed in indignation.
Zu An was alarmed. It seemed the shamans were on the same side as Nuba, and thus enemies of Xi He. As such, he quickly explained, “Senior misunderstands! We are not on the same side as the Golden Crows. On the contrary, we share a grudge with them!”
“Nonsense!” the one in the lead replied. "I clearly saw all of you in Xi He’s golden war chariot earlier. What else could you be but her companions?”
“That is because we were her captives!” Zu An quickly explained. “We went into Scalding Valley to fight the Golden Crows, but we were discovered by Xi He. Then, we found that we were no match for her and were captured. Later, Xi He fought with that cl… with Nuba. She could not be bothered to deal with us anymore while concentrating on her enemies, which was why we were able to slip away.”
The shamans all had strange expressions. One replied, “You wanted to face the Golden Crows in Scalding Valley even with your cultivation ranks?”
Yan Xuehen and Yun Jianyue felt a bit of shame. They were normally high and mighty, well-known for their power throughout the world. Here, however, they were looked down on for their weakness. Still, they didn’t say anything, because whether it was Xi He, Nuba, or those shamans, those people’s strength was unfathomable to them.
They felt powerless. Even though they had already mentally prepared themselves for the dangers of Unknown Regions, they still hadn’t expected it to be so dangerous. No wonder none had managed to emerge from Unknown Regions alive in hundreds of thousands of years.
Hm? Just how did Zu An leave these terrifying dungeons? And judging from what he said, he’s been to more than one of them, no less.
However, Zu An was in quite a helpless situation too. Even the past Unknown Regions added together weren’t as terrifying as this one! This was already close to the realm of mythology! And yet, the situation had already unfolded, so he could only brace himself.
He replied, “We really were arrogant and conceited, and we underestimated the Golden Crows’ strength. That was why we were captured. Fortunately, all of you appeared in time and they could not be bothered to deal with us anymore, granting us a chance to survive.”
The shamans exchanged a look, seemingly half-convinced. Zu An’s response was a bit odd.
The shaman leader eventually nodded and said, “Indeed. Xi He and the others have always been arrogant; we have never heard of her having any human friends, let alone letting humans share a carriage with her.
“However, we are truly curious. Why would Xi He let you go? She was never someone who shied away from killing people, and she has always treated humans with contempt. Why would she take you captive and bring you along?”
As soon as he said that, the other shamans stared at them fiercely. A single wrong word from Zu An’s group, and the shamans would end their lives immediately.
Zu An reacted quickly and said, “That was because I suddenly thought of an idea, saying that we knew why the ten Golden Crows left at the same time. Xi He temporarily spared us in order to chase after the ten Golden Crows.”
“Oh, you know the reason why the ten suns came out all at once?” the shaman leader asked, looking at Zu An with a piercing gaze.
Zu An said with a bitter smile, “That was merely something I said out of helplessness. Of course, I do not know the real reason. Thankfully, you arrived, or else we would have been in danger once she interrogated us.”
Anyone with a functional brain would know that the ten Golden Crows wouldn’t suddenly leave the nest for a frivolous reason like merely playing. There could even be a huge conspiracy hidden behind it. Zu An was worried that he would get caught up in it, so he naturally had to emphasize his innocence.
“So that was it,” the shaman leader muttered. He thought to himself for a while, but he suddenly noticed the corner of a mulberry leaf sticking out from Zu An’s clothes. He asked, “Where did you get that mulberry leaf from?”
“The big mulberry tree in Mulberry Forest gave it to us,” Zu An replied while secretly observing the shaman’s changes in expression. “It said that Dongting Lake was covered in miasma, so it gave us this to shield against it. These leaves also have healing properties.”
When they heard his reply, the shamans clearly relaxed. The leader replied, “Since the old mulberry tree was willing to give you that leaf, that means you are indeed not bad people.”
He continued after a moment, “Your injuries are quite severe. You should return with us and rest there.”
As he spoke, several strange beasts appeared to carry Zu An’s group. Meanwhile, the other shamans all summoned their own mounts that came in all sorts of different shapes and sizes. Zu An’s group had no idea what the creatures were. However, even though the mounts were clumsy, they were incredibly fast. It felt as if they were flying through the clouds.
After expressing his grat.i.tude, Zu An took the chance to ask, “Are you the legendary Spirit Mountain’s ten shamans?”
They laughed and replied, “So you’ve heard of us.”
Yu Yanluo and the other two women blinked, blank expressions appearing on their faces. However, they didn’t dare to voice their confusion at such a time.
Zu An was shocked, but he said, “I’ve heard many rumors about you, but I don’t know which ones are true…”
Then, he began to describe all sorts of details from the sea of fiction he had read in his previous world. Yun Jianyue and Yan Xuehen were extremely shocked as they listened. Were there really such formidable beings in this world?
Yu Yanluo thought, Could it be that Zu An is just flattering them? She had to admit that the flattery was really high-level and seamless.
The shamans’ faces heated up. The leader immediately shook his head and said, “Enough with all of the praise; we’re nowhere near that amazing. We aren’t the descendants of creator Pangu either… We’re just the leaders of the Shaman clan. I’m their oldest brother Wu Xian, while they are Wu Ji, Wu Pan, Wu Peng, Wu Gu, Wu Zhen, Wu Li, Wu Di, Wu Xie, Wu Luo…”
He introduced all of them one by one, and in response, Zu An’s group of four also introduced themselves. After they got to know each other, their att.i.tudes clearly became friendlier.
“Right, was Nuba your friend?” Zu An took the chance to ask.
Wu Xian sighed and said, “She used to be our neighbor. She could be considered a friend, I reckon.”
“She was truly pitiful. Why did the ten Golden Crows attack her together?” Yu Yanluo asked, her voice full of sympathy.
Yu Yanluo was beautiful and approachable to begin with, and the aura of the Holy Pearl she carried made the ten shamans feel even closer to her. As such, Wu Xian replied, “It’s actually related to a secret that has been hidden away for many years. All of this is related to an immortal medicine.”
“Immortal medicine?” Zu An and the others repeated in surprise. They realized that ever since they entered the Unknown Region, they had already heard about immortal medicines several times. They now had no choice but to believe.