Chapter 1249: Encountering an Inexplicable Fight
The atmosphere was very oppressive. After hearing about the tragedy that had befallen those who trespa.s.sed the Four Great Sky Demon’s Tomb from Zumi, even Xia Fei had given up on smas.h.i.+ng his way through the tunnels.
Their group made its way through the tomb at a decent speed. There were forks in the path everywhere, and there was no order to them whatsoever. The murals that flanked their two sides were all the scenes of ma.s.sacres the Broken Wing Sky Demon had engaged in, as if the painter who had made these murals was intentionally recording down the most cruel scenes of the slaughter that the Sky Demon had experienced throughout his life, trying to highlight his ferocity.
Zumi turned around and suggested to Xia Fei, “Let’s take the left path, the way to the right seems to be colder.”
Xia Fei shook his head, “No, we’re going right, because the path to our left isn’t any different from all the other paths we’ve walked past so far.”
A war raged inside Zumi. High-level warriors had keen senses, and Zumi could vaguely sense the air coming from the right was a little colder by about 0.01 degrees than the path they had taken thus far. Most people would hardly be able to detect such a minute difference, but it was a stark contrast to a skilled warrior.
“Is that really a good idea?” Radix cautioned.
Xia Fei simply replied, “No idea. But I know that if we keep choosing the safest path, we could end up spending our entire lives never finding our way out of here.”
When Xia Fei and the group arrived at the slightly cooler pa.s.sageway, everyone suddenly realized it was not just a slight difference in temperature, but the confusing forks along the way had also disappeared! There was now only a singular straight path!
Zumi went pale. He was anxious and wanted to leave, but Xia Fei strictly forbade it.
Zumi’s expression was filled with fear as he spoke in a hushed tone, “Believe me, this is definitely not the way out! We arrived through maze-like pa.s.sageways, and this is just a straight path!”
…
Xia Fei frowned, “No matter where we’re going, we have to take a look. Going back will mean returning to the maze, a strange place that had another force stopping us from getting out. You can make the choice yourself. Either you continue going ahead, or I will use Peac.o.c.k Blue to directly create a new route.”
Both Radix and Zumi panicked. What Xia Fei meant by creating a new route was naturally blowing up the tomb!
In that case, it would be a real miracle if the unknown beast or spirit that inhabited this grave would not end up being unearthed. They might as well quietly make their way ahead, and at least leave themselves a potential lifeline!
Zumi was helpless. He had no choice but to follow Xia Fei’s order and continue ahead, maintaining approximately fifty meters of distance between them.
Gradually, their vision began to blur, and there appeared to be a thin fog hanging in the air. That was when Zumi, who had been walking in the front, suddenly turned his head back and asked Xia Fei, “Any orders?”
Xia Fei was startled, “What are you asking me for?”
Zumi’s rather blue face immediately turned green! His veins bulged beneath his blue skin as he asked, “Didn’t you just pat me on the shoulder?!”
Xia Fei did not respond verbally and just shook his head.
The atmosphere instantly turned very tense!
Xia Fei had Ocular Cognition, which meant that this thin fog could hardly obscure his view. He could one hundred percent confirm that there was no one who had patted Zumi on his shoulder!
Breaking out his winning smile, so much like someone innocent, Xia Fei chuckled at Zumi, “There have been studies that showed that when people are in a sealed environment, it’s very easy for hallucinations to appear, and the higher the level someone is, the higher the likelihood. Because of how sensitive the neural responses high level warriors have are, suddenly getting all tense could easily cause the nervous system to twitch, which results in creating this illusion among high-level warriors. Relax, I’m watching your back, so all you need to focus on is your front.”
Xia Fei had really convincing acting skills, and he was calm enough that Zumi was a lot more at ease after hearing that, so he continued his way forward.
Radix was curious, so he asked, “What’s really going on here? Why have I not heard of that before?…”
Xia Fei’s gaze turned heavy as he silently took out Fiend Lock from his spatial ring. Lightly rubbing his own left shoulder, he said, “It’s the exact opposite, actually. High-level warriors relied heavily on their super senses, so the more tense they grew, the less likely it was that they made a mistake.”
The look on Radix’s face instantly changed to discomfort and he muttered, “So you mean to say, just now…”
“Just now, something patted Zumi on his shoulder,” Xia Fei enunciated each word clearly as emphasis.
“What did?!”
“Something we can’t comprehend.”
*Whoosh*
Just as Xia Fei said those words, he suddenly threw out a beautiful arc with his Fiend Lock, and went das.h.i.+ng back!
Fiend Lock had wires that were thinner than hair and lacked any ma.s.s, so it did not make any sound when thrown out!
Fiend Lock quickly flew out and returned.
“What was that about?” Radix asked shrilly. He was an Immortal Soul, of course he would not make any sound when speaking, but Xia Fei found it ear-piercing when he spoke in too sharp a voice.
“Something patted my shoulder as well,” Xia Fei stated grimly, a cold expression on his face.
Xia Fei did not believe in ghosts, but right at this moment, he could not help but admit that there was definitely something here in this tomb.
As for what it was, Xia Fei had no clue!
…
This thing seemed to be a cunning ghost. It would occasionally pester Xia Fei, and later tease Zumi. Even Furball would jump up from time to time, his eyes wide. Were it not for Xia Fei ordering him to withstand it, his pet might very well have gone crazy by now.
The atmosphere was so tense anyone could slice it with a knife. An unseen enemy was also the most frightening!
Despite there being no enemy, and it was just something that was toying with Xia Fei and Zumi, the fact that this thing was capable of tapping Xia Fei’s shoulder without him even sensing their presence meant that they could also stab him surrept.i.tiously!
The dull Little Goldie was laughing all silly, most likely having been poked. That pet of Xia Fei’s had never known the concept of fear, and only thought this something was playing with it, which it found to be very funny.
The veins on Xia Fei’s arms bulged as he tightened his grip on Fiend Lock. It looked as if he was right at the brink of his boiling point, and would soon be tearing apart this Sky Demon Tomb all in one go!
The situation worsened the further forward they went. On average, Xia Fei could feel himself being poked thrice every minute, and found it unimaginable if they had all not been stabbed instead!
Suddenly, the area in front of them widened, revealing a circular blue pool around a kilometer in diameter, with a set of white steps built next to it so that anyone could climb to get into the pool.
On the other side was the exit, and they could see sunlight filtering through it, and hear the sounds of freedom.
“That’s the exit! We can get out now!” Zumi cried out in surprise as he jumped for joy. He did not wish to stay even a second longer here in this strange Sky Demon’s Tomb.
“No one takes another step!” Xia Fei called out from out of nowhere.
*Whoosh*
The large leaves of Peac.o.c.k Blue spread out like ropes, covering the kilometer-square hall up. Fiend Lock followed up and used its thin wires to hide amid the leaves of Peac.o.c.k Blue.
*Thump*
Xia Fei drew White Dragon’s Screech and sat down where he was, proceeding to close his eyes.
“Why can’t we leave?! The exit is right there!” Zumi shouted, ignoring the rule of raising his voice.
“I won’t stop you, if you wish to die,” Xia Fei remarked coldly, not even opening his eyes to look at Zumi.
Furball and Little Goldie were on Xia Fei’s shoulder. One faced forward while the other faced behind. Radix was controlling the Fiendish Blade Nirvana, guarding the s.p.a.ce above Xia Fei’s head.
Absolute defense! This was the stance of absolute defense!
Peac.o.c.k Blue, Fiend Lock, Furball, Little Goldie, Nirvana, Xia Fei and Radix. They were all in a state of readiness! This was especially true given the expression on Xia Fei’s face, which was extremely stern!
Zumi plopped down where he was standing, both hands holding up his head and looking all depressed.
Xia Fei was right. Though it looked like the exit was right in front of them, going through it would mean certain death!
That path would lead them down, and they were already very deep in the tomb, so how could there be sunlight ahead? It was obvious that this was all just an illusion!
A second. Two seconds. Three…
Every second felt as long as a year. The sound of the air flowing through, or the rustling of Peac.o.c.k Blue’s leaves, nothing got past Xia Fei’s ears.
Since there was no way for Xia Fei to see the thing, he figured he would just not rely on his eyes!
This thing seemed to also sense the killing intent emanating from Xia Fei’s body, and an entire minute pa.s.sed without it making any movements whatsoever.
Two minutes, and still there was no movement.
This sort of tension and oppressiveness was hard on the nerves. It was like they were sitting on pins and needles. It was especially true for Zumi; he had no idea what the strange thing was doing, nor did he know why Xia Fei needed to resort to such means to deal with it, but it was not hard to tell from the expression on Xia Fei’s face that he was determined to eliminate this threat!
*rumble*
Just as Zumi was wondering and his heart was pounding wildly, Xia Fei made his move!
Peac.o.c.k Blue’s twisted vines and leaves surged out toward the mid air like a tornado, swaying its long leaves wildly, while Fiend Lock was flitting between the leaves.
*Ching*
The hair-thin Fiend Lock spun rapidly, turning into a flexible and sharp blade that completely shredded Peac.o.c.k Blue’s leaves!
Radix and Zumi could not contain their shock! Neither of them understood why Xia Fei would use his Fiend Lock to harm his Peac.o.c.k Blue! Even if Peac.o.c.k Blue was the most tenacious weed, capable of growing its leaves back after losing them, why was Xia Fei hurting Peac.o.c.k Blue for no reason like that?
In the next second, a downpour of sap made from Peac.o.c.k Blue’s leaves and pulp fell down like rain.
Peac.o.c.k Blue was blue, so its sap was also blue! It covered the kilometer-square area completely!
It turned out that Xia Fei had damaged Peac.o.c.k Blue himself all for the sake of dying everything in its blue sap!
This was a very powerful move!
Given how large Peac.o.c.k Blue was, it was the only thing capable of covering the entire s.p.a.ce, so there was nowhere else for this invisible interloper to hide; it would end up covered in Peac.o.c.k Blue’s azure sap no matter what!
“Over there!” Radix yelled. Xia Fei hurriedly turned to where he was pointing and looked, instantly setting his eye a square object that was now completely blue in color after being covered by Peac.o.c.k Blue’s sap.
*Bang*
*Roar*
Xia Fei sped over and raised his White Dragon’s Screech to begin slas.h.i.+ng. Meanwhile, Furball, Little Goldie and Nirvana were also attacking in unison!
*Ping*
Xia Fei used a lot of strength as he swung White Dragon’s Screech down!
Surprisingly, that square object actually defied the legendary sword White Dragon’s Screech! The hardness of this object was extremely high!
*Swoosh*
The object was also very fast, swiftly circling up into the air after blocking White Dragon’s Screech, as if it was not at all afraid of Xia Fei.
Furball, Little Goldie, Nirvana and Xia Fei moved to surround it, like the zone defense used in basketball. Each of them held their posts as they pushed it into a corner.
But that strange object looked around and unexpectedly tried to break through the encirclement by targeting the strongest out of the four: Xia Fei!
Cunningly s.h.i.+fting shape and changing position, it made Xia Fei miss the second cut of his sword. In his panic, Xia Fei bit the bullet and adopted a wrestling stance, grabbing hold of his opponent.
Instantly, he felt its icy exterior. Xia Fei discovered that this object was not a living being, but felt more like a piece of armor!
Armor?
The Broken Wing Sky Devil’s Cenotaph?
*Splash*
Xia Fei immediately had plenty of thoughts racing through his brain. Before he could even figure any of it out, he found himself being pulled down by the strange thing into the pool of water in the center of the hall with great force!