Trials of the Abyss

In the past, the ear-piercing wind that whistled like mournful ghosts weeping could be heard all year round in the Solitary Mountain Range. Now, however, the sound had miraculously disappeared and the canyon Pang Jian and his group were in had fallen silent.

Pang Jian frequented the mountain range. However, as he rode into the canyon, his surroundings felt inexplicably unfamiliar to him.

Listening carefully, he realized that within the canyon, he could hear no birds flapping their wings or insects buzzing.

Upon entering the canyon, the violent, crimson warhorse also fell silent, as if it too sensed the abnormality.

From childhood, Pang Jian had been taught how to hunt by his father. As a skilled hunter, he knew that when a place was too quiet, danger often lurked behind the silence.

Keeping his guard up, Pang Jian unslung his bow from his back. He slowly urged the horse to move forward and carefully noted the differences in his surroundings.

The canyons were still the same as before.

However, as Pang Jian pressed onward, he sensed a shift in his surroundings, though he could not quite pinpoint what was different.

Not long after, Pang Jian’s horse came to an abrupt stop. Pang Jian noticed a pile of stones in front of him with a few strange corpses in the middle.

All the corpses were dressed in the same black clothes. On the chest of their clothes was an image of a scarlet crescent moon. The crescent moon seemed to be floating in the depths of a mysterious dark world, radiating a bloody, demonic charm.

With just this glance, Pang Jian was reminded of the sailboat that had descended from the upper world a few days ago.

The crescent moon on the chest of the corpses was the same as the crescent moon on the flag of the sailboat.

The corpses in the pile of stones looked young. They held bright silver bells, white paper fans, or huge bronze hammers. All of them appeared to have been running away.

Some of them had even turned their heads to look back, as if something terrifying was chasing after them, filling them with fright and unease.

Surprisingly though, there were neither fatal wounds on the corpses nor any sign of them being crushed by rocks.

The corpses, frozen in a running posture, gave Pang Jian the impression that they had died in an instant, becoming fixed in place after death.

It was like their souls had been scattered by a gust of wind, and their bodies frozen in place by some kind of strange force that stopped time.

However, the canyon, where the wind whistled all year round, was eerily quiet at the moment, devoid of the evil wind of Pang Jian’s imagination.

Stranger still, the corpses among the pile of rocks had not been torn to pieces and devoured by the wild beasts that often roamed the canyon.

The sight before Pang Jian made no sense to him, and he refrained from rushing forward rashly.

He decided to stay where he was and wait for the others.

Not long after, Pang Jian heard the sound of the horses’ hooves coming from behind him.

Pang Jian turned around and saw the dignified girl riding a snow-white warhorse. She looked as if she had fused with the warhorse underneath her, shooting forward like a dazzling white light.

Her skillful riding skills and exquisite control of the horse proved that she was by no means a fledgling on the battlefield.

Just as she was about to rush past Pang Jian, the people following behind her began coming into view one after another.

The girl muttered, "What is this?"

She swiftly pulled in the reins, stopping the snow-white horse beneath her before sizing up the bodies in the pile of rocks with her bright eyes.

She slowly knit her bushy eyebrows, which were much thicker than those of an ordinary girl, and her eyes suddenly looked sharp, making her look both dignified and intimidating."It’s the people from the Blood Moon Sect!"

Ning Yuanshan, the old man with the goatee, hurried over. With a gloomy face, he said in a deep voice, "Those guys are from the vicious and bloodthirsty Blood Moon Sect in the upper world. What happened to them? How could they die in such an odd way?"

Ning Yuanshan could not see any fatal wounds on their bodies. Sensing that something was wrong, he warned everyone to be careful.

"Let me go check it out," Liu Qi said, before jumping off his companion’s horse.

Ning Yuanshan slowly nodded. Seeing that he had received permission, Liu Qi walked toward the pile of rocks. When he passed Pang Jian, he suddenly stopped and pulled out a spear from under the belly of his horse before entering the pile of rocks.

Ning Yuanshan turned around and said with a cold gaze, "The rest of you, don’t go in there yet!"

The people behind him were looking at the artifacts in the corpses’ hands with gleaming eyes, but hearing his words, they resentfully tightened the reins on their horses.

If it were not for his scolding, these people would have rushed into the pile of rocks to investigate like Liu Qi.

The Blood Moon Sect’s cultivators had come from the upper world. They must have brought some extraordinary artifacts with them. If these people were able to acquire even one of these artifacts, their trip would be worthwhile. Therefore, they were all driven by greed and almost rushed in.

Forced to stop, these few people could only look at Liu Qi with envy as he arrived in front of the first corpse.

It was a short young man with his hair tied in a bun and a white paper fan held high in his left hand.

His right hand was still forming a seal as if he was trying to activate some secret life-saving technique to escape from the terrifying pile of rocks.

The white paper fan in his hand was open, and Liu Qi could see that there were a few green bamboos painted on it, as well as a verse from a poem. As he got closer, he read the verse to himself.

"You’re cold among pines, bamboos, and vines when over the land the setting sun shines." [1]

He then used the tip of his spear to split open the dead young man’s robe, wanting to see if there were any fatal wounds hidden beneath his clothes.

Suddenly, some of the green bamboos on the white paper fan lit up with a bloody light.

A blood-colored bamboo suddenly flew out from the fan and pierced through Liu Qi’s forehead.

Liu Qi fell to the ground, head facing up, blood flowing from between his eyebrows. He was dead.

Pang Jian was startled, and subconsciously tightened his grip on his long saber, preparing to deal with the unknown threat.

The sinister white paper fan and the murderous blood bamboo were anomalies that he would never have encountered in the Solitary Mountain Range before.

After the blood-red bamboo assassinated Liu Qi, it retracted back into the white paper fan and dyed all the remaining green bamboo red.

Among the gray pile of stones, some of the blood-red bamboos on the white paper fan began emitting a bright red light. Everyone’s expressions changed.

"You lot almost died too," Ning Yuanshan said with a sunken face.

Hearing this, several people behind him lowered their heads in shame and fright.

Zhang Heng, who had shared his horse with Liu Qi, tightened his grip on the reins. He feared his horse would lose control and rushed forward.

"How sinister!” he exclaimed.

No one dared to take a step forward.

In their eyes, the corpses with bloody crescents on their chests had all turned into bloodthirsty monsters.

The man in the spotless white robe, He Ziren, was not saddened by Liu Qi’s death. Instead, his eyes lit up as he raised his hand and pointed at Pang Jian. "You! Go and bring me that white paper fan."

Ning Yuanshan frowned slightly, but due to He Ziren’s status, he could not say anything to dissuade him.

"If you want to die, do it yourself. Don’t drag other people down with you," the young girl, Ning Yao, said with a frown. With her cold eyes, she glared at He Ziren with dissatisfaction.

Then, she looked at Pang Jian. "I know your name is Pang Jian. We are not familiar with the Solitary Mountain Range, and we still need you to help guide us."

She undoubtedly had experienced some big tribulations before, as she appeared composed and was not intimidated by the strange happenings in the pile of rocks.

He Ziren shook his head and laughed, not intending to argue with her. "I was just saying, don’t get angry."

Ning Yao looked at Pang Jian. "You’ve accepted my payment, so now you must help me[2]. Can you tell me how this canyon is different from before?"

Pang Jian answered truthfully, "It has become much quieter. The wind used to be incredibly loud, but now it’s gone. Also, there used to be birds and other animals lurking around, but now they are gone."

"Quiet...." Ning Yao said thoughtfully, "Anything else?"

Pang Jian shook his head.

Ning Yao stopped questioning him and asked everyone to set up camp in front of the pile of rocks. She then said, "We are not the only ones looking to explore the Solitary Mountain Range. We only arrived first because we are the closest. "Everyone, let’s not rush in. Let’s observe the abnormalities of the corpses first and wait for the other parties to arrive."

As soon as they’d entered the canyon, they had stumbled upon a weird pile of rocks, which then resulted in the death of a capable subordinate. She did not dare to act rashly after that.

"Members of the other six major families will come after hearing the news. They won’t make us wait too long," Ning Yuanshan agreed. "Let’s keep an eye on the corpses of these Blood Moon Sect cultivators first, and wait for the others to arrive. We can decide on how we should proceed after that.”

The stone pile was right in front of their eyes. The Blood Moon Sect’s bells, treasure fans, and bronze hammers were also close at hand, but no one dared to covet them anymore.

After settling down the horses, several people quickly set up camp and busied themselves.

Pang Jian’s face was expressionless. Occasionally, he glanced at He Ziren, who had just tried to send him to his death.

He Ziren quickly noticed his gaze. He grinned silently before raising his hand and made a gesture of gouging his eyes.

Ning Yao said in a slightly tired tone, "Uncle Yuanshan, everyone has traveled all the way here and needs to take a break. So I’d like to ask you to keep an eye out for now."

"Okay." Ning Yuanshan had also had the same intention and waved for everyone to go to the tent to rest while he and Pang Jian stayed outside.

When Ning Yao and the others had each entered their tents—either to sit quietly and recuperate or to rest with their eyes closed—Ning Yuanshan pulled Pang Jian aside and took the initiative to ask him questions.

"We are from the Ning Clan. The Ning Clan...have you ever heard of us?"

Compared with when they first met, Ning Yuanshan’s attitude had become much more polite, and he no longer acted condescendingly.

Pang Jian was stunned. "The Ning Clan of the seven major clans?"

"You are not as oblivious as I thought you were," Ning Yuanshan said proudly.

Next, he asked Pang Jian in a casual tone about the anomalies in the Solitary Mountain Range. He learned from Pang Jian that not long ago, a gilded chariot, a huge sailboat, and a white pagoda had descended one after another from the upper world.

Ning Yuanshan stroked his beard as he murmured with a frown on his face. Through Pang Jian’s description, he quickly confirmed the origin of the descending objects.

"The Gilded Chariot of the Star River Alliance, the Formless Sailboat of the Blood Moon Sect, and the Divine Spirit Pagoda of the Sinister Soul Temple." He then asked, "Did you see anyone come out?"

Pang Jian shook his head as he responded, "No."

Ning Yuanshan stopped his line of questioning. "Very well, you should also rest."

He then asked Pang Jian to help keep an eye on the surroundings, and he went to Ning Yao’s tent. After getting Ning Yao’s permission to enter, he went inside to discuss important matters with her.

***

Night fell, and as the sun, moon, and stars were not visible all year round, the sky in the Fourth World was extremely dark.

Ordinary people who have not embarked on the path of cultivation, would not be able to see their surroundings at night in the Fourth World.

In the tent next to Pang Jian, everyone from the Ning Clan was taking the opportunity to rest and prepare their bodies and minds to be in an optimal state for whatever situation might arise next.

Pang Jian did not have the ability to see the corpses of the Blood Moon Sect’s cultivators in the dark night. Rather, it was the white paper fans, bells, bronze hammers, and other objects that emitted a faint light in the dark environment.

Pang Jian frowned as the light shone on the corpses, making them look eerie and terrifying.

He silently observed his surroundings. As he saw no abnormality in the corpses, and the white paper fans, bells, and bronze hammers all remained still, he gradually felt relieved.

But in those moments where Pang Jian could not help but steal a glance at them, he always felt as though those dead Blood Moon Sect’s cultivators would suddenly continue their running at any moment.

Pang Jian was anxious and could not calm down. Frustrated, he quietly moved away from the tent of the Ning Clan and found a remote place to cultivate the Qi Nurturing Divine Cauldron Art.

He had finally succeeded in meditating and was able to keep his mind clear, and so he was able to quickly enter the Awakened State as he examined the wonders of his body.

The moment he entered the Awakened State, he could sense the presence of qi and felt that there was a weirdly gentle and pure energy around him.

"Spiritual qi."

He suddenly realized the reason he had not been able to sense the spiritual qi despite cultivating arduously at home.

It was not because there was something wrong with his cultivation method. Rather, it was because the concentration of spiritual qi in the wilderness where his home was located was too low.

The Solitary Mountain Range, which was only about ten li away from his home, was several times richer in spiritual qi, and he could easily sense its presence.

Pang Jian was surprised, and he quickly tried to guide this spiritual qi into his body, absorbing it into his navel region using the Qi Nurturing Divine Cauldron Art.

Through his visualization, his navel region turned into a Spirit Cauldron. As he breathed in and out, the external spiritual qi of heaven and earth was sucked into the Spirit Cauldron.

Gradually, Pang Jian not only felt the presence of spiritual qi but also discovered that the spiritual qi did not sink into his navel region through his nose and mouth as he breathed. The spiritual qi of heaven and earth around him was attracted by the Spirit Cauldron he visualized, and it entered his body directly from the acupoint below his navel region.

A moment later, he suddenly felt another force from within the pile of rocks.

This energy, which was also attracted by his Spirit Cauldron, was different from the spiritual qi of heaven and earth. It felt manic and sinister.

Among the pile of stones, the white paper fans, bells, and bronze hammers held by the corpses of the Blood Moon Sect cultivators shone with eye-catching light.

Whoosh! Howl!

A wind that whistled like mournful ghosts weeping—a sound Pang Jian was familiar with—suddenly emerged from the pile of rocks.

It sounded as if there were evil spirits buried deep in the earth, and they were suddenly awakened by some kind of power as they cried and screamed in the Ninth Netherworld[3]

1. This is part of a poem written by a Song Dynasty poet, Cao Zu. ☜

2. "" is a common idiom in Chinese meaning literally "Receiving one’s money and helping him/her to stop the disaster". It’s something along the lines of quid pro quo. ☜

3. In Chinese mythology, the Ninth Netherworld () is the lowest of the spiritual worlds. According to the legends, it is a place of pure yin energy, an environment where nothing grows. Here, the term is used to emphasize how sinister the sound is. ☜

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