Chapter 1584: Lurking in the shadow
"Stop hitting already!"
"It’s me, I’m on your side!"
"Shut up and stop exposing where I am!"
There were all kinds of shouts that came from inside of the mist array, but there was no doubting just how big of a mess it was inside. At the same time, there was no doubting just how big of a brawl this was.
There were injuries that covered the righteous sect disciples from head to toe, there wasn’t a single one of them that wasn’t injured because of this brawl.
It was just that there was nothing that they could do.
Even though they were shouting all these different things, there wasn’t a single one of them that actually stopped throwing out those attacks in all directions around them. As long as they saw something, they would attack in that direction out of fear that it would be something aiming for them.
In response, they would receive an attack that confirmed what they were thinking.
However, it would have made a big difference if they were able to see what was happening around them. If it wasn’t for the mist that was blocking their vision, then they would have noticed that there weren’t actually any enemies that were around them.
The ghosts that had attacked them at first were all floating on the side watching the fight between these righteous sect disciples.
It wasn’t as if the mist array was there to block the sight of the ghosts, so they were able to see the fighting between the righteous sect disciples without anything blocking them.
The ghosts even seemed to pity these righteous sect disciples as they watched them fight.
After all, the ghosts knew exactly what was going on.
They were floating beside the one that had caused this whole mess in the first place. With the way that they floated near him, it was a sign that they listened to everything that he said.
They were all on the same side.
Lin Fan also couldn’t help shaking his head when he saw these righteous sect disciples fighting each other like this, but he didn’t stop them. After all, he was the one that had caused this in the first place.
So from time to time, he even sent the ghosts in to make the fighting worse by using special techniques that could only be considered theirs. It was to make the righteous sect disciples think that there were more enemies than there actually were.
With them thinking that there were more enemies, it made them even more willing to keep fighting.
But eventually, Lin Fan did release the mist and stop them from fighting with each other.
If he continued letting them fight like this, then it would only be a matter of time before someone died. The way that they were fighting, it seemed more and more likely that they were planning to stop holding back.
If there was someone that actually died in this place, then the fallout would really be hard to deal with.
When the mist cleared and the righteous sect disciples saw that they were the only ones that were here, they couldn’t help looking stunned.
Once they came back to their senses, they started looking around as if they were trying to find some kind of enemy to fight. It was just that there wasn’t a single trace of the ghosts that had been there previously.
It really was as if they had vanished without a single trace...though that wouldn’t be strange for them in the first place since they were ghosts. It wasn’t as if they had a body to leave behind a trace to begin with.
After seeing that it was just them, all of them couldn’t help revealing embarrassed looks on their faces.
They were fully aware of what had just happened, which was why they were embarrassed that they had been played like this.
However, those with sharper minds realized that there was a big problem here.
The mist was what had tricked them into fighting each other like this, but it wasn’t as if the mist had ever moved like this before. The mist just seemed like a part of the defenses of the Dao Sect, it wasn’t as if it had ever specifically targeted them before.
But this time, it had clearly targeted them by making them fight like this.
So by that logic, it meant that someone had figured out how to control the mist.
Once they figured this out, they were no longer interested in the ghosts that had been here or the treasures that might be hidden in this place. They knew that they had to get out of here as soon as possible or else they might fall for an even deadlier trap.
It was just too late by the time that they realized this.
Even though they wanted to leave, it wasn’t as if it was that easy to leave since the mist had appeared around them. It seemed like this mist wasn’t targeting them anymore, but it wasn’t as if the mist was allowing them to leave either.
If they wanted to leave this pavilion, they had to make it through all of the mist that was around them and that just wasn’t feasible.
So instead of trying to figure out how to escape, they were planning on using the other righteous sect disciples around them to see if they could find a way out of the mist.
They were planning on turning them into scapegoats for whatever was hiding inside of that mist.
But in the end, they didn’t get the chance to do this as a voice suddenly rang out.
"Stop trying to mess around like this and act humble. As long as you do, you will return to your sects."
As soon as they heard this, all of the righteous sect disciples knitted their brows.
It didn’t seem like they were reacting at first as if they were trying to figure out what was happening, but then they looked around as if they were trying to find the source of the voice.
It was just that no matter how they looked around, they couldn’t find a single trace of the owner of the voice. It was as if the voice had come out of nowhere, but they knew that this wasn’t the case since there was the mist that blocked all spiritual sense.
Even those that weren’t as sharp had already figured out that the owner of that voice was able to control the mist around them, that was how they were able to hide themselves like this.
So they knew that no matter what they did, they wouldn’t be able to find the one that was targeting them.
After a long moment of silence, one of the righteous sect disciples suddenly asked, "What do you want from us?"
There was no answer that followed, the only thing that happened was that there was a passage that opened up in the mist. From what they could see, it seemed like this passage was leading them out of this place.
It was just that even though a passage had appeared, there was no one that was in a rush to take it. All of them had doubtful looks on their faces, as if they couldn’t believe that this passage would actually lead them out of this place.
However, there wasn’t anything else for them in this place.
If they didn’t take the passage, the only thing that they could do was remain in this spot until they died. Or until something worse happened because the one targeting them lost patience with them.
So in the end, they really had no choice but to go towards the passage.
Though it wasn’t as if they were in a rush to leave, they all looked at each other as if they were urging each other to go first. Only there wasn’t a single person that actually dared to go first.
None of them believed that there was anything good that would come from volunteering here.
Eventually, the same person who went to greet the ghosts earlier was the one that was pushed out. Everyone looked at that one righteous sect disciple as if he was the one that they should blame for their current situation.
When he faced the pressure from everyone like this, he had no choice but to go.
Seeing that nothing happened to him, there was a moment where they were still doubtful before they all followed him.
It was just that once they were all inside of the mist passage, they found that the exit had suddenly closed and they were once again trapped inside of the mist.
All of the righteous sect disciples panicked when they saw this, but they didn’t let themselves lose control. They waited to see what would happen before they made a move.
It was just that they didn’t expect what happened next.
"Stop hitting!"
All of the righteous sect disciples could only take the blows that were hitting them since they couldn’t figure out where these attacks were coming from because of the mist.
As they were being hit, there was a voice that suddenly broke through.
"Act humble or else you might not be able to return to your sects at all."
The righteous sect disciples looked aggrieved when they heard this, but there wasn’t anything that they could do since they couldn’t break free of this place.
In the end, they just had to take their beating before they were able to escape from the mist.