Chapter 106 - 97: Hall of Confusion
Although the Demon Race had known about the Luoo Qu Tomb for a hundred years, they never knew how to open it. They were guarding a Treasure Mountain but couldn’t claim any of its riches. They had tried everything on the Luoo Family—threats, bribes, you name it—but never learned the method. Only now did they realize that opening the Stone Gate required the blood of a Luoo Family descendant!
Thankfully, they hadn’t wiped out the Luoo Family back then. Otherwise, this treasure might have been lost to the world forever!
’Demon Race powerhouses? Two at the Peak of Qi Sect, and six at the Peak of Armor Realm?’
Although Nie Yun had expected to face many enemies from the Demon Race, he hadn’t anticipated so many masters. His heart sank.
The eight Demons who appeared consisted of two at the Peak of Qi Sect and six Peak Powerhouses of the Armor Realm. They must have used some Secret Technique to conceal themselves—even he hadn’t detected them! They were just waiting for his group to open the Stone Gate before ambushing and killing them all.
For members of the Demon Race to reach the Qi Sect, their bloodlines were typically of the Marquis Clan or higher. That meant every single one of them could undergo Demonization!
Once they underwent Demonization, their combat power would double. The two Qi Sect Demons were terrifying enough, but even those six Peak Powerhouses of the Armor Realm could likely transform into Qi Sect-level masters in an instant!
In other words, once they all underwent Demonization, the enemy’s strength would be equivalent to eight Qi Sect Powerhouses!
Terrifying!
’You want to kill us? Then follow us if you dare!’
Knowing this was the greatest crisis he had faced since his rebirth, Nie Yun didn’t panic. Instead, he took a deep breath, focused his mind, and glanced at the open Stone Gate. He then unleashed the strongest attack of his Great Rock-Splitting Palm at the eight Demons before him.
"Go, now!"
Without waiting to see if his palm strike had injured them, he led the group in a dash through the Stone Gate.
"Trying to escape?" King Tong scoffed. "It’ll be like shooting fish in a barrel. After them!"
King Tong hadn’t expected the young man to attack so suddenly. Delayed by the Great Rock-Splitting Palm, he fell a step behind. But he wasn’t worried. His group was far stronger than theirs, so trapping them inside would be just as easy.
With a cold laugh, he unleashed a Ghost Claw attack and led his men through the Stone Gate, hot on Nie Yun’s heels.
After entering the Stone Gate, they found themselves in a vast, gray expanse, as if they had stepped into another dimension.
"What a viscous gas. It’s actually restricting the reach of my Spiritual Power!" While Nie Yun was still taking in the scene, he heard his father, Nie Xiaotian, exclaim in surprise.
’Hm? It’s true!’
Nie Yun was taken aback, but a quick check confirmed it. The surrounding gray mist felt as thick as slime, hindering the extension of his Spiritual Power.
Normally, with his level of strength, his Spiritual Power could extend for hundreds of meters, allowing him to see things clearly from afar. Now, however, it was confined to a mere three-meter radius. He could only make out the person closest to him; anything farther was invisible.
Nie Yun had never even heard of a mist capable of restricting Spiritual Power, not even in his previous life!
’This Luoo Qu Tomb is truly something else!’
"It certainly does obstruct one’s spiritual perception. I can only see about twenty meters ahead. What about you?" Luoo Zhanhao chimed in after hearing Nie Xiaotian.
"Twenty meters?" Nie Yun clicked his tongue in amazement.
He could only see for three meters, while Luoo Zhanhao could see for twenty. Although Nie Yun wasn’t sure he would lose in a real fight, a Qi Sect master was a Qi Sect master. It was a completely different concept from the Armor Realm.
But on second thought, it made sense. A Qi Sect Powerhouse could communicate with nature, possessing the Eye of Nature and Ear of Nature. Their Spiritual Power could normally "see" everything within a radius of several miles. To be suppressed to a mere twenty-meter range meant the effect here was incredibly powerful!
"Our vision is even more limited," Nie Yun said, knowing that even a twenty-meter range was as good as being blind in a place like this. "Let’s all hold hands. If we get separated, it’ll be a huge problem to find each other again!"
"Right!" Everyone understood the logic and quickly joined hands.
Just as Nie Yun was about to reach for someone’s hand, a soft, smooth palm, as delicate as silk, slipped into his.
The hand was small, its palm slightly damp with sweat, revealing its owner to be the only girl in the group—Luoo Qingcheng!
"We should hold on... so we don’t get lost... You said so yourself!" He turned to see the girl’s face was beet red, and she couldn’t bring herself to look at him.
"Haha!" Hearing her justification, Nie Yun felt it would be awkward to pull his hand back. He gave her soft hand a gentle squeeze with his right, took his father’s hand with his left, and the six of them were now linked together.
"This area probably isn’t that large. Let’s move quickly. It’ll be trouble if those Demons catch up to us!"
With the six of them linked together, ensuring no one would get lost, Nie Yun gave the word and led them forward.
’This place is incredibly strange,’ Nie Yun thought. ’There’s no guarantee the Demons aren’t already prepared for it. If they catch us here, we’re doomed!’
Everyone understood the stakes. They all nodded and began to walk forward with large strides.
The group walked for about half an hour before coming to a stop.
"Hm? Something’s not right," Nie Yun was the first to realize the problem. "We’ve been walking for so long. Logically, we should have left this area by now, so why are we still inside? Did we take a wrong turn somewhere?"
Even though they were holding hands, their pace wasn’t slow. In half an hour, they should have covered several miles. The Luoo Qu Tomb was built underground; digging a tunnel this long would have been a monumental task!
Therefore, it was obvious that this gray mist was some kind of special Array. Once trapped inside, it would cause people to lose their sense of direction and be unable to escape!
"Now that you mention it, I noticed it too. It seems we’ve circled back. Everyone, follow me!"
Nie Xiaotian also sensed something was amiss. He suddenly pulled the group sideways, and after just a few steps, a massive Stone Stele appeared before them.
"I spotted this Stone Stele when we passed by earlier," Nie Xiaotian said. "We were too far away to make out the writing on it. I can’t believe we’ve circled all the way back here!"
"You saw it before?" Nie Yun was startled. He turned to look at the Stone Stele and saw three large words written at the top in a wild, flourishing script.
Hall of Confusion!
"Hall of Confusion?" Nie Yun was stunned. ’Does that mean this is a place designed to make us lose our way?’
’What a bizarre name!’
"Look, there are four more lines of text below!" While he was lost in thought, the small hand in his gave his a light squeeze, and Luoo Qingcheng spoke up urgently.
"More?" Nie Yun looked down and, sure enough, saw a short poem written in four lines of smaller characters beneath the three words "Hall of Confusion."
"A decade of life and death, both shrouded in mist,
Walking in the Hall of Confusion is a heart-wrenching twist.
To ask where the path lies,
Look to the bright hall deep inside."
"’A bright hall deep inside?’" Seeing the riddle-like poem, Nie Yun’s brow furrowed. "’Does it mean we’re supposed to calm our minds and search?’"
"Calming our minds to search is all well and good, but how do we search? And where?" Luoo Zhanhao clearly didn’t understand the meaning of the inscription either and had a helpless look on his face.
’My ancestor Luoo Qu already made the Stone Gate ridiculously hard to get through,’ he grumbled internally. ’Now he adds a Hall of Confusion? It’s like he deliberately wanted to keep his descendants out!’
P.S. Any guesses on how Nie Yun and his group will get past this Hall of Confusion? There’s been some foreshadowing, hehe! Of course, it’s related to the main theme of the novel... There’s a prize for guessing right... And naturally, you have to keep casting your votes. Reading without voting is bad for your karma...
