Chapter 355 - 223: A Multitude of Sects
Pudu Mountain.
The tallest mountain in the area surrounding Luocheng. It used to be a popular spot for tourists, but after several beast attacks, it had grown very quiet.
At least, as Su Xing walked here, he couldn’t sense a trace of any other living creatures.
’Hmm...’
’There’s a strange scent.’
The moment Su Xing stepped foot on the mountain, he immediately caught a peculiar scent. It was like dish soap—cool and cloyingly sweet. The smell seemed to permeate the entire mountain.
’What’s going on?’
’Has the mountain always been like this?’
Su Xing frowned, a bit puzzled by the situation. He took out his phone, opened a search engine, and looked up old travel guides for Pudu Mountain. But no matter how many articles he read, none of them mentioned this peculiar scent.
’Looks like this scent must have appeared recently. It’s probably the fragrance of that flower.’
With this theory in mind, Su Xing followed the scent to where it was strongest, picking a direction and heading forward.
Green,
everywhere, green.
Su Xing could clearly sense that the vegetation here seemed to be growing exceptionally lush. All he could see was an endless sea of green. It was probably related to the higher concentration of energy in the area.
He didn’t know why, but as soon as he arrived, Su Xing could sense that the energy in this area was indeed denser than elsewhere. If an Extraordinary Being were to cultivate here, they would probably achieve better results.
’Tsk... As I thought, I can’t find the flower by relying on scent alone.’
After walking in circles three or four times following the fragrance, Su Xing finally realized that a scent was ultimately too vague. Trying to find the flower this way was going to take a lot of effort.
Still, this also meant the flower had to be somewhere in the vicinity.
"This mountain is so big. I wonder if there are any locals living here," Su Xing murmured, gazing at the sprawling mountain.
Even in modern society, there were always some particularly remote villages hidden in mountains like these, especially ones that had once been developed as tourist spots.
Pudu Mountain now had beasts, but the people in the villages might not have all evacuated. If he could find someone to ask about the situation on the mountain, it would be much better than this aimless searching.
Finding a village was much easier than finding a single person. Su Xing immediately pushed off the air with his right foot, flashing into midair. Looking down, he did indeed spot a village that still had people in it.
"Let’s go have a look," Su Xing murmured.
...
「On Pudu Mountain, in a certain village.」
Nestled in a massive valley was a village that looked as if it were from another time. From a distance, there were no children or young adults, only elderly men and women. Most of them were washing clothes and chatting idly, living a life of quiet retirement.
Behind them,
an old woman dressed in pink caught a glimpse of a Black Shadow flashing through the distant valley out of the corner of her eye.
But when she looked closely, she found it was empty. There was nothing there.
"..."
’Have my old eyes gotten this bad?’
The old woman chuckled, not thinking much of it. It was probably just a falling rock that she’d mistaken for something else. But just as she was about to dismiss it, a powerful gust of wind suddenly surged toward them!
All the old folks present felt a fierce Gale, but the wind seemed to be expertly controlled. Not only did it not harm them, but it actually brought a refreshing coolness.
Then,
a young man slowly walked out.
"..."
’Is that some kind of monster?!’
Most of the elderly people living here were rather superstitious. Their access to information was limited, and they knew little of the outside world, so they were unaware of things like Extraordinary Beings. Seeing someone like Su Xing, they instinctively thought of monsters from myths and legends.
"There’s no need to be afraid, folks. I’m just here to ask a question."
The man’s gentle voice rang out.
One of the old men saw Su Xing’s clean-cut face. He was young and handsome, clearly a kid from the city, and didn’t look like a bad person.
He finally mustered up the courage to ask, "Pudu Mountain has been closed for a long time. What is it you want to ask about here?"
"Can you smell it?"
the man asked.
This man was, of course, Su Xing. Since he had decided to find a village to ask for information, he naturally chose the most efficient method, which led to the current scene.
"Smell what?"
The old man had expected Su Xing to ask him something about Pudu Mountain, but his first question left him a bit confused.
Just as he was wondering, Su Xing added, "The scent in the mountains. This floral fragrance, can you smell it?"
"No?"
"We’ve lived here our whole lives and have never smelled anything like that,"
one of the old women said.
"..."
Su Xing fell silent for a moment. He realized that only he could smell this scent—or rather, only Extraordinary Beings could smell it. That meant these people probably couldn’t provide any useful clues.
But since he was already here, Su Xing didn’t want to leave empty-handed. Figuring it couldn’t hurt to ask, he tried a different question:
"Has anything strange happened on Pudu Mountain recently?"
"Strange?"
"No, there’s no one else here anymore. All the young folk took the little ones to the city to make a living. The only ones left are us old folks who can’t get around and don’t want to leave. What could be strange about that?"