Night Without End
Chapter 99 - 64: Full of Ritual Sense

Chapter 99: Chapter 64: Full of Ritual Sense

After two years, Qin Ming unexpectedly encountered the long-armed man here and was very surprised. He had too many questions in his heart and wanted to understand the events of those years.

Cui Hong only glanced at him once, then threw himself back into the fierce battle, not daring to let Old Elephant notice his anomaly, fearing trouble.

This batch of mysterious and difficult-to-provoke Alien Species had already inexplicably kidnapped Cui Chongyi. If Cui Chonghe was also captured, he would truly go insane.

In that brief moment, Qin Ming saw a series of changes on his face, including surprise, joy, and guilt, all flashing by.

Why such expressions? Doubts arose in his heart.

At the last moment, the expression of the long-armed man was very complex, seemingly conflicted. This was not the look one would expect from a reunion.

Qin Ming watched, as his heart, initially heated and excited at seeing his lifesaver, gradually cooled down.

The road ahead was blocked; the traveling merchant could no longer lead his group forward, and people were somewhat panicked because that level of combat was truly soul-shaking.

When Old Elephant roared, the mountains seemed to vibrate along with the sound, which was enormously loud. Everyone’s ears rang, all painfully covering their ears.

To the right of this rugged path lay a boundless desert, dark as the abyss, and to the left were perilous steep mountains, continuous and unending.

Old Elephant’s body was pure white as jade, emanating Heavenly Light. Whether it was the knife light from its trunk or the ivory knives attached to its limbs, both possessed astounding destructive power, constantly causing huge rocks to collapse from the mountain wall on the left of the path.

People suspected that the majestic mountain itself could be pierced through.

Cui Hong practiced the famous Heaven-reaching Skill, his arms carrying the strength of thousands, bursting with Heavenly Light as if tearing through the night sky, fiercely clashing with Old Elephant without falling behind.

When Human Clan stalwarts and High-level Abnormalities contended, Heavenly Light surged, and thousands of pounds of rock continually rolled down from the mountains, burying the path ahead.

The traveling merchant Xu Cheng inwardly cursed his luck. Why did he have to encounter this? Leading his people back repeatedly, fearing getting caught in the clash between the powerful, possibly leading to the annihilation of the entire group.

"How terrifying!" someone exclaimed quietly, while many others showed faces full of fear.

Two great masters dueling managed to collapse a mountain cliff, immense rocks pouring down like a flood amidst the rumbling sounds, dust filling the sky, truly terrifying.

Everyone watched, hearts pounding with fear, faces turning pale.

Xu Cheng felt overwhelmed. Why haven’t the two powerful individuals left yet? They had reached the latter part of the rugged path; they should have left the desert’s edge before nightfall, but now the way forward was blocked, and further delay might make it too late.

If they were to turn back the way they came, there obviously wouldn’t be enough time either.

People were anxious as they realized that the Heavenly Light emitted by the two masters clearly illuminated the steep cliffs, yet the vast desert on the right remained deeply dark. Even with overall illumination, not a ripple stirred on this side.

"Old Elephant, I won’t hold this against you. How about we stop here?" Cui Hong spoke.

"Fine, you can go," Old Elephant nodded. Despite its large body, its movements were very agile, almost drifting, as it leaped onto a mountain peak and turned to leave in an instant.

With a stern face, Cui Hong said, "Since we’ve stopped, can you release the captive?"

"It’s not over yet," Old Elephant replied.

Cui Hong sternly said, "You should know where we come from."

"Hmm, Cui, the thousand-year-old family is indeed very impressive, deterring myriad species, famous under the night’s vast lands. But we’re not bad either, living on famous mountains, barely managing, you call one of our places the Blessed Land." Old Elephant responded calmly.

Cui Hong’s expression grew intensely serious, "Let’s talk. There must be some misunderstanding here. We just arrived, it’s impossible for us to have offended you."

He feared for Cui Chongyi’s safety and wanted to clarify things quickly, also aiming to lure Old Elephant away from this place, then sneak back to meet Cui Chonghe later.

...

When Xu Cheng saw that the two masters had finally disappeared from the cliff confrontation, he immediately shouted, "Run, no, run forward with me!"

Time was running short; he led the group in a run, not wanting to still be on the edge of the desert come nightfall.

Fortunately, everyone was a Newcomer; otherwise, the collapsed cliff blocking the path ahead would have taken common people a long time to traverse.

They ran desperately, breathless from the effort.

Suddenly, dense fog rose ahead. The rugged path right under their feet was almost out of sight.

After a moment, even Xu Cheng stopped, the heavy fog making him afraid to step quickly. Taking the wrong path into the desert could have dire consequences.

"Brother Xu, what should we do?" someone asked uneasily.

Xu Cheng said sternly, "Don’t be afraid. Throughout our journey, we have shown respect towards the desert. Now, do not panic. Those behind must hold onto the clothes of those in front, and you must not let go even if it kills you. I’ll lead at the very front!"

Many wanted to hold his clothes, feeling safer being close to him, but he scolded them, "Don’t crowd, anyone who falls into the desert, I will not come looking for you."

In fact, Xu Cheng was also unsure at this point. The old merchant had told him, without experiencing a dozen or more deadly night paths, one does not become proficient. Could it be that they were facing one now?

Qin Ming remained silent, clutching Xu Cheng’s clothes. He had reacted quickly earlier, being the first to rush forward.

In such times, it was naturally most reliable to stay close to an experienced traveler.

He was afraid that the person in the middle would fail at the critical moment, unable to hold onto the person in front and completely lose connection with the guide.

Xu Cheng took out a torch, ready to light it to illuminate the path. However, he tried several times and failed.

Half of the team had lighting equipment and also attempted to light them, but soon someone let out an unnatural quiver: "Brother Xu, it seems... something is blowing cold air, extinguishing my fire repeatedly."

"Stop talking!" Xu Cheng cut him off, because he also felt a chill blowing on his neck, making his hair stand on end.

Now the fog was abnormally thick, they could not see the mountain on the left side, nor the path under their feet, only endless darkness, as if their eyes were useless.

Qin Ming remained silent, the atmosphere was too oppressive and strange, an inexplicable thick fog had risen, obscuring everything, and their senses couldn’t extend out.

"Brother Xu, there’s no need to light the torches, there’s another team ahead, they have already lighted theirs. Although distant and blurry, if we follow them, we should be able to find our way out," someone said excitedly.

"Eh, there really is a team deep in the fog, with shadows faintly visible, and the leader holding a torch, lighting the path ahead."

Others also noticed and showed delight.

Qin Ming could clearly feel Xu Cheng’s body stiffening, then he became completely tensed, as if he had goosebumps all over.

"Don’t look at that torch, don’t focus on that team!" Xu Cheng’s voice was low, quickly alerting and reminding everyone, saying: "Near the desert before, in that small supply town, I specifically inquired. Today, besides us, there are no other teams on the road."

"Hiss!"

"My Mountain God!"

Everyone gasped in the night mist, all stunned; what kind of team was up ahead?

"Shoot, don’t squeeze me suddenly, you nearly squeezed my soul out of my body!"

Qin Ming’s eyes were deep, seeing the heavily shadowed team in the depth of the night mist, truly not few in number, the blurry torches lighting the way, as if guiding them, pointing out the direction.

But there was silence there, not a single sound.

Including Qin Ming, everyone glanced a few times then quickly bowed their heads, no longer looking, all following Xu Cheng’s advice.

"What exactly is that?" In such a situation, the more nervous some people were, the more they couldn’t help but say something.

"According to the old merchant, forget it, I won’t say it, it would scare you to death," Xu Cheng’s words stopped halfway.

If it wasn’t for the wrong time and place, several powerful newcomers in the team would have wanted to beat him, because it was even scarier for Xu Cheng to leave his words half-finished.

"Brother Xu, maybe you should just tell us after all, you already started, but then stopped, making us even more anxious!"

"The old merchant’s saying, to tell it would really scare some of you who are faint-hearted. Let’s switch to the explanation from Esoteric Buddhism instead, it might be some ritual related to divine beings in progress, we must absolutely not join. Because neither you nor I are qualified to approach. If we gaze long at that torch, join that team, we will inevitably end up as a small dish on someone else’s table, to be gruesomely eaten up."

Everyone fell silent.

Qin Ming also stayed silent, under this night shrouded land, it was truly perilous for ordinary newcomers to endeavor a journey outside, utterly difficult.

He hadn’t completely left this remote area, yet he had already encountered such an incident; if he ventured deeper into the vast land, what else would he encounter?

"Is there another... explanation?" Some people, the more afraid they were, the more they wished to dig to the bottom of it, driven by fear and curiosity, wanting to know the truth.

Xu Cheng said, "There’s another archaic explanation, an unfathomable existence in the desert was offended, this fog is its wrath, that torch is its burning fury, do you want to be a moth to the flame?"

Suddenly, he stopped completely, no longer tentatively stepping forward, because he realized he himself could become lost, unable to discern other than by looking at the torch which side was the desert or which side was adjacent to the towering mountain.

Qin Ming also realized something was wrong, because to the left should have been the mountain, the right was the desert, but now his left foot was stepping in sand.

Xu Cheng also stopped abruptly due to this issue, slowly pulling his left foot out of the sand, daring not to proceed.

"Stop squeezing!" The people behind couldn’t brake their steps.

"Don’t bump into me; oh, it turns out to be a lady, it’s not easy being out and about, it’s okay, no need to panic."

Although in darkness and amidst intense tension, people still secretly despised this fellow.

"Look, lady, don’t be scared, why are you still clinging to me? Alright then, I’ll carry you forward, wrap your arms around my neck."

However, the man’s voice quickly trembled, saying, "Lady, why are your nails so long, cold and bone-chilling, don’t randomly touch my neck, okay... is it alright?"

Those who were just disdainful toward the man now had their hairs standing on end, listening to his words, they were truly unsettled.

"Lady, say something, don’t touch my neck anymore, it seems... to be bleeding, it’s a bit painful." The man’s voice became hoarse.

A pale-faced young man behind spoke up, "Brother, you... you stop talking, I..."

The man asked shakily, "Little brother, are... are you grabbing the lady’s clothes? Can you help me, pull her off me."

"I feel... I’m grabbing long hair..." the young man’s voice trembled intensely.

The man’s voice became weak, "Someone help me, breathing... so difficult, my neck is bleeding, it hurts, I can’t pry the lady’s hands off, her nails are too long."

Everyone was silent, their hands tightly gripping their weapons.