Published: September 9, 2025
Chapter 808: The Gray Mist
At a glance, all the lush green grass and trees had disappeared, replaced by a strange, grayish scene.
Between the peaks on both sides, white stones were scattered everywhere, each smooth and oval-shaped—some as large as a human head, others about the size of a fist.
Looking further ahead, there was a vast expanse of gray mist, hazy and blurry, making it impossible to see what was inside.
However, the gray mist was confined within a central corridor about a hundred zhang wide, with blood-red glowing light on both sides. This red light rolled inward like a tide, continuously squeezing the mist. Yet, at the edges of the mist, it was as if it had met a riverbank—no progress could be made.
“This is the passage you mentioned, fellow cultivator?” Lu Weiying exhaled and asked slowly.
“Yes, it should be here. Brother Lu, do you sense anything wrong?” the marquis of Nanlong asked, slightly puzzled.
“That blood-red glow must be a restriction within the valley, no doubt about it. But this mist doesn’t seem ordinary. Did Master Cangkun’s posthumous writings mention this mist at all?” Lu Weiying looked toward the distant gray mist and asked calmly.
“No, there was no mention of this mist. Probably considered unimportant,” the marquis of Nanlong hesitated before replying.
“I have a feeling this gray mist is unusual. Better to be cautious,” the old man surnamed Lu shook his head, his face serious.
“Whether there’s a problem or not, why not just test it?” Han Li suddenly spoke from the side.
“Fellow cultivator Han is right. I happen to have a few thousand-mile orioles I usually use to search for spirit medicine. Now, we can use them to test the mist,” the marquis of Nanlong clapped his hands in agreement.
Lu Weiying didn’t object.
Immediately, the marquis took a small spiritual beast pouch from his waist and tossed it into the air, making a low call.
A small bird covered in golden feathers shot out like an arrow and began circling in the air.
The marquis raised his hand, and a cyan talisman flew out, striking the bird.
The bird spread its wings, and a small cyan light shield suddenly appeared on its body.
The marquis sent a command through spiritual awareness; the bird let out a sharp cry, turning into a streak of golden light that shot directly toward the distant gray mist.
Before the bird even touched the gray mist, Han Li’s spiritual eye flickered with blue light as he focused his divine sight to observe.
But as his gaze wandered to one side, it suddenly shifted, and a strange expression appeared on his face.
The marquis of Nanlong and Lu Weiying were both focused entirely on the thousand-mile oriole and didn’t notice Han Li’s change in expression.
The oriole had already plunged into the gray mist, vanishing from sight.
Since Han Li couldn’t see inside the mist clearly, he cautiously refrained from using spiritual awareness to probe further and instead glanced at the marquis’s expression.
The marquis closed his eyes slightly, connecting with the bird through spiritual awareness.
His expression remained calm, suggesting the bird hadn’t immediately encountered trouble.
As Han Li pondered this, the marquis suddenly trembled, his face turning pale as his eyes snapped open.
“What’s wrong? Did something happen?” Lu Weiying also noticed the change and hurriedly asked.
“It seems there’s a demonic creature in the gray mist that swallowed the thousand-mile oriole whole. Looks like it’s a…” The marquis’s expression grew strange as if uncertain.
Han Li and the old man exchanged surprised glances.
“Looks like a giant python, I think. This gray mist must be the poisonous mist exhaled by that giant python,” the marquis finally confirmed after some thought.
“A giant python? That’s strange. If such a demonic beast exists here, why wouldn’t Master Cangkun’s writings mention it? Unless…”
“Unless the python came into this passage later,” Han Li finished Lu Weiying’s hesitant thought.