Chapter 157: The Legendary Place (Part Two)

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"Why did you follow me here!"

The village chief's voice was completely different from how it sounded during the day. It now carried a somewhat hoarse tone, yet I still could not fathom why he was harboring such hostility toward me.

"Village chief, let's relax a bit, shall we? I know you don't want anyone to find out your true identity, but you don't realize that every single member of the research team that came here today actually shares the exact same identity as us!"

As soon as I finished speaking, I raised the wings sprouting from my back, folded my arms across my chest, and stared motionlessly at the figure in black.

"Sigh... You have no idea. Even gods who enter this cave are not guaranteed to make it out alive. I was actually trying to dissuade all of you from coming in here!"

No sooner had the figure in black spoken than he ripped the black veil from his face, instantly transforming his fierce and menacing features back into the kindly, amiable appearance of the old village chief.

"You must realize that by yourself, there is simply no way you can talk everyone out of their curiosity!"

I said this to the old village chief, then scrambled up onto a massive boulder and motioned for him to come up and sit with me so we could have a proper chat.

I asked the old village chief to tell me the stories surrounding this place, and he did not refuse. Lifting his head, he gazed up at the full moon in the sky and began to recount his tale.

It was roughly a thousand years ago. Back then, the village chief was merely a little snake that had just gained spiritual awareness. Trapped in a trap along the way, he was rescued by a young man and kept by his side day in and day out.

As one should know, a snake's sense of gratitude is exceptionally strong. No matter where you are in the world, it will find a way to track you down to repay the kindness. Later on, a series of military uprisings swept through that dynasty, and it was only then that the village chief learned his young savior was actually a prince!

Following the fall of the dynasty, aside from a few close relatives and servants who managed to escape, the prince himself followed the emperor in hanging himself. From that day onward, the entire family lived in seclusion within these mountain forests.

Naturally, the spiritual snake followed them as well. The innate spirituality within it told it back then that it must repay this kindness by guarding these people and ensuring their peaceful and prosperous lives.

Later on, certain individuals began disappearing inexplicably deep within the mountains, causing widespread panic. The spiritual snake, having undergone a transformation due to its spiritual energy, decided to venture into the depths to investigate.

It was during this investigation that the spiritual snake laid eyes upon this deep abyss—a chasm that had existed since primordial times. Convinced that the people who vanished in the mountains had fallen right into this place, it resolved to go inside and take a look.

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And it was precisely this look that filled the spiritual snake with an abiding terror toward the abyss. It witnessed an unimaginable spectacle: countless deities bound to crucifixes, leaving behind divine skeletal remains that emitted a pure, sacred radiance within the pitch-black cave, as if unchanged for hundreds of millions of years!

Upon those very crucifixes binding the divine bones, curse-filled demonic runes were carved everywhere, resembling an intense, boundless hatred held by some unknown entities against the gods.

"Then... just who could harbor such hatred for the gods?!"

Watching the old village chief narrate these events, I posed a question that had been puzzling me: exactly who hated the gods to such a degree?

The old village chief continued his story, explaining that he had no idea who could hate the gods so deeply—after all, he was not a being from the primordial era. However, it was right then that he heard a terrifying sound.

The voice seemed to be calling out to him, compelling him to trace it back to its source. Eventually, he discovered a pitch-black barrier, and that terrifying sound was emanating from directly within it.

Hesitating through wave after wave of indecision, he finally gave in to the urge and thrust his half-meter-long snake body into the dark barrier before him—an act that marked the beginning of the old village chief's endless nightmares!

The old village chief recounted that what he saw at that moment was another world entirely, one overrun by colossal demonic beasts towering thousands of feet high, with fiends soaring through the air and hundred-meter-long demonic dragons trailing waves of hellish fire in their wake. It was a world of absolute darkness; to be precise, it was a veritable demon realm!

According to the old village chief, a little snake spirit like him was no different from an ant living among a herd of elephants inside that realm. Any random demonic entity could have easily crushed him to death with a flick of a finger. Yet, as it turned out, the old village chief was indeed discovered!

He was spotted by a demonic eagle roughly five meters in length. The mere shockwave from the creature's dive was enough to nearly shatter the young snake chief to pieces.

The old village chief said he instantly lost consciousness from pure terror, but when he woke up, he found himself lying just outside the deep abyss. Miraculously, he was no longer in the form of a snake, but had instead transformed into a completely naked human, achieving human form by some inexplicable twist of fate.

As he looked down into the demonic pit one last time, he heard a ethereal, drifting voice echo through the air: "When the day of my demon clan's resurgence arrives, I shall dye the azure heavens with my demonic blood!"

Frightened out of his wits, the newly transformed old village chief fled straight back to the village. From that day on, he warned every villager never to set foot near this place again, because to him, it was simply far too evil and terrifying.

...

The two of us talked late into the night. As we finally parted ways, the old village chief suddenly turned back and said to me, "Young man, tomorrow I am going with all of you!"

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Early the next morning, everyone packed their gear and followed the old village chief to the demonic pit. Because of our conversation the night before, the old village chief's attitude toward me had grown remarkably warm and affectionate, brimming with the kind of tenderness a grandfather would show his own grandson.

To be honest, regarding that young master of high birth, I could only say he was shrouded in deep mystery. From the very beginning, I had a strong hunch that he was far from ordinary, but alas, his face remained perpetually veiled by a layer of grey mist, making it impossible for me to pierce through that hazy cloud.

"Hurry up, everyone! Dali, go secure the ropes along the cliff edge first. I'm going down first!"

The hoarse voice of that young master rang in my ears once more. I looked toward his direction and saw him pointing at a sturdy-looking man standing beside him.

He was motioning for this middle-aged man named Dali to step forward and rig the mountaineering ropes—except this time, our destination was descending into a cave rather than scaling a mountain.

Dali expertly and familiarly anchored all the nylon ropes. Without bothering to strap himself into any safety equipment, the young master grabbed a rope and leaped directly down toward the depths of the cave.

If an ordinary person attempted such a stunt, I have no doubt the sheer downward momentum would tear them right off the rope and smash them to pieces at the bottom of the abyss!

The rest of the group entered the demonic pit one after another. Bringing up the rear were myself, Barker, and the old village chief.

Grabbing hold of three separate ropes, the three of us slid rapidly downward along the protruding rock walls. After roughly fifteen minutes, all three of us announced our safe landing.

...........................................

(Everyone has been so supportive lately, I'm planning to release a massive update soon O(∩_∩)O)

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