Due to having previously suffered from a chill-haunted, dream-poisoning disease, both Elder Li Yuanyu and Elder Gou Youchang always kept their spiritual realm clear and awake at all times.
Not only that, but each of them also had a detoxification pill in their mouths.
Most people believed that Ding Huan was merely pretending to be mysterious in front of Qu Yue Mountain, which is why he left the mountains and forests.
However, Ding Huan's previous premonitions were too accurate. After Elder Li and Elder Gou followed Ding Huan out of the main road into the mountains and forests, they had no choice but to follow him into the mountains and forests.
After two hours, the elder Li Yinyu of Zixia Valley suddenly stopped.
"Stop everyone."
"What's wrong, Elder Li?" Ding Huan asked with a puzzled expression.
Ding Huan was the guide, so when Elder Li wanted to stop, he naturally had to ask.
Elder Li Yinyu's expression was serious:
"Ding Dao Friend, Gou Zhuang Lao, are we once again affected by the phantasmal, dream-poisoning disease of the chill-haunted? Look, we are on the main road now."
Elder Li Yinyu didn't say anything, but everyone had not really noticed before.
With Elder Li Yinyu's reminder, everyone was horror-stricken to discover that they were indeed standing right in the middle of the main road.
Such a situation they encountered once before. They had previously thought they were standing in the middle of the main road, but they were mistaken and ended up being attacked by the chill-haunted, resulting in a large number of people being killed.
Now it happened again. They found themselves standing in the middle of the main road once more.
They had just followed Ding Huan into the mountains, so they should be within the mountains now. Being in the middle of the mountain path did not seem right.
"Ding Dao Friend, what's going on?" Elder Gou was also not quite sure.
Ding Huan felt amused in his heart. As he made a turn, it was natural to return to the main road.
He's not an idiot; why would he dare to wander in the forest of the Great Valley Canyon for a long time?
"Two Elder, I'm not very clear either, but I have a premonition that we are all very safe now. So we don't need to worry, just keep going forward."
Ding Huan could only pretend to be confused.
Elder Li Yinyu sighed:
"Let's just follow Ding Dao Friend's words, we have no other choice."
They themselves are not clear whether they have been affected by the dream-poisoning disease.
Ding Huan, however, is clearly aware from the information in his memory that after being poisoned by the chill-haunted's dream-poison, there is an excruciating coldness in the meridians whenever one practices their cultivation.
This matter, he cannot say.
The group continued to walk for a while, and the sky grew dark.
Ding Huan stopped walking:
"Two Elder, let's set up camp here."
Ding Huan suggested setting up camp, and the two elders naturally had no objections.
The camp was set up quickly, and Elder Li Yinyu and Elder Gou Youchang also made an agreement to take turns in charge of the safety matters on either side.
Despite everyone being very tired, the new disciples who were like frightened birds in the camp could not sleep at all.
All of them were tensely listening to any possible sounds outside, and as soon as there was a slight disturbance in the environment, they could not help but get up.
Ding Huan couldn't sleep either, not because he was worried about the chill-haunted, but because he was studying the array pattern jade tablet given to him by Elder Gou Youchang.
This array pattern jade tablet, once studied in-depth, is even more vast and boundless than the symbolism of Dao.
The more complex it is, the greater Ding Huan's desire to study it.
Thinking about setting up a defense array or trigger array for himself in the future, it would be much more convenient than calculating.
Moreover, as he comes into contact with people of higher cultivation, and the rules of the world in the cultivation world become stronger, the things he calculates also become increasingly blurred.
The array path is just what can make up for this.
Elder Li Yinyu was on duty at the back of the camp, and her personal disciple Mo Huanping walked over and whispered:
"Master, I feel that Ding Chef has given up on patching up the broken pottery."
Elder Li Yinyu was taken aback and said in confusion:
"Why do you feel that way?"
Mo Huanping said: "He is just a cook, and even a temporary one, yet he dares to speak rudely to Elder Qiusong of the Dual Soul Sect. This is not asking for death?"
"I'm worried that he knows for sure he will die, so he breaks the pot and makes a mess with everyone to take the dead end together."
It is the latter sentence that truly concerns Mo Huanping.
It is not strange for her to have such thoughts, after all, she is a high-level cultivator.
In her eyes, a hundred Ding Huan's lives are not as valuable as the one of a cultivator.
So if this time Ding Huan is committing suicide himself, and they follow him, it wouldn't be good.
Going to see the master in the evening to say these things is also to warn the master not to blindly trust Ding Huan, not to believe everything he says.
Elder Li Yinyu looked at her favorite disciple, sighing in her heart.
Mo Huanping was her most favored disciple, so for this trip to the world of mortals, she had brought Mo Huanping with her.
In comparison, it seems that her disciple is much weaker than Ding Chef.
"Master, is my idea wrong?"
Feeling her master's sigh, Mo Huanping asked anxiously.
"Huaping, if you were in Ding Huan's position and had his abilities, what would you do?"
Elder Li Yinyu asked.
Mo Huanping said reasonably:
"Even if Elder Qiusong insults me, I will answer him respectfully and will not do anything intentionally to separate from him."
As a elder of the Dou Sou Sect, Elder Qiusong will never remember such a trivial incident for a long time.
After we pass the Great Canyon, I will run far away. If I have the ability in the future, I will come back to avenge myself; if not, it is as it should be."
For Mo Huanping, the second sentence is just empty words. She is certain that no matter how she imagines it, Ding Huan will never have the ability to avenge himself in the future.
It is clear that he is in a low position, yet he shows his sharpness and exposes himself. What is this other than asking for death?
He can't even bear humiliation and bear the burden, which is why he is just a cook.
Do you think that everyone will always depend on you, a cook? Everyone is just temporarily depending on you, which is mistaking your identity.
"Haha, if you're like that, you'll die even faster," Elder Li Yinyu said with a chuckle.
"But Master, you didn't tell me that people sometimes have to bear humiliation and cover their weaknesses, right?" Mo Huanping was confused.
Elder Li Yinyu said slowly:
"Because Ding Huan has seen the intent to kill in Elder Qiusong's demeanor, which means that as soon as we leave the Great Canyon, Elder Qiusong will definitely kill Ding Huan first."
"Do you think Elder Gou would risk offending the Dual Soul Sect to avenge a temporary cook like Ding Huan?"
"Oh..." Mo Huanping exclaimed in surprise.
What kind of joke is that? No matter how Ding Huan saves everyone, he's still just a cook. Elder Gou would have to be crazy to risk offending the Dual Soul Sect to avenge a cook.
Elder Li Yinyu said indifferently:
"You should have guessed that Elder Gou wouldn't move, and Ding Huan also guessed that the possibility of Elder Gou taking action was very low. Moreover, even if Elder Gou did make a move, he was already dead. Is there any difference between taking action and not taking action?"
His only chance to survive is to kill Elder Qiusong in the Great Canyon, or to wound him seriously so that he has no opportunity to kill him again.
In other words, if Elder Qiusong didn't die but was seriously injured, and had no threat to Ding Chef, Ding Chef would not necessarily say that he would no longer separate from Elder Qiusong.
So, since Ding Huan knows that Elder Qiusong wants to kill him, why should he be humble and polite? Is he shameless?”
"But he is just a cook, how can he possibly defeat Elder Qiusong? He has no chance of doing so." Mo Huanping was even more confused.
Elder Li Yinyu glanced at Ding Huan's position and sighed:
"People have already made their move, and you're still concerned about the lack of an opportunity to strike."
"What?" Mo Huanping was shocked, but then she realized: "Master, did you say splitting up and walking separately means striking?"
"Right." Elder Li Yinyu said: "Feeling the safety in this place is his only chance."
Both I and Elder Gou don't think that Ding Huan is seeking death, so we agreed with his plan to lead the way into the forest."
Elder Li Yinyu really did think that way. If it were other ordinary people, they might think that their own lives are not worth much, but if they can exchange their lives for a group of cultivators' lives, it is worth it.
But she believed that she would not mistake him, and Ding Huan's gaze, words, and actions had never regarded him as an ordinary person who was lower than a cultivator.
Therefore, she does not believe that Ding Huan is entering the forest with the intention of seeking death.
Although Mo Huanping did not ask again, she still felt that her master had overestimated Ding Huan.
……
The night passed quickly, for others it was almost like counting the days, but for Ding Huan, it seemed like just a few minutes had passed.
A wretched scream came from behind, and the first time Elder Liu and Elder Gu fell to the back of the team.
Then they saw a shadow charging towards them again.
"Elder Qiusong?" This time, Elder Gou Youchang was shocked to say out loud.
Didn't Elder Qiusong walk in front of them before? How could Elder Qiusong suddenly appear from behind after they had rested for the night?
This is rather strange. If it weren't for the many people here, Elder Gou couldn't help but say, "Elder Qiusong, isn't scaring people like this acceptable?"
Elder Gou didn't want to say it, but Ding Huan didn't feel the need to hesitate either. He wants to kill him, what's the point of holding back?
"Elder Qiusong, you're trying to scare people to death."
After Ding Huan said this, he felt a sigh of relief in his heart.
This old guy lost his feet and came over with the help of a charm tablet.
Without his feet, he has no more qualifications to pursue him.
As long as he leaves the Great Canyon, Elder Qiusong can't kill him in the first moment, then he will not be able to kill him in the future.
One doesn't know how Elder Qiusong lost his feet, but it looks like there's a chilling aura around him.
"Elder Qiusong, how did you end up like this?"
Elder Li Yinyu was shocked to see the heavily injured Qiushang.
Last time when Qiushang escaped, although disheveled, he was still fully intact.
This time, Qiushang was fully ragged and covered in blood. Most terrifying of all, his legs below the knees were completely missing.
"Swallow feet stiff, there are swallow feet stiff over there..." Qiushang's voice was still trembling.
Swallow feet stiff?
Elder Li Yinyu and Gou Youchang both had a heart-jump. In the Great Canyon, the terrifying power of Swallow Feet Stiff would not be weaker than the Ice Banshee.
This thing is an evil spirit that uses a zombie for cultivation and is hidden underground.
When cultivators pass by, it suddenly erupts to consume their feet. If the cultivators have decent strength, they should make a quick escape.
If one's cultivation is average, Swallow Feet Stiff wouldn't just eat the feet. Even Xu You Shan had lost both his calf muscles.
Elder Li Yinyu and Elder Gou Youchang couldn't help but look towards Ding Huan. If it weren't for Ding Huan's insistence on entering the forest, they might have lost their feet as well.
If one thinks that Swallow Feet Stiff would only consume the feet of one person when a group passes by, they are deeply mistaken.
With strong cultivation, a Swallow Feet Stiff capable of consuming the feet of a hundred people at once is not impossible.
Han Weicheng wiped the cold sweat off his forehead and swore that he would, without hesitation, step on the Dead Man's Marshland even if Ding Huan walked through it with his eyes closed.
(That's all for today's update, friends. Goodnight! Request for monthly votes support!)
