"This time, I don't know whether to say you're unlucky or lucky. You've stumbled upon an outburst of Spiritual Severance Qi that only happens once every hundred years! It's made this spatial rift tear open far wider than usual. Anyone caught in it, no matter how powerful, would have nowhere to flee. But because of that, most of the Yin beasts that normally stay deep within the mountain have vacated the area. Otherwise, you'd have been gnawed clean the moment you fell in." The lean, sinewy man glanced back at the two of them and spoke in a flat tone.
Han Li's heart sank slightly upon hearing this, but his expression remained unchanged as he asked: "Forgive my boldness, but could you tell us exactly where we are? From the way you speak, this place seems extremely dangerous."
"Dangerous? Heh heh! As if the word 'dangerous' could begin to describe it. I don't care what the two of you did outside, or what lofty status you once held among mortals. In this Land of Yin and Darkness, there are no freeloading idlers. Anyone who can still move must pull their own weight. Otherwise, you're nothing but food for the Yin beasts." The man looked them over again, seeming to notice that he and the woman were no ordinary folk, and let out a cold laugh.
Han Li furrowed his brow slightly. He was about to ask more when the man cut him off impatiently with a wave of his hand: "We're in extraordinary times — I don't have the luxury of explaining things in detail to two outsiders. Everything will be discussed once we're back at the village. If we wait any longer, a massive swarm of Yin beasts will be returning to their lair. Seal off this secret exit. We'll save it for next time." The man's last sentence was a sharp command directed at the others around him.
Immediately, the men and women nearby scooped up rocks from the surroundings and, working over each other, sealed the exit tight.
"Let's go. If all goes well, A-Hu and the others should be meeting us halfway. If we don't move now, once the Yin winds pick up, we won't be able to make it back." The lean man lifted his head to study the dark clouds overhead, his expression turning grim.
He then turned and started walking. The other men and women followed in silence. Not a single one bothered to invite Han Li or the woman along.
Han Li watched this, a strange light flickering in his eyes, a contemplative look settling over his face.
"Should we follow them?" the elegant woman beside Han Li asked, growing uneasy as the group gradually pulled further away while Han Li stood rooted in place, head bowed in thought.
Having lost her Magical Power, she was now little more than a helpless, directionless woman — and she had naturally come to regard Han Li, who had remained composed through everything, as someone she could rely on.
"Why not? Let's go. First, we'll check out this so-called village. Perhaps there we can find a way to restore our Magical Power." Han Li lifted his head and spoke calmly. Then, watching the group's retreating figures, he strode forward without further hesitation.
The woman felt a wave of relief and hurried after him.
"Oh, I don't even know your name yet. My surname is Han. I'm an independent cultivator." Han Li asked casually as they walked.
"My name is Mei Ning. I came with my older brother. We were clearly pulled into the Ghost Mist together, so why isn't he here?" The elegant woman was none other than the gentle one among the Mei siblings. As she mentioned her brother, a faint worry surfaced on her face.
"That's perfectly normal. Those black lightning bolts clearly possess some random teleportation ability. We were sent into the mountain's interior, but your brother could have been transported to a completely different location. Otherwise, with so many cultivators present at the time, it's impossible that only the two of us ended up here. You'll find him eventually — just take it slow."
Upon hearing Han Li's words, the woman felt considerably more at ease. At the same time, however, her curiosity about Han Li grew.
His features were unremarkable and unfamiliar. She was absolutely certain she had never seen him before. Could he be a cultivator who had entered the island from a different direction? She speculated with some puzzlement.
A mind full of questions, she wanted to ask Han Li, but felt they weren't quite close enough yet. After hesitating for a moment, she held her tongue.
While the woman wrestled with her indecision, the two of them caught up with the group ahead. Though they had lost their Magical Power, the bodies of cultivators who had undergone tempering were still far beyond those of ordinary mortals.
The lean man noticed that the pair had managed to keep pace without falling behind, and a flicker of surprise crossed his eyes. But he said nothing, simply marching on in silence, increasing his pace by a measure.
The other men and women quickened their steps as well.
Seeing this, Han Li paused briefly in thought.
These people's movements and gait were far more agile than ordinary folk. They didn't seem to possess any remarkable internal energy, but it was clear they had trained in some rudimentary Outer Sect martial arts. It seemed that in this place, only the path of martial skill had any use.
Then again, Han Li had long harbored some private suspicions about the Ghost Mist.
In the texts he had read, while the Ghost Mist was certainly fearsome, it was not supposed to be so hopeless that there was not even a sliver of a chance to escape. The fact that one's Magical Power was sealed before even making contact with the thing was simply absurd in its severity.
If the Ghost Mist that appeared throughout history had always been this terrifying, even Nascent Soul cultivators would not have been spared. Yet there were clearly many documented cases of people encountering the Ghost Mist and successfully avoiding it — including low-level cultivators.
However, the lean man's mention of an "outburst of Spiritual Severance Qi" had shed some light on the matter.
Just from the name alone, he could tell that the suppression of their Magical Power and spiritual sense was undoubtedly closely related to it.
It seemed they truly had the rotten luck to encounter an exceptionally severe instance of the Ghost Mist, and had been swept up and transported inside as a result. He estimated that surviving cultivators were probably scattered in other corners of this place as well.