Chapter 344

Chapter 344: Ghostly Valley

After Lou Yun shot straight out of the volcano mouth, the Dream Emperor Sword appeared beneath his feet, carrying him into the air.

Originally, Lou Yun had arrived at this enormous volcanic island completely by accident after getting lost, utterly unaware of which sea he was even in. Now, faced with leaving, he still felt confused. Where exactly should he go?

After a moment’s thought, Lou Yun chose to fly north. As long as he headed north and saw the continent of Spirit Weapon Star, he’d easily determine the specific direction and location.

Although Lou Yun had promised Chang Xiang that after leaving the volcanic island he would first help him reshape his body, he was currently much more worried about his own family, his Divine Weapon Island. He had to wait until he returned to Divine Weapon Island, confirmed that his clansmen were unharmed, only then could he settle his mind to help Chang Xiang.

Chang Xiang understood Lou Yun’s temperament extremely well, so he didn’t even try to stop him. He simply allowed Lou Yun to follow his own choice, flying north at full speed.

Lou Yun was no longer absorbing spiritual energy for his cultivation, but absorbing the energy of heaven and earth instead. Therefore, his flying speed was significantly faster than before. He pushed his movement weapon technique, "Light Crossing," to its absolute limit. Like a flash of light, he streaked across the sky with incredible speed, making his figure completely impossible to distinguish clearly.

However, just as Lou Yun was giving his all to speed towards the continent, a tight, constricting sensation suddenly came from his wrist. It startled him slightly, making him look down at his wrist.

Around Lou Yun’s wrist was a thin, black bracelet, a gift from Zhuge Mou, the founder of Tianjiao whom he’d once encountered!

According to Zhuge Mou, every member of Tianjiao possessed such a bracelet. Through this bracelet, Zhuge Mou could track each member’s whereabouts. Events Lou Yun later experienced proved Zhuge Mou right; Tie Sha and Wen Hou had found him in seemingly impossible situations. Lou Yun couldn’t understand how, so he simply attributed it to some special ability of Zhuge Mou’s.

Right now, the constricting feeling came precisely from this bracelet. Without any external force acting upon it, the bracelet was slowly contracting inward, tightening its grip on Lou Yun’s arm.

Lou Yun had almost completely forgotten about the bracelet since receiving it. He never expected that today, it would truly reveal something peculiar.

Lou Yun stared at the bracelet clearly contracting under its own power, his heart filled with skepticism. He guessed it must be Zhuge Mou trying to find him, but he was extremely curious: how could Zhuge Mou possibly communicate with him?

However, Lou Yun soon found out!

As the bracelet tightened, he felt a prickly, itchy sensation on his skin. He looked closely and was alarmed to see that against the skin under the bracelet, countless tiny barbs had protruded. The itchy feeling arose because these barbs were wriggling and slowly etching three characters onto his skin!

Ghostly Valley!

The characters were crooked and messy, but still easily recognizable. Lou Yun finally understood how Zhuge Mou had summoned Tie Sha and Wen Hou to find him; it was obviously through this bracelet-writing method.

This discovery amazed Lou Yun. He truly couldn’t fathom how Zhuge Mou managed something like this!

But Lou Yun didn’t ponder it deeply. Zhuge Mou had once firmly stated that within Tianjiao, every member possessed a unique skill they excelled in. Zhuge Mou’s specialty was likely this tracking and notification ability.

Lou Yun’s attention quickly focused on the three words etched on his skin: Ghostly Valley. This had to be a place name. Zhuge Mou’s meaning was surely for him to go to the Ghostly Valley!

The problem was, Lou Yun had never heard of such a place. Merely knowing the name wasn’t much help.

Since Lou Yun agreed to join Tianjiao, Zhuge Mou had never contacted him. In fact, during his most difficult times, Zhuge Mou had sent Tie Sha and Wen Hou, regardless of distance, to help him. Now, since Zhuge Mou was telling him this place name, it undoubtedly meant something was happening there requiring his assistance. By both duty and feeling, Lou Yun had to go!

Therefore, Lou Yun made up his mind: first find the continent, figure out his geographical location, then inquire about the whereabouts of this Ghostly Valley.

As he continued accelerating northward, Lou Yun pondered what could be happening in the Ghostly Valley. Would arriving too late cause problems? Yet there was truly nothing he could do about the timing.

He initially thought reaching the continent would take considerable time. To his surprise, he sighted the landmass within just a single day. This suggested that when he recklessly fled the Huangfu Family without direction, he had unwittingly been heading north. Otherwise, he couldn’t have been this close to the continent.

This stretch of land visible before him held no towering cities; it seemed to be uncultivated wilderness, though thankfully dotted with some small villages.

In one village, Lou Yun inquired and learned their location: west of South Sea City, roughly a thousand kilometers away!

What made Lou Yun even more pleased was that he casually asked if they knew where Ghostly Valley was. Upon hearing the name, the local villagers actually displayed expressions of terror. This meant they knew the Ghostly Valley!

This was a huge, unexpected stroke of luck!

From the villagers, Lou Yun learned that Ghostly Valley lay only about three hundred kilometers from their small hamlet. Heading straight west from here would get him there.

Ghostly Valley was described as a large valley, said to be an ancient battlefield long ago. Many had perished there with no one to bury them, so over time, it became a place like a mass grave. Perhaps the souls of those slain soldiers refused to rest. Thick, perpetual black fog blanketed the valley, blotting out the sun. Ghastly howls were often heard, and even in daytime, ghostly figures could be seen multiplying. Locals thus deemed it forbidden ground, believing it occupied by vengeful spirits. No one ever ventured there.

As for the tales of ghosts, Lou Yun couldn’t say he entirely disbelieved them, considering he’d just come from Ghost Sea, which fishermen similarly believed was haunted by evil spirits. However, he also wasn’t entirely convinced by the rumors about Ghostly Valley. Moreover, even if the place was truly treacherous, he still had to go there.

After bidding farewell to the villagers, Lou Yun immediately flew towards Ghostly Valley without pause. During the flight, it suddenly occurred to him: Zhuge Mou had notified him to go to Ghostly Valley because he must have known Lou Yun’s current position relative to it. Was Lou Yun the closest?

The more Lou Yun thought about it, the more plausible it seemed. Otherwise, what were the odds that the destination assigned to him lay merely a day’s journey away?

Despite figuring this out, Lou Yun remained completely in the dark about what awaited him within Ghostly Valley.

The journey of three to four hundred kilometers took him barely over two hours. By the time darkness was just falling, Lou Yun was already standing at the entrance to Ghostly Valley!

Looking upon Ghostly Valley, Lou Yun involuntarily sucked in a sharp breath. Although the villagers’ descriptions had prepared him mentally, the sight now, seen with his own eyes, still struck him as incredibly strange and unsettling.

Ten meters from the valley entrance stood a huge stone stele. On it, the words "Ghostly Valley" were written in a red as deep as fresh blood. Directly below these three characters were four smaller words…"Trespassers will die!"

The entrance to Ghostly Valley was formed by two massive stones, each over ten meters tall, with a crevice barely a meter wide between them. Stepping between these boulders led into the interior. Just through this gap, one could see that the areas outside and inside the valley seemed like two entirely separate worlds.

Outside the valley, stars dotted the night sky. Inside, however, a thick, black fog reigned supreme. Even with Lou Yun’s current eyesight, he could barely penetrate it to see about two meters ahead. Though no ghostly howls reached him, an absolute, tomblike silence prevailed inside, devoid of any sound.

Faced with such an uncanny environment, even Lou Yun felt a prickle of unease. Could it be possible that what the villagers said was true? Had this valley truly become occupied by the ghosts of those who died in battle ages past?

Regardless, since he had arrived, entering was inevitable. However, before going in, he wanted to get as clear an understanding of the valley’s interior as possible. Thus, Lou Yun steadied his nerves and extended his spirit sense, simultaneously activating Spirit Vision.

But the dense black fog within Ghostly Valley actually impeded his spirit sense! Probing into it felt like tossing a stone into the depths of the sea; not the slightest ripple occurred, and deeper penetration proved impossible.

As for Spirit Vision, it relied on Lou Yun being able to hear sounds. Only by interpreting variations in sound could mental images form. But in the utterly silent Ghostly Valley, truly like stepping into a colossal tomb, Spirit Vision was useless too.

Lou Yun took a deep breath. The heavenly and earthly energies stored within his body surged into motion, instantly filling his entire being with strength.

As the energies circulated, the lingering trepidation in his heart vanished instantly. His face even broke into a confident smile. With long strides, he walked straight into Ghostly Valley.

The moment Lou Yun stepped inside, he immediately felt it—the world inside the valley was utterly distinct from the outside. A putrid, decay-scent assaulted his nostrils. Although it made him instinctively feel nauseated, he also experienced a strange sense of familiarity; the odor seemed vaguely reminiscent of something he’d encountered before.

The fleeting thought vanished from his mind without further consideration. Though the stench was unbearable, he dared not hold his breath. In such an environment of utter mystery, both smells and sounds could be potential clues to hidden dangers.

At that moment, Chang Xiang suddenly spoke: "Kid, this place is wrong!"

Chang Xiang’s reminder was unnecessary; Lou Yun was acutely aware of the abnormality. He was just about to respond when Chang Xiang continued urgently: "This isn’t black fog at all! It’s malignant aura!"