Chapter 64 is full of ritual.

Two years later, Qin Ming was surprised to encounter the long-armed man in this place. He had many questions and wanted to understand what had happened back then.

Cui Hong glanced at him only once before throwing himself back into the fierce battle, not daring to let the old elephant notice his abnormality, fearing something bad might happen.

This group of mysterious and difficult-to-deal-with individuals has already inexplicably kidnapped Cui Chongyi. If they were to kidnap Cui Chonghe as well, he would truly go mad.

In that brief moment, Qin Ming saw a series of changes on his face, including surprise, joy, and guilt, which flashed by in an instant.

Why did he have that expression? A question arose in his mind.

At the last moment, the long-armed man’s expression was very complicated, as if he was conflicted, which was not how one should look after a reunion.

Qin Ming watched as the excitement and fervor he had felt upon seeing his savior gradually subsided.

With the road blocked, the traveling merchants’ caravan could not proceed. People were somewhat apprehensive, for the level of fighting was truly terrifying.

When the old elephant roared, the mountains seemed to tremble. The elephant’s roar was so loud that everyone’s ears rang, and they all painfully covered their ears.

On the right side of this rugged path is an endless desert, as black as an abyss, while on the left are steep and precipitous mountains that stretch endlessly.

The old elephant was pure white, radiating light. Whether it was the blade of light cleaved by its trunk or the ivory blades attached to its forelimbs, it possessed astonishing destructive power. When it struck the mountain wall on the left side of the path, huge rocks kept collapsing down.

People suspect that it will even carve through the majestic mountain.

Cui Hong practiced the renowned Tongtian Gong, his arms seemingly possessing immense strength. As the light burst forth, it was as if he were tearing through the night. He fiercely confronted the old elephant, holding his own.

Human powerhouses clashed with higher-level aliens, the sky trembled, and thousands of pounds of rocks tumbled down the mountain, burying the path ahead.

The traveling merchant Xu Sheng sighed inwardly at his bad luck. Why did he have to encounter such a thing? He led his men back and forth, fearing that they would be drawn into the conflict between powerful figures and cause the entire team to be wiped out.

“How terrifying!” someone exclaimed softly, while many others looked on with fear.

The duel between two masters actually shattered a mountain cliff. With a thunderous roar, a massive amount of rocks poured down like a torrent, creating a cloud of dust that was truly terrifying.

Everyone watched in horror, their faces turning deathly pale.

Xu Sheng was extremely worried. Why hadn’t the two powerful figures left yet? They were now in the latter part of the rugged path, and should have left this edge of the desert before nightfall. However, their path was blocked, and if they delayed any longer, it might be too late.

If we turn back along the same route, there clearly won’t be enough time.

People were alarmed to discover that the light emitted by the two masters could clearly illuminate the steep mountain wall, but the desert on the right remained dark and deep, and when the light shone, it did not cause a ripple on this side.

“Old Elephant, I’m not going to argue with you anymore. How about we call it quits?” Cui Hong said.

“Alright, then you can go.” The old elephant nodded. Despite its enormous size, it moved with remarkable agility, as if drifting, and in an instant, it leaped onto a mountain peak and turned to leave.

Cui Hong, his face grim, said, “Now that you’ve stopped, can you release them?”

“The trial isn’t over yet,” the old elephant said.

Cui Hong said in a deep voice, “You should know where we come from.”

“Yes, Cui, a thousand-year-old family is indeed remarkable, awe-inspiring to all beings, and renowned throughout the vast land under the night sky. But we are not inferior either. We live on a famous mountain, which is barely acceptable, and you call it one of the blessed lands.” The old elephant calmly replied.

Cui Hong’s expression was extremely serious. He said, “Let’s talk. There must be some misunderstanding in this matter. We’ve just arrived here and we can’t possibly offend you.”

He was afraid that something might happen to Cui Chongyi, so he wanted to explain things as soon as possible. At the same time, he also wanted to lure the old elephant away from this place so that he could quietly come back to see Cui Chonghe later.

…

Seeing that the two masters had finally disappeared after a brief standoff on the cliff, Xu Sheng immediately shouted, “Run! No, run forward with me!”

Time was running out, so he led his men on a run, but by late at night they were still not out of the edge of the desert.

Fortunately, everyone was a newcomer; otherwise, the collapsed cliff in front of them would have taken ordinary people a very long time to climb over.

They ran as fast as they could, panting heavily from exhaustion.

Suddenly, a thick fog rolled in ahead, and the rugged mountain path, though right beneath our feet, was almost invisible.

A moment later, even Xu Sheng stopped. The thick fog made him afraid to take quick steps. If he took the wrong path and entered the desert, the consequences would be unpredictable.

“Brother Xu, what should we do?” someone asked anxiously.

Xu Sheng said in a deep voice, “Don’t be afraid. We haven’t disrespected the desert along the way; we’ve been very respectful when we mentioned it. Now, don’t panic. Those in the back, hold on tight to the clothes of those in front—don’t let go, even if it kills you. I’ll lead the way!”

Many people tried to grab his clothes, feeling safer when they were close to him, but he immediately scolded them: “Don’t push. If anyone gets lost in the desert, I won’t look for you.”

In fact, Xu Sheng was also unsure of himself. The old traveling merchant had told him that one was not considered a master until he had experienced more than ten life-or-death nights. Could it be that he was about to encounter one of those now?

Qin Ming remained silent, clutching Xu Sheng’s clothes tightly. He had reacted quickly and was the first to rush forward.

At times like these, it’s naturally safest to stick close to experienced traveling merchants.

He was afraid that the person in the middle would falter at a crucial moment, failing to hold back those in front and completely losing contact with the leader.

Xu Sheng took out a torch, intending to light it to illuminate the way. However, he failed several times.

Half of the group had lights and tried to light them as well. Soon, someone said in an unnatural trembling voice, “Brother Xu, it seems… something is blowing cold air, blowing my fire out again and again.”

“Stop talking!” Xu Sheng stopped the man from speaking, because he also felt a chill on his neck, making his hair stand on end.

The fog is abnormally thick now; I can’t see the mountains on the left or the road under my feet, only endless darkness, and my eyes feel useless.

Qin Ming remained silent. The atmosphere was too oppressive and strange. A thick fog had inexplicably rolled in, making it impossible to see anything or even sense anything.

“Brother Xu, we don’t need to light torches anymore. There’s a group ahead who have already lit them. Although it’s a bit far and the light is dim, if we follow them, we should be able to get out.” Someone said with delight.

“Hey, there really is a team deep in the fog, shadowy figures, the leader holding a torch to light the way ahead.”

The others noticed as well, and they all showed delight.

Qin Ming could clearly feel Xu Sheng’s body stiffen, and then become completely tense, as if he had goosebumps all over his body.

“Don’t look at those torches, and don’t stare at that team!” Xu Sheng said in a low voice, quickly warning and reminding everyone, “Before we approached the desert, in that small town where we were resupplying, I specifically inquired and found that no other teams were setting off today except for us.”

“hiss!”

“My mountain god!”

Everyone gasped in shock, completely bewildered. What kind of team was ahead of them?

“I’m rubbing off the dirt, don’t squeeze me like that, you almost squeezed my soul out of my body!”

Qin Ming’s deep eyes saw the shadowy group deep in the night fog. There were quite a few people, and the dim torches lit the way, as if to guide them and point out the direction.

But it was very quiet there, without a sound.

Everyone, including Qin Ming, glanced at the man a few times before quickly lowering their heads and no longer looking, all heeding Xu Sheng’s advice.

“So what exactly is it?” In this situation, the more nervous some people are, the more they can’t help but want to say something.

“According to the old traveling merchant, never mind, I won’t say it, it’ll scare you to death.” Xu Sheng swallowed back his words halfway through.

If it weren’t for the wrong time and place, several of the stronger freshmen in the team would have wanted to beat him up, because Xu Sheng would have been better off not saying anything at all. Wouldn’t such a half-finished sentence be even more frightening?

“Brother Xu, why don’t you just say it? You’ve already brought it up, but then you stopped, which only makes us more anxious!”

“The old traveling merchant’s explanation would really scare some of you timid people to death if I told you. Let’s use the explanation from Tantric Buddhism instead. It should be that some kind of ritual related to the gods is underway, and we must not join in. Because neither you nor I are qualified to get close. If we stare at that torch for too long and join that group, we will inevitably become someone else’s side dish and be eaten bloodily.”

Everyone fell silent.

Qin Ming remained silent. Under the cover of night, it was so dangerous and difficult for ordinary newcomers to travel far from home.

He hadn’t even completely left this remote area yet, and he’d already encountered something like this. What else might he encounter if he ventured deeper into the vast land?

“Are there any other… explanations?” The more afraid some people are, the more they want to get to the bottom of things, driven by fear and curiosity, wanting to know the truth.

Xu Sheng said, “There is also an ancient explanation: the unfathomable being in the desert has been offended. This fog is its anger, and the torch is its burning flame. Do you want to be a moth drawn to the flame?”

Suddenly, he stopped completely, no longer trying to take a step, because he found himself getting lost. Apart from looking up at the torch, he could no longer tell which side was desert and which side was adjacent to the towering mountains.

Qin Ming realized something was wrong, because there should be mountains on the left and desert on the right, but his left foot was now in the sand.

Xu Sheng stopped abruptly because of this problem. He slowly pulled his left foot out of the sand and dared not go any further.

“Don’t push!” Some people behind couldn’t stop.

“Don’t bump into me. Oh, it’s a young lady. It’s not easy being out and about. It’s okay, don’t panic.”

Although everyone was extremely nervous in the darkness, they still secretly despised this guy.

“Hey girl, don’t be afraid. Why are you still hanging on me? Okay, then I’ll carry you on my back. Hold onto my neck.”

However, the man’s voice quickly trembled as he said, “Miss, why are your fingernails so long? They’re chilling. Please don’t touch my neck, okay… please?”

The crowd, who had just been looking down on the man, were now horrified and unsettled by his words.

“Girl, say something! Stop touching my neck, it seems… bleeding, it hurts a bit.” The man’s voice was hoarse.

A pale-faced boy behind him spoke up: “Big brother, you…you don’t say anything, I…”

The man asked in a trembling voice, “Young man, are you… grabbing the girl’s clothes? Could you help me pull her off me?”

“I feel…grabbing very long hair…” The boy’s voice trembled violently.

The man’s voice was weak: “Someone help me, I’m having so hard to breathe, my neck is bleeding and it hurts, I can’t pry the girl’s hands open, her nails are too long.”

Everyone remained silent, gripping their weapons tightly.