Pursuit of the Truth

In the rather remote spot where White Bull Tribe and Black Crane Tribe were located in the land of the Shamans in South Morning, something had happened to them during these few days that horrified the two tribes.

White Bull Tribe’s terror stemmed from Su Ming. He might have left that day, but what the Patriarch of White Bull Tribe had done had sparked the people’s anger. Most of the members of the tribe believed that sending their women out for an outsider to satisfy his urges was a great humiliation. They would rather fight and kill than go through this.

Besides, to most of the people, they believed that if they worked together, there was still a chance for them to kill Su Ming. That was why they were skeptical towards their Patriarch’s actions.

Even though it had not truly happened, that grudge and skepticism had been planted in their hearts like seeds. The monkey-faced old man in White Bull Tribe knew about it, but he could only remain silent.

Compared to the cruel methods the other Patriarchs employed to control their tribe, the old man was attached to his tribe from the bottom of his heart. Fortunately for him, that grudge and skepticism only lasted for most of the month, and it gradually disappeared a little when that incident that terrified the entire White Bull Tribe transpired.

The reason for this was because of a member of White Bull Tribe venturing out of the tribe alone. That person was a young man, and he had with him the hot-bloodedness and recklessness of that age. He was also the partner of two among the three women who were sent out at that time.

He came to Su Ming’s cave abode alone, but when he arrived, he found, to his shock, that the entire mountain range… had disappeared! Everything was gone. The spot where the mountain range and cave abode had been had turned into a flatland. There was no sign of any destruction around the place. It was as if there was no mountain over there to begin with…

When the young man returned to the tribe and the entire White Bull Tribe learned about it, the monkey-faced old man brought some men with him to where Su Ming’s cave abode was located previously. After close inspection, confusion also appeared on the old man’s face, but it was swiftly covered by the terror towards the unknown.

Not only did the mountain range disappear, even the Shaman Crystal vein had disappeared…

The monkey-faced old man looked at the vast and empty land. For some unknown reason, fear suddenly rose in his heart. It was as if there was a murderous aura looming in the quiet of this land. It made his heart tremble, and he immediately brought his tribe members back to the people. Then with his status as the Patriarch, he placed a gag order on all the tribe members. He forbade all his people from speaking about it, and all those who went against his words were punished severely!

He had a feeling that the strange phenomenon that appeared in the land of the Shamans over the past few days, especially the gigantic white sun that had manifested in the sky was somewhat related to this strange incident. However, he did not have any proof for this, only a feeling that it was that way.

Black Crane Tribe had also sunk into a state of terror similar to that of White Bull Tribe, but it was slightly different. The disappearance of their tribe leader, and Madam Ji, who left and never returned, all of these were a clear sign, telling them that the person who took over the Shaman Crystal vein was not an ordinary person.

In fact, the Patriarch of Black Crane Tribe had also brought some people to the place quietly in hopes of investigating. Yet he saw the exact same sight as the people from White Bull Tribe. That was an empty flatland, a completely different sight compared to what he remembered.

The looming murderous aura in the place also caused the Patriarch of Black Crane Tribe to feel shaken to the core. He quickly left and told his tribe members to treat that place as forbidden grounds.

Due to the disappearance of the Shaman Crystal vein, Black Crane Tribe and White Bull Tribe also lost their reason to fight against each other.

Time passed by slowly…

A month later, a fiery red ape charged towards the place from the distance. It was momentarily stunned by the empty plains and circled through the place multiple times in search for something…

Eventually, it found that the place had really turned into empty flatland. The cave abode and the mountain range that was once there were gone, even the only person who was amicable to it was gone.

Yet it did not give up. Instead, it lived around the area and would occasionally check the place, trying to search for a way to enter.

All of these people did not know that in truth, the cave abode and mountain range had not disappeared. It was still there, but Hong Luo had cast that divine ability of his and hidden it away, causing other people to be unable to see or sense it, much less touch it. It was as if it had turned into a dimension that was separated from the world.

Within that dimension and beyond the mountain range were two corpses on the ground. More accurately speaking, it should be three corpses, but Madam Ji’s corpse had already turned into pieces, and her appearance could no longer be seen.

One of the two remaining corpses was Madam Ji’s puppet, who was also her husband, Ji Yun Hai. The other one was the dried up corpse belonging to the tribe leader of Black Crane.

What was left besides them were the numerous black beetles on the ground. These small insects lay on the ground unmoving, but there was not a hint of death that could be found on them. It was as if they were only deep asleep.

The only thing that could be seen flying about in the area was a black line. It was the strange, small snake belonging to Su Ming. That snake was pacing about in the air, occasionally letting out screeching sounds, as if it was searching for something, but it could not find it.

Eventually, it flew to a small virescent sword lying in the bushes not too far away and laid down beside it, occasionally letting out small cries as if it was calling out to something.

The cave abode in the mountain range was beside it, and there was a gigantic medicinal cauldron placed in one of the chambers. The power of the world from all around was still surging into it, causing the medicine inside to go through its slow refinement.

In another stone chamber was an old Berserker, who was lying there unmoving, but his eyelids were shivering; he was showing signs of struggling to open his eyes and wake up.

Yet right when he gathered all his power to open his eyes, the small snake lying in the grass outside the cave abode lifted its head and hissed. It stared at its Master’s cave abode, and moved swiftly, swimming through the grass before immediately flying up.

When it flew up, the three Spirit Plunders lying around the area were brought up and charged towards the cave abode, crossing through all the paths before appearing in the stone chamber where the old man’s body lay. The small snake let out a sharp shriek, flung its body, and the three Spirit Plunders instantly flew towards the top of the old man’s head, floating above him in their original positions.

The moment those Spirit Plunders reached him, the old Berserker had actually managed to open up his closed eyes a slit. A low growl that sounded like that of a beast fell from his lips.

At the same time the small snake hissed above the old man, a chilling glare appeared in its eyes. With one swift move, it charged towards him and bit down fiercely on his arm. Immediately, a gust of black smoke spread through the old man’s arm, and once it covered his entire body, the old man let out a disgruntled growl. He closed his eyes once again.

The small snake stayed by his side and observed him for a while before flying out of the cave abode and returning to the small virescent sword’s side. Then, when it was back there, it occasionally lifted its head and cried out, calling out to something. Its voice echoed in the air…

‘This is my home’ was what it felt. Everything had to remain in its original state for Master to return…

Before its Master returned, it would protect this place, even if it was for eternity.

Besides, unless there was no one who had a divine sense that surpassed Hong Luo’s, then no one in the entire Land of South Morning would be able to find this mountain range. And there was practically no one in the Land of South Morning whose divine sense could surpass Hong Luo’s. As for Di Tian, he had already scattered away!

Hong Luo might have died, but his seal was still around. It might be weakening slowly, but it would still take several hundreds of years before it completely disappeared.

Time continued trickling, and in the blink of an eye, Su Ming had already had already been gone from this place for half a year…

During the past six months, White Bull Tribe and Black Crane Tribe did not pay attention to that disappeared mountain range most of the time. Peace returned to their tribes, and there were practically no fights between them. Instead, during the past half a year, they were making preparations to migrate.

If they were to migrate alone, it would be difficult for small tribes like theirs to not run into any sort of danger in the vast land of the Shamans. That was why even if they wanted to move, most of them would wait for slightly larger tribes migrating, and they would join those people when they passed by their place.

Even though they might lose some of their people, but this was the only way for more of their people to survive.

On the day half a year later. Midnight.

A sudden, strong ray of light appeared in the dark sky. That light only lasted for a moment before it disappeared. It might have caught quite a lot of people’s attention, but when they focused their gazes over there, the light had already disappeared without a trace.

At the same time that ray of light appeared, the small snake lifted its head swiftly at the disappeared mountain range located right between White Bull Tribe and Black Crane Tribe. Watchfulness shone in its eyes and it continued hissing while keeping its gaze fixed on the empty spot several thousands of feet away from it.

At that moment, a ball of dark light had appeared over there. The ball of light brought with it a mighty pressure that caused the grass on the ground to bend its back, because out of nowhere, a gust of wind began to blow against them.

There was also a large amount of freezing air coming from within that dark ball of light. That freezing air fused with the wind and caused ice to appear on the ground all around the light, and it started spreading outwards slowly.

The small snake did not let out a single sound. It lay on the grass and glared at the dark ball of light coldly. This was where its Master’s cave abode was. Right then, its Master had left the place, and if any outsider trespassed into the land, the snake would definitely protect the place.

In truth, during the past half a year, that was what it had been doing. Almost once every few days, it would go and bite that old Berserker so that the person would be in a constant state of weakness but would not die.

It remembered that this was the duty given to that monkey, but now that the monkey was not around, the snake took its place.

At that moment, the small snake’s gaze turned colder. It was waiting and was observing just what that dark ball of light was. Time slowly passed by, and after the time of the burning of an incense stick, the ball of light gave off a brilliant flash and its shape changed. That spherical shape gradually turned into an oval, and as it let out an even stronger amount of pressure, fine cracks appeared on it.

Cracking sounds came from within, and during that instant, a person walked out of the oval-shaped light. When he stepped out, the chilling air instantly grew thicker by several fold, causing the area to instantly turn bone-chillingly cold!

The small snake charged out rapidly without a sound. Its eyes sparkled and its poisonous fangs slipped out, but right when it was about to deliver the killing blow on that person with its bite, the killing intent in its eyes suddenly disappeared, and it was replaced by surprised delight. It shrank its poisonous fangs back and let out cries of joy while dashing towards that person.

That person was naturally Su Ming!

At that moment, his face was rife with excitement. When he lifted his right hand, the small snake immediately flew right onto his palm and started crying out happily at him. At the same time, due to his arrival, an unimaginable amount of freezing air that seemed to come from his body spread through the ground, immediately covering the entire land around the area in a thin layer of ice.