Chapter 26: Azure River Isle

After Qin Bocheng finished speaking, instead of the astonishment he had expected, he was met with seven utterly bewildered faces.

It was Wen Xiaming who voiced the doubt in everyone’s mind: “Red Lantern? What’s that supposed to be?”

All seven pairs of eyes turned to Qin Bocheng in unison.

Qin Bocheng was a bit taken aback himself. “You’ve never heard of the Red Lantern? It’s recorded in the Ancient Chronicles!”

He reached into his storage space and pulled out a copy of the Ancient Chronicles, flipping to the page about the Red Lantern. “Look, it’s described quite clearly here. The Red Lantern can induce widespread hallucinations and contamination, and is extremely corrosive… it has no leaves or flowers, but a well-developed root system; its fruit resembles a lantern, and the trunk has three colored stripes. In its mature stage, the mortality rate is ninety-nine percent. In the cultivation world, it’s known as the Messenger of the Netherworld. Do you understand what that means?”

Seeing them all shake their heads, Qin Bocheng didn’t keep them in suspense. “In mortal legends, the Messenger of the Netherworld is the soul collector—meeting one means certain death. Don’t think that just because we made it out alive this time that it’s not as terrifying as the stories say. We were just lucky; we encountered a juvenile. If it had been mature, cultivators at our Golden Core stage would only last a few breaths before perishing.”

A collective gasp swept through the group, and a chill ran down their spines. They hurried forward a few steps, putting more distance between themselves and the mists of Nether City.

Chen Xiayi rubbed the goosebumps on her arm and said, “If it’s really that terrifying, why are we still standing here chatting? Can’t we talk after we get further away?”

“Yes, yes, let’s go! We can discuss everything once we find our next resting place.” Everyone nodded in agreement, all eager to leave this place behind.

They flew onward for about another hour in silence, when suddenly there was a sharp cracking sound. In an instant, all sorts of objects burst forth from Liu Yuning’s waist as if scattered by a fairy’s hand. The same thing happened to Liu Yushan, Chen Jian, and Hou Mingyuan. The group was forced to stop and check what was happening.

Before anyone could figure it out, Liu Yushan let out a shriek and threw herself at the pile of items. Qin Bocheng, seeing what those things were, coughed awkwardly and turned his head away.

The cultivators’ reflexes were simply too sharp, and their eyesight too keen; in one glance, they recognized the pile as a heap of colorful women’s undergarments. Everyone quickly averted their eyes, looking at the sky, the ground, the flowers, the grass—anywhere but back at the scene.

Chen Xiayi also realized what was scattered. Her first reaction wasn’t to help, but to check her own storage pouch. Sure enough, there was indeed a tear in the pouch. Heart aching, she removed it and transferred everything inside to the spare one she kept close. The pouch she used most often was her best—it was spacious and beautifully crafted. Now it was ruined, and she was devastated.

Qin Bocheng glanced at them and said, “I think you’d all better change your robes as well. The corrosive mist must have contaminated them, and who knows what else might happen?”

Everyone agreed wholeheartedly. When they’d left the misty area, their storage bags were perfectly fine, but now all of them were ruined. Who could say if the robes they were wearing would last much longer? A little waste was nothing—losing face was another matter entirely!

One by one, they set up barriers and changed into fresh clothes in private. Only after they’d all changed and cleaned up the scattered belongings did they, still shaken, prepare to leave the area behind.

Qin Bocheng didn’t need to change; his storage pouch only held unimportant items, and everything else was kept in his personal spatial sanctum. The sanctum was within his body—nothing could corrode it unless his entire being was destroyed. Still, he didn’t want to make an exception, so he hung another pouch on his waist for appearance’s sake.

The rest of the journey went much more smoothly. Aside from encountering a few stray spirit beasts, nothing threatening appeared again. With clear skies and favorable winds, they arrived at Qinghe Island by noon on the third day.

Qinghe Island sat upon the Weishui River; just across the river lay the Demonic Lands of Qingyang, separated from the Yandong region by a barrier. This barrier would match any force with equal strength, so those with demonic or spiritual energy in their bodies could not pass through, whereas ordinary mortals could cross freely.

Once on Qinghe Island, they were in no rush to search for the secret realm. Instead, Hou Mingyuan carefully explained the surrounding terrain and environment to Qin Bocheng. If he missed or forgot anything, his companions filled in the details. No one knew what might happen after entering the secret realm; by making everything clear in advance, they would not be completely lost if separated.

This island had once been inhabited solely by mortals, its spiritual energy weak, and few cultivators ever chose to live here. Because of its proximity to the Myriad Sword Sect, the sect would send people each year to test for spiritual roots, and occasionally outer disciples would roam the area.

Just a few months prior, several beast-peak outer disciples from Myriad Sword Sect came here on a mission. To their shock, there was not a single living soul left on the entire Qinghe Island.

The sect was not far away, and yet someone had exterminated tens of thousands right on their doorstep without anyone noticing. It wasn’t until these disciples reported the matter that the upper echelons of Myriad Sword Sect took notice and dispatched a team of high-level cultivators to investigate. At that time, the secret realm on the island was discovered.

Given the magnitude of the incident, Tianyi Valley, not far away, also sensed something was amiss and sent a group to investigate. Both investigation teams nearly perished, escalating the situation even further.

For this reason, they would not enter the secret realm immediately, but first survey the surrounding area and assess the risks.

They had come to seek fortune, not to gamble with their lives. If the risk was too great, they could always withdraw with dignity.

The entrance to the secret realm was northwest of the island, and since they’d landed from the east, they would have to cross a mountain and pass through the forest ahead to reach it.

Qin Bocheng looked at the neatly partitioned fields before him. Some still grew grain, others basic medicinal herbs, though many were already abandoned. The houses nearby—apart from a few collapsed thatched huts—were mostly still standing, though weeds had sprung up around them.

“Is it true there’s not a single living soul left here? Even if someone sent a large force to kill everyone, surely some must have escaped,” Qin Bocheng asked Wen Xiaming curiously.

“How would I know?” Wen Xiaming replied with a shrug. “The rumor is not a single person survived, but who can say what really happened?”