Chapter 148: Inside the Sacred Mountain

The chaotic battle broke out instantly, as if heaven and earth were turning upside down. A continuous rumbling sound echoed all around, which was the angry roar of the evil souls.

The peerless power of the Dragon-Slicing Blade collided with the evil souls, constantly producing harsh, metallic clanging noises.

"You netherworld ghosts and goblins, behold my purple-gold pupils!" Ye Feng retreated, shaking his numb arm, and then two beams of purple-gold light rapidly shot out from his eyes.

Hiss, hiss...

Like thick ice meeting boiling water, when the two beams of purple-gold light struck them, several evil souls shrieked in terror, struggling in agony.

"I cannot fight these things head-on; I must use my wits to win. No matter what, I am a wise and cultivated master. How could I ever fight them head-on? Ah, it is not that I cannot defeat them, I just need to rely on wisdom... Yes... wisdom!" The fellow muttered to himself, and under the pursuit of nearly ten evil souls, he began a high-potential great escape... No, it should be called a strategic retreat.

Roar...

The evil souls pursued. Among them, an evil soul more than ten zhang tall, resembling an octopus, rapidly extended dozens of tentacles, attempting to bind Ye Feng.

Clang, clang, clang...

The fellow retreated rapidly while swinging his blade to hack at the arm-thick tentacles, but to his frustration, it only produced sounds like striking iron, failing to inflict the slightest bit of damage.

Boom...

Just as Ye Feng was distracted, the other evil souls also made their move. The enormous fist of the ape soul, like an iron hammer, kicked up flying gravel with every blow it landed on the ground.

"I've been screwed to death by that old man! They're just a few low-level minions, yet they're actually this ferocious." Ye Feng continuously dodged the attacks of the evil souls, secretly hoping that Gui Ren and the others would quickly retrieve the purple-gold alms bowl and leave this place.

Ye Feng fled continuously while more than ten evil souls pursued him relentlessly. The mountain slopes behind them became a complete mess, with shattered stones scattered everywhere.

After Ye Feng retreated hundreds of meters away from this place, the broken surface of the ground unexpectedly began to slowly heal. The spot became completely flat once more, turning back into a sheet of crimson blood-stone.

The several charging behemoths looked suspiciously at the healed ground, then backed away while keeping their guard up against each other, and finally dispersed in different directions.

Rumble...

Suddenly, Ye Feng, fighting and retreating simultaneously, felt his feet slip. Following that, his entire body felt as though it had fallen into a swamp, sinking rapidly downwards.

"What the hell! Is there a swamp even inside stone? You can't be this deceitful!"

Ye Feng only felt his entire body being squeezed by the muddy sludge to the point where he could barely breathe, and his body continued to sink downwards.

At this moment, inside a cavern within the mountain, Gui Ren's face turned pale as he exclaimed in shock to the others, "Where on earth have we sunk to? Could there actually be swamps inside solid stone?"

Hearing this, another accompanying youth foolishly rubbed his head, then looked up at the cavern ceiling and said, "It seems we just popped out from that very stone!"

"You're the one who popped out from a stone!" Gui Ren glared at the youth, said.

Whoosh...

Just as his words fell, the ceiling of the cavern rippled like the surface of water once more, and then a battered figure crashed down heavily, pinning the chubby Gui Ren underneath.

"Oh! Have we reached the bottom? Ah, not bad, and it's quite soft!" Saying this, Second Brother Ye wore an expression of utter enjoyment, twitching his backside and swaying left and right a few times.

Hum... hum...

Beneath Ye Feng, Gui Ren rolled his eyes, feeling oppressed in his chest and short of breath. He struggled to speak, but could only manage a few muffled groans from his throat.

"What's that sound?" Ye Feng was greatly startled and bounced up like a spring.

............

After a long while, Ye Feng sat cross-legged on the ground with a face full of guilt, continuously patting Gui Ren on the back.

"By the way, didn't you all go to get the purple-gold alms bowl? Why did you appear here?" Looking at the several youths beside him with varying expressions, Ye Feng asked.

As he spoke, Ye Feng looked up and gazed around at this strange cavern.

Upon closer inspection, he discovered that above, below, left, right, and ahead of the cavern were entirely composed of mountain rock, with only the rear winding away toward some unknown destination.

"We just stepped into the temple and then lost consciousness entirely. When we woke up again, we were already here," one of them said.

Ye Feng fell silent for a moment and said, "If I'm not mistaken, we've entered the interior of the Sacred Mountain."

"You mean this is the middle of the mountain?"

Ye Feng nodded and said, "It should be. We entered inside the mountain from its surface."

"This..." Fatty Gui Ren felt like crying, and with a trembling voice, he said, "I have never heard of anyone being able to enter the interior of the Sacred Mountain. There isn't even any related legend about it. The evil souls outside were already terrifying enough, but inside... we've actually entered the interior of the Sacred Mountain. This..."

"Roar... roar... give me back my life..." At this very moment, a series of eerie, gloomy voices echoed from the distant, dark passageway deep within the cavern.

"A ghost, a ghost..." Gui Ren was so terrified he nearly jumped up, throwing his hundred-odd-pound frame directly onto Ye Feng. He wrapped his arms tightly around Ye Feng's neck and screamed in horror.

Ye Feng was furious. Even with all his might, he could not pry open Gui Ren's hands from around his neck. Finally, he shouted into Gui Ren's ear, "Let go! Ghosts love cowardly people the most!"

"Ah... no, don't... no..." Hearing this, Gui Ren reacted as if he had been electrocuted, instantly releasing Ye Feng and flailing his hands wildly in the air.

The others were speechless, all wearing helpless expressions as they quietly watched Gui Ren, who looked as though he had been possessed by a demon.

After a long while, the self-frightened Gui Ren finally grew tired. With tearful eyes, he squatted on the ground, his eyes darting furtively around the surroundings like someone who had done something wrong.

"Aren't you... aren't you guys afraid?"

"Have you made enough fuss yet? Do you still want to get out or not?" Ye Feng retorted with irritation.

Hearing this, Gui Ren nodded frantically, then rose to his feet with a speed completely unsuited for his heavy frame, rushing behind Ye Feng.

"Has any of you ever heard of a cave existing here before?" Walking slowly forward, Ye Feng asked.

At this moment, Gui Ren finally calmed down and said, "No cave, absolutely no cave. It's not mentioned in the records either."

Hearing Gui Ren's words, Ye Feng finally set his mind at ease and said, "There you have it, then. At most, this place was recently carved out by the Sacred Land. What is there to be afraid of?"

"Ah, that makes sense too!" Gui Ren rubbed his head. After figuring this out, even his tone became much stiffer. He walked proudly at the very front of the group with his head held high and chest puffed out, muttering incessantly: What is there to be afraid of about the Sacred Land...

Give me back my life...

Before the group had taken even a few steps, that spine-chilling voice echoed once more, startling Gui Ren into scrambling back behind Ye Feng, shivering uncontrollably.

"How could a cave carved out by the Sacred Land have ghost cries in it..."

The group fell silent, choosing to ignore this cowardly fatty.

In the pitch-black cavern, after walking for hundreds of meters, the group finally caught sight of a glowing light ahead.

"Wow... we've finally reached the end..." Gui Ren cheered joyfully, dashing past the others and running forward at full speed.

"Oh, mother... a ghost..." Before long, Gui Ren screamed to the heavens, scampering back like a streak of smoke. Shivering all over, he refused to move forward no matter what.