Chapter 2: The Secret of the Main Peak Cave (2)
In the darkest of places, Feng Yalin felt the safest.
To her, the pitch-black cave was just like a summer morning about to greet the sunrise; she could see the markings on the cave walls as clearly as day.
What kind of people were imprisoned here before?
The ground was littered with eerie white bones, some human, others belonging to the large beasts that had roamed the area.
Could they have been from the Monster Race?
They probably reverted to their true forms before meeting their end, leaving behind unmistakably animal remains.
Questions flashed through Feng Yalin’s mind.
After circling around the rocky walls, she concluded that besides the field of white bones, there wasn’t a single living creature in sight.
Not even an ant.
It was as if some strange power was driving away anyone or anything that dared to approach this place.
If it weren’t for her strong desire to investigate, she would have turned back the moment she stepped into the cave.
What had been concealed here?
If this was once a prison, it must have been a heavily guarded site of the Heavenly Sword Sect.
And the simplest explanation for the lack of guards now was that the prisoners had all died.
What’s the point of guarding a prison with no prisoners?
Besides, with broken white bones scattered everywhere, not even a deity could identify their original identities.
So, what on earth could possibly be worth investigating in a dark cave that was nothing but bones?
Of course, there was something—she just hadn’t figured it out yet.
Taking a deep breath, Feng Yalin resolved to search thoroughly once more.
Enduring the stench of decay and the constant urge to flee, her gaze slowly scanned every nook and cranny.
Finally, her eyes landed on the scratched-up rocky wall.
Her fingers cautiously pressed against the rough surface, feeling the texture and grains of the stone.
At first glance, the scratches seemed chaotic, yet all around the cave, from floor to ceiling, were similar deep marks.
Perhaps the age had dulled the scratches a bit.
Upon closer inspection, she noticed some fainter marks between the sparse scratches, but compared to the scratches, they seemed shallower.
Could it be…
A thought flickered in her mind: Were these deliberate scratches meant to cover up something?
Unfortunately, with scratches so widespread throughout the cave, even if she spotted other varying depths of marks, they were so fragmented she couldn’t decipher any patterns.
Had she hit the search limit?
Yet the task completion notification hadn’t lit up, meaning she must have overlooked something.
Feng Yalin took a deep breath and calmed herself down.
If she were a prisoner imprisoned here long ago, what would she want to leave for future generations?
Knowing full well that if information was carved into the wall, the Heavenly Sword Sect would discover and obliterate it—fact, they’d done just that very thoroughly—she realized she needed to find a way to keep it hidden from the Heavenly Sword Sect to fulfill her wish.
What could she do to accomplish that?
Feng Yalin circled the cave repeatedly, tapping and knocking on the walls, searching for hidden doors or mechanisms, but she remained clueless.
Think harder.
If she indeed left a secret behind, failing to provide a means for future discoverers to find it would render her plan imperfect.
A secret that can’t be uncovered is like having no secret at all—such a waste of effort.
So, she had to leave some hints to help the determined ones find the clue.
But what could those clues be?
Feng Yalin’s gaze fell upon the scattered bones on the ground.
She had been very careful as she walked, never touching any of the bones that maintained their form, except for the few that were already shattered.
After careful contemplation and comparison, she finally noticed that the right hands of three skeletons in different corners seemed to faintly point toward the same direction—the cave entrance.
Truly a place easy to overlook.
Suppressing her excitement, Feng Yalin moved to the junction of the tunnel and the cave, scrutinizing for any remnants of hidden treasures.
After a round of knocking, she finally felt a distinct sound at the bottom of the wall where the tunnel and cave met.
This piece of rock looked no different from the others, appearing to be processed stone covering this area, and even the sound was one she had to listen to multiple times to confirm something was off below.
To cover this spot, the prisoners had inscribed secrets that would rile the Heavenly Sword Sect, successfully drawing their attention away.
Because of this, their final stash of secrets remained intact.
Feng Yalin smashed the piece of rock,
And beneath the shattered stone, a small gap emerged.
With utmost care, she moved the fragments aside, fearing she might damage the secrets left by the prisoners.
On a stone surface the size of an iPad, tightly packed lines of text were etched.
Perhaps worried the Heavenly Sword Sect would discover this last hidden spot, they minimized the number of words to save space.
Feng Yalin focused her attention and read the inscription, which said:
“Wrong! All wrong!
The reason the Human Race can cultivate Dao practices is that they are human.
The Monster Race determines their form before cultivating, taking the long way around.
Why doesn’t the Monster Race stay true to their nature and cultivate first before taking form?”
Feng Yalin froze—what did that mean?
Isn’t the Monster Race called the Monster Race because they can mostly transform into humanoid forms? Many little demons, due to insufficient cultivation, can only barely maintain their original animal or plant features while resembling humans somewhat.
Following this logic, that’s how the little demons common in the Chaos Forest came to be.
But this stone was proclaiming “all wrong!”
So are monsters not considered monsters unless they take on a humanoid form?
Feng Yalin read the lines carefully again, and it felt like an illuminating mirror appeared in her mind, suddenly offering her insight.
And at that very moment,
A piercing flash of lightning suddenly shattered the sky, illuminating the faces of the disciples guarding the Main Peak, turning their expressions pale as ghosts.
Then came a thunderous “boom!”
Overhead in the Small Thousand World, unprecedented thunder roared.
Uncountable people awoke from their dreams, anxiously peering out at the chaotic branches and leaves outside their windows.
“Boom boom boom…”
After one rumble, the continuous thunder followed suit.
The wind picked up.
The windows were slapping against their frames “clap clap clap.”
Startled, everyone hurriedly got up, shutting windows and gathering clothing.
The rhythm was totally setting up for a thunderstorm!
What was happening to the Small Thousand World, usually a paradise with spring-like weather and gentle breezes?
The remnants of the recent heavy snowfall hadn’t quite faded,
And now they were about to face a storm no one could have anticipated.
The disciples were growing increasingly anxious.
In the bedroom, the sect leader from the Heavenly Sword Sect, Ling Xiaozu, slightly opened his eyes, the flashes of lightning leaving pale marks in the room.
He raised his head, gazing beyond the thick roof to the thundercloud-filled sky.
He sensed something,
As if, in the depths of fate, something had broken free from its cage, no longer under the control of the Heavenly Dao.
For a moment, he found himself frozen in place.
P.S.: Keep the monthly votes coming! Smash them my way!
