chsdbacks Chapter 242 The Ancient Altar
Chapter 242 The Ancient Altar
Are they friend or foe? Nie Lingfeng couldn't tell. But one thing was certain—besides them, there were others also heading towards that ancient, corrupted altar! And they seemed to be ahead of them!
This gave him a strong sense of urgency. If it were members of the "Council," and they reached the altar first, the consequences would be unimaginable! If it were any other force, encountering them in such a place would be far from a good thing!
"Nie Lingfeng?" Chen Duo peeked out from behind the rock and called out softly.
Nie Lingfeng quickly retreated and whispered what he had discovered to her.
Chen Duo's face also turned serious: "Then...should we hurry up and catch up? What if they're bad guys..."
"Yes, we need to speed things up." Nie Lingfeng nodded, glancing at the increasingly obvious pale light on the eastern horizon. "It's almost dawn. Let's rest a bit, eat something, and then go full speed ahead to try and catch up with them, or... at least not fall too far behind."
The two found a relatively secluded spot behind the rocks and quickly ate some dried meat and tubers with some cold water. Chen Duo seemed to be spurred on by the news she had just heard; she ate very fast, her usual leisurely expression gone, replaced by a serious and eager expression of "we need to get going, we need to fight the bad guys." (๑•̀ㅂ•́)و✧
After a simple breakfast, it was already bright outside. Although the light in the valley was still not very strong, at least we could see the road ahead.
Nie Lingfeng no longer held back his energy. Pulling Chen Duo along, he pushed his speed to the limit and sprinted upstream along the riverbank! He had to find out the background and purpose of the group ahead as soon as possible, and he had to reach the ancient altar that hid countless secrets and dangers before anyone (or any force) did!
As they moved forward rapidly, the heavy, painful, yet strangely pulsating feeling emanating from the ground beneath their feet seemed to become increasingly clear.
It's as if this ancient mountain range, slumbering for countless years and scarred by countless wounds, is being slowly awakened by the approach of certain "keys," its deep-seated, polluted, and painful "heartbeat," originating from the era of the "Guardians," its last faint and sacred "heartbeat" being slowly roused...
The sunlight, having finally broken free from the constraints of the mountains, poured down unrestrainedly, illuminating the roaring tributaries of the Nu River with a dazzling golden hue, and outlining the rugged, black cliffs on both banks with even more menacing and cold contours. The air remained damp and cold, but the morning breeze brought a rare touch of thinness and chill, characteristic of high-altitude regions.
Nie Lingfeng and Chen Duo raced along the riverbank, almost at breakneck speed, chasing the unknown trail ahead. The hard, slippery gravel and rugged rock steps blurred into a hazy background as they moved at full speed. Nie Lingfeng pushed his "Wind God Movement" lightness skill to its limit, his figure darting and flashing among the jagged rocks, each step precise and agile, minimizing unnecessary movement and energy expenditure. Chen Duo, half-protected and half-pulled by him, had a slightly flushed face from the speed and tension, her emerald eyes fixed on the distance, struggling to regulate her breathing and keep up with Nie Lingfeng's pace. The golden flame at her fingertips had long since extinguished, her focus entirely on maintaining her agility and stamina.
The deeper one ventures, the more treacherous the valley's terrain becomes. The river grows more turbulent and murky, its color deepening as if infused with ink. The cliffs on both sides are no longer simply steep, but riddled with enormous, deep fissures, as if cleaved by a giant axe. These fissures are dark and bottomless, exuding a strong, pungent odor mixed with rock, dampness, and some indescribable, ancient, and decaying scent. On the edges of some fissures, one can even see huge, unnaturally formed claw marks or impact marks, as if in the distant past, colossal creatures once ravaged and fought here.
The "pulse" of the earth beneath their feet became increasingly clear and perceptible. It was no longer merely heaviness and pain; within that pulse, a faint yet remarkably resilient fluctuation, even carrying a certain rhythm and a sense of calling, began to emerge. This fluctuation resonated more and more strongly with the dark golden "Qilin Star Body" within Nie Lingfeng's body. It was as if some kind of shared power, deep within this scarred earth, was slowly "awakening" as they approached, emitting a silent "greeting" that transcended countless ages.
Is it that altar? Is it the power left behind by the "Guardians" of yesteryear, sensing the approach of the Qilin bloodline?
Nie Lingfeng felt a mixture of wariness and anticipation. He was wary because the road ahead was undoubtedly fraught with danger, not only because of the possible ambush by the "Council," but also because the abnormal changes caused by the corruption of the altar itself should not be underestimated. He was also anticipating that perhaps there he could find more truth about the Qilin, about that "calamity," about the "Council," and even... find an opportunity to further guide and control the power within his body.
They sped along for about an hour, until the sun was high in the sky. Suddenly, the valley ahead underwent a dramatic change.
Here, a tributary of the Nu River abruptly makes a near-right-angle bend, the water crashing violently against an exceptionally smooth, towering, seemingly cleaved black rock face on the opposite bank, producing a deafening roar that seems to shake the heavens and earth! The spray it generates forms a massive, lingering rainbow across the valley in the sunlight, magnificent and awe-inspiring, yet also imbued with a chilling, raw power of nature.
On the inner side of the river bend, their side, the riverbank suddenly widens dramatically, forming a vast, fan-shaped alluvial plain, sculpted by the river over millions of years, covered with black pebbles and white bone fragments. At the end of the alluvial plain, instead of an endless canyon, stands a stark, seemingly abruptly rising from the ground, its surface a dark red, solitary peak, as if scorched by flames and eroded by countless ravines and holes by the winds and rains of time!
The solitary peak wasn't particularly high, but its shape was extremely bizarre. It wasn't a typical cone-shaped mountain; instead, it was wider at the top and narrower at the bottom, like an inverted, charred giant claw pointing towards the sky! It also resembled the base of an ancient altar that had been forcibly twisted and solidified! On the surface of the peak, the dark red rocks reflected a metallic, cold luster in the sunlight. In the crevices of the rocks, some low-lying plants and mosses, also dark red or purplish-black and twisted in strange shapes, stubbornly grew, adding to the absurdity and ominousness.
Most strikingly, on the side of the solitary peak facing the river, on a steep cliff several tens of meters above the ground, are three enormous stone pillars, each requiring several people to encircle, over ten zhang tall, also dark red in color, but with countless intricate, ancient carvings on their surfaces, exuding a wild and sacred aura! The pillars are arranged in a "品" (pin) shape, with the middle one being the tallest and the two on either side slightly lower. Even from this distance, even after countless years of wind and rain, and the erosion of war, the carvings are still clearly discernible—mountains and rivers, the sun and moon, birds and beasts (among which simplified images of mythical beasts such as unicorns, phoenixes, and dragons are faintly visible), scenes of ancient people worshipping, hunting, and farming, and even more abstract symbols and patterns that are completely incomprehensible yet contain a certain profound Taoist charm.
At the top of the stone pillar, there should have been a statue or some other structure, but now it has broken and collapsed, leaving only jagged edges, as if forcibly destroyed by some irresistible force. At the broken edges, there are still traces of charring and a faint aura of blasphemy and pollution, which is extremely uncomfortable and originates from the same source as the power of "Nammu Cave" and "Council".
Beneath the three stone pillars, on the mountainside, one can vaguely see a dark cave entrance, half-hidden by vines and boulders. The entrance is irregularly shaped, with traces of human excavation along its edges, but it is also scarred by battles and the erosion of time.
This is it! The ancient, polluted altar that the mountain guardians spoke of! Those three stone pillars were undoubtedly the core where the "Guardians" communicated with heaven and earth and held important ceremonies! And that cave entrance is very likely the entrance to the interior of the altar, or even deeper into the secret!
Nie Lingfeng pulled Chen Duo along and stopped behind a huge black rock at the edge of the impact beach. They carefully concealed themselves and observed the strange solitary peak and stone pillar in front of them.
The shoal was deserted, save for the howling of the river wind and the roar of the water. But Nie Lingfeng's senses picked up on more unusual details.
At the foot of the solitary peak, on the edge of the alluvial plain near the river, there were several messy footprints and drag marks that were clearly recent, matching the characteristics of the footprints they had found before, and even fresher! The group had obviously arrived here and might have already entered the cave!
Furthermore, scattered on the rocks and ground surrounding the solitary peak were some "things" not belonging to the natural environment—several oddly shaped bullet casings gleaming with a cold metallic light (Nie Lingfeng recognized them as some kind of large-caliber special ammunition); several broken metal fragments resembling communication or detection equipment, clearly possessing a high-tech feel; and... several pools of fresh blood, long since dried but dark reddish-black in color, emitting a faint, fishy stench! Beside the bloodstains were several eerie vines, similar to those they had found in the sand ahead, cut by a sharp blade, dark green with charred edges, and... several deformed corpses torn to pieces, mangled and barely recognizable as some kind of large ape or humanoid creature, exuding a strong aura of death and pollution!
The signs of battle were fresh and intense! The group had been attacked here by corrupted "guardians" or "derivatives" from the isolated peak itself! They put up a fierce resistance, some were injured, and some killed the attackers, and then... entered the cave entrance?