The cave was clearly a trap, and the person who sent them there must have wanted them to die.
Jian Lin didn't believe the other two didn't understand such a simple truth; why did they still go in?
The Master stroked his beard and said with a profound expression, "My good disciple, do you know what they say, 'If you don't enter the tiger's den, how can you catch its cubs?'"
"I think you old man are deliberately walking into danger when you know it's there," Jian Lin said sarcastically. "Simply put, it's suicide."
The Master was so angry he blew his beard and glared, pointing at her and scolding, "Rebellious disciple, how dare you curse me to death?"
"Alright, alright, don't argue," the Demon Lord separated the master and disciple, then turned to Jian Lin and said gently, "Don't be angry. Don't you want to know who tampered with things? We can leave here now, but leaving in a muddle, without finding anything out, is like the enemy being in the dark while we are in the light. If we are unprepared, next time they might send you directly to the underworld. Are you afraid?"
What he said made perfect sense. Even though Jian Lin was terrified and desperately wanted to flee, she couldn't find any words to refute him.
She hugged the Demon Lord's arm and said weakly, "But I'm so scared. I'll be honest with you, I fear nothing in heaven or earth, except ghosts. When I was little, I was so scared listening to ghost stories that I trembled all over and almost suffocated under my covers."
This was a true story from Jian Lin's childhood, not exaggerated at all.
The Demon Lord looked at her with pity, his tone becoming even more doting, "I'm here, you don't need to be afraid. Stay close to me, and no ghost will be able to scare you."
The Master couldn't stand it anymore and chimed in, "Rebellious disciple, what is there to fear about ghosts? They are just a part of the cycle of reincarnation in the Three Realms. Look at the people on the street, are they afraid? If you are not afraid of people, you naturally won't be afraid of ghosts."
As expected of the Master, he was good at lecturing, but it was useless on Jian Lin.
People should be polite and greet others with a smile, but ghosts could suddenly jump out and scare you.
Hearing Jian Lin's words, the Sword Immortal became even more angry. He believed that Jian Lin's fear of ghosts was purely due to her low cultivation and lack of confidence in herself.
The Demon Lord listened expressionlessly, then suddenly took a step forward. Regardless of how the master and disciple argued, he himself was going to investigate.
This was the edge of the Underworld, not the true Underworld, and therefore not as dangerous. Based on his experience, the benefits of going in definitely outweighed leaving.
Without any hesitation, the Demon Lord walked steadily forward, directly stepping onto the seemingly slender and fragile long bridge.
Seeing the Demon Lord walk away, the Sword Immortal immediately quickened his pace to catch up, leaving Jian Lin alone. She let out a mournful cry and had no choice but to follow the two of them.
The moment she stepped onto the long bridge, Jian Lin's heart pounded. The bridge was very simple, with no railings on either side, and it looked precarious.
Fearing she might fall off accidentally, she kept her eyes fixed on her feet, ensuring that each step landed precisely in the center. As she looked, her gaze involuntarily shifted to the river water beneath the bridge.
She saw what looked like humanoid shadows flowing through the river water, which was as dark and thick as petroleum.
Unable to control her curiosity, she stared intently at the river water and indeed saw another humanoid shadow approaching. As she saw it clearly, her heart sank, and her whole body went cold.
Those were not humanoid shadows, but people, or rather, corpses! Mixed in the thick river water, they were flowing somewhere.
The thought of corpses beneath her feet made Jian Lin's legs tremble uncontrollably. Then she thought that if she fell, wouldn't she be swimming with the corpses? It would be disgusting and terrifying. In short, she wanted to die.
She had only walked a third of the way when the Demon Lord, who was at the front, had already reached the halfway point. The distance was too great; she opened her mouth to call him, unsure if her voice would carry.
Just then, the Demon Lord suddenly looked back. Jian Lin's heart leaped with joy, and she quickly waved, trying to signal him to come and save her.
The Demon Lord showed an expression of "as expected" and returned to carry her. The delay caused by the round trip meant the Sword Immortal was already waiting for them at the other end of the bridge.
The old man looked disgusted, but this time he snorted and said nothing more, seemingly giving up his struggle.
Jian Lin couldn't be bothered with that. She wished she could cling to the Demon Lord's back, but she felt embarrassed to have him carry her all the time. After her feet touched the ground, she tightly held onto the Demon Lord's hands and followed him step by step into the cave.
Jian Lin looked around. Her first impression was that the cave was darker than any place she had been before, a darkness devoid of any life.
The spiritual veins of the Demon Realm had various bioluminescent creatures. Yuan Shuo's caves had golden spirit stones, not to mention the Sword Immortal's cave, which had him, a living person.
This cave, however, was quiet and dark. As she walked deeper, it was as if she were stepping into nothingness.
The Master led the way, with the Demon Lord and her following behind. None of the three felt like talking. Jian Lin didn't know why, but she felt a tingling sensation on the back of her neck and kept wanting to look back.
The Demon Lord's warm hand reached out, stopping her urge to turn around, and he silently shook his head.
Jian Lin felt more at ease. She rested her head on the Demon Lord's shoulder and cautiously walked forward.
Suddenly, the Sword Immortal's figure in front of them flickered, and he plummeted down. The Demon Lord and Jian Lin both lunged forward to grab him, but the slope was as smooth as a mirror, sending the two of them sliding down rapidly.
As the speed of their descent increased, sounds echoed from the dark cave.
At first, it was a rustling, whispering sound, which then grew louder, turning into cries of pain and screams. A dim red light appeared before their eyes, and amidst the chaos, they fell into a void.
Jian Lin was stunned. The void was filled with people, or rather, living dead. Their bodies were in strange positions, their eyes were white, and their mouths were wide open, emitting painful howls.
The Demon Lord and Jian Lin mingled among them. After Jian Lin's courage failed and she became numb, she became much calmer and was able to look around for the Sword Immortal.
The old fox, the Sword Immortal, as usual, didn't need them to worry about him. He didn't fall into the void but found a recess in a high place. He picked up a pebble and threw it at Jian Lin, signaling them to speak.
The three of them squeezed into the recess, their heads close together, speaking cautiously.
"Senior, do you know what this place is?" the Demon Lord asked in a low voice.
The Sword Immortal's face was solemn. "This is not a place, but the edge of a formation. Someone is using living dead to practice a ghost formation. Those living dead below are the food for the formation's core."
The Demon Lord suddenly understood. "No wonder they would do this at the edge of the Underworld. If they did it inside the Underworld, they would be discovered. Outside the Underworld, without Yin energy, it cannot be done."
"I want to know if the person making the ghost formation is human or ghost, what their purpose is, and what they can do?" Jian Lin asked with concern.
"Ghost formations are used to train armies of Yin corpses. The purpose is clear: someone must be using them to fight wars." As the Sword Immortal spoke, his gaze fell on the Demon Lord's face.
Jian Lin also realized. Fighting wars, what wars could there be now? Wasn't it the war between immortals and demons?
Seeing the two looking at him, the Demon Lord shook his head and said, "It's not from my side. Our Demon Realm has always had strict rules. Whether it's the Demon Realm or the Underworld, they are treated equally, and there is little interaction."
If it's not from the Demon Realm, then it's from the Immortal Realm?
The Sword Immortal didn't believe it, but Jian Lin firmly did. She said in a deep voice, "Master, have you forgotten that Yuan Shuo had dealings with the demons of the Demon Realm? What's one more Underworld?"
The old man's worldview was shattered, his lips trembling, and he was speechless for a long time.
The cultivation world, having become like this, could it still be called the Immortal Realm?
They, cultivators, were supposed to protect all living beings, punish evil, and uphold the Heavenly Dao. If they couldn't even do that, how could they ascend to godhood?
If these people with impure intentions were allowed to achieve godhood, then the Three Realms would never have peace and would become a purgatory.
He had been in seclusion to comprehend the Dao, not interacting with the outside world, for only a hundred years. What had happened to the world?
He suddenly remembered what Divine Lord Li Yang had said. He was only one step away from ascending to godhood, and there was indeed a reason for it.
He shouldn't have closed himself off in a fit of pique to cultivate; he should have guarded the world and used his sword to kill all evil people!
Seeing the old man trembling with anger, Jian Lin held his shoulder and softly called out, "Master, calm down. You can't panic. I need you. Your disciple is a weakling and hasn't even graduated yet!"
The old man was indeed very angry and didn't even notice that Jian Lin wasn't using a respectful term. He closed his eyes to calm himself, and after a long while, he patted Jian Lin's shoulder and said, "My good disciple, don't worry, Master will protect you."
At the same time, the Demon Lord kept staring at the void below, trying to find something useful.
Suddenly, there was the sound of heavy rocks being pushed aside from above. The three hiding behind the rock wall looked over and saw a dark figure nimbly jump down. In his hand, he held a long hook, which he used to hook a string of five living corpses. He slung them onto his back, leaped forward, and flew back to the high ground.
The Sword Immortal whispered, "Such powerful martial arts, definitely a master."
The Demon Lord and Jian Lin exchanged a glance, their pupils trembling wildly. The person hooking the corpses, no, it should be a demon, was Zhan Sandao.
Zhan Sandao, the person who taught Jian Lin the Demonic Breath, the real culprit behind the Twelve Peaks massacre, and the Demon Emperor's favorite subordinate, was now practicing a ghost formation at the edge of the Underworld.
Jian Lin had many things she wanted to say but was too excited to speak. The Demon Lord grasped her hand and said calmly, "Don't panic. This matter needs to be planned carefully. Let's both recall and lay out all the details. The truth must be hidden within them."
Jian Lin nodded solemnly. "Okay, let's start from the very beginning. I knew the truth about Zhan Sandao and wanted to tell you to please you..."
"No, that's not the beginning," the Demon Lord asked. "Jian Lin, Jian Musheng, why did you choose to come to the Demon Realm to find me? If you wanted to find a place in the Demon Realm to escape the pursuit of the Guanlan Sect, you could have found any small mountain village to live in, become a carefree rogue cultivator, and lived a peaceful life."
Jian Lin was struck by lightning. Why did she insist on finding the Demon Lord? It was because the system had set it up, and she had to complete the mission.
She looked at the "attraction value" above the Demon Lord's head and began to doubt what her mission was. She first summoned the system, but it didn't answer. Nervously, she entered a meditative state and returned to her sea of consciousness. She saw that the sky screen was empty, and the system had disappeared.
Yes, the system had disappeared.