Chapter 27: Deep in the Valley, Seeking the Lost; The Faint Cry Leads the Way
“There’s something strange in the southwest. It doesn’t seem alive, nor is it ordinary sword energy.”
“It’s like… countless shattered thoughts wrapped in the wind. Faint, but constantly echoing.”
After being tempered by the spiritual nectar, Ye Ming’s senses had become exceedingly keen, able to capture intangible echoes of the mind.
Bai Yue Ning focused her perception, but aside from the howling wind of sword intent, she found nothing.
Yet she chose to trust Ye Ming’s judgment.
“Can you tell what it is?”
“I can’t say for sure…”
“It’s chaotic, fragmented. But deep inside, there’s something particularly ‘bright’—it draws me in.”
“Should we go take a look?”
“Yes.”
Following that elusive guidance, they ventured deep into a region they had never set foot in before.
The scenery here was utterly different from anywhere else: gone were jagged stones and fierce sword scars, replaced by a relatively flat, open expanse.
The ground was densely studded with countless broken weapons.
Broken swords, cracked blades, shattered spears—of every kind, most rusted beyond recognition, forming a silent graveyard of ruined arms.
They were arranged in a seemingly random yet subtly patterned manner, stretching endlessly to the dim horizon, disappearing into the gloom of sword energy.
What unsettled them most was the oppressive atmosphere that weighed upon them as soon as they stepped into this area.
It wasn’t the tangible pressure of sword energy, but something intangible—an overwhelming sense of grief and death emanating from the depths of the soul.
It was as if countless anguished cries had been eternally imprisoned here, transformed into an everlasting sigh.
“This is the place…” Ye Ming’s voice dropped, as if the atmosphere had affected him.
“These ‘voices’ originate here—a multitude of fragmented thoughts.”
Bai Yue Ning felt a stabbing pain between her brows; her spiritual sense was greatly suppressed and disturbed here.
Carefully, she channeled a thread of spiritual power to her eyes, and the scene before her subtly shifted.
She saw that every broken weapon was entwined with faint black threads, as if they were condensations of resentment.
These emitted the unsettling waves of the mind.
“Don’t touch the black energy,” Ye Ming cautioned.
“It’s unlucky—if it stains you, it could damage your spirit. What we’re looking for is the ‘bright’ thing.”
Bai Yue Ning held her breath and concentrated, moving through the vast graveyard of weapons guided by Ye Ming.
Her steps were light, deliberately avoiding any contact with the broken arms, as if fearful of disturbing the slumbering souls within.
The ‘brightness’ seemed to shift constantly, sometimes clear, sometimes obscured.
“It’s almost like playing hide-and-seek with us.”
“Interesting. This thing seems to retain a trace of spirit—it knows how to hide.”
They ventured toward the center of the graveyard, where the aura of death and sword energy grew ever more intense, nearly solidifying and weighing heavily on them.
Bai Yue Ning had to divert more spiritual power to shield her mind.
Suddenly, Ye Ming called out urgently, “To the left!”
Bai Yue Ning instinctively sidestepped.
Where she had just stood, a faint black shadow flashed across the half-buried broad sword.
It lunged with palpable resentment, missed, and dissipated silently in the air.
“Seems like lingering sword intent,” Ye Ming explained. “Weak, but their numbers could be troublesome.”
“Be careful—they don’t seem to like living beings approaching.”
The path ahead became treacherous.
Occasionally, the resentful energies atop the broken weapons were disturbed, morphing into blurred, twisted shadows that launched silent attacks from every angle.
They lacked physical force but struck directly at the mind; once entangled, it was easy to become lost in this place.
Bai Yue Ning moved with elusive grace, always managing to dodge the attacking shadows at the very last moment.
“Three steps to the right—the broken spear is awakening!”
“Duck! Something’s dropping from above!”
“Don’t go straight—skirt around the broken shield!”
Ye Ming became her sharpest eyes, precisely predicting each assault from the intangible realm.
His senses proved vital here.
After narrowly avoiding a dozen attacks, the ‘bright spot’ finally ceased its movement, stabilizing not far ahead.
It was a small mound, unusually clean at its summit—no broken arms, only three objects slanted at its center.
They were not whole weapons, but fragments.
One was slender like a sword tip, one curved like a sickle blade, and the last was an irregular shard.
Each was a deep, dark black, their surfaces smooth and free of rust, starkly contrasting with the weathered relics around them.
From them emanated a faint but pure, resilient energy, steadfastly resisting the surrounding death and resentment.
“That’s it!” Ye Ming affirmed excitedly.
“That’s the ‘brightness’! Their energy is pure, untouched by the resentment here, and they possess inner spirit!”
However, around the mound, broken weapons crowded thickly.
The black threads here were far denser, forming wisps of black mist.
Several sword intent shadows—clearer and more menacing than before—circled silently around the mound, radiating strong warnings and hostility.
To force entry would surely provoke all the resentful energies.
Bai Yue Ning paused, hiding behind a massive shield fragment scored with chisel marks, carefully observing.
“This is troublesome,” Ye Ming admitted, feeling the pressure.
“The guardians here are much heavier with resentment than those outside.”
“If we rush in, we’ll be overwhelmed.”
Bai Yue Ning scanned the surroundings and calculated swiftly.
She noticed that while the patrolling shadows were fierce, their movements seemed to follow a fixed pattern.
Their perception appeared limited to energy fluctuations and signs of life.
An idea surfaced in her mind.
She slowly took from her storage pouch the half-full vial of earthfire nectar.
“What are you planning?” Ye Ming asked, puzzled.
“Diversion,” Bai Yue Ning whispered, though she felt reluctant.
She waited for a moment when all the shadows were on the far side of the mound, then hurled the jade vial with force into a thicket of broken lances dozens of yards away.
The vial shattered mid-air, and the remaining crimson nectar spilled out, unleashing a surge of hot, pure energy.
Black threads atop the broken weapons churned violently, and the patrolling shadows shrieked in silent fury, swarming madly toward the energy blast.
Even the strongest guardians around the mound grew agitated; after a moment’s hesitation, most were drawn away.
Bai Yue Ning activated her breath-concealing technique to its utmost, seized the brief chaos, and darted straight for the mound.
She moved swiftly, her fingers brushing the earth as she swept up the three dark fragments, stowing them in her pouch without a glance, then turned and retreated without pause.
Her actions were crisp; the whole process took less than three heartbeats.
When the sword intent shadows, lured by the nectar, realized the ruse and gave vent to silent, furious cries, Bai Yue Ning had already fled dozens of yards away, plunging into the complex terrain of their path, leaving the tumultuous graveyard behind.
Only when the oppressive resentment faded did she slow, leaning against a rock and catching her breath.
“We’ve got it!”
“Let me see those three little treasures brimming with spirit—I think we’ve truly struck gold this time!”
Bai Yue Ning took out the fragments.
Cool and weighty in her hand, beneath their dark black hue seemed to flow a restrained gleam, resisting the bleakness of the land.
They lay quietly in her palm, radiating an extraordinary aura that had endured the ages unscathed.
Ye Ming sensed them repeatedly, lavishing praise.
“Though it’s a pity to waste that nectar, the quality and heft of these…”
“Let’s find somewhere safe—I want to properly ‘taste’ them!”
Bai Yue Ning put the fragments away, her gaze sweeping over the increasingly dim valley.
She had to find a place absolutely secure; Ye Ming’s absorption of the fragments would certainly be dramatic.