Netherworld Mount Tai

Above Mount Tai, roiling dark clouds poured down like ink, swallowing the last ray of daylight.

The entire mountain range sank into an eerie gloom.

The mountain wind carried bone-chilling cold, sending dead leaves and shattered stones twisting through the air.

Li Yan raised his eyes and saw the outline of Mount Tai being gnawed away by writhing black mist. Only a few yards away, even human figures were impossible to make out.

"The earth qi is completely chaotic!"

Wang Dao Xuan looked at the turtle-shell compass in his hand.

The treasure was trembling violently, its magnetic needle spinning like a headless fly.

His expression solemn, he said, "The yin qi in the earth veins has surged. The spiritual apertures have fallen into yin-yang imbalance."

"Daoist Priest, can you tell what kind of method caused this?" Li Yan asked in a low voice.

Wang Dao Xuan was just as bewildered. "This old Daoist has never seen anything like it. I fear it may be beyond human power."

The teacher from Mingde Academy and the Royal Palace Secretary who had come with them were both dumbstruck, exchanging bewildered looks.

They had thought they were merely coming to deal with unrest in the city. Who would have expected something like this?

The entire Mount Tai was shrouded in yin mist, already beyond their understanding.

As soon as he finished speaking, strange rustling suddenly sounded from the forest.

A dozen or so guards from the military garrison suddenly came tumbling and crawling onto the mountain path.

They were frantic, each one covered in blood, their faces deathly pale, as if they had encountered something terrifying.

Rumble!

Several wild boars smashed through dead trees and charged behind them, their tusks dripping with white foam and their eyes webbed with blood.

Even more horrifyingly, howling