Mist of Doubt, Part Two (Alliance Leader Xie Liuzhi Lang)

"Something's not right!" Qing Su suddenly stopped in her tracks and looked up at the person.

"Sir, where are the others? Why are you the only one here?!" A look of vigilance flashed in her eyes.

"Everyone else is inside. I'll come back first and bring in more people," Zhang Rongfang replied quickly.

"May I ask if you possess the Token of my Pine Crane Temple, sir?" Qing Su asked in a deep voice.

"Is this it?" Zhang Rongfang quickly took out a dark green square Token from his waist, on which was carved a pine and crane about to take flight. In the center was also engraved a large golden character "Zhang".

Qing Su confirmed the Token, and the wariness in her eyes immediately eased.

"I apologize, I was being overly cautious."

"It's alright, quickly bring people to help, it'll be too late if we're late!" Zhang Rongfang said in a deep voice.

"Yes!"

Qing Su quickly led her people into the canyon, and soon they disappeared into it.

On the other side.

Puff.

Zhang Rongfang stopped and turned around to look at the dozen or so panting old hunters behind him.

Everyone's face was a little pale. Only with his cultivation level and physical strength comparable to that of Worship God could he have survived running for more than half an hour without any problems.

"Something's not right. We've been running for so long, there's no way we haven't reached the canyon entrance yet. So, something's affecting us."

He looked at Song Xinye and the others.

"Sir, we've encountered similar situations of Ghost Wall in the Lin Li before. In such cases, we usually cover our eyes and just keep walking forward. Don't be afraid of bumping into walls; just pretend to be blindfolded. Then, everyone follows the blindfolded person, and we can get out of the predicament!"

An old hunter suggested.

This was also Zhang Rongfang's first encounter with beings like Gods and Buddhas.

Compared to the actual Worship God by martial artists, Gods and Buddhas are ethereal and elusive, and no one has ever truly come into contact with their physical forms.

He didn't have any good ideas at the moment.

"You can give it a try."

Immediately, the old hunter volunteered, blindfolded himself, and walked at the front.

A group of people followed closely behind him.

I only tried it for about ten minutes.

The old hunter was of no use whatsoever, except for getting a head full of bumps.

Everyone had no choice but to stay where they were.

Swoosh! A soft sound suddenly rang out.

Zhang Rongfang took a Signal Flare from his waist, lit it, and it shot straight into the sky.

Bang.

Fireworks exploded, vaguely illuminating much of the fog.

"Fireworks won't work either?" Zhang Rongfang frowned.

He had a bad feeling. If this continued, Qing Su at the mouth of the canyon might bring people in to search for them, and then they would probably get deeper and deeper into trouble! "Wait for me here." He looked around and then reached out from the right side of the mountain wall and stabbed.

Pfft.

His forearm had actually pierced the rock wall, like a nail driven into it.

Then, with the other hand, it thrust upwards, like another nail, piercing the rock wall.

One step at a time, Zhang Rongfang quickly climbed up the rock face.

After climbing for only ten minutes, he suddenly felt something was wrong and looked up.

The sky above was still shrouded in mist.

And below.

Below is another bottomless sea of fog.

He was suspended in mid-air, unable to go up or down.

'At my speed, I should have reached the top of even a 3,000-meter cliff by now, but there's still no sign of me.'

Zhang Rongfang remembered that he had roughly estimated the height of the rock walls on both sides of the canyon before he came.

It shouldn't be that high.

He immediately pulled his arm out and let his body fall rapidly downwards.

Every so often, he would suddenly thrust his arm out to slow down the opponent.

Thump! He landed back on the ground.

As expected, Song Xinye and the others disappeared again. "I refuse to believe it!" Zhang Rongfang felt aggrieved. He hadn't seen a single person in so long, and the people he brought had also gotten separated from him.

He slowly placed his hand on a larger fanny pack on his lower back.

"I advise you not to do anything reckless." Suddenly, a tired male voice came from behind Zhang Rongfang.

"Who!?" Zhang Rongfang turned around quickly. Through the fog, he could only see a blurry figure rapidly approaching him.

This eerie fog completely blocked his powerful five senses. He couldn't even penetrate it in Dark Light Vision.

"My name is Xue Tong." The man stopped when he was about five meters away from Zhang Rongfang.

"I was drawn here by your fireworks. It's been many years since any new people have come here."

"What do you mean? Is it so difficult to get in here?" Zhang Rongfang carefully examined the man through the fog.

The man who called himself Xue Tong was only a little over 1.7 meters tall, with long, messy hair hanging down his back like a black blanket.

His clothes were visibly dirty and torn, and it was unclear how long they hadn't been mended or washed.

Just by getting a little closer, Zhang Rongfang could smell a foul stench.

That was the combined stench of excrement, urine, sweat, and rotten clothes.

"Who are you?" Xue Tong was also sizing up Zhang Rongfang. "Why did you come here? I remember a long time ago, I gave orders that no living people were allowed to enter this place."

"I am Zhang Ying, and I live in Wushan Prefecture nearby. Having heard about the strange things happening in this canyon, I brought people here to investigate, but I never expected..."

Zhang Rongfang gave a brief introduction of himself.

"You shouldn't have brought people in, and logically you shouldn't have been able to get in," Xue Tong shook his head. "Now it's even worse; you can't get out either. And it's even harder for me to get out. The more people there are, the stronger she becomes."

"Her power? Who is she?" Zhang Rongfang frowned. Clearly, the person before him was no ordinary individual.

"That's her, the Wish Woman, also known as Manata. Secret Teaching Secret God who was wiped out many years ago," Xue Tong replied simply.

"There really is... a God?!"

Zhang Rongfang narrowed his eyes. Although he had been guessing before, hearing it from someone else's mouth at this moment made him feel a strange sense of shock.

"Of course. When I was with the Great Dao Sect, I wrote books on this subject. Unfortunately, something happened back then, and I was tricked and trapped here," Xue Tong sighed.

"I reflected on this for a long time. I realized that I hadn't truly understood many things—human nature, things in general—so I changed my name to Xue Tong."

"The Great Dao Sect?" Zhang Rongfang was taken aback. He hadn't expected to encounter a sect here. Moreover, it seemed that they had been trapped here for many years.

"May I ask which branch of the Great Dao Sect this fellow Daoist belongs to?" Zhang Rongfang was half-believing and half-doubting. He quickly formed hand seals, displaying two unique hand gestures found only in the Civilian Skill.

"Huh?" Xue Tong was taken aback and quickly made his own hand seal, which was the part that continued from Zhang Rongfang's hand seal.

"You really are from the Great Dao Sect!?" He immediately showed a look of surprise.

Zhang Rongfang was also pleasantly surprised.

"This junior, Dao Child Zhang Ying of the Heavenly Treasure Palace, greets you, senior! My master Yue Dewen. May I ask your Daoist Title, senior?"

Since we're from the same school, the most important thing is to quickly build a relationship.

"Daozi?" Xue Tong immediately took a step closer, revealing a face that Zhang Rongfang recognized very well.

His face was filled with astonishment.

"How could your master be Yue Dewen?! That's impossible!"

Zhang Rongfang had a vague feeling that something was wrong.

But she answered quickly nonetheless.

"I was taken in by my master a few years ago, and everyone in the sect knows this. It's absolutely true. If you don't believe me, you can check the details of the various messages from the Great Dao Sect."

"I said it's impossible, and that's final!" Xue Tong retorted firmly. "Your master could be anyone, but he could never be Yue Dewen!"

"Why is it impossible?" Zhang Rongfang was somewhat dissatisfied. "When I became an apprentice, there were witnesses throughout the entire Tianbao Palace, and His Majesty the Spirit Emperor of the Great Capital Ling Court also personally acknowledged it. Why do you say it's impossible, senior?"

"No one in this world is more qualified to say this than I am," Xue Tong said in a deep voice.

"Why!?" Zhang Rongfang suddenly felt a sense of unease.

"Because." Xue Tong took another step forward. At that moment, his eyes met those of a certain inexplicable person.

"I am Yue Dewen!"

His voice was firm and resonant, and his eyes were bright.

"Impossible!!" Zhang Rongfang exclaimed decisively, his face already showing displeasure. "Since you know my master's name, you must know that he is now the current Grand Master of the Great Dao Sect. Grand Master for decades and has made great contributions."

If you dare to humiliate my teacher like this again, don't blame me for being impolite!

Xue Tong looked at him, a strange look inexplicably appearing in his eyes.

"Back then, I personally killed the Moon King of the Sensing Gate. Afterwards, I was led to a secret place by a mysterious person, where I and the Wish Woman Spirit General to the death, and I was then trapped here. Seventy years have passed in the blink of an eye. Since you say that your master is Yue Dewen, do you have any evidence?"

"Evidence?" Zhang Rongfang's heart skipped a beat.

Where can he find evidence to prove that the master is indeed the master?

"I have evidence!" Xue Tong suddenly raised his voice.

"Do you know Jin Yuyan of the Jade Void Palace?!" he said loudly.

"I know, it's my Grandmaster Uncle!" Zhang Rongfang replied quickly.

"Seventy years ago, before the battle with the Moon King, I was still the Grand Master. At that time, she had just become ruthless and devoid of desire, and had not been able to completely reach the Extreme Realm. She was distraught and sought my help. I agreed to help her, but on one condition."

Xue Tong was lost in reminiscence, his face serene, exuding the scholarly air of a learned man.

"I made a promise with her."

"An agreement?"

"That's right. If you have the chance to go out, you can ask her a question. No matter who the current Grand Master is, he will never know about this matter," Xue Tong said in a deep voice.

"If you still don't believe me, I know all the Civilian Skill arts techniques of the Great Dao Sect. You can ask me anything here."

Zhang Rongfang was already somewhat confused at this point.

But regardless of whether Yue Dewen is real or fake, the fact that he treats me well is what matters.

Therefore, his thinking is quick and clear.

Yes, he didn't care whether his master's identity was real or fake. The one who truly cared for him and protected him was Yue Dewen, who was currently outside, not Xue Tong in front of him.

So what does it matter whether it's true or false? "Do you also think it doesn't matter whether it's true or false?" Xue Tong suddenly spoke up, seemingly having seen through his thoughts.

"But have you ever thought about this?" His expression was forlorn, his tone melancholic. "I personally killed the Moon King back then, and he turned into black dust and disappeared. So he couldn't possibly be the Moon King."

And I, the True Yue Dewen, have been trapped here for many years. So, at this very moment, who exactly is that person located in the Heavenly Treasure Palace?

In addition, based on everyone's suggestions, the Old Gun will set the rule of adding one chapter for every 8,000 monthly votes as the target for this September's ranking push.

Just to let you know in advance... I'm notoriously bad at writing, so... if I don't update right away... then I'm definitely behind, and I'll keep catching up later.

The extra chapters will be added on top of the two regular chapters. So rest assured, Old Gun keeps his word, a promise is a promise.

By the way, if I make any more mistakes, please remind me in the group chat. Typing a lot can make me dizzy from the math. It's not that I'm bad at math, so please don't make things up. (-)