Canyon Exploration
Devil Canyon—also known as Navaratna Canyon—rose before them. The canyon was a massive range of black mountains, like a motionless black dragon lying amid the boundless yellow sands. The mountain range had been split down the middle, and the great gap at its center was the canyon's entrance.
At the sight of this canyon in the heart of the great desert, everyone relaxed somewhat. Yet at that moment, a chill rose from the depths of Guan Qiu's heart. Under the blazing sun, however, the feeling quickly faded.
The sand cloud descended from the sky as well. Elder Hida had only recently entered the Dao; although his meditative cultivation was profound, his Dharma power was not inexhaustible.
Moreover, the old master had other misgivings. He looked around and saw, near the canyon entrance, two enormous black stones. Though weathered by wind and sun, they could still vaguely be recognized as two giant statues.
Both statues wore savage, menacing expressions. No one knew which Buddhist guardians they might depict. The sunlight cast not a glimmer of reflection from the black stone, while the entrance itself was pitch-black when one peered inside.
"Master, there are so many bones here...?"
A Yue led the pack beast and absentmindedly kicked at the sand. A yellowed bone was unearthed, startling him. Looking around, he saw countless bones of all sizes buried throughout the sandy ground—half a skull, along with scattered fragments of animal bones.
The others were alarmed by the sight as well. There were simply too many skeletal fragments. Zhan Hongsheng, Jade Radiance Daoist, and the others were cultivators of external arts, and they had committed no small share of slaughter in their ordinary days.
Elder Hida had sealed their mind apertures, and Buddhist thought-power suppressed all their cultivation, preventing them from freely