Looking at the lantern in his hand, the captain mumbled to himself.
"Did the heir and the elders really not follow us? Otherwise, how could they have held back from eating the dark souls under the abyss just now?"
The captain sighed. Ignoring the struggle of the human-skinned lantern, his left hand quickly performed a series of hand seals and pressed down on the lantern face that was 80% similar to his face.
The lantern let out deep roars with its sinister face.
However, as soon as this roar rang out, the captain bit the tip of his tongue and spat out a large mouthful of blood.
Immediately, the lantern was drenched in blood.
"Shut up. You're the face of my past life that I placed here back then. How dare you roar at me!"
When the captain's voice rang out, Xu Qing had already walked past the mountain range at a moderate pace and stepped on the altar.
The candle in his hand was burned out completely right at that moment. After the fog dissipated, Xu Qing saw everything in his surroundings clearly. His gaze finally landed on the captain and the lantern in his hand.
The captain proudly lifted the lantern.
"I left this thing behind back then and hid it here. Because it doesn't have a brain and only has a face left, its intelligence is limited."
"I know it too well. Since we set foot on the mountain, I haven't said a word. But this thing, taking advantage of the fog blocking our senses to the outside world, has been speaking a lot. I'm sure you've heard it too."
As the captain spoke, the others also stepped onto the altar one after another. They were all a little surprised by the smoothness of this trip.
The captain smiled and continued speaking.
"At the start, it told you not to turn back because it wanted to obtain your trust. It was also worried that the existence under the abyss would snatch its food."
"After obtaining the trust, its last sentence was to make you hurry up so that it could devour you."
"It was fishing, and so was I. Although this thing doesn't have a brain, it's still instinctively cautious. If I didn't fish like this, it definitely wouldn't have gotten close."
"This hurdle isn't actually difficult with my candle. What's difficult is to bait it out."
The captain patted the lantern's face.
After its face was sprayed with blood, it seemed to be on the verge of death. At this moment, it suddenly opened its mouth, trying to bite the captain's finger. The captain casually slapped it.
"Give it to me!" Nether Fairy calmly spoke with a cold gaze.
The captain blinked and threw it over. This was one of the prices he had to pay in exchange for Nether Fairy's agreement to follow him.
After taking the human-skinned lantern and looking at the face that was 80% similar to Chen Erniu's, Nether Fairy's eyes turned red. She raised her right hand and ruthlessly slapped it.
This wasn't the end. One slap after another, the human-skinned lantern started wailing. The sound was so pitiable that even Ning Yan, Wu Jianwu, and the others were shaken.
The captain encouraged from the side.
"Nice slap. Put in more strength, you can do it!"
When Nether Fairy heard this, she became even angrier. As for the human-skinned lantern, it was also strange. No matter how Nether Fairy attacked, it didn't collapse. Even though its face was puffed up, it quickly returned to normal.
This scene was very strange.
Xu Qing swept his gaze over and was about to speak.
However, at this moment, a familiar voice suddenly rang out in his mind.
"This lantern is quite interesting."
This ancient voice belonged to none other than the heir!
Xu Qing closed his mouth. He was both surprised and unsurprised by the voice in his mind. After that, another voice rang out in his mind.
"Yes, it's a treasure, especially the refinement technique. It has the style of Brilliant Heaven. This Chen Erniu's background is indeed mysterious."
This was Princess Mingmei.
"I knew this guy was fishy. That's why I suggested we secretly follow him. Earlier, it seemed like I was getting close to him, but in reality, I was just baiting him to give me information!"
This was Eighth Grandpa.
"Compared to this, I actually want to know more where the mysterious high god who cooperated with him came from! Is it as we analyzed previously?"
This was Grandma Five.
"There will be an answer to this question here. Also, the dark souls in this canyon contain an ancient aura. To us, they are rare nourishing items."
The heir smiled.
When Xu Qing heard these voices in his mind, he quietly lifted his head and looked at the sky. At that moment, the place where they were at was actually the top of the sky. Looking over, the pitch-black sky also seemed to be an abyss.
This was especially so for the scar in the sky. It was fine when looking at it from the starting point of the mountain range previously. Now that he was so close, this scar was like a huge canyon.
Lightning flashed inside but it couldn't illuminate the darkness. Only rumbling sounds echoed from time to time and spread out in the darkness.
Noticing Xu Qing's gaze, the captain walked over and patted his shoulder.
"Little Qing, although the second hurdle is dangerous, I am already prepared."
"Let me tell you, there are countless souls in this canyon. These souls are special and contain ancient auras. Once they get close, our lives will be tainted by ancientness and we will rapidly age until we wither and die."
As he spoke, the captain took out a stack of long talismans and distributed them to everyone.
"After we enter later, we'll burn these as we move. This time, we won't split up. We have to stick together. As long as the fire isn't extinguished, those souls won't get close."
"These skins are all good stuff. Use them sparingly…"
The captain couldn't bear to part with them and reminded them again.
After Xu Qing took them, he immediately recognized that this was Eldest Senior Brother's skin from the touch. Hence, he glanced at him sympathetically.
He felt that it was better not to tell Eldest Senior Brother about the arrival of the heir and the others. Otherwise, the other party's mood might instantly be unhappy.
Although the heir and the others should show themselves soon, at least the captain would be happy for a while.
Xu Qing exhaled heavily and walked toward the straight canyon in front of him.
The instant he entered, the world reversed.
The sky became the ground, and the ground became the sky.
The canyon that was originally in the sky appeared in front of Xu Qing. The canyon was like a thread of heaven, while the mountains that were once razor-edged now formed the canopy of the sky.
Its slanted appearance seemed as if it were truly a giant blade, lifted high in the sky, ready to descend at any moment, seamlessly fitting into this canyon, and… perfectly aligned.
Such a phenomenon naturally felt oppressive to everyone who appeared in this canyon one after another.
They felt like an executioner's blade was hanging over their heads.
While everyone was shaken, the captain took out a piece of skin and burned it.
The darkness in the surroundings acted like ink, transforming into countless wisps that slowly retreated in all directions, leaving the area where the flames were located empty.
"Don't waste them. We only need two burning at the same time. I'll keep mine lit consistently. As for the rest of you, ignite one each at intervals."
"Big Jianjian, you go first, followed by Little Ningning, Li Youfei, Big Bu… Sister Nether Fairy, and Little Qing."
As the captain's words echoed, a warmth spread along with the firelight, enveloping the hearts and bodies of the group. Beyond the flames, distortions began to emerge. Xu Qing could clearly see pairs of cold, evil eyes in the darkness.
In fact, amidst the surging undercurrents, there seemed to be some huge creatures appearing in the darkness, eying them covetously.
A sense of life-and-death crisis grew in Xu Qing's heart.
However, when he thought of the heir and the others, he felt relieved.
As for Wu Jianwu, he swiftly lit a talisman skin, expanding the range of the fire.
"Let's go."
The captain took a deep breath and walked forward. Xu Qing followed behind. Everyone followed the canyon into the darkness.
As they walked over, under the illumination of the fire, the area they were in became the only source of light in this black world. While blocking the external dangers, it naturally attracted more malicious gazes hidden in the darkness.
Coupled with the slanted mountain range in the sky, the pressure on everyone was also extremely great.
Ning Yan and Wu Jianwu already regretted coming here. As for Li Youfei, he followed closely behind Xu Qing. He felt that only by doing this would he feel a sense of security.
Nether Fairy was at the back. She sneered and continued to slap the human-skinned lantern.
Just like that, time flowed by and very soon, two hours passed.
When everyone walked halfway through this canyon, the number of skins burned exceeded dozens.
The further they went, the faster the skins burned. Although the captain was well-prepared, his heart ached when he saw how much his skin was being used up.
After all, he was the one who endured the pain to peel off every single one of them.
At this speed, he was worried that if it wasn't enough, he might have to skin himself at the last minute.
"That can't be…"
The captain let out a long sigh.
In the end, Xu Qing couldn't bear it and whispered inwardly.
'Senior…'
'Alright, the number attracted from the surroundings is about enough.'
The heir calmly spoke. In the next instant, the talismans in the captain and Ning Yan's hands were instantly extinguished in the burning state.
Everyone was shocked and on guard. The captain's eyes also widened.
At the same time, as the fire disappeared, everything in the surroundings fell into darkness again. The souls gathered in the darkness all headed straight for everyone with greed and madness.
The sounds of wild shrieks and howls echoed in all directions. However, these sounds suddenly changed and transformed into cries of horror that continued to travel in all directions.
It was as though they had encountered something that terrified them.
However, it was still too late. Xu Qing felt his sleeves sway a few times and a few figures flew out. After that, the cries of horror turned into heart-rending cries.
Accompanied by terrifying chewing sounds, countless souls were being devoured!
Thunder rumbled and lightning flashed, illuminating the surroundings slightly clearer. Xu Qing could vaguely see the figures of the heir and the others transforming into vortexes that were devouring crazily in different directions.
Countless souls shattered under the tearing of the vortex and were eventually sucked into the vortex, becoming food.
At this moment, the elders no longer gave Xu Qing the feeling of kindness he usually saw. Instead, they gave off coldness.
Xu Qing was calm and wasn't surprised.
He knew that this was the true Soul Accumulation.
From a certain perspective, it had already surpassed the scope of life.
The reason why they looked amiable and kind was because they were only around Xu Qing and the juniors in the apothecary.
However, to outsiders, the term 'Soul Accumulation' was… no different from a god!
