Chapter 120: Crossing The Suspension Bridge

This day, Yang Nuo and his team squeezed through a narrow tunnel, and before them opened a vast hollow space.

After leaving the tunnel, they walked only a few steps before reaching a bottomless abyss in a rift valley. Everyone found themselves on the edge of a cliff in an underground rift valley.

Yang Nuo kicked a pebble down, and it took a long time for the sound of it landing to echo back.

This hollow was immense; not only could the light from the lantern in his hand not reach the cliff, but even Yang Nuo’s spiritual sense could not extend to the other side.

‘Something’s wrong, this mist is problematic!’

Yang Nuo looked at the mist spreading over the abyss, his brows furrowed. His spiritual sense, passing through this mist, found its range reduced by more than half!

This made Yang Nuo, who had become accustomed to probing with his spiritual sense over the past half month, feel very uneasy, a sense of agitation rising in his heart.

Following the guide, they continued along the cliff edge for dozens of zhang, and the head of a suspension bridge suddenly appeared within the range of the lantern’s light.

This suspension bridge was firmly secured to the cliff face with thick ropes, and simple wooden boards were laid across it.

Just as everyone was preparing to step onto the suspension bridge, several flickering points of light suddenly appeared on the opposite side of the bridge, across the abyss. Those points of light moved up and down, and they were exactly like the lanterns held by Yang Nuo and the others.

Yang Nuo’s brows knitted tightly, his gaze sharply locking onto the light sources opposite, and he silently estimated in his heart:

‘My spiritual sense can extend about fifty zhang, and even with its weakening in this pervasive mist, it should retain half its strength.

Since the other party is beyond my spiritual sense’s range, the bridge must be at least thirty zhang long.’

At this moment, the guide raised his arm, making a gesture to halt.

Everyone immediately became alert and looked uniformly at the opposite side of the suspension bridge.

Simultaneously, the lights on the other side stopped moving.

It was evident that the people on the other side were also cautiously observing every move of this team.

Thus, both sides fell into a brief standoff.

Subsequently, the other side suddenly released a pressure characteristic of a Mid Foundation Establishment cultivator.

Yang Nuo immediately realized that the other party was displaying their strength, and then his own Mid Foundation Establishment aura also burst out without showing weakness.

The people on the other side now also confirmed that Yang Nuo’s side had at least comparable strength,

so they gradually retracted their auras, and Yang Nuo simultaneously and slowly withdrew his pressure.

After another period of stalemate, both sides, with near-simultaneous understanding, stepped onto the suspension bridge.

The suspension bridge environment was dim and damp, with moss covering the ropes and wooden boards, and a pungent smell of mold filled the air.

With every step taken, the decaying wooden boards let out unsettling creaking sounds, as if they would splinter and fall into the endless abyss at any second.

The two teams carefully walked towards each other from opposite ends of the suspension bridge.

At this point, Yang Nuo had clearly identified five members on the other side: one guide holding a lantern, plus four “guests” carrying stone lanterns.

It was confirmed that the opposing side also had at least one Mid Foundation Establishment expert positioned at the rear.

Yang Nuo intently watched the last person in the opposing team.

Accompanied by the continuous creaking of wooden boards, the two teams finally met in the center of the suspension bridge.

The guide on the other side was a middle-aged man with a weathered face and a scar on his forehead.

He seemed to recognize the guide beside Yang Nuo, who had a full beard. They exchanged glances and nodded slightly before passing each other.

As for the four people following behind the scarred man, they wore black cloaks similar to, yet slightly different from, those worn by Yang Nuo and his companions.

‘This might be a symbol to distinguish different faction identities.’

Yang Nuo mused to himself.

The suspension bridge was about two chi wide, roughly over 60cm, and in some places, it became even narrower due to missing sections from decaying wood.

As the personnel from both teams passed each other, they had to move sideways, pressed closely together, to barely get by.

If an attack were to suddenly occur in such a situation, Yang Nuo feared he would not be able to react in time.

Currently, Yang Nuo and his companions’ nerves were highly taut, holding their breath and concentrating as they passed the opponents one by one.

At the ends of their respective teams, Yang Nuo and the opposing Mid Foundation Establishment expert both had their spiritual energy surging and condensing, their auras continuously rising.

Yang Nuo, hidden within his cloak, clenched a copper bell magic tool in his right hand, pinching a talisman between his index and middle fingers; his left hand, under the cloak, quietly aimed his sword sheath at the opponent, preparing for battle.

In this silence that almost froze the air,

the two core figures finally completed their physical exchange.

At this very instant, their faces almost touched, and Yang Nuo could even catch the sound of the other person’s rapid breathing.

The atmosphere was tense and frozen to the point of absolute zero.

Both parties’ spiritual senses were tightly reined within their bodies, lest any unintentional spiritual sense contact be perceived as a prelude to action.

Their eyes, hidden in the shadows of their cloaks, remained fixed on each other until they had completely passed. Only then did they slightly relax their vigilance, nodding slightly to each other.

Following this, the two turned to face each other and slowly retreated.

The two sides gradually moved further apart,

until both groups had safely descended the rickety suspension bridge and stepped back onto the solid rock ground.

Only then did they collectively heave a sigh of relief.

Gazing at the distant points of light disappearing behind the stone wall, Yang Nuo felt that this matter should now be over.

.

.

Afterwards, on the third day after crossing the suspension bridge, Yang Nuo’s brows were tightly furrowed, and he walked along with the team, but his mood grew increasingly agitated.

For some reason, a sense of restlessness enveloped him, yet he couldn’t pinpoint its cause.

He intermittently released his spiritual sense to its maximum range for scanning, but still found no sign of danger.

Another day passed, and the guide also sensed that something was amiss. During a rest, he sought out Yang Nuo alone and said:

“We’ve likely been targeted.”

Yang Nuo’s expression turned grave, and he said:

“I’ve had my suspicions too, but I’ve been searching since yesterday and haven’t found anything. How did you sense it?”

“The surrounding movement is wrong. The underground world has many small creatures that are naturally blind but extremely sensitive to danger and killing intent. Yet, they have all disappeared these past few days.

But it’s not like their behavior when facing a natural predator. In this situation, it can only mean that something not belonging to this ecosystem has made them perceive killing intent and danger – that is, humans!”

The guide pondered for a moment, then asked:

“If you can’t sense them, could it be a Golden Core cultivator?”

Yang Nuo shook his head and replied:

“No. If the other party were truly a Golden Core cultivator, why would they need to hide like this? They would have attacked us directly.

Personally, I feel the possibility of the group of cultivators we encountered a few days ago is greater.”

The guide shivered slightly and said:

“Hiss~, that shouldn’t be right. They were all Mid Foundation Establishment, you shouldn’t have been completely unable to detect them. Could it be that there’s someone with higher cultivation among them?”

“No, I saw clearly that day. Besides that Mid Foundation Establishment cultivator, there was one Early Foundation Establishment, and the remaining two were Qi Condensation.

Perhaps…”

Yang Nuo’s eyes narrowed slightly,

“they have some Spirit Insects or Spirit Beasts that can evade spiritual sense detection to track us.”

Then he shook his head again, considering another possibility,

“Perhaps they have some Treasure that can shield perception…”

The guide asked again:

“That still wouldn’t explain why we can’t sense their spiritual sense! Could it be that they are right beside us?”

As soon as these words fell, both of them felt a chilling sensation surge from their spines all the way to the top of their heads…