dognovel Chapter 352 Central Territory
Chapter 352 Central Territory
As we went deeper, the light around us was gradually swallowed up, and we eventually fell into thick darkness.
The sunlight above seemed to be blocked out by some invisible force, unable to penetrate at all.
The mask generated by the stone talisman emitted a faint yellow light, like a firefly swaying in the dark night, and could only illuminate a few steps ahead.
Hu Qing could only rely on the hazy halo to barely make out the back of Senior Sword God.
The tall figure appeared and disappeared in the darkness, like a guiding lighthouse.
The air is getting thinner.
The breathing sounds inside the mask gradually became heavier, and every time I inhaled, there was a slight sense of stagnation, as if the lungs were entangled by invisible silk threads, tightening little by little.
Hu Qing couldn't help but raise his hand and knock on the mask. The yellow light flickered slightly, as if responding to his uneasiness.
"We're almost there." The Sword God's voice came from the front, steady and calm.
Finally, on the verge of suffocation, the group arrived at their destination—
A wall so wide that its edges are invisible suddenly stretches across the void.
The surface of the wall was not smooth, but was wriggling like a living thing. Countless pitch-black tentacles twisted and entwined on it, sometimes stretching and sometimes contracting, as if roaring silently.
Those tentacles have no substance, but they exude a heart-pounding sense of oppression. Just looking at them makes one's scalp tingle.
"This... is the entrance to the Central Region?" Hu Qing widened his eyes, his voice slightly hoarse due to lack of oxygen.
Gu Yang stared at the wall, his Adam's apple rolling: "Did we come to the wrong place?"
The Sword God did not answer, but just glanced at them lightly, then stepped forward, and his figure merged into the wall without any hindrance.
The tentacles seemed to sense his presence and retreated, leaving a passage, which then closed in an instant, completely engulfing his figure.
Hu Qing and Gu Yang looked at each other.
Through the light shield, they couldn't see each other's expressions, but the feeling of surprise and uncertainty was clearly conveyed.
"Roar——" Xiao Zi suddenly let out a low roar, with excitement flashing in his golden vertical pupils.
Its huge body swam flexibly in the void, circled around the wall, and then dived in without hesitation.
"Xiao Zi!" Gu Yang exclaimed and rushed forward.
However, the wall had returned to its original state, and the dark tentacles had re-entwined it as if it had never been penetrated.
Hu Qing swallowed, stretched out his hand carefully, and lightly touched the surface of the wall with his fingertips.
The expected hardness did not appear, and those seemingly ferocious tentacles dispersed like smoke.
The wall itself was incredibly soft, like cotton soaked in water, or like fluffy clouds.
"This thing... is gas?" Hu Qing murmured.
Gu Yang took a deep breath and suppressed the uneasiness in his heart: "It seems that I have no choice but to go in."
The two looked at each other, gritted their teeth, closed their eyes, and took a step forward—
In an instant, the body was wrapped in some warm and soft substance, as if falling into a sea of clouds.
There was no feeling of suffocation as imagined, nor the pain of being swallowed up, only a gentle touch coming from all directions, like a mother's embrace, and like the peace of returning to the mother's body.
The darkness fades and the light reappears.
The two of them passed through the soft, dark wall, and their eyes suddenly lit up, as if they had suddenly stepped out of a closed dark room into a world full of vitality.
What comes into view is a dense bamboo forest, with green bamboo joints standing tall like swords.
New bamboo shoots broke through the soil, with crystal dewdrops hanging on the tender green tips, sparkling with tiny rays of light in the faint light.
A gentle breeze blew by, the bamboo leaves rustled, and the air was filled with the faint fragrance of grass and trees.
The Sword God had already been standing under the bamboo forest, gently stroking Xiao Zi's head with his left hand, with a calm expression.
Xiao Zi seemed to be quite adapted to this place. He was curiously sniffing the bamboo leaves on the ground, and occasionally making low dragon roars.
Seeing that it was safe and sound, Hu Qing and Gu Yang finally let go of their worries and breathed a sigh of relief.
The two looked back and realized that the "wall" they had just passed through was not a solid entity, but was condensed from thick clouds and fog.
It was only because there was no light inside that it appeared as dark as ink, like a real wall.
Standing outside and looking at it again, the clouds were slowly moving, and the outline of the tunnel they came from could be vaguely seen.
"It's amazing..." Hu Qing murmured softly, reaching out to touch the clouds, and felt a moist coolness on his fingertips.
However, before they could express their feelings any further, they both noticed something strange at the same time - there was not a single spiritual energy in this bamboo forest!
If it were in the void, the lack of spiritual energy would be understandable, but there was clearly a vibrant bamboo forest in front of me, and I could even smell the fragrance of the soil, but I couldn't feel the flow of any spiritual energy at all.
Hu Qing and Gu Yang looked at each other and saw shock and confusion in each other's eyes.
"This place... is not right." Gu Yang frowned and tried to circulate the spiritual power in his body, but found that the originally smooth spiritual power seemed to be suppressed by something at this moment, and it was flowing extremely sluggishly.
Hu Qing also noticed something unusual. Every time the spiritual power in his body was consumed, it became less, and there was no way to replenish it from the outside world.
The two of them suddenly felt weak, and even their steps became heavy. They could only control their movements carefully, for fear of wasting even a little bit of spiritual power.
The Sword God seemed to be used to it. He didn't say much, just gestured for them to follow, and then stepped forward.
As they went deeper, the surrounding scenery gradually changed.
The once vibrant bamboo forest gradually became sparse, the emerald green bamboo leaves began to turn yellow and wither, and the soil underfoot also turned from fertile brown to dry and cracked black, as if it had been eroded by some force.
What was even more bizarre was that the sun in the sky had disappeared at some point, and was replaced by a pale full moon hanging in the gray sky. The light it shed was weak and cold, barely illuminating the way ahead.
However, the Sword God seemed to be familiar with all of this. He walked steadily around the scattered black stones and skillfully found the direction to move forward.
Hu Qing and Gu Yang followed closely behind, looking around vigilantly, trying to find out the secret of this strange place.
But looking around, there was nothing else except the dead black soil and scattered dead trees.
"Senior, where exactly is this place?" Hu Qing finally couldn't help but speak, his voice sounding particularly clear in the silent environment.
The Sword God didn't stop, but said lightly: "We're almost there."