Chapter 12 (1/2)

The silence of the night was punctuated by the distant rumble as thousands of grand mountains abruptly rose from the ground. They emerged out of the void, yet their imposing stance against the backdrop of the dark night formed a grand vista.

Some of these freshly formed mountains were tens of thousands of meters tall. Their alt.i.tudes ascended into the vault of heaven, like a divine sword jabbing into the sky. Their cliffs were so steep and vertical that even the most skilful mountaineers would find themselves incapable of clambering.

Some of these mountains were broad and extensive. They looked like Mahisha, the mythological creature that exuded grandeur and composure.

”Is this still the Taihang Mountains that I knew?” Zhou Quan was astounded. He bit his lip to a.s.sure that this was not a dream world.

The changes were so extreme that it felt like heaven and earth had been overturned.

Those extraordinary sights and wonderful views were awe-inspiring and surreal.

Chu Feng was dumbstruck. He was in a bit of trance.

In front of Chu Feng, it was a never-ending undulation of great mountain ridges. They appeared out of thin air, then they claimed their pre-eminence over the original Taihang Mountains with their towering stance.

The Taihang Mountains became much broader, more vigorous and more forceful than before.

Both Chu Feng and Zhou Quan had spent their entire childhood growing up in this region. No one could be more familiar to the makeup of this district than they were. The changes before their eyes were on a magnificent scale. It was chaotic yet sumptuous. It was beauty blended with disorder, resulting in an imposing surrealistic artwork.

This was both astonis.h.i.+ng and terrifying.

”Do you think there are any deific fruits in these mountains? Or what about a cave dwelling of some celestial beings?” Zhou Quan had quite a lot of leaps in his thoughts, but one had to admit that his mind became exceptionally active when it came to these whimsical ideas.

There had been news reports about the strange occurrences that had happened on Mount Song, w.a.n.gwu Mountain and many other places. It had been reported that purple light was seen streaming down even the most ordinary rocks.

That winged-man who had swallowed a strange silver fruit by accident was also living near the w.a.n.gwu Mountains.

Zhou Quan was lost in a reverie. Strange and impractical thoughts thronged his mind. He, too, wanted to acquire the ability to enable him to soar overhead in a great height.

Chu Feng, by contrast, stayed relatively cool-headed and composed. ”Wake up!” Chu Feng said, ”It's dangerous to be overly optimistic about these things. These mountains could be short of anything but ferocious beasts. It will basically mean the death of us once we dare ourselves to set foot on one of them. So let's not kill ourselves in the process of trying to realize your unrealistic dream of becoming an immortal.”

Chu Feng's words made Zhou Quan's heart skip a beat. He was right; in a world that was muddled with chaos and disorder, the chances of acquiring death was just as feasible as him acquiring a desirable power.

”Roar....”

Like a testament to Chu Feng's words, a beasty roar echoed from deep within the mountain. It was the sound of a behemoth howling into the air, full of fire and fury.

Zhou Quan's hair stood on end. He raised his head and looked up at the mountains, carefully searching for the source of the sound.

”It... it is from that mountain. Am I seeing... a gri... griffin howling at the summit?” Out of shock and terror, Zhou Quan speech was slurred.

The mountain which Zhou Quan referred to was distant. But faintly, Chu Feng could see a globe of fire jittering about. It looked like a red-haired beast staring into the distance, roaring. Then, it started gulping and spitting the essence of the sun and the moon.

It was indeed a griffin, and this vicious beast resided right near the location of their houses. It posed a real threat to all the local villages.

Blood drained from Zhou Quan's rubicund face. He looked pale as a sheet.

Chu Feng and Zhou Quan had only just returned from a calamitous journey, then immediately after, their lives were on the line again. Can we not take a break, thought Zhou Quan, Or do we have to run for it again?

”Sigh...”

The wind was rising in the distance. A dark cloud sailed by, then landed in the mountains.

”A giant bird?” Chu Feng's eyelid involuntarily twitched. How monstrous of a bird was that!

”Did I... did I see it right?” Zhou Quan's voice trilled with terror. He swallowed hard and shook his head.

That giant bird had a greyish body. It landed somewhere deep in the mountains.

”No one would possibly escape from its clutch if that thing decided to come out and hunt for men outside these mountains.” Zhou Quan sighed. Those were the birds of prey, wild and ferocious.

Before the sound of his voice had even died away, a vicious bird cladded in purple feathers fluttered its wings and flew towards them from within the mountains. It was somewhat smaller than the one that had just flown by, but its size was still plenty above par.

It had a very distinctive look. Its feathers were s.h.i.+ning with glittering l.u.s.ter. It seemed as if the bird had been cast in gold.

”Oh c.r.a.p. I'm such a jinx. Look! One of them is coming for us.” Zhou Quan regretted so much that he wanted to give himself a slap on the face.

Both of them had their skin p.r.i.c.kled with apprehension. They hastily ran for cover behind a tree by the road. The thought that they might become that bird's first feast of the night made them quail.

The l.u.s.ter emanated from that bird made a drastic contrast against the dark backdrop of the night. It flew like a purple lightning, briskly traversing across the sky. The bird was yowling in a delighted manner. It seemed excited. Perhaps it was longing for something thrilling.

Boom!

Suddenly, its body became a sphere of purple flame, burning ablaze and illuminating the night sky.

This was a heart-trembling moment.

This kind of blazing flare was a terrifying sight even to those who were observing from a far distance. It brought daylight into the night sky and sent episodes of searing heatwaves down to the ground, making both Chu Feng and Zhou Quan all sweaty and wet.

The purple bird of prey was like a purple sun hanging in the vault of heavens, rendering the world especially bright and resplendent.

”I swear, I have never ever seen anything ever so frightening in my life. That's clearly a demonic bird. It could only take one of them to destroy an entire town,” Zhou Quan murmured, his mind full of puzzlement and bewilderment.

Chu Feng was also lost for words, because only G.o.d knew how many of these devilish beasts and birds of prey were residing in the Taihang Mountains. By a conservative estimate, if one a.s.sumed that there was only one for each mountain, then thousands would emerge just then.

However, a wretched tweet, which echoed from the sky, utterly astounded the two.

The two looked into direction of the sound, and they saw that giant bird scorching in a purple flame. It struggled and gave a plaintive whine before it dropped out of the sky and fell into its demise.