Chapter Ninety-Three: The Cave of the Evil Wind

Watching the others depart, Lu Han shook his head.

This had little to do with him. Once he obtained the soul-devouring mink's blood, he would leave this land of chaotic souls and have no further entanglement with these people.

But was reality really so simple?

Following the same road he had taken in, Lu Han arrived at the entrance to the Gulin Basin.

Sure enough, a burly man was standing outside the great gates of Gulin, as if waiting for someone.

To leave, there was naturally no need to hand in a Gulin token. The guards at the gate seemed to have been replaced by two different men, and when they saw that Lu Han's cultivation was only at the Acquired Realm, they could not help glancing at him a few extra times.

Lu Han ignored them and walked straight toward the burly man.

Seeing a white-robed youth in the Acquired Realm coming his way, looking barely twenty years old, the burly man frowned, not understanding what the young man wanted.

"Now can you tell me where the soul-devouring mink is?" Lu Han said with a faint smile.

The burly man was startled. Could it be that the one he had dealt with yesterday at the underground market was this boy? Yet sensing that Lu Han was only in the Acquired Realm, how could he possibly capture a soul-devouring mink in the Innate Realm?

Even for an Innate Realm beast, it took three to five people working together to capture one. Could this young man in the Acquired Realm really do it?

Jia Cheng looked at Lu Han with a strange expression. "Little brother, don't tell me the person I dealt with in yesterday's underground market was you."

Lu Han smiled lightly. "Why not?"

Jia Cheng pulled Lu Han aside.

"Do you even understand the soul-devouring mink? Not only does it possess the strength of the first level of the Innate Realm, but with its innate abilities, even a second-level Innate expert wouldn't fare well against it. Every time it is hunted, it takes a group of three or five. With your cultivation..." Jia Cheng did not finish.

The meaning was clear enough. Lu Han had only just broken through to the ninth level of the Acquired Realm. Forget the soul-devouring mink's innate talents; in Jia Cheng's eyes, Lu Han was simply no match for a first-level Innate soul-devouring mink.

"You don't need to worry about that. I have my own methods. As long as the information you provide is accurate, I will definitely catch the soul-devouring mink, and when the time comes, we'll split it fifty-fifty, just as we agreed yesterday."

Lu Han also knew what the burly man was worried about.

He had indeed just broken through to the ninth level of the Acquired Realm, but with the perfected Heaven's Garment technique and the high-grade Earth-tier martial art Sword-Earth Ice Lotus, Lu Han was confident that even an ordinary first-level Innate expert was no match for him. He was not afraid of the man cheating him.

Seeing Lu Han's confident tone, the burly man believed him by a few parts. After all, Lu Han had intended to spend a great deal of money yesterday to buy news of the soul-devouring mink. If he had no means at all, how could he have sought out such information with only Acquired Realm cultivation? And with Lu Han speaking so firmly, Jia Cheng believed him a little more as well.

"Little brother, what method are you using? The place we're going to is one where even a second-level Innate expert cannot guarantee a safe return."

Jia Cheng said.

Lu Han gave Jia Cheng an amused look, but said nothing.

Seeing that Lu Han was still so young, Jia Cheng had assumed he lacked experience and thought he could coax the answer out of him with just a few words.

He had underestimated Lu Han. In merely these past few months, Lu Han's experiences were so many that some people might never accumulate as much in an entire lifetime.

"Big brother, I have my own way. Didn't we agree to go together? Fifty-fifty after the matter is done."

Lu Han only smiled and did not expose him.

Jia Cheng gave an awkward laugh.

"Let me introduce myself. My name is Jia Cheng. Still, the place I mentioned really is dangerous. I saw the soul-devouring mink enter there from the outside back then."

Jia Cheng's expression turned somewhat solemn.

Jia Cheng was at the peak of the first level of the Innate Realm and could step into the second level at any time. Since even he said the place was extremely dangerous, Lu Han already had some guesses in mind, but he still asked aloud.

"And that place is?"

"The Wicked Wind Cave."

Jia Cheng slowly spoke the three words.

Lu Han's body trembled.

"So it really is!"

Qian Santong had once warned Lu Han of two places in the Land of Chaotic Souls that must never be entered.

One was the deepest region of the Land of Chaotic Souls. In the past, the ten strongest experts of the Great Xia Empire had joined forces to enter that deepest region, and none of them ever returned. Some said that after entering, the ten had broken through to a higher realm of martial cultivation and gone to a farther place. Others said they had perished inside and left behind their inheritances. Rumors abounded, but one thing was certain: after the ten went in, they were never seen again.

Thus the deepest part of the Land of Chaotic Souls became a forbidden zone. If even the ten strongest experts who entered together could not come out, who would dare go in?

The other place was the Wicked Wind Cave.

No one knew when it had first been discovered, only that it was bizarre beyond measure.

Though the Wicked Wind Cave was not as terrifying as the deepest region of the Land of Chaotic Souls, it was still an eerie place, filled mostly with poisonous demonic beasts. Although these were all only Acquired Realm poisonous beasts, their numbers were great. More importantly, there was a Wicked Wind Beast inside, which was where the cave got its name.

By rights, demon beasts lived far longer than humans, sometimes several times or even ten times longer. Yet the lifespan of that Wicked Wind Beast was incomprehensible. Ever since the Wicked Wind Cave had been discovered, that beast had been inside it, and it was still there now.

The entire cave seemed like a maze, crisscrossing and intersecting in all directions, and after so many years, no one had ever fully explored it.

According to Qian Santong, the Wicked Wind Beast never left the Wicked Wind Cave, and most of the time it was in a deep sleep. If you woke it, then congratulations, you were doomed.

The Wicked Wind Beast's strength was equivalent to a human in the second level of the Innate Realm, so without that level of cultivation, most people would not go in.

There had once been a third-level Innate expert who entered the Wicked Wind Cave to capture the Wicked Wind Beast, but apparently never succeeded.

So once inside the Wicked Wind Cave, one had to be extremely careful. If they encountered the Wicked Wind Beast and made the slightest mistake, they would remain there forever.

The Wicked Wind Beast itself had also become an unsolved mystery. No one knew how it had survived to this day.

Although the Wicked Wind Cave was full of strangeness, money could move hearts. The poisonous demonic beasts inside were especially prized by alchemists, and their price was several times, even ten times, that of ordinary beasts. As for the Wicked Wind Beast, though terrifying, it spent nearly all its time asleep. So many still went there to hunt the poisonous beasts.

However, those without the strength were no different from walking to their deaths. The people who entered the Wicked Wind Cave each time were almost always at the second level of the Innate Realm, and they traveled in teams of three to five, because if they ran into a horde of poisonous beasts, even a second-level Innate expert alone could not endure it.

Lu Han thought for a long while.

Though the Wicked Wind Cave was extremely dangerous, and though there was even a tiny chance of encountering the Wicked Wind Beast, he had a reason he could not afford to ignore. If he missed this opportunity, who knew when he would receive any more news of the soul-devouring mink? Lu Han could wait, but Lu Tianhong could not.

"Brother Jia, take me there."

A cold glint flashed through Lu Han's dark eyes as he made up his mind.

"But with your strength, those poisonous beasts alone would be enough to give you trouble. I won't have time to look after you."

Jia Cheng said.

"That is not something you need worry about. So long as it is not the Wicked Wind Beast, I think I can still hold my own for a little while. Surely we won't be so unlucky as to run into it. As long as we catch the soul-devouring mink and get out in time, there should be no problem."

Lu Han rubbed his nose and said.

Jia Cheng's eyes flickered.

Even if they really did run into a pack of poisonous beasts, he could simply leave Lu Han behind. At worst, he would lose a few days' effort.

"I do hope this kid really has a way to catch the soul-devouring mink. Still, once he does, he will no longer be necessary. But if he tells me how to capture it, I might spare his life. I really am too kind."

Jia Cheng sighed inwardly.

"All right. Since little brother is unafraid of the Wicked Wind Cave, if I, Jia Cheng, refuse, that would be far too graceless. Let's go!"

Lu Han felt slightly puzzled.

Just now, he seemed to have sensed a faint trace of killing intent. Though it was only for an instant, he had still caught it.

A bright glimmer flashed across Lu Han's star-like eyes, as though he had thought of something. He did not expose it and merely followed Jia Cheng onto the road to the Wicked Wind Cave.

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