The enormous spherical figure in the hazy mist stirred a sense of fear in Xia Song. He desperately spurred his black horse and ran to the side.
Rumble!
The sound of rocks rolling down seemed to grow louder and louder. For a moment, Xia Song felt like an ape being chased by a lion on the grassland, helpless, afraid, and exhausted.
"Run! Run!" he shouted subconsciously, as if he thought that by shouting like that, the "Black Jade Horse" he was riding would go faster, even if it was just a little bit.
He kept looking back as the huge, hazy figure drew closer and closer.
"Draw your gun and fire!" Xia Yi's voice rang out in the ranks, seemingly carrying a calming quality. Xia Song recalled the previous training and admonitions, hurriedly drawing his pistol and aiming at the large object in the fog.
Bang! Bang! Bang! Bang!
The continuous gunshots exploded like firecrackers during the Lunar New Year, and their power seemed to be just as great. The huge, terrifying monster continued to approach without flinching.
Closer, closer, it's getting closer, Xia Song has seen its true form:
It looked like a strange sphere woven from tough vines, with many holes between the vines. Even more terrifying, hanging among the tangled vines were many human corpses that never decayed in the mist. These corpses were mixed with fragments of houses and furniture, like a demon kicking hell into the human world.
The cavity emitted a yellowish-green poisonous fog. Just looking at it made Xia Song feel as if his whole body was bubbling with pain, and his lungs were filled with water, making it difficult to breathe.
“Rock Curse!” Xia Yi’s voice continued, carrying the composure of a battle-hardened general.
Xia Song then remembered something, took out a talisman from his bag, and poured spiritual power into it.
"Rock Curse!" he shouted.
It wasn't just Xia Song and his son Xia Yi who shouted this phrase; the other adventurers who were cultivators at the Dan realm also shouted it.
The power of these talismans caused the earth to bulge, and the bulging clods of soil connected one another like a city wall, rising from the ground.
These earthen walls formed a barrier on the open land, between fleeing adventurers and the crushing plague vines.
This gave Xia Song a sense of security, and also stirred up his inner pride and passion.
"Come on, let's fight! Charge over here!" Xia Song screamed inwardly.
The plague vines soon collided with the earthen wall erected by the people using talismans.
When Xia Song looked back again, the earthen wall had been crushed and collapsed, and the huge plague vines had only slowed down slightly, but were still moving forward.
Now, Xia Song's passion had completely vanished, leaving only deep despair and fear.
The black jade horse he was controlling was burning hot and had reached its maximum speed. As a mechanical creation of the Mo family, this kind of horse was neither afraid nor tired, and could move as long as it had enough energy.
The "sweat" from the horses turned into steam, cooling down the black jade horse, but the rising steam avoided Xia Song himself.
"Rock Curse." Xia Yi's voice continued to drift from afar.
With no other options left, obeying orders became the only instinct, and Xia Song hurriedly reached into the talisman bag.
He also has two Rock Curse Talismans, and all cultivators in the Core Formation Realm have two of them.
"Rock Curse!" Xia Song took out a talisman, frantically poured spiritual power into it, and shouted loudly.
The unique "Dan Fire" of the Dan Realm ignited the talisman and also stimulated the power within it.
"Rock Curse!" he shouted along with the others who had fled.
The fragile soil and rocks first bulge out, then are crushed.
It was as if a naughty child had crushed the sand dunes built by the ants with his fingers.
But this can only slightly slow down the Plague Orb's pursuit. Once they run out of Rock Charms, they will be caught up sooner or later and will not be able to escape.
At that critical moment, Xia Song suddenly widened his eyes.
He saw that after the plague vines rolled over the earthen wall, they did not continue to pursue them, but instead changed direction and continued to roll.
Just as he was puzzled, a flash of inspiration struck him.
This is a unique ability belonging to the Battle Qi Core Realm; some call it a flash of inspiration, while others call it a burst of creativity.
Cultivators at the Dan Realm are always able to generate many brilliant ideas and insights, and can directly grasp the inner essence from the complex appearance of things.
This is why cultivators at the Dan Realm are so adept at learning. Applying knowledge to new situations is a basic skill for them, and they grasp the concepts instantly.
"Right, Old Xia shouted earlier that we should scatter and escape..."
He glanced at the people around him.
"The number of people has decreased significantly... which means the plague spheres were drawn to those fleeing in another direction, and they sacrificed themselves for us..."
"No, the plague sphere's spread is probably uncontrollable, so if people scatter and escape, only those in one direction will be hunted down, while the others can survive..."
Although he thought this way, he couldn't help but feel sad for his companions.
"Don't stop. We won't be safe until we reach the cave," Xia Yi continued to command them, urging them not to let their guard down.
...
Inside the cave.
"Boss, half of the Jade Horses are ruined. We don't have any Mo Xiu. Old Mo escaped from the other side. We don't know how he is. We can only repair these Jade Horses when he comes back." Someone reported to Xia Yi.
"Boss, no one is injured, but someone dropped a package in the chaos. It contained supplies for the Jade Horse and people, the quantity is..."
Xia Song hugged her legs, shrinking against the rock wall like a frightened little girl, trembling with fear.
He had indeed heard of the horrors of the ancient Song Dynasty and the strange tales of this desolate fog, but he hadn't taken them seriously. He thought he had enough courage to face them. But when he actually encountered that irresistible fear, the trembling and terror that came from his body's instincts overwhelmed him.
Xia Yi reassured his group members, asking each of them to share some supplies with the people who had lost their packages. He comforted them, saying that not many people would die, and that most of them would survive if they scattered and fled, and would be able to return to the cave.
Just then, the obsidian waist tag in Xia Yi's arms suddenly vibrated.
He immediately became solemn and picked up the waist token.
The waist tag started playing a sound.
"Fellow cultivators of Jian Ge in the former Song Dynasty, I am Song Jiqin."
"A sword order has been issued from Ash City; someone is attempting to sacrifice its inhabitants to accomplish their evil goals."
"On behalf of the new Song City Lord, the former Prince of Song, and the people of Ash City of the Song Dynasty, I request the assistance of all the Sword Pavilion cultivators I do not know."
Help them! Save them!
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