The Legend of the Strange Hillside

Chapter 126: Tai Nan Mountain, Tai Nan Valley, The Youth

Guang Gui City was located in the southernmost part of Lan Province. It was not a large city, its population of a few hundred thousand being only a fifth of the largest city, Jia Yuan. However, it was surrounded by mountains on three sides and rested against a lake on the other. The scenery was beautiful, making it an excellent retreat for wealthy families during their leisure time. Furthermore, the area produced several rare varieties of fruit unique to the region. Because of these reasons, the small city had earned a considerable reputation.

Tai Nan Mountain was located not far west of Guang Gui City. The entire mountain, over three thousand meters high, was perpetually shrouded in mountain mist, making it the fourth tallest peak in Lan Province. At the mountain's summit sat a small temple, the Tai Nan Temple, renowned for the accuracy of its divination and fortune-telling. Every year, nobles and high officials would endure the arduous climb to offer incense and make vows, donating large sums of oil money to the temple. This kept the temple's incense burning continuously and its reputation spreading far and wide.

At this moment, in a forest at the foot of Tai Nan Mountain, a figure sat cross-legged beneath a thick, towering tree. Both hands held an object that glowed with a flickering red light, which they were rolling back and forth against their lower abdomen.

Suddenly, the figure's body shuddered, and they let out a muffled groan. The red light of the object in their hands dimmed greatly, revealing its true form. It was a high-quality piece of green jade. The jade was not only pure and flawless, but deep within it, traces of red light could faintly be seen seeping out. Anyone could tell at a glance that the jade was invaluable, no ordinary item.

The person slowly moved the green jade away from their abdomen, then raised their head to check the sky, revealing the ordinary face of a young man. It was Han Li, who had vanished from Jia Yuan City.

Han Li lowered his head to look at the object in his hands, and a look of delight couldn't help but appear on his face.

From the moment he had obtained this Warm Yang Jade, he had been continuously expelling the chill poison from his body along the road. It had taken half a month, and only today had he finally completely rooted it out. It had truly been no easy feat. Furthermore, the sensation of sourness and itching deep in his bones during the process of expelling the poison had caused Han Li no small amount of suffering. Even now, recalling it made him shudder.

Nevertheless, this Warm Yang Jade was truly a remarkable treasure. It could actually contain his spiritual energy, making the process of driving out the poison twice as effective with half the effort. Without this discovery, he would have probably needed another ten or so days to completely neutralize the poison in his body.

Thinking this, Han Li placed the jade into a wooden box beside him, then carefully hid it on his person.

Afterward, Han Li stood up, stretched his slightly stiff limbs, and reflected on his experiences over the past two months.

That day, after arranging everything, Han Li had gone to the Mo Estate the very next day. From Yan Shi, he had obtained intelligence on the Overlord Villa and Ouyang Feitian. He then mounted a fine horse provided by the Mo Estate and traveled day and night, finally arriving at the Overlord Villa within ten days.

After several days of relentless reconnaissance and infiltration, Han Li seized a moment when Ouyang Feitian was enjoying the moon alone. Catching him off guard, he unleashed all of his magical tools, activated the talisman sword, and in one stroke, cleaved off Ouyang's head, taking his life.

The entire process was surprisingly smooth and easy. Not a single ripple occurred, almost making Han Li wonder if the man he had killed was a fake. Later, upon inspecting several unique scars and birthmarks on the corpse that were exclusive to Ouyang Feitian, he confirmed that he had indeed killed the right man. Only then did Han Li sigh emotionally, pick up the head, and return to Jia Yuan City.

Back at the Mo Estate, he handed Ouyang Feitian's head to Yan Shi for inspection. Only then did he learn from her that Ouyang Feitian practiced the top-tier diamond-hard martial art of the Jianghu, the "Overlord Armor." It had tempered his entire body to be impervious to blades and spears; even a legendary sharp sword that could slice through iron would find it difficult to harm him even a little. She was shocked that Han Li had taken his head so cleanly.

Han Li then understood. Ouyang Feitian had most likely mistaken his talisman sword for some kind of concealed weapon, and thus hadn’t bothered to dodge, allowing Han Li to succeed so easily.

What remained was simple. After Yan Shi confirmed the head, she immediately took out the jade and exchanged it with Han Li for the antidote. After obtaining the jade, Han Li declined Yan Shi’s earnest attempts to keep him. Unwilling to socialize further with the Mo Estate members, he immediately left Jia Yuan City again and headed for Tai Nan Mountain.

During this journey, while detoxifying himself, Han Li was also thinking about how to meet and befriend the cultivators of the Tai Nan Valley.

Not knowing whether the other party was righteous or evil, Han Li had no intention of bumbling in blindly. What if the cultivators inside were all heretics and demons? Wouldn't he just be serving himself up on a platter, only to be devoured in one bite?

Thus, the moment he arrived at Tai Nan Mountain, Han Li began inquiring nearby villagers about any strange tales, legends, or bizarre occurrences associated with the mountain. As a result, he did manage to glean some clues.

According to the villagers, on the north side of Tai Nan Mountain, there was a hillside said to be very mysterious. This hillside was perpetually covered in a thick, white fog so dense that you couldn't see your hand in front of your face.

It was normal for Tai Nan Mountain to have some mountain mist, but a place with such dense, year-round fog was simply too astonishing.

Because of this, some of the bolder villagers had taken the risk of entering it a few times. But the strange thing was, every time someone went in, they would unknowingly lose their way, but would soon unwittingly walk back out of the fog, ending up right back where they started. This left everyone amazed.

Because the hillside was so peculiar, and since no major harm seemed to come from entering, more and more villagers kept trying to go in, hoping to solve the mystery. But it seemed their actions had angered the fog on the hillside. From some point onward, anyone who entered the strange hillside was no longer able to find their way out immediately. Instead, they would be trapped for two or three days, only emerging from the fog after being weakened by hunger.

As a result, hardly anyone dared to enter the strange hillside anymore. In the end, the villagers became accustomed to it and simply ignored it.

When Han Li learned of these things, he was overjoyed.

He knew that this strange hillside was most likely the place he was looking for. And even if it wasn't the Tai Nan Valley itself, it was certainly the dwelling of other cultivators.

What delighted Han Li the most was that, judging from the villagers' accounts, the master of this place didn't seem to be particularly malicious or extreme. They probably weren't the kind of cultivator who would kill on sight. This left considerable room for negotiation.

Even so, Han Li had no intention of going to visit just yet. Instead, he stayed in this forest, planning to completely expel the hidden troubles from his body before visiting in his optimal state. If anything seemed off, he would have a better chance of escaping.

With this thought in mind, Han Li decided to return to the villager's home where he was lodging, have a meal, rest for the night, and formally explore the strange hillside tomorrow.

Thus, Han Li walked out of the forest and headed for the nearby village.

As soon as he entered the small village where he was staying, Han Li saw a young man of about fifteen or sixteen, dressed in white, standing at the village entrance, speaking animatedly to a few villagers with wild gesticulations.

Han Li was slightly startled. A stranger appearing here at this time had a high chance of being no ordinary person. He instinctively employed the Celestial Eye Technique to examine the other party.

After a single look, a surge of ecstasy filled Han Li's heart. Indeed, faint spiritual light flickered around the white-clad youth. Its brightness was only slightly weaker than his own. This youth was truly also a cultivator!

The distant youth seemed to sense that someone was watching him. He turned around and looked at Han Li. As soon as he saw Han Li, a look of joy immediately spread across his face. He hurriedly ran over in one breath.

"This brother, are you also heading to the Tai Nan Valley? I am Wan Xiaoshan of the Wan family from Kuya Mountain. Pleased to meet you! How about we go to apply for entry together?" The youth spoke breathlessly, not even waiting for his breathing to settle before eagerly making his request to Han Li.

Han Li now got a clear look at the youth's appearance. The other party had delicate features and fair, soft skin, looking very much like a pampered young master from a noble family.

"Certainly. But do you know where the Tai Nan Valley is?" Han Li asked calmly upon hearing the youth's request.

"Hehe! I only heard my family say that the Tai Nan Valley is on the north side of Tai Nan Mountain, and its entrance has been locked by fog for years. I have no idea where exactly it is. I asked those villagers, but they didn't know where the Tai Nan Valley was either! But I'm sure you know, big brother?" The youth scratched his head a little sheepishly, then looked at Han Li with hopeful eyes.

"This is your first time away from home, isn't it, little brother?" Han Li asked with a slight smile, struggling to contain his amusement.

"You guessed it, big brother! This is indeed my first time that I've traveled so far from home." The youth nodded, a little embarrassed.

"Alright, come with me. I'll take you there." Han Li hadn't been one hundred percent sure that the strange hillside was the Tai Nan Valley he was looking for, but after hearing what the youth said, he was now completely confident.

"That's great! I can finally go and see the sights!" Upon hearing Han Li's words, the youth couldn't help but cheer excitedly.

Seeing the youth like this, Han Li gave a faint smile. He could also take the opportunity to extract some information from the other party and learn more about these cultivators.

"What do you want to see in the Tai Nan Valley?" Han Li led the youth slowly towards the location of the strange hillside. He had already secretly reconnoitered the area several times and had it memorized perfectly.

"Oh, there's a lot. I want to see the spells and secret arts of the other families and sects, and I also want to trade some things I like with others," the youth said casually.

"Oh?" Han Li responded softly. But inside, a doubt began to form. From the young man's tone, it sounded like numerous cultivators were gathering at this Tai Nan Valley. Could some major event be about to take place?

Han Li began to feel somewhat uneasy.