Stranded in the Dark

Han Li was alarmed. Just as he was about to crash into the pile of rocks below from a height of several tens of meters, he suddenly twisted his body, bent his waist at an unnatural angle, tapped his feet together, and shot diagonally toward a nearby large tree like an arrow, landing steadily on a branch.

Only then did beads of cold sweat break out on Han Li’s forehead.

Fortunately, the Smoke Step technique he had learned back then did not require any spiritual power or mana. Otherwise, a Core Formation cultivator dying from a fall would have become a laughingstock in the cultivation world!

But those Foundation Establishment cultivators certainly wouldn’t be as lucky as he was. Many of them had probably died or been injured.

He steadied his mind, but before he could take any other action, a series of “clang, clang” sounds came from nearby. Han Li’s expression changed, and he hurriedly looked over.

Sure enough, the two sets of Azure Bamboo Cloudswarm Swords that he hadn’t had time to absorb into his body were lying on the ground, their clatter sharp and crisp. Not far from them were the eight golden mirrors, the ancient blue basket, and the silver bell.

At this moment, they were all dim and lusterless, as if they had lost all their spiritual energy.

A chill ran through Han Li’s heart. He hurriedly tried to release a strand of divine sense to scan these treasures, but the moment his consciousness stirred, his heart turned ice cold.

His originally powerful divine sense lay motionless inside his body, unable to leave even an inch.

Han Li sucked in a breath of cold air.

Now that his mana and divine sense were both useless, he was no different from an ordinary mortal.

Not only could he not use any mystic techniques, but he couldn’t even open his storage pouch or spirit beast pouch.

Han Li turned his head and looked at the rolling black mist now clearly visible. His face turned pale.

With his mortal body, given the speed of this ghostly fog, there was no chance of a lucky escape. After a moment of dark thought, he gritted his teeth, flickered, and landed beside the treasures. He grabbed wildly at the ground, scooping up all the treasures into his hands.

Since the storage pouch was unusable, he had to stuff everything into his clothes. Fortunately, the treasures weren’t too large, or he wouldn’t have been able to carry them all.

Just as Han Li finished gathering his treasures, the hundred-zhang-high, boundless black mist pounced onto the island in an instant.

The moment Han Li stood up, he felt an incredibly powerful suction force erupt from the ghostly fog. Before he could understand what was happening, he was yanked into the air.

A shock ran through Han Li’s heart. He struggled several times, trying to use the Smoke Step to break free, but it was completely ineffective.

Moments later, he was sucked into the pitch-black mist. Then, countless black lightning bolts intertwined, instantly wrapping around him.

With a low, rumbling boom, Han Li vanished in a flash of black light, disappearing without a trace from the ghostly fog.

…

Han Li’s ears buzzed with chaos. All kinds of strange sounds poured into his mind. The world spun around him, and he couldn’t see anything, only an endless pitch black.

Suddenly, his body jolted to a stop, and then he fell, completely unsupported.

A dull “thump” reached his ears as his body landed heavily on something. The landing was on something soft and thick, and he wasn’t injured. This let the breath that Han Li had been holding finally escape.

Everything around him was still pitch black. But a strong fishy smell rushed into his nose.

Without a word, Han Li reached down to feel the ground. It was slippery and sticky, and something was wriggling around.

He had landed in a pile of fish and shrimp, and they were still alive and hopping.

Han Li frowned. He tried to slowly stand up, but suddenly his head throbbed with pain, his limbs went weak, and a wave of dizziness rose from his core.

Han Li cursed inwardly. He knew this was the consequence of being forcibly teleported without any mana to protect his body.

He probably wouldn’t be able to stand for a while.

With that thought, Han Li decided to lie still in the pile of fish and shrimp, conserving his strength and waiting for his limbs to recover.

Just then, a ball of black lightning suddenly appeared a few meters above Han Li’s head.

By its faint light, Han Li could see that the area above him was covered in strange, pointed rocks. It seemed this was an underground cavern, and inside that eerie lightning, something was wrapped.

Han Li’s heart stirred.

The black lightning flashed wildly a few more times before disappearing, dropping a dark, blurry object that landed right on top of Han Li.

Startled, Han Li wanted to dodge, but his body was completely limp. All he could do was watch the object fall.

A woman’s muffled groan came from above, and then the warmth of a fragrant body pressed tightly against him. It was a woman, who had also been teleported here.

This woman seemed flustered. Instead of noticing Han Li beneath her, she struggled to get up, grabbing his hair by mistake.

Han Li winced in pain and let out a soft gasp.

“Who’s there?” the woman finally realized there was someone underneath her, and a stranger at that. She cried out in surprise and quickly straightened up. But then her body swayed, and she collapsed back down, too weak to hold herself up.

She not only fell on Han Li again but landed face-down on his chest, her sparkling eyes staring into his with fear.

She looked quite young.

“Who are you?” the woman asked, her voice trembling. Her heart was pounding so hard it was loud in the silent darkness.

“A man.”

The woman’s voice was pleasant, but Han Li knew it was a stranger. Perhaps because he couldn’t see her face, he felt a sudden impulse to joke.

“You–!”

Hearing this, the woman’s eyes were filled with shame and anger. She glared at him fiercely, but with her limbs so weak, she could barely lift her head, trying to put some distance between them, which was obviously futile.

Her warm, fragrant breath was hitting Han Li’s face. A strange feeling stirred within him. He could also feel the softness and incredible elasticity of her body, and some parts of him began to stir.

“What are you doing?” the woman immediately sensed the change in Han Li’s body. The shame in her eyes deepened, and she glared at him even more fiercely, though to Han Li, it looked a little cute.

“It’s not that I want to do anything. But with my mana and divine sense gone, even if I wanted to be a man of virtue, I couldn’t. And I am a normal man. This reaction in such a situation is completely involuntary.” Han Li gave a wry smile and muttered softly.

The woman just humphed in response. She didn’t say anything else, but it seemed she had accepted his explanation. Fortunately, Han Li was also unable to move, so despite her intense shame, she could only let it be.

For a moment, the darkness was silent, broken only by the overlapping sound of their pounding hearts.

Han Li felt that this experience was unprecedented.

Below him was a writhing mass of fish and shrimp, and on top of him was an unfamiliar woman, warm and fragrant. It was truly absurd!

“Are you one of the cultivators who entered the island earlier?” After a moment of silence, the woman suddenly spoke again.

“I suppose so,” Han Li replied, remembering the dozen or so cultivators who had rushed into the island. This woman was clearly one of them.

“Hmph! What do you mean, ‘suppose so?’” A flicker of doubt appeared in the woman’s eyes.

Hearing this, Han Li smiled slightly. He was about to make up some ambiguous response when a series of unsteady footsteps sounded from a distance. Then, several torches appeared far off, bobbing and weaving as they approached. Dark shadows moved beneath the light of the flames.

Han Li’s heart tensed.

There were other people here, and it didn’t seem like they were cultivators who had been swallowed up by the ghostly fog.

In a few moments, the torchbearers had crossed most of the distance and were closing in.

Han Li’s gaze sharpened. He could finally make out the figures beneath the torches. They were four or five exceptionally tall men, a full head and a half taller than Han Li, all in their prime, around thirty or forty years old.

They wore green clothes, carried crude, pale-bladed weapons in one hand, and had large leather pouches on their backs. They were hurrying toward him.

Han Li was quite surprised. As he was silently guessing their origins, a strand of hair brushed across his face—the woman on his chest had also turned to look at the oncoming strangers. Her body was trembling slightly; she seemed uneasy.

Seeing this, Han Li frowned. He tried moving his fingers and found that he had regained a little strength. It seemed his body would recover soon.