The higher up the mountain Yang Shen climbed, the more he found the quantity of Qi around him decreasing.
Stunned by this discovery since less inhabited places like the peaks of mountains were supposed to be overflowing with Qi, Yang Shen no longer refused to believe that someone or something very strong was living on top of the Soul Devouring Mountain.
Due to this, he opened the shop and searched for the Blood Escape Talisman so that he could purchase it and escape at any moment.
Walking for almost an hour, Yang Shen suddenly spotted a cave in the distance.
Giving off a weird presence which seemed both ancient and mundane at the same time, almost as if someone who hid their treasure inside it did something to make the cave look as ordinary as possible, the cave looked very attractive to Yang Shen.
After all, the compass's needle was pointing straight at the cave regardless of how much he toyed with it and walked all over the place.
Approaching the cave while surveying his surroundings continuously to make sure there was no one around him, Yang Shen stretched his foot forward and got ready to plant it inside the pitch black cave and start exploring the insides.
However, at the very last second, something changed.
Covered in cold sweat and shivers repeatedly passed all over his body, a sensation which Yang Shen wasn't unfamiliar with appeared out of nowhere.
Fear.
Death!
RUN!!!
Pulling his leg back as he jumped as far as possible without the slightest hesitation, Yang Shen had yet to land on the ground when a loud sound came from inside the cave.
HIISSSSSSSSS!!!!!
"Aaaaaaa!!!"
Screaming loudly from pain and covering his ears which started bleeding the very instant he heard the sound, Yang Shen didn't stop moving backwards.
Circulating his Qi to stabilize his shooken internal organs, Yang Shen didn't dare imagine what was inside the cave to land him in such a situation by just sibilating.
Fortune? What bullshit fortune could be waiting for him inside the cave?!
Remembering the line which said he could die the moment he saw his fortune, Yang Shen felt an urge to curse the system for planting such a flag of sure death in his path.
"Sstop! Come back. Insside this cave are all kindss of treassures, richess, gemss, and beautiful women. All you need to do is enter it. Enter the cave. Enter the cave. Enter the cave..."
Listening to the voice which was stressing every time it spoke 's' in a weird way, before Yang Shen could realize what was happening, his eyes completely lost focus and made him look as if he had lost his soul.
"Enter… the…. cave…"
Moving his legs stiffly like a corpse whose body had hardened, Yang Shen while repeating the words which he heard began walking forward.
"Yesss…. Enter the cave."
"Enter… the… cave... "
Reaching the entrance of the cave which he just ran away from as if he had seen a demon inside it, Yang Shen almost stepped inside when the strands of red Qi inside him suddenly started acting up.
Diffusing into mist and escaping the boy's dantian, the Primordial Nine Suns Qi entered every part of Yang Shen's body.
Boom!
Feeling his world shaking, Yang Shen felt a hazy mist which had been covering his mind disappear.
Showing signs of drowsiness as if he just woke up from a long sleep. Yang Shen was just about to yawn when he saw the pitch black insides of the cave appearing right in front of his eyes.
What the hell?!!!
Turning around and running as fast as possible, Yang Shen this time didn't stop no matter what the voice from inside the cave said.
Blocking his ears with the white Qi and maintaining the red Qi all over the insides of his body, Yang Shen didn't stop running until he could no longer hear the voice.
"Haaaa… Haaaa…"
Grabbing a tree for support, Yang Shen soon slid to the ground and looked in the direction he just ran from.
So scary.
Remembering the deep chills he felt when near the cave, Yang Shen had to admit that not even the High Grade Profound Beast, the huge bird he encountered could compare with this.
In face of the bird, Yang Shen was sure that if he had a Blood Escape Talisman, he could escape without any troubles.
But that… that thing…. Whatever it was inside the cave… as long as Yang Shen was caught by it, death was the only thing which waited for him.
Filled with an urge to throw the compass and stomp it until it turned into dust after seeing that it was still pointing in the same direction, Yang Shen suddenly began thinking about the few things he wasn't able to understand about the situation.
Since neither the system nor anything given by it could be defective, Yang Shen was sure that there was some fortune waiting for him inside the cave.
But it seems like there was some beast inside the cave as well. Was it there to protect whatever it was that was left inside the cave?
And why did that beast not come outside the cave and kill him?
Could it be possible that there's something stopping the beast from coming out?
Remembering how pitch black the insides of the cave was and looking at the brightly shining sun in the sky, Yang Shen began thinking that maybe whatever was inside it couldn't bear with the sunlight.
Was it something like a vampire which could only stay in the dark?
Looking at the sky once again where the sun had crossed the position of noon and was soon approaching the time in the day during which it would disappear over the horizon, Yang Shen trembled from imagining what would happen if the beast inside it came out.