Chapter 227 — The Tree Roots of the Barren Ridge Become Spirits

" The woman in the lake cried piteously, "Quickly push down the steles and save your handmaiden, and your handmaiden will give herself to you! " Shen Mu and the others made to skirt around the lake.

Xue Hu'er said in her crisp, bright voice, "Demon, my Young Master will not fall for your tricks.

Let me tell you plainly: my Young Master is the Holy Hierarch of the Heavenly Sage Cult!

" Suddenly the woman fell silent, and a voice, cold and sinister, rose: "The Holy Hierarch of the Heavenly Sage Cult?

" Splash! The waters of the lake ringed by the black steles surged to the heavens; countless dark tree roots rose skyward like so many tentacles, coiling and writhing in midair, and at the end of every tentacle hung a naked young woman, sleek and bare, all turning in unison to look at Shen Mu, as countless shrill, rasping voices cried: "The Heavenly Sage Cult!

It is the Heavenly Sage Cult that imprisoned me here!

With these steles they pin down my body, pin down my legs and my hands!

" Boom, boom! In the Withered Silence Ridge Canyon, black stele after black stele trembled; beneath them some vast body seemed to struggle and writhe, striving to break the seal. Shen Mu was startled. Seeing so many steles in the Withered Silence Ridge Canyon, he had all along thought a demon kingdom, countless demons, lay imprisoned here; he had not imagined that what these steles held down was a single demon, one monstrously vast demon. The black steles shook without cease, the earth beside them quivering, as if it would be shaken out root and all. Suddenly the rune marks on the steles lit up, light flowing and whirling, and each stele became as weighty as a great mountain, pinning down the demon of Withered Silence Ridge so that she could not break free.

"I will have my revenge!

" Above the lake, those countless women's faces twisted, and they cried shrilly, "I will slaughter every one of you of the Heavenly Sage Cult! " The black steles encircling the ancient tree blazed with light; the radiance of the rune marks shone upon the ancient tree, and the tentacles above the lake seemed to be dragged down toward the depths by some strange force.

The women hanging on those tentacles shrieked and clawed in all directions, yet caught nothing, and were slowly drawn into the lake. "This lake must be the mark left where god-demon blood struck; the god-demon blood has already been absorbed by this ancient tree. " The Dutian Demon King said dubiously, "How does your hometown come by so many strange and outlandish things?

" Shen Mu laughed. "My hometown has things stranger still. Let us press on; we must leave Withered Silence Ridge before nightfall and find some safe place.

" "What a pity.

" The Dutian Demon King smacked his lips.

"That little demon was quite pretty, better looking than the women of my Dutian. " At this moment, Long Jiaonan and Qiu Yue had joined up with the scholar Lan Yu, the Half-Fool Monk, Yuan Shan, and the others, and were searching all about for Shen Mu's tracks when they suddenly felt the trembling that came from Withered Silence Ridge; one and all, they turned their eyes that way. The scholar Lan Yu blurted out, "The Nether Demon Hierarch has gone into the God-Severed Mountains? Is he not afraid of being shot dead by the Xuanji Crossbow?

" Qiu Yue waved a hand, and countless swarms of insects flew toward Withered Silence Ridge, following the sound.

"The Nether Demon Hierarch is cunning.

Since he takes the God-Severed Mountains, there is most likely a way of life through them! I will use the insects to scout the road; the rest of you follow behind!

" The group hurried toward Withered Silence Ridge, the insect tide surging ahead, countless insects beating their wings onward; when they came to the lake side, they saw demon clouds spreading over the water, and countless voices crying out from within: "Heavenly Sage Hierarch, I will kill you, I will surely kill you, and wipe out your Heavenly Sage Cult!

" The group looked at one another.

The Half-Fool Monk cleared his throat and said in a loud voice, "Demon, what grudge, what feud, have you with the Nether Demon Hierarch? " A young woman floated up from the lake, bare-bodied, pitiful and lovely, sadly and softly lamenting: "The Heavenly Sage Cult has held your handmaiden imprisoned here for several hundred years; my hatred for them is deep as the sea, irreconcilable beneath the same sky. Reverend Monk, if you can save your handmaiden, I am willing to give myself to you.

.

. " The Half-Fool Monk laughed. "I am a monk; I have no need of your hand in marriage.

Take refuge in my Buddha's teaching, help me kill the Nether Demon Hierarch, and this humble monk will break the seal here and set you free. " "Your handmaiden is willing to take refuge! " the woman said, astonished and overjoyed.

The scholar Lan Yu, Yuan Shan, Yu E, and the others all frowned and were about to object when the Half-Fool Monk had already torn up a black stele by the roots and flung it to the ground. Turning back, he said, "Fellow travelers, this is a demon suppressed by the Nether Demon Cult.

The Nether Demon Cult is the demonic path; a demon they suppress must surely be a good demon. Help me push down these demon-suppressing steles and free this fellow! " The others had no choice but to step forward and join forces to topple the steles one after another. Boom!

The mountains shook; the ancient tree rose slowly, and beneath its trunk a huge black ball swelled larger and larger, like an enormous skein wound from countless black threads. Those black roots writhed like dragons and great serpents, and amid their coils countless white bones were revealed.

Seeing the white bones buried beneath the tree, the Half-Fool Monk could not help but shudder.

He understood now: what the Nether Demon Cult had suppressed might not be his fellow at all, but a being more savage even than the Nether Demon Cult. "Run! " Long Jiaonan screamed. The group took to their heels at once, fleeing toward the Barren Ruins.

"I am free, I am free at last!

" Countless shrill voices rose behind them; more black steles along the path suddenly trembled and toppled one after another, and thick tentacles burst from the earth, writhing without cease, each root hung with a beautiful woman, laughing: "The Heavenly Sage Cult said I ate too many people and imprisoned me here.

Thank you, thank you, little monk. At last I can eat people again! "