A hundred miles outside Jiangzhou City, the rolling mountain range loomed in the morning mist. Su Yao unfolded the map projected by the Jade Slip; the glowing lines snaked toward a valley where clouds churned and low, beastly roars echoed, sounding like the sleep-talking of ancient giants.
"This fog is wrong," Zhao Ya said, forming a fire talisman with her fingertips. The flame was extinguished the moment it touched the mist. "It contains bone-corroding miasma. Ordinary cultivators would have their meridians shattered after inhaling it for three breaths." She took three jade talismans from her storage bag and handed them to Su Yao and Lin Yu. "Wear these around your necks; they will keep you safe for a while."
The moment they stepped into the valley, Su Yao felt her consciousness sea sink as if into a quagmire. The surrounding mist solidified, now morphing into screeching, clawing ghosts, now coalescing into figures of the Black-robed Man from the Tianji Pavilion. The Green Lotus Mark on her chest burned faintly, dispersing some of the illusions, but she could still feel eyes watching them from the shadows.
Chapter 188