A thousand enlightenments in one night, starting from being a menial apprentice.

Chapter 561 Dark Night Falls
Several hours later, the pale yellow sky began to darken. This meant that night was about to fall within the ruins of gods and demons.

Guo Tian looked up at the sky and said, "Night is coming! Let's rest and replenish our strength. Night is much more dangerous than day!"

The group then sat down cross-legged in an open space.

They all took out dried meat from their backpacks and began to chew and swallow.

Dried meat wasn't tasty, but it replenished their depleted energy and blood. After all, in these ruins of gods and demons, their main reliance was on sheer physical strength.

They ate some dried meat and rested briefly before darkness fell. The twilight within the ruins of gods and demons had already enveloped them from all directions.

In the gloomy twilight, this jumbled rocky forest appeared even more eerie and desolate.

Guo Tian turned on the tinderbox, blew out a flame, then pulled a torch from his backpack and lit it with the tinderbox.

A flame roared in the twilight, illuminating everyone's faces.

Guo Tiandao said, "The night is not peaceful, so we will take turns on guard. We will split into two groups, with Duan Rong and I as the group leaders. Does anyone have any objections?"

Du Wan said, "No objection."

Lu Chu smiled and said, "I have no objection either."

The others remained silent, which was taken as tacit agreement.

After they formed their ranks, they continued forward.

Although the darkness of the ruins of gods and demons was dangerous, they had to continue their journey. Firstly, they needed to make a round trip to the central altar in twenty days, and without traveling at night, they simply wouldn't have enough time. Secondly, even if they didn't travel, staying in one place at night was just as dangerous; evil spirits could still come knocking at any moment.

At this moment, Duan Rong, Lu Chu, Du Wan, and Xu Hui were walking in the middle of the group.

Now it's Guo Tian's group that's on guard.

Guo Tian led the way with a torch, while Jiang Hanyan and Su Xinjue stood guard on either side of the procession. Yang Sui led the way with a second torch at the very back.

The night was dark, unlike the daytime, so no one dared to search for the elixir anymore. Everyone walked in a specific formation.

The two torches at the front and back had already illuminated the area around the group.

Guo Tian led the way, holding a torch. He was a burly man with a broadsword strapped to his back, standing there like a small mountain.

As Jiang Hanyan and Su Xinjue walked, they warily scanned the dense darkness beyond the firelight on both sides of the group.

Apart from the howling night wind, the space was deathly silent, with only the hollow sound of a few people walking echoing in the quiet.

Walking at the back of the procession, carrying the torch, Yang Sui was the most uneasy. He frequently turned to look behind him, his ears perked up, listening intently to any sounds. Sometimes the night wind would rise and fall, startling him so much that he would turn back repeatedly, fearing something was approaching from the darkness…

After walking in the darkness for more than an hour, everyone gradually got used to it. Even Yang Sui, who was at the back of the group, was no longer as uneasy as before.

Moreover, a "moon" rose in the night sky above the ruins of gods and demons. If that can be called a moon.

The moon emitted a pale green light, like a strangely curled-up green rabbit. The green light was so dim that it served almost no purpose in illuminating the area; it merely shrouded the already eerie, rocky jungle in a faint green glow, making it even more unsettling.

Yang Sui still occasionally looked back at the dense darkness beyond the firelight not far behind him, but he had long since grown accustomed to the howling night wind and the torch beside him that burned his cheeks. The dense, pitch-black darkness was indeed eerie, but people get used to fear.

Since we don't know when evil spirits will come, there's no point in scaring ourselves!

During the ten-day intensive training, the study of evil spirits was one of the two major focuses.

The reason why evil spirits exist within the ruins of gods and demons is because the laws governing these ruins are different. In other words, the laws of the world of gods and demons themselves can give rise to evil spirits.

However, according to records of those who entered the ruins of gods and demons over the years, they usually encountered at most two evil spirits on their way to and from the central altar.

Some lucky teams only encountered one evil spirit attack during the entire process.

In other words, the record of encountering evil spirits is one or two, and the evil spirits encountered each time one enters the ruins of gods and demons are different.

As for why this is, the sect has never reached a conclusion.

Because there are no evil spirits in the Nine Provinces world, and the relics of gods and demons are incomplete or only a fragment exists, the laws governing the birth and longevity of evil spirits are impossible to study.

According to Lin Youjian and his group's deduction, it is probably related to the size of the divine and demonic ruins. In other words, the area of ​​the divine and demonic ruins of the Taiyi Sect is so small that it can only give birth to a maximum of two evil spirits.

It takes them twenty days to travel to and from the central altar. If they are lucky, they will only be attacked by evil spirits once at most.

Why scare yourself like this on the very first night?
Several hours later, the two groups took turns, and Duan Rong and his men became wary.

Duan Rong carried the torch at the front of the procession, while Lu Chu and Du Wan stood guard on both sides. Xu Hui, pale-faced, took the torch from Yang Sui and walked at the back of the procession.

Guo Tian and his group walked in the middle of the procession. At this moment, all four of them looked tired, their eyelids drooping. Several hours of focused attention on their surroundings had taken a toll on their mental energy, and Yang Sui couldn't help but yawn.

The surroundings remained silent. The four of them were a little tired from being on guard, so they pretended to doze off as they walked.

After the two groups took turns again, they walked for another hour. Guo Tian suddenly took out a map and said as they walked, "There's a water source over there. Let's rest for a while and replenish our supplies. It's still two days' journey to the next water source."

Duan Rong's eyes flickered upon hearing this. He had looked at the map; it seemed they were moving quite fast and had already reached the second water source.

Duan Rong looked up into the darkness ahead and indeed saw a faint light not far away, which was clearly the dim light reflected from a pool of water.

Everyone licked their dry lips and had no objection to Guo Tian's statement.

They had already taken turns on guard twice, and it was probably almost dawn. They had barely stopped walking all night, and the distance they had covered was still quite far.

The group then took their torches and walked toward the pool not far away.

After approaching the pool, Guo Tian and Yang Sui stuck torches into the crevices of the rocks beside the pool.

In the firelight, the pool was not large, about half the size of the first pool they had encountered before.

This is significantly smaller than the size shown on the previous map.

Looking at the pool before him, Lu Chu recalled Duan Rong's earlier assessment. Twenty-nine years had passed; things like pools, which are prone to change, would indeed change, and it would be normal for them to disappear altogether.

While everyone sat there resting, Xu Hui pulled a torch from a crevice in the rock and slowly walked to a spot not far from the pool.

He stared at the dark pool, a hint of wariness flashing across his pale face.

In the team, he was responsible for testing the water source. This was originally just one of many routine and unremarkable tasks.

But this pool is different from the one from during the day.

During the day, the sky is bright and the water quality in the pool is very good. The yellow light shines through the water, and the bottom of the pool is clearly visible.

But it's night now, and although the pool isn't large, it's pitch black, and who knows what might be hiding inside.

Xu Hui was a cautious and sensitive person, which is why, before setting off, Liu Su assigned the task of testing water sources to Xu Hui when allocating daily tasks.

Liu Su knew his apprentice very well. Although testing the water source was a seemingly insignificant task, it had to be entrusted to a reliable person.

Duan Rong noticed that Xu Hui was hesitant, so he stood up, walked over, patted Xu Hui on the shoulder, and said, "Come on, I'll go with you."

Xu Hui turned his head, looked at Duan Rong with gratitude, and said, "Thank you."

The two then went to the edge of the pool. They stood there, staring at the water for a while, and saw a strange green, hairy moon floating on the surface, rippling with the waves. Duan Rong said, "It should be fine, Xu Hui, you can do the testing."

Xu Hui nodded, took out a silver needle, bent down, and gently stirred the silver needle in the pool water. Then he moved to another spot and continued to probe the silver needle into the water.

Throughout the entire process, Duan Rong stood there, his gaze fixed on the water like a knife. At the slightest sign of trouble, he would immediately call out to Xu Hui.

Xu Hui circled the pool, inspecting several areas, before finally standing up and smiling faintly at Duan Rong, saying, "The water is fine."

The pool wasn't large, and only a fluffy green moon floated there; there wasn't anything particularly wrong with it.

Duan Rong said, "That's good!"

After Xu Hui finished his test, everyone went to the pool to fetch water.

Each person scooped a cup of water with a silver cup, then sat on the rocks by the pool, chewing on dried meat taken out of their backpacks while drinking the water.

After a while, Jiang Hanyan and Su Xinjue suddenly stood up.

Jiang Hanyan said, "Xinjue and I are going over there. You guys wait for us here."

Upon hearing this, Guo Tian was slightly taken aback and asked in surprise, "What are you going over there for?"

Guo Tian's meaning was clear: it was nighttime, and evil spirits could appear at any time. It would be very dangerous to leave the group at this time.

When Jiang Hanyan saw Guo Tian asking her a question, her face flushed slightly, but she ignored him. Instead, she pulled a torch from a crack in the rock and walked into the darkness with Su Xinjue.

“This…” Guo Tian stood there, wondering why Jiang Hanyan was acting this way. He even stood up hesitantly.

Guo Tian was quite worried that something might happen to Jiang Hanyan and Su Xinjue, who were in his group and were both women.

Seeing Guo Tian stand up and watch Jiang Hanyan walk into the darkness, Lu Chu suddenly grabbed his shoulder and laughed, "Senior Brother Guo, they're going over there to resolve something. Are you going with them?"

"Solve the problem? Solve what problem?!" Guo Tian still didn't understand, while Du Wan on the other end was already giggling.

Jiang Hanyan and Su Xinjue actually went over there to relieve themselves.

During the day it was alright; the two of them could keep watch for each other and relieve themselves in a slightly secluded place.

But they had to endure it all night long. The eight people in the team stayed together, divided into groups and on guard.

The men relieved themselves right there by the roadside, and then immediately walked back without falling behind. But the women couldn't do that; they had to hold it in. Now, at the pond, they had drunk some water and eaten some food, and they couldn't hold it in any longer, so they had to go to a nearby spot to relieve themselves.

Jiang Hanyan and Su Xinjue walked to a pile of rocks. Standing there, they could see a ball of fire shining in the pool not far away. In the quiet darkness, they could even hear Lu Chu and the others talking.

Jiang Hanyan held up a torch, shielding Su Xinjue behind her, letting her squat there to deal with the situation first...

Guo Tian finally realized what was happening and sat back down with a somewhat embarrassed expression.

After everyone finished eating and drinking, they put away the silver cups and sat down to rest for a while, waiting for Jiang Hanyan and Su Xinjue to return.

Duan Rong looked up at the pitch-black sky. Judging by the time, it should be getting light soon.

Just then, a figure emerged from the darkness not far away, with a slender waist and a light green skirt.

"It's Su Xinjue!?"

The moment Duan Rong saw Su Xinjue, his heart skipped a beat.

First, Su Xinjue returned too quickly. Jiang Hanyan and she had just left when she returned. Second, she came back alone; not only was Jiang Hanyan not with her, but the torches they had taken were also gone. This woman had just emerged from the dense darkness.

Just as an ominous feeling rose in Duan Rong's heart, Su Xinjue was already walking towards them.

The closest person to the place where Su Xinjue emerged from the darkness was Lu Chu, who was sitting on a pile of rocks looking at a map.

A figure emerged from the darkness beside him. Lu Chu caught a glimpse of it out of the corner of his eye, and when he turned his head, he saw Su Xinjue walking towards him.

Lu Chu's expression froze. He saw Su Xinjue looking at him with a strange, stiff smile on her face.

Lu Chu asked, "Xin Jue, why did you come back alone? Where is Jiang Hanyan?"

As Lu Chu spoke, he looked behind Su Xinjue, but there was only dense darkness there. Where was Jiang Hanyan's figure?

Seeing that Su Xinjue was only a few steps away from Lu Chu, Duan Rong suddenly shouted, "Lu Chu, get out of the way!"

"what!?"

"She's not Su Xinjue!?"

Lu Chu was startled when he heard Duan Rong's shout. He then noticed that Su Xinjue was approaching him with a strange smile on her face. It was a stiff and unchanging smile, like a human face mask.

Su Xinjue's walking posture was somewhat stiff at this moment, unlike her usual graceful demeanor.

Lu Chu immediately jumped back to avoid Su Xinjue who was approaching him.

Besides sensing Su Xinjue's strangeness, another reason was that he trusted Duan Rong's judgments on several occasions. He believed that Duan Rong wouldn't have asked him to move aside for no reason if he hadn't seen anything.

After Lu Chu dodged, Su Xinjue stiffly turned around, still wearing that eerie smile on her face, and looked at Lu Chu.

Duan Rong stood not far away, his eyes cold as he stared at "Su Xinjue," and asked abruptly, "What exactly are you?!"

The "Su Xinjue" seemed to understand Duan Rong's question. Her strange face, which had been looking at Lu Chu, suddenly turned to look at Duan Rong.

At this moment, everyone stood up, looking at Su Xinjue and Duan Rong with uncertain expressions.

In their eyes, although the person in front of them had a strange expression, she was clearly Su Xinjue! But why did Duan Rong say that she was not Su Xinjue, and why did Duan Rong use the word "thing" instead of "person" in his question?

Could it be! ?
As everyone's expressions shifted, Lu Chu felt a chill run down his spine. He glanced at Duan Rong and asked, "Duan Rong, you just said she wasn't Su Xinjue!?"

As Lu Chu spoke, he distanced himself from "Su Xinjue" even further.

At this moment, everyone present felt a chill run down their spines.

Duan Rong coldly replied, "Of course she's not Su Xinjue! Because the shoes she's wearing aren't Su Xinjue's at all!"

Only then did everyone look down and see that under Su Xinjue's flowing skirt, a pair of blood-red embroidered shoes were faintly visible.

At this moment, Su Xinjue still had a strange smile on her face, but her deep eyes were filled with intense resentment.

Just as "Su Xinjue's" eyes flashed with resentment, Duan Rong suddenly flicked his right hand. In the darkness, a plum blossom bloomed beside his hand, and three phosphorescent flying needles were silently shot towards "Su Xinjue's" eerie face.

The three phosphorescent needles hovered a few inches from Su Xinjue's face, then a strange, deep laugh echoed in the quiet night, sometimes near, sometimes far, sending chills down one's spine...

The moment the laughter rang out, an extremely chilling aura emanated from "Su Xinjue's" body, and the surrounding air seemed to instantly turn cold... A thick darkness formed beneath "Su Xinjue's" feet...

A chill ran down everyone's spine, and the three suspended phosphorescent needles seemed to be corroded by something, turning into dust and scattering away...

At this moment, "Su Xinjue" had disappeared, and standing there was a bride dressed in crimson with a red veil on her head. The eerie laughter came from inside the veil, but it was like a strange buzzing sound coming from a bottomless well...

(End of this chapter)