nycdaug Chapter 320 Ghost hits the wall
Chapter 320 Ghost hits the wall
Chapter 320: Ghost Wall
At this time, the group was in an extremely embarrassing and dangerous situation. They could neither move forward nor retreat, as if they were trapped here by an invisible force.
As night gradually fell, the originally enchanting clouds in the sky disappeared without a trace as if wiped out by a mysterious giant hand, and the surroundings became increasingly dark and gloomy.
Occasionally, one or two weeping and wailing sounds could be heard from a distance. The sound was like the crying of a ghost or the wailing of a wounded beast, echoing in this silent wilderness, which was creepy.
"Ning'an, in your opinion, what should we do next?" His Royal Highness the Crown Prince's eyes were fixed on the predicament before him. Although anxiety was faintly visible in his eyes, he was a member of the royal family after all. The upbringing he had received over the years enabled him to maintain a calm voice even in such a critical moment.
Chu Ning'an, who was standing aside, frowned slightly, first carefully observed the steep cliff that lay in front of everyone, and then raised his head to look at the sky.
After a moment, he seemed to have a plan in mind. He turned to the Crown Prince and said, "Your Highness, I think the most urgent thing is to send ten agile men to explore the direction of the sound. However, you must instruct them not to act rashly if they encounter any unusual situation. They must send someone back here to report immediately. The rest of you, please set up camp here for a while and rest."
Hearing Chu Ning'an's orderly arrangements, His Royal Highness the Crown Prince nodded.
The guards quickly took action and soon selected ten strong guards and asked them to grope forward cautiously in the direction of the strange wailing sound.
The rest of the people began to busily set up tents and light bonfires, preparing for the coming night.
......
The sky was just beginning to show a hint of paleness, and the faint light shone through the layers of leaves onto the ground.
The chief guard walked cautiously to Chu Ning'an and gently woke him up from his sleep.
Chu Ning'an slowly woke up and rubbed his sleepy eyes. After he regained consciousness, he realized that the atmosphere around him was a bit solemn.
It turned out that the men who had been sent out to explore the route the previous night hadn't returned all night! Not only that, even the pre-arranged distress signal hadn't been sounded.
This situation cast a heavy shadow over the hearts of everyone present.
Chu Ning'an frowned tightly, and the inexplicable uneasiness in his heart became stronger and stronger.
He knew very well that the road ahead would be filled with countless unknown dangers and difficulties and obstacles, and might be even more dangerous than they had imagined.
After some simple reorganization, everyone began to move slowly down the cliff along the ropes prepared in advance.
Since the guards who had explored the way left obvious marks along the way, the journey was relatively safe.
Not to mention those terrifying beasts and birds of prey, even the snakes, insects, rats and ants that are common in daily life are now nowhere to be seen.
In this way, everyone walked more than ten miles in one breath without stopping.
The sun hanging high in the sky was rising higher and higher, and coupled with the humid and hot air in the mountains, it made people feel as if they were in a huge steamer, and every step forward became extremely difficult.
Just when everyone was complaining and exhausted, suddenly, a slight and strange rustling sound came from not far ahead.
Chu Ning'an became alert instantly. He quickly stretched out his hand to signal everyone to stop, and quickly selected two agile guards from the team and ordered them to go and check what was going on.
The others followed closely behind, moving forward cautiously.
However, unexpectedly, someone in the crowd suddenly exclaimed, "Look! Isn't that the small group of scout guards we sent out last night?"
Upon hearing this, everyone looked in the direction of the voice and saw a group of figures walking slowly in the distance.
Only after they came closer could I see what these people looked like.
They were all dressed in rags, unkempt, with varying degrees of fatigue on their faces, and dark circles under their eyes, as if they had not slept a wink all night.
Seeing this, everyone hurried forward, but when they got in front of the group of guards, they were surprised to find that these people were completely oblivious to everything around them and just kept walking around the road in front of them.
Their steps seemed somewhat stiff and mechanical, as if they were completely immersed in their own world and could not hear the shouts of others at all.
Upon closer observation, one can even see that their eyes are empty and unfocused, as if they have lost their souls, and are just blindly circling along the predetermined route.
Seeing this, the guards behind them hurried forward, stretched out their hands and patted the shoulders of their companions in front of them. After a series of strong pats, the group of guards who had been like zombies finally seemed to wake up from a dream, suddenly stopped and looked around in confusion.
When they came to their senses and saw the crowd gathered around them and the mess on the ground, they realized the situation they were in.
They forced themselves to cheer up, fell to their knees, kowtowed repeatedly to apologize, and began to tell what happened last night.
It turned out that the ten guards had already discussed an action plan before setting off last night. According to the original plan, two team members would be sent back to the camp to report on the situation every ten miles.
The journey was smooth at first and there were no unusual situations, so everyone walked several more miles without realizing it.
But who would have thought that when they were still some distance away from the scheduled turning point, something unexpected happened. They seemed to be trapped in a strange maze, like encountering the legendary ghost wall. No matter whether they moved forward or backward, they could not escape this predicament.
They seemed to have lost the ability to sense fatigue and exhaustion, and just kept going around in circles mechanically.
If they had not been woken up in time by their companions, they would probably have collapsed here due to excessive fatigue.
After listening to their description, Chu Ning'an couldn't help but feel a deeper sense of fear in his heart.
Since entering this area, although there have been dangers along the way, we have been able to overcome them in the end.
However, it was this seemingly calm but fraught situation that made him feel increasingly uneasy.
Logically speaking, such deep and dense mountains and forests should be places where wild beasts run rampant, but what is surprising is that, let alone ferocious jackals, tigers and leopards, even common small animals such as rabbits and pheasants have not been seen.
What kind of harsh environment could make these wild beasts so frightened and stay away from them?
"Ning'an, in your opinion, how should we break through this mysterious 'ghost wall'?" The prince asked Chu Ning'an with a worried look on his face.
Chu Ning'an frowned and was silent for a moment. Then he turned to Ru Yue beside him, stretched out his hand, and said, "Give me a silver needle."
After taking the silver needle, Chu Ning'an cautiously took a few tentative steps forward and walked straight to where the trapped guards were.
He squatted down and began to carefully observe the surrounding situation with great concentration.
After careful observation, Chu Ning'an did not find anything unusual or special.
As he continued to move forward, a clear and bright scene suddenly appeared before his eyes; however, when he looked back, the road that should have existed behind him suddenly disappeared, as if it had never appeared.
In that instant, he suddenly felt as if his head was shrouded in a thick fog, and a confused and dazed feeling came over him.
This strange feeling startled him, and he subconsciously took out a silver needle from his arms and stabbed it into his arm without hesitation.
As the stinging pain came, he suddenly came to his senses and shouted at the same time: "Can you see me?"
This sudden shout was like a thunderclap, breaking the originally quiet atmosphere. Everyone present was startled and stunned.
The one who reacted the fastest was Ru Yue. Her face changed drastically, and she hurried forward and pulled him back to her side. Her eyes were full of worry, and she asked anxiously, "Are you feeling unwell? Tell me quickly!"
As soon as he left the area he had just been in, that confused feeling disappeared instantly, and he became sober immediately as if he had been enlightened.
He has never believed in supernatural phenomena such as "ghost wall", but what happened at this moment was too weird. After careful thinking and speculation, he finally understood.
He straightened his clothes, bowed respectfully to the Crown Prince, and then said solemnly, "Your Highness, in my opinion, this is not a so-called 'ghost wall'. I'm afraid someone has set up some kind of complex formation here."
After saying this, he turned around, glanced at the guards behind him, and then asked, "Is there anyone among you who is quite proficient in battle formations?"
The guards looked at each other and sighed.
For these guards, who were only good at fighting and killing, formations were too mysterious and unfamiliar. Not to mention breaking them, few had even heard of the relevant knowledge.
For a moment, the whole scene fell into silence, and a shadow was cast over everyone's heart.
It was already difficult to find that strange sight, and now such a mysterious formation had appeared. This undoubtedly added great difficulty to their task. No one knew what to do next.