Chapter 2928: Heading To The Shadow Whisper Valley
A week had passed since Lin Mu had uncovered the cryptic tale in theMemoirs of the Lost Immortal. In that time, he and his companions had made thorough preparations for their next destinationâShadow Whisper Valley.
The valley lay to thewest, nestled between crooked hills and forgotten lands. It wasnât officially marked as forbidden, but everyone treated it as if it were. Those who ventured too close often came back broken... if they came back at all.
Supplies were stocked. Talismans and formation flags were tested. Spiritual protections and mental wards were doubled. Even Daoist Chu had prepared a few specialized artifactsâones meant to resist spirit corrosion and illusions.
Finally, they set out.
The journey tookseven days, traversing wilderness and fading roads, crossing deserted waystations and ruined border posts. The further west they traveled, the more people avoided their eyes when the wordsShadow Whisper Valleywere mentioned.
It was as if just saying the name brought misfortune.
On the morning of the eighth day, they arrived.
The sky above the valley wasnot a skyat all, but a shroud ofdark cloudsandmistthat swirled like ink trapped in water. It was impossible to see the sun, moon, or stars. The light that filtered through was pale, grey, and unnaturally coldâlike twilight stretched into eternity.
A densefoghugged the ground, creeping up the hillsides like it was alive. The air was heavy and damp, filled with the scent of mildew and something faintly metallic... blood, perhaps.
The land itself was nearlybarren. There were no lush trees or grassâonly a scattering ofgnarled treeswith bark as black as charcoal and twistedplantsthat looked more fungal than floral. Even the soil was dull, almost ashen in color, like it had been drained of life.
"Cheerful place," Meng Bai muttered under his breath, adjusting the flying talisman strapped to his back.
Little Shrubby sniffed the air but growled low in his throat. "I donât like the scent here. Itâs wrong. Everything smells... old. Like it died long ago and never rotted."
Daoist Chu, floating beside them in the air, frowned deeply. "Itâs spirit rot. The very essence of this place has become... warped."
Meng Bai held onto a small formation compass, the needle spinning erratically. "Even Spirit sense is disturbed here," he said, face tense. "I donât like this."
Lin Mu didnât speak. He simply looked down into the valley.
They began tofly over it, keeping to a cautious elevation. From above, thevalley stretched vast and uneven, with jagged paths and crooked cliffs. No signs of civilization or even abandoned structures were visibleâjust natural, chaotic land swallowed in fog.
Then came thesounds.
At first, they thought it was just the wind.
But it wasnât.
It was too erratic, too... deliberate.
Whispers rode the currentsâbarely audible, like voices speaking in another room. Sometimes a low wailing moan would rise up from the ground, only to be cut off abruptly. Other times, there were soft chuckles or cries that came from nowhere, then everywhere, and then vanished.
"Thereâs no source," Meng Bai muttered. "The sounds... theyâre coming from the fog itself."
"Theyâre not sounds," Daoist Chu said grimly. "Theyâre echoes. But not ours."
The group flew cautiously, scanning the terrain for signs of movement.
Birds? Beasts? Anything natural?
There were none.
As thesun dipped, though it could not be seen, the dull light faded further until the valley seemed to sink into adeep twilight.
Then... thephantomsappeared.
It began with flickersâdistant shapes shuffling just beyond the edge of perception. At first, they seemed like normal people, wandering lost. But then came the flickering lights. Some glowed faint green, others blue or silver. Some drifted like mist, while othersjerked unnaturally, as if moved by puppet strings.
"There," Lin Mu pointed down. "By that broken ridge."
The others followed his gaze and saw afigureâdraped in what looked like a torn robe. Its head was bowed. Its hands dragged along the ground. But what stood out was that it had no face.
Just smooth, blank skin where its features should be.
They watched in silence as it stopped, lifted its head, and turned directlytoward them, even from hundreds of meters below.
Its eyeless face seemed to see them anyway.
Then it vanished.
"Didâdid it just disappear?" Little Shrubby asked, claws tensed.
Daoist Chuâs hand clenched tighter around his staff. "That wasnât an illusion. It sensed us."
More of them began to appear asnight settled.
Some floated. Some walked. Some crawled on all fours withunnatural grace. They bore no consistent shapeâsome large, some small, some missing limbs. One hadmultiple faces, each one wailing in silence.
They did not attack.
They merely... wandered.
"Are these souls?" Meng Bai asked, voice low.
"Fragments," Lin Mu answered. "Phantasms. Echoes. Theyâre not alive, and theyâre not dead. Theyâre something in between."
Little Shrubby growled. "So we can fight them?"
"Probably. But it might not help," Lin Mu replied. "Theyâre not physical. Fighting them would be like trying to punch a scream. Qi attacks would work but no use in fighting them as it would bring us no benefit."
They flew higher, careful not to get too close.
Lin Mu scanned the horizon, searching for anything that might hint at theThorned Eye, or perhaps the core of the cultâs presence.
But the valley stretched endlessly, and the darkness below was thick.
"Weâll need to land soon," Daoist Chu said. "Flying drains Immortal qi faster here. The distortions are interfering."
"Agreed," Lin Mu nodded. "Letâs find a defensible spot. Weâll camp and take shifts."
Lin Mu might be able to endure for months, and even Daoist Chu could do the same but Meng Bai would need rest.
As they descended toward a cliffside ledge overlooking a warped grove of trees, Lin Mu looked down once more at the wandering phantoms.
One of them stopped again... and looked up at him.
This time, Lin Mu felt it.
A tug at his mindâsubtle, chilling.
A faint whisper echoed in his ear.
"...Ephemera..."
He stiffened.
That was no illusion.
That voice had said the word.
And it wasreal.
Something in the valley knew they had come.
And it was watching.