273 Inside the Stockade_1
Mo Hua had stealthily dug through the wall and, like a ghost, unnoticed, slipped into Black Mountain Stronghold.
Upon entering the stronghold, she was immediately assaulted by a pungent, blood-soaked odor.
It was a blend of stale decay and the fresh sharpness of blood.
A bone-chilling cold permeated the surroundings.
Mo Hua couldn’t help but shiver before she looked around, her mouth agape in surprise.
Such a vast stronghold!
Flanked by embracing mountains on both sides, Black Mountain Stronghold lay nestled in the midst.
The piece of the wall that Mo Hua had broken through was just a tiny part of the entire tall structure that stretched before her eyes, with more towering walls constructed all around.
Beyond the high walls, the surrounding mountains acted as natural barriers for Black Mountain Stronghold.
The entire stronghold lay under the cover of night, resembling an impenetrable bastion, almost like a monstrous creature that devoured people.
Mo Hua was profoundly shocked, followed by a wave of relief.
This must be, perhaps, the largest Sin Cultivator power in Tongxian City, no, maybe even in the entire Black Mountain State Boundary.
If they hadn’t reconnoitered in advance and had rashly called people over, a confrontation could have resulted in terrible death and injury.
Afterward, Mo Hua began to observe the layout of Black Mountain Stronghold with extreme caution.
The stronghold was enormous, filled with countless buildings. At a cursory glance, there seemed to be hundreds, densely packed within the embraced valley.
The atmosphere was gloomy and eerily sinister.
Under the dim light of fires, bloodstains could be seen almost everywhere – on the roads, on the walls, on the pillars.
In some corners lay the severed limbs and remains of unknown cultivators.
Some buildings housed Sin Cultivators, while others imprisoned other cultivators, likely captured and abducted.
These innocent cultivators were caged like animals, emaciated to the bone, more skeletal than human.
Mo Hua frowned.
“Why would these Sin Cultivators imprison cultivators here? Aren’t they usually killed?”
Even a Sin Cultivator like Bald Tuo killed relentlessly, and Black Mountain Stronghold seemed even more wicked. Why then were these cultivators’ lives spared?
Perplexed, Mo Hua decided to watch nearby for a while.
Soon enough, a fierce-looking Sin Cultivator came over, selected a cultivator whose complexion looked slightly better, and, with a slash, cut his wrist to collect blood.
The cultivator’s face twisted in agony, unable to struggle as his blood dripped into a bowl, filling it completely.
The Sin Cultivator picked up the bowl and drank deeply from it, his vitality surging right after.
He licked his lips, seemingly unsatisfied.
After a while, another Sin Cultivator arrived.
He placed his large hand on the forehead of a young cultivator. The young man immediately let out a heart-wrenching scream.
Using Divine Sense, Mo Hua could see the young cultivator’s Spiritual Power actually flowing in reverse from his dantian, through his meridians, converging at the crown of his head, and finally transferring into the Sin Cultivator’s body through his palm.
Spiritual Power flowing in reverse brought with it tremendous pain.
Which is why the young cultivator’s screams were so sharp, they scarcely sounded human.
Annoyed by the noise, the Sin Cultivator continued draining the Spiritual Power with his right hand while his left hand choked the young man’s throat to silence him.
Once he had finished extracting the Spiritual Power, the young cultivator collapsed weakly to the ground, silent, his fate between life and death unknown.
Similarly, more Sin Cultivators came one after another, doing things much the same – either drawing blood or draining Spiritual Power, and some even practised more terrifying methods.
Mo Hua felt as though she had fallen into an ice cellar.
It dawned on her that Black Mountain Stronghold was not a den for Sin Cultivators but a lair for Evil Cultivators!
Such a vast stronghold, and it was full of Evil Cultivators, hundreds of them!
Mo Hua couldn’t help but take in a sharp breath.
Sin Cultivators murder for wealth, desiring fortune.
Evil Cultivators practice their arts on humans, never treating them as human beings at all.
Those locked in iron cells were not treated as people but more like … livestock raised for slaughter!
Mo Hua was both shocked and furious, but after thinking it over, could only sigh helplessly.
She was incapable of saving these cultivators.
It would be good enough if she could even ensure her own safety, let alone rescue others.
If Black Mountain Stronghold was indeed a nest of Evil Cultivators, the danger was far greater than she had anticipated.
“`
“Should I take the chance to slip away before they notice me?”