Chapter 537: Chapter 537
Han Yu looked around.
No, this was definitely a different place. The air was thinner here, and the river that ran near most peaks was nowhere to be found.
Realization dawned on him.
"Don't tell me… this is the other Third Rib Peak?"
Indeed, as he walked further, he saw dilapidated paths, cracked tiles, and grass poking between the stones. The crimson glow that bathed most of the sect was faint here, replaced by the natural greens and greys of ordinary vegetation.
It was quiet too... eerily so.
A few disciples lingered around, but they looked weary, their robes patched and faded.
Han Yu exhaled in relief. "Finally, somewhere normal."
He did not care that it looked neglected. In fact, the lack of grandeur was comforting. The absence of the blood river nearby meant no one was throwing severed arms into the water or chanting about enlightenment through sacrifice and pain.
Though he at least realized that the numbered peaks too were divided into the Eastern and Western Peaks. Both having same naming scheme which he still couldn't figure it out. another problem was that no one bothered to right Eastern or Western prefix on the sign boards either.
This would make sense to the average sect disciple, but to Han Yu who still didn't know where west and east was it was still incomprehensible.
"What a pain..." He sighed before looking at the state of the peak.
"Though he really didn't live in such a run down place, did he? He did seem a bit rich even if he lacked the sect credits." Han Yu reckoned the Fifth Rib Peak should be at least better than this.
He then muttered, "If this really is the Eastern Third Rib Peak, maybe the Fourth is nearby, and the Fifth right after that. Please, heavens, just this once, make it easy."
But fate was not in the mood to be merciful.
After wandering for another few hours, Han Yu realized the peaks around him still weren't making sense at all. Thɪs chapter is updated by novel[f]ire.net
There was another Thirtieth Rib Peak somewhere to the north, an Eleventh to the west, and what someone called the False Fifth Peak to the east apparently built by a lunatic who wanted to "correct the Founder's sacred numbering."
By the time the twentieth hour passed, Han Yu had lost all faith in the sect's system of naming things. He was convinced whoever designed this place had done it specifically to confuse intruders or possibly just for fun being the insane person they definitely were.
Eventually, though, his endless wandering brought him back to the same neglected Third Rib Peak. And right beside it was a small path that had a small weathered sign board saying 'True Fifth Rib Peak' with an arrow pointing to the depths.
"They can't even maintain these signs? How hard are they to see from here, I almost missed it again." Han Yu groaned in frustration.
Regardless, he didn't wish to wander anymore and reckoned this should definitely be his destination. And after everything he had seen; the bridges, barriers, guards, and glowing rivers it finally dawned on him that this was his best chance.
He trudged up the worn path, passing rows of carved caves built into the side of the mountain. There were hundreds... no, thousands of them, stretching up and down the slope like honeycomb cells.
Each had a faint symbol etched beside the door, unique and unreadable.
Han Yu stared blankly at the endless rows. "You have got to be kidding me."
No records, no map, and no clue which one was his.
He checked Ju Fan's identity slip again, hoping it would contain some sort of address.
'Of course it didn't.' Why would anyone need to write down where they lived when they could just remember it?
Han Yu rubbed his face with both hands and groaned. "Great. Fantastic. I just have to check every cave one by one, like some lost delivery man."
He started from the bottom row, knocking on doors at random. Most were empty, echoing hollowly. A few were occupied by disciples who looked out suspiciously and asked what he wanted.
"Just… uh… verifying cave integrity," Han Yu said once. "Routine maintenance."
They either gave him blank stares or half irritated glares until he backed away, smiling awkwardly.
At one point, he accidentally knocked on a cave that turned out to belong to a female cultivator in meditation. The blast of killing intent that came out nearly shaved his eyebrows off.
"Sorry! I was drunk! Wrong cave!" he shouted, sprinting down the path.
By the time he reached the higher levels of the peak, the sky was beginning to lighten again, signaling the next day's arrival.
Han Yu finally sat down on a mossy stone, exhausted. His boots were caked in dust, his robe was wrinkled at the hem, and his patience had long since evaporated.
He looked up at the chaotic sprawl of caves and muttered, "Ju Fan, you miserable bastard, why couldn't you just leave a note somewhere?"
He leaned back and sighed. "First thing I'm doing once I find this damn place is getting a map. A big one. Maybe even two."
And as the wind rustled the grass around him and the faint crimson light flickered in the distance, Han Yu couldn't help but laugh at the absurdity of it all.
Twelve hours of walking, eight more of searching, and what did he have to show for it? A vague understanding that the sect might secretly be a maze designed by a lunatic god.
Still, he forced himself to his feet. "Alright. One last round. Then I'm sleeping in the first empty cave I find and calling it home."
As he trudged up the slope once more, his expression dark and determined, the Slaughtered Moon Divine Blood Sect remained as eerily silent as ever.
And somewhere among the thousand caves of the 'real' Fifth Rib Peak, the real Ju Fan's old home waited, mockingly close, yet hidden by fate's cruel sense of humor.