Chapter 5-The Great Abyss
Ding Hao sounded as if he just escaped from the deepest place in hell because his voice sent chills down Zhao Xingcheng’s spine, leaving him to tremble in silence.
Zhao Xingcheng’s young entourage stopped cheering.
The seemingly tough guys all froze on the spot like panicking ducks being wrung in the neck.
Then, Ding Hao sneered and retracted his sword.
Subsequently, he turned around and strode toward the cliff where Swordsmanship-seeking Sect dumped their waste every day.
Zhao Xingcheng and his entourage were so surprised that they froze on the spot, only when Ding Hao ran into the pale moonlight in the distance did they come around. In a state of shock, they slowly regained conciseness and then saw fear in each other’s eyes. All of them remembered the conflict like a nightmare.
“Hell, that little bastard...” Zhao Xingcheng gasped and glared.
What had happened?
When did the stupid and obedient Ding Hao turn vicious and decisive?
It was like another man.
How could he wield a worn-out rusty sword in such an aggressive way?
Recalling the strokes Ding Hao played, Zhao Xingcheng could not stop his cold sweat.
Apparently, he had noticed, though unreluctantly, the “Pig of Swordsmanship-seeking” stroked faster and more skillfully than the Swordsmanship-seeking Sect disciple he knew... However, he found it confusing—how could it be?
“What now? Shall we chase him or not?” One of his entourage picked up Zhao Xingcheng’s sword that had been tossed away and asked.
“Chase him? Why? Can you beat him? Do you want to get smashed?” Zhao Xingcheng was irritated. He took his sword and put it back in the sheath.
“Well, are we letting him get away with that?”
“We won’t. We’ll have someone deal with him. Does he think he can hide forever? Humph, I wish he’d been prepared before he took a stand against me. Let’s go!” Zhao Xingcheng glared.
Though they could not do anything to him in broad daylight, they could, otherwise, end him in the dead of night.
Zhao Xingcheng was never a man of honor.
Today, Ding Hao embarrassed him in front of his entourage. Tomorrow, it would be time for Ding Hao to suffer 100 times more.
...
Ding Hao ran out of Zhao Xingcheng’s reach, and soon reached his destination.
It was a rugged slope of 45 degrees. Every day, Swordsmanship-seeking Sect dumped their garbage via the slope to the unfathomable abyss under the cliff.
The abyss under the cliff was called the Great Abyss.
Under the cliff, the black fog rolled and the gale blew. Eerie howling could be heard and could drag people in.
It was said to be an entrance that led to monsters underworld.
Since its establishment, Swordsmanship-seeking Sect had taken an interest in the abyss and sent people down there.
However, they stopped exploring it after a great grandmaster, three grandmasters, and dozens masters did not return.
Later on, the sect simply forbade anyone entering the Great Abyss to search anything.
In the end, it became a place where the sect dumped their waste every day.
For thousands of years, countless garbage was dumped under the cliff into the Great Abyss. In the end, even at the rim of the cliff, it was filled with garbage that soured and fermented over the past countless years, turning the nearby stone wood into a toxic swamp.
Many people from the slum used to wander here, breathed in the toxic air and died.
Because of that, people living in the slum refrained from entering here.
As arrogant as the Swordsmanship-seeking Sect disciples, they would not bother wandering here.
On the other hand, the previous Ding Hao would come here every night to search anything useful. If in good luck, he would return home with some useful stuff. Then, he would keep them for himself or directly sell them on the market.
He used to be honest, brave, and dared to enter places others did not. In the end, he actually found a way free of toxic air and other traps to led him to the safe spot by the cliff.
That was why, before Ding Hao, no one had found that on the bump on the cliff wall, grew a couple of valuable third-stage herbs: Dragon Heart Seedling.
It was in other places, these Dragon Heart Seedlings would have been picked up ages ago, and how would he get a chance near them?
Actually, the present Ding Hao did not found the plants under the edge of the cliff until two days ago.
Third-stage herbs like these were exactly the right medicine for nourishing one’s body and expanded one’s meridians.
With them, in 15 days, Ding Hao could strengthen his body and grow his innate weak meridians to pass the sect entrance test.
This was where Ding Hao bet his last hope.
According to his memory, Ding Hao took the familiar route to the cliff soon.
He lay on the ground carefully and looked down under the cliff.
Under the cliff, the black fog swirled and chilly wind howled. A hundred meters under the cliff, streaks of red lights flickered in the dark. That was where the Dragon Heart Seedlings grew.
Ding Hao gasped.
This place was really dangerous.
Something in the dark mist was pulling him down. It was hard for him to pick the herbs.
Nevertheless, he had no other way.
After a simple preparation, he joined pieces of ropes, tied one end on the rocks on the cliff, and threw the other end under the cliff. Having measured the distance to the plants, he gripped tightly onto the rope and descended.
“Why do I go down under the cliff in the middle of the night? I don’t even have a buckle. I’ll be a meat pie if I fall!”
Climbing down the rope for a couple of meters, Ding Hao was feeling a little desperate.
His prophecy had unfortunately come true.
Before he could finish his words, there went a snap.
The seemingly solid rope actually snapped in the middle of it.
Ding Hao was scared as hell.
Before he could look up, he felt the gravity and fell down like a meteor.
He was like a falling star.
Before he could react, Ding Hao tumbled down and landed upon the bumps of the cliff wall. He was bleeding and feeling the ache in his bones as if he had been chopped into pieces.
The next moment, he lost consciousness.