140: Chapter 139 The Ragged Robe in the Desert! It Wanted to Devour Me
The desert was vast.
So vast it seemed endless.
Lin Feng had been walking for nearly an hour, yet the surrounding scenery had hardly changed.
Dusty grey ground, dusty grey sky, dusty grey wind.
The ground was cracked like a parched riverbed, with finger-wide fissures snaking toward the invisible distance.
The sand was greyish-white, crunching underfoot as if he were stepping on ashes.
A wind blew from the west; it wasn't strong, but it was freezing, driving sand against his face with a painful sting.
The sky was leaden grey, devoid of clouds or sun, just a uniform, lifeless expanse of grey.
One couldn't tell day from night, morning from afternoon.
Lin Feng stopped and pulled out a Positioning Talisman.
There was still only a single red dot on the back of the card.
Zhao Gang and Su Xue seemed to have vanished.
He pulled out his Communicator and pressed the button.
Only static; no one answered.
He stowed his things and continued forward.
After walking for about another half-hour, a black dot appeared on the horizon.
It was tiny and blurred, like a grain of sand on the horizon.
Lin Feng narrowed his eyes and quickened his pace.
The black dot grew larger and clearer.
It was a tree.
In this barren desert where not a single blade of grass grew, there stood a tree.
The tree wasn't tall, perhaps three or four meters.
Its trunk was thin, not much thicker than his arm.
The bark was black, as if it had been scorched by fire.
It had no leaves; bare branches stretched toward the sky like a withered hand.
Its roots were exposed on the ground, gnarled and twisted like dead snakes.
Lin Feng walked up to the tree and stopped.
He stared at the tree for a long time.
The sudden appearance of a tree in this desert was far too abnormal.
He reached out and touched the trunk.
The bark was very rough and dry, like sandpaper.
He tapped it, and it produced a hollow sound, as if he were knocking on hollow wood.
He withdrew his hand and walked behind the tree.
There was something behind the tree.
It was a corpse.
No, not a corpse.
It was a skeleton.
A human skeleton.
The skeleton leaned against the trunk, sitting on the ground in a relaxed posture, as if resting.
The skeleton was greyish-white, its surface covered in fine cracks like weathered stone.
The skeleton was clothed, but the garments had almost entirely rotted away, leaving only a few strips of cloth hanging from the bones, swaying in the wind.
Beside the skeleton lay a sword.
The sword was rusted beyond recognition, the blade and hilt fused together so that one couldn't tell where one ended and the other began.
Lin Feng crouched down and looked at the skeleton.
Beside the skeleton, he saw something—a Jade Plaque.
The Jade Plaque was about the size of a palm, milky white with faint patterns on its surface.
He picked up the Jade Plaque and turned it over to look.
Two characters were carved on the front in Seal Script, all curvy and winding.
He didn't recognize them, but he could feel a certain power within those two characters.
It was very faint, like a guttering candle in the wind, liable to go out at any moment.
He looked at the skeleton again.
The skeleton was complete, with no breaks or damage.
He hadn't been beaten to death, stabbed to death, or killed in a fall.
It was as if he had sat here, and while sitting, he had died.
Seated Death.
This thought flashed through his mind.
Lin Feng put the Jade Plaque into his wanxiang ring and stood up.
He cast another glance at the skeleton, then turned and continued on his way.
After walking a few steps, he stopped.
He looked back at the tree.
Did that tree... just move?
He stared at the tree for several seconds.
The tree didn't move.
Its bare branches stretched toward the sky, motionless.
He turned around and kept walking.
After walking for about another half-hour, the desert still showed no end.
Lin Feng stopped and took a sip from his water bottle.
The water was cold and tasted of rust.
He screwed the cap back on and stuffed the bottle back into his bag.
He looked up, trying to get his bearings.
Then, he froze.
That tree had appeared in front of him again.
Just a few hundred meters ahead of him.
The black trunk, the bare branches, the gnarled roots.
It was identical.
He had clearly been walking for half an hour, covering at least several kilometers.
Yet this tree had appeared again.
It wasn't just a similar tree; it was the same tree.
The skeleton beneath the tree was still there.
Leaning against the trunk, sitting on the ground in a relaxed posture.
He walked over and crouched down.
Beside the skeleton, where he had just picked up the Jade Plaque, there was a faint indentation.
It was the mark left by the Jade Plaque.
It was the exact same tree.
Lin Feng stood up and stared at the tree.
The bark was black, as if scorched by fire.
The branches stretched toward the sky like a withered hand.
The roots were exposed on the ground, gnarled and twisted.
He reached out and touched the trunk.
The bark was very rough and dry, like sandpaper.
He tapped it, and it produced a hollow sound.
Identical.
He walked behind the tree again; the skeleton was still there.
The skeleton was greyish-white, with fine cracks on its surface.
Beside the skeleton, the rusty sword was still there.
He stood up and took a few steps back.
He stared at the tree, his heart rate quickening.
It wasn't fear, but tension.
There was something wrong with this tree.
No, there was something wrong with this desert.
He was going in circles.
Regardless of how far or how long he walked, he would always return to this tree.
This tree was the center of this desert.
He took a deep breath and looked at the tree.
"What do you want?"
No one answered.
The tree was still just a tree, branches stretching toward the sky, motionless.
The wind blew from the west, carrying sand that hissed against the trunk.
Lin Feng stood there, waiting.
He waited for one minute, two minutes, five minutes.
The tree didn't move.
He turned and continued walking.
This time he walked very fast, almost running.
He stared straight ahead, not looking to either side.
He walked for nearly an hour, then stopped.
Ahead, the tree appeared once more.
It was right in front of him, less than ten meters away.
Black trunk, bare branches, gnarled roots.
The skeleton beneath the tree leaned against the trunk in a relaxed posture.
It was as if it were waiting for him.
Lin Feng gripped his dragon slaying sword.
"Just what do you want?"
His voice echoed in the desert, carrying far, far away.
No one answered.
Suddenly, the tree moved.
It wasn't the wind; it was moving on its own.
The trunk twisted, the branches stretched, and the roots crawled.
The tree had come alive.
It was like a snake emerging from the earth.
The trunk elongated, the branches spread, and the roots retracted.
In the blink of an eye, the tree transformed into a mass of twisted, black, constantly writhing shapes.
It had no fixed form, constantly changing.
Like smoke, like mist, like a living shadow.
The skeleton tumbled down from beneath the tree.
It rolled and rolled, coming to a stop off to the side.
The skeleton fell apart; skull, ribs, spine, and limbs scattered across the ground.
The bones bounced a few times on the ground and then lay still.
The black mass hovered in mid-air, slowly rotating.
It had no eyes, no mouth, no organs whatsoever.
But Lin Feng could feel it watching him.
It was sizing him up, as if examining an object.
"Who are you?" Lin Feng asked.
The black mass did not answer.
It simply hovered there, rotating slowly.
Then, it moved.
It drifted toward Lin Feng, not fast, like a falling leaf.
Lin Feng took a step back, gripping his dragon slaying sword tighter.
The black mass stopped, suspended in mid-air.
It was hesitating.
Or rather, it was testing him.
Lin Feng stared at it, a strange feeling welling up in his heart.
This thing had no malice.
At least, not for now.
It seemed to be observing him, studying him, as if... waiting for something.
Waiting for what?
He didn't know.
The black mass began to move again.
This time, it didn't drift toward him, but extended a tentacle.
The tentacle was very thin, like a black thread, extending from the main body and slowly, bit by bit, reaching toward him.
Lin Feng didn't move.
He stared at the tentacle, watching it approach inch by inch.
The tentacle reached him and stopped.
It was less than half a meter from his face.
The tip of the tentacle was trembling slightly.
As if it were smelling him, or sensing him.
Lin Feng didn't move.
He stood there, watching the tentacle.
After trembling for a moment, the tentacle retracted.
It withdrew into the main body and vanished.
The black mass began to rotate again.
This time it rotated even faster, like a black whirlwind.
Then, it stopped.
It drifted toward Lin Feng, this time quickly, like an arrow.
Lin Feng raised his dragon slaying sword.
The black mass stopped in front of him.
It was less than a meter away.
It hovered there, rotating slowly.
Then, it spoke.
No sound, no language.
But Lin Feng could feel what it was saying.
It was saying—"You... are very strong."
That feeling wasn't heard, but sensed.
Like a warm current flowing into his mind.
Not hot, not cold, just warm.
"What are you?" Lin Feng asked.
The black mass was silent for a moment.
Then, it "spoke" again.
That warm current flowed into his mind once more.
"I... am... the... master... of... this... place."
Lin Feng was stunned.
The master of this place?
The master of this Secret Realm?
An Ancient Great Power?
He stared at the black mass, incredulous.
An Ancient Great Power looked like this?
A black, formless mass of smoke, mist, and shadow?
It had no body, no face, no limbs.
It was just a... thing.