novelraw Chapter 950: A Smiling Village
Chapter 950: A Smiling Village
Even Palm Hand Lu, who possessed the map and had researched this matter extensively, remained unable to locate it. That alone proved how difficult it was. And the map itself remained incomplete.
It only pointed toward a general area.
There were no paths.
No instructions.
No methods of entry.
Han Yu slowly exhaled.
At this point brute force searching had lost all value. If the hidden place existed and someone used it, eventually they would return. Or perhaps they already lived inside and occasionally left.
Either way... Waiting became the best option.
Han Yu hid himself.
The rats remained scattered through the region.
Most looked identical to native beasts and even if someone noticed them, they would dismiss them immediately.
Time passed.
Days.
Then weeks.
Han Yu cultivated.
Observed.
Waited.
An entire month had now passed since he first arrived at Tropic Snow Town.
Then finally... Someone appeared.
Han Yu opened his eyes instantly.
A figure moved across the southern forest. The person wore heavy robes from head to toe. Even the face remained hidden behind layered cloth. Their physique revealed nothing.
Gender.
Age.
Identity.
Everything remained concealed.
Han Yu narrowed his eyes.
The person had arrived from the tropical region. That meant they had been hiding there all this time. The cloaked individual crossed into the snowy plains and stopped at an utterly ordinary spot.
Han Yu watched silently from two kilometers away.
Then the person raised a hand as Frost Qi appeared.
Han Yu instantly focused.
The figure began drawing symbols in the air.
One after another.
Strange sigils formed.
They glowed pale blue before hanging in the air.
Han Yu memorized each one immediately.
They resembled neither Dao Script nor formation runes.
Their structure felt ancient.
Foreign.
The person completed the final sigil.
The symbols merged as Space twisted and a portal opened!
Han Yu’s pupils shrank.
The cloaked figure entered without hesitation.
Then the portal began closing.
Seeing this Han Yu exploded forward. His body flashed across the plains and snow burst beneath his feet.
He covered the distance almost instantly.
Yet...
He was late.
Just one meter away.
SHUA
The portal closed.
Silence returned.
Han Yu stopped.
His expression remained calm though frustration flickered inside.
Chitterfang’s voice sounded mentally.
"Master... do we keep waiting?"
Han Yu looked at the empty air.
"No."
He sat down directly upon the snow.
Chitterfang tilted his head.
"No?"
Han Yu replayed the scene in his mind.
Every movement.
Every line.
Every symbol.
He had memorized all of them already.
"I’ll try something."
Thus Han Yu waited.
Half an hour passed.
The surrounding snow continued drifting.
Cold wind moved across the plains.
Han Yu finally stood.
He raised his hand.
Normal Frost Qi emerged.
Blue white energy flowed around his fingers.
Then...
He began drawing.
The first sigil appeared.
Then the second.
Third.
Fourth.
Han Yu recreated them exactly as he remembered.
The final rune formed.
The air suddenly trembled.
SHUA
Space distorted and a portal opened before him.
Han Yu’s eyes narrowed.
"It worked."
Even Chitterfang sounded shocked.
"Master... you copied it?"
Han Yu stepped forward.
"I memorized it."
The portal flickered.
He did not hesitate.
Han Yu entered.
The world twisted around him.
Cold wind disappeared.
Snow vanished.
Then his feet touched solid ground once more.
Han Yu looked up.
His eyes immediately narrowed.
Because what stood before him... Was not a hidden cave.
Nor ruins.
Nor an inheritance ground.
It was an entire village.
A village filled with smiling people.
Han Yu silently observed the village before him.
The people wandered through the streets aimlessly.
Men.
Women.
Children.
Old people.
All of them moved normally, walking through the village paths and entering houses from time to time. Yet there was something deeply wrong about them.
Every single one smiled.
Not a natural smile.
Not the smile of someone content.
Their lips were stretched in fixed expressions while their eyes lacked any real emotion. Some walked while softly giggling to themselves. Others laughed at nothing. A child sat beside a well and clapped while laughing at empty air. An old man slowly swept dust from the road while smiling so widely that wrinkles covered his face.
Yet none of them truly spoke.
No conversations.
No greetings.
Only occasional laughter.
Han Yu stood at the edge of the village and felt an unusual chill.
He had lived in the Blood Sect for years now.
He had walked through torture halls.
Seen ritual sacrifices.
Created mutated Jiangshi with emotions twisted into physical form.
He had stood among disciples who treated murder as entertainment.
Yet this place... This place unsettled him.
Because it looked normal.
Too normal.
The village itself appeared peaceful. Flowers grew near homes. Smoke drifted lazily from chimneys. Stone paths connected buildings. Children played. It looked like a small mortal settlement one might find anywhere.
Except every person acted like a puppet trapped inside happiness.
Han Yu slowly looked upward.
The sky above differed slightly from reality.
It appeared dimmer.
The clouds moved strangely.
The air carried faint spatial ripples.
His expression grew serious.
"A spatial realm..." he muttered.
He understood now.
Everything suddenly made sense.
Why no one found it.
Why Palm Hand Lu failed.
Why Lady Rot Rose’s people disappeared.
This place had never existed in the outside world to begin with.
It occupied another dimension entirely.
Han Yu silently compared it to Lady Rot Rose’s realm.
Her estate had already seemed extraordinary.
This place exceeded it.
Far larger.
Far older.
Far more mysterious.
He looked around again.
Just the visible village already stretched hundreds of meters.
Forests surrounded it.
Distant hills rose beyond.
He could not even estimate the total size.
"How did they find this..." Han Yu wondered.
Lady Rot Rose’s people discovering this place suddenly seemed miraculous. Perhaps they had indeed seen someone entering. Perhaps they followed them inside and escaped before the portal closed.
Or perhaps there were older clues.
He had no answer.
But speculation had little value now.
He focused again.
His spirit sense spread carefully.