Damon's Ascension-Chapter 115: War In Xiangyang 16

The very next hour, Damon departed from Crane Ridge Villa in the waning afternoon sun.

His three subordinates for this Instance followed closely behind. Chen Yuan donned in a traveling robe with his sword sheathed at the hip, Sun Liang holding a scroll pouch tight to his chest, and Xue Rou clad in fitted leathers, her eyes sharp with anticipation.

Behind them trailed a few silent guards, recently recruited from the rebel ranks, serving as both security and escort. Xu Baochun followed as well, having resumed the role of an eccentric, if not outright mad, elder. The only noticeable change from his earlier appearance was his vastly improved clothing.

They moved without fanfare, traversing the southern roads of Xiangyang toward a location most dared not mention by name aloud, which was the forbidden zone, Ghost Valley.

It took hours of hiking into the fog-wreathed forest ranges before they found the place as the path lacked any markers. It was devoid of any carved stones, banners or patrolling sentries, just eerie silence.

"A shifting path... a formation designed to confuse and trap intruders," Xu Baochun muttered, having noticed the irregular trail in fact being circular rather than straight.

Before Damon, who had realized this fact half an hour ago, could respond, the illusion abruptly dissolved, vanishing as if something, or more than likely, someone had decided to let them through.

Atop a small stone ridge overlooking a mist-shrouded pond stood a young man clad in flowing grey and black robes. His arms were crossed, and his eyes glowed faintly with spiritual acuity, sharp and unblinking. There was no need for words, this was a man who had killed before, and it showed in every line of his posture.

"Damon Arnan, we’ve been watching you," he greeted flatly, as though the name was both unexpected and unwelcome.

"Good, then you know I didn’t come to waste anyone’s time," Damon replied coolly.

The young man furrowed his brows as he descended the ridge with surprising grace. When he got down, he bowed slightly in courtesy.

"Feng Meizhen, Heir of Ghost Valley School," he introduced.

He raised his head and looked at Damon intently. "My master said to show you around."

Damon merely nodded. "Lead on."

They were escorted through a narrow winding path which had stone lanterns on either side that flickered without flame. The deeper they went, the stranger the air became in terms of aura.

It was quiet, but not empty... as if every breath was watched by a hundred unseen eyes.

Eventually, they entered a courtyard surrounded by twisted pine trees and hanging spirit chimes. The architecture was bizarre on top of that, somewhere between shrine and crypt.

"The Ghost Valley School is not just a sect, it is a philosophy. We do not build legacy, we erase it. No monuments, no grave markers. No history worth carving in stone." Feng Meizhen informed them with a sweep of his hand, a hint of pride in his voice.

"Cheerful bunch," Sun Liang muttered.

Feng Meizhen’s eyes slid to the fellow with irritation and a hint of malicious intent, then returned to Damon.

The young heir finally lost his patience with the group and stopped on the spot to question them.

"You didn’t come for sightseeing. So why are you here?"

Damon responded calmly. "I’m seeking Qian Weimin, the County Martial Judge. All roads lead here."

Feng Meizhen’s lips twitched slightly as he felt alarm inside. "That is a preposterous claim!"

’What are the chances that I will discover the County Martial Judge in the Ghost Valley Sect dungeon?’

[Objective chances are currently 0%.]

"Not if it’s true," Damon glanced at him intently with a slight smile.

"Let’s say it is, what then? Do you intend to free him? Drag him back into the light so he can point fingers at the names on his list?" Feng Meizhen replied, beginning to walk again.

"My goals are not that grandiose. When I first came here, I witnessed a street execution by a private army. With a martial judge in place, such nonsense should not occur," Damon explained simply.

’What are the chances that I will discover the County Martial Judge in the Ghost Valley Sect administrative hall?’

[Objective chances are currently 0%.]

Feng stopped with incredulity.

"You think this is a game?" He asked, softly in confusion.

"You think what we do here—what we’ve built—is just some minor trial to be brushed aside for your petty ambitions?" He further asked with half-lidded eyes hiding extreme danger.

’What are the chances that I will discover the County Martial Judge in the Ghost Valley Sect residential area?’

[Objective chances are currently 0%.]

Damon’s expression didn’t change despite this as he spoke candidly while looking around. "No, your so-called aspirations are meaningless to me and to the universe. You amount to nothing, account for nothing, and are valued by nothing. Even the mortal farmers have more value than your sects, and this is not an insult."

There was a beat of silence, then Feng Meizhen exhaled and gave a dry chuckle. "You speak like someone who sits above the heavens and dictates the future of the earth."

He shook his head at the absurdity of that thought and turned, gesturing for Damon to follow again.

’What are the chances that I will discover the County Martial Judge in the Ghost Valley Sect punishment hall?’

[Objective chances are currently 0%.]

"We have the Judge," Feng Meizhen admitted without ceremony, causing Damon to pause in surprise, caught off guard for the first time.

"What?" Damon could only muster with a tilted head, more puzzled that they admitted it than it being true.

Feng Meizhen frowned. "You heard correctly, but he’s not whole. His spirit was fractured when we found him. Whoever did that to him must have wanted him to forget whatever it is he discovered."

Xue Rou’s brow furrowed. "Who would even have that kind of technique?"

Feng Meizhen lost interest in the group as he didn’t answer. Instead, he gestured to a doorway built into the rock. "You’ll want to see for yourself, be my guest. But beware, just because he’s alive doesn’t mean he’s saved."

Damon stepped forward and pushed the door open, entering a medical ward meant for disciples to recuperate from dangerous injuries.

Xu Baochun, who had been eerily silent all this time, trying to suppress his hatred, walked forward and glanced at the man on the sickbed with a frown.

"That’s Qian Weimin alright..."

...But it wasn’t really him.

At least, not in the way Damon had imagined.

The man lying on the bed bore only a passing resemblance to the much-respected, firm, and iron-spined judge who once held Xiangyang County together through sheer integrity.

Qian Weimin now looked like a husk drained by Damon’s own Devour ability. His skin was paper-thin, sagging in places like melted wax, and his frame had withered down to the shape of a famine victim.

His limbs were skeletal and tucked close to his body as if trying to disappear, his chest rising and falling with slow, shallow breaths like a wind-up doll winding down.

His eyes were open, yet unfocused, as if gazing through a fog no one else could see.

Most unsettling of all was his mouth, which was slightly open, quivering from time to time. No words escaped it, just occasional breaths that sounded like a man trying to say his last words.

Chen Yuan’s expression was grim. "Is he... conscious?"

"Hard to say, we found him like this, buried in the southern cliffs near a cursed spirit well. If we hadn’t stumbled on the site while performing night rites, he’d have faded entirely," Feng Meizhen admitted, his voice neutral but lacking its earlier edge.

Xue Rou moved closer, her hand resting on the judge’s wrist to feel for his pulse. "His body’s failing, but... there’s no sign of Qi deviation, no spiritual erosion, no poisons. No formation residue, either."

"We’ve questioned every alchemist, soul healer, and dreamwalker available to us, none could determine the cause. Some say it’s a forbidden technique, while others claim his spirit was harvested," Feng Meizhen added.

Sun Liang peered over and frowned. "Or maybe his soul was fractured?"

"No, it’s much simpler actually," Damon said quietly, his brows extremely furrowed to the limit.

All eyes turned to him as he stepped forward and looked down at the man who had once been Xiangyang’s unshakable wall of order.

"This is what happens when the mind reaches its limit and finds no exit as well as no path of survival, so it shuts itself down to close out the outside world while the body perishes, giving itself a few moments of reprieve at the end," Damon said coldly.

Xu Baochun’s brows furrowed. "You mean...?"

"Post-traumatic shutdown. When a person is subjected to repeated mental and physical torment without hope of rescue, the body protects itself by shutting down. It’s not soul extraction, it’s soul retreat," Damon confirmed.

Chen Yuan was stunned. "You mean this is... self-inflicted?"

"Some form of self-preservation by instinct," Damon nodded.

Xue Rou stepped back in silent horror. "That’s... to push someone so far... that’s monstrous!"

"Maybe, but to solve it is simpler," Damon said as he raised a hand covered with a silvery glow and pressed it down on Qian Weimin’s head, actually utilizing his Silver Eclipse’s healing ability for the very first time.