Chapter 47: Mysterious Hut

The terror of Ashen Soul Ruins knows no bounds on the Desolate Shadow Continent, akin to a dead world or hell itself.

Danger loomed before every step in this bloody earth ravaged by blood and negative energy of millions of cultivators...

As one infiltrated deeper and deeper the danger only increased. Every soil of this land had drunk the blood and eaten the bones of countless experts.

Ye Xiaotian took his time as he walked slowly and cautiously through the red mist. It's alrerady been half a day since he had entered this place, but the red mist felt like it had no end. He had been walking for quite some time now.

After walking for an unknown time, Ye Xiaotian suddenly saw a brightness at his right even though can't see very far from this place but he can see that there was a shadow of a hut where this brightness is coming from.

He suddenly felt a chill on his body while looking in that direction, the hairs on his body suddenly stood straight as if feeling something threatening there.

Just as he was about to back out after feeling danger, the earth suddenly started moving and he could feel that he was getting closer and closer to that shadow.

Even though he didn't know what was happening but he kept his cool and didn't get panicked.

"I have to get out of this place, there is something dangerous there." he looked toward the shadow and thought.

"Vermillion Shadow Step.." He use this agility technique from Vermillion Flam Sect and started moving toward the opposite direction of the shadow.

But after using this technique for some time he suddenly felt that he was now moving forward, as he looked down he saw that the earth was moving even more faster than him and he couldn't escape this strange thing.

So he stopped moving and stood at his place, "It seems that I have to face what was about to come"

Ye Xiaotian remained still as the ground beneath him carried him forward, an unseen force dragging him toward the distant hut shrouded in eerie light.

His golden eyes narrowed as he analyzed the situation. An illusion? A spatial shift? Or something even more sinister?

The suffocating red mist around him seemed to pulse with life, whispering unintelligible words into his ears. Though his spiritual energy surged to resist any mental interference, the whispers didn't fade. Instead, they only grew louder, more persistent, like countless voices speaking in unison from an ancient era.

His heart pounded steadily, but his mind remained calm.

There was no escaping this.

The moment he realized resistance was futile, he took a deep breath and let himself be carried toward the unknown. If retreat wasn't an option, then he would face whatever awaited him head-on.

After an unknown amount of time, the suffocating pull suddenly ceased.

Whoosh!

The red mist around him thinned, revealing a desolate clearing. In the center stood the hut.

It was an old wooden structure, its exterior rotting and weathered by time. A dim golden lantern flickered by the entrance, casting unnatural shadows that stretched far beyond the limits of ordinary light.

An inexplicable sense of wrongness filled the air.

The ground beneath the hut was different from the rest of the ruins. Unlike the blood-soaked soil and shattered remnants of battlefields he had encountered so far, this place was pristine, untouched by destruction. The stone path leading to the hut was immaculate, as though it had never been stepped on before.

Ye Xiaotian's fingers twitched slightly. His instincts screamed at him to leave, but his rational mind told him that wasn't an option.

If this place wanted him here, then it wasn't done with him yet.

His gaze swept across the area, searching for signs of danger.

Silence.

Too silent.

A deep unease settled in Ye Xiaotian's chest as he took slow, measured steps toward the hut.

Hanging above the entrance was a worn-out wooden sign, its edges chipped and eroded by time. The words on it were barely legible, but after brushing away the thick layers of cobwebs, the faded engraving became clear.

"Old Ghost Hut."

Ye Xiaotian's golden eyes flickered with a trace of caution.

The name alone was enough to raise alarm. But in this cursed land, where the dead refused to rest, a place bearing such a name wasn't necessarily a mere coincidence.

As he approached the tattered door, the eerie silence that surrounded the hut felt heavier, as if the air itself was watching him. Just as he was about to reach for the door—

Creak!

The rotting wooden doors snapped open on their own.

From the dark interior, a voice drifted out. Dry. Cold. Metallic.

"Come in."

The unnatural voice carried an eerie stillness, devoid of warmth or emotion. It wasn't a request. It was a command.

A cold chill ran down Ye Xiaotian's spine, but his expression remained unreadable. He was no coward. Retreat wasn't an option.

Since he had already stepped into this place, there was no turning back.

With silent resolve, he stepped inside.

Inside the Old Ghost Hut

The first thing that hit him was the stench—a mix of decay, damp wood, and something metallic that lingered in the air.

The hut was small and cramped, its wooden walls warped and cracked with age. There was barely anything inside—just an old cabinet in the corner and a strange black door behind it, as dark as ink, leading to an unknown destination.

But what caught Ye Xiaotian's attention wasn't the strange furniture or the unsettling door.

It was the figure sitting in the middle of the room.

An old man sat slumped on a black wooden chair, unmoving. The chair itself was ancient, the wood rotting, yet it held the old man firmly—as if something beyond logic kept it intact.

The old man's body was shriveled, thin to the bone, as if he had been drained of life long ago. His skin was so dry and brittle that it looked like it would peel off at any moment. His long, messy hair was infested with flies, and his clothes—if they could even be called that—were nothing more than rags clinging to his skeletal frame.

His eyes were closed.

But Ye Xiaotian could feel it.

He was watching.