Chapter 1039: Chapter 709: Broken Bridge (Part 2)
Here, in the gray mist, visibility is slightly improved, allowing us to barely glimpse scenes a hundred meters away.
At this moment, Xiang Beifei sensed something amiss. Looking back towards the direction they came from, he suddenly noticed, to his surprise, that a fork in the road had appeared about fifty meters behind him!
Bear in mind that they had just passed that spot less than twenty seconds ago; there hadn’t been any fork in the road twenty seconds earlier. He could not fathom when this path had emerged.
"A new road has appeared behind us," Xiang Beifei exclaimed.
The group stopped in their tracks, turning their heads to look behind them, and indeed, a new path had been discovered. The road spliced onto the bridge, stretching upward to the left and disappearing into the dark fog.
"Should we take that path?" Lan Keju asked.
Ye Qiniang couldn’t decide and asked the Diviner, "Daoist Diviner, what do you think?"
The Diviner stroked his beard, fiddling with two pieces of cracked tortoise shell in his hands. The shells faintly glowed, emitting a beam of light that darted off in two directions.
He contemplated for a moment and said, "Both paths conceal unknown dangers."
"Which path is less dangerous?" Ye Qiniang asked.
"The path ahead has lower risks." The Diviner replied.
"Alright, let’s ignore the road behind us."
Ye Qiniang chose the Diviner’s path, continuing forward.
The group had no objections and followed Ye Qiniang. After walking for another minute, Banji suddenly exclaimed, "There’s no path ahead!"
The black bridge ahead abruptly ended here, beyond which lay only empty black fog.
"Diviner, didn’t you say the path ahead is safer? Is this what you call safe?" Xing Meng asked gruffly.
The Diviner was slightly startled, clearly not anticipating this.
Ye Qiniang said, "Perhaps this path has shifted. Let’s go back and take the other path."
Without any disagreement, the group turned back, now quickening their pace to prevent the path from disappearing.
Fortunately, when they hurried back, the road was still there. However, they quickly noticed yet another path had appeared beside it!
"Which way should we go this time?" Ye Qiniang continued to ask the Diviner.
The Diviner rubbed the tortoise shells again, pondered for a moment, and said, "The road on the right is safer."
"Go right!"
Ye Qiniang waved her hand again, signaling everyone to head right.
This path was quite steep, always ascending, with several twists along the way. Everyone remained vigilant, ready to face any impending danger. However, after walking for fifteen minutes, all remained calm, although soon, everyone frowned.
Because the path ahead had ended again!
"This path is wrong, let’s return and take the other one."
Ye Qiniang didn’t hesitate, immediately signaling everyone to return.
But this time, they had walked less than two hundred meters when they suddenly discovered the bridge behind them had also collapsed!
They couldn’t reach another path.
"What’s going on? Are all the paths gone?" Banji said with a heavy tone.
Xing Meng turned his head, stared at the Diviner, and said, "Diviner, how are you leading us? Is your divination ability reliable? Or are you just spouting nonsense?"
The Diviner’s face turned somewhat grim; he was momentarily uncertain how to explain. After all, they took this route because they trusted his word, and yet both paths had ended, leading them into a dead end.
Lan Keju also furrowed his brow, saying, "Diviner, we let you join our group because you claimed to have the ability of divination for fortunes and disasters. Yet now, you lead us to dead ends every time. I’m beginning to doubt your ability."
Xing Meng said, "If you don’t have any ability, just say so! Don’t deceive us to join the group, muddying the waters. I despise being tricked the most."
A menacing aura rose from him, warning the Diviner.
The Diviner’s face slightly changed, saying, "I can’t be sure about this either. I’m only using my Divination Dao practices to ascertain fortunes and find paths for everyone."
"But the roads you find are all dead ends!" Xing Meng coldly said.
"What do you mean by that?"
The Diviner sensed a hint of threat, as Xing Meng’s words seemed to carry implications.
"You interpret it as whatever you think it means," Xing Meng said aggressively, "Our team doesn’t need someone who fools everyone by pretending to fit in."
He stepped forward, his oppressive aura intensified, landing fully on the Diviner.
The Diviner couldn’t help but step back, appearing overwhelmed by Xing Meng’s pressure.
"Speak honestly, can you actually predict the future?" Xing Meng reprimanded again.
His voice roared like thunder, transforming into an invisible wave directed at the Diviner.
"I practice the Divination Dao, Ye Qiniang knows this very well."
The Diviner’s face turned pale, and he retreated a few more steps, ending up beside Xiang Beifei.
Ye Qiniang hesitantly glanced at the Diviner. She had always trusted his divination, but recently they’ve been led astray by him several times, making even her quiet.
Xifeng and Banji didn’t say anything either, merely looked thoughtfully at the Diviner, neither helping him nor stopping Xing Meng.
Xiang Beifei couldn’t stand it anymore and said, "Xing Meng, what are you doing?"
"I just think the team needs some reorganization. We need a real diviner, not a charlatan."
Xing Meng rubbed his fists, his gaze already filled with murderous intent.
Xiang Beifei responded, "If I were you, here I’d think things through more with my brain rather than solve problems with my fists."
Xing Meng shifted his gaze to Xiang Beifei, sneering, "You trust those chaotic divination abilities of his?"
Xiang Beifei calmly replied, "The Diviner’s ability isn’t wrong, think about it; every time we follow the Diviner’s choices, we haven’t encountered any danger along the way and we come to a halt. If we proceed from here, we might leave the ruins and avoid any danger."
Xing Meng snorted, "Leave? We’re not here for a casual stroll and then leave! Do you think we’re here for sightseeing?"
"But at least this means the path chosen by the Diviner is safe! Using his divination, every path he picks is low-risk. Up until now, has he been wrong? Have you encountered any danger on this path?" Xiang Beifei retorted.
Xing Meng squinted his eyes and began to ponder.
Everyone’s gaze shifted between Xiang Beifei and the Diviner, realizing that Xiang Beifei was right.
Xing Meng coldly asked, "Then what do you think we should do?"
Xiang Beifei said indifferently, "From now on, we can only take the risky path suggested by the Diviner."
Xifeng, holding a sword, asked from the side of the cold storage, "You mean wherever danger lurks, that’s where we go?"
"I didn’t say that," Xiang Beifei calmly stated, "But none of you are inexperienced. Surely, you understand that an opportunity often isn’t hidden in safe places; otherwise, would it be your turn to seek it here?"
He spoke bluntly.
Xing Meng and Xifeng both disliked Xiang Beifei’s tone, but couldn’t find a point to argue against.
Indeed, if the opportunity in Rushou’s ruins wasn’t adequately protected, it would have been claimed ten thousand years ago, leaving them no chance.
Banji asked, "Now that the path is cut off, how should we proceed?"
Xiang Beifei replied without hesitation, "Wait, the paths here are constantly changing anyway."
Currently, the team had no better plan, so they could only wait. They also couldn’t leave directly; if they flew off the bridge into the black fog and couldn’t find their way back to the black bridge, it would be problematic.
The Diviner walked over to Xiang Beifei and said gratefully, "Thank you, Daoist Mu, for extricating me."
Xiang Beifei shook his head, "No need, I was just stating the facts."
"I’m not very familiar with this place and didn’t expect this to happen. The Divination Dao seems severely restricted here; I guess only you can believe me now." The Diviner smiled bitterly.
Xiang Beifei pondered for a while and asked, "You can divine fortune and misfortune. Before joining this team, didn’t you predict whether everyone was trustworthy or if you would be betrayed by your teammates?"
The Diviner shook his head and said, "I never divine people."
"Why?"
"Because people are very complex. Everyone is cultivating special Heavenly Dao, and you never know what Dao another person is cultivating. Once you divine someone you shouldn’t, their Dao might remember you and bring you trouble." The Diviner explained with a smile.
Xiang Beifei was slightly surprised.
It was unexpected that this long-browed old man would think this way.
In fact, the Diviner’s concerns were valid.
Because if he divined Xiang Beifei, Xiang Beifei would be able to completely grasp the other party’s Dao embryo!