97: Chapter 97 Hypnotic Fog

Everyone was trapped in this eerie situation, with no way to escape.

To conserve his energy, Yun Song simply sat cross-legged, having no time to worry about the other three beside him.

Time flowed slowly in the deathly silence; it was unclear if the pervasive, eerie black cloud harbored hypnotic power.

Or perhaps this endless darkness was simply too oppressive, a sensation like maggots clinging to bones, incessantly irritating his eyelids.

Just as his consciousness gradually blurred and he was on the verge of falling asleep.

The white mist at his crown suddenly jolted, instantly knocking him awake from the edge of Chaos.

After waking up in a fright, his heart tightened, and he hurriedly checked the spiritual power in his body.

Upon checking, his heart instantly sank; there was no spiritual power left in his body.

He felt things were becoming increasingly eerie, and after hesitating for a moment, he tentatively called out in a low voice.

"Senior Sister, Senior Brother Gu Licheng, Senior Brother Yu."

From the darkness came Su Qinghan's steady response: "Junior Brother Yun, what's wrong?"

"Junior Brother Yun, why are you calling us?" Yu Yang asked, puzzled.

Immediately after, Senior Brother Gu Licheng's characteristically steady voice also sounded: "Everyone is here, do not panic."

Yun Song hurriedly said: "Just now, a sudden wave of intense sleepiness washed over me, and I almost fell asleep. Do you all have this feeling?"

Yu Yang's voice rose a few notches: "N-no, I don't."

Senior Brother Gu Licheng appeared quite calm and said slowly.

"I am constantly monitoring my own condition and have not noticed any sleepiness intruding."

"It is likely that this sleepiness is related to your own state. Junior Brother Yun, do not panic, just focus your energy."

After thinking for a moment, Su Qinghan said steadily: "My mind has not been affected by this kind of sleepiness."

"Junior Brother Yun, think carefully again to see if you did anything special before this that caused it."

Yun Song pondered for a moment and then asked: "Then do you still have spiritual power in your bodies?"

"Yes." Su Qinghan's response was concise and firm.

"I still do." Senior Brother Gu Licheng's voice remained steady.

"Yes, I do." Although Yu Yang's voice had a slight tremor, he still gave a positive answer.

Having received the positive answers from the three, this sleepiness was definitely related to the spiritual power in his body.

He knew his cultivation was slightly inferior, and his spiritual power was naturally less than theirs, so it was expected that it would drain faster.

He remained silent. His fingertips had just touched the spirit gathering pill in his sleeve pocket, but his thought process halted.

— Even with the black clouds pressing down, even if he took a Medicinal Pill to restore spiritual power, he feared it would be drained as fast as it was replenished; it would ultimately be futile.

What he couldn't figure out was why the Ghost Demon didn't make a move and just kept things in a stalemate.

Time flowed slowly, and Yun Song was again engulfed by a tidal wave of sleepiness, his consciousness gradually blurring.

The white mist in his mind trembled again, jolting him awake.

"Senior Sister! Senior Brother," he called out in a low voice.

However, this time there was only endless silence.

He waited a moment longer and then shouted: "Senior Sister! Both Senior Brothers!"

But he still did not receive any response.

"Sigh..."

He sighed helplessly and thought to himself, "Perhaps their spiritual power has already drained away, and they couldn't resist the sleepiness brought by the eerie black clouds, so they have already fallen into a deep sleep."

At the same time, he was rapidly brainstorming possible escape plans in his mind.

Time flowed slowly, and the white mist in his mind jolted him awake more than a dozen times.

The ink-like, heavy black clouds in the hall finally began to fade, turning into swirling black mist.

His heart instantly leaped into his throat, knowing that the slightest carelessness at this moment would cost him his life.

He pondered to himself: "They have fallen into a deep sleep, and I cannot act too differently."

"If the Ghost Demon discovers that I am still awake, I fear I will be the first one it targets..."

Having made up his mind, he slowly lay down on the ground, trying to make his movements appear natural.

He left a tiny slit in his eyes to observe every move in the hall, waiting for the right moment to deliver a surprise attack on the Ghost Demon.

Some time passed, and the Spirit Stones in the Five-Light Demon-Trapping Formation were exhausted, losing their previous brilliance.

And that eerie Eight-Direction Spirit-Gathering Formation no longer had its eerie barrier; both large formations had clearly completely failed.

The hall was slowly returning to its original appearance.

The Night-Shining Pearl struggled to emit a faint light in this darkness, like a candle in the wind—weak yet tenacious.

With the help of this thread-like, faint light, he tried hard to look not far away.

He saw the three fellow disciples lying there quietly.

The light was still too dim to see the expressions on their faces clearly.

He could only vaguely see their swords discarded casually to the side, reflecting a few faint gleams in the dim light.

His gaze involuntarily turned back towards the direction of the stone coffin, and he saw a black shadow upon it.

A strong impulse surged in his heart, wanting to get up and run outside regardless of the consequences.

However, as soon as this thought flashed, he immediately regained his senses.

Now that he was without spiritual power, he was like meat on a chopping block.

Once the Ghost Demon chased him, there was absolutely no possibility of escape.

He thought again about taking the mining hoe and hacking at the Ghost Demon.

However, it was too dark to see if the Ghost Demon's eyes were open or closed.

He was afraid that acting rashly would alert the enemy and land him in a desperate situation.

In desperation, he could only suppress the impulse in his heart.

About another hour passed, and the hall finally gradually returned to being brightly lit.

But a little Yin Qi still remained around the stone coffin, like the remnant Soul of a ghost unwilling to dissipate easily.

At this moment, Yun Song kept his eyes slightly slit and cast his gaze toward the three fellow disciples.

He saw that the three of them had different expressions, as if they were immersed in a beautiful illusion.

Moreover, a few wrinkles had actually appeared on their foreheads.

Yun Song muttered to himself: "Oh no, this is bad, they seem to have aged a bit. Could their life essence have been drained!"

The Ghost Demon's eyes suddenly opened, and a strange and cold light shone from its pupils.

"Hiss..."

It greedily inhaled the last trace of life essence into its nose.

Seeing this, Yun Song hurriedly pretended to be calm and fell into a deep sleep, also furrowing his brows tightly.

He tried hard to show an expression of exhaustion from losing life essence, attempting to deceive the Ghost Demon.

The Ghost Demon leaped out of the stone coffin, its face bearing a look of greed that made one nauseous.

It paced slowly in the hall, its limbs moving unnaturally, scanning the four people lying on the ground.

"Heh... the wait this time was not in vain."

"Look at these fresh life essences... tsk tsk, it was worth it—"

It tilted its head, pondering who to start with for the most satisfaction.

It finally settled on the fatty, Yu Yang: "Hmph, you'll do, this fatty! Look at your bloated figure; you must have been gluttonous in your daily life. Although the purity of your life essence isn't high, it wins in quantity."

It squatted down, extended its fingers like withered tree branches, and gently tapped its index finger on the center of Yu Yang's forehead.

"Ah!"

Yu Yang let out a groan of extreme pain, as if it had been torn from the depths of his Soul.

Wisps of life essence slowly drifted out from his forehead.