They had just passed the middle of the mountainside, and a glance revealed nothing but strangely scattered rocks, forming a dense Stone Forest, where rugged stone pillars shot straight into the sky like sharp swords, truly a marvelous work of nature.
The autumn wind whistled through this peculiar Stone Forest, emitting a strange howling sound.
Hearing Su Ziqiu's weak moans from behind, Lin Yue chuckled softly, said nothing, and continued walking into the Stone Forest with her on his back.
"Turn left at tall stones, turn right at short ones."
Lin Yue silently repeated this technique in his mind, surveyed the maze-like Stone Forest once more, then randomly chose a deserted path to follow.
Although he didn't know how the Stone Forest came to be, it was probably artificially modified.
Because this Stone Forest was a Mysterious Formation.
For mortals who could neither fly nor jump high, it was easy to get lost among these stones.
Fortunately, Lin Yue had once obtained a Five Rings Level secret of sentient beings, which included the technique to navigate the formation; otherwise, it would have been difficult for him to traverse this Stone Forest.
The technique was simple.
Turn left at tall stones, turn right at short ones.
Lin Yue observed the peculiar stones' heights while briskly walking with Su Ziqiu on his back up the rugged slope.
Every time he encountered a very tall pillar, he immediately changed his path to the left.
Whenever he met a shorter pillar, he directly shifted his path to the right.
After continuously manoeuvring around a dozen stone pillars, Lin Yue found the path ahead suddenly clearing up revealing a vast mountain wall.
"We're out," Lin Yue breathed a sigh of relief.
This was his third visit, so he was extremely familiar with the route and did not hesitate to choose a shorter path based on his experience.
If it were someone else, even knowing the technique, they would have to take a much longer detour.
If one could fly or jump very high, the visual deception of this Stone Forest would be meaningless.
Like the birds that perched above the peculiar stones.
However, this Stone Forest was just a minor trick on the periphery.
Even if a cultivator flew directly over the Stone Forest and discovered the mountain wall, they would not be able to locate the cave.
Lin Yue looked up at the upper part of the mountain wall and soon found a protruding oval boulder at the top of the cliff.
He immediately carried Su Ziqiu and walked towards the mountain wall right below that boulder.
After a while, when only about four or five zhang from the mountain wall, Lin Yue stopped, looked up to confirm the position of the boulder above, shifted half a step to ensure he was right below it, and then looked again towards the mountain wall in front of him.
Su Ziqiu, tied to his back, looked at the mountain wall with confusion; she didn't know what he was planning to do and couldn't ask because her mouth was stuffed with Wu Ma powder.
A brush of autumn wind swept by.
She suddenly felt Lin Yue grabbing her legs, securing her from falling, then realized he was sprinting fiercely towards the solid mountain wall ahead!
Su Ziqiu was taken aback.
But there was nothing she could do but watch as the gray-white mountain wall got closer and closer.
They were only four or five zhang away, Lin Yue had just picked up speed, but they were already alarmingly close to the hard wall!
As they were about to hit the wall, Su Ziqiu instinctively closed her eyes.
Although she knew deep down that this cunning and deceitful man wouldn't inexplicably crash into the wall to his death, she still subconsciously hoped he would smash his head against it.
In an instant, as if passing through a layer of cool, invisible airflow, a chill spread through her body, and then suddenly, everything around became extremely quiet.
The wind howling through the Stone Forest, the cries of birds in the mountains... All noises vanished in that moment, and the dryness of the wilderness was gone, replaced by a cool, moist air.
Su Ziqiu couldn't help but open her eyes.
She then realized that they were now inside a dimly lit cave, with profound darkness deeper inside, and the entrance where the light shone behind them.
She suddenly understood why the cave was not visible from the outside—was it hidden by an illusion array?
Apparently, Lin Yue's strange behavior of sprinting just then was the technique to enter the illusion?
At this moment, Su Ziqiu noticed that Lin Yue had suddenly let go of her legs.
Then, he untied the knot that had been binding her.
Without strength in her body and unable to grasp with her hands, even if Lin Yue wanted to carry her up the mountain it would have been quite difficult.
As soon as Lin Yue released the rope and her legs, Su Ziqiu let out an involuntary cry and fell to the ground.
The uneven rocky floor caused instant pain in her back.
Only then did Lin Yue slowly turn around to look at Su Ziqiu.
They were close to the cave entrance, and the light from the outside clearly illuminated the mocking smile at the corner of his lips.
It was a look of unbridled intent.
A wave of panic surged through Su Ziqiu's heart, and she instinctively shrank back, but her body was weak and powerless, and the recent fall had made it even more difficult for her to move.
Lin Yue crouched in front of her, helped her lean against the stone wall, then reached out to gently remove the Wu Ma powder from her mouth.