Chapter 3938: The Dangers Of The Third Level

Lin Mu’s eyes narrowed. "The prisoners?"

The chief nodded. "Most of them."

He sighed quietly. "Many prisoners thrown into the third level eventually lose themselves completely. They stop recognizing friend or foe. Hunger, fear, hatred, and madness consume whatever reason they once possessed."

"They attack anything that moves and their only purpose becomes killing."

Lin Mu considered that carefully. "They continue surviving despite their cultivation remaining sealed?"

"They do." The chief answered without hesitation. "Many adapt in horrifying ways. Their instincts sharpen while their minds deteriorate. Some become stronger than they ever were before entering the prison, though calling that strength a blessing would be difficult."

The man took a pause before continuing. "They don’t talk, they simply wander and hunt. And if they encounter another living creature, one of them usually dies."

Lin Mu nodded slowly. "Then their numbers should decrease over time."

"Exactly." The chief agreed. "They kill each other constantly and there are periods when very few remain. But..." He paused before continuing. "...their numbers never disappear."

Lin Mu already suspected the answer. "The guards."

The chief nodded. "Every so often, more prisoners arrive and replenish the population."

Lin Mu looked thoughtfully at the rough map. "How often?"

The chief frowned while calculating. "It is difficult to estimate precisely."

He scratched his beard. "I would say... roughly once every fingernail’s worth of time."

Lin Mu immediately translated the measurement. ’Approximately six months.’

That aligned well with how frequently a large sect like the Heavenly Stream Guardian Sect might process dangerous prisoners.

"They simply throw them into the third level?"

"Yes." The chief nodded. "There are several entry routes. Some are vertical tunnels while others seem connected to formations. We’ve only discovered a few."

He pointed toward the upper portion of the crude map. "We know the tunnels eventually connect to different sections below. No settlement controls all of them and we only know those closest to our territory."

Lin Mu quietly memorized the information. It also explained why the prisoners in the third level never completely disappeared. The prison itself constantly replenished them.

"What comes after the insane prisoners?" Lin Mu asked.

The chief’s expression became even more serious. "The creatures."

Lin Mu waited.

"The Baleful Energy affects beasts differently than humans. It twists them, strengthens them, hardens their bodies and their aggression grows without limit. Many become larger than they originally were while others develop strange mutations."

"What kind of creatures did you see there?" Lin Mu asked.

"I once saw a wolf with six jaws and it kept biting itself while chasing us. Even after tearing half its own face apart, it never slowed down." The chief said, making Lin Mu furrow his brows.

"Another one of the people that went down encountered insects larger than houses. Their shells were black like iron and the Baleful Energy leaked from cracks between their armor. They ignored pain completely." The chief stated. "The beasts become as dangerous as the prisoners and sometimes even more."

Lin Mu silently absorbed every description and everything pointed toward prolonged exposure fundamentally altering living creatures.

"The farther one travels..." The chief continued. "...the thicker the Baleful Energy becomes. I personally never ventured farther than a few hundred meters." He looked somewhat embarrassed admitting it. "There was no reason to risk more, as our settlement already possessed everything necessary for survival."

Lin Mu understood that reasoning.

A village chief could hardly abandon his people simply to satisfy curiosity.

"What about others?" Lin Mu asked. "Did anyone travel farther?"

"A few." The chief answered. "Our predecessors recorded several expeditions and some reached nearly one kilometer but they always returned."

"Though..." His face darkened. "...they never truly recovered."

"What happened?"

The chief remained silent for several breaths before answering. "They remembered less and less. They forgot names, and they confused past with present. Sometimes they spoke to people who were not there and even became fearful of empty spaces. Some eventually refused to leave their homes while others wandered into the forest one night and never returned."

The chief quietly lowered his head as if remembering something difficult.

"The grandfather of my wife... was among them. He reached the deepest point anyone from our settlement ever managed. When he returned... he never recognized my wife again."

The shrine fell silent and Lin Mu understood that the Baleful Energy possessed lingering effects. Simply leaving the third level did not fully remove its influence.

"What lies beyond the first kilometer?" Lin Mu asked.

The chief slowly shook his head. "We don’t know as our knowledge ends there. Everything beyond remains a mystery." He pointed again toward the blank section of the map. "As far as we’re concerned, it is simply barren land drowned beneath endless Baleful Energy."

Lin Mu quietly considered everything.

If the Virtuous Calamity Daoist truly left something behind... The third level remained the most likely location.

A place avoided by everyone naturally became the perfect hiding place. The only concern was whether anything had survived countless ages beneath that horrifying energy. His thoughts gradually drifted elsewhere as the conversation paused.

The chief had likewise fallen into contemplation.

Now that the discussion regarding the prison had ended, he finally looked more carefully at Lin Mu himself. His gaze slowly traveled over Lin Mu’s broad physique before stopping at the robes he wore.

More specifically, the embroidered crest upon his chest.

The chief narrowed his eyes. "...Those robes."

Lin Mu looked down briefly before raising his head again. "What about them?"

The chief stared at the embroidered symbol as several memories gradually resurfaced.

"That crest..." He spoke slowly. "You belong to the Heavenly Stream Guardian Sect."

Lin Mu simply nodded. "I do."

The chief continued studying the emblem and his brow furrowed deeper.

"I’ve seen many sect crests over the centuries. Some belonged to enemies and others belonged to allies." His eyes suddenly widened slightly.

"If my memory serves correctly..." He pointed toward Lin Mu’s robes. "...that should be the crest of the Wild Peak."

Lin Mu became mildly surprised.

"That’s correct." He looked curiously at the chief. "You recognized it."