Split Zone No.13

183 Demon Cave in the Mountains

“Even though Nie Zun isn’t beside you now, I’d still think of him when torturing you . He’s just like this weird presence that seems to follow you around . Just how horrifying is that . ”

This conversation is getting too long . I was beginning to tire and I didn’t want to continue anymore .

I finally spoke . “You won’t be able to force her out of me this way . You might be scaring her away like this . I’ll admit that I did want to know more about whatever you told me about, but don’t try to use that to force me to do anything . You could’ve chosen to keep quiet, since I would’ve found out about these things sooner or later . As for Nie Zun, do you really think you can uncover his secrets even when I can’t explain his existence?”

I made it clear that I was the main character here, especially on things that had to do with Nie Zun . No need for you to worry, Li Wen . I don’t know everything about Nie Zun either, so who are you to try and find out more about him .

Li Wen smiled as I spoke . Her smile looked stiff and it didn’t look like it belonged to a victor . “I didn’t think that you’d actually speak because of him . ”

“No, you’re wrong . I didn’t speak because of him . I spoke because I didn’t want to continue wasting time on this with you . ”

Actually, you were right .

But I would never admit that .

Li Wen sighed . “Fine . You’re right too, I was thinking about the aim of this meditation just when you spoke earlier . Maybe my real aim was to actually talk to you about these things . ”

“No,” I disagreed immediately . “Meditation is effective . It helps train my endurance . I’ve also learnt how to better control and manipulate my MF in the process of trying to balance all the MF in my body while keeping still . ”

“You’ll have to thank me for this then . ”

I smirked . “You’re thinking too much . ”

Li Wen looked at me, and she finally said, “Continue sitting then . It has only been five hours . ”

Is Li Wen muddled?

Why continue sitting…

I moved stiffly . “I’ll tell you the truth, this won’t work . Ta Lai and Si Luo had both tried to force her out by reaching into my consciousness, and neither of them succeeded . I actually want to meet her as well, so why not we use my method? I’ll work with you since we have the same goal . ”

Doubt appeared in Li Wen’s eyes .

I scoffed, “I know my obedience must be suspicious to you, but you should know me well . Since I want to meet her too, I’ll work with you on this . I don’t think you have the ability to control her, so I’m willing to bet on this . You’ve always been confident of your abilities, so you’re not afraid now, are you?”

Li Wen thought for a moment . “What do you plan to do?”

I stretched my neck . “It’s simple . Bring me to that cave they were talking about to look for Nie Zun . ”

“Look for Nie Zun?”

I nodded . “Yes, you’ve witnessed it earlier, that Nie Zun is my only weakness . So how about we find this weakness in order to force her out of me . You would know this right, considering how well your information network is . I activated my split symbol because I wanted to protect Nie Zun . If you can bring me to Nie Zun, you’d be able to use my weakness . You’d definitely be able to see her then . ”

Li Wen frowned a little . “But you have to know that if we look for Nie Zun, I might attack him to force your second personality out . You’d still want me to do it in that case?”

I answered her in a calm and composed tone, “Frankly, I don’t think you have the ability to threaten me with Nie Zun . You said it yourself, that you can’t see through Nie Zun’s abilities . So I think you wouldn’t be able to make use of him even if we could find him . ”

Li Wen found this funny . “Then why should I agree with you if that’s the case?”

I looked her in the eye . “Because you’re Li Wen . Li Wen is confident and proud . No matter what I’ve said, you’d still think that you can use Nie Zun to threaten me . You’d definitely give it a try since you’ve finally found my weakness . ”

Li Wen had an inscrutable gaze .

We continued looking at each other for a long time before she finally broke into a smile . “Fine, I’ll bring you to that cave . But I’ll tell you this first . Even I don’t dare to explore too deeply, and I don’t know if they were able to survive in there . What I can do is to take you there . If we aren’t able to find them before we reach the restricted area in the cave, I’m not following you in any further . At that point, I want you to return with me . ”

We continued looking at each other for a long time before she finally broke into a smile . “Fine, I’ll bring you to that cave . But I’ll tell you this first . Even I don’t dare to explore too deeply, and I don’t know if they were able to survive in there . What I can do is to take you there . If we aren’t able to find them before we reach the restricted area in the cave, I’m not following you in any further . At that point, I want you to return with me . ”

My body was finally less rigid now . I stood up and adjusted my dress . “Let’s go then . ”

A dense forest was right outside the cave . The trees and flowers were all identical to what we would see in the real world, and there were even clear springs to be seen here . As I walked, I began to wonder just what kind of a place the Northern District was .

Li Wen did not talk much, probably because she had already spoke a lot earlier, and she no longer wanted to talk to me about anything else .

Though there was sunlight on the ground, both Li Wen and I did not have any shadows .

Imitations can never be the real deal .

“We’ll see the entrance of the cave after we pass those trees up front,” Li Wen said as she pointed in front of her .

“Why is everything so similar to the real world here?” I asked .

“Everything here is an imitation of the real world . These were created by the soul splitters based on your world . ” Li Wen gave a mysterious smile .

“What?” I frowned .

Li Wen shrugged . “I have no interest in revealing the secrets of soul splitters to you right now, but I just might do it one day when I’m in a better mood . Anyway, there’s no need for you to be surprised if you see anything here that’s similar to the real world . You just have to remember that everything in the Northern District is created through MF . Put simply, whatever you can think of can be manifested in the Northern District, since these things are all created through imagination . The only criterion is whether you have the MF to be able to create something . ”

I remained silent . There was no use in asking further questions since no one wanted to reveal any secrets regarding the soul splitters . I’ll take whatever comes my way . I was just a little unaccustomed to these realistic scenes, probably because I’ve stayed in the world of heirs for too long .

“There, it’s that cave . ”

I looked in the direction in which Li Wen pointed . The dark entrance of the cave was at the foot of a mountain .

From here, the cave looked like a normal one, and you couldn’t tell that there was anything special about it . There were also no signs with words like ‘Water Curtain Cave’ or ‘Cave of Demons’ on it . (T/n: ‘Water Curtain Cave’ is the home of the Monkey King in the Chinese epic, Journey to the West . )

From here, the cave looked like a normal one, and you couldn’t tell that there was anything special about it . There were also no signs with words like ‘Water Curtain Cave’ or ‘Cave of Demons’ on it . (T/n: ‘Water Curtain Cave’ is the home of the Monkey King in the Chinese epic, Journey to the West . )

There was nothing but a giant mushroom in front of the cave .

That giant mushroom was the height of about two human beings, but apart from that, it looked like any other ordinary mushroom . It was so huge the sunlight was completely blocked as we went under it, like an enormous umbrella .

It was a colorful mushroom that looked extremely beautiful .

But I know that beautiful things were usually poisonous .

Li Wen and I passed the mushroom and entered the cave .

Looking inside, it was pitch black .

“Let’s go . It’s right here . ” Though Li Wen was pointing at the entrance, she did not move .

I knew she was waiting for me to make the first move . But I hesitated as well .

I had an ominous feeling about this cave . There’d usually be the sound of wind blowing when we stood at the entrance of caves, but there was nothing but silence here .

There was only darkness, and silence . It was a terrifying silence .

Taking a deep breath, I stepped into the cave . I had to find Nie Zun no matter what .

I focused some MF onto my eyes when entering, trying to widen my field of vision . I realized that the Northern District was extremely different from the other districts . Even though it was pitch black, visibility could be greatly increased through MF .

This cave was very different . It was unlike any in the real world . Its walls were lined with moss and countless stalactites hung from its ceiling . The cave was rectangular inside, forming a straight path of well-chiseled stone walls .

No matter how much MF I focused on my eyes, there was only darkness in front of me . It was a path that seemed to be never-ending . Li Wen and I continued walking like this for a long time before we were met with a fork in the road .

The path was neatly divided into two by the fork .

No matter how much MF I focused on my eyes, there was only darkness in front of me . It was a path that seemed to be never-ending . Li Wen and I continued walking like this for a long time before we were met with a fork in the road .

The path was neatly divided into two by the fork .

“Where should we go?” I asked .

Li Wen shook her head . “I don’t know . I’ve never been to the Gate of Ghost before this, so I wouldn’t know the way in this cave either . ”

“I hope that restricted area isn’t right after this fork in the road . ”

“No . I know that there’s the word ‘demon’ in that area . If we want to stay alive, we shouldn’t explore any deeper when we see that word . I don’t know anything more than that since I’m not from the Gate of Ghost . So, you choose where to go . ”

I thought for a moment before I chose to continue on the path that was on my left .

That’s because I know that Nie Zun would choose this path .

The path became infinitely narrower after that fork . If we walk shoulder to shoulder in a row, this path could only hold about five individuals . The ceiling became lower and lower as we went deeper .

“What kind of demonic cave is this, there isn’t a single soul to be found here,” I complained .

“There’s a door in front . ” Li Wen pointed at somewhere in front of us .

Taking a closer look, I realized there was a stone door .

What . Why were there stone doors everywhere? Were there also wooden barrels and a breeding ground for poisonous leeches here?

Li Wen and I realized very quickly that there was someone else there . In front of that stone door, there was someone bent at the waist, looking inside . We weren’t able to recognize that person immediately since we couldn’t see the individual’s face . However, that individual turned around as Li Wen and I closed in .