Chapter 585 Ant Cave
"Well, great lords I don't understand what you mean by that question, we're obviously in the lands of the great Lord of Slaughter," he said.
"Lord of slaughter?" I replied questioningly.
Shen Fu sighed as he said, "We need to leave here fast…" he said.
"Problems?" I asked.
"Yes. A lot of it, most people here are pretty bloodthirsty, it's the Law of Slaughter. This whole land is almost lawless, it's almost comparable to the Sea of Demons."
"Now you're speaking in words I don't understand," I replied this time in Divine Sense so I don't expose my origin.
"What's this Sea of Demons, and what does this land being lawless mean?" I asked.
"The whole area here is basically a dog eat dog world," he said.
"When was anywhere in the cultivation world not a dog eat dog world?"
"… You're right, but this is a bit exceptional, there are some rules and laws one must follow here though," he said.
I nodded and then asked the poison cultivator, "Tell us about the laws of these lands," I said.
Shen Fu understood the meaning behind my question. Since if the old man here were to give us any false information Shen Fu who is a bit acquainted with the laws of this land would instantly see through the lies.
"Oh, there aren't much laws, basically one must never blaspheme against the Slaughter Lord within his territory, one must never go against the Slaughter Sect, and finally if you're strong enough, do whatever you want," he said.
Shen Fu nodded.
"That simple?" I said.
"It's a pretty free country…" the poison cultivator said.
"So you're telling me, being a poison cultivator doesn't make people look at you weirdly?" I said.
The hunchback frowned, "Why would they? I'm pretty strong…" he said then looked at our expressions.
"I mean I'm strong within the norms. I have very few enemies since I killed most who went against me, and if you're powerful enough in the land of the Slaughter Lord, you can do whatever you want, even Devil Cultivators aren't being hunted here, since they're strong enough to stand by themselves no one bothers them, and they at the same time don't bother anyone from the Slaughter Sect." he said.
"Tell me more about the Slaughter Sect," I asked.
"I can't," he said.
I frowned.
"It's not that I don't want to, it's one of the Slaughter Sect's established rules, and remember one must not go against the Slaughter Sect. As a person who's not a member of the Slaughter Sect I can't in good conscience tell you anything about it. If you want information you either have to go to the Slaughter Sect, or ask someone from the Slaughter Sect," the hunchback said.
"Is the Slaughter Sect that dangerous?" I asked.
"More like very powerful, most people here want to belong to the Slaughter Sect, it provides incredible opportunities and protection to its members. I've been waiting to join it for the last hundred years, I still can't." he said.
"I don't know much about that, but he doesn't seem like he's telling any lies…" Fu Shen said.
"Please lords! Believe me, wait we can go to the Ant Cave, there you can get more information, the lady of the Ant Cave is a member of the Slaughter Sect, she can tell you more," he said.
"Ant Cave?" I asked.
"Its basically a mountain with tens of thousands of caves inside it that are formed like a maze, the cave allows cultivators to hide in there from pursuit at a cost. After all if one decides to hide there no one can find them. And the Queen of the cave there is a member of the Slaughter Sect, she guarantees the safety of the people there by merely being there." He said.
"I suppose no one would just come in and crumble the mountain on top of everyone since it will inadvertently harm the 'Queen'."
"Exactly, I've had many encounters with people who I almost lost my life to, and used the cave to hide away until I gained my current strength," he proclaimed proudly.
We weren't impressed.
"Ok…" he said, feeling slightly dejected. "Anyway, the cave is pretty close, it's just a hundred thousand miles to the west, I'll lead the way," he said.
'I can't believe I'm hearing the words, pretty close and a hundred thousand miles in the same sentence… the size of this land must be gargantuanly massive.'
"Lead the way," said Shen Fu as the two of us followed after.
The distance was not small by any means, but thanks to our cultivation level it wouldn't take us more than a couple hours to reach. However, one thing bothered me.
I questioned Shen Fu through Divine Sense, "Is there no day and night rotation? The sun is barely moving…"
"As it should, its barely in its fiftieth year, there is another fifty more years before the sun falls down and the night comes up," he said.
This made my brows rise, a hundred years, before the sun goes down? How do they even count time? So they're basing their time on something other than the sun above them? So many questions began wracking my brain that I decided to just turn it off. Trying to find an answer to this is bound to get me more and more confused.
"Right there, the Ant Cave!" the hunchback said.
Right ahead of us was a mountain, and just as described, it indeed looked like an ant cave. As hundreds of thousands of cultivators moved in and out in droves. Just like ants going in and out of their fortress.
There were buildings around the Ant Cave and several markets and shops opened all around the mountain.
Shen Fu suddenly reached and grabbed the hunchback by the shoulder, "Don't think of running inside, we need information first," he said.
"O-of course," he said.
But I could clearly hear the disappointment in his tone, he obviously thought of ditching us once he goes into the caves.
"The Queen is at the top of the mountain," the hunchback said as all three of us came down and stood within the market area.
"Don't use your divine sense," Shen Fu said.
"I know," I replied. After all, with this many cultivator, none of them even used their Divine Sense to scan the rest, it must be a tacit agreement between a cultivator to not use it, or a law of this area. When in Rome, do what the romans do I guess.
But just as we were about to head to the main Ant Cave, several dozen cultivators seemed to have surrounded us.
The hunchback rushed toward them and said, "That one! He's the one without a brand!" he said as he pointed at me.
"Just like I thought," I sighed.
"You expected him to betray us?" asked Shen Fu.
"From the very first words he spoke I did, after all," I said as I held a holding bag in my hand, "I had no intentions of sparing him in the first place."
The hunchback's eyes widened as he realized that his holding bag was in my hand now. And right before he could utter a word, his body suddenly began growing black veins as he started spasming right there and then.
"Poison cultivator dying by poison, quite ironic," said Shen Fu as he began ramping his Qi up preparing for a fight.
Well, I guess we'll have to fight…