They found a few soldiers who had some knowledge of Arrays to take a look, but all shook their heads and said there were no traces of an Array.

Unconvinced, Shen Hao channeled True Qi onto the giant stone again, but there was still no reaction at all.

"Could it be that I’m just being too sensitive?"

An hour later, the sky around them was already growing dark, and all those sent out had returned. Other than discovering more and rarer kinds of poisonous creatures, there were no new findings, nor did they locate the so-called source of the plague. The results did not satisfy Shen Hao.

"Sir, continuing north from here for about two li is the cliff. I went to check, and below the cliff it’s not as gloomy as here, and the earth phase breaks off just as abruptly as before."

So, this place was already at the edge of the targeted area?

"Set up camp right here. Strengthen the defenses."

"Yes, sir!"

The area near the giant stones was flat, with few trees and quite open, plus the ground was dry, not black and muddy like before. The poisonous creatures also avoided this open area, so it was spacious enough for all seventy or so of Shen Hao’s men.

In any case, they couldn’t make it back in time; spending the night here would likely be easier than outside.

Upon hearing they would camp for the night, the remaining ordinary soldiers hurried to gather mud and smear it all over themselves, an inch thick, leaving only their eyes and nose exposed. That way, they wouldn’t fear the poisonous insects. With torches, at least they’d get through the night. But after three days of constant tension, these ordinary soldiers were clearly exhausted.

The cultivators were much calmer; they could depend on their True Qi Shields to resist the approach of the poisonous insects. Yet, those with lower cultivation had already depleted their True Qi and decided to save some instead, imitating the ordinary soldiers and plastering themselves in mud.

Cooking began. Night in the mountains started to fall; before the poisonous insects appeared, they had to fill their stomachs.

But in the very next moment, everything turned completely upside down.

"Is this... an earthquake?"

Around mid-5 p.m., Shen Hao had just picked up his food when he felt a slight tremor from underground, which continued and gradually became more obvious, as if horses were stampeding swiftly beneath them.

Before Shen Hao could react, a series of crackling, stone-splitting sounds erupted. Looking toward the noise, he saw that it came from the ground between the five giant stones, which was now slowly opening up a hole—like a gaping mouth.

"Everyone, move away from here! Stick close together and be ready to cover each other!"

Everyone was on high alert—the scene was so bizarre. So many people had walked around during the day, yet nothing unusual had been found, but now at night a hole suddenly opened?

Moreover, as the central hole expanded, a sense of unease began to wind around everyone’s hearts.

"Bzzzz bzzz bzzzz..."

The faint sound swelled, rising from below to above... soon becoming waves of booming noise, then suddenly "erupted" from the central hole under their terror-stricken gaze!

"Careful! The bugs are coming!"

Shen Hao had never imagined he’d one day witness a swarm of insects erupting like a fountain. That skin-crawling discomfort tightened his whole body, knowing danger was imminent.

"Come to me! Higher cultivation help the lower! Hurry, stay close to me!" Shen Hao flicked his hand, tossing out a Magic Disc—one of the two magical artifacts he’d snatched from the Wen Family: a Five Elements Defense Disc.

It was merely a Five Elements magical artifact, but at least it was middle-grade. Activated, it covered a radius of five zhang, and its True Qi consumption was well within the range Shen Hao could handle at Gathering Spirit Realm Second Layer.

"Those without cultivation, get inside first!"

The non-cultivators entered the Array first; if there was space left, those with low cultivation followed. The stronger cultivators held out for now.

The poisonous insects spewed out in the torchlight like a rapidly broadening multi-colored tornado, with an array of unknown species, yet eerily not fighting each other. After a loop through the air, they all charged at the people below, who were on high alert.

"Crackle, crackle..."

Like pebbles raining onto a table, a dense sound echoed on the shield of the Defense Array. The impact wasn’t strong, but the poisonous liquid that gradually dripped onto the shield was deeply alarming.

This situation persisted until daylight the next morning. Around dawn, those insects that had scattered earlier converged again, surging madly back into the black hole among the stones. By sunrise, the black hole had closed and left no trace.

When Shen Hao put away the Magic Disc, he realized he was soaked in cold sweat. Even though his meridians were different from ordinary people, mobilizing a middle-grade magical artifact at high intensity for a whole night nearly drained him. If it hadn’t been so perilous last night, he wouldn’t have revealed the Magic Disc, which was meant as his hidden ace.

"What’s inside that hole?" Shen Hao frowned deeply, finally understanding why this seemingly ordinary place had been marked as a red spot on the map.

"Slap!"

Shen Hao turned his head to see a soldier beside him slap his own neck, killing a small insect—just plain, bean-sized, looked no different from any forest insect.

Shen Hao withdrew his gaze, carefully stepping into the middle of the five giant stones where the black hole had been last night. Now, standing atop it, there wasn’t the slightest tremor, nor any change when he stomped, nor even a trace of mana fluctuation. If he hadn’t witnessed it firsthand, who’d believe something was hidden here?

"Sir, why not dig it up?"

"..." Shen Hao glanced at the speaker, suspecting he wasn’t quite right in the head. Dig it up? If those insects burst free again, who’d handle it?

After thinking a bit, Shen Hao decisively ordered them to pack up and retreat!

Leave here first and get to safety, then discuss further. Besides, this place was so strange, absolutely not something he could decide on his own. And the plague source still hadn’t been found.

If entering was slow and cautious, the return felt much quicker.

Two days later, Shen Hao’s group, carrying a few wounded, finally exited that bizarre area. When they saw the forest again, bursting with vitality rather than gloom, nearly everyone breathed a huge sigh of relief.

Plus, quite a few others were already waiting here.

"Sir, you’re finally out!" Wang Yiming had wanted to go search several times, but restrained himself for two days. If Shen Hao hadn’t come out today, he really would have gone into the mountains.

"Mm. Take the wounded for treatment. Let’s return to Wan River."

The group rushed back without pause, but just as they reached the Wan River camp, disaster struck: a soldier died with no warning. His corpse was covered in horrific black spots. Clearly, he had succumbed to Black Spot Plague.