Confucian and Taoist scholar

Chapter 450 The Trapped
On the square, a middle-aged Taoist priest seemed to sense something, turned his head and saw Lu Zheng.

Pang Yun didn't recognize the changed Lu Zheng, and said with a beaming smile, "Oh my, another one has arrived! This fellow Daoist looks quite young. It's quite an achievement to have made it this far..."

Lu Zheng narrowed his eyes slightly. Why did he detect a hint of schadenfreude in Pang Yun's tone?
Lu Zheng then looked at another person, an old man in a gray robe, whose aura was restrained and whose expression was indifferent.

The old man slightly raised his eyes, his gaze sharp as an eagle's, scrutinizing Lu Zheng.

Below, Qingwan and the Zhong family members heard the voice coming from above, and their expressions changed.

Qingwan's eyes flickered as she recognized the familiar voice. She quickly mustered all her strength and huffed and puffed as she climbed to Lu Zheng's side.

"Huh, there's someone else..."

Pang Yun saw that more people had arrived and could faintly hear noises coming from below.

He excitedly arrived at the steps, and looking around, he discovered that six people had suddenly appeared.

Pang Yun couldn't help but click his tongue in amazement and said, "Hey, I'm pretty lucky, so many people have come to keep me company."

Zhong Ying looked up and saw Pang Yun. Her gaze turned cold, and she said unhappily, "It was you who trespassed into our Zhong family's secret realm and stole the treasures here?"

Pang Yun was taken aback upon hearing this, then grinned and said, "The Zhong family? What Zhong family? I have no idea! This is your secret realm, what a joke... You struggle to even climb a mountain, how did this become your territory?"

"You have some nerve!" Zhong Ying was furious upon hearing this.

This person sneaked past the many restrictions set up by the Zhong family to come to this secret realm to steal treasures, and even dared to speak so arrogantly.

Pang Yun said leisurely, "I'm not that bold. You think this place is your territory just because you set up a formation? If that's the case, there are people here who arrived even earlier than you."

As they spoke, the old man in the gray robe came to the edge of the platform and looked down at the Zhong family below.

When Zhong Ying saw that there was still one person, her expression changed slightly. Wasn't it only one person who had broken in here?

Pang Yun said, "This senior is said to have been here fifty years ago. Your Zhong family probably didn't even know about this secret realm back then, right?"

Upon hearing this, the Zhong family members' expressions changed, and for a moment they could hardly believe it.

They had previously explored this secret place, searching many areas, but had never found any trace of human habitation. It was astonishing that someone had stayed here for fifty years.

"How can it be……"

Zhong Ying's expression became complicated; she was unwilling to believe it.

Not only the Zhong family, but even Pang Yun didn't want to believe it.

He finally found this secret place and sneaked in, thinking that no one was inside and he might be able to find some good stuff.

Upon arriving here, they discovered another person, an old man who had reached the fifth realm.

According to the old man, the other party had been here for more than fifty years.

The old man wasn't in seclusion here to cultivate; he was trapped on the mountain and had been trying to get out.

Pang Yun only realized upon arriving here that going up the mountain was easy, but going down was difficult, and it was impossible to return along the path. This mountain had a special power that could trap people here.

After encountering the old man, Pang Yun, due to his insufficient strength, handed over many spiritual items for cultivation to him.

Seeing that someone had followed in his footsteps so quickly, it was hard not to feel schadenfreude.

The old man looked at Zhong Ying and said, "The Zhong family of Ghost City?"

Upon hearing this, Zhong Ying nodded and said, "I am the current head of the Zhong family. And you are?"

The old man's expression was indifferent. He did not answer Zhong Ying's question, but said, "No wonder I haven't seen anyone come up the mountain in the last few decades. Your Zhong family has sealed off the outside world for so many years, but you still can't get in. You're a bunch of useless people."

He has stayed on the mountain for so many years, not only trying to leave, but also waiting for someone else with the ability to unlock the secrets of this place so that he can leave.

Unfortunately, no one came until recently, and only Pang Yun arrived in recent decades.

It was through Pang Yun that the old man learned about some of the recent developments in the outside world.

Upon hearing these words, Zhong Ying's expression turned extremely ugly. "What do you mean?"

The old man, too lazy to explain further, merely glanced at Pang Yun beside him before returning to his place.

Pang Yun couldn't help but explain simply, "Haven't you noticed that things are different here from outside? Once you're here, it'll be difficult to get out..."

Pang Yun paused, then said, "Well, it's fate that we're all here. Let's think of a solution together..."

The Zhong family members looked at each other, and for a moment they all stopped climbing the mountain.

What's going on here... I thought this secret realm was unclaimed land, but it turns out there were people trapped inside for decades, and now they've arrived here too.

Lu Zheng and Qing Wan were not surprised after hearing this.

Pang Yun glanced at Lu Zheng and his companion, then at the Zhong family members below, and couldn't help but say, "You two aren't from the same family, are you? Judging from your appearances, you both have the air of serious cultivators. You shouldn't be from Ghost State, right?"

Lu Zheng said calmly, "I came here at the invitation to explore this place."

Upon hearing this, Pang Yun couldn't help but say, "Tsk, your luck is truly..."

“Apart from here, the rest of this secret realm has long been plundered by our predecessors. You…we’re all too late.”

Pang Yun shook his head and sighed. He had previously thought that the Zhong family had set up many restrictions outside the secret realm to protect some kind of treasure.

As it turned out, the Zhong family had no idea about the situation here, and hadn't even explored the area.

Now that's settled, everyone's up the mountain, and we still don't know when we'll be able to get out. Pang Yun looked at Lu Zheng and the other man, his eyes gleaming, and said, "You two were invited here, so you must have some skills. Let's figure out how to get out..."

Pang Yun slowly added, "Don't even think about going down the mountain directly. That old senior has already explored the entire mountain area, and the temple at the top of the mountain might contain a way out."

Pang Yun and the old man were on the platform below, mainly to wait for others to arrive.

Upon hearing this, Qingwan asked, "Can't you go down?"

Pang Yun said, "Why don't you give it a try?"

Qing Wan turned and came to the edge of the steps, preparing to step down, but her feet were directly on air and she couldn't reach the steps below.

"Hey?"

Qingwan looked surprised and tried her best, but she couldn't put her foot down.

She was even dangling in the air, unable to take a step forward, but she could retreat back up the mountain.

Lu Zheng observed carefully from the side, but couldn't figure out the reason for it for a while.

The river we encountered before was one where you could go down but not come back up, but this mountain is different; you can go up but not go down.

Seeing this, Lu Zheng also tried to take a step, but he found that although he was stepping on air, it was as if he was being supported by an invisible force, and he could not take a step down.

As soon as Lu Zheng had a thought, the strange mountain phenomena in his small world released a power.

That force appeared beneath Lu Zheng's feet, instantly creating an invisible ripple.

Lu Zheng took another step and felt the resistance lessen, but he still couldn't get his feet on solid ground.

Seeing this, Lu Zheng calmly withdrew his steps.

There are still thousands of steps to the foot of the mountain, and it will take quite a bit of effort to get down.

There are other people here, and unless absolutely necessary, there is no need to force our way down the mountain, as bringing so many people would be a hassle.

Pang Yun, who was standing nearby, asked, "Did you figure out anything?"

Lu Zheng thought for a moment and said, "You can go up the mountain but not down. Isn't this just trying to trap people here to die? There's something wrong with this secret realm..."

Pang Yun clapped his hands and said, "I think so too. I asked that senior from earlier, and he believes this place was a training ground for some immortal sect, but it was abandoned for some reason. Then, after many years of decay, this secret realm developed some problems..."

"The outer perimeter of this secret realm is alright; people can still enter and exit using formations. But once you get deeper inside, the rules of the secret realm apply, making it difficult to get out..."

Lu Zheng recalled the scenes he had seen along the way, and this place really did look like a training ground.

If this is the residence of a powerful cultivator in seclusion, there is no need to create so many special environments in this secret realm.

Unless it was a powerful individual with such a hobby, they wouldn't have set up their secret realm like this.

However, if it is for the sect to train, it would probably be difficult to cross the outer river alone.
Lu Zheng couldn't help but voice his doubts.

Upon hearing this, Pang Yun said, "That river? It's really not easy to cross. By the way, how did you manage to get across?"

“We skipped directly here,” Lu Zheng said.

"Hmm?" Pang Yun's eyes flickered slightly. "You guys didn't fall into the river?"

After Pang Yun finished speaking, he felt that the question was a bit silly.

He then said, "I think this place should be a training ground, but the difficulty has increased since it's no longer under control... Since it's a training secret realm, there must be a way out of this mountain."

On the other side, the Zhong family members also gradually ascended to the platform plaza.

Seeing everyone come up, the old man not far away slowly said, "Since you're all here, take out your spirit stones and pills."

He had been trapped here for decades and almost perished. Now that some people had finally arrived, he had to ask for some cultivation resources to make up for it.

Upon hearing this, the Zhong family members all changed their expressions slightly.

They didn't get any benefits from coming in this time, and now someone is even asking them for spirit stones and pills.

Zhong Ying's face darkened slightly as she asked, "What do you mean?"

The old man's gaze turned cold. "Don't you understand?"

As he spoke, the old man released his restrained aura.

A powerful pressure enveloped Zhong Ying, Lu Zheng, and the others.

Pang Yun, who was standing nearby, was quick to read the situation and avoided being affected.

The Zhong family members' expressions changed drastically. They never expected that this old man, who had been trapped here for so many years, would still possess the strength of the fifth realm.

Even the four of them combined were no match for the old man.

"Senior, please calm your anger. We are willing to offer you spiritual treasures..."

Feeling the suffocating pressure, Zhong Ying's body bent over.

Zhong Qing and the others felt even worse; they were practically kneeling on the ground.

The old man seemed not to hear, his gaze fixed on Lu Zheng and Qing Wan, who stood steadily.

(End of this chapter)