Chapter 2

South of the border, in the Ten Thousand Mountains.

In a vast, dark, and damp cave, a drop of water fell from a stalactite hanging from the ceiling, landing with a "plop" on the forehead of a young boy, about thirteen or fourteen years old, who was lying below.

The boy's lips were blue and purple. The cold water drop startled him, causing him to shiver violently and slowly open his eyes.

He looked up at the dark ceiling, dazed for a moment, and struggled to sit up.

"Ouch..."

The pain from all over his body made him involuntarily draw a sharp breath.

However, his character seemed quite resilient. Despite the pain, he managed to sit up and lean against the damp and slippery cave wall behind him.

His movements caused a series of "clanging" sounds, which in turn triggered a series of groans from the surrounding area.

The boy was startled and looked around cautiously. Only then did he realize that in the darkness around him, there were at least two or three hundred shadowy figures.

On his wrist, he wore a heavy iron shackle, from which a chain extended and connected to the shackles on the wrists of about ten other people, linking them all together.

"Where am I?" The boy was shocked and immediately felt a sense of doubt.

He thought for a while but was horrified to find that he had no answer.

The boy felt a sense of confusion in his mind. His memories of the past were hazy, and he couldn't remember anything at all. The only thing he could recall was his name, Yuan Ming.

He had lost his memory!

Before Yuan Ming could figure out what was happening, a heavy "rumbling" sound came from a distance, making his heart race as if a heavy iron door had been pushed open.

Then, a patch of firelight tore through the darkness. Seven or eight burly men, holding torches, wearing animal skins, and carrying curved knives at their waists, escorted a tall, half-naked man into the cave.

Under the flickering firelight, Yuan Ming saw that these men had dark red skin, prominent muscles, and a rugged, primitive appearance.

Especially the half-naked man leading them, whose muscles were even more defined, exuding a sense of explosive power, looking like a temple guardian.

However, their hairstyles were quite peculiar. The hair around their heads was shaved off, leaving only a tuft on top, tied into a thick braid.

Seeing this, Yuan Ming felt a strange word pop into his mind: "Southern Barbarians."

As this thought arose, a fragment of his memory seemed to piece together, and some fragmented images appeared in his mind.

The images showed bustling markets, magnificent mansions, and people dressed in silk and brocade. When he looked down at his own tattered clothes, Yuan Ming was certain that he was not one of these Southern Barbarians.

Just as Yuan Ming was full of confusion, the half-naked man leading the group suddenly glanced at him and said something in a strange language.

Yuan Ming, hearing the strange pronunciation, which was completely different from what he remembered, understood it immediately.

It was the Southern Barbarian language!

The man said, "This is the last place. Be quick, don't miss anyone."

The Southern Barbarians, dressed in animal skins, moved forward with their torches, each taking out a piece of what looked like a wild animal bone, embedded with a thumb-sized red stone.

"Who are you? What are you going to do?" Seeing one of them approaching, Yuan Ming tried to remain calm and asked in the Southern Barbarian language.

The half-naked man glanced at him, surprised, while the Southern Barbarian who approached him growled and swung his torch at his face.

Yuan Ming dodged to the side, and the torch grazed his shoulder, hitting the wall and sending sparks flying.

The flying sparks frightened a man next to Yuan Ming, who let out a loud cry and tried to hide in a crevice in the rock.

The Southern Barbarian bent down, grabbed the man's ankle, and with a slight effort, pulled him out. Then, amidst the man's violent struggle, he placed the animal bone above his head.

The animal bone first emitted a blue, ghostly light, and then the red stone in the center suddenly lit up.

However, the red light quickly went out.

The half-naked man frowned and shook his head.

The Southern Barbarian holding the man's ankle did not hesitate, drew his curved knife, and slashed at the man's head.

With a "thud," a scream echoed, and the man's struggle gradually ceased.

"Killing, killing..." Yuan Ming felt a warm splash of blood on his cheek, the air filled with a nauseating smell of blood, and his mind went blank.

A chill rose from the depths of his heart, making his body stiff, and he even forgot to continue escaping.

Of course, he couldn't escape anyway.

His wrist was still chained to the still-warm corpse.

Just as he was still in shock, the light in front of him dimmed, and a piece of animal bone was placed above his head.

As the blue ghostly light appeared, a red light, like a candle, lit up and did not immediately go out.

After a few moments, the red light finally faded.

The burly man holding the animal bone, with one hand on the hilt of his knife, turned to look at the half-naked man.

The half-naked man hesitated for a moment but then nodded.

The burly man then released his hand from the knife and walked to another person.

When his figure moved away, Yuan Ming recovered from his fear.

He suppressed all his doubts and shock and looked around. He found that almost all the people bound by chains were wild-looking, disheveled people.

They, like him, were being tested one by one with the animal bones on their heads.

Those whose red light went out immediately were killed with a single slash, while those whose red light lasted for a moment survived.

For a while, cries, screams, and the clinking of chains echoed continuously.

After about an hour, the entire cave was filled with a heavy smell of blood.

The half-naked man, seeing that all the tests were complete, began to give instructions in a strange language.

Then, Yuan Ming and the dozen or so survivors were released from the chains, re-shackled, and taken to one side to wait.

Yuan Ming was somewhat uneasy, not knowing what these people were going to do, and dared not ask.

However, from the behavior of the Southern Barbarians, it was clear that they had passed some kind of selection and would not be killed for the time being.

At this moment, the half-naked man suddenly took out a silver-white bell about an inch long from his waist, held it by the wooden handle, and shook it.

"Clang..."

A clear bell sound echoed in the vast cave.

At the moment Yuan Ming heard the sound, he felt a heavy blow to his head, with no pain but a severe dizziness, and the scenes in front of him became blurry.

In the hazy and illusory state, Yuan Ming saw a spiritual light appear above the heads of the corpses in the cave, and then one after another, blurry shadows floated out.

He saw these shadows float out of the corpses' heads, one by one overlapping, and finally becoming identical to the corpses.

Yuan Ming was startled, and his mind became clearer.

He then realized that the shadows floating out were not just illusions but real.

However, they all had their heads down, their legs hanging in the air, floating above the corpses.

Yuan Ming swallowed hard and looked at the half-naked man, who held the bell and shook it again.

"Clang..."

The same clear sound echoed, but this time Yuan Ming did not feel a significant dizziness. He watched as the floating shadows all drifted toward the bell in the half-naked man's hand.

As they approached, the shadows turned into light points, merging into the bell and disappearing.

"Could these shadows be the souls of those people?" This thought popped into Yuan Ming's mind, making his back chill.

If he had not passed the mysterious test, he would have been decapitated, and his soul would have been extracted like those people.

"The harvest is not bad, thirteen in total. Alright, let's return and prepare for the journey back." The half-naked man put away the bell, wiped the sweat from his forehead, and said.

It seemed that the two shakes of the bell had also been a significant burden for him.

Yuan Ming stared at the bell in the man's hand, not knowing what it was, but it was clear that these Southern Barbarians were not ordinary people.

...

Three days later, in the Ten Thousand Mountains, in a valley shrouded in mist and fog.

A group of people, all with their faces covered by a piece of green animal skin, marched through the toxic fog, which was a mix of green and purple.

These people were clearly divided into two groups. One group was the Southern Barbarians, dressed in animal skins, with curved knives at their waists, numbering only a dozen or so, positioned at the front and back of the group, occasionally moving among them to maintain order. The other group was the prisoners, with bare upper bodies and shackles on their hands, forming a long line, walking silently with their heads down.

Yuan Ming, as one of the prisoners, was among the crowd, struggling to keep up with the group, one step at a time.

For the past few days, they had been traveling through mountains and mud, and he had not spoken a single word. No one had asked him anything, but through the limited conversations of the Southern Barbarians, Yuan Ming learned that the place they were in was called "South of the Border," and their destination was the Bi Luo Cave.

According to the Southern Barbarians, it was a place blessed by the gods, a holy site for their cultivation, and they were selected to receive the gods' gifts.

Given their strange behavior, Yuan Ming did not believe that the "Bi Luo Cave" would be a good place, and he was sure that whatever awaited him would not be good. However, with the current situation, he could only take it one step at a time.

Worse still, his memory had not returned, and he still could not remember who he was.

However, the "Central Plains" in his remaining memories was much more prosperous than this uncivilized land, and he must have come from there. But why had he come from the Central Plains to this place, and why was he injured? Was he framed by someone, or was he being pursued by an enemy?

Yuan Ming's mind was filled with thoughts, but he was determined to find out the truth.

Fortunately, the Southern Barbarians did not make things difficult for them on the journey.

Along the way, they provided food to the prisoners on schedule, though it was only some hard-to-swallow dried fruit and a meager amount of dried meat. They also applied herbal ointments to treat their injuries.

It was during the treatment that Yuan Ming discovered he had over thirty wounds on his body, including lacerations, abrasions, and puncture wounds, and even a broken rib.

The herbal ointments applied by the Southern Barbarians were effective, and in just three days, almost all his external injuries had healed, leaving only the broken rib, which would take some time to recover. Apart from the pain, it did not affect his movement.

Now, as they entered the toxic fog valley, the Southern Barbarians provided them with animal skin to protect against the toxins, which made Yuan Ming even more cautious.