Chapter 3895: No Sign Of Prisoners

Lin Mu slowly continued forward.

The underground passages stretched endlessly before him, branching into countless directions that all appeared nearly identical beneath the dim green glow of the moss overhead.

The walls remained rough and uneven, though every now and then he spotted clear signs that tools had once shaped portions of the stone. Ancient chisel marks still lingered in several places, softened by the passing of countless years.

His footsteps echoed softly through the tunnels, but beyond that there was only silence. The kind of silence that slowly weighed upon the mind. For a prison that supposedly held the most dangerous criminals within the Heavenly Stream Guardian Sect, the Mad Demon Depths felt strangely empty.

Lin Mu frowned. ’Where are the prisoners?’

He had expected noise, arguments, mad laughter, curses, or at least the sound of chains dragging against stone... Something.

Anything.

Instead, the entire underground world felt abandoned. He briefly considered whether the first level simply happened to be vacant. Even then, that explanation failed to satisfy him. The masked cultivators had specifically brought him here.

That meant this level remained in active use.

’If so... Where is everyone?’ Lin Mu continued walking.

His Immortal Sense quietly swept ahead, though the Baleful Qi Eater Steel shackles constantly devoured a large portion of it before allowing the remainder to spread outward. The suppression remained consistent.

Nearly half his perception disappeared the instant it left his body. Even so his remaining range still far surpassed what ordinary cultivators could achieve. He patiently explored every nearby tunnel.

One passage led toward another cavern, while another curved downward before ending at a collapsed section. Several smaller side tunnels connected with wider corridors before splitting apart once again.

The deeper he wandered, the more labyrinthian the place became.

Time quietly slipped away as nearly half an hour passed. Still there was nothing, no prisoners, guards, dry skeletons, or any traces of recent habitation. Only the occasional insect slowly crawling across damp stone.

Some possessed translucent bodies that almost blended into the rock itself while others carried tiny patches of glowing moss upon their backs, making them appear like wandering specks of green light.

Several long centipede-like creatures disappeared into cracks the moment Lin Mu approached. Small spiders spun webs between jagged rocks. And every now and then, a rat suddenly darted across the corridor.

The tiny creature would freeze the instant it noticed Lin Mu before vanishing into another hole with astonishing speed. The rats themselves appeared unusual. Their fur had become almost gray white and their eyes reflected the moss light with an eerie green sheen.

Generations spent underground had clearly changed them.

Lin Mu quietly watched one disappear.

"You certainly seem healthier than the prisoners." His soft voice echoed through the empty passage. "Considering the fact that they don’t even seem to exist." he chuckled but only silence answered him.

Another thirty minutes gradually passed.

An entire hour had now slipped by since his arrival on the first level. Lin Mu finally stopped walking as the questions inside his mind had only multiplied.

"This makes little sense..." He looked around once more.

The tunnels certainly existed and the prison certainly existed. Its security alone rivaled that of major sect vaults. The restraints upon his limbs easily qualified as High Grade Immortal Tools. The escort alone consisted of highly disciplined cultivators.

Everything pointed toward extraordinary importance.

Yet... The prison itself appeared empty.

’Unless...’ Lin Mu considered another possibility. ’The prisoners are deliberately isolated.’

Individual cells, hidden chambers, formation sealed caverns, or entirely different methods, anything remained possible. He slowly rubbed one of the shackles around his wrist as another question surfaced.

’How do they even feed the prisoners?’

It seemed simple. Yet, the more he considered it, the more important it became. Immortals possessed remarkable endurance. Many could remain without food for months. Powerful experts sometimes secluded themselves for years while surviving entirely upon Immortal Qi.

But that required unrestricted cultivation.

The shackles around Lin Mu consumed Qi. Their suppression arrays actively interfered with circulation. Under such conditions, an imprisoned cultivator would eventually require ordinary food once again.

Otherwise... Even an immortal would slowly weaken. And eventually... They would starve.

Lin Mu himself possessed little concern. His body stored absurd quantities of nutrition. Combined with the Burdenless Dominator Physique, the nameless technique of the lost immortal and his terrifying vitality... He could probably endure years without eating.

Perhaps considerably longer.

But the average prisoner enjoyed no such luxury. Someone had to deliver food, water and perhaps even medicine if that was a luxury provided to it. The prison could hardly operate otherwise.

Yet during the past hour, he had encountered absolutely nobody. There were no servants, guards, or signs of supply routes like trolley or cart marks on the ground.

Nothing.

The deeper he investigated, the stranger the Mad Demon Depths became.

’Are these questions why it’s called that?’ Lin Mu began to wonder.

Lin Mu resumed walking as another random tunnel stretched before him. It curved gently toward the left before gradually narrowing. The ceiling dipped lower here and the moss became increasingly sparse while darkness swallowed much of the passage.

His footsteps slowed then something brushed against his leg.

Lin Mu immediately stopped and his eyes lowered toward the ground.

"What is this?" He crouched as his fingers reached toward the object.

It felt soft and flexible, certainly unlike stone. He lifted it carefully while the dim green light barely illuminated its outline.

’Some sort of fabric.’ Lin Mu reckoned, though the poor lighting prevented him from seeing further details.

Lin Mu instinctively tried examining it more closely.

Then... He suddenly paused.

His expression became rather peculiar.

"...Wait." He blinked once.

Then quietly laughed at himself.

"Why am I actually pretending to be a prisoner?" He slowly shook his head.

The realization felt almost embarrassing. He had immersed himself so deeply into Little Bull’s role that he had genuinely forgotten something obvious. The masked cultivators had indeed confiscated his Spatial Storage Pendant during transportation, but he still had his real ring.

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