“Have you heard? Everyone in the neighboring Little Stone Village died overnight.”
“What a tragedy. An entire village...”
“I heard they provoked some terrible evil. The whole village was sucked dry into desiccated corpses.”
“I heard many immortal masters went there this morning. We ordinary folk should keep our doors tightly shut to avoid being caught up in it.”
Once the villagers had walked off, Wen Xuan said, “Since we’re out for a sect trial, why don’t we go see what’s happening?”
“That works.”
Mu Chenze thought for a moment. “We’re already in Cangzhou territory, which falls under the jurisdiction of the Ten Directions Sect.”
“The city in Cangzhou closest to Yunzhou is Border City.”
“I heard people on the World Forum say that although Border City and its outskirts are Ten Directions Sect territory, their disciples don’t like coming here because the spirit energy is thin and there’s nothing to gain.”
“Therefore, while Border City belongs to the Ten Directions Sect in name, it has been neglected to the point where it’s occupied by two local gangs.”
Jun Luo remarked, “A place where dragons and snakes mingle.”
Mu Chenze gave him an affirmative look. “Exactly.”
“Neither of these local gangs submits to the other, so gang fights frequently break out in Border City.”
“Normally, fighting is prohibited within cities.”
“But I heard the city lord of Border City was exiled here by the Ten Directions Sect. He has no desire to manage things, nor can he contend with the two local gangs.”
“According to those villagers, cultivators still went to handle the situation after the village outside Border City was attacked.”
Jiang Yao said, “Even if they fight fiercely among themselves, they’re still willing to step in when mortals within their territory encounter evil.”
“Not necessarily.” Mu Chenze draped an arm over Jiang Yao’s shoulder. “If it weren’t for the possibility of finding opportunities or benefits, how many of these cultivators would truly care about eliminating evil for mortals?”
Hearing this, Jiang Yao was momentarily stunned.
“Not everywhere is Xiaoyao, and not everywhere is Yunzhou.”
Mu Chenze patted his fluffy head. “This is how people are, and this is how the cultivation world is. Junior Brother, you’ll have to get used to it.”
“You’re patting me like I’m a dog!”
Jiang Yao hugged his head and jumped away. “Besides, our cultivation is the same. Who’s your junior brother?!”
“Precisely because our cultivation is the same, you are my junior brother.”
Seeing Jiang Yao’s confused and teeth-gritting expression, Mu Chenze smiled and said, “If we can’t tell by cultivation, then we look at age.”
Gu Ningyun and Wen Xuan laughed in unison.
Before Jiang Yao could lose his temper, Gu Ningyun quickly retracted her smile and said with forced seriousness, “Since we’re going to investigate, let’s move faster.”
“Right, right! If we’re too late and they’ve finished everything, we won’t have any sense of participation.” Wen Xuan also nodded repeatedly, activating the movement technique she had practiced for a month as she took the lead and ran out.
Jun Luo unfolded the map. “Little Stone Village is to the south.”
Gu Ningyun quickly shouted at the top of her lungs, “Wen Xuan, you’re going the wrong way! Come back!”
Jiang Yao: “...”
Mu Chenze: “Hehehehehehe!”
Jiang Yao turned and left, brushing past Mu Chenze.
His silhouette, seen from behind, looked like a young general resolutely heading to the battlefield.
...
Little Stone Village.
As soon as they reached the village entrance, Gu Ningyun couldn’t help but take a step back.
“Such heavy yin energy.”
Jiang Yao rummaged through his storage bag and pulled out a red jade box.
The moment it was opened, a scorching aura rushed toward them.
Wen Xuan’s eyes lit up. “Good heavens, you actually brought earth fire with you!”
“Calm down, calm down. This is just a daily habit for artifact refiners without a fire spirit root.”
The corners of Jiang Yao’s mouth curled up wildly.
He pulled out four more red jade boxes and divided the fist-sized clump of earth fire into five portions, transferring four of them into the empty boxes.
“Who knows what’s in this village? Take these out for some warmth if it gets unbearable.”
“I was originally thinking that fire-attribute cultivators can only develop core fire once they reach the Golden Core stage.”
“With my current cultivation, the flames generated by my fire spirit energy would have a hard time warding off the yin energy for all five of us. With your earth fire here, we won’t have to worry.” Wen Xuan grabbed a box and poked the small flame with her finger from time to time.
“I suddenly have a question.”
Gu Ningyun rubbed the smooth red jade box. “Is it reasonable for disciples of a small sect to carry earth fire with them?”
“No matter, watch me.”
Wen Xuan performed a hand seal, flicking five streaks of red spiritual light onto the five flames.
The intense, scorching aura of the earth fire was instantly masked by a gentle aura of fire spirit energy.
“This way, others will just think the flames come from my fire-attribute spells and won’t pay too much attention.”
Gu Ningyun couldn’t help but give her a thumbs up. “Proper.”
Mu Chenze added, “Reliable.”
Jiang Yao grumbled, “You guys took all the good words, damn it!”
Jun Luo took out a cord and hung the red jade box at his waist. “Let’s go in and take a look.”
As they entered the village, the yin energy became even more apparent.
Following the shifting density of the yin energy, they reached the first small courtyard.
The gates of the courtyard and the doors of the house were in splinters, as if they had been smashed by a single palm strike.
“The yin energy seems to be coming from this courtyard.”
Mu Chenze unfolded his folding fan, a blue spiritual light flashing across the ribs. “That thing wouldn’t be in this yard, would it?”
When they entered the inner room and saw the scene inside, everyone gasped in unison.
On the bed in the inner room lay two desiccated corpses with shriveled skin and skeletal frames.
The yin energy was radiating precisely from these desiccated corpses.
Judging by their clothes, they seemed to be a middle-aged couple.
Gu Ningyun and the others ran to the other rooms, where they found an elderly female desiccated corpse and a small desiccated corpse about eight or nine years old.
Jiang Yao’s grip on his spear tightened.
Mu Chenze gave his shoulder a firm squeeze. “Let’s go. We should check other places.”
By the time they had walked from one end of the village to the other, Gu Ningyun and her companions had finished scouting the entire village with their divine sense.
“The situation is the same throughout the village. It’s as if something broke into the houses overnight and sucked them dry of their blood and essence.”
Mu Chenze looked puzzled. “Didn’t they say cultivators came to investigate? I haven’t seen a single person.”
“I don’t see any arrays or traces of a struggle here either.”
Jun Luo pointed to the map. East of Little Stone Village, on the outskirts of Border City, was a place called the mass grave.
“Such pure yin energy only appears where the dead congregate.”
A sudden realization struck Gu Ningyun. “According to the map, Border City has a city-protecting array, so ordinary evil can’t enter. Aside from Border City, the place closest to Little Stone Village is the mass grave.”
“Mu Chenze mentioned earlier that the two local gangs in Border City fight constantly, so there must be casualties.”
“Tell me, if that mass grave is constantly filled with the corpses of cultivators, and there is a continuous production of essence, spirit energy, death qi, and yin energy... how likely is it that an evil creature that feeds on flesh and blood would emerge?”
As soon as Gu Ningyun finished speaking, Wen Xuan said, “Those cultivators might have gone to the mass grave.”
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