Huff!
Huff!
Huff!!
In the middle of the night, a figure hurriedly ran down the streets of Rongye County.
He frequently turned his head to look back, as if fearing soone was closely following him.
Bam!!
Suddenly, a muffled sound ca from afar.
The figure shuddered and swiftly rolled to the left, hiding behind a large garbage truck.
The stench of the garbage water soaked his pant legs, but he didn’t dare move.
At this mont, he recalled the words his teacher had told him before.
"Stop investigating this. If you continue, sothing will happen."
"But teacher, isn’t it our mission to get to the bottom of things? We’re so close to solving the riddle. Why do you want to give up now?" the young scholar asked, bewildered.
"So things are destined to remain unknown..." the teacher responded, exasperation halting his words.
"But the current court is so mighty. Could there really be any force daring to act so audaciously?" the scholar retorted seriously.
"Wuye... you..."
"Teacher, there’s no need to say more. I’m just translating so docunts; nothing will happen. Rest assured.
Moreover, my Xiong family is a prominent local clan. My elder brothers hold significant positions. Who dares to ddle?"
That mory abruptly ended there.
The figure leaned against the cold, rough wall, tears silently streaming down his face.
Suddenly, a figure appeared in front of him.
The person wore official attire, with a governnt-issue sword at the waist and a badge inscribed with the word "chief."
"My dear nephew, I told you not to investigate further.... Why won’t you listen?"
The newcor was Zhang Xingyue, the chief captain of Rongye County.
He gently drew out his official sword.
"Hand over your notes and destroy them. Live a simple life at ho, get married, have children, and live in peace. Isn’t that good?"
"Zhang.... Uncle Zhang..." Xiong Wuye looked up from where he leaned against the garbage truck.
"Please don’t deceive .... Can I still go back now?"
Tears and snot covered his face. Yet, there remained a glimr of hope in his eyes, wishing the other would deny it.
"You... if you knew this would happen, why did you start back then...." Zhang Xingyue shook his head. "Hand over your notes and stop investigating. What about your family if you continue? Your parents, your brothers, they will all be implicated by you..."
"...I... I’m afraid... really... really afraid..." Xiong Wuye slowly stood up.
"Quickly take out all the notes you’ve hidden and destroy them, and then everything will be fine." Zhang Xingyue consoled him.
"Alright, I’ll listen to you, Uncle Zhang. My notes are in...." Xiong Wuye was just about to reveal.
Suddenly, a figure rushed out from the side, blocking in front of him.
"Don’t say it, run now!!"
It was the teacher!!
In shock, Xiong Wuye recognized the voice.
"Teacher!?"
"Run! He intends to silence us!!
In an instant, Zhang Xingyue slashed forward with his sword, engaging in a fierce fight with the teacher.
Zhang Xingyue was evidently much stronger, his power as the chief captain of Rongye County proven in nurous battles.
"You won’t escape this. Anyone daring to investigate will die!" Zhang Xingyue’s face was malevolent, the blade’s light accelerating constantly.
Puff!
In an instant, he slashed across the teacher’s chest.
Blood sprayed, splattering the wall like scarlet plum blossoms.
"Run!!" the teacher roared back.
Xiong Wuye, his vision blurred with tears, turned and ran.
Due to special reasons, he had practiced so body techniques, enabling him to flee at full speed and soon disappear into the night.
Not long after, a shrill scream floated from behind.
He recognized it as his teacher’s final voice.
The teacher Du Tao, having no children, had almost regarded him as his own son, but now... now...!!
Xiong Wuye recalled Zhang Xingyue’s words.
"Anyone daring to investigate will die!"
His teacher’s earlier warnings continued to echo in his mind.
He wandered aimlessly, not knowing where to go or where was safe. All he knew was to escape the city, heading for the dark forest.
The previously dangerous night forest now seed like the safest sanctuary.
"Perhaps, I never should have investigated those divine statues... never should have examined those materials..."
"Had I not deciphered the true purpose of the statues from foreign ancient texts... perhaps everything... everything wouldn’t have happened."
He had never imagined the statues would behave abnormally the mont they were fully assembled.
Moreover, even though he was assembling them in his secret chamber at ho, how did anyone outside find out?
He didn’t know... why things had turned out this way...
*
*
*
Zhang Rongfang carried the mysterious woman out of the tomb pit, to a nearby forest, and broke her wrist.
Then, he found a tree hole and shoved the woman inside, leaving only her head exposed.
He then opened the cloth again for another look.
Hmm, confird that he indeed couldn’t understand it.
’It seems I can only wait for this woman to wake up.’
He sat quietly nearby, ditating, and waiting.
About half an hour later, the woman slowly opened her eyes.
Strangely, she showed no fear, nor did she struggle. She only tried moving her hands, felt the unbearable pain, and realized her hands had been broken, so she stayed still.
"Who are you?" she asked Zhang Rongfang, who had his face covered, in a deep voice.
"A person."
Zhang Rongfang replied.
"Alright, I was being foolish, guessing you wouldn’t give your real na anyway," the woman calmly said, "I’m Dai Huanxi, in charge of guarding this secret cult’s burial pit, watching for any remnants of the cult coming over."
"In simple terms, I’m a governnt guard. You’d better release imdiately, otherwise...."
"Understood. What is the secret cult?" Zhang Rongfang asked.
The woman suddenly realized that the other party didn’t care about her identity or background and asked directly.
"..... Currently, on the official side, those registered with the Jixian Institute are the Ming Sect. Those not registered are all part of the secret cult."
"What are those statue fragnts and tal parts?" Zhang Rongfang asked again.
Dai Huanxi was stunned for a mont.
"What statue fragnts, I don’t know. But in the burial pit, there are indeed many shattered remnants of secret cult artifacts. Is that what you’re talking about?"
"How can one find the secret cult?" Zhang Rongfang asked in a different way.
"I don’t know."
"Why does the court want to eradicate the secret cult?"
"I don’t know, I’m just a small pawn. I don’t know the answers to these questions," Dai Huanxi said candidly.
"Then one last question." Zhang Rongfang said lightly, "Who is your superior?"
"Wait! What do you intend to do??" Dai Huanxi was visibly nervous, "I’ve told you everything I know."
She hastily said, "I’m just following orders, under the jurisdiction of the Spirit Court’s Snow Rainbow Pavilion’s Inspection Bureau! We are responsible for overseeing secret cult matters across regions."
"What’s this piece of cloth?" Zhang Rongfang pointed to the cloth on the ground with his foot.
"You don’t know?" Dai Huanxi asked confusedly, "This is supposed to be the secret cult’s prayer verses, which are used alongside the statues and are said to grant the cult’s Divine’s protection.
It might also be a secret scripture, a treasure book recording hidden knowledge. Anyway, I’m not sure, as I joined the Inspection Bureau not long ago."
"Anything else?" Zhang Rongfang asked.
"Wait, don’t kill ! I’m with the Inspection Bureau. If I die, they’ll surely send soone to investigate! Then experts from the Snow Rainbow Pavilion might co!" Dai Huanxi hurriedly said, her face turning pale.
Zhang Rongfang didn’t bother to argue and stepped forward.
With a crisp crack, Dai Huanxi’s head tilted, her neck bone broken, gasping with her last breath.
Retracting his leg, he crouched and searched her body, taking out the taels of silver and banknotes from her money pouch, leaving everything else untouched before turning to leave.
Now that he had gathered all the statue fragnts, he needed to quickly go back and assemble it to see what this thing was all about?
What secret did it hide?
On his way back, he thought for a bit and went to check on the two tomb raiders from before.
The two were still unconscious, and Zhang Rongfang swiftly dealt with them as well.
Since they had seen his face, he couldn’t allow them to leave alive.
Bringing the fragnts back to Tan Yang, it was already the next morning.
Zhang Rongfang wasted no ti, swiftly returning ho and retrieving the previously assembled statue.
Snap.
The last three fragnts were fitted one by one.
Every broken edge of the statue was carefully glued with rice paste.
Standing in the room, Zhang Rongfang carefully examined the statue.
This thing appeared to be a tal creation, no different from other statues, just an ordinary piece of craftsmanship.
Round light, five-colored veil, Ruyi, golden beads, amiable smile.
These were common features of many Daoist statues.
Zhang Rongfang took the cleaned yellow cloth and placed it in front of the statue. He suspected that the statue and yellow cloth were ant to be used together.
Now, he could try checking the attribute panel to see if there were any hints.
He double-checked the doors and windows of the house, ensuring all were securely closed.
He then returned to the statue.
The attribute panel’s hint had appeared.
’Instinct Warning: This is a Daoist statue that has once been broken. Perhaps you can try worshiping it... But instinctively, you can feel that it seems to contain a deep danger within.’
"Hmm??!" Zhang Rongfang’s heart skipped a beat.
Previously, it only suggested worshiping. Now that it was fully assembled, a warning of danger appeared.
This made him suppress the thought of directly attempting it.
"Perhaps, I can find soone to try it."
With such an unknown item, any potential dangers were completely unforeseeable.
The best approach was to find another person as a test subject to substitute for himself.
Zhang Rongfang himself possessed extraordinary abilities, so it wouldn’t matter if he didn’t gain anything.
But encountering extrely troubleso danger would not be worthwhile.
He stared at the statue, pondering his strategy.
Ti slowly passed, and in the blink of an eye, two days had gone by.
During these days, he stuck to his usual routine: training to help Wanyan Road lose weight, practicing martial arts, going to work, and researching the statue at ho.
On the morning of the third day.
In the outskirts of the city, in a desolate forest.
Zhang Rongfang set the statue down on a flat open space.
Then he turned to look at a trembling, frail man whose face was filled with deep greed.
"Are you sure, as long as I follow your instructions, you’ll give fifty taels of silver coins??"
This man was a scoundrel and villain, who had sold his wife and daughters due to gambling debts.
He was picked by Zhang Rongfang to serve as the experintal subject for the statue.
For money, this guy would do anything!
"Of course." Zhang Rongfang took out a fifty tael banknote from his pocket.
"The money is right here, as long as you finish the task, I’ll give it to you."
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