"What exactly were the contents of those two final letters?"
Although Chen Chao had already begun telling this story, Yu Xiyi still felt so confusion.
Chen Chao said, "In Chen Shi's final letter, he docunted what Daoist Master Ironcloud did during those years, but he didn't clarify how he died."
After a mont of silence, Chen Chao seed to be recalling the contents of that final letter. He then slowly continued, "In the end, he said, 'This is a place that should be destroyed...'"
Listening to these words, Yu Xiyi fell into silence as well. As the disciple of a sect, it was unlikely that no matter how hopeless he felt about his sect, he would not say sothing like that.
"There may still be more darkness here that I don't know about."
Yu Xiyi's expression was sowhat complicated.
Chen Chao said, "Of course, you wouldn't know."
Yu Xiyi replied, "You didn't tell , so naturally, I wouldn't know."
Chen Chao said, "Back then, Daoist Master Green Bamboo unintentionally found a place on the Subli Bright Mountain. That place might have been the remains of an ancient sect, but it was filled with white mist everywhere. Any cultivator who entered would lose their cultivation and beco no different from an ordinary person. Moreover, the white mist would continuously invade the cultivator's body. After a certain period of ti inside, they would have no choice but to leave. Otherwise, even cultivators wouldn't be able to endure it."
Yu Xiyi once again recalled the words of that boy and fell rather silent.
"But within that ancient ruins were treasures, perhaps things that didn't belong to this era."
Yu Xiyi pondered and said softly, "So, did the cultivators of the Subli Bright Sect choose to send so youngsters who had never practiced cultivation into it for exploration?"
Chen Chao said, "You're half correct. The reason they chose those who had never practiced cultivation is because, after years of research, they concluded that youths who had never cultivated before could stay inside longer than cultivators. However, they are ordinary youths after all, they ultimately couldn't endure repeated entries into the mist. So, every once in a while, so of them would die."
Chen Chao pointed to a distant peak that obstructed their view and said, "Those who died would be buried in that place, in a large pit where countless people were buried together. Their blood and flesh mixed, their white bones intertwined, and no one can distinguish who was who."
Yu Xiyi said, "If what you say is true, then this place is truly evil and a place that should be destroyed."
Suddenly, Chen Chao spoke, "Therefore, I can answer your question now."
Yu Xiyi looked at him, silent.
"I've heard the story of that young man, but not in the final letters."
Chen Chao looked at Yu Xiyi and said with a slight smile. "That story happened to ."
Yu Xiyi ca to a sudden realization, "Both of those final letters were found in that ancient ruin by you?"
Chen Chao nodded. Initially, when Daoist Master Green Bamboo was critically wounded by Sect Master Ironcloud in a sneak attack and could not escape, he had no choice but to enter that ancient ruin. Inside, he wrote down all of Daoist Master Ironcloud cris. Of course, it was not for the sake of revenge, but in hopes that soday soone would kill Daoist Master Ironcloud and avenge him.
Therefore, he not only left that final letter but also left behind the extra key.
Daoist Master Green Bamboo was determined for revenge.
As for Chen Shi, he entered the ruins at that ti rely to buy himself so ti to write his final letter.
Later, when their longevity lamps went out, Daoist Master Ironcloud finally felt at ease.
Yu Xiyi said, "I heard you served as the warden in the Wei Prefecture's Tianqing County for several years."
Chen Chao replied, "It was a little over two years."
He knew what Yu Xiyi was about to say. In the eleventh year of Tianjian, Wei Prefecture experienced a great flood. He happened to be living by the Wei River, and his ho was subrged, making it uninhabitable. Thus, he had to leave Wei Prefecture and co to Cang Prefecture.
It was a difficult journey as he finally ended up here.
It was not his first ti coming to Rainwater Commandery, he had seen the posted notices even earlier than that boy. His journey had been more arduous, so at that ti, he had no hesitation and entered the Subli Bright Sect.
Then, he went through the sa experiences as that boy.
Chen Chao continued, "Later, I left this place. Now, I'm back again."
Yu Xiyi said, "That's obviously not good for the Subli Bright Sect."
Since he had been hard by this sect before, what did he co back for?
Yu Xiyi understood many things now.
Chen Chao did not speak.
……
……
The news of the young daoist's death at the hands of Rainwater Commandery's warden still spread. On the mountain, all the cultivators were in an uproar. Putting aside that the Subli Bright Sect was one of the few prominent sects of the Longevity Dao, even if it was an ordinary cultivation sect, logically speaking, it should not be sothing an ordinary military official of the Great Liang Dynasty would dare provoke. Moreover, if the Great Liang Dynasty truly had such backbone, why had they not appointed a new warden in after the previous Rainwater Commandery warden died in office?
As for how the previous warden of Rainwater Commandery had died, outsiders did not know. It could be summarized as simply dying while in office. But for the people of the Subli Bright Mountain, they understood very well why that warden had died.
They had long considered Rainwater Commandery to be their Subli Bright Mountain's private property.
But how could they have expected that the disciple most beloved by the Sect Master had t his end at the hands of the Rainwater Commandery's warden?
Nevertheless, they soon thought that once this matter blew up, that Sect Master who usually remained in seclusion all year round, would inevitably ask questions. With such a powerful cultivator in the Nepenthe Realm, everything would naturally be resolved.
"That person dares to harm our sect's disciples, he must be tortured to death. Anyway, there's that large pit at the back of the mountains, we can throw him in there when the ti cos."
On the mountain, a Subli Bright Sect disciple could not help but speak out, his voice filled with coldness, and others echoed in agreent.
"As it should be. But now that the Great Liang Dynasty has won both the literary and martial examinations at the Myriad Willow Convention, could it be that they've really harbored so idea that shouldn't have been born?"
A daoist mocked, "It's just luck. How could they dare to have any ideas? They're just a bunch of uncouth martial artists who are looked down upon by all the cultivators on the mountains. What storm could they possibly stir?"
Hearing these words, laughter imdiately erupted on the mountain, echoing loudly.
A young daoist walked past this area. Hearing these voices, he frowned almost imperceptibly, then sighed sadly and said, "Junior Brother Lin was such an outstanding talent. To think he died at the hands of a barbaric martial artist, it's truly heartbreaking."
Hearing the voice, everyone turned to look and quickly paid their respects, saying, "Martial Uncle Sheng."
The young daoist in front of them was nad Sheng Yingfeng, also a disciple of Daoist Master Ironcloud. Previously, that young daoist had been in the lilight, and everyone had thought he would beco the next sect master of the Subli Bright Sect. However, who could have foreseen such a day? Now that young daoist had passed away, Sheng Yingfeng had beco the most likely candidate to be the next sect master.
Now that he appeared here, no one dared to be disrespectful to him.
Sheng Yingfeng said sorrowfully, "When Master exits seclusion, I will definitely seek permission and personally avenge Junior Brother Lin."
Seeing Martial Uncle Sheng so saddened in front of them, it was unclear what those daoists were thinking. But for so ti, there was silence in the mountains.
This silence did not last long because soon a voice ca from the mountains.
"The Sect Master has exited seclusion!"
The voice sounded sowhat excited, but more of it was still fear. The Sect Master's ergence from seclusion this ti was a foregone conclusion. However, it did not necessarily an that many daoists were looking forward to it. After all, he had a notoriously bad temper. One could even say he was cruel and ruthless. The disciples on the mountain had little admiration for him; instead, it was mostly fear. In the past, when Daoist Master Ironcloud went into seclusion, he simply stayed out of sight. They did not have to watch that sect master cultivate. It was naturally considered a relief for them. But now that Daoist Master Ironcloud was coming out of seclusion, it would be an additional dark cloud above their heads.
However, this was already the case. The daoists all bowed respectfully, lowering their heads to show their reverence for the Sect Master.
A figure slowly materialized in the distance, and Daoist Master Ironcloud appeared here.
"We pay our respects to the Sect Master!".
The daoists spoke simultaneously.
The young daoist was murdered and Huang Ye escaped, it was clear that the Sect Master had to personally resolve the matter. Regarding him being in closed-seclusion, actually, just by finding a remote location to hide away, it could also be called closed-seclusion. How could that be difficult?
It was rely his choice not to appear. If he wished to reveal himself to everyone, it was not a difficult task.
Turning his gaze towards the approaching group of yellow-purple robed daoists, Daoist Master Ironcloud's voice grew cold as he said, "Given the gravity of the situation, why did you not imdiately consider killing that murderous martial artist? Is Huang Ye's whereabouts really so important?"
Daoist Master Ironcloud's voice was very cold, resembling the coldest winds on the mountains.
One of the yellow-purple robed daoists bit the bullet said, "We have already been to Rainwater Commandery, but that warden has disappeared. He seems to be heading towards our mountain."
"There's also a sword cultivator around him, his cultivation realm isn't low. I examined the dead bodies, most of our disciples were killed by an incredibly sharp flying sword piercing through their bodies. We have yet to identify which sect this sword cultivator cos from and we are still investigating."
They were cautious not because they feared that warden. Actually, that sword cultivator around Chen Chao was the existence that they were mindful of..
Everyone was aware of the incredible killing power that sword cultivators possessed. An unidentified sword cultivator was not a good thing to them.
Daoist Master Ironcloud sneered and said, "No need to search any longer, those two individuals have already arrived. They made no attempt to conceal their presence and they casually dumped the disciples guarding the mountain pass onto the side of the mountain path. What are they still afraid of? Since even they are not scared, why haven't you found and killed them yet? What are you thinking?"
"But the mountain pass protective formation was not activated. How are we supposed to find those two on the mountain?"
A yellow-purple robed daoist summoned the courage to ask, lacking in confidence.
Daoist Master Ironcloud remained silent. He just stared at that yellow-purple robed daoist and was silent for a long ti.
The yellow-purpled robed daoist began to sweat profusely under the Sect Master's intense gaze.
"You good-for-nothings, soone has provoked us and co up this mountain, but none of you know where they are?"
"Could it be that two Nepenthe cultivators have co up the mountain?!"
Daoist Master Ironcloud's voice was slightly cold, making people shudder.
The yellow-purple robed daoist did not know what to say. It was just that cold sweat kept flowing down.
It was unknown how long had passed.
Suddenly, a voice sounded out from the mountain path, "Reporting to Sect Master, there's a guest coming up the mountain!"
Daoist Master Ironcloud turned to look at that daoist who ca here.
If that daoist did not give him a logical answer, then he might die at the next mont. Even if he did not die, he would pay a terrible price too.
That daoist bit the bullet and said softly, "It's a guest from the Infatuation Daoist Temple."
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