Wen Liang was indeed interested in the Cold Spring Valley. The six of them circled the Cold Spring Valley several times, just like the tide of money during the day, and carefully inspected the large and small sea eyes. While doing this, Wen Liang seemed to be still talking to the two people around him, but they were too far away for Qian Chao and others to hear.
Therefore, Wen Liang and others passed by the cave where Qian Chao and others were hiding again and again. Qian Chao watched Wen Liang almost pass in front of him, hating the boundless night and even more the moonlight. Faintly, from this distance of dozens of feet, Qian Chao couldn't see Wen Liang's face clearly. He could only recognize the gray hair. That was the last time Wen Liang passed by Qian Chao and others' hiding place, Qian Chao still kept staring at Wen Liang. It seemed that Wen Liang was alerted by Qian Chao's intense gaze. He even stopped for a moment and looked towards the hiding place of Qian Chao and the other five!
As soon as Wen Liang looked over, the three people following him flew over immediately!
The hearts of the five people were instantly raised!
Tang Ping loosened her hand that was holding Qian Chao's hair, and then moved forward, covering Qian Chao's eyes. She knew that if she stared at someone for a long time, the other person would inevitably react, and even more so. What's more, the other party is still a monk.
"Don't move!" Li Jian said in a very low voice.
Among the three people who came, some were shocked, but these three people did not realize that there was a cave here in the night. Their figures passed above the cave. After a while, there was a sound. The sword roared, and then there was a scream from an unknown monster, and then the figures of the three people passed over the cave again, and another person said, "Brother Yan, good tricks."
It turned out that the discomfort he felt just now was caused by a monster staring at him. Wen Liang felt relieved. Yan was shocked that the three people were back, so he ignored them and continued to fly forward slowly.
…
Tang Ping came close to Qian Chao's ear and said in a very thin voice that only he could hear:
"Boy Qian, what's wrong with you? Why are you so uncool!"
Yeah, not calm.
Qian Chao also noticed his impulsiveness and almost dragged several of his companions into danger. It seemed that after learning that Yin Kuang had a relationship with the Tian family, Qian Chao felt that a fire was suffocating in his heart. Ma Hu seemed quite impulsive when he was a child, and then now.
He raised his hand and patted the back of Tang Ping's hand gently to indicate that he understood what she said. Tang Ping then let go of the hand covering Qian Chao's mouth, nose, and eyes.
After a while, Wen Liang and those people never made any money back.
"They left." Li Jian concentrated for a while and then said.
Only then did several people feel relieved, especially Qian Chao. Only then did they realize that Tang Ping had dragged him out of desperation, almost pulling him into her arms.
"Going far away, that's right." Li Jian said again.
The lights in the cave came on again, but for safety, a few people rearranged the arrangement to prevent the lights from leaking out, but they just felt a little stuffy.
Sitting under the lamp, several people looked at each other, and none of them expected that they would meet Wen Liang here tonight.
When Qian Chao was covered by Tang Ping, several people naturally noticed it. Fortunately, no accident occurred, but what happened to Brother Qian, who was always the smartest and calmest?
Several people were confused.
Seeing Tang Ping looking at him reproachfully, Qian Chao said:
"Well, ever since I found out about Yin Kuang's close relationship with the Tian family, I've been a little confused. The ancestor of my family must have been harmed by Yin Kuang under the instructions of the Tian family. Now it's my turn again. It's just that I just pretend to be gentle. I don’t know what the Tian family wants to do, but in their plan, it seems that there cannot be any force of the Wuling Sect in the entire Qi State. And now in the Qi State, there is Jiaxuanyu My Qian family is the only one who has the jade card. The other families with jade cards have all been destroyed and uprooted. What I am most worried about is my parents. If Wen Liang can be captured, The Tian family must be involved through Yin Kuang. Firstly, we can figure out what the Tian family is going to do. Secondly, the sect must punish the Tian family with this. In this way, my parents will be safe. That’s why I lost my temper just now and almost... A big mistake."
Li Jian nodded. He joined the sect in the first place because Tang Bonian said that as long as he left Luojing City, his Li family could be preserved and live together in a different place. If he knew that the Li family was in danger now, Li Jian would Jane felt that she would also be in chaos.
Yanxuan nodded slowly after hearing this. When she first came to Wuling Sect, it was her mother who persuaded her to come. At that time, she only thought it was her mother who helped her escape from the sea of suffering. Later, she met Tang Ping and found out that she If you practice well, you will be able to seek justice for your mother in the future, so you will work tirelessly. Now that he knew that brother Qian's abnormality was caused by worry about his parents, he sighed.
After all, they were just five teenagers. Even if they were born smart, their magnanimity in times of great troubles had to be developed slowly.
"It's a pity that there is a foundation-building guy with that kid, otherwise we would catch him tonight and question him properly," Lu Pingchuan said.
"It's not just the one who is building the foundation," Li Jian said. "There are two people around Wen Liang. Of course we can't deal with the one who is building the foundation, but the other person next to him is also very dangerous. Although that person's cultivation is still refining Qi, but just now I I always feel that that person is the most dangerous person. Well, I don’t know why I feel this way. Oh, and Miss Tang, you must still remember the son of the Nian family who was the first to be captured by you that night. Bar."
"Of course I remember." Tang Ping replied.
"Well, that night, the son of the Nian family first pretended to be Yan Shuang and lured the casual cultivators to Yan Shuang. Then he was about to escape and was stabbed by me, remember?"
"Yeah, remember."
"Then, the son of the Nian family was actually plotted against by two of his companions. There was a dark and thin woman, and her arm turned into a big snake and bit him on the shoulder, right?"
"right."
"Among the three people following Wen Liang, there were the two who plotted against the son of the Nian family."
"oh?"
"It's unmistakable. At that time, a large number of casual cultivators came over. It was impossible for me to chase those two people again, but I had a deep impression on those two people. Therefore, I recognized them as soon as they appeared today. Three people..."
"It's Yan Jing," Qian Chao said, "It was through him that I confirmed that the white-haired man must be Wen Liang."
"So, Mr. Qian, it seems that your guess about their second attack on Yan Shuang is right. No matter the time or place, the only thing I didn't expect was that Wen Liang would have a foundation-building monk next to him."
"That's right, that's right. You know a lot of people. Can you identify the foundation-building monk?"
"This... is difficult. There are too many foundation-building monks in the sect. The ones I know are all in Shuiyun Valley. I didn't even know who that guy was just now."
"Although I didn't see that person's face clearly," Li Jian said, "but if I meet him again, I will definitely be able to recognize him."
Qian Chao nodded and then asked Tang Ping:
"Could it be a foundation-building casual cultivator who sneaked in from outside?"
"It's unlikely. Once you've reached the foundation building level, it's very difficult to enter the Five Spirits Sect from the outside. Either there are people patrolling back and forth on the border, and it's not possible for the foundation building monks to walk directly to unguarded places. I passed, so I think the guy who built the foundation is probably someone from the sect."
Qian Chao asked again:
"Then the foundation-building monk...is it easy to check?"
"It's harder to check. Foundation-building monks have much more freedom than Qi-refining disciples. If they don't have any assignments, they can decide how to practice or where to travel. There are many Foundation-building monks in the sect. The monks just build the cave alone. Very few people care about what they are doing or whether they are in the sect. It is more convenient to enter and exit the sect, and it is much faster than us. It is not like going from the sect to this cold pool at all. We have to walk for several days to get there. As long as we set off, we can get here in almost a moment. Therefore, it is more difficult to check them. Moreover, to check them, we must go through the elders who formed the core, and the sect must intervene. The people involved in this There are more, and the previous investigation has not been completely clear. If this matter is involved again, the news may be leaked. I am afraid that as soon as we start, the person will get wind of it and run away, or even if there is It’s possible that the foundation-building monks we sent secretly sneaked back into the sect, so it’s hard to find out.”
"But..." Yanxuan said, "What we saw tonight is a big deal. Even if it is difficult to investigate within the sect, we still have to tell them. At least, A Ping, we should always tell these things." I’m telling you, Sixth Grandpa, Senior Tang, when you go, you have to make sure the sect is well prepared!”
"Yes, Miss Yan is right. This matter cannot be taken care of by ourselves. I think it is really necessary to talk to Senior Tang and at least let the sect take some precautions." Li Jian said.
In this way, the five people decided to rush back to the sect tomorrow to report the matter.
But later Qian Chao suggested that they take a slight turn on the way home. After they rescued Ma Hu two days ago, Ma Hu once said that he heard from people in the sect that someone was always sneaking around somewhere. It was a bit suspicious, but because he met Shangguan Hong, Ma Hu did not go there. Later, he told Qian Chao about the place. After comparing the map, Qian Chao found that the place Ma Hu mentioned was not far from Hanquan Valley and it would not take half a day. We can get there, so he suggested that he might as well stop by and if he really found something, he could tell Senior Tang about it.
A few people nodded, and the matter was settled.
…
After dawn, the five people came out of their hiding place and sealed the cave to prevent Wen Liang from discovering someone hiding there that night when he came later.
The five people quickly flew around along the route that Wen Liang had walked in the night. After confirming that Wen Liang was just here to check and did not do anything here, they set off towards the place Ma Hu mentioned.
Sure enough, it was not far away. After about an hour of searching, the five people got close to it, and then they flew lower and lower, only flying on the treetops of the forest so as not to disturb anyone.
They had thought last night that since they were not far away and Wen Liang had appeared in Cold Spring Valley, maybe the place Ma Hu mentioned was Wen Liang's hiding place. Therefore, the closer the five people got there, the more likely they were to hide. Be careful, at first they were still flying above the forest tops close to the dense branches and leaves, then they simply dived below the forest tops, and their speed became slower and slower. Finally, the five of them landed and walked through the weeds and thorns in the forest. Go to the place Ma Hu said.
Li Jian was the most vigilant among the five, and the other four companions all followed his lead when they stepped into this unknown place.
However, along the way, although Li Jian remained focused, he did not utter any warning.
"There are no people around here, Brother Qian, are you sure this is what Ma Hu said?" Li Jian said.
"Yes, it should be here, but..." Qian Chao looked in front of him, holding the map he had just seen in one hand, "Why do I look at this place, it seems to be a ruins!"
…
What is in front of them is the curved and convex part of a large mountain. This mountain range winds from one side, turns a big bend in front of the five people, and then changes direction and heads in another direction. , in front of the five people is the bulge of the corner.
The reason why Qian Chao said this is a ruins is because on the bulge of the mountain range, the stone wall has been cut almost straight up and down. Of course, the weathering over the years has caused the stone wall to collapse. It's tilted, but overall it's pretty much the same. Just before this bulge, there's a mess of broken stones scattered on the ground, and there's also a lot of weeds and bushes. However, if these stones are removed, it will be a smooth place. , especially at the end of the flat place, there is a very standard gentle slope extending all the way down.
From this, Qian Chao deduced that this gently sloping land might have been a carefully built and impressive welcoming staircase not long ago. I think it should have been equipped with stone railings and stone carvings. After walking up, it was A building built in this flat and open area. At first glance, there should be a magnificent tall pavilion in the innermost part, which is built against the entire mountain range. The almost straight up and down mountain wall provides the support for the tall pavilion. , Even at that time, this mountain wall was a wall of the tall pavilion.
"Is it a ruin?" Lu Pingchuan suddenly became more energetic when he heard the word ruins. "Hey, that makes sense. Maybe those sneaky guys just want to open the ruins. Hey, no, maybe those guys have already We succeeded, should we go take a look?"
Qian Chao and others looked at Li Jian again and saw him nodding. After confirming that there was no one else nearby, the five of them got up and flew to the area full of rocks and weeds.
After the five people landed, they looked around. Tang Ping looked at it for a while, then gently kicked a large stone with her foot and said:
"Well, what Mr. Qian said is true. Hey, although this stone is severely weathered, you can still see the carved patterns. This should be on some pavilion, right?"
After hearing this, several people came over to take a look, and they discovered that the lines on the stone were definitely not natural, and must have been carved by humans. From this, it seemed that this place should be a ruins.
"Hey, Mr. Qian, let's take a look and see if this place has really been opened by someone."
"Um."
However, the result was very disappointing. After searching for a while, Qian Chao pointed to a crack in the stone wall that could barely accommodate one person and said with regret:
"It seems that we are late. Here I found the remnants of the previous formation, and there, look, the stone crack should have been opened at that time. The person who opened the ruins should have taken the things inside. He just left, so that’s what it is like now.”
Before anyone else could speak, Lu Pingchuan said first:
"Oh, what a pity!"
This is a ruin that has been opened, which is a pity. It turns out that a few people thought they could gain something here. Thinking about what Ma Hu said about people sneaking around here, it means that this is a place. The ruins are just here to try your luck.
"Oh, no matter what, it's coming. You have to go in and take a look. What if there's something left inside?"
Lu Pingchuan said as he approached the crack in the stone.
"Brother Lu, among the ruins we opened, when have you ever left anything behind?" Tang Ping asked with a smile after hearing this.
"Hey, what if there's something hidden and those guys in front didn't find it? Let's go in and have a look."
After saying that, Lu Pingchuan turned sideways and squeezed into the crack in the stone.
That's right. Even if there's nothing inside, it doesn't matter if you're here and take a look.
However, Lu Pingchuan was tall and tall, with broad arms and round waist, and it was impossible to squeeze in through the crack in the stone.
"I come."
Li Jian said, then he turned aside in front of the stone crevice and entered effortlessly.
Then came Qian Chao, who was more convenient, with a thin body, and almost didn't turn sideways to get in.
Only Lu Pingchuan had the hardest time. He held his stomach firmly and finally squeezed in.
"Hey, what does this smell like in here? Is something dead in there?"
After coming in, Lu Pingchuan sniffed and complained.
The space inside is not small, it looks like a regular large room, but of course it is empty. A piece of yellow paper written by Qian Chao is glowing, which can only illuminate his eyes. After using a few more yellow papers, The situation here is just before our eyes, and it is still empty.
But as Lu Pingchuan said, after a few people came in, they noticed that there was a vague aura of corruption lingering here, but they did not find any monsters or dead beasts here. Inside, people are a little curious.
Li Jian naturally noticed that smell. He was born in the army and knew what it would smell like after a few days of fighting, whether it was his own robe or the opponent's soldiers, if the corpses were not recovered in time after the death of the soldiers. Therefore, As soon as he entered the stone room, he frowned. Although he didn't find anything, it made him frown even more.
"This..." Yanxuan's heart beat a little, "How about we go out, there is nothing here anyway."
As soon as she finished speaking, Qian Chao said:
"No!" He looked straight at a stone wall, blue light shining in his eyes, "There...is something here!"
There is something!
Lu Pingchuan suddenly regained his energy and walked over to take a look at the wall.
"Brother Qian, is there anything else here?"
"Here..." Qian Chao pointed to the stone wall in front of him, "There is also a formation, but it is very different from the remnants of the formation outside. It seems to have been installed later. If you open this formation, you should be able to open it again. I don’t know where a door leads to, it must have been arranged later.”
In Qian Chao's Blue Eyes Technique, the stone wall in front of him was sparkling with light. Someone had used runes to arrange a formation that was not difficult to crack. Although it was not difficult to crack, the arrangement here was very secretive.
Several people just mentioned last night that the place Ma Hu mentioned that someone was sneaking around might be Wen Liang's hiding place. When they first came here, they saw that it was a ruin that had been cracked open. Several people were a little disappointed, but Now that Qian Chao's words came out, several people... except for Lu Pingchuan and Li Jian... thought not of the treasures in the ruins, but of Wen Liang's people, so they became vigilant again.
"Could it be?" Yanxuan said, a bit of fear flashed in her eyes. After all, Wen Liang was accompanied by a foundation-building monk last night. If he opened it rashly, the foundation-building monk would also be inside. Five people are really in danger.
"No," Li Jian said immediately, "No matter what is behind these stone walls, there are no people, not even monsters. I can confirm this."
After listening to Li Jian's words, several people felt more relieved.
Only then did Lu Pingchuan realize that several of his companions were worried that Wen Liang was hiding behind them.
"Then...what do we do next?"
Qian Chao looked at his companions and decided to open up according to his wishes, but he had to listen to what his companions wanted.
Tang Ping said: "The sneaky people are coming and going. It seems to be related to this formation and the things behind the stone wall. We are all here to find out what happened. Since Brother Li said there is no one behind, then What I mean is that you might as well open it and take a look, you can’t let this time go in vain.”
Yanxuan nodded. There was no danger anyway, so let's see what happens.
"Okay..." Qian Chao said, stretching his right hand forward. When he came close to the stone wall, his whole palm was covered with a layer of white spiritual light. He wiped it on the stone wall a few times, and then the whole stone room shook slightly. , quickly disappeared, and there was nothing strange about the stone wall in front of them, but several people immediately noticed a stronger smell of corruption coming from behind.
"Um...what is this?"
When he turned around, he saw a stone door appearing on the stone wall behind him. Inside the door was a staircase going down. It was not dark. It could be seen that there was light below, but the corrupt aura came from there.
Judging from the disgusting smell, I guess there won't be anything good down there!
Tang Ping and Yan Xuan's faces turned pale. Women like to be clean, so they couldn't bear the smell. Even Lu Pingchuan frowned.
Li Jian didn't change his expression and stepped in first, followed by Qian Chao.
Looking at each other, feeling embarrassed and helpless, Tang Ping and Yanxuan could only cover their mouths and noses with their sleeves and followed carefully along the way.
The further down you go, the stronger the smell of corruption becomes. After walking down the steps of the passage, Tang Ping and Yan Xuan turned pale and retched.
But Li Jian and Qian Chao, who had already walked down, were looking at everything in front of them with pale faces!
The stone chamber below is larger than the one above. There are rows of beds inside and there is nothing else. There are also some luminous beads inlaid on the walls of the stone chamber. Under the illumination of those lights, the stone chamber's The bed was full of people lying motionless, and from the bloodless, almost motionless faces of those people, it was not difficult to guess that they were all...dead people!
Even though all five of them had seen some scenes before, the scene in front of them still made people feel very strange, and at the same time, it made people feel a little numb!
Li Jian just said that there is no one here. This is the first time he said it wrong. There are many people here...dead people!
This was Yanxuan's first time to experience such a scene, not to mention the unpleasant smell of corruption that was almost piercing her eyes. Even under her feet, she could already feel the clammy soles of her shoes. She naturally knew what they were, and she probably didn't have much fear. But the disturbing nausea made her extremely uncomfortable.
When Tang Ping saw her, she quickly covered her mouth and nose with one hand and supported her with the other.
"Why are there so many dead people? I said it smells so strong." Lu Pingchuan didn't care and walked over to join Li Jian.
"These people died strangely!" Li Jian said as he got closer to a corpse and looked at it.
Qian Chao, on the other hand, first looked around carefully with his Green Eyes Technique, and then looked at the place where a few people came down with great care. He found another formation there, but it was the same as the formation in the stone chamber above. This is where you can close or open the entrance to the secret room above.
Then after listening to Li Jian's words, Qian Chao came over to take a closer look at the corpses.
"Ugh..." Seeing the three people bending down to take a closer look at the body, Yanxuan finally couldn't help it anymore and bent down to retching.
Tang Ping slapped her for a while before Yanxuan stopped. As soon as she straightened up, she saw Qian Chao standing in front of her, saying with some embarrassment:
"Sister Yan...those people died very strangely. If you know medical science, how about..."
Yanxuan's face was very beautiful now, not to mention how embarrassed he was, so Qian Chao felt that it was very difficult to do this.
"Boy Qian, please wait a while..." Tang Ping said.
"It's okay...it's okay, go take a look..."
After saying this, Yanxuan took a step towards the bed surrounded by Li Jian and Lu Pingchuan. As soon as she took a step, the wetness under her feet made her feel sick again.
"I've seen it." Seeing Yanxuan coming over, Li Jian looked at her face first and hesitated before saying, "All of them were hit by a sword in the lower abdomen. Well, it was not a fatal injury. They probably died from blood loss." , The wounds were not deep, and these people showed no signs of resistance at all, they were all lying upright, and they probably didn’t feel anything when they were hit by the sword."
Yanxuan took a look and saw that the person on the bed was a middle-aged man with his eyes closed as if sleeping. His flesh and skin were pale white. His robe had not been completely taken off, revealing his middle coat. He had a sword on his lower abdomen, which seemed to be a straight stab, but The strange thing is that the wound is turned outwards, as if something is coming out of it!
"This..." Yanxuan suppressed his nausea and bent down to take a closer look. Then he retched again. Tang Ping quickly stepped forward to support her, slapped her on the back, and gave Qian Chao a dissatisfied look.
"How about we go out first?" Tang Ping said, Yan Xuan seemed to be unable to bear this place.
"No!" Yanxuan refused, with a look of shock on her ugly face, and then she said eagerly, "Look at the others."
There were more than forty corpses in total, some were male and some were female, some were old and some were young, and they were all dressed in different styles. They were all lifeless and lying there quietly. Among them were some dressed as disciples of the Five Spirits, but with the sect around their waists. The jade plaque has disappeared. The same thing about these corpses is that they were all hit by a sword in the lower abdomen, and then something seemed to be taken away from the wound.
After reading them one by one, Yanxuan's face turned even paler!
A terrible thought broke into her mind. She thought about it for a while, looked back, and after confirming it, she finally spoke hesitantly.
"Jade... Jade Pill Technique!"
The tragic situation of the deceased before him finally overlapped with the evil techniques he had heard about before, and Yanxuan finally confirmed the cause of death of the people in front of him.
Everyone seemed to have mentioned the jade alchemy technique before, a long time ago, but she didn't want to say more at that time. She only said that it was a sorcery, a very cruel sorcery!
"The Jade Pill Technique, yes, this... After these people were captured, they were given some secret medicine. First, they no longer had the ability to struggle, just like the living dead; second, they were under the power of the medicine. The spiritual energy in the whole body began to solidify into pills in the Dantian, and finally... in the end, I was struck by the sword and the pill was taken out of the body..."
Then naturally the people who took away the elixirs abandoned them and allowed these people to die here.
"This is... evil magic!" Yanxuan said with force, "It is said that after taking that kind of elixir, the monk's cultivation level can be improved quickly, but this method is definitely evil magic. In the sect, in Qixia Mountain People are absolutely not allowed to make elixirs with this method, and those found out will be severely punished... almost to death!"
Hearing this, Qian Chao suddenly became enlightened:
Gentle!
Even if he was really a pill-forming monk who stole his body and sneaked into the sect, even if he personally guided the cultivation of the five spirit disciples who were attached to him, how could those people's cultivation improve so quickly?
In other words, why can he hold those people firmly in his hands?
There must be something that these people can't live without and can't find anywhere else. They can only get it by following him!
Only in this way can those people work wholeheartedly for him!
What Tang Ping was thinking was different from Qian Chao. She was recalling what Tang Bonian had said in a casual chat:
Why was the Suo family wiped out by the sect in the first place? Everyone said that the Suo family was a family of evil cultivators. Where was the evil?
I remember Grandpa Six said that before the Suo family was exposed, they were famous for their elixirs, and the incident was also related to this.
Could it be said...that the Suo family was annihilated by the sect after they were discovered using this cruel method to make alchemy?
Wen Liang...is he really a remnant of the Suo family?
But Li Jian suddenly looked up alertly, and then said something that surprised everyone even more:
"somebody is coming!"
