Chapter 18

“My name is Anan, and I am from the Tongshan Tribe.”

“I heard from the tribe that over a hundred years ago, a terrible plague struck our tribe, killing seven or eight out of ten people. Our ancestors tried countless methods and ate various miraculous herbs, but they couldn’t save those who were infected. It wasn’t until later that a mountain god appeared in a dream and taught the tribe how to save themselves. Only then did the remaining people of the Tongshan Tribe survive.”

“To thank the mountain god, they carved a statue of him in the mountains and worshipped it every month.”

“Thirty years ago, the mountain god appeared in a dream again. He demanded the tribe sacrifice an eighteen-year-old bride every year. The chief obeyed, selecting a girl from the tribe each year, sealing her in a coffin, and sacrificing her to the mountain god.”

“I don’t believe what the chief says! If there really were a benevolent mountain god, how could he demand such a cruel thing? So one night, I secretly went to the mountain god’s temple…”

“I saw it… I saw it…”

“It turns out there really is a mountain god—no, a mountain ghost! A figure identical to the statue emerged from the cave, followed by many ghosts… I saw my dead brother…”

Anan suddenly trembled all over, her teeth chattering.

“He has been dead for many years. I saw him buried with my own eyes, and there were others too, all dead!”

“Later, I checked my brother’s grave. It was empty! That mountain ghost dug up my brother’s body. What is he planning?”

Xu Manman listened to Anan’s story and suddenly asked, “When did you see the mountain ghost?”

Anan hesitated for a moment and then said slowly, “Half a month ago.”

Xu Manman said, “Half a month ago… it could be the Burning Heaven division’s doing.”

Immortal Lang Yin raised an eyebrow and said, “To ambush Xu Manman.”

“It’s just a guess.”

Xu Manman said to Anan, “That wasn’t a mountain ghost, but a Blood Sect cultivator. They refine corpses into puppets to kill for them.”

“Blood sect, puppets…” Anan repeated Xu Manman’s words in confusion.

The Tongshan Tribe was isolated and didn’t know about the Blood Sect.

“The so-called dreams were just the primordial spirit leaving the body and entering dreams, a mere trick. But you mentioned that he taught your ancestors how to save themselves. What was the method?” Xu Manman asked.

Anan bit her lip, her face showing fear again.

“There was no saving… none at all.”

“What do you mean?” Xu Manman was puzzled.

“After seeing the mountain ghost, I started to doubt the chief. I secretly entered his house and found a record, discovering the truth. It turns out… they didn’t save anyone. All the infected were driven away, locked in a cave, and not allowed to come out.”

“At first, people sent food and water, but later they stopped. Those locked inside either died of the disease or starved to death!”

Xu Manman looked heavy-hearted, imagining the dreadful situation of that time.

How could the Blood Sect save people?

This method is inhumane. Even those who survived can hardly be called human beings. So they kept silent about it, deceiving future generations…

“So, those graves might have been empty all along, with the bodies in the cave.”

Xu Manman asked, “Where is the mountain god’s cave? Can you take us there?”

“Do you really want to go?” Anan was very resistant, “I’m scared; I don’t want to go…”

“Don’t worry; with us here, you’ll be safe.”

Xu Manman reassured softly, “We’re here to eliminate these evildoers.”

Anan hesitated for a long time before finally nodding.

By the time they reached the cave, it was almost dusk.

Outside the cave stood a statue of the mountain ghost Anan spoke of, the mountain god in the eyes of the tribe.

The statue looked like a middle-aged man with a long, narrow face, expressionless, almost like wearing a mask.

As soon as they stepped into the cave, a chilling aura enveloped them, making them shiver. Their footsteps echoed, and it seemed like wind whistled through the crevices, sounding like someone was sobbing.

Anan hesitated, tightly gripping Xu Manman’s wrist, trembling.

“I’m scared…”

Xu Manman patted her cold hand and said, “Don’t be afraid. By the way, where were they taking you when they sealed you in the coffin?”

“Here.”

Anan looked towards the depths of the cave, shivering.

“At the end of the cave, there’s a well. They used to throw the coffins into the well…”

A well?

Xu Manman thought for a moment and quickened her pace forward.

Anan, though resistant, was even more afraid of being left behind, so she clung tightly to Xu Manman.

Their footsteps echoed in the cave, as if many people were walking back and forth inside.

Soon, they reached the well Anan mentioned.

The well was large enough to fit a coffin vertically. Xu Manman looked in and saw water at the bottom.

At that moment, she seemed to see a pale female face flash across the water, staring at her with blank eyes.

Xu Manman paused, then smiled—interesting.

“I’ll go down and take a look.” Xu Manman said.

Ao Xiu was startled, “There may be danger underwater. You’re only at the Golden Core stage.”

“Right, I almost forgot. You’re familiar with water. You go.” Xu Manman said.

Ao Xiu cursed himself for being talkative.

He wasn’t afraid of danger, but he felt disgusted by the thought of the numerous rotting corpses down there.

“Hehe,” Xu Manman didn’t curse back; she just looked at him and smiled.

Ao Xiu steeled himself and said, “Then I’ll go down.”

With that, he transformed into a silver light and disappeared into the water.

Xu Manman watched the ripples on the water’s surface and suddenly frowned, “Why hasn’t Li Que sent any news for so long? Could he really be in danger?”

Xu Manman took out a sound transmission conch, infusing it with spiritual energy.

The conch glowed faintly.

“This place is strange…” Xu Manman looked around.

“It seems to affect the operation of the array.”

At that moment, Ao Xiu flew out of the well and landed on the ground, surprisingly dry.

“It’s bottomless down there, pitch black. I used my spiritual energy to probe but didn’t detect any living things,” Ao Xiu said.

“And the dead?” Xu Manman asked.

“Spiritual energy can’t detect the dead. I can’t see them either,” Ao Xiu replied.

“But isn’t there no light in the deep sea too? I thought fish could see everything in the water,” Xu Manman said, surprised.

Ao Xiu was quite speechless and explained seriously, “There’s no light in the deep sea, but even the fish there can’t see anything.”

“Oh, so they can’t see each other… No wonder they look so casual,” Xu Manman said, enlightened.

Ao Xiu: “…”

He suspected she was insulting him.

The Yun Jiao and deep-sea aquatic clans were different; they were the royal family of the aquatic clan, with divine lineage, silver scales, and dragon horns, extraordinarily handsome.

Though they too couldn’t see in the deep sea either…

“I’ll go down and take a look,” Xu Manman said.

“I’ll go with you,” Immortal Lang Yin suddenly said.

“Hmm?” Xu Manman was a bit surprised by his initiative but nodded happily, “Good, with the immortal lord here, I feel more at ease.”

Her cultivation wasn’t great, so having a powerful companion was safer.

“Do you need me to go too?” Ao Xiu asked.

“No need; you wouldn’t be much help,” Xu Manman said.

Ao Xiu was sure now that she was insulting him.

“Stay up here with Cultivator Jing and protect Anan,” Xu Manman instructed before she and Immortal Lang Yin plunged into the water.

Underwater, as Ao Xiu said, was pitch black, and they had to rely on their spiritual senses to move forward.

Suddenly, Xu Manman noticed a glimmer out of the corner of her eye. Turning her head, she saw Immortal Lang Yin holding the Lian Yue Crown, which emitted a soft light, illuminating a one-meter radius around them.

Huh..turns out the Lian Yue Crown could be used like this.

She’d worn it for two hundred years and never realized it.

With the Lian Yue Crown’s light, they moved more confidently underwater.

The well was indeed bottomless, as Ao Xiu said. They descended for a long time without reaching the bottom, which was unusual.

After who knows how deep they went, Immortal Lang Yin suddenly grabbed Xu Manman’s wrist, using the Lian Yue Crown to expand the light’s range. In the dim light, a human silhouette faintly appeared.

Xu Manman’s heart tightened, and she swam forward slowly.

The scene before her gradually became clear.

It was a woman in a red bridal gown, her wedding dress floating in the water, and black hair like seaweed. However, her face was swollen and rotten, and as Xu Manman approached, she saw a black shadow crawl into the eye socket, seemingly a worm.

So disgusting…

Despite her experience with many horrifying scenes, Xu Manman couldn’t help but turn pale, feeling both disgusted and furious.

To suffocate a living girl in a coffin and sink her to the bottom of the well to rot was beyond cruel.

But what was the Blood Sect’s purpose in doing this?

As Xu Manman pondered, she saw Immortal Lang Yin stretch out his hand towards the woman’s feet. A burst of spiritual energy shot through the water, hitting something at her feet.

—An iron chain.

Someone had used iron chains to bind these corpses here.

Immortal Lang Yin pulled Xu Manman aside, and with the light, they saw seven bride’s corpses at the bottom of the well, all chained by their feet, each at different stages of decay.

For thirty years, seven bodies, which means one new body every seven years because the previous one had rotted to bones…

Just as Xu Manman was pondering this, a sound seemed to come from the depths of the well. The sound, transmitted through the water, was indistinctly mournful, seemingly omnipresent.

Xu Manman’s heart tightened, and she grasped Lang Yin Xianzun’s wrist, for a faint light had suddenly appeared not far ahead.

In the pitch-black water, things suddenly became somewhat visible. Vague figures seemed to be approaching; they wore red clothes, their faces pale and swollen, with upturned white eyes, yet they sang—

“Moonlight shines… on the corridor…

The bride… comes to pay respect…

Bowing to heaven and earth… bowing to parents…

Bowing to the impermanence… bowing to the king of hell…

Ghosts as matchmakers… tombs as beds…

Drinking the wedding toast… Meng Po’s soup…”

At that moment, the seven brides moved, and sharp claws inexplicably grew from their once bare fingers, lunging at Xu Manman and Immortal Lang Yin.

Immortal Lang Yin waved his wide sleeves, and a surge of spiritual energy simultaneously repelled the seven female corpses. The seven iron chains swung in the water, creating waves.

With Immortal Lang Yin there, Xu Manman didn’t need to make a move.

Immortal Lang Yin handed the Lian Yue Crown to Xu Manman, dealing with the attacking female corpses alone.

These underwater corpses were puppets crafted by the Blood Sect’s Soul Reaping Division.

These brides likely weren’t cultivators in life, but for some reason, they became so formidable after death. Xu Manman observed from the side and noticed these brides seemed to be filled with resentment, surrounded by black miasma, making them even clearer underwater.

Xu Manman speculated that it was likely related to the Soul-Locking Nails.

Both she and Immortal Lang Yin’s combat abilities were severely limited underwater, but the puppets couldn’t harm them. After a few rounds, Immortal Lang Yin and Xu Manman noticed something unusual. Their power was not only affected by the underwater environment but also restrained by the puppet brides. Even Immortal Lang Yin had to put forth his full effort to deal with the puppets.

Xu Manman, now bearing the brunt of the attacks, observed keenly and quickly noticed something amiss.

Immortal Lang Yin’s right fingertips had somehow become tainted with black miasma, rendering his right hand almost powerless, with the black miasma continuing to spread upward…

A sudden image flashed in Xu Manman’s mind, providing her with an answer.

—Soul-Locking Nail!

Immortal Lang Yin’s right hand had come into contact with the Soul-Locking Nail. Although he had removed it with spiritual energy, spiritual energy is an extension of the body, likely contaminating him with evil at that moment.

Xu Manman looked at her own hands; she had also touched the Soul-Locking Nail, and her hands too were tinged with black miasma.

Thousand-Petaled Hibiscus is a nemesis of all poisons and immune to all toxins. What could harm him was likely not poison but the Blood Sect’s secret method—Blood Curse Technique.

Perhaps because she hadn’t engaged much with the puppet brides, the curse on her hands hadn’t spread as quickly as on Immortal Lang Yin, but the cold sensation was becoming more apparent, causing her spiritual energy to become sluggish.

Xu Manman, anxious, decided not to remain a bystander. Holding the Lian Yue Crown was cumbersome, so she put the crown on her head, freeing her hands to deal with the puppets.

Immortal Lang Yin glanced up inadvertently and saw a familiar figure floating in the water. She wore the Lian Yue Crown, her graceful figure swaying, her hair half-concealing her face, revealing only a pair of bright eyes.

Immortal Lang Yin was momentarily dazed, a name flashing through his mind.

—Manman…

Xu Manman could only exert a fraction of her strength underwater.

Seeing Immortal Lang Yin suddenly dazed, she thought he was affected by the Blood Curse Technique and quickly sent a message, “Immortal Lord, what’s wrong?”

Lang Yin Xianzun snapped back to reality, his sleeves repelling the attacking puppets.

“Nothing,” his cold voice echoed in Xu Manman’s mind.

“Immortal Lord, the Soul-Locking Nail earlier must have been cursed with Blood Curse Technique, and combined with the corpse miasma and resentment here, it greatly restrains and drains your power. We must finish this quickly,” Xu Manman said swiftly.

Immortal Lang Yin’s expression turned stern. He realized his body’s abnormality and, hearing Xu Manman pinpoint the cause, immediately fought with all his might. The two of them quickly dispatched the puppets.

——Sorry for the offense, I hope you can be reborn.

Xu Manman sighed inwardly, exchanged a glance with Immortal Lang Yin, and swam toward the entrance.

She had a feeling things weren’t that simple…

Soon, Xu Manman realized what was wrong.

The well entrance they came through was gone.

Immortal Lang Yin frowned, using all his strength to strike the mountain wall above. The mountain shook, but no gap was made.

Xu Manman transmitted her voice with spiritual energy, “The place is filled with corpse miasma, blocking spiritual energy, and we are underwater. Your strength is reduced to only one-tenth, and the mountain wall is extremely thick, almost impenetrable.”

Immortal Lang Yin, with only one-tenth of his strength, might be able to break through a mountain, but not underwater. They had been underwater for a long time, continually expending spiritual energy. Once it was exhausted, they’d be like ordinary people. Immortal Lang Yin was much stronger than her, but even he would reach his limit.

Immortal Lang Yin asked, “Where is the well entrance?”

“I’m afraid they used the Mountain Moving Technique to fill the well entrance, intending to trap and kill us here,” Xu Manman said.

“Find another way out,” Immortal Lang Yin decided promptly.

Xu Manman knew this was the only option and nodded, following Immortal Lang Yin to continue exploring underwater.

Meanwhile, in the distant dense forest, Li Que was already becoming anxious.

He had tried countless times to use the communication conch to contact Xu Manman, but to no avail. Desperately, he attempted to reach Ao Xiu instead.

However, things weren’t going smoothly either. After seven or eight tries, the communication conch finally lit up.

“Ao Xiu, where are you? Are Jing Wuye and that woman with you?”

“…Yes…”

Ao Xiu’s voice was faint and unclear.

Hearing Ao Xiu’s voice, Li Que didn’t bother to clarify. He urgently relayed his findings.

“I flew for a long time and couldn’t find the Tongshan Tribe. I asked the Feather Clan in the forest and learned that the Tongshan Tribe was wiped out a hundred years ago! Jing Wuye is suspicious, and so is that woman!”

As soon as Li Que finished speaking, he heard a crisp sound from the communication conch, followed by dead silence.