Chen Feng dared not delay in the slightest. He hurriedly dressed, grabbed the pudao by the door, and headed into town with Wang Xuan.
Half an hour later.
The two arrived outside Zhou Estate.
It was already deep into the night. Zhou Estate remained brightly lit, but strangely, the vast residence was deathly quiet.
Not a single sound came from within.
Wang Xuan looked at the estate before him, his gaze falling on the courtyard wall some distance away. He exchanged a glance with Chen Feng, and the two climbed over the wall by the side gate.
They carefully poked their heads over and looked inside. Yet in the enormous estate, not a single person could be seen!
"Strange. Why isn't there anyone at all?"
Wang Xuan frowned tightly.
Zhou Bapi was the richest man within a hundred miles!
Even at night, there should have been maids and servants in the estate.
Yet with one sweep of his eyes, he could not even see a ghost's shadow!
"Should we go in and take a look?"
Wang Xuan frowned slightly and was about to enter the estate.
But Chen Feng stopped him.
"Don't rush. Let me check first!"
Chen Feng took a bronze-colored compass with a white needle from his robes.
"What is that?"
Wang Xuan immediately grew curious when he saw the compass.
"This is called a Demon-Detecting Compass. It belongs to the Demon Slayer Division!"
"Since we've been investigating the Pity Life Sect lately, the Demon Slayer Division issued these items to the military camp!"
"This thing can detect demon aura within three kilometers. If the demon aura is strong enough, its detection range becomes even greater!"
"And the needle on it can detect the density of demon aura. The closer its color gets to red, the denser the demon aura is!"
As he spoke, Chen Feng immediately raised the compass.
The moment he lifted it, the needle spun rapidly, then finally pointed toward the depths of the estate.
Moreover, the needle's color began to change.
It changed from white to dark yellow!
"What dense demon aura. Zhou Bapi truly is one of the Pity Life Sect!"
Killing intent surged in Chen Feng's eyes.
"Little Stone, come on. Let's go in and have a look!"
Chen Feng called out and was about to enter the estate, but Wang Xuan stopped him.
"No."
"If we both go in, we'll be too conspicuous!"
"Brother Feng, let me go in."
Chen Feng immediately refused. "No!"
"This is their den. It's too dangerous for you to go in alone!"
Wang Xuan said resolutely, "It's even more dangerous if we both go in!"
"And now we can be sure that Zhou Laifu is connected to the Pity Life Sect. If they really intend to conduct a Blood Sacrifice here, there must be plenty of Pity Life Sect Demon-Humans!"
"The two of us alone definitely can't handle them!"
"I need you to return to the county town, report to the Centurion, and bring people here!"
Hearing this, Chen Feng gritted his teeth and nodded.
If Zhou Laifu truly intended to conduct the Blood Sacrifice tonight, then many Pity Life Sect Demon-Humans had surely gathered in the estate. The two of them alone would absolutely have no way to deal with it!
Chen Feng handed the Demon-Detecting Compass to Wang Xuan and warned, "Little Stone, you must be careful. Keeping yourself safe is what matters most!"
"I'll be back within an hour at most!"
Wang Xuan took the compass, then added, "Brother Feng, lend me your pudao too!"
Chen Feng immediately handed the pudao to Wang Xuan, then turned and left, racing toward the county town to seek reinforcements.
Holding the compass, Wang Xuan activated his All-Seeing Eye. He concealed his entire aura and slipped into the estate like a ghost.
Following the direction of the demon aura, he quickly reached the depths of the estate.
After only a few minutes, faint sounds of conversation drifted over, making him slow his steps.
Wang Xuan hid behind a rockery and looked ahead. There was a pond in the courtyard before him, and two men dressed in black stood guard beside it.
"Damn it, why do they get to be down there for the Blood Sacrifice while we can only stand outside guarding the entrance?"
One of them, a long-faced man, said indignantly.
The other man sighed. "Because we're newcomers!"
"But once the Blood Sacrifice begins, it'll be our turn sooner or later. Besides, it's not like whoever performs the Blood Sacrifice first gets better benefits!"
The long-faced man nodded.
"That's true. By the way, why hasn't Manager Qian returned yet? I heard he went to capture the last sacrifice. It's been over an hour already. Nothing could have happened to him, right?"
The other man frowned. "It has indeed been a bit too long. Let's wait a little longer. Maybe he's already on the way back."
Listening to their discussion, Wang Xuan narrowed his eyes.
He looked at the Demon-Detecting Compass in his hand. Its needle had already turned orange-yellow and pointed toward the pond in the courtyard.
"From what these two are saying, the Blood Sacrifice hasn't begun yet. They should be waiting for Qian Tong!"
"As for the location... could it be beneath this pond?"
Wang Xuan's gaze sharpened.
These two men had only barely reached the Ox Hide level. One look told him they had only recently become martial artists.
Wang Xuan pondered briefly and drew his bow.
Whoosh!
The arrow shot forth, ripping through the night sky!
One man's head was pierced clean through!
Killing an Ox Hide-level martial artist. Archery experience +200. Mastery progress: 280/6400
The long-faced man had been speaking. When he turned around, he saw a bloody hole in his companion's head.
His face changed dramatically. Just as he was about to scream, Wang Xuan flashed behind him and pressed a hunting knife directly against his throat.
"Shut up, or I'll kill you immediately!"
Wang Xuan said coldly.
Cold sweat streamed down the long-faced man's face as he nodded in terror.
"I'll ask one word, and you answer one word!"
"Is the place for the Blood Sacrifice beneath the pond?"
"Is Zhou Bapi down there? How many of you are there?"
Wang Xuan asked icily.
Cold sweat streamed down the long-faced man's face as he replied in a low voice, "Y-yes... it's beneath here. The entrance is under the stone stele beside the pond."
"Envoy Zhou is down there. There are thirty-six of us in total!"
Wang Xuan's expression immediately changed.
"Thirty-six people..."
"This is a little troublesome."
Wang Xuan had not expected the Pity Life Sect to have thirty-six people below.
"Open the entrance!"
Holding the long-faced man hostage, Wang Xuan brought him to the stone stele beside the pond. Trembling, the man pressed a stone on the nearby rockery.
Rumble!
The floor tiles behind the stone stele opened, revealing an underground passage that glowed with a blood-red light.
"I've already done as you said. Don't..."
Squelch!
Before he could finish, Wang Xuan drove his blade straight into his head. His body immediately collapsed.
Wang Xuan narrowed his eyes at the entrance before him.
"More than an hour has passed since Qian Tong attacked me, and Zhou Bapi is still waiting for him to return."
"If I rashly go down now, perhaps..."
Just as Wang Xuan was considering whether to enter, an eerie chant suddenly drifted from the entrance.
The chanting was incomparably strange, as though it were offering prayers to some bizarre existence!
The sound was shrill and bone-chilling!
Wang Xuan's heart sank, and a bad feeling rose within him.
"Could Zhou Bapi have begun the Blood Sacrifice early?"
The Pity Life Sect's Blood Sacrifice was built from human lives. If it had begun, it meant people had already started dying!
Wang Xuan did not consider himself a hero, but in this situation, he could not simply stand by and watch.
"Let's go in and see what's happening first!"
Wang Xuan immediately crouched low and entered the underground passage.
This was an underground hollow dug out by hand. The entrance was somewhat narrow, but it soon widened.
There were several forks within the underground hollow. Relying on the Demon-Detecting Compass and his All-Seeing Eye, Wang Xuan proceeded down the passage where the demon aura was strongest.
After walking for several minutes, a vast underground space appeared below Wang Xuan's line of sight.
At the center below stood a black altar three zhang tall, its surface carved with all manner of eerie patterns.
Circling the altar were rings of channels connected to one another, forming a bizarre human face.
At the center of the altar stood an eerie statue with no face, twelve arms, and eight heads, seated cross-legged upon a lotus throne!
With only one glance at the statue, Wang Xuan felt dizzy and disoriented!
"This statue... could it be the Holy Mother of Pity Life?"
Terror gripped Wang Xuan's heart.
At that moment, Wang Xuan looked toward the other side.
More than thirty people dressed in black robes surrounded the altar, chanting some sort of incantation!
Zhou Bapi stood before them. At times, he knelt and prostrated himself; at others, he raised his head and chanted.
Before him was a massive blood pool!
Blood bubbled within it, releasing a foul stench of blood and soaring demon aura!
Beside the blood pool stood a huge cage, holding no fewer than a hundred young women and children!
They were precisely the people who had recently gone missing from White Water County!
"Please, let me go! My father has money! Please let me go! I don't want to die, I don't want to die!"
"Let me go home! I want to go home..."
"..."
The women and children in the cage begged bitterly, but no one paid them any heed.
"My lord, Qian Tong still hasn't returned. Should we begin the Blood Sacrifice early?"
"In less than half the time it takes to burn a stick of incense, we'll miss the time for the Blood Sacrifice!"
One of the black-robed men walked to Zhou Laifu's side and spoke quietly.
Zhou Laifu's face was dark at that moment.
Hearing this, he narrowed his eyes and said coldly, "What a useless piece of trash. He can't even handle such a small matter!"
"We won't wait for him. Prepare the Blood Sacrifice!"
"Bring up the sacrifices!"
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