Everyone resting around the tree turned their attention to Chen Yan.
When he tore away the bark and revealed the three desiccated corpses inside, everyone instantly fell silent, and an eerie atmosphere began to spread.
Standing nearby, Glazed Mountain's Junior Sister Ding Songyao froze at the sight of the bark in Chen Yan's hand. It resembled dried human skin, threaded with structures like blood vessels, and dark red liquid was still dripping from it.
Seeing this, Zhou Yan strode forward and stood beside Chen Yan.
A rotten stench flooded Zhou Yan's nostrils, yet he did not so much as furrow his brow.
He merely directed his gaze toward the filthy, faded, and twisted Daoist robes worn by the three desiccated corpses.
"The robes they're wearing belong to the Pear Blossom Pavilion."
Zhou Yan's expression was grave, and his voice was solemn.
"Fellow Daoist Chen, these corpses are the people I'm looking for."
Chen Yan nodded without speaking.
Li Jianzhang, however, reacted strongly from where he stood nearby.
"Immortal cultivators from the Pear Blossom Pavilion? The cultivators who went missing in Qin King's Ridge were from the Pear Blossom Pavilion?"
Zhou Yan remained silent and merely nodded.
Zhou Yan and his companions had been in the wrong from the outset. They had never told the cultivators from Forgotten River City that the people they sought were disciples of the Pear Blossom Pavilion.
As a cultivation sect with an Ascension Realm cultivator presiding over it, the Pear Blossom Pavilion's standing in the Southern Bright Region spoke for itself.
It was certainly not a power that ordinary rogue cultivators or minor cultivation families from Forgotten River City could afford to offend.
"How could..."
Li Jianzhang's expression shifted slightly again.
"If fellow Daoists from the Pear Blossom Pavilion went missing in Qin King's Ridge,