Ancient Sect Ruins

Through the slow, labored narration of the ghost Qiu Fangzheng, Li Hai gradually began to understand.

It turned out that the other party had already been dead for several decades.

Back then, while still in Ox-Horn Town, Qiu Fangzheng was merely a small peddler wandering the streets when he encountered a tragedy in his life.

His father had passed away unfortunately after falling ill from overwork.

Though grief-stricken, Qiu Fangzheng, as the eldest son, naturally had to shoulder the responsibility of arranging his father's funeral.

Thus, he inevitably had to deal with the Zhou Family.

Because in Ox-Horn Town, the Zhou Family monopolized every wedding and funeral in the entire town.

Without the Zhou Family's consent, one could neither marry nor hold funeral rites.

If anyone dared to marry in secret and was discovered by the Zhou Family, they would be seized and charged with adultery, then stuffed into a pig cage and thrown into the river to drown alive.

The same applied to funerals.

If anyone dared to sneakily dig a grave and bury a corpse, and the Zhou Family found out, they would use the excuse of the act ruining the fortress's feng shui to dig up the buried body and abandon it in the wilderness, leaving it to be devoured by passing wild beasts.

And whether for a funeral or a wedding, there was only one way to gain the Zhou Family's consent—pay up.

For a funeral, the standard set by the Zhou Family was one hundred silver dollars; once that amount was met, one could be allotted a plot of land to bury the deceased.

Naihe, Qiu Fangzheng's family was poor and lacked the funds, so he could only go around borrowing from everyone he knew.

In the end, after borrowing from everyone, he had only scraped together eighty silver dollars.

With the money falling short, the Zhou Family naturally refused Qiu Fangzheng's request for a burial.

As luck would have it, the member of the Zhou Family who came to Qiu Fangzheng's home that day took a fancy to his younger sister at first sight.

And so, this Zhou Family member named Zhou Yugen hinted to Qiu Fangzheng that if he let his sister accompany him out for a few days of amusement, the funeral expenses for his father would be waived entirely.

Qiu Fangzheng naturally refused such a disgusting demand, and Zhou Yugen merely smiled and left on his own.

Later that same night, bandits broke into Qiu Fangzheng's home.

Not only was Qiu Fangzheng beaten, but the money he had worked so hard to borrow was looted, and even his sister was kidnapped.

Before leaving, the bandits dropped a single line: "If you had known it would come to this, why act as you did in the beginning?"

This sentence made Qiu Fangzheng realize instantly that the mastermind behind his current plight was undoubtedly Zhou Yugen.

Ignoring everything else, he went mad that very night and headed to the Zhou Family estate to settle the score.

However, upon arriving at the Zhou Family mansion, Zhou Yugen denied the matter entirely, accusing Qiu Fangzheng of slandering him and ordering the guards in the courtyard to beat him out with clubs.

After returning home in a daze, having been beaten once more, Qiu Fangzheng found a letter in his dilapidated house, which stated that if he wanted to find his sister, he should come to Fish-Plate Mountain.

"Fish-Plate Mountain?" Li Hai asked, "That is the mountain we are currently on, right?"

Qiu Fangzheng nodded slowly: "Yes..."

"And then?" Li Hai continued, "Did they kill you on this mountain?"

Qiu Fangzheng nodded again and continued his story.

After reading the letter back then, in a state of extreme anxiety, he left his home regardless of the consequences and headed all the way toward Fish-Plate Mountain.

He hurried through the night, and by the time dawn approached, Qiu Fangzheng finally reached the foot of Fish-Plate Mountain.

But the place was dark, gloomy, and completely deserted; aside from the occasional bird call, there was no other sign of life.

With no other options, Qiu Fangzheng had no choice but to enter the mountain.

But the moment he entered, he was ambushed.

In the chaos, Qiu Fangzheng had no idea how many people there were, nor could he see who they were.

Afterward, his hand and foot tendons were severed, and he was beaten half to death before being tossed beside a stream deep in the mountains.

In the end, Qiu Fangzheng was cruelly torn apart and devoured by a pack of wild wolves on the bank of that stream, dying with deep resentment.

"I... do not hate... the pack of wolves." Qiu Fangzheng's jawbone moved slowly, "I only hate... Zhou Yugen."

After finishing his story, he suddenly rose and knelt before Li Hai, pleading: "Sir, this humble one knows... you possess vast supernatural powers, and I beg you... to help me take revenge."

As if afraid Li Hai would refuse, Qiu Fangzheng immediately threw out his bargaining chip: "This humble one... has wandered... Fish-Plate Mountain for decades... and discovered deep within this mountain... the ruins of an ancient sect..."

Li Hai interrupted: "You mean to say that if I help you take revenge, you will tell me the location of these ruins, is that it?"

Qiu Fangzheng nodded: "Yes... in the ruins... there is gold, silver... precious elixirs... divine weapons... and cultivation techniques..."

"Very tempting, but~" Li Hai asked, "If I were to find the ruins on my own, what would you do then?"

"You... can... not find it."

Qiu Fangzheng shook his head, "That ruin was... by an earthquake... buried deep underground... the mountain collapsed... no path or cave... leads to the ruin... only... a winding trail... one... known only to this lowly one."

"You mean to say~"

Li Hai said, "This ruin was buried at the very bottom by Fish-Plate Mountain due to an earthquake, and there is only one path that leads there, a path only you know about."

"Not buried..." Qiu Fangzheng corrected, "The earthquake... made this mountain open its mouth... to swallow the sect... falling into the depths... becoming a ruin."

"Strange, how do you know so clearly?"

Li Hai asked curiously, "Could it be that this sect was eaten by Fish-Plate Mountain right before your eyes, and then fell into the earth?"

To this question, Qiu Fangzheng replied: "This lowly one... once entered the ruin... there were people of this sect... who left behind inscriptions... written upon them... they perished during... the Great Xuan era."

"The Great Xuan era?"

Li Hai looked bewildered, "What is this? Is it a reign title?"

"This lowly one... previously... did not know either."

Qiu Fangzheng said intermittently, "Later... over several decades... asking others... continuously... gradually came to know... Great Xuan... was the dynasty before... Great Jing Dynasty... the Jing Dynasty... reigned for a thousand years... so Great Xuan... this sect's ruin... is over a thousand years old."

"The Great Jing Dynasty has already lasted a thousand years?!"

Hearing this, Li Hai was even more bewildered.

A feudal dynasty that had lasted at least a thousand years—what kind of concept was that?

In the five thousand years of history from his hometown, no such dynasty had ever appeared.

So for a moment, Li Hai did not know which dynasty to compare it to, and could only sigh, "Impressive."

"Fine."

Li Hai slowly regained his composure and said, "I will help you."

Qiu Fangzheng prostrated himself on the ground again.

"Then how do you want me to help you?"

Li Hai asked again, "Is it just to kill Zhou Yugen, or to wipe out the entire Zhou Family?"

"Kill Zhou Yugen." Qiu Fangzheng said gloomily, "The other... Zhou Family members... are up to... your will, my lord."

"Good." Li Hai nodded, "I understand."

"And also..." Qiu Fangzheng raised his skull-like face and pleaded, "My lord... please help me find out... the whereabouts... of my younger sister."

"Sigh~" Li Hai shook his head and sighed, "Very well, but it has already been several decades, this..."

He did not continue the next sentence; it was too cruel.

"But I..." Qiu Fangzheng insisted, "only wish to know... my sister's whereabouts."

"Fine." Li Hai nodded, "I will help you look into it."

"Thank you, my lord!"

Qiu Fangzheng kowtowed heavily, the thuds echoing, "Thank you... thank you, my lord!"