Parting Ways

Song Wen looked deep in thought.

He didn't take the faint hostility Zi Yi showed to heart. He was confident that even if he couldn't beat Lao Chun and Zi Yi, he could at least survive.

With just the use of the Blood Escape Technique, Zi Yi and Lao Chun would have no chance of catching up.

He was pondering whether it was safer to go retrieve the Sky Cicada Wood alone, or to have Xuan Ye, who was familiar with the terrain, accompany him.

After thinking for a while, Song Wen said.

"Alright, I'll accompany you to get the Snake-Scale Fruit first, but you have to promise that after we get the Snake-Scale Fruit, you'll accompany me to get the Sky Cicada Wood."

Xuan Ye's face lit up with joy, and he said, "Don't worry, as long as we obtain the Snake-Scale Fruit, I will definitely accompany you on this journey."

Song Wen nodded, acknowledging the other party's promise. As for whether the other party could keep their promise, Song Wen did not dwell on it.

If the other party reneges on their promise, Song Wen has ways to make them fulfill it.

Soon, the five of them arrived at the fork in the road that Xuan Ye had mentioned.

Upon learning that Xuan Ye, Niu Ding, and Song Wen were all heading to the Snake Cave from the left, Zi Yi readily bid them farewell. Her father was severely poisoned and there was no time to lose; she needed to hurry and head towards the direction of Forsythia Yellow.

After the two people in Zi Yi left, Xuan Ye led Song Wen and Niu Ding towards the left passage.

He said as he walked.

"Niu Ding, can you tell us now where your elder brother's body is?"

Throughout the journey, Niu Ding had not revealed the exact location of his elder brother's body.

"According to the survivors who accompanied my elder brother, they came to the underground cave to obtain the Snake-Scale Fruit, but before they even reached the Snake Cave, they were attacked by a group of ghosts. Among the ghosts were many vengeful spirits whose strength was comparable to that of Late Qi Refinement Refining cultivator. My elder brother was surrounded by these vengeful spirits and was unable to escape."

"If attacked by a vengeful ghost, it's possible to retrieve the body; however, if attacked by a walking corpse, the chances of finding the body are extremely low."

Xuan Ye sighed.

Ghosts feed on souls and the essence of cultivators, while walking corpses feed on corpses and flesh. If killed by a vengeful ghost, one can leave behind a complete corpse; if killed by a walking corpse, there will be virtually no remains.

"By the way, how long has it been since your older brother had the accident?" Xuan Ye asked again.

"One month!"

"Has a whole month already passed?" Xuan Ye muttered softly.

Xuan Ye didn't care whether or not Niu Ding's body could be found. As long as he accompanied Niu Ding on the journey, he would have fulfilled his promise. The final outcome was beyond his control.

Xuan Ye was more concerned with the information revealed in Niu Ding's words.

During casual conversations during the previous trip, Xuan Ye learned that Brother Niu Ding's cultivation level was the eighth level of Qi Refinement, and that someone with such strength had been surrounded and killed by vengeful ghosts.

If the three of them were to encounter that group of vengeful ghosts, they would likely face extreme danger.

A month has passed; hopefully, those vengeful ghosts who like to wander around have left.

The three of them traveled through the winding passage for more than an hour.

The passage, which was originally about five meters wide, suddenly widened, and an irregular cave about one hundred meters wide appeared before the three of them.

There are hundreds of nests of various sizes on the walls of the cave.

Niu Ding pointed to a cave a hundred meters ahead and suddenly said, "This should be where my elder brother had the accident."

Niu Ding's words made Song Wen and Xuan Ye's hearts tighten, and they became extremely cautious, their steps involuntarily stopping.

The cave was so quiet that Song Wen could hear his own heartbeat and breathing.

"Everyone, please refrain from speaking and communicate using telepathy."

Xuan Ye's voice transmission echoed in Song Wen and Niu Ding's minds.

"Niu Ding, hurry up and find your brother's body. Be careful not to make too much noise; those nests always give me a very dangerous feeling."

With the mental strength of Qi Refining Seventh Layer cultivator, the coverage area is generally around 100 meters. Of course, there will be slight differences due to differences in talent, but the differences are generally not too great, unless one has specifically cultivated mental strength, in which case the range can be significantly exceeded.

The three of them were now about two hundred meters away from the cave, far beyond the range of Niu Ding and Xuan Ye's mental exploration.

They could only vaguely see the nests on the distant cave walls by the light of the fluorescent stones.

Just as Niu Ding was about to slowly enter the cave to search for his senior brother's corpse, he heard Song Wen transmit his voice.

"No need to search anymore. There's only one corpse in the eighth nest from the bottom on the far left. There are no other human corpses in the other nests."

Upon hearing Song Wen's telepathic message, both Niu Ding and Xuan Ye were filled with disbelief.

The nest was more than 200 meters away, and Song Wen only had the Qi Refining Sixth Layer of Qi Refining.

Could it be that Song Wen was hiding his cultivation level?

He is a cultivator who has reached the peak of Qi Refinement Perfection!

"Don't overthink it, I just have stronger mental strength than ordinary people." Noticing their shock, and to prevent them from overthinking and causing unnecessary trouble, Song Wen explained to them telepathically.

Hearing Song Wen's explanation, the two didn't dwell on it too much, Niu Ding asked telepathically.

"Brother Guo Tao, are you sure?"

Song Wen nodded and replied, "Confirmed. The corpse is located ten meters inside the entrance to the lair. It is a male corpse, tall, about seven feet in height, but the body is now dehydrated and has become a mummified corpse."

Niu Ding's face lit up with joy, and he transmitted his voice.

"It can't be wrong, it's my older brother's corpse."

Seeing that Niu Ding was about to head towards the nest, Song Wen reminded him telepathically.

"Fellow Daoist Niu, you'd better be careful. Those nests are intricately connected, with countless paths leading to their depths. Although I haven't sensed any ghosts, I still have a chilling feeling about them. Your elder brother's body won't be so easy to retrieve."

After entering the underground cave, Song Wen used Beetle Gu to probe the way.

The Beetle Gu had already explored the outer perimeter of the nest and found no ghosts, but Song Wen did not allow the Beetle Gu to venture deeper into the nest. He was worried that the ghosts inside the nest were powerful and might discover the existence of the Beetle Gu, which would be a loss if the beetle Gu Worm were lost.

Anyway, it was Niu Ding who risked entering the lair, not Song Wen. The fact that he was able to find Niu Ding's elder brother's corpse was already more than enough.

Seeing that Song Wen and Xuan Ye both said the nest was dangerous, Niu Ding, who was originally impatient, stopped and asked for help via telepathy.

"Fellow Xuan Ye, what's your idea?"

Xuan Ye transmitted his voice.

"We don't know the situation inside the lair right now, and it would be too dangerous to act rashly. We should try to find out if there are any ghosts in the lair, and if so, how many there are and how strong they are."

Niu Ding said, "According to my elder brother's companions, they encountered more than a hundred ghosts here, including at least twenty powerful vengeful spirits."

"There are twenty powerful vengeful ghosts comparable to those in the Late Qi Refinement!"

Upon hearing this, Song Wen's eyes widened immediately. There were more than twenty vengeful ghosts here, which gave him an urge to flee immediately.

With so many vengeful ghosts, plus nearly a hundred weaker ones, could Qi Refining Stage cultivator possibly withstand them?

What treasures did Brother Niu Ding possess that made Niu Ding risk so much to retrieve the body?

Song Wen no longer believed that Niu Ding was truly willing to take such a great risk just for a corpse.