"See? Hasn't the mastermind already been exposed? It's your nephew. When the time comes, just go and admit you were wrong!" Fang Ding was much smarter this time: he sent his words through a voice transmission.
Across from him, Yuan Su frowned. Even now, he still could not believe his nephew would do such a thing.
When he first brought his nephew back, Yuan Bao had just lost his parents and had hidden in his room, grieving for three whole months.
Afterward, Yuan Bao had always been kind and friendly, and many disciples of the Spirit Artifact Hall liked him.
How could a nephew like that secretly do something like this?
Could that disciple have done something behind his back?
But Yuan Shuo was a talented boy, too. He had even considered taking him as a disciple. There was no reason for him to take someone's life over a few petty disagreements.
If Lan Yue had not brought it up, he probably would never have unraveled this mystery.
"Let's hear what she has to say first," Yuan Su replied helplessly through a voice transmission.
[Lan Yue: Yuan Bao, originally named Steel Egg, came from Black Ghost Village in Anliu County, Wind Kingdom, Southern Region...
Black Ghost Village? What the hell? There's actually a village with that name? It sounds downright creepy.]
Up above in the Four Arts Hall, the Spirit Artifact Hall Master looked bewildered. The place he had visited had indeed been Anliu County, but the village had been called Peachfall Village! Why did the Immortal Artifact show different information?
[Lan Yue: That's hilarious. Such a tiny village, yet they play so many tricks. They're clearly the notorious Black Ghost Village, but they keep lying to outsiders, telling them their village is called Peachfall Village.
What secret is this village hiding? Holy shit, there really is a black ghost in the village!
All these years, they've been tricking outsiders into coming here just to feed their flesh and blood to this black ghost! It makes my scalp crawl. Who knows how many people have been murdered here.]
Up above.
Fang Ding secretly prodded Yuan Su and transmitted, "I remember you saying your nephew had ended up stranded in Peachfall Village. How come you didn't encounter that black ghost and take the opportunity to destroy it?"
A ghost creature that devoured human flesh and blood and even controlled an entire village would surely become a serious menace if allowed to keep growing.
Any cultivator who encountered such a ghost creature absolutely could not let it escape.
Yuan Su stammered for a long while, unable to utter a single word, because a sudden sense of foreboding had risen within him.
It was so powerful that it nearly drowned him.
When he had visited that village, he had not sensed the slightest trace of ghostly energy!
If he had truly encountered such a ghost creature, how could he possibly have allowed it to keep consuming human flesh and blood to increase its strength?
"If that ghost creature is still in Black Ghost Village, I'll go deal with it now." Guangji held his jade-colored sword, his expression cold.
The Wind Kingdom was a vassal state of the Southern Spirit Sect. If something happened there, they had a duty to help.
For all these years, Guangji had either been in secluded cultivation or on his way to cut down demonic evils, monsters, and ghosts. It had already become a habit.
The sole exception had been when he met his disciple Lan Yue outside the sect. A sudden intuition had stirred in his heart, telling him that she must be the disciple destined for him.
And so, though he had still been on a mission at the time, he had simply snatched up his little disciple and brought her back.
"Don't rush, Ninth Junior Brother. Wait a moment. What if there are more clues? Rather than going there and exhausting yourself investigating, why not take the answers being handed to you?"
Yun Chong was not particularly anxious. It was not that he had no concern for those ordinary mortals, but he felt that since Lan Yue had already noticed this, she would surely dig to the very bottom and uncover more clues.
Guangji paused, then sat back down.
"That's right. Ninth Junior Brother, you've worked yourself ragged for so many years. It's time you enjoyed having your disciple carry you." The Sixth Elder beside him leaned over as well.
"Carry me?" Guangji did not quite understand what the expression meant. He merely felt that these senior brothers of his seemed to have changed completely in a remarkably short time.
"It means giving you lots of help!" In the end, the Second Elder explained it to Guangji.
"You all knew that expression came from my disciple?" Guangji finally caught on.
The elders all nodded together. That was far from the only new expression they had learned!
[Lan Yue: This is absolutely despicable. The Spirit Artifact Hall Master's younger sister was lured there like this. An enemy had badly wounded her, and she wanted somewhere to recover, so she unwittingly settled in Black Ghost Village.
In secret, that black ghost had been coveting her flesh and blood all along, just waiting! Sure enough, they soon found their chance. The Hall Master's sister was already pregnant, and her child happened to be born at that time.
She was severely injured, yet still had to supply her child with spiritual energy. Her body quickly weakened, and even her cultivation dropped considerably.
While the Hall Master's sister was unconscious, those villagers tied her up and delivered her to the ghost creature.]
[Silver Snow: Those people are utterly vile. How could they do something like that?]
[Lan Yue: Sigh, who could have imagined it? This ghost creature hadn't actually developed naturally. Those people had fed it into existence. They wanted to obtain power from it so they could rob and murder more easily. Talk about a greedy snake trying to swallow an elephant!]
[Silver Snow: Humans really are complicated! We Immortal Swords are different. We don't have to think about so much at all!]
Up above in the Four Arts Hall, Yuan Su's eyes had turned bloodshot, and veins bulged across his forehead.
In that moment, the convictions he had held for years nearly crumbled. He swayed, on the verge of collapse.
"Impossible, impossible! My nephew clearly said his mother passed away peacefully at the end of her natural lifespan. She was serene when she left, and her only regret was not getting to see me!"
"Ah, don't be too heartbroken. Maybe those villagers deceived Yuan Bao, too? If they're still alive, you can avenge Fairy Yuan Xia with your own hands."
Beside him, Fang Ding sighed deeply as well. He no longer dared argue with the man opposite him, afraid that he might accidentally anger the Spirit Artifact Hall Master into fainting or cause him to develop an inner demon.
If that happened, he would bear a terrible guilt.
Back when the Spirit Artifact Hall Master had brought Fairy Yuan Xia into the sect, she had been such a lively, adorable little girl. He had never imagined she would meet such an end.
It was all because of those wretched people in Black Ghost Village. No wonder it was called Black Ghost Village. Ghosts must have eaten every last one of their hearts for them to commit such atrocities!
"Calm your mind." Yun Chong had also noticed what was happening to Yuan Su. Seeing his bloodshot eyes, looking as though they might weep blood, he immediately took out a Pure Spirit Jade Pendant inscribed with a formation and placed it in Yuan Su's hand.
But what use would even countless Pure Spirit Jade Pendants be? The Spirit Artifact Hall Master could no longer perceive the world around him. Only that inner voice remained in his mind, the sole obsession allowing him to hold on.
[Lan Yue: Ah, even under those circumstances, Fairy Yuan Xia instinctively protected her child.
She placed all her remaining spirit artifacts around her child to protect him, while the ghost creature devoured her completely, leaving not a scrap of flesh or blood behind.]
"Pfft!" The Spirit Artifact Hall Master suddenly spat out a mouthful of blood, nearly driven mad.
Only when the other elders acted together did they manage to bring the situation under control in time.
"I'm going to kill them! I'll tear every last one of them into pieces!" the Spirit Artifact Hall Master roared. A formation lit up beside him, enclosing everyone up above.
The formation had naturally come from a Formation Disk Yun Chong had tossed out. While stabilizing Elder Yuan, he also contained every sound, preventing Lan Yue below from noticing anything.
"Elder Yuan, this isn't over yet. Don't you want to know what happened to your nephew afterward?" Yun Chong's voice was steady and firm, like a bell suddenly ringing through the morning mist, gradually restoring the Spirit Artifact Hall Master's senses.
"My nephew... yes, my nephew is still here!" The Spirit Artifact Hall Master's eyes were now weeping blood. He took two steps forward and dropped to his knees right in front of his own spirit artifact.
"If Yuan Bao truly committed something unforgivable, I beg the Sect Master to spare him. I'm willing to accept his punishment in his place, or I'll take my nephew away from the Southern Spirit Sect and go to the Southern Region Battlefield!"
The Cultivation World had four great regions, each with its own battlefield. These battlefields fought against established demon domains, as well as the demonic beasts that emerged from Demon Abyss Rifts.
The Four Domains Battlefield was naturally the most dangerous place in the entire Cultivation World. That the Spirit Artifact Hall Master would make such a choice showed that his resolve was already set.
In the end, Yuan Su still chose to protect his nephew. Yet Fang Ding, the Pill Pavilion elder opposite him, said nothing more about it.
Before this, he would certainly have snapped back. But now that he had suddenly learned what happened to Yuan Xia, he, too, was deeply saddened.
Yuan Bao was the last of Yuan Xia's bloodline. Even he wanted to step in and save him, let alone Yuan Su, his own uncle.
Before you continue