"This happened two weeks ago." Steward Hu sighed and began recounting the tale. "One night two weeks ago, while I was asleep, I suddenly heard a woman singing.
"At first, I paid it no mind. But early the next morning, the captain of the manor's guard suddenly died.
"His death was particularly gruesome. It seemed he had encountered something utterly terrifying—he looked as though he had been scared to death.
"From then on, a woman's singing would ring out in our Hu manor every night.
"Yet no matter how many people I sent to search, we could never find where the singing came from.
"Every morning, someone in the manor would die. Even when I gathered everyone together and made sure no one slept through the night—
"Someone would still disappear and die the next day. By now, nearly twenty people have died in our Hu manor.
"Many of the servants have resigned and left. A great many people say that I am haunted by a curse."
"What ghosts or monsters could possibly exist in this world? It must be some petty villains stirring up trouble," Wang Tao said disdainfully. "Steward Hu, rest assured. Tonight, I will personally patrol the Hu manor and make sure to catch the murderer."
"Good, good. You young geniuses must be careful. If you need anything, just say the word," Steward Hu hurriedly said.
"Tonight, gather everyone remaining in the manor. No one is allowed to leave. I want to see who exactly is making trouble," Wang Tao said sternly.
"No problem. Then I'll have to trouble you young geniuses," Steward Hu said with a nod.
Watching Wang Tao strut about and make his boastful assurances, Xu Zimo did not say a word. He merely smiled faintly.
Whether the sect's mission was completed meant nothing to him. He had only come here to take something away.
He even wished these people would all die. The more that thing devoured, the stronger it would become, and the greater its use to Xu Zimo would be in the future.
As the group chatted and laughed over their meal, a little girl suddenly ran in from outside.
"Daddy, do we have guests at home?" The little girl wore two small braids, and her voice was soft and babyish. She looked only four or five years old.
"Ying'er, come to Daddy." Steward Hu seemed exceedingly fond of his daughter. He quickly gathered the little girl into his arms and introduced her to everyone. "This is my daughter, Hu Yingying. She was seriously ill some time ago. Fortunately, this curse has not laid a hand on my daughter."
After they finished eating, the sky gradually darkened. The fine drizzle falling from the heavens seemed to be growing heavier and heavier.
Raindrops began falling one by one from the eaves, and the entire Hu manor was shrouded in a thin veil of mist.
Steward Hu then summoned all the remaining servants in the manor to the side hall. In truth, there were not many people left in the manor anymore.
With some servants dead and others gone, fewer than twenty people remained in the enormous Hu manor.
"We'll patrol the east courtyard, and you patrol the west courtyard. How does that sound?" Wang Tao asked Xu Zimo and the others.
"Brat, do you want another beating? It isn't your place to point fingers and give orders," Xiao Guizi said, looking at him.
Then he turned his gaze to Xu Zimo, waiting for his instructions.
"You go patrol. I'll stay in the main hall and protect Steward Hu and the others," Xu Zimo said lazily as he stretched, sounding somewhat bored.
"Fine." Wang Tao did not dare say much more and left with the people from the Divine Sun Sacred Sect.
"Senior Brother, then we'll patrol the west courtyard," Xiao Guizi said from the side.
Xu Zimo raised his head. The rain in the sky seemed to be growing ever heavier, and the blackness of the night gave off an especially eerie feeling.
"What is there to patrol? Go back and rest early," Xu Zimo said indifferently before heading to the side hall.
He left behind Xiao Guizi and Lin Ruhu, both wearing thoroughly baffled expressions.
Ren Pingsheng hurried all the way home. After taking the pill Xu Zimo had given him, his injuries had mostly healed.
His mind was now filled entirely with the matter of his ancestor, Great Emperor Tunri's inheritance.
Finally, as the sky gradually darkened, he arrived at the Ren family's Ancestral Hall.
Ever since the Ren family had declined, few people had come to the Ancestral Hall.
He pushed open the little wooden door eroded by time. The lights inside the Ancestral Hall were dim, and the air was stuffy.
Straight ahead stood the statue of his ancestor, Great Emperor Tunri, covered in dust and spiderwebs.
This statue had been carved by later generations according to a portrait of their ancestor. Yet no matter how skillful the craftsmen they hired, they could not perfectly restore their ancestor's appearance.
In the end, the descendants could only carve a statue of his back.
Ren Pingsheng walked before the statue, knelt, and kowtowed three times, then bowed three more times.
Only then did he step forward and slowly shift the statue aside. Ren Pingsheng then searched the offering table and found a hidden movable brick.
He pushed the brick aside, revealing a concealed groove within. The shape of that groove was exactly identical to that of the long flute.
Ren Pingsheng's breathing grew heavier. His mind went blank as his trembling hands placed the long flute into the hidden groove.
The entire Ancestral Hall then began to shake. Boundless spiritual energy gathered above it, and an incomparably profound vortex appeared before Ren Pingsheng.
The instant the vortex appeared, space collapsed. Countless currents of air were compressed until they exploded, turning into streams of air arrows that scattered in all directions.
Looking at the sight before him, Ren Pingsheng was beside himself with excitement. He muttered, "Yue Buli, just you wait. When I return, I will surely crush your Heavenly Sword Sect beneath my feet."
With his heart surging like raging tides, Ren Pingsheng stepped into the vortex. The vortex then closed, and everything around it returned to normal, as though nothing had happened.
At this moment, atop Miao Liu Peak, where the Sixth Elder resided within the True Martial Sacred Sect, Baili Xiao sat inside a white lotus.
This white lotus was an inherited treasure of Empress Hongtian. Baili Xiao's expression was calm and aloof, a lock of beautiful hair drifting in the breeze.
Spiritual energy gathered atop the white lotus, nourishing her body at every moment. White mist drifted around her, making her seem like an immortal maiden descending from the ninth heavens.
Her white robes fluttered, her skin was fairer than snow, and her lips bright while her teeth gleamed. It seemed that even looking at her was a kind of desecration.
After not seeing her for so long, the immortal aura about her seemed to have grown ever stronger.
Suddenly, with a bang, the Meridian Gate at the mystic bone in Baili Xiao's right hand opened. She broke through to the Condensing Pulse Realm, and boundless spiritual energy washed over her body.
She slowly rose from the white lotus and stepped out with lotus-like strides. Two maidservants had long been standing guard nearby.
These two maidservants were the twin sisters Xu Zimo had seen during the previous newcomer trial: Xue Qianxue and Xue Mengmeng.
"Big Sister Xiao, you broke through to the Condensing Pulse Realm?" Xue Mengmeng asked in delighted surprise, blinking her large, adorable eyes.
"I only just broke through. You two must work hard as well," Baili Xiao said with a smile, her voice gentle.
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