"Are you saying that in recent months, people have been mysteriously disappearing from some rural areas of Linzhou?"
In the courtyard of the inn, Lu Qing was somewhat surprised after listening to Mu Tian and the others' story.
"Yes, brother, this matter was not noticed by anyone."
However, a few days ago, when we first entered Linzhou, we unintentionally saved a farmer who had fallen off a cliff and was unconscious.
He said that people have been going missing in their village recently, and people are now living in fear.
His wife and children went missing. He searched everywhere for them, but eventually fell off a cliff by accident.
Fortunately, an old tree stopped him from falling to his death.
After we took the farmer to the clinic, we went to investigate his village.
However, it was discovered that in the past six months, many villages in the countryside of Linzhou had experienced the disappearance of people.
That's why we're lingering here, trying to find out exactly what happened.
Today we plan to go to a place called Qiujia Village, which is near this city.
"Such a thing is true. Have you found anything out?" Lu Qing asked.
"We don't have many clues yet." Mu Tian shook his head. "We can only preliminarily determine that this was caused by human intervention, not a natural disaster."
Furthermore, the person who committed the act used strange and secretive methods, and was not a righteous person.
The most likely explanation is that some heretical cultivator is practicing some kind of evil art.
"Heretical cultivators, huh..."
Lu Qing nodded, agreeing with Mu Tian's deduction.
As spiritual energy continues to recover, many relics from the previous era of cultivation are gradually being revealed.
Some of these items were left behind by ancient cultivators who practiced the path of evil.
As a result, some evil cultivators have appeared in the world in recent years.
These evil cultivators committed many heinous acts in order to cultivate their evil arts.
However, good and evil have always been irreconcilable. After these cultivators stirred up trouble for a while, they were met with a joint attack from various sects.
After enjoying two years of glory, they almost disappeared again.
Unexpectedly, traces of demonic cultivators have reappeared in this remote Linzhou.
"Is there anything special about Qiujia Village, which you're going to?" Lu Qing continued to ask.
“We’ve heard that two villagers from Qiujia Village went missing the day before yesterday. This is probably the last village where that evil cultivator appeared, so we plan to go and take a look,” Mu Tian replied.
"Brother, do you want to come with us?" Xiaoyan asked.
Upon hearing this, Mu Tian and the others immediately looked at Lu Qing.
They were all very curious about Xiaoyan's suddenly appearing and mysterious older brother.
If he goes with us, we might be able to find out something, though it's hard to say for sure.
Lu Qing pondered for a moment.
He originally came here intending to take Xiaoyan and the others away.
He had just traded three portions of true blood with the old dragon turtle. Those three portions of true blood, containing the bloodline of the ancient mythical beast Suanni, should be of great benefit to Xiao Li and the Five Elements.
Now that he has suddenly heard about this, he feels it's not appropriate to just leave.
After thinking for a while, Lu Qing said, "Alright, I'll go with you to take a look."
Xiaoyan's eyes lit up immediately.
But Lu Qing continued, "However, Xiao Yan, this is your training. I won't intervene unless absolutely necessary. You have to handle things yourself so your brother can see if you've been neglecting your cultivation these days."
"good!"
Xiaoyan readily agreed.
At the same time, I was filled with enthusiasm.
She wanted her brother to know that while he was in seclusion on the holy mountain, she had also been diligently cultivating herself!
Upon hearing this, Mu Tian and the others smiled.
According to what they learned from the sect's records, evil cultivators always used strange methods. With a mysterious and powerful figure like Brother Xiaoyan accompanying them, they felt even more confident.
So the group checked out of the inn and headed to Qiujia Village.
Qiujia Village is not close to the city, but among the people, the weakest in cultivation is still a cultivator who has reached the Lesser Completion of the Innate Realm.
Before the spiritual energy revival, that was comparable to the combat power of a top-tier sect.
Even though spiritual energy has been reviving for so long, those at the Innate Realm are still considered strong in the cultivation world.
Their pace was naturally not slow.
After using their movement techniques, they moved even faster, and half an hour later, they arrived at a village.
"Senior Brother Chen, Qiu Family Village is just ahead."
Mu Tian took out a map, looked at it for a while, and then affirmed.
"Then let's go in."
Lu Qing looked ahead, a subtle, unusual glint in his eyes.
Could it be that they actually ran into us?
The group walked towards the village, but as soon as they entered, they were stunned by what they saw.
The village was quiet before, with wisps of black smoke floating around.
Most importantly, there were many corpses lying haphazardly on the village road.
They were all mummified, with twisted and grotesque faces, clearly indicating that they had suffered immense pain and torment before their deaths.
"This, this..."
Upon witnessing such a terrifying scene, Mu Tian and his companions were so frightened that they retreated repeatedly.
He couldn't even speak clearly for a moment.
Upon seeing this, Lu Qing couldn't help but shake his head slightly.
The revival of spiritual energy has made cultivation much easier.
Even the Innate Realm is no longer as difficult to break through as it used to be.
However, the ease of cultivation also means that many cultivators lack sufficient tempering.
Just like Mu Tian and his group, although they were not weak, before the spiritual energy revival, they were comparable to the top combat forces of some major sects.
But when it comes to temperament, they are worlds apart.
They were just some mummified corpses in gruesome states, yet they were so terrified.
This composure was far inferior to that of the martial arts masters he had encountered in the Acquired Realm.
After a few moments of reflection, Lu Qing turned his gaze back to the mummified corpse {N•o•v•e•l•i•g•h•t} in front of him.
He had already sensed from outside the village that it was eerily quiet, as if no one was there anymore.
But he never expected that everyone in Qiujia Village would be murdered.
Moreover, he was drained of his life force and died after suffering immense pain.
When they looked at one of the mummified corpses dressed in women's clothes, it was holding a small, thin corpse in its arms.
Lu Qing's gaze slowly turned cold.
"Brother, what is this...?"
Among the group, Xiaoyan remained calm.
After all, she was very young when Lu Qing and the others went to Zhongzhou together.
During the battles and carnage along the way, I saw countless corpses.
In addition, over the years in Jiuli Village, he has often helped the old doctor treat wounds for some patients.
The scene before her was horrifying, but not enough to frighten her.
"I told you, I won't intervene. You need to learn to handle these things on your own," Lu Qing said calmly.
Upon hearing this, Xiaoyan immediately stopped asking questions.
He began to carefully examine the corpses on the ground.
She had already sensed that these mummies seemed somewhat unusual.
Seeing how calm the brother and sister were, Mu Tian and the others gradually calmed down as well.
And I felt a blush creep up my face.
They were just some dried corpses, yet they acted so out of control, even less so than the youngest, Xiaoyan. It was truly unacceptable.
Just as they were about to ask Xiaoyan what she had discovered.
Suddenly, a cold voice rang out.
