Chapter 1265

Unfortunately, he destroyed them all himself, probably leaving nothing behind. He Lingchuan sighed. Lingguang suddenly rushed in from the outer room, holding several stone fragments in his hand.

"There are characters on them."

These stone fragments were mixed together with miscellaneous items like wooden and ceramic ware, and the outer room was dimly lit, so the three of them hadn't searched carefully before; hearing the sound, they all started.

He Lingchuan stroked Lingguang's head and praised: "Still, our Lingguang is meticulous!"

The little monkey gave an embarrassed smile, a bit shy: "There's still more outside."

When everyone went to the outer room to look, indeed there were several more stone slabs with characters carved on them.

Fu Liushan took a piece of torn cloth, wiped off the thick layer of dust on the stone slabs, and then assigned the task to everyone:

"Come on, let's do the puzzle."

Looking at the patterns on the stone slabs, it turned out they were probably the couplets from beside an offering table.

Qu Yu's cave dwelling was also interesting—even the couplets were carved from stone slabs.

These small characters resemble the flying dragon and phoenix dance inscriptions on the stone walls, suggesting they were all written by Qu Yu's hand.

Probably, before his death, he couldn't find a suitable writing tablet, so he casually cut down the stone couplets, scraped off the original inscription, and rewrote characters on them.

The characters are quite small and a bit messy, showing the writer's haste.

Fu Liushan thought for a moment, took out a small bag of flour from his bosom, and sprinkled it on the stone slab.

After brushing off the excess flour, the characters on the stone slab turned white and became easier to identify.

"I, Qu Yu, sealed-door disciple under the Seat of the Great Immortal Shou'an, bestowed the title Minghui True Person."

The first sentence self-identifies his background, which exactly confirms He Lingchuan's speculation.

However, this Qu Yu person truly has character—his courtesy name is "Minghui," yet he likes to dwell in the dark, sunless underground palace.

Oh, this title seems to have been granted to him by the Immortal Shou'an as well.

When the characters on several stone slabs are pieced together, they form another final letter of Qu Yu.

It states on it that the war between the heavenly demons and the immortals has already been ongoing for over a hundred years.

Minghui True Person participated throughout the immortal-demon war, and his research on heavenly demons far surpasses that of most immortals. He was also the first to discover that heavenly demons can actually use human bodies as vessels, thereby descending as avatars and exercising remote control.

The human body is too fragile; such a descent is meaningless, so even if immortals knew, they wouldn't take it seriously.

However, it turns out that heavenly demons have actually succeeded in refining captured immortals into their own avatars! In terms of bodily structure, immortals and ordinary humans are no different—only their physiques are stronger, their lifespans longer, and they are proficient in magic and capable of flying through the earth and heavens.

The news spread, and the immortals were enraged; the immortal-demon battle immediately escalated into a feverish pitch, and all previous negotiations were overturned.

At this time, the heavenly demons were severely divided internally, with immortals gaining the upper hand, but heaven and earth could no longer bear the warfare of both sides, showing signs of collapse. Qu Yu, who had dwelled in this cave for several hundred years, suddenly saw the ground crack open and erupt with killing qi.

He knew this place was unsuitable for long stay, and was in the process of preparing to move, when the specimen in the Bright Well suddenly escaped one individual, breaking through the underground palace barrier and fleeing out.

Logically, such a leak shouldn't have occurred, but he also hadn't expected that, among the few heavenly demons he had captured earlier to use as ornaments, one was actually pregnant.

Many years later, that demon cub was suddenly born, broke through Crystal Mountain, and escaped.

Although it is a congenital deficient little monster, its movements are very agile.

Qu Yu pursued it and beheaded it outside the underground palace.

Unfortunately, he was still a step too late—this demon cub had already sent a distress signal to the heavenly demons.

Qu Yu's cave dwelling was exposed.

Before he could withdraw, Miao Zhantian arrived and attacked.

Qu Yu was no match, suffering severe injuries. When he was about to be captured, Shou'an Immortal flew his sword and split the mountain, beheading two heavenly demons, giving Qu Yu a chance to flee back to his residence, destroy all his research findings, and pass away peacefully.

Between the lines, it is all heart-stopping.

The three people looked at it, and remained silent for a long time.

He Lingchuan gazed at these stone slabs: "They seem to have been smashed, someone took them to vent anger."

"The heavenly demons struggled hard to break in, yet gained nothing—no wonder they felt resentful."

"The content on the slabs is useless to heavenly demons, so Qu Yu wrote this final letter without avoiding them."

At this moment, Dong Rui again dug out an irregularly shaped stone slab from the pile of wooden chips, blew off the dust, and glanced at it twice: "Oh, there's still another slab here, blank."

Qu Yu had nothing left to say, so he left this slab blank and didn't write on it?

"Can it be pieced together with the other stone slabs?"

Everyone tried, but it couldn't be done.

This blank stone slab seems to have been casually cut down by Qu Yu from the stone wall, standing alone, not belonging to that pair of couplets.

"In his critical moment, Qu Yu wouldn't do something pointless." He Lingchuan examined this slab carefully, "There might be some mystery on it."

He saw nothing unusual, so he passed it to the other two.

After passing it around, even Lingguang dropped a few drops of medicine water on it, but the stone slab remained a stone slab, blank and characterless.

Dong Rui muttered: "If it were really that easy to crack, the heavenly demons would have figured it out long ago."

They also didn't know how many arts Qu Yu mastered, what restrictions he placed on this slab, or where the method of decryption lay. "Qu Yu should certainly know that the enemy he faces is Miao Zhantian, and few arts could deceive his true eye." He Lingchuan pondered, "This stone slab—where was it cut from?"

Then we'd have to hold this stone slab and go around sticking it everywhere, to see where it fits.

Everyone searched in the secret room for half a day—stone walls, stone floors, even stone ceilings were tried, but they still couldn't find its original source.

This stone slab won't stick anywhere.

"Could it not be from here?" Fu Liushan couldn't help but scratch his cheek, "If it was cut from outside, that would be troublesome!"

Such a large underground palace, with stone walls everywhere—who knows where Qu Yu cut this stone slab from!

"Assuming this slab was left by him at his final moment, was it still meant to transmit a message, and specifically to his own people?" He Lingchuan shook his head, "If no one can find it, the message on this stone slab cannot be transmitted, and he would have done useless work."

Dong Rui rolled his eyes: "Then what do you say—how to search? Inside and outside the two rooms, just this little space, nowhere can it be stuck!"

He Lingchuan picked up the stone slab again, gently rubbing it.

This stone slab is very thin—about the thickness of a jujube pit.

One side is very smooth, smoothed by long-term rubbing, not by metal cutting.

Just now, Dong Rui discovered it under the offering table.

He Lingchuan thought of this and said: "No, we actually still have one place we haven't searched!"

He pointed to Qu Yu's remains.

"That stone bed?" Dong Rui tilted his head, "I just checked it."

He had examined it very carefully just now.

"Where did Qu Xianren sit?" Qu Yu wore wide robes and large sleeves, occupying a broad space.

"Uh..." Dong Rui was speechless.

Qu Yu was still sitting properly there, no one had moved his remains; the spot beneath his buttocks, of course, had also not been looked at.

It simply never occurred to anyone.

He Lingchuan bowed to Qu Yu's remains and said softly: "Qu senior, pardon my offense."

Having said that, he gently assisted the immortal's remains to one side.

(End of chapter)