Chapter 50: Shocking Discovery!

Factions named after a religion are never small.

Chen Mu knew most of the major sects, gangs, and clans in Nanyun Prefecture.

At least by name.

Only this "Longevity Sect" left no impression at all.

"An outside faction?"

Chen Mu thought it over.

Although Nanyun Prefecture was a small place, it was reasonable enough for some outside factions to plant a few agents here.

The problem was those three words, "Longevity Sect," gave Chen Mu an inexplicable feeling.

He couldn't pin it down specifically, only a vague sense of repulsion.

A martial artist's sixth sense?

That sort of thing was indeed a bit uncanny.

But since he had never heard of the "Longevity Sect," whether it was good or bad, he had no idea, and it wouldn't do to casually ask around.

"Right!"

Suddenly, Chen Mu recalled the memory card he had picked up earlier.

The little leader, Ji Gang, had hidden three thousand taels of silver and a manual called *Shattered Gold Palm*.

In his memories, if one wanted to gather information, one could go to the "Heroes' Tower" in the inner city!

This "Heroes' Tower," in Ji Gang's mind, was extraordinary—a major faction in its own right.

The one in Nanyun Prefecture's inner city was only a branch, yet it was full of guests every day.

That was where information flowed the fastest.

Thinking of this, Chen Mu gathered his thoughts and walked along the street past the shop where that earlier conversation had come from.

A clothing shop.

Inside, several customers were buying clothes; the waiter and the Shopkeeper were both busy.

Yet that conversation had come from a basement in the shop's back courtyard!

The basement had a ventilation shaft.

Today the wind in the city was strong, blowing through every street and alley.

Listening to the wind, listening to the wind!

This clothing shop was less than a hundred meters in a straight line from Cheng Dongfeng's residence.

Chen Mu had walked out from Cheng Dongfeng's residence, monitoring Guo Jinquan, and happened to overhear it all.

Until he determined what kind of faction the "Longevity Sect" was, Chen Mu would not spook the snake.

After walking through the long street, he headed straight for the inner city.

Compared to the outer city, the inner city not only had wider streets and cleaner sanitation, but the pedestrians on the streets also had more vigor and spirit.

Those who lived in the inner city could at least eat their fill.

While in the outer city, more than half of the people couldn't.

After walking along the broad street for a while, Chen Mu stopped in front of a luxurious restaurant.

Heroes' Tower!

A building six stories tall, towering over the surrounding structures, most of which were only two or three stories.

All three great doors stood wide open.

On the first and second floors, the noise of the crowd was deafening.

Just standing at the entrance, Chen Mu felt waves of qi and blood fluctuation emanating from within.

The people inside Heroes' Tower were actually all martial artists!

'A major faction—this is what a major faction looks like…'

Drawing a deep breath, Chen Mu restrained his aura and walked through the great doors.

A moment later.

Chen Mu went up to the third floor, spent five hundred taels in silver notes, and bought a thick stack of materials.

A hefty pile of records documenting the basic information of every famous faction under the heavens of Great Zhou!

Carrying this stack, Chen Mu returned to the first floor, found a corner seat, and quickly began flipping through it.

Great Zhou's realm was divided into nineteen circuits, each circuit governing several prefectures, each prefecture governing several sub-prefectures, and each sub-prefecture governing several counties.

Nanyun Prefecture, viewed against the whole realm, was only a small place.

Within the prefecture, aside from the three great clans, there were another five with some reputation; the rest were not worth mentioning.

Even so, the three great clans were minor factions within Hannan Circuit.

Only factions that shook the whole realm could achieve such renown, and that required lineages of several hundred, even a thousand years.

For example, the Six Great Sword Sects, the Qidawu Sect, and the Eight Great Noble Houses—these were all top-tier major factions with lineages over a thousand years.

The Longevity Sect was among them, ranked as one of the Wudamo Sect.

Yet its lineage stretched back over eight thousand years!

This was a vast sect with an ancient history.

Over the course of several thousand years, the Longevity Sect had been wiped out over a hundred times, but every few decades it would rise from the ashes again.

The reason lay in the "Longevity Sect's" cultivation methods, which were incomparably sinister.

They could grant one longevity!

Even an ordinary person, by practicing the cultivation method, could live two or three hundred years.

The price was that the side effects were not small; the deeper one cultivated, the harder it became to maintain a normal human form.

Because the core of the Longevity Sect's cultivation method is eating!

Animals, plants, dead things, and people!

All are on the menu.

Especially people — the finest of all living things — hearts, livers, spleens, brains, flesh and blood are the main ingredients in the Longevity Sect's recipes!

That's right, the Longevity Sect is not just a Mo Sect, it's a heretical cult.

These people, in pursuit of longevity, have lost all humanity — they're beneath even beasts.

For thousands of years, the Longevity Sect has been hunted not only by the righteous, but even members of the other Sidamo Sect, upon encounter, will strike them down.

The Longevity Sect's three trials for entry — the first trial is eating human flesh!

In the conversation Chen Mu overheard in the basement beneath the tailor shop's back courtyard, someone explicitly stated they had already passed the first trial.

In other words, every one of those people has eaten human flesh!

"Beasts beneath even beasts…"

Chen Mu's hands trembled slightly.

Hidden within Wulong Fucheng were actually members of the Longevity Sect!

There were only a few in the tailor shop's basement, but who knew whether there might be more elsewhere?

The followers of this Longevity Sect are all beneath beasts.

Hidden away with unknown purposes, it seemed to have nothing to do with Chen Mu.

But who knew whether they might suddenly head to Changping Ward or Changlong Ward just because they found Chen Mu appetizing, and then strike?

Or target his sister-in-law Miao Xiuxiu?

Miao Xiuxiu is already pregnant — whether the infant is born or unborn, in the eyes of these heretics who feed on people, it would be top-grade ingredient!

"No — I have to eliminate these people!"

Chen Mu clenched his fists tight.

Everyone wants the Longevity Sect dead, but how to strike requires careful planning.

Once a strike fails and they escape, just wait for the retaliation.

The consequence might be that not even a complete corpse would remain!

"To the Zhenwu Division!"

Almost instantly, Chen Mu made his decision.

Relying on himself alone, he couldn't handle the Longevity Sect's followers.

Who knew whether the Longevity Sect followers hidden in that tailor shop's basement had anyone in the Innate Realm?

Thinking of this, Chen Mu put away the materials, settled the table bill, and strode out of Hero Tower.

Walking swiftly through the street, he suddenly thought of a problem.

"Reporting the Longevity Sect is fine, but how do I explain how I knew those people were hiding in the tailor shop's back courtyard basement?"

If the "Listening Wind" skill were exposed, that would be no good thing.

Thinking of this, Chen Mu looked around, ducked into a small alley, avoided others' line of sight, took out the human-skin mask, and put it on.

Then, returning to the street, he entered a calligraphy and painting shop and bought a sheet of white paper, along with ink and a writing brush.

Returning to the alley, on a flat stone, he spread out the white paper and wrote the contents on it.

After finishing the writing, he found another stone, a tree branch, and a piece of cloth, and wrapped them together.

Then he headed toward the Zhenwu Division's headquarters in the inner city.

Slowly approaching the towering main gate, he wrapped the bundle around the tree branch, and upon reaching the Zhenwu Division's main gate, suddenly gathered his strength and, with a deft burst of force, shot the branch toward the open gate…