Chapter 532: The Legacy of Black Cloud Mountain

In the gloomy Underground Cave, Zhou You bowed three times to a corpse.

The act of whipping a corpse is disrespectful to the deceased; unless it is a mortal enemy with a grudge as deep as the sea, one cannot do it with a clear conscience. Even when whipping a stranger, one must feel guilty and bow to apologize beforehand.

"My apologies, Senior."

After bowing, Zhou You picked up the Corpse-Punishing Whip and lashed down at the corpse once.

*Snap! * The crisp sound of the whip echoed loudly in the empty cave. The large snake trembled slightly, then returned to stillness.

The contact between the Corpse-Punishing Whip and the corpse immediately triggered a strange change.

Inside the previously dead-silent corpse, a surge of energy suddenly emerged, driving the corpse to open its mouth and speak.

Opportunities were rare and the number of uses limited, so Zhou You did not waste words and started directly with the three soul questions.

"Who are you? Where are you from? What are you doing here?"

The three soul questions—or rather, the three philosophical questions—are timeless. The corpse quickly provided the answers.

"I am Pu Tiegan, a high-level Martial Master of Black Cloud Mountain, sent here by the sect's Vajra to guard the Medicine Field."

This simple sentence was spoken with great difficulty. With every word that left its mouth, the corpse's body decayed a little more, and the rotting flesh on its cheeks fell away in sheets, revealing white bone gums in a mere instant.

So that's how it is...

Any Vajra-level expert must consume high-density energy food for nourishment; under the heavens, only Heavenly Material and Earthly Treasure can meet the requirements.

However, just like the Blood-Dripping Pearl, the growth environment for Heavenly Material and Earthly Treasure is extremely harsh, making them difficult to harvest and preserve.

Especially since the more populated a place is, the less likely it is for Heavenly Material and Earthly Treasure to grow; only in perilous, uninhabited environments is there a chance for them to be born.

The *Classic of Medicine Kings* once recorded that when the world is at peace and the population is thriving, occupying all lands, Heavenly Material and Earthly Treasure are very difficult to manifest.

But when the world is in chaos, the population drops sharply, farmland is abandoned, villages are destroyed, and former residential areas revert to forests and wilderness, allowing once-rare Heavenly Material and Earthly Treasure to grow wildly.

Therefore, the Beijing, where the Witch Tribe grows, is precisely a treasure land where Heavenly Material and Earthly Treasure frequently appear.

Recently, with the turbulent times, one city after another has been captured and destroyed, countless residents have died or fled, large tracts of land have been left barren, and weeds have crazily occupied villages and roads.

Heavenly Material and Earthly Treasure have actually been appearing one after another.

"Could this be the recovery of spiritual energy?"

Zhou You shook his head at this thought; following this logic, it was imperative for a Vajra to establish a sect.

Finding Heavenly Material and Earthly Treasure requires a large number of people, and once found, they must be guarded while waiting for them to mature, to prevent wild beasts from eating them or others from snatching them first.

No matter how powerful a Vajra is, they are only one person and cannot attend to everything, so they must recruit disciples and subordinates.

The corpse before him was once a disciple of Black Cloud Mountain, sent by the Vajra to guard this Medicine Field. As time changed, the former sect was destroyed, and he died here, with no one left to know his fate.

By chance, Zhou You dug him out from the ground, uncovering this dusty past.

Come to think of it, Black Cloud Mountain and Zhou You have a connection; that Black Cloud Spear technique came from this very sect.

"Senior, my apologies."

Zhou You cupped his hands in apology again. Seeing that the corpse could still be questioned twice more, he decided to take the opportunity to finish the business.

*Snap, snap! * Two more lashes were struck.

"If Black Cloud Mountain was destroyed, was there any contingency plan for a comeback?"

"Do you know the locations of any other Medicine Fields?"

These two questions were given after careful consideration.

Zhou You had wanted to ask about the truth behind the destruction of Black Cloud Mountain, but this corpse had been trapped underground until death, so it likely did not know the inside story. Being sent to guard a Medicine Field, it was clearly a core member trusted by the Vajra and must know something.

The first question was to ask if Black Cloud Mountain had left behind any hidden treasures; the second was to inquire about the existence of more Heavenly Material and Earthly Treasure.

Under Zhou You's expectant gaze, the corpse slowly opened its mouth...

"There were no explicit instructions in the mountain, but when I was serving the Vajra, I heard him reveal when he was in a very good mood that there is no eternal sect in this world, and Black Cloud Mountain is no exception. If the building were to collapse one day in the future, the hope for the sect's revival lies in a nursery rhyme."

A nursery rhyme?

Zhou You felt strange in his heart. Taking advantage of the fact that the question session hadn't ended, he pressed for which nursery rhyme it was.

Comparing it with the corpse's description, he confirmed that this nursery rhyme was a widely circulated folk children's song; it turned out to have been popular even during the Black Cloud Mountain era.

Even now, it could be heard on every street corner, with children jumping and singing it; anyone could hum a few lines of it.

Strange, why would the Black Cloud Mountain Vajra say the chance for the sect's revival lay in this nursery rhyme? Before he could figure it out, the answer to the second question came.

"Before I set out from the mountain, I met several fellow disciples who were also going to guard other Medicine Fields. The specific locations are..."

The corpse recited the addresses of five Medicine Fields; unsurprisingly, they were all located within the territory of Beixuan Zhou.

One location was quite special, situated on the edge of Beixuan Zhou. After the destruction of Black Cloud Mountain, the borders were redrawn, and it was transferred to the neighboring Dawu Zhou, which was more troublesome as it required crossing the border.

Zhou You made up his mind to send the Great Crane and the Great Snake, splitting into two groups to investigate.

After all, thousands or even tens of thousands of years had passed; not to mention the changes in the human world and geography, it was uncertain whether the original Medicine Fields still existed.

Zhou You was already very satisfied with having obtained the Blood-Dripping Pearl here; as for the other five Medicine Fields, if even one still existed, he would have made a huge profit.

The Blood-Dripping Pearl harvested today was enough for him to digest for a long time; he dared not ask for too much.

After the two questions were answered, the corpse completely weathered into a pile of ashes.

Zhou You took out a nanmu wood box, wrapped the ashes in silk, placed them inside, and solemnly buried them in a corner.

"Senior, rest in peace. Everything of Black Cloud Mountain will be inherited by me."

A long-destroyed sect, whose name no one remembers anymore, just like the former Vajra Mountain and Heaven-Reaching Gate, only through martial arts and relics can they avoid being completely forgotten.

It didn't matter that the Vajra had pinned the hope of the sect's revival on a nursery rhyme.

Such things passed down by word of mouth have immense vitality; even through the changing of seas into mulberry fields and the passage of time, they can still be passed down for ten thousand generations.

"After returning, I will privately send people to collect all versions of the nursery rhyme; I must find the clues."

He remembered that in the years after the destruction of Black Cloud Mountain, everything had been calm, with no records of hidden treasures appearing or successors making a name for themselves.

This meant that the secret to the sect's revival had not yet been discovered by anyone.

For Zhou You, this was an opportunity.

He was proficient in Seal Script and had a particular talent for characters; he also had studied the Seal Script character for 'sound' in relation to musical tones.

As long as the correct method of deciphering was found, the secrets left behind in Black Cloud Mountain could certainly be restored from the nursery rhyme.

After all this tossing about, quite some time had passed, and the processed Blood-Dripping Pearls had finished drying.

Zhou You put them into his Hunger Pouch, and just as he was about to set off, the large snake very solicitously lay on the ground, signaling for him to take a free ride.

"You have a sharp eye, too."

Before Zhou You and the large snake left, he said one more thing to the large earthworm, "Guard this place with peace of mind; I will come to see you after some time."

The large earthworm nodded and plunged headfirst into the soft soil; to it, this act was no different from swimming.

(End of this chapter)