Chapter 148

The wind and snow whistled, the mountains and rivers were vast and desolate.

"That war, some people didn't want to face it, some wanted to forget it, even the history books only had a few strokes..."

"The chaotic world of the Five Hu, the chaotic world at the end of the Tang, the northern invasion of the Wolf Kingdom, were not only a catastrophe for ordinary people, but the Mystic Sect was the same..."

"I don't know how many dharma lineages were cut off because of this, the Dao faded and the demons grew. When my Shangshan lineage was at its worst, there were only a few people left, hiding in the mountains to guard the incense..."

Arriving at the site of the ancient battlefield, Luo Faqing's words suddenly became more frequent, his eyes somewhat complex as he said, "This ancient battlefield has fierce evil qi. During the chaotic world at the end of the Tang, it became a famous demon cave, where evil creatures grew in abundance, and all kinds of strange things often happened..."

"The Guanzhong Mystic Sect racked their brains for this. At that time, the elite of my Shangshan lineage all died here. It wasn't until a hundred years after the Great Song that the evil formation here gradually disappeared..."

Sha Lifei asked in surprise, "Then why is the demon-person hiding here?"

"Not clear."

Luo Faqing shook his head and pointed ahead, "I sent ghosts and gods to track it. The walking corpse transformed from that child is hiding in the mountain cave in the mountain hollow ahead."

Li Yan said in a deep voice, "There is indeed a scent left behind. Move quickly, don't let them run away!"

After saying this, he shook the reins and rode out on his horse.

Sha Lifei and Wang Fu followed closely behind.

Luo Faqing shook his head slightly and also rode his horse to catch up.

In fact, there was one more thing he didn't say, which was that the great sacrifice to ward off disasters and drive away evil back then led to the Shangshan lineage almost being cut off, rising and falling, once reduced to a bottom-tier small sect, suffering from cold eyes.

Precisely because of this, the style of the Shangshan lineage began to change.

Warding off disasters and praying for blessings, the world wouldn't remember your merits; when they kicked you while you were down, looked at you coldly, and mocked you, they wouldn't mention it at all...

Conquest techniques were fierce, and they repaid every grievance; people would instead fear them, and the situation of the Shangshan lineage became better and better...

Luo Faqing once thought that this was the truth.

But after this incident, he felt that there seemed to be some problems...

…………

"It's inside!"

Relying on his divine ability, Li Yan quickly found the location.

It was a hidden cave located on the mountainside, just blocked by a huge rock, with a passage slanting downwards.

If anyone passed by from the foot of the mountain, they wouldn't be able to see it at all.

And on the snowy ground of the slope, there were dense footprints.

Li Yan had already smelled a kind of rotten corpse stench, exactly the same as that evil creature at the Du family's.

Swish swish!

Perhaps hearing the movement of the few, two arrows shot out from the darkness, their force astonishing, and when they hit the rock, they could actually pierce deeply into it.

Li Yan didn't say a word and took out a Thunder Fire Pill from his waist.

This little thing was specially used to deal with enemies hiding in the dark.

Whoosh!

The Thunder Fire Pill was lit and thrown into the cave. Inside, white light and thick smoke flashed immediately, the ambushers were blinded, and they shot out a few arrows randomly with a clatter.

"Retreat quickly!"

A roar came from inside.

Li Yan didn't say a word and leaped out.

He knew that since the enemy could retreat, it meant there were other passages inside leading to other places.

Just as he entered the cave, a fierce wind whistled over.

Although Li Yan couldn't see, his olfactory divine ability allowed him to know the terrain and the number of enemies like the back of his hand.

The attacker was thin and small, with a rotten corpse stench; it was precisely that little grandson of the Du family who had already died miserably.

Li Yan didn't hold back, took a side step, simultaneously activated the Sancai Luo Sha-Suppressing Money, and the Guanshan Daozi slashed out like a ribbon.

Pfft!

With the blessing of sha-qi, the little ghost's head was immediately sliced off, and it hit a rock with a thud and shattered, flowing out a large amount of black water.

However, Li Yan didn't move forward.

In the darkness, someone attacked with a sword.

The opponent's swordsmanship was extremely brilliant, whooshing like a sharp arrow, extremely fast, stabbing at his throat.

A master!

And they used hidden strength.

Li Yan's hair stood on end, he folded his body in an iron bridge, barely dodging, and simultaneously performed a Kui Star Reverse Kick, attempting to kick the opponent's wrist to pieces.

However, that person was clearly at the peak of hidden strength, and their swordsmanship was extremely tricky. With just a flick of their wrist, the long sword bent abruptly, the sword tip drawing a strange arc, just happening to stab Li Yan's lower leg.

Pfft!

Even though Li Yan dodged as fast as he could, he was still stabbed. Enduring the pain, he rolled to the side, simultaneously grabbing a handful of sand and soil and throwing it out.

The opponent should just be a pure martial artist, but they also had the ability to listen to the wind and distinguish positions. They blocked their head with a large sleeve, flicked their sword in a diagonal stab, and attacked again like a soul-chasing life-taker.

Whoosh whoosh!

Just at this moment, Sha Lifei threw out two torches.

Firelight flashed in the darkness, the person's eyes were blinded, and they immediately closed their eyes and retreated, simultaneously waving their sword to block.

It was Luo Faqing who had taken advantage of the flickering torchlight to leap out from the cave entrance, his long sword stabbing straight at the opponent's brow.

Li Yan saw clearly that the opponent was actually a monk wearing monk's robes. Although not young, from his facial features, one could still see how handsome he was back then.

The torches landed, and the entire cave could be seen clearly.

Sha Lifei looked at the entrance with his knife in hand, his eyes widening immediately, "You... how are you still alive?"

After saying this, he suddenly thought of something and roared, "Brother Li, he is Lu Gongyuan, don't let him run away!"

Lu Gongyuan?!

Killing intent rose in Li Yan's eyes.

He naturally wouldn't forget the name Lu Gongyuan.

The opponent was running a male brothel in Chang'an back then. Because it involved a human trafficking case, his father had contacted and investigated him to help an employer find someone.

Unexpectedly, this person was actually from the Dark Hall of the Maitreya Sect. Zhou Pan had made trouble and didn't inform them of this, resulting in his father's death.

At that time, the Anqing Hall was wiped out, but Lu Gongyuan had already escaped.

Now that he had come to Chang'an, Sha Lifei had been making friends with people in the underworld, and besides looking for work and gathering information, he had been inquiring about this person's whereabouts.

Unexpectedly, he had appeared here.

Hearing his background being exposed, Lu Gongyuan was clearly somewhat panicked and wanted to escape, but Luo Faqing's swordsmanship was no weaker than his, stabbing at his vital points with several consecutive swords, just entangling him and not letting him leave.

"Take this!" Li Yan suddenly rose up, throwing two flying knives from his hand.

Clang! Clang!

Lu Gongyuan hurriedly waved his sword to block.

But just because of this, Li Yan had already flanked from the side, attacking his vital points simultaneously with Luo Faqing.

The so-called two fists are no match for four hands. This Lu Gongyuan's kung fu was only a line higher than the two, and he was old and flustered, immediately falling into a disadvantage.

Pfft!

Being careless for a moment, his sword-wielding wrist was immediately picked by Luo Faqing. Just as he was about to retreat, Li Yan folded his body and slashed with his long knife.

"Ah——!"

Lu Gongyuan let out a miserable scream, but his right foot had already been cut off by Li Yan, losing his balance and falling to the ground.

Before he could get up, he was held at the throat by Luo Faqing's sword.

"Go, don't worry about him!"

The opponent had accomplices, pushing a wooden cart together.

!.

On the cart, a corpse was wrapped in white cloth, wound with red rope, and pasted with talismans; it was clearly the Du family ancestor's corpse.

Killing intent flashed in Luo Faqing's eyes, and he was about to pursue.

However, Li Yan's expression changed abruptly, and he pulled him back, "Don't, there's explosives!"

Boom!

As soon as the words fell, a roar sounded.

The earth shook and the mountains swayed, rocks collapsed, just happening to cut off the passage.

At the cave entrance, dust and smoke surged out.

Coming out at the same time were Li Yan and the other two.

Of course, Lu Gongyuan was also dragged out by them.

"Damn it, using explosives!"

Sha Lifei was covered in dust and dirt, furious.

Li Yan grabbed Lu Gongyuan, exerted force with his fingers, directly dislocated his jaw, and used his knife to pick back and forth, removing the fake teeth where he hid poison.

How could the poison hidden in the opponent's mouth escape his notice?

After doing all this, Li Yan asked coldly:

"Where is the exit?"

"Hehe..."

Lu Gongyuan was full of blood at this time, sneering and closing his eyes.

"It's useless."

Luo Faqing, who had learned the cause and effect from Sha Lifei, shook his head slightly, "These Maitreya Sect members firmly believe that they can be reborn in the Pure Land after death, so it's very difficult to ask anything out."

"Reborn in the Pure Land?"

Li Yan sneered coldly, lifting his left hand and placing it before Lu Gongyuan's eyes, "Do you recognize what this is?"

"Hook... Hook Decree!"

Lu Gongyuan was clearly startled, a trace of fear flashing in his eyes, but he still said stubbornly, "So what if you're a living yin-official? I'm not a yin-criminal."

Living yin-official...

Luo Faqing was also clearly somewhat surprised.

He didn't expect Li Yan to have this identity.

Li Yan narrowed his eyes and said in a deep voice, "You two, can you avoid this for a moment?"

Sha Lifei turned and left. Luo Faqing also knew that Li Yan was probably going to use some methods and didn't want them to see. Although he was curious, it wasn't good to stay.

After the two left, Li Yan pressed Lu Gongyuan's head.

The Soul-Hooking Rope drilled into his body and was quickly retracted.

Whoosh~

As soon as he let go, Lu Gongyuan's face turned pale, panting heavily, his eyes full of fear.

In this short moment, he seemed to have traveled along the Huangquan River, surrounded by endless cold and death, far away from the mortal world.

Being locked by the Soul-Hooking Rope was definitely not a pleasant feeling.

And for Lu Gongyuan, what was even more terrifying was the feeling of his soul being wantonly toyed with by others.

Li Yan said coldly, "If you speak honestly, I'll give you a quick death and let you go to the Pure Land. If you hide even a little bit, I'll cast you into the Nine Netherworlds."

Lu Gongyuan's face was pale, his eyes flickering, and finally he gritted his teeth and said, "The exit is in the underground secret cave of Xiangji Temple; you can enter from the woodshed in the backyard."

"Who is the person in charge?"

"Huiqing."

"What kind of person is he?"

"He is a monk of the Eastern Ying Yixiang Sect. He fled across the sea twenty years ago, stayed at Xiangji Temple, and is also a servant of the Vice Sect Leader."

"Vice Sect Leader?"

Li Yan frowned.

Lu Gongyuan no longer dared to hide anything, "Vice Sect Leader Zhao Changsheng is the one who laid out the plan. My tracks were exposed back then, so he arranged for me to be here to assist Huiqing and wait for the Luo Sha Bird to take shape."

"The Vice Sect Leader hasn't been here these years, just occasionally sending people to deliver letters and inquire."

"The ancient Zhou warlock's tomb was bombed, the tomb formation was exposed, and we could only act in advance to see if we could successfully raise the Luo Sha Bird..."

After hearing this, Li Yan finally sorted out the context, then asked in a deep voice, "Do you remember Li Hu, the Sick Tiger of Guanzhong?"

"Li Hu?"

Lu Gongyuan was first somewhat confused, then seemed to remember something, and asked suspiciously, "Are you..."

"I am his son."

Killing intent flickered in Li Yan's eyes, "Back then, was it you who harmed him?"

Lu Gongyuan was stunned for a moment, then shook his head, "He was investigating human trafficking back then; actually, it was nothing, I wouldn't have cared."

"But he was also secretly inquiring everywhere about the Vice Sect Leader's news and past, so he was killed because of this. The one who did it was Incense Master Luan Hong'er, it had nothing to do with me."

"Inquiring about the Vice Sect Leader's news?"

Li Yan was suddenly somewhat at a loss.

His father, a person in the underworld, why would he inquire about the Vice Sect Leader of the Maitreya Sect?

(End of chapter)