Chapter 381: Attacked from Front and Rear

Hua Changxi learned from the boy with the Nether Eye that a black well, deep as an abyss, indeed existed beneath the mass grave, leading her to suspect that the Ghost Fire Well was most likely located in this area.

When she had previously investigated the mass grave, she detected no traces of spatial fluctuations, so she had not considered the possibility of a grotto-heaven or blessed land.

Now, after leaving the mortuary, Hua Changxi returned to the mass grave, this time conducting a far more thorough investigation.

Finally, while sweeping the center of the mass grave with her divine consciousness, she discovered traces of an array formation.

Someone had set up a concealment array to mask the spatial fluctuations!

Hua Changxi's expression grew grave; she feared someone had already seized the Ghost Fire Well ahead of her.

She did not insist on claiming every grotto-heaven and blessed land for herself.

However, based on her past experiences acquiring the Karma Fire Platform, the Nine Heavens Fire Spring, and the Li Fire Cliff, the masters of these grotto-heavens and blessed lands always received a clear directive: the twelve grotto-heavens and blessed lands existed to serve the Zhu Que Army.

Yet now, the person occupying the Ghost Fire Well had actually attacked the Zhu Que Army!

This completely contradicted the fundamental purpose of the grotto-heavens and blessed lands.

She wondered if the Zhu Que soldiers who had previously disappeared were also connected to the Ghost Fire Well.

Fearing that acting rashly would alert the enemy, Hua Changxi did not delve deeper immediately and withdrew from the mass grave.

"Changxi."

Just as Hua Changxi emerged, she encountered Tong Yao, who was also investigating the mass grave; besides him, several other groups of cultivators from different factions could be seen in the distance.

Tong Yao walked up to Hua Changxi and sighed, "Your flying technique is too formidable; you left me far behind, and I couldn't even find your tracks."

Hua Changxi smiled and modestly deflected the praise, then asked, "Why have you come here?"

Tong Yao countered, "Then why are you here?"

Hua Changxi replied, "...I just wanted to see which faction would dare to attack the Zhu Que Army."

Tong Yao's expression turned serious. "I heard a giant hand condensed from black mist attacked the Zhu Que Army." He glanced around the mass grave. "This place is filled with sinister yin energy; that black mist is most likely ghost qi."

Hua Changxi frowned. "This mass grave appears to have been abandoned for a long time; I cannot understand why so much ghost qi would accumulate here."

As if thinking of something, Tong Yao pressed his lips tight and furrowed his brow.

Seeing his reaction, Hua Changxi voluntarily shared some of her findings: "Apart from a dilapidated mortuary a few li away, there is almost no human presence within dozens of li in any direction; this is highly abnormal."

Only then did Tong Yao speak: "A tragic village extermination incident once occurred here." He paused. "It wasn't just one village; seven or eight consecutive villages vanished overnight, every single villager disappearing."

"The court dispatched the Ministry of Justice, the Court of Judicature and Revision, and the Embroidered Uniform Guard to investigate jointly, but the final conclusion was that ferocious beasts were causing the chaos."

"But what kind of ferocious beast could silently sweep away so many villagers?"

"The reason given by the court was utterly unconvincing. The first person to openly express disbelief was Song Weimin, the County Magistrate at the time; it was his continuous memorials that ultimately prompted the relocation of the surrounding villages."

"After that, this mass grave was abandoned."

Upon hearing this, light flickered in Hua Changxi's eyes.

People from several villages vanished mysteriously, yet the court claimed it was ferocious beasts; either they lacked the capability to investigate and found nothing, or they were deliberately covering something up.

Looking at the mass grave, Hua Changxi's expression suddenly changed as she recalled something.

The first time she met the Prince of Shou, she had smelled a nauseating odor on him; now, thinking back, it was strikingly similar to the scent here in the mass grave.

Had the imperial clan occupied the Ghost Fire Well?

A cold light flashed in Hua Changxi's eyes as she looked at Tong Yao. "When did the villagers disappear?"

Tong Yao replied, "It happened ten or twenty years ago."

Hua Changxi narrowed her eyes slightly.

The disappearance of the villagers, the disappearance of the Zhu Que Army, the foul stench, the Ghost Fire Well, the ghostly hand...

Connecting these events led to a reasonable deduction: someone was practicing some form of evil sorcery at the Ghost Fire Well, and the imperial clan was the prime suspect.

Seeing that the several groups investigating the mass grave in the distance had begun to leave one after another, Tong Yao said to Hua Changxi, "Let's go too."

He paused, then lowered his voice.

"I heard the reason the Hall Master of Lingguang Hall intervened so forcefully earlier was because Zhu Que soldiers had also gone missing."

"This place reeks of evil; the Demon-Suppressing Army also came to investigate but was forced back by the dense ghost qi."

Hua Changxi looked at him. "How do you know Zhu Que soldiers went missing?"

Tong Yao chuckled. "Not a few members of the Zhu Que Army come from prominent noble families."

Hua Changxi fell silent and left the mass grave alongside Tong Yao.

Tong Yao asked, "What are you going to do next?"

Hua Changxi replied, "I want to go see the second location where the Zhu Que Army was attacked."

Tong Yao looked at Hua Changxi meaningfully. "You seem very concerned about the affairs of the Zhu Que Army."

Without turning her head, Hua Changxi left behind a single word—"Yes"—and headed straight for the area where the tiger demon had attacked the Zhu Que Army.

Watching Hua Changxi's retreating figure, Tong Yao moved his lips, wanting to ask something, but after a moment of silence, he swallowed his words.

Soon, Hua Changxi and Tong Yao arrived one after the other at the place where the tiger demon had appeared.

Observing the terrain, Hua Changxi remarked, "The Zhu Que Army first encountered an attack by the ghostly hand, then faced the tiger demon; attacked from front and back, someone intends to put the Zhu Que Army to death!"

Saying this, she looked at Tong Yao.

"I do not believe in coincidences; with both the ghostly hand and the tiger demon attacking the Zhu Que Army simultaneously, I believe the ghostly hand and the demonic race have joined forces."

Tong Yao's expression was equally serious; he shared the same view, after all, that tiger demon was a Lingtai Realm beast, a major figure even within the demonic race.

Hua Changxi's mood was extremely grave at this moment; if the Ghost Fire Well truly had been occupied by the imperial clan, she would have to confront them directly thereafter.

And that was not all; the demonic race had also gotten involved.

Although the Zhu Que Army currently boasted a considerable number of personnel, their overall combat strength was still lacking.

Cultivators at the Huayin Realm accounted for less than ten percent of the total Zhu Que Army; those at the Jiedan Realm made up only about twenty percent; the vast majority remaining were mostly still at the Qihai Realm; while Qi Refining cultivators comprised nearly another ten percent.

The imperial clan capturing Zhu Que soldiers was likely for some form of evil sorcery, but what about the demonic race? Was it merely to eat the Zhu Que soldiers?

Hua Changxi looked at Tong Yao. "Why do you think the demonic race got involved?"

Tong Yao: "The demon race is likely targeting Nanxiangcheng." Seeing Hua Changxi's confusion, he added, "You didn't assume Nanxiangcheng would necessarily be taken over by the human race, did you?"

Hua Changxi: "Isn't it? Isn't Nanxiangcheng, just like Xuanyuancheng, a settlement for the human race?"

Tong Yao: "In ancient times, Nanxiangcheng was indeed a human settlement, but it is also the cultivation ground of the Zhu Que Emperor in the Central Continent."

"For an existence like the Zhu Que Emperor, both humans and demons are beings of the Four Spirit Realm; therefore, the demon race can also take control of Nanxiangcheng."

Upon hearing this, Hua Changxi felt utterly unsettled.

She certainly would not abandon Lingguang Hall, so someday in the future, she would have to face the entire demon race, wouldn't she?

Tong Yao looked at Hua Changxi: "Fortunately, Lingguang Hall manifested several years ago and recruited so many Zhu Que soldiers so quickly. I suppose the demon race grew anxious and sent a Spirit Platform realm demon to probe."

Hua Changxi nodded haphazardly in agreement, then said, "Tong Yao, I have matters to attend to, so I won't chat further."

If the demon race was lurking in the shadows, eyeing Nanxiangcheng, and those occupying the Ghost Fire Well had allied with them, she needed to eliminate them immediately; otherwise, she would be attacked from both front and back.

No, she was already under attack from both front and back.