Chapter 327

"This, this is...!"

Liu Wenbin turned his head slowly.

Those bloody footprints extended from inside the mountain gate.

Someone, with soles covered in blood, had stepped out from inside the mountain gate, passed by his side, and walked down the mountain along the path.

The closest footprint was less than a foot away from where he had been sleeping—he suddenly shivered.

"Something happened... something happened!"

For these bloody footprints to extend such a long distance, the shoes must have been soaked in a pool of blood. But inside the mountain gate was his own sect; where could so much blood have come from!

What on earth happened inside the mountain gate, and why hadn't he heard a single sound!

Just as he was panicking, Cao Hanyan dealt him another blow.

"The depth of these bloody footprints seems to be different."

Cao Hanyan turned his head and said to Li Miao.

"Look, from inside the mountain gate to the mountain path, they go from deep to shallow, which is normal. But—" Cao Hanyan pointed to Liu Wenbin: "The footprint right next to him is exceptionally deep."

"The owner of these bloody footprints stood here for a while after coming out of the mountain gate. Judging by the orientation of the footprint, it was facing exactly toward him."

Cao Hanyan said in a low voice.

"This person killed people in the Kongming Sect, pushed open the mountain gate, walked out, stood beside him for a while, watched him for a while, and only then walked away slowly, without a hint of panic."

"This little brother."

Cao Hanyan turned his head to look at Liu Wenbin.

"You've had a narrow escape."

"I, I..."

Liu Wenbin was already incoherent, not knowing how to answer, his mouth stuttering.

Cao Hanyan sighed, reached out to push him aside, stepped forward, and raised his hand to press against the mountain gate.

It was not bolted.

The mountain gate was pushed open slowly. Just as a crack appeared, Cao Hanyan frowned. When the gate was fully opened, a human body fell out from inside with a thud, collapsing in front of Liu Wenbin.

Liu Wenbin was startled. When he saw the person's face clearly, his teeth began to chatter, and his hands trembled uncontrollably.

"Little brother, do you know who he is?"

Cao Hanyan turned his head and asked Liu Wenbin.

"Elder, Elder Long..."

Liu Wenbin answered tremblingly.

Hearing his answer, Cao Hanyan's brow furrowed tightly. Not just him, Zheng Yi and Gao Anyu were frowning just the same, and even Li Miao let out a cold laugh.

Cao Hanyan looked at the corpse carefully, and as if in disbelief, he raised his head and asked.

"How many people named Long are there in your Kongming Sect?"

Liu Wenbin replied tremblingly.

"One, one... only one... it's, Long Haifeng, Elder Long... it's him..."

He pointed to the corpse on the ground.

Cao Hanyan pressed further.

"Could you be mistaken?"

Liu Wenbin shook his head violently.

"No, I wouldn't, I, I... I even greeted him at noon; he was the one who told me that inside the mountain gate, entry was allowed but exit was not... I, I..."

He suddenly raised his hand to cover his chest.

Cao Hanyan knew he was suffering from extreme agitation and that his true energy had gone astray, showing signs of a Qi deviation. He hurriedly raised a hand and struck the side of his neck, knocking him unconscious.

Supporting Liu Wenbin as he laid him on the ground, he then crouched down and turned the old man's corpse over.

Li Miao walked over, reached out to grip the corpse's wrist, and after a moment, let out a cold laugh.

"Meridians severed, excessive blood loss."

Cao Hanyan asked hesitantly.

"Did we find the wrong person? When we were interrogating those 'Meteors' before, they said Long Haifeng. Could it be that they heard wrong at the time, or that their minds were damaged during the torture and they gave a random name?"

"No, the person is correct."

Li Miao dropped the corpse's arm, stood up, and looked the old man's corpse up and down.

"That Su Mingjun person is indeed giving us clues. Whatever 'names she revealed unintentionally' were certainly meant to be leaked to Xiao Gao through those lowlifes."

"We didn't find the wrong person—although he has been dead for a while, this Elder Long was a genuine Heaven-Man Realm expert in his lifetime, and judging by his martial arts foundation, it is indeed the Penglai inheritance without a doubt."

Li Miao reached out and pinched the side of the corpse's ear twice. With a ripping sound, he peeled off a layer of skin as thin as a cicada's wing.

Zheng Yi walked over, looked at the face revealed on the corpse—which bore a three or four-part resemblance to her and Li Miao—and sighed deeply.

"It really is him."

"Zheng Huaijin is Long Haifeng... the clue is real, the person is real, and the location left by Mother is also real..."

Li Miao threw the human-skin mask onto the ground.

"Unfortunately, we were one step too late."

He raised his head to look inside the silent mountain gate of the Kongming Sect and stepped inside.

"The one who plotted to kill Xue Bangzhu was your Penglai fellow disciple, the one who killed your mother was Yingzhou, and now this Zheng Huaijin is the third dead Penglai person—it's as if, other than you, no living Penglai person can appear before me."

"Little Yizi, go and track these footprints to see if you can catch up."

Zheng Yi nodded, picked up her sword, and turned to leave.

Gao Anyu looked at Li Miao, then turned his head to look at Zheng Yi, who was leaving along the mountain path.

He found it strange why Uncle Li would call Aunt Zheng "Little Yizi." Could it be that Aunt Zheng's sister was Uncle Li's legal wife?

Why did Uncle Li let Aunt Zheng go after someone... Aunt Zheng is a woman and doesn't know martial arts; what if something happens to her?

And what about Xue Bangzhu, and what about Yingzhou and Penglai... what does it mean? Why would it be related to Su Mingjun?

Before he could ask, Li Miao stepped into the mountain gate. He had no choice but to follow closely. After saying a few words to Cao Hanyan and receiving the reply "I'll explain in detail to you later," he stopped speaking.

Unlike what Li Miao had envisioned, there were no corpses strewn everywhere inside the Kongming Sect's mountain gate.

Long Haifeng died at the entrance, and the starting point of the bloody footprints was also at the entrance. Further inside, everything was clean and tidy; there were no other corpses to be seen, nor were there any signs of a struggle.

It was as if nothing had happened at all.

The three of them walked further inside, and after walking a few dozen steps, they could faintly hear human voices ahead.

They were neither wails nor roars, just extremely ordinary human voices, as if people were talking and walking normally.

Cao Hanyan frowned, stepped forward to Li Miao's side, and was about to speak.

Just as he opened his mouth, an extremely rapid sound of footsteps suddenly came from ahead. A person ran over from the corridor in front, panting as he ran and shouted.

"Junior Brother Liu, Junior Brother Liu! I'm sorry, I overslept. I'm here to replace you now, I'm here, I'm... here..."

The voice gradually grew smaller and finally disappeared along with the stopping footsteps.

"You, you all..."

This person looked at the three of them in astonishment, then turned his gaze toward the wide-open mountain gate. Finally, the unconscious Liu Wenbin and the corpse lying on the ground came into his view.

Blood, a corpse, Junior Brother Liu.

And these three strangers in front.

The wide-open mountain gate.

An extremely logical conclusion formed in his mind in an instant.

Vicious thieves have come—killed the gate-guarding Junior Brother Liu—kicked open the mountain gate—ran into me—they want to kill me!!!

"Help!!! Save me!!!"

The shrill and resonant cry for help instantly echoed inside the Kongming Sect's mountain gate.

Li Miao raised an eyebrow, a smile of keen interest appearing on his face, and Gao Anyu also chuckled along.

Only Cao Hanyan slapped his own forehead, shaking his head and sighing.

(End of chapter)