Chapter 113: Portraits of the Living, Steles of the Dead

Before dawn, two squads of Divine Guard soldiers had already arrived at the Zhao family mansion to take over the subsequent search and inventory.

The one leading them turned out to be an old acquaintance.

"Brother Zou?"

Zou Kui, shouldering his wolf-tooth club, was still in shock over the Zhao family's annihilation. The moment he looked up and spotted Li Yuan, his heart skipped a beat.

"Li—Senior Brother Li!"

Zou Kui felt a chill in his gut. The man had only joined the sect a few days ago, and already he was tagging along to wipe out an entire household?

The Inner Gate's Hammer Bingtang really was full of ruthless, vicious fiends…

"Haven't seen you in a few days, Brother Zou, and you've already joined the Divine Guard?"

Li Yuan stepped forward.

The other Divine Guard soldiers exchanged glances and dispersed to their tasks. Zou Kui had no desire to stay, but could only force a stiff smile in reply.

Only then did Li Yuan learn that on the day of the entrance ceremony, the Divine Guard had also recruited quite a number of wandering martial artists.

"The Divine Guard recruited over four hundred people?"

Li Yuan's heart tightened slightly.

For over a thousand years, the Divine Guard had numbered only three thousand. For every one who entered, another had to leave, keeping it perpetually vigorous and battle-ready.

To suddenly break that rule now, there had to be some deeper reason…

"Thanks to Commander Qiu's favor, I, Zou, have been made a squad leader. I suppose that makes me a disciple of the Divine Weapon Valley too."

On the second half of the sentence, Zou Kui put special emphasis.

"Commander Qiu is…?"

Li Yuan thought of the heroic woman from the night before, the one who had wielded a longbow and shot dead a Meridian Opening expert.

"There's only one Commander Qiu in the valley, so of course it's…"

Zou Kui was tall and burly, but right now he was being extremely cautious, not even daring to speak the name.

"So it really is Qiu Qiu Changying!"

Li Yuan understood at once.

A sect is not a clan; within a single family, it was rare for genius after genius to appear generation after generation. From Qiu Qiu Zhengxiong down to the present, six generations of the Qiu family had produced only one Qiu Qiu Changying.

He had picked up some of this chatting with Sha Sha Pingying last night.

This proud daughter of the Qiu family was born with the Five Forms. Before she even opened her eyes, she was already soaking in medicinal vats, and every day maidservants trained in nurturing internal force massaged her tendons and bones.

From the moment she could understand, she was personally taught by Qiu Qiu Zhengxiong. By sixteen she had assembled the Lesser Dragon Form; by nineteen she had become a true disciple, receiving the transmission of the 'Dust-Leaving Nine Yin Spear' and the Qiu family's secret 'Zhui Hun Yang Jian Fa'.

Her talent was even slightly superior to that of 'Shi Hong', the foremost true disciple of the current generation of Divine Weapon Valley and personal disciple of the Valley Master.

Before Li Yuan's own entry, she was the undisputed number-one genius of Divine Weapon Valley's current generation.

"I haven't congratulated Brother Zou on his promotion to squad leader yet…"

Li Yuan chatted with Zou Kui for only a few lines before the latter was already excusing himself with a laugh and slipping away, having no desire at all to deal with anyone connected to Han Han Chuijun.

"What on earth did Old Han do to make a fierce man like this so wary of him?"

Li Yuan did not underestimate Zou Kui.

Few people used wolf-tooth clubs, but a famed-grade wolf-tooth club cost no less than a fine saber or sword.

A man bold enough to shoulder several thousand taels of silver and leave the city alone to chase down a wanted criminal — how could such a one be simple?

"That bow of Qiu Qiu Changying's…"

Li Yuan felt a bit of an itch. Gao Liu County was too remote, and since martial artists rarely used bows and arrows, he had never yet drawn a bow.

"Hammer up close, bow at range, throwing knives for in-between… mm, the Divine Guard must have plenty of good stuff too!"

Li Yuan felt he had truly broadened his horizons, and his mind was already scheming, planning to seek out Zou Kui more often from now on.

"Mm, not a bad haul."

He glanced back at the brightly lit yet still grim Zhao family mansion:

"One of the Six Great Families, collapsed just like that. Old Han really does move ruthlessly."

A great clan of an entire prefecture, wiped out overnight — Li Yuan's heart was shaken deeply. Just yesterday he had been remarking on the Zhao family's fine traditions…

"Lucky too that Zhao Zhao Yunsheng came by in the daytime, otherwise I wouldn't have gotten my hands on these three property deeds."

When Divine Weapon Valley suppressed a rebellion, there were rules to follow.

Of the spoils taken in Fucheng, seven-tenths went to the valley, two-tenths were handed over to the prefecture office, and only the final one-tenth was divided among all the disciples present tonight.

Of that, eighty thousand li was the lion's share; the rest, split among several dozen people, he figured came to at most a hundred or eighty taels?

After all, things like land deeds and property deeds were not part of the split.

"Step out for one trip and earn a hundred or eighty taels — not a bad deal."

Li Yuan yawned, planning to head back to his courtyard to catch up on some healthy sleep.

At this moment, the night was fading, the east growing pale. Li Yuan planned to grab a bite of breakfast on the way back, then take a short nap.

"Hm?"

He had just turned out of one street when Li Yuan's heart suddenly stirred. Lowering his head, a flash of white light surfaced unmistakably in his eyes.

"This is…?"

After the Soldier-Taming Register advanced to the fourth grade, he could sense the glow on any blade within ten meters with just a little attention.

Beneath the ground within ten meters lay a first-grade long saber, its taming effect being 'Lesser Green Snake Saber, Mastery'.

"The Zhao family's Lesser Green Snake Saber?"

Li Yuan narrowed his eyes slightly: "The Zhao family's secret passage?"

Turning the thought over in his mind, Li Yuan no longer hurried to get breakfast. Circling along several streets before and after, he truly did sense the glow of weapons again.

"Another Lesser Green Snake Saber! It's the Zhao family's tunnel, no doubt!"

A single piece of evidence is not enough to prove a case, but with one thing after another, Li Yuan became certain in his heart.

"Four streets, front and back; this secret passage truly connects everywhere... could there be any fish that slipped through the net?"

Li Yuan did not intend to turn back.

Sha Sha Pingying and the others had chased for nearly half the night; those who should be killed or captured were probably dealt with by now.

However, he still wandered along several streets; if a few famous artifacts were left behind in the tunnels, he would make a huge profit.

Li Yuan's action was astonishing; this detour lasted until the sky was fully bright.

"There really is something?"

Outside a certain courtyard wall, Li Yuan's gaze sharpened slightly; he spotted a streak of light the color of blood, something related to the Bai Shen Fa.

And...

【Living Person Statue (Second Tier)】

【Stone statues cast in batches from the blood of nine spiritual beasts, mixed with Five Yin Secret Mud and Crimson Blood Refined Stone... tempered with the heart-blood of loved ones, then nurtured by incense smoke, gradually gaining spiritual nature; long-term worship carries the danger of distorting the mind...】

【Control Condition: Bai Shen Fa, Second Layer; Zhao Family Blood】

【Control Effect: Bai Shen Fa, Third Layer; Bewitch the Heart; Divine Foot Sutra (Incomplete); Bai Shen Fa (Incomplete)】

It is the Xieshen Sect again!

Li Yuan frowned; the Zhao family had colluded with the Xieshen Sect, and the Bingguwutang disciples who participated in the extermination of the Zhao family last night had all heard this.

Yet this Living Person Statue still made him feel somewhat uncomfortable.

Casting statues from living people, tempering them with the heart-blood of loved ones... this looked like another path of evil.

"These things are made in batches..."

Li Yuan shook his head inwardly.

He looked around; dawn had just broken, no pedestrians were on the streets, so he flipped over and entered this courtyard.

The courtyard gate was covered in spiderwebs, and the yard was full of withered leaves; clearly, no one had lived here for a long time.

Glancing around, he took out an iron shovel, aimed at a spot, and began digging.

Whoosh! Whoosh!

How great was Li Yuan's strength now; swinging both arms, the earth flew, and he quickly dug down five or six meters underground.

Along the way, there were many large stones; he cut them all with the Autumn Water Sword and threw them out.

This was different from digging underground at the weapon forge before; not only was the enhancement stronger, but he could also clearly perceive the direction.

There was no need to dig out the entire courtyard.

Hiss!

Soon, Li Yuan felt the shovel hit empty space; he had already dug into the tunnel.

"Over eight meters deep; if it were another three or five meters deeper, I wouldn't have detected it..."

Retracting the shovel, Li Yuan bent down and crawled inside.

The tunnel was very narrow; he had to lower his head slightly to avoid hitting it, and it was not spacious, barely enough for one person to pass.

Of course, this did not include Ba Ba Wanli.

"Ah!"

In the dim tunnel, footsteps occasionally passed quickly, and from time to time, faint screams could be heard.

In a dirt wall cavity that could barely hold a person, Zhao Zhao Yunsheng's face was pale, clutching the bundle given to him by Steward Liu,

trembling at times, and gnashing his teeth at others.

"It's over, everything is over..."

Zhao Zhao Yunsheng was covered in cold sweat, his heart filled with despair and furious anger.

He had been hurriedly pushed into this secret passage and had not seen what exactly happened last night, but seeing Ba Ba Wanli, he knew everything was finished.

The five halls of Bingguwutang each had their duties; among them, when the Hammer Hall moved, it often meant exterminating a family and killing people.

The Zhao family was finished, and he was finished too...

"There shouldn't be anyone left, right?"

Hearing the footsteps move away and the surroundings fall silent, Zhao Zhao Yunsheng finally breathed a sigh of relief.

Last night, he hadn't run for long before he fell behind; it wasn't that he couldn't keep up, but that he dared not keep up.

How could he not know how powerful the Bingguwutang's influence was; outside the tunnel was absolutely not safer than this all-connecting secret passage.

As long as he survived the first wave of pursuit by Bingguwutang, he had hope to escape...

"This bundle..."

Zhao Zhao Yunsheng dug deeper into the dirt pit, then piled the previously excavated earth over the entrance, leaving only a very small crack.

Only then did he take out a fire starter, and under this faint light, he unfolded the bundle Steward Liu had given him.

Inside this dead-heavy bundle, besides scattered gold, silver, and banknotes,

there was only a stone tablet the size of two palms, a stone statue the size of a fist, a scroll of parchment, and a thin secret manual.

"That old thing didn't even prepare a bite of food for me?!"

Zhao Zhao Yunsheng's face changed, with fury and despair filling his heart.

After a long while, he forced himself to gather his spirit and began to count the items inside the bundle.

"The Fundamental Diagram of the Little Green Snake Sword Art, this booklet..."

Zhao Zhao Yunsheng brought the fire starter closer to clearly see the large red characters on the booklet:

"Bai Shen Zheng Fa..."

Turning a page, Zhao Zhao Yunsheng was so frightened he almost set the booklet on fire; on the second page of this book, a portrait of a person was starkly drawn.

It was no one else, but his own grandfather...

"This, what is this thing?"

Zhao Zhao Yunsheng flipped through it, despair nearly sparking into anger; flipping forward more than ten pages of this booklet, every single one showed his grandfather's gloomy old face.

Only the angles and actions differed.

"What the hell is the use of giving me this!"

The fire starter went out, Zhao Zhao Yunsheng's heart tightened, and he heard the 'rustle' of digging.

"Someone is digging nearby?"

Zhao Zhao Yunsheng jolted, looked up, and only then remembered he had another way to escape.

Right, he could dig, dig his way out!

A faint light appeared before Zhao Zhao Yunsheng's eyes; guessing some cousin might be hiding here just like him, he carefully scraped away the dirt at the tunnel entrance to look out.

The tunnel was very dark, but as dirt fell away, light appeared; Zhao Zhao Yunsheng widened his eyes and shrank back:

"Li Yuan?!"

"The corpse is already stiff."

Li Yuan scanned the surroundings warily and quickly spotted the corpse on the tunnel not far away.

The corpse had been stripped clean, with only a fist-sized stone statue discarded to the side.

"Could this carving be that Zhao family head?"

By the faint light, Li Yuan recognized it.

It wasn't that his memory was so good or his eyesight so sharp; the stone statue was simply carved with lifelike precision and even colored.

At a glance, didn't it look exactly like that black-robed old man from last night?

"This thing..."

Casually stuffing it into his robes, Li Yuan walked toward the depths of the secret passage, preparing to gather the broken weapons and severed blades he had seen earlier.

Even mosquito meat is meat.

"Li Yuan!"

In the pit, Zhao Zhao Yunsheng's expression was ferocious; he hated the disciples of the Divine Weapon Valley immensely, yet he held himself back.

For a moment, he wanted to spring up and kill this genius of the Divine Weapon Valley, but feared someone might be following.

After a long while, seeing he was alone, his thoughts finally became active.

"If a True Disciple dies, won't Han Han Chuijun and Lord Master Gongyang Yu feel the pain?"

Zhao Zhao Yunsheng murmured, anger and killing intent rising in his heart.

Hiss~

After waiting a long while longer, Zhao Zhao Yunsheng carefully used a knife to scrape away the dirt at the tunnel entrance.

"You want revenge, but instead of finding Eighty Thousand Miles, you come to me?"

The instant he poked his head out and heard the voice, Zhao Zhao Yunsheng screamed 'Not good' in his heart, but how could he react in time?

He had only lifted his head, hadn't even seen anyone, when a heavy hammer smashed squarely into his face.

"Zhao Zhao Yunsheng?"

Lifting the hammer, Li Yuan looked down to identify him, recognizing the man from his clothes, after all, they had met just yesterday during the day.

"This is truly bad luck."

Having just collected three property deeds from the man, he immediately beat him to death; Li Yuan was slightly speechless, though his heart felt no turmoil.

Zhao Zhao Yunsheng must have been mentally unstable; murmuring without thinking, he actually shouted out loud...

But that didn't stop him from reaching out to pull out that bundle.

He circled around, finding many broken weapons and severed blades; the truly good thing, however, was only this one item.

【Incomplete Corpse Stele (Fifth Tier)】

【Made with Yin corpse mud from the pit of ten thousand, beast-human blood, crimson blood essence stone... and nine other Yin materials as auxiliaries,

mixed with incense ash from a thousand-year-old statue, gradually generating spiritual anomalies, gradually generating Yin evil...】

【Control Conditions: Bai Shen Fa, Third Layer; bathe in beast blood】

【Control Effects: Bai Shen Fa, Sixth Layer, bewitch the human heart, Bai Shen Fa (Incomplete), Divine Foot Sutra (Incomplete), Divine Palm Sutra (Incomplete), Divine Organ Sutra (Incomplete), Life-Extending Art (Incomplete), Ti Si Fa (Incomplete)】

"Fifth Tier!"

Putting away the bundle, Li Yuan still felt a bit shocked in his heart; when he had circled around and spotted it earlier, he had been very stunned.

A corpse stele, yet it was a superior-grade famous artifact?

Which dead person had such a grand funeral?

His mind turned, and he had no intention of lingering; he picked up Zhao Zhao Yunsheng's long sword as well, raised his hand, and punched the pit until it collapsed.

Seeing Zhao Zhao Yunsheng's corpse buried within the dirt, he silently recited a few verses of the Deliverance Sutra before turning and leaving.

Returning to the courtyard, Li Yuan took out the iron shovel again, filled the earth back in, and only then turned and left.

This alley was relatively secluded, Li Yuan's movements were fast, no one noticed, and he had already returned to the rented courtyard.

"Squeak squeak~"

The little rat bit its tail and spun in circles.

Casually tearing off two pieces of meat and tossing them over, Li Yuan returned to the inner room, only then taking out Zhao Zhao Yunsheng's precious treasure.

Something that can be placed alongside that fifth-tier dead-person stele shouldn't be an ordinary thing, right?

"A little green snake's root diagram is passable… also has a living-person portrait? Hmm, this is, Bai Shen Zheng Fa?"

Catching sight of the words on the book, Li Yuan's eyes immediately lit up.

"Bai Shen Zheng Fa, no, it's both a living-person portrait and a dead-person stele—how could this thing be a Zheng Fa?"

Muttering to himself, Li Yuan flipped open the book and saw a ghastly old face.

"…"