Chapter 46: The Hengshan Delegation (Part 2) Downfall

  Su Yao's icy face flashed a hint of hesitation, as if unsure where to begin. After a brief pause, she said: "This matter is long-winded. After Su Xiang and I came down from the mountain, we were originally wandering around everywhere. Because we heard that the area around Hengshan also had some immortal aura, we arrived at this place. Who knew that half a month ago, when we stayed overnight in a small village at the foot of the mountain, we encountered a strange thing." She looked at Su Xiang and said: "That night, Su Xiang was the first to see what happened, so let her tell you about it."

  Su Xiang nodded hastily and said: "That day, my master's sister and I arrived at the foot of Mount Heng. Since it was getting late, we decided to rest in a village. We stayed at the home of the village head that night. I had planned to stroll around the village with my master's sister, but she refused to go and wouldn't even let me wander around..."

  "Enough, let's get straight to the point and stop beating around the bush!" Yu Yao frowned and rebuked lightly.

  "Alright... Later, I had to sneak out again while my master's sister was asleep. Who knew that as soon as I stepped out of the room, I saw several clusters of light floating out from the village chief's other rooms? Those lights were sparkling and looked like fireflies, but they were much bigger than any I'd seen before. Out of curiosity, I went to knock on the village chief's door to ask him how he made those lights. But after knocking for a long time, even my master's sister was woken up by the noise, yet there was no response from inside. Feeling something was off, I broke down the door and rushed in. I saw the village chief and his wife lying motionless on the bed, as if they were dead asleep. The loud noise hadn't woken them up at all. As I approached for a closer look, I discovered that... their bodies were still warm, but there was no breath coming from their mouths or noses. They had actually died in bed!"

  "Not right. I and Su Shan looked at the other rooms, and the people inside had no breath either. Looking up at the sky, the light clusters were getting more and more, not only did the village chief's house suffer, but also... those lights seemed to be intangible, passing through windows and walls, just like that, flying higher and higher, until finally, the entire village was filled with a mass of phosphorescent light. I knew at a glance that it was likely that no one in the entire village could survive. Because this matter is strange, I worry that if we two continue to stay, we will not be able to escape disaster either. So I immediately stopped Su Shan from checking the other houses and wanted to take her away from there. But when leaving, another strange change occurred. Those phosphorescent lights were originally stationary in mid-air, but suddenly they floated towards the depths of Mount Heng. Looking at the direction, it was actually...". She hesitated for a moment, looked around, and then continued in a low voice, "towards Zhurong Peak."

  "What?" Xuan Zhen was taken aback, and without realizing it, he followed her gaze to the towering peak behind him. He immediately understood that this Zhu Rong Peak was the location of the Qing Yu Altar, and if Su Yao's words were overheard by someone with malicious intentions, they would likely be exaggerated out of proportion. That's why she had been extremely cautious when saying those few sentences.

  "I and Su Xuan both felt that the light clusters were related to the death of the villagers, and after thinking about it, we couldn't just sit back and do nothing. So we followed from a distance, chasing after them. Along the way, when we passed through several villages, we also went down to investigate, and what we saw and heard was exactly the same as in that previous village." Su Xuan said, scanning her surroundings with a hint of anger in her eyes. "Now it seems that this place won't be able to escape either... I've examined the villagers' corpses, and the closer they are to Zhu Rong Peak, the more decayed their bodies become. Master brother, I'm afraid..." She stopped speaking at this point, only looking at Xuan Zhen with a meaningful gaze.

  Xuan Zhen naturally understood the deep meaning of her words. The closer they got to Zhu Rong Peak, the more dead villages they found. It seemed that the person who was plotting to take the lives of these villagers was likely hiding on Zhu Rong Peak. Perhaps it was because there were no survivors in the nearby villages that they had extended their evil claws to more distant villages. This person didn't hide anywhere else, but instead chose to hide on Zhu Rong Peak where Qing Yu Tan was located. It seemed that either they were extremely skilled in dark magic and looked down on others, or they had a huge connection with Qing Yu Tan... Thinking of this, Xuan Zhen's heart skipped a beat, and after a moment of contemplation, he said: "If it's as you say, then things are going to get really tricky."

  Su Xiang listened to their conversation on the side, Zhang Er's monk couldn't make sense of it, looked around in confusion, and suddenly said: "Big Master Brother, you say... what are those light groups? Why did they float out of those villagers' houses and all those people died?"

  Su Yao listened to her question, and the gaze that looked over also had a hint of puzzlement. Xuan Zhen's face gradually showed a layer of unbearable color, and after a while, he said: "Those lights... if I'm not mistaken, they are the villagers'... souls."

  "Soul?!" Xiu Yao and Xiu Ying exclaimed in unison.

  "It's true." Xuan Zhen said in a deep voice, "Just now I also examined the bodies of those villagers, and there were no fatal wounds on them. They didn't die from illness either. The only thing missing was their souls, which is why they died. This village isn't wealthy, and the houses aren't messy either. It seems that the person who did this evil deed wasn't after wealth, but rather the soul itself."

  "How can there be such a ruthless and crazy person!" Su Yao's eyebrows were upside down, her cold face showed a faint red glow of anger, "If I meet this person, I will definitely kill him on the spot!"

  Su Xuan couldn't help but exclaim in surprise, covering her mouth with her hand: "That evil person... what does he want to do with his soul?"

  "Nature is not doing good deeds." Xuan Zhen said with a serious face, "I once heard Qingyang Shifu say that those evil demons and heretics often use living souls to practice evil methods to enhance their powers. Some even use living souls to refine instruments, while others use souls to make medicine, and some even sacrifice animal souls for human souls to increase the efficacy of the medicine... The number required is also extremely large..." As he spoke, a sense of anger and heaviness arose, that evil person had forcibly taken the soul from a living person's body, disregarding human life as nothing. Just this alone was not to be underestimated, even if he and Suoyao, Suoshan were young talents of the Qionghua Sect, it was uncertain whether they could take down this person.

  "So that's what it means! No matter what he does, he's always up to no good!" Su Xiang heard this and was shocked with anger, but she didn't think deeper than that.

  Su Yao coldly snorted, "There's no need for you to say this, we all naturally know. Time is of the essence, let's set off immediately to track down that evil person's trail, and when the time comes, he will... Hmph!" As she spoke, she raised her sleeve and shot out a water arrow, fiercely cutting in two a nearby green bamboo branch, implying that she wanted that person to end up like the bamboo branch.

  Xuan Zhen suddenly had a change of heart and raised his hand to stop them, saying: "Wait! Before we capture that evil person, I think we should make a trip to the Qing Yu Altar first."

  "Why?" asked Su Xing curiously.

  Su Yao nodded in agreement and replied, "Elder brother is right. Since this matter occurred at Mount Heng, specifically under Zhu Rong Peak near Qing Yu Altar, it's only reasonable that we should explain the situation to the people of Qing Yu Altar. If not, we would be rude to them. But if Qing Yun Altar thinks our actions are suspicious and refuses to communicate with us, it will harm the harmony between Qiong Hua Sect and Qing Yu Altar." She then glanced at Xuan Zhen.

  Xuan Zhen nodded slowly, and another reason he shared with Su Yao without saying a word was that if the thief had any connection with Qing Yu Tan, they should investigate before making further plans.

  He looked up at the beautiful mountain peak that was about to enter the clouds and said decisively, "That's right. Moreover, there are only three of us, if we can get the help of Qing Yu Tan, it will be a great help. With evil people doing evil under the eyes of the immortal sect, I think Qing Yu Tan will not ignore its righteous identity. The situation is urgent, let's go!"

  Having made up their minds, the three of them mounted their swords and flew towards the summit of Zhu Rong Peak.

  Like the Qionghua Sect, the Qingyu Altar Sect is also located in a blessed place. The entrance is at the top of Zhurong Peak, and one must cross the Huisian Bridge to reach it. Ordinary people would have to work hard to climb to the top of the peak, but even if they had the opportunity, they might not be able to find the Huisian Bridge. Even if they did, they might not understand how to cross it, so the Qingyu Altar is indeed isolated from the world.

  Xuan Zhen, Su Yao and Su Xiang were no ordinary people. With their swords in hand, they reached the peak in just a moment. Before them lay a vast sea of clouds, reflecting the sky above like a canopy, making it even more beautiful and majestic. The lower half of Zhu Rong Peak was hidden under a blanket of white mist, looking as if it were an island floating on the clouds, basking in the radiant sunlight from afar, like a beauty wearing a cloak of dawn light, captivating all who beheld her. Xuan Zhen and his companions had never seen such breathtaking scenery before, their hearts stirred with emotion, and for a moment, they stood there, entranced.

  "The winding bridge is connected, and the deep clouds are unknown... Is that the Huisian Bridge?" Xuan Zhen suddenly pointed to the front cloud sea, smiling.

  What he pointed to was a fairy bridge that appeared and disappeared in the rolling clouds, winding and twisting, leading to the depths of the vast cloud smoke. It's called a bridge, but it looks more like a small path suspended between the mountain peaks and the sea of clouds, only this path has strands of cloud floating up and down, and itself emits a hazy light, which is not inferior to the Taiyi Fairy Path in Kunlun Mountain.

  As they approached the Hui Xian Bridge, a surge of spiritual energy came forward. Only then did Xuán Zhèn see that the bridge's body was emitting light, which turned out to be layer upon layer of large and small seals. These talismans were densely packed together, their brilliance flickering on and off, rising and falling in succession. At a glance, it was clear that they were extremely formidable. When they saw the three people approaching on their swords, the seals lit up one by one, as if responding to some stimulus.

  Xuan Zhen discerned some hidden mechanisms, so he simply waved his hand and put away the Spring Water, lightly floating down onto the narrow bridge. As expected, those seals flashed a few times before gradually fading away. He smiled faintly at the two female disciples: "Alright, Qing Yu Altar is after all a renowned sect. Since we've arrived at their doorstep, let's get off and walk from here."

  Su Yao and Su Xiang, though not very willing, also put away their swords and carefully followed him, stepping through the curse arrays and treading on floating clouds and mist towards the sea of clouds.