It was only through the slow narration of the ghost Qiu Fangzheng that Li Hai gradually came to understand.
It turned out that the other party had already been dead for dozens of years.
Back then, when Qiu Fangzheng was still a small peddler in Niujiao Town, he encountered a tragedy in his life.
His father, having fallen ill from overwork, unfortunately passed away.
Though heartbroken, as the eldest son, Qiu Fangzheng naturally had to take on the responsibility of arranging his father's funeral.
Therefore, he inevitably had to deal with the Zhou Family.
Because in Niujiao Town, the Zhou Family handled all auspicious and inauspicious events in the entire town.
One could not marry or hold a funeral without the Zhou Family's permission.
If anyone dared to secretly marry and was discovered by the Zhou Family, they would be arrested, charged with adultery, then stuffed into a pig cage and drowned alive in the river.
The same applied to funerals.
If anyone dared to secretly dig a grave and bury a body and was discovered by the Zhou Family, they would be accused of ruining the village's Feng Shui, and the already buried corpse would be dug up again and abandoned in the wilderness, left to be gnawed by passing wild beasts.
And whether it was for funerals or weddings, there was only one way to get the Zhou Family's permission—pay money.
For funerals, the standard set by the Zhou Family was one hundred Big Yuan; if the amount was met, a plot of land would be allocated for the deceased's burial.
However, Qiu Fangzheng's family was poor and had no money, so he could only borrow from all directions.
In the end, after borrowing from everyone, he only managed to gather eighty Big Yuan.
Since the money was not enough, the Zhou Family naturally would not agree to Qiu Fangzheng's funeral request.
But coincidentally, the Zhou Family member who came to Qiu Fangzheng's house that day took an immediate liking to his younger sister.
So, this Zhou Family member, named Zhou Yugen, hinted to Qiu Fangzheng that if his sister accompanied him for two days of outing, his father's funeral expenses would be completely waived.
Qiu Fangzheng naturally refused such a disgusting request, and Zhou Yugen just smiled and left on his own.
Then, that very night, bandits broke into Qiu Fangzheng's house.
Not only was Qiu Fangzheng himself beaten, but the hard-borrowed money was also robbed clean, and even his younger sister was tied up and taken away.
Before leaving, the bandits even left a message: “If you had known this, why did you not act sooner?”
This sentence immediately made Qiu Fangzheng realize that the mastermind behind his current misfortune must be Zhou Yugen.
He didn't consider much else; that night, he frantically went to the Zhou Family to settle the score.
However, upon arriving at the Zhou Family Residence, Zhou Yugen completely denied the matter, even accusing Qiu Fangzheng of slandering him, and ordered the guards in the residence to beat him out with sticks.
After being beaten again, a distraught Qiu Fangzheng returned home and found a letter in his dilapidated house; the letter stated that if he wanted to find his sister, he should go to Yupan Mountain.
“Yupan Mountain?”
Li Hai asked, “That's the mountain we are on, right?”
Qiu Fangzheng slowly nodded: “Yes… it is…”
“Then what happened?” Li Hai continued, “Were you killed by them on this mountain?”
Qiu Fangzheng nodded again, then continued his story.
After reading that letter back then, in his extreme anxiety, he left home without hesitation and headed straight for Yupan Mountain.
He hurried all night, and as dawn approached, Qiu Fangzheng finally reached the foot of Yupan Mountain.
But it was dark and empty there, with no one around except for the sound of a few birds chirping.
Having no other choice, Qiu Fangzheng decided to enter the mountain.
However, as soon as he entered the mountain, he encountered an ambush.
In the chaos, Qiu Fangzheng had no idea how many people there were, nor could he clearly see who the attackers were.
Afterward, his tendons in his hands and feet were severed, and he was beaten half to death and thrown by the side of a stream deep in the mountains.
Ultimately, Qiu Fangzheng was brutally dismembered and devoured by a pack of wild wolves by the bank of this stream, dying with deep resentment.
“I… don't hate… the wolves.”
Qiu Fangzheng's mandible slowly opened and closed, “I only hate… Zhou Yugen.”
After finishing his narration, he suddenly got up and knelt before Li Hai, pleading:
“My Lord, this humble one knows… you possess great Divine Ability, I beg you… to help me get revenge.”
As if fearing Li Hai's refusal, Qiu Fangzheng immediately offered his bargaining chip as soon as he finished speaking:
“This humble one… has wandered… Yupan Mountain for decades… and discovered… an ancient Sect ruin… deep within this mountain…”
Li Hai interrupted: “Are you trying to say that if I help you get revenge, you will tell me the location of this ruin, right?”
Qiu Fangzheng nodded: “Yes… it is… within the ruin… there is gold and silver… precious elixirs… divine weapons… Cultivation Techniques…”
“Very tempting, but~”
Li Hai asked, “What if I find the ruin on my own?”
“You… won't… find it.”
Qiu Fangzheng shook his head, “That ruin was… due to an earthquake… it sank deep underground… the mountain closed up… there are no paths or caves… leading to the ruin… there is only… a winding small path… one… only this humble one knows.”
“You mean to say~”
Li Hai said, “This ruin was crushed under Yupan Mountain due to an earthquake, and there's only one path leading to it, and only you know this path.”
“It wasn't crushed…” Qiu Fangzheng corrected, “It was the earthquake… that made this mountain split open its mouth… swallowed the Sect… it fell deep underground… turning into a ruin.”
“That's strange, how do you know so clearly?”
Li Hai asked curiously, “Could it be that this School was swallowed by Yupan Mountain and fell deep underground right before your eyes?”
To this question, Qiu Fangzheng replied: “This humble one… once entered the ruin… there were stele inscriptions left by people from this School… it was written on them… that they perished during… the Da Xuan (Great Xuan) era.”
“Da Xuan (Great Xuan) era?”
Li Hai looked confused, “What is that? Is it a reign title?”
“This humble one… also did not know… before.”
Qiu Fangzheng stammered, “Later… over several decades… by asking others… continuously… gradually learned… Da Xuan (Great Xuan)… was the Dynasty… before Great Jing… the Jing Dynasty… has existed for a thousand years… so the Da Xuan (Great Xuan)… this School's ruin… is over a thousand years old.”
“The Great Jing Dynasty has existed for a thousand years?!”
Li Hai was even more bewildered upon hearing this.
What kind of concept was a feudal Dynasty that had lasted for at least a thousand years?
In the five-thousand-year history of his homeland, such a Dynasty had never appeared.
So, for a moment, Li Hai didn't know which Dynasty he could compare it to, he could only exclaim, “Awesome.”
“Alright.”
Li Hai slowly came back to his senses and said, “I'll help you.”
Qiu Fangzheng prostrated himself and kowtowed again.
“So, how do you want me to help you?”
Li Hai asked again, “Do you only want me to kill Zhou Yugen, or wipe out the entire Zhou Family?”
“Kill Zhou Yugen.” Qiu Fangzheng said grimly, “The other… Zhou Family members… are up to your… discretion, My Lord.”
“Good.” Li Hai nodded, “I understand.”
“And also…” Qiu Fangzheng raised his skull-like face and pleaded, “My Lord… please help me find out… the whereabouts of my younger sister.”
“Sigh~” Li Hai shook his head and sighed, “But, decades have passed, this…”
He didn't continue the next sentence; it was too cruel.
“But I…” Qiu Fangzheng still said, “only want to know… my sister's whereabouts.”
“Alright.” Li Hai nodded, “I will help you investigate.”
“Thank you, My Lord!”
Qiu Fangzheng kowtowed heavily, with repeated thuds, “Thank you… Thank you, My Lord!”