“!!!!”
The group was already wary of the dozens of corpses, and seeing this situation, they were all alarmed.
Without much thought, the few people close to the corpses were all first-rate experts who had been famous in the pugilistic world for a long time, and they reacted almost instinctively!
Lao Qifeng secretly circulated his true qi, a “Dragon Battling in the Wild” move poised to strike.
The other experts also raised their weapons and circulated their true qi, intending to destroy the Gu along with the corpses before they could crawl out.
Just as the group was about to strike, a figure suddenly appeared before them and waved his hand.
“Please wait,” Li Miao said.
The group was momentarily blocked, their strike delayed by an instant, but seeing that the corpses made no further movement after raising their heads, they also ceased their preparations.
“Head of the Liu Sect, please come down from the platform first,” he said to the Head of Kongtong Sect.
The Head of Kongtong Sect withdrew his foot from the platform as instructed.
As he came down, the heads of the corpses slowly drooped.
“Li Daxia, what is this?” Lao Qifeng asked.
Li Miao ignored him at first, going forward to pinch a corpse’s face, lifting it up, and examining it closely from left to right.
Then, under everyone’s astonished gaze, he extended two fingers into the hole in the corpse’s face and pulled out a “hissing” insect.
Everyone felt their hair stand on end, and a few with less experience in the pugilistic world felt their stomachs churn, almost throwing up.
“Oh, these things are called ‘Yong Nu,’” Li Miao said indifferently after observing for a moment.
He held the insect in his palm, rubbed it a few times, and it turned into a pile of powder, which he casually sprinkled on the ground.
“Yong… Yong Nu?” Lao Qifeng asked.
“Oh, actually, when a great figure is buried, the accompanying soldiers and concubines are of the same nature. They are both guardians of the mausoleum and living sacrifices for these great figures,” Li Miao replied.
“Twelve or thirteen-year-old young girls are chosen, their facial features and skin are peeled off, and while they are still alive, various Witchcraft are ‘nurtured’ within their bodies, their lives sustained daily with medicinal soup.”
“They are left to experience the pain of these Witchcraft building nests, preying, and gnawing on flesh and blood within their bodies, all while their five senses are gone. After three years, those who die are considered not ‘devout’ enough to the Miao King, and those who survive are qualified ‘Yong Nu.’”
Li Miao had been collecting Witchcraft for many years for Xiao Si. He had inadvertently read about the origin of the ‘Yong Nu.’ Because it was too cruel and bizarre, it left a deep impression on him.
At this moment, he did not describe any details, only spoke briefly, but the people present already felt somewhat unbearable.
“So… so cruel…” Yin Minjun murmured.
Li Miao turned to look at her: “This isn’t even the main point yet.”
“Once the ‘Yong Nu’ are refined, the sacrificial burial begins.”
“These ‘Yong Nu’ with lost senses are placed kneeling in front of the Miao King’s coffin, and the tomb is sealed.”
“After they are chosen, they will be told that this is a ritual for the Miao King’s revival. As long as they are devout enough, the Miao King will awaken amidst their prayers, restore their five senses, and bestow blessings upon them and their families.”
“So, in this empty tomb, these ‘Yong Nu,’ while enduring the pain of a thousand cuts and ten thousand slices within their bodies, silently pray in their hearts.”
“With their five senses gone, they don’t know the time, nor do they know if their companions around them are still alive, nor do they know how many holes have been broken open in their bodies by the Witchcraft. All that remains is false hope and endless suffering.”
“Until death.”
Li Miao’s calm voice echoed in the empty hall, and for a moment, no one responded.
Everyone had seen life and death, but killing was merely a nod of the head; they had truly never witnessed such heinous acts, and for a moment, they were choked with emotion, unable to speak.
After a long while, Lao Qifeng was the first to calm down and said to Li Miao: “Li Daxia, what’s with these corpses raising their heads? I just checked, and corpse oil has already congealed on them; they should all be dead.”
“They are dead, but the Witchcraft inside them were selected through a secret method,” Li Miao said.
“There are many varieties, forming a pattern within these corpses where they can devour each other and circulate on their own, allowing them to survive for a hundred years in a state of suspended animation.”
“There should be a mechanism set up on the platform where the coffin is placed. As long as someone steps on it, a certain drug will be released, causing the Witchcraft within the corpses to awaken and move the corpses.”
“If Head of the Liu Sect had stepped on it completely just now, all these Witchcraft would have awakened together, broken out of the corpses, and attacked all living things. Having not eaten for a hundred years, these Witchcraft must be very hungry.”
“And if you all had attacked these corpses just now, if you couldn’t crush all the corpses in an instant, the scent emitted by the Witchcraft and corpses would also awaken all the Witchcraft in the other corpses.”
Hearing Li Miao’s words, the group also understood that they had just walked through the gates of hell, and they felt a chill down their spines.
Witchcraft was indeed strange and difficult to guard against; just one Witchcraft had taken the life of a second-rate expert earlier. If all the Witchcraft in these dozens of corpses had escaped, it was unknown how many of the people present would survive.
However, there was no retreat now. The hall was empty. If they didn’t investigate the coffin, how would they find clues to an exit?
Li Miao, however, smiled: “Miao Jiang is isolated from the Central Plains; the pugilistic world does not understand Witchcraft, and Witchcraft does not understand how to guard against martial arts.”
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“Just don’t step on the platform, isn’t that right?”
With that, Li Miao shot up ten feet high like a spring onion from dry land, then like a falling leaf, he swayed in the air and landed on the coffin suspended by iron chains.
“Elder Yin, lend me your sword,” Li Miao said.
Yin Minjun heard him, unfastened her sword, and threw it to Li Miao.
Li Miao caught the sword and drew it from its scabbard.
Feigning a full-strength strike, he cut through one of the iron chains binding the coffin with a single sword stroke.
“Keep the iron chain well, don’t let it fall onto the platform,” Li Miao said, flicking the chain aside with his sword tip.
Lao Qifeng stepped forward to catch the iron chain, glanced at the broken end, and was inwardly startled.
This iron chain was composed of rings as thick as two fingers, and Li Miao could cut through it with one sword stroke.
This swordsmanship, he feared, was close to the peak level. It seemed that everything he had said about ordinary horizontal training was merely hiding his true strength. This single feat of swordsmanship alone was enough to rival him.
He did not know that in this one sword stroke, Li Miao had put more thought into controlling his strength than in striking the sword.
It was actually quite difficult for Li Miao to pretend to be at Lao Qifeng’s level.
Clang!
Clang!
Clang!
In a short while, the iron chains binding the coffin fell one after another, caught by Lao Qifeng and placed aside.
Li Miao also timely put on a facade of uneven breathing, adjusted his breath for a moment, and then raised his hand to lift the coffin lid.
“Hmm?” He let out a soft exclamation.
“How is it?” Lao Qifeng asked eagerly.
“It’s empty,” Li Miao said.