After the matter of the Five Mountains Sword Sect was settled, Li Miao had actually been secretly pondering a question.
Fifteen years ago, when he was still only a first-rate expert, he took on the task given by Zhu Zai to kill a group of Ming Cult members who had come to Shuntian Prefecture, and it was because of this that he was promoted to commander and reached the peak of martial arts.
But, thinking about it now—did the Ming Cult really only send one group of people? A group that he, at twenty years old, could kill almost entirely?
The butterfly that Little Four had refined according to the Miao King's notes could only track specific Gu worms, specifically those contained within a "furnace cauldron" body. Yet, that butterfly flew to the Imperial Mausoleum.
And upon seeing Wang Zhi control the lives and deaths of the Heavenly Humans with Gu worms, Li Miao finally became certain—the Ming Cult that came to Shuntian Prefecture back then was not just one group.
The events of fifteen years ago have dragged on until now; Zelin was probably just an insignificant interlude.
The truth of that year, hidden behind a curtain, is only now slowly revealing a corner.
And Li Miao has finally arrived before the truth.
At least, a part of the truth.
Li Miao stepped inside.
After just a few steps, he frowned.
Because when his boots stepped on the ground, it felt somewhat sticky. Lifting his foot, he pulled out crimson threads.
These boots were not cheap.
Eunuch Wang was still struggling on his own, forcing himself to speak.
“Your Excellency, retreat now, the imperial court—argh!”
He suddenly felt a chill down his back, and his clothes were directly torn off by Li Miao.
Eunuch Wang was startled, turning to look at Li Miao, and then through the holes in the bronze mask, he saw Li Miao's mischievous gaze.
“To be honest, boots that can withstand my True Qi are hard to find, and over the years I've only accumulated a few pairs.
Stepping in this brine really makes my heart ache.”
“There's a saying in my hometown: 'Willingly be an ox for the young.'
Eunuch Wang is a Fourth-Rank Chief Eunuch, so I presume he wouldn't lack the public spirit to carry a commoner like me, would he?”
Eunuch Wang's face suddenly turned pale.
“Your Excellency—”
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Before he could finish speaking, he was abruptly slammed to the ground by Li Miao, his entire face pressed into the brine on the ground, unable to speak, only making muffled sounds.
Li Miao took a small hop and stepped onto his back.
Whoosh!
Li Miao struck a palm behind him, and Eunuch Wang shot out like a sharp arrow.
This cave originally sloped downwards. The ground was covered in foul-smelling, sticky liquid, and Eunuch Wang, who usually lived a pampered life and was a eunuch, had skin as delicate as a woman's.
He showed no delay whatsoever, carrying Li Miao swiftly towards the depths of the cave.
Li Miao stood on Eunuch Wang's back, hands behind his back, as if on a spring outing, listening to the continuous muffled sounds from beneath his feet, leisurely looking ahead.
After a while, he saw a large stone door at the end.
Bang!
Eunuch Wang crashed headfirst into the door, his eyes rolling back, instantly his head was broken and bleeding, and he fainted.
Li Miao, however, had jumped off beforehand, slowly walked to the door, punched it, and infused True Qi to carefully sense the mechanisms inside.
This place was indeed different from the mechanisms in the Miao King's Tomb and the An Family, being extremely intricate and complex. If Li Miao were to forcefully break it, it would likely lock instantly. This stone door was several feet thick, and it would take Li Miao some effort to break through it.
But, isn't there still Eunuch Wang?
Li Miao kicked the unconscious Eunuch Wang, sending True Qi into his acupoints.
“Ah!—Eunuch Wang suddenly sat up, his eyes wide, in too much pain to speak.
“Open the door, Eunuch Wang.”
Li Miao said with a smile.
Ji Tianrui still did not speak.
And Yin Ruihua's hand slowly lowered.
“Are you waiting for someone?”
He said.
“Yes.”
Ji Tianrui smiled.
“I've done many things to attract a master who can help me block all the imperial Heavenly Humans. After all, if ten more Heavenly Humans came, I'd be a bit strained here.”
“Listening to the commotion over there, he should have arrived already and is currently searching for the truth he wants to know.”
Before her words faded, several loud bangs suddenly came from the dense forest behind her.
Boom! Boom! Boom!
“Thief!”
“An ambush!”
“Stay!”
The sounds merged into one, interspersed with cries of pain and angry roars, growing louder for a moment.
Ji Tianrui smiled and continued.
“Although I invited him to help, I didn't want to truly make him block all the imperial Heavenly Humans. I deliberately left a few incompetent subordinates outside, who should be able to stall them for a moment.”
“Elder Yang.”
Ji Tianrui's figure suddenly dissipated, leaving only a sentence floating in the air.
“Thank you for holding back old Elder Yin.”
“I’ll go look at what’s inside.”
Yang Lizhang suddenly burst into wild laughter.
“Hahahahaha—Good!”
“You two brats named Ji, though not as straightforward as my Yang Family, your sinister schemes are truly effective when used against the enemy!”
“Go on! I'll hold back this old fellow!”
“Dream on!”
The middle-aged man supporting Yin Ruihua roared, his figure flickering, and when he reappeared, he was already in an open space, his palms blocking Ji Tianrui's fist.
And Yang Lizhang had also slowly walked in front of Yin Ruihua.
The middle-aged man stared intently into Ji Tianrui's eyes, gritting his teeth and saying, “Thief, with me here, you won't get in!”
Ji Tianrui smiled.
“You're speaking too soon.”
“In terms of martial arts, I indeed can't defeat you quickly. But you might not know—”
Hiss!
As she spoke, a green snake suddenly darted out from Ji Tianrui's sleeve, fiercely striking towards the middle-aged man's face.
The middle-aged man was startled and quickly retreated.
At this moment, the latter half of Ji Tianrui's sentence slowly came out.
“I, am a Miao Border Demoness.”
Boom!
Ji Tianrui stomped on the ground, and in an instant, the ground within several feet suddenly collapsed, revealing a large deep pit.
The middle-aged man's face was grim. He flashed and jumped into the deep pit, chasing after Ji Tianrui.
Eunuch Wang, barely alive, opened the mechanism.
Click, click, click, click?
Springs twisted, gears meshed.
The stone door opened with a rumble.
Li Miao clawed the back of Eunuch Wang's neck and stepped inside.
The first thing he saw was a corpse hanging on the wall.
Xue Jinxi's corpse.
Her abdomen was cut open, her internal organs had been removed, and her eyes were wide open, staring blankly at Li Miao.
Li Miao quickly scanned the corpse, then coldly glanced at Eunuch Wang, and continued walking forward.
“Kuhong Sect, Teng Zhihao.”
“Nine Nether Valley, Bai Miaomiao.”
“Green Willow Manor, Feng Wenju.”
“Emerald Wave Villa, Fu Binyu.”
As he walked, dozens of corpses hung on both sides of the wall. All of them had died with their eyes open, their deaths tragic.
Li Miao could only recognize a few, but they were all renowned experts in the martial arts world. They ranged from more than ten years to several decades ago, and among them were some with definite causes of death, yet their bodies appeared here.
Finally, Li Miao stopped in front of a corpse dressed in a Taoist robe, missing an arm, and with no lower jaw.
“Wudang, Daoist Master Shi Lu.”
“And—”
Li Miao turned and looked at a bald corpse behind him.
“Shaolin, Master Jinghai.”