The size of the tainted land was not as big as before with a circumference of a dozen meters. The undead toddler Ah Dan smacked his buttocks onto the ground seven to eight times before returning to Mumu’s side.
Wen Leyang’s expression was somber and he immediately started digging on the places Ah Dan had landed on. The first time Ah Dan had displayed this skill, they discovered seventeen of his clansmen’s bodies buried in Mount Emei. Not that it had done the same thing at the foot of the Nine Peaks Mountain, Wen Leyang had good reason to be concerned.
As his fingers came into contact with the ground, Wen Leyang’s heart sank. The hard mountain rock was loose and soft as if the land had recently been plowed for sowing. It was exactly like the situation that they’d encountered on the nameless mountain slope at Mount Emei.
Fourth Elder Wen summoned the people from the Death Trademark to help Wen Leyang with the digging. After a while, they managed to unearth a body which had not begun to decay from the soil.
Wen Leyang exhaled heavily. He did not recognize the deceased so he was not from the Wen family.
What was originally a delicate and handsome face was now horribly deformed by an extreme convulsion. Clumps of dirt were in his orifices and under his fingernails while his four limbs were twisted out of proportion. Just as they lifted the body out of the soil, there was the sound of a light clank as a brilliantly shining flying sword dropped out of the deceased’s clothes.
The people of Death Trademark continued to work and after a short period of time, they managed to dig out the rest of the remains. There were eight bodies in total and the way they had died was similar to the disciples of the Wen family who were martyred at Mount Emei. They had all been buried alive in a vertical manner into the soil. Out of the eight deceased persons, five were old priests while the other three were young people with graceful features.
There was no sign of decay on the eight remains at all.
The people of the Death Trademark began to callously strip the bodies and search through their belongings on the spot. Grand Elder Wen smiled gently as he gestured respectfully at the people of the Luo family and said, “We’ll let these kids investigate the matter, the rest of us can continue to ascend the mountain!”
The six elders from both families had been imprisoned together for the past few months and even though they quarrel constantly, they were already on a certain level of familiarity and the manner of speaking is more casual rather than courteous towards one another. Grand Elder Luo shook his head and stated plainly, “There’s no rush to go up the mountain, we should figure out what has happened here before we continue up the mountain otherwise our hearts will surely be troubled with concern.”
The deceased’s belongings were placed next to their body. Other than several cellphones and wallets, the other belongings mostly consisted of flying swords, talismans, elixir bottles, and jade pendants, none of which was the gear of a modernized person. The injured Wen Tunhai, supported by a younger relative, picked up one of the jade pendants as the expression on his face shifted, “It’s…this belonged to the Sun Dynasty Palace. The group of priests who had entered the mountain earlier had also brought along similar items too.”
The cellphone’s battery still showed full bars.
Wen Leyang had unknowingly instigated the conflict between the Sun Dynasty Palace and the Wen family when he killed the Baby-Faced Man in the Red Leaves Forest. This had caused the group of priests to attack the Wen family in search of retribution. Now, however, he was completely confused by this situation. There were too many unanswered questions in his head and even when Wen Xiaoyi handed him a carrot, he could only accept it in a daze.
Wen Leyang walked over and took his cousin’s place to support his eldest uncle, “First Uncle, after we reach the village we should ask Wen Yiban about those priests. After all…”
Wen Tunhai, on the other hand, only shrugged and gritted his teeth as the action pulled painfully at his wounds, “He didn’t manage to interrogate them further. A few days ago that group of b*stards tried to escape and triggered the prohibition spell on the mountain. They are all dead and their remains must have decayed into slime by now.”
Wen Leyang was shocked, “They’re all…dead?!”
Behind him, Second Elder Wen laughed in a horrible manner, “Those priests had killed and injured the disciples of the Wen, there’s no way they would be allowed to live for long.”
Suddenly, a dull and robotic female voice sounded from the bodies lying on the ground.
“youhaveanincomingcall…youhaveanincomingcall…youhavean…”
(Author’s note: My arrangement of words is considered as a child’s play when compared with proper English usage)
Wen Leyang was so stunned that it took him a while to react and realize that, bloody hell, it was the cellphone’s ringtone.
Someone immediately picked up the cellphone and all six elders, the eldest uncle, Wen Leyang, and the two young girls circled around the dead priest’s cellphone. It was an incoming text message and it read: “Accidentally injured my fellow cultivator friend on Mount Emei, my apologies, my apologies. I present a token of my apology in the form of eight of your enemies, kindly accept this small gift of mine.”
Wen Tunhai huffed and used his cellphone to make a call. He informed the person on the receiving end about the phone number that had sent the text message, “I want you to look into this immediately and find this number’s user account immediately!”
Wen Leyang pondered for a little while before making a call to the rabbit demon monk Shan Duan at the Great Mercy Temple. The call was picked up by the little stuttering monk Hope Voice and Wen Leyang relayed the current incident to him. He’s taking this seriously as almost twenty people have died during their journey up and down the mountains. Needless to say, the Sun Dynasty Palace will place the blame of this evil matter on the Nine Peaks Mountain. If they were not careful they might be accused of colluding with the evil sorcerers as well.
After telling the whole story, Wen Leyang made a blunder by asking Hope Voice to repeat the story to him as he was afraid he might forget it. The little monk stuttered all the way until Wen Leyang had almost reached his house with his grandfathers. After they ended the call, Wen Leyang felt that he was starting to stutter as well.
They had only arrived at the top of the mountain for a short while before Wen Tunhai received a return call. They managed to find out that the phone number had been stolen recently and the owner had yet to report its loss.
Wen Leyang’s mind felt like glue, the more he pondered the more he could not comprehend. Grand Elder Wen, however, firmly smacked him on the shoulder and chuckled, “If you can’t understand it now then stop thinking about it. Sooner or later, the day will come when all is made clear! The Wen Bucao has existed for over two thousand years and we have never once lost a drop of blood for no good reason! Tunhai, get them to serve up the scrambled eggs, lamb stew, and our very own home-brewed wild ginseng, tiger bones, and seven sages liquor! The Wen family will entertain our honored guests today…”
Tonight, the people of the Luo family feasted to their heart’s content.
After dinner, most of the family and guests turned in for the night. At the big house of the village chief, only the key members of the family consisting of the four elders from the Wen, the two elders from the Luo, Wen Tunhai, and Wen Leyang remained.
A plate of carrots was served onto the table and Wen Leyang felt overwhelmed by the special favor. He had earned his place as one of the key members of the family after he had protected the Red Leaves Forest with his own life, repelled the attack from the Sun Dynasty Palace and saved members from both families from Mount Emei.
Grand Elder Wen did not bring up the matter about the Sun Dynasty Palace but he asked this question to the two elders of the Luo family, “Have any of you heard from the Seven Maidens Mountain in these recent years?”
Grand Elder Luo shook his head, “The Miao clansmen were not very different from savages, who would have the leisure to mind them!”
Second Elder Luo also spoke up with a mocking tone, “Efficiency comes from diligence and the young lads of Crow Ridge train hard every day. The secret art of cultivating Grand Master Tuoxie’s legacy shall not be wasted by us!”
Grand Elder Wen laughed soundlessly, “Drop it, seriously! You talk about diligence and waste yet when you picked up the steamed buns in the courtyard to eat, you did not even know how to peel the skin off the buns!”
Grand Elder Luo smacked the table hard with his palm, he wore a displeased expression on his face as he said, “Old poisonous idiot, stop talking rubbish! Just be frank and quick about what you want to say!”
Grand Elder Wen’s smile vanished, “Our three families had not had much communication with one another for the past two thousand years. Initially, we also did not pay much attention to the Seven Maidens Mountain. However, four years ago, something strange happened.” The old man stood up as he said that and went to pull something out from under his bed.
Back then, he had brought out the Black Jade Incense Tripod in this manner too. Wen Leyang finally understood that the Wen Bucao’s most important items were all hidden under the eldest grandfather’s bed.
This time, he brought a small box. Inside rested a chip of bamboo about the size of a cigarette lighter. It was very withered and yellowed, there were even some cracks on it and it appeared to be quite old.
Grand Elder Luo was stunned upon seeing the bamboo chip. He stared incredulously at Grand Elder Wen and asked, “What on earth were you doing with this thing here?”
Grand Elder Wen smiled gently, “This isn’t mine.”
“Whose was it then… this belonged to the Miao?!” Grand Elder Luo’s gaze was full of doubt.
Wen Leyang scratched the back of his head in agony, what did he mean by that?