I was chased at the beginning, and I got the first quick sword

Chapter 571 Lotus in the Fire

The shepherd boy's words carried a hint of longing.

Chu Qing shook her head without any hesitation:

"cannot!"

"why?"

"If he really were a monster, you could probably make some money, but he's just a human."

Chu Qing swiftly moved, leading the three of them to follow behind this person:
"No one would spend money to see someone locked in a cage..."

The man's clothes were rather unusual; when he stretched out his arms, he resembled a giant bat. He moved very fast, and his figure appeared and disappeared intermittently, like a ghost.

When he disappeared, even with Chu Qing's martial arts skills, it was difficult to detect his presence.

Throughout the world, in terms of concealing one's aura and hiding one's presence, the only sect Chu Qing knew of that could achieve this effect was the [Ghost Corpse Path].

Those who cultivate the [Ghost Corpse Path] are all considered disciples and grand-disciples of Li Juechen. At this critical juncture, instead of using the [Stealing Heaven Demon Art] to enhance his own strength, Li Juechen sent his men to capture people in the city.
What do you want to do?
A faint aura of sword intent emanated from behind him. Without turning around, Chu Qing knew that it was Dongfang Jinghong who had come.

They were all staying at the same inn, and when Chu Qing and the other three came out, it was impossible for Dongfang Jinghong not to notice at all.

He must have seen the bat-like figure too, so he decided to secretly follow it with Chu Qing and the others to take a look.

The journey wasn't far. After leaving the city, heading southwest for less than five miles, you would reach a dense forest.

The man went deep into the dense forest and disappeared in an instant.

Before Chu Qing and his companions arrived at the dense forest, the shepherd boy only glanced at them:
"This forest has been set up with a formation."

"Can it be broken?"

"Naturally."

As he finished speaking, Dongfang Jinghong landed:
"Does Alliance Leader Chu know who that person was just now?"

"...Senior Dongfang doesn't know?"

Chu Qing gave Dongfang Jinghong a strange look.

Li Juechen's actions could be kept secret from the world, but... how could Dongfang Jinghong, one of the Three Sovereigns and Five Emperors, be kept in the dark?
Sensing the strange look in Chu Qing's eyes, Dongfang Jinghong didn't think much of it and simply shook his head.
"Such exquisite techniques for levitation and concealment of breath... I have never heard of them before."

Chu Qing sighed:

"Senior Dongfang, may I ask what your relationship is with the other members of the Three Sovereigns and Five Emperors?"

"Of course, we are very close."

"I think so..."

Chu Qing muttered silently, "If we weren't so close, why would they treat you like a fool?"
Dongfang Jinghong was baffled, not knowing why Chu Qing asked that question, nor why he reacted that way after she answered.

The shepherd girl had already led everyone into the forest; she was quite the expert in this area.

In just a short while, he had figured out the pattern of the formation. Afterwards, he led the group out of the forest after walking for a short time.

In the middle of the forest, there was a secluded paradise; on a vast open space, stood a mountain villa.

However, the villa was somewhat dilapidated, as if no one had lived there for a long time, and the broken buildings exuded an atmosphere of deathly silence.

Dongfang Jinghong frowned:

"How could there be such a horrible place here?"

"Alliance Leader Chu... what do you know?"

Chu Qing did not answer Dongfang Jinghong's question for the time being, but walked directly towards the gate of the manor.

With a casual push, the dusty door was opened.

The scene was one of utter devastation. The walls were covered in dark, spray-like marks, and the screen wall was half-broken. It didn't seem to have succumbed to the ravages of time, but rather that it had been smashed to pieces.

This saved several people the trouble of going around the shadow wall; they could go directly through the broken shadow wall, and along the way, they could see many signs of fighting.

"What's going on here... Someone suddenly started killing people, and those dark marks on the ground must be blood."

"Judging from the direction they're heading, these people are all running away."

"But the people chasing them have no intention of letting them go."

From the traces around her, Wu Qianhuan pieced together a certain degree of speculation.

Chu Qing nodded slightly and continued to lead everyone into the main hall of the manor, which was even more dilapidated.

Judging from the scene, it seems that someone got into a fight here... In addition to some broken furniture, there were also a lot of dark, foul-smelling things.

It looks...like human internal organs.

"Could it be that the killer used not a weapon, but just his bare hands?"

Dongfang Jinghong said:

"Speaking of which, Luo Kongming also has an extremely fierce and ruthless Eagle Claw Kung Fu, which can split mountains and shatter rocks with a single grab."

"A sweep of five fingers across the heart can rip a person's heart out alive."

Chu Qing nodded. Eagle Claw Kung Fu was a ruthless martial art, so it wasn't surprising that it could produce such an effect.

They bypassed the main hall and continued walking inside, following the trail through three or four courtyards in one go. Judging from the situation in these courtyards, that person had indeed fought his way out.

He rushed through the courtyards in one breath, only to be cornered in the main hall.

After a fierce fight, they finally managed to intimidate all of them.

They were initially afraid to oppose him, but unfortunately, that person had no intention of letting them go.

Despite relentless attacks, not a single person managed to escape from the courtyard.

"However, this is where the problem arises."

Chu Qing glanced at everyone:
Why is there no body?

"Perhaps the murderer collected and buried the body?"

Dongfang Jinghong casually made up an excuse.

Chu Qing didn't rush to refute, but instead looked at Wenrou.

The trail ends here; from here on, I'm afraid I'll have to rely on my gentle sense of smell.

When she turned around, she found that Wenrou was holding a notebook and reading it by the starlight.

Chu Qing was taken aback:
"Your senior brothers aren't here either... Wait, isn't this your notebook?"

"I just found it."

Wenrou read quickly; she had already glanced through the contents of the notebook while Chu Qing was speaking to her. Upon hearing Chu Qing speak, she handed the notebook to him.
"Take a look."

Chu Qing didn't think much of it and quickly read through the notebook.

In a short while, he had read through all the sparse contents of the book.

Then he sighed:

"So that's it..."

Dongfang Jinghong scratched his head and cheek while holding the Jinghong Blade:
"What's wrong?"

Chu Qing didn't say anything, but simply handed the notebook back to him.

Dongfang Jinghong was overjoyed and quickly began to examine it. However, as soon as he started reading, a murderous aura gradually spread throughout his body.

The notebook's owner's name wasn't written on it.

Judging from the description, this person should be quite young.

When he first wrote about it, his heart was full of longing... because he had been selected by the Martial Academy and became a disciple of the Martial Emperor in name only.

Everyone harbors a dream of becoming a chivalrous hero, especially those living in this era. The owner of this notebook must have felt the same way, as he wrote down many aspirations within it.

I want to learn martial arts properly and live up to the expectations of the martial arts academy.

I want to master my skills and become a respected hero.

I want to repay Li Juechen in the future...

But soon, these simple and beautiful strokes of the pen disappeared.

The record is filled with doubts and timidity.

He discovered that many of his classmates had given up martial arts... especially a man named Yu Jiang, who, according to the records, was a young man full of sunshine and had countless beautiful dreams for the future.

The two of them were talking about life and ideals just the day before, feeling that they were kindred spirits.

The next day, they were told that Yu Jiang couldn't stand the hardship at the martial arts academy and had given up continuing his martial arts studies.

The owner of the notebook didn't want to believe it, but he got the same message from everyone.

Gradually, he became confused.

But when a classmate who had been told he had left appeared outside the villa as a corpse.

The owner of this notebook was utterly terrified.

He knew those people hadn't left the martial arts academy, hadn't given up martial arts... they had simply disappeared. The academy was deceiving them, and might even kill them.

This realization plunged the owner of the notebook into a state of great panic.

He wanted to escape from the martial arts academy, but he didn't dare... He wanted to give up learning martial arts, but for him, this was a once-in-a-lifetime opportunity that he would never have a second chance.

Moreover, if I leave here, how am I supposed to explain it when I get home?

Should he claim to have discovered the martial arts academy's secret? Or should he admit that he can't endure the hardships of martial arts training?
In the end, he decided to be patient a little longer...

Perhaps it was because of good luck, or perhaps it was because of good talent.

Although his classmates would disappear from time to time, such things never happened to him.

Until that day...

A man emerged from the tunnel and unleashed an extremely ruthless martial art, killing all those who rushed at him to kill him.

In the midst of his busy schedule, the owner of the notebook also saw that person's face.

That was Yu Jiang's face.

The once bright and cheerful boy was nowhere to be seen. His body was covered in wounds, and his eyes, which were once full of warm sunshine, had turned as red as a vengeful ghost, as if they were about to bleed.

That's all that's been recorded; only one sentence remains. The owner of this notebook wrote:

"Yu Jiang killed everyone..."

There are some bloodstains on this page of the notebook; they were splattered there.

Perhaps he was overwhelmed by criticism at the very last moment before he put pen to paper?

After reading it, Dongfang Jinghong suddenly looked at Chu Qing:
"What exactly is going on?"

Chu Qing sighed:

"Li Juechen tricked Song Chengdao out of the [Original Path to Enlightenment] and used it to deduce many new martial arts techniques."

"However, martial arts are no ordinary art; a slight mistake can lead to death... Once one goes astray and becomes possessed by evil, even a powerful Martial Emperor will perish."

"In order to minimize the risk, he decided to have others help him complete the deduction of several martial arts techniques."

"And in order to develop new martial arts, he also needs to experiment extensively and has a large number of people."

"The Martial Arts Academy was thus born."

Dongfang Jinghong could hardly believe what she was hearing and instinctively took two steps back:
"This is impossible... How could this be?"

"Why did he do this?"

"Song Chengdao explained to me that many years ago, Li Juechen already knew about the existence of the Heavenly Evil Sect and knew that these people would inevitably cause a big incident. Therefore, I will not comment on his original intention of deceiving Li Juechen to obtain the [Original Path Scripture].

"It could be purely for personal gain, or it could truly be for the sake of justice in the martial arts world?"

"But over the years, he has used the [Original Path to Enlightenment] and his own knowledge to create five unique skills: [Cold Corpse Record], [Wooden Corpse Technique], [Fire Corpse Chapter], [Mutilated Corpse Seal], and [Ghost Corpse Path].

"The martial art that the person we've been following all this way practices is the [Ghost Corpse Path]."

"These five martial arts, taken together... are known as the [Five Ghosts Heavenly Corpse Order]."

"Each of them is an extremely unpredictable and ruthless martial art."

"And this place is undoubtedly one of his hideouts, where he lured those who aspired to the Martial Academy here by exploiting their desires..."

"Use their bodies to complete the incomplete [Five Ghosts Corpse Order]."

Chu Qing paused slightly at this point:
"But now it seems that he has ruined the whole thing."

"Someone actually broke free from the control of the [Five Ghosts Corpse Order] and slaughtered everyone in this place."

"...They weren't all killed."

Wu Qianhuan offered a reminder.

Chu Qing nodded:

"Yes, there is also a master who cultivates the [Ghost Corpse Path], who should be hiding in the so-called underground passage."

At this point, he glanced at Wenrou again.

Wenrou pointed to a stone tablet at the boundary of the courtyard:
"It should be down here."

Dongfang Jinghong didn't know why the girl was so certain, and wanted to ask her again, but Chu Qing had already walked towards the stone tablet.

After searching for a while, a click was heard, the stone slabs rubbed together, and the machine rolled, revealing an extremely hidden passage.

To Chu Qing and the others' surprise, once the secret passage was opened...

Then a figure flew out from the secret passage; judging from the figure, it was the master who cultivated the [Ghost Corpse Path].

As soon as Chu Qing reached out, the man in mid-air felt a strong force pulling him away. He immediately began to flicker, trying to use the movement techniques in the [Ghost Corpse Path] to evade Chu Qing's control.

Unfortunately, Chu Qing's hand was like a shadow, and no matter what methods he used, he could not escape from Chu Qing's grasp.

In the end, Chu Qing pulled him close and grabbed his neck.

Just as they were about to ask a question, a figure flew out of the tunnel. After glancing at Chu Qing and the others, the figure ignored everything and flew directly out of the manor.

"Stop him!"

Chu Qing immediately spoke up.

Anyway, with Dongfang Jinghong by his side, this person has no way to escape.

Without hesitation, Dongfang Jinghong flicked his Jinghong Blade, about to make a move, when a figure appeared from outside the manor, flicking his finger with exquisite skill.

The fleeing man was no ordinary person either; he roared angrily:

"Get away!!"

All he got in return was a laugh. The next moment, he spread his five fingers, and in his palm was a fiery red lotus.

The fleeing man's expression changed, as if he knew the danger. But with Chu Qing and the others right behind him, turning around would mean certain death. He gritted his teeth and thrust out a palm that clashed violently with the fire lotus in the newcomer's palm.

With a muffled thud, the fleeing man fell to the ground.

The newcomer also revealed himself, and Dongfang Jinghong was slightly taken aback:
"Song Chengdao, what are you doing here?"

(End of this chapter)