I'm here in the martial arts world just to find love.

"You must not go forward; let me go and check first."

Jiang Chao gestured for the others to wait where they were, and then he walked toward the nearest skeleton.

After examining it closely for a while, Jiang Chao frowned, then got up and moved closer to another skeleton.

After carefully examining the six skeletons in the courtyard, Jiang Chao stepped forward and said in a deep voice:

"These six skeletons, two men and four women, judging from their skeletal structure, should belong to people who have achieved great mastery of martial arts, but..."

He paused for a moment, then continued, "But I'm not entirely sure about the cause of their deaths. There were no obvious fatal wounds on their bodies, and no signs of poisoning on their bones. The only strange thing was a bite mark on their skulls..."

After hearing his words, the heroine Chu was about to step forward to check.

Su E squinted and called out to her, "Ning'er, wait a moment, I'll go take a look first."

After getting off the carriage, Su E slowly walked to the nearest skeleton, took out a silver needle from her pouch at her waist, and gently inserted it into the skull.

Because she had her back to everyone at the moment, Jiang Chao couldn't see exactly what she did. After a moment, Su E withdrew the silver needles, got up, and went to the next skeleton.

After examining all six scattered skeletons, Su E said:

"It's poison, and there's more than one kind of poison."

"insanity?"

Jiang Chao was stunned. These masters, who must have been powerful figures in the martial arts world in their lifetime, actually died from Gu poison.

Su E nodded, looked at everyone with her slightly vacant eyes, and said softly, "It should be a kind of Gu technique that has long been lost in the martial arts world, the raising of the Holy Gu."

  

"This kind of Gu technique requires a human sacrifice to be made. Once the Gu is made, it can silently enter the body of the person being Gu'd and lie dormant until the host's pleasure reaches its peak, at which point it will suddenly erupt."

"The victim of the Gu poison will also fall into an illusion at this time, unable to break free easily, until the vital energy in their body is exhausted and they die. At this time, it is time for the Gu poisoner to reap the rewards. Various Gu worms that have absorbed the vital energy will crawl out from the Tianling acupoint on the skull of the corpse, eventually gathering together to fight and devour each other."

"The last one to survive is the Sacred Gu, and the person who eats the Sacred Gu and uses this Gu technique can gain at least fifty years of internal energy."

Upon hearing this, Jiang Chao's eyes widened in surprise.

He had read so many secrets and unofficial histories of the martial arts world, but why had he never heard of such a terrifying evil art in the martial arts world?

Seemingly sensing the shock and confusion of the crowd, Su E continued softly:

"However, this kind of Gu technique is too insidious and is despised by righteous people in the martial arts world. Therefore, it was lost a hundred years ago. The only place that still has the Gu-raising tradition is Jinxia Valley, which has long been out of the public eye. The Gu technique tradition has disappeared from the martial arts world for more than a hundred years."

Jinxia Valley... Jiang Chao seemed to have heard or seen this name somewhere before.

"Oh, Golden Canyon is now known as Villain Valley. The most vicious villains in the martial arts world gather here, relying on the dense poisonous miasma and treacherous terrain surrounding Golden Canyon to isolate themselves from outside pursuit."

The Valley of Villains, it's actually the Valley of Villains!

Jiang Chao finally remembered that he had heard one of his martial uncles mention this place before. It was said that this Valley of Villains was home to several great demons who were feared and hated by people in the martial arts world.

Among these demons was a man known as "Jade Rakshasa," who had brutally slaughtered many of the disciples of their Fengxue Temple who had gone out to train in the martial world. At that time, Jiang Buwen was not yet the head of Fengxue Temple, but he had already made a great name for himself in the martial world.

Upon learning of this, Jiang Buwen, alone with his sword, brazenly stormed into the Valley of Villains. Seven days later, just as the then-master of the Wind and Snow Temple thought Jiang Buwen had perished.

This young master, who was considered an unparalleled figure in the martial arts world at the time, returned to the Snowstorm Temple, carrying one arm and covered in blood.

After seven years of seclusion, he rose to become a martial arts grandmaster revered by everyone in the martial arts world, and took over the position of temple master from the previous one.

It is worth mentioning that the previous abbot of Fengxue Temple was also surnamed Jiang.

His surname is Jiang and his given name is Wangyou.

He was also a renowned martial arts master who embodied the Dao through his fist techniques.

Jiang Chao had never met this grandfather, whom he had never met before. It was said that his grandfather, Jiang Wangyou, did not die, but mysteriously disappeared in the second year after his father, Jiang Buwen, took over the Fengxue Temple.

Now, about twenty years have passed.

Flipping through the history books of Fengxue Temple, Jiang Chao learned that each temple master would mysteriously disappear after the next temple master took office. Taking advantage of his youthful curiosity, he once asked his father, Jiang Buwen, why those elders would suddenly disappear, where they went, and whether he would suddenly disappear and leave him and his mother behind. If so, he would advise his mother to remarry as soon as possible.

Then, Jiang Buwen, who had been angered by the humiliation, was hung up and severely punished.

From then on, Jiang Chao stopped asking this question that was destined to remain unanswered.

In short, the disappearance of the successive temple masters of Fengxue Temple is a mystery, an unsolved mystery, and a mystery that Jiang Chao no longer intends to solve.

Anyway, his father Jiang Buwen is still young and capable, and the day he goes missing is still a long way off.

Pulling his chaotic thoughts back to the matter at hand, Jiang Chao asked:

"Since this art of raising sacred Gu has been extinct in the martial arts world for over a hundred years, how did Mr. Su learn of it?"

As if she had anticipated this question, Su E made no attempt to hide anything, chuckled lightly, and said softly:

"Because I myself came from the Valley of Villains."

Upon hearing this, Jiang Chao and the other two, including Lu Jing who had spent a lot of time with Su E, couldn't help but change their expressions.

"Are you from the Valley of Villains?"

Jiang Chao was secretly on guard. Anyone who could enter the Valley of Villains was a person with superb martial arts skills and a ruthless heart.

The skilled doctor in front of me, Su E, who looks gentle and virtuous, actually came from that place!

The righteous and chivalrous Chu woman's pretty face changed slightly. Forcing herself to remain calm, she asked in a rather complicated tone:

"Then, have you ever killed anyone? Or done anything evil?"

Su E shook her head, though a smile remained on her face, her tone was tinged with sadness:

"I was born in the Valley of Villains. Although I didn't have time to do evil, I was still tainted by its wickedness. To wash away this wickedness, I escaped the Valley of Villains with my mother's help..."

As she spoke, she sighed softly, raised her arm, and pointed to her eyes.

"These eyes of mine were not originally mine. They were already ruined when I escaped the layers of poisonous barriers outside the Valley of Villains. These eyes of mine were given to me by a kind village girl who helped me before she died..."

"As for why she died, it was because of me. The Valley of Villains is called the Valley of Villains because it is inhabited by countless heinous criminals. Some villains did not want an outcast like me to leave the Valley of Villains smoothly and live openly in the sunlight. So, they secretly followed me and cruelly murdered everyone I came into contact with in the outside world, to torture me and force me to fall into depravity..."

Su E's background story is not complicated. The source of everything is the ugly and wicked thoughts in people's hearts. When these evil thoughts run rampant, people will fall into hell, become puppets of desire, and transform into Asura demons.

After hearing her story, the three of them fell into a long silence.

Finally, Jiang Chao spoke first. Regardless of whether the woman's words were true or false, she was definitely involved with the Valley of Villains!

Jiang Chao took a deep breath.

The boy looked at the woman with vacant eyes not far away and asked in a deep voice: