The entire sect is obsessed with love, but I'm the only one who's truly insane.

Yan Qing already had a strong affinity for metals and had long been an expert in weapon crafting. With Lin Du providing on-site blueprints and explanations, one provided the brains and the other the physical labor, and progress was rapid.

Xia Tianwu and Ni Jinxuan were already standing outside the courtyard gate, constantly on guard against the approaching ghost-faced bats.

The two of them fiddled with a strange little jammer in front of everyone.

A swarm of bats was approaching from outside the door, while two people inside were still squatting on the ground fiddling with something inexplicable.

Ni Jinxuan opened her eyes wide and watched as a thick, swirling dark cloud pressed down on them, flying extremely low, dense and numerous, accompanied by a faint vibration.

The so-called "ghost-faced bat" is named so because, when viewed from the front, its face resembles a ferocious demon, and its flailing wings resemble a muddy black sea, gleaming with an eerie luster.

Ni Jinxuan subconsciously felt that it was difficult to breathe, as if the air had become muddy and thick.

Summer instinctively wanted to use fire, but remembering Lin Du's instructions, she drew the soft sword from her waist.

Ni Jinxuan flicked her long whip, sending the bats that were already close to the courtyard flying.

The whip cracked in the air, then burst into a cloud of blood mist.

But this did little to stop the arrival of the swarm of ghost-faced bats. Just as they were about to cover the courtyard in a massive swath, the bats suddenly and mysteriously changed direction. The group scattered in chaos, some colliding with each other, others turning around.

The sound of flapping wings in the air turned into the sound of friction and collision, which stopped the first batch of bats that were about to jump over the wall halfway.

Lin Du straightened up and rubbed his stiff and sore neck. "Yuan Ye, stay here and keep watch. The rest of you come with me to look for clues. If anything happens, let us know and we'll come back as soon as possible."

Yuan Ye was a little scared, but he had no choice but to obey his junior uncle's orders, so he simply took out the Xiqin and sat on the coffin lid.

Before leaving, Yan Qing patted Yuan Ye on the shoulder and said, "Brother, don't be afraid. There's nothing to be afraid of. You have to believe in yourself. This is the coffin you built with your own hands."

Yuan Ye said with a bitter face, "I don't believe it unless I nailed it down myself!"

Yan Qing: ...

He silently drew the knife from his back. "Then you better keep the coffin lid closed. You can't let your flesh grow for nothing, and you can't let your food be eaten for nothing."

Lin Du had already walked into the courtyard across the street. When she opened the door, all she saw was dust. Fortunately, she was prepared. She covered her mouth and nose with a scarf and ignored everyone.

It just looks a bit like a bandit, but there are no other side effects.

Following Ni Jinxuan's example, Lin Du decided to release his divine sense again to carefully explore the entire city, since the courtyard had been empty for a long time.

This place is indeed a ghost town, without a single living person. Many courtyards, like this small courtyard, have been abandoned for a long time and are covered in dust.

However, some of the mansions were strange, with obvious barriers preventing exploration of their interiors, indicating that there was still energy inside.

Lin Du glanced at the three of them. Formation was one of the most difficult skills for cultivators to learn. Given that cultivators had so many things to learn, it was difficult to manage them all. Therefore, at their age, they didn't know much about formations, so it was better for them to learn together.

She was like a mother hen with her chicks, followed by three little birds, running as fast as she could towards the direction where something was wrong.

Several people followed Lin Du's example and dared to walk the same path as him, not daring to deviate even a step, lest they provoke something they shouldn't.

This courtyard is larger than the previous one. The previous one was just a large courtyard, but this one already has stone lions at the entrance, clearly indicating that it belongs to a family of high status.

Lin Du reached out and pushed open the door, but strangely, he didn't sense any yin energy.

As the group entered, the original grandeur of the mansion could still be seen from the mottled glazed tiles, blue brick floors, and carved beams and painted rafters.

The plants in the garden were no longer lush; only a patch of withered flowers and trees turned to ash with the slightest touch, clearly having dried out long ago.

Xia Tian frowned. "These plants... seem to have had all their life force drained away."

According to the laws of nature, no matter how isolated a city is, it will gradually become wild after people leave. Even in deserts and Gobi, the remaining ruins of ancient cities will have tenacious wild grass growing on them.

But this place is an absolute dead city.

Based on the soil, this place is not a desert, and it cannot be described as a barren land.

"Another coffin." Lin Du's voice was calm.

But this was not an iron coffin; it was a very ordinary black coffin. Because of the long passage of time, the paint on it had developed mottled cracks, but a talisman was pasted on the coffin lid, and after many years, it was still as good as new.

Lin Du stood in front of the coffin in the middle of the main room for a while.

"Junior Uncle, are there evil spirits in here too? Should we be careful?"

Lin Du shook his head. "No, there are no evil spirits."

Not only were there no evil spirits, but there was not even any resentment or yin energy left.

She took out a compass, walked around the main courtyard for a while, and then took out a plow.

"Junior Uncle, are you digging another hole for us?"

Lin Du didn't say anything, and his digging speed increased. Lin Du was very familiar with digging. Soon, with a ding, the head of the plow collided with something.

Summer's eyes were too quick to see clearly. "That's... a bewitching illusion?"

"It is a spirit stone imbued with the eyebrows of a child, touched by the hands of ten thousand people."

Lin Du dug faster and faster, and unearthed a total of seventeen Tongmei. These seventeen Tongmei formed a small seven gate on the ground.

She looked down at it for a while, then turned to look at the coffin. "Soul-Sealing Array."

Compared to the formation in the courtyard just now, this formation is more punitive.

It's like trapping vengeful spirits inside, preventing them from ever escaping.

Lin Du, supporting the plow, seemed to be making a decision. Unusually, he did not smile, but frowned slightly and lowered his eyes.

"Junior Uncle... I just walked around the entire mansion, and there's almost nothing left... the family property is gone, even the bookshelves are empty, it's like they moved house, leaving only an empty shell."

Xia Tianwu and Ni Jinxuan had searched the entire mansion but found no clues.

"It's not just this mansion, all the other courtyards are like this, just empty shells." Lin Du was still deep in thought, speaking without any particular tone.

"How are we supposed to uncover the secrets of this ancient city?" Ni Jinxuan frowned as well. "Isn't this making things difficult? This level alone will require tens of thousands of points!"

"The lack of evidence is the greatest evidence in itself." Lin Du raised his head. "This already shows that the people in this city migrated on a large scale, or even that they abandoned the city in unison."

Following this line of thought, Ni Jinxuan said, "Large-scale migrations are very rare. In addition, this city has no spiritual energy left. Perhaps it is due to the depletion of spiritual power? Moreover, it cannot be a natural disaster. If it were a natural disaster, the houses would not be intact."

Lin Du nodded. "That reminds me of a historical record of the relocation of an entire city."

She looked at Yan Qing, who nodded. "That's right, but that should have happened more than a thousand years ago."

Two thousand years ago, there was a town called Liyang. It was a small border town, but it was quite prosperous with a lot of trade. The town was quite wealthy, but overnight, it became an isolated city.

The anecdotes of the cultivation world once recorded that this was one of the ten unsolved mysteries of the past thousand years.

"So, what do you mean, Junior Uncle?"

"If this really is Liyang Town, or a one-to-one replica, then that's interesting." Lin Du looked at the huge black coffin.

"I was just thinking, what kind of evil spirit would use such a cruel soul-sealing formation during the period of mourning, directly preventing people from being reborn?"

Lin Du rubbed his hands together. "I'm a little... tempted to open the coffin."

The four men looked at each other, then said, "How about... we open the coffin?"

"What if the resentment hasn't dissipated and the ghost returns to the body?"

"Then..." Yan Qing rubbed his hands together, "Let's beat him up?"

"Beat him up!" Ni Jinxuan raised her whip.

Lin Du looked at the three people in front of him with a sigh. Since when have the disciples of the Supreme Sect become so reckless?

A bunch of brutes, it seems she'll have to tie them up with a rope.

Holding her fan, she walked up to the three of them and smacked Yan Qing on the head with a sharp tap. "You brute! You brute! You too... you brute!"

Yan Qing's eyes widened. "Junior Uncle! Why did you only tap my head? What about the other two?"

Lin Du walked into the main room with his hands behind his back. "Jin Xuan won't grow taller if you knock her head. Let her grow taller."

"No, what about Second Senior Sister?"

"You dare to hit her?"

"..." Yan Qing silently hugged his sword, letting out a sorrowful sound like a scholar, "Eek."

If Yuan Ye were here, he could have suffered alongside him.