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

"Junior...Junior Uncle, could it be...you're just overthinking it?" Ni Jinxuan was a little scared and reached out to tug at the edge of Lin Du's cloak.

Yuan Ye and Yan Qing shook their heads at the same time, then looked at Lin Du simultaneously.

"Junior Uncle's suspicion is not unfounded speculation." Yan Qing was a bit older than them and was a member of a small family in Zhongzhou. He had read a lot of books since childhood. Although he followed the path of sword cultivation, his thinking was much more organized than his two junior brothers and sisters.

After the small world collapsed, it wandered in the void. It entered this world through spatial collision and was discovered by the sects of Zhongzhou. Because the discoverer happened to be a cultivator from a major sect, several sects worked together to develop it. Other sects would pay some rent as offerings, so it became a training secret realm for disciples of Zhongzhou sects.

This small world is a well-known secret realm where low-level cultivators suffer minimal losses.

He pursed his lips. "As far as I know, there were seven attacks, with fewer than two hundred casualties, and many of those deaths were clearly not caused in the desert."

Lin Du has a natural talent for numbers and can almost remember everything she sees, while Yan Qing is more mature and quickly caught up with her thinking.

"Among those who went out earlier... there's a good chance something went wrong."

Lin Du interjected, "Or to put it another way, there are ghosts among those who went out."

Yuan Ye gasped, his eyes widening. "A ghost?"

"Incarnation." Yan Qing added after finishing, "When the flesh and blood are eaten by the willow demon, the soul is also scattered. There is a secret technique about willow branches called Willow Branch Bone Transformation, which allows the willow branch to replace the broken bones of people. Ancient books record that willow demons with profound cultivation can become flesh and blood bodies, and after eating people, the willow branch can transform into the body of the eaten person."

What the willow demon ate was a human, but what it vomited up was exactly the same, but it was definitely a ghost.

This is a grand strategy.

The resentment of the ghosts caused the red willow to become a demon, and the resentment it generated nurtured the willow demon. The ghosts below also used the willow demon to eat people, burrowing into the bodies that grew from the willow branches and taking on new identities.

The gate opened, and he went out in the human form of a Central Continent disciple. Anyway, the Willow Demon only eats people, not disciple tokens or storage rings.

Lin Du and Yan Qing exchanged a glance, both seeing the deep contemplation in each other's eyes.

Yuan Ye grumbled, "I was even thinking of playing a tune to help them pass on to the afterlife."

Lin Du lowered his eyes. "It's not impossible. Let's go down and take a look."

Yuan Ye exclaimed "Ah!" and slowed down his movements as he reached for the zither.

Ni Jinxuan was a little worried. "Junior Uncle, you don't look well. Let's rest for a while."

"Before those people all come and cause trouble, let's get a first look at the scene. Otherwise, those who come to watch the show and try their luck will probably crush all these skulls..."

As Lin Du spoke, he glanced at the scattered black dots in the distance, moving rapidly like ants towards this place.

Yan Qing agreed, "I'll go down first, Junior Uncle, please be careful."

Lin Du chuckled, "I'm not made of paper, so don't worry."

Yuan Ye whispered, "Junior Uncle can even uproot a thousand-year-old willow demon."

Lin Du sighed, "I didn't... never mind."

Yan Qing took the lead and jumped straight down with her knife in hand, followed closely by Lin Du. Ni Jinxuan grabbed her cloak and jumped down after her. Yuan Ye scratched his head, muttered something, and also jumped down.

The pit was extremely deep. Even though the four people used their spiritual power to slow down when they fell in, their joints were still throbbing with pain.

As soon as he landed, Lin Du frowned. "Such heavy Yin energy."

The yin energy in her bones hadn't dissipated yet, and she couldn't help but pull her cloak tighter around herself, but it was no use.

Even if you cover it with ice, it will still be ice.

The underground area was indeed roughly a city. The place they landed in was like the central square of the city, with an altar in the middle. In front of the altar sat a skeleton devoutly. The flesh had turned to dust, but the skeleton was still in a meditative posture.

Lin Du glanced at it and saw that it was probably an altar.

The altar was surrounded by a dense mass of skeletons of people who had died in meditation; there were probably several hundred of them.

"So many people have passed away here?" Ni Jinxuan took a soft breath. She hadn't looked down earlier, so seeing so many skeletons was still a bit unsettling.

When Yuan Ye fell, he lost his balance and landed squarely in the arms of a skeleton. Then, like dominoes, the skeletons scattered in all directions, one after another, the neat rows of seated skeletons crumbling and falling apart.

Lin Du, who witnessed this scene firsthand: ...

What did I just say?

Yan Qing was examining the items on the altar when she heard the noise. She turned around, then silently closed her eyes.

Is this guy a member of the royal family?

The boy collapsed in front of the sternum, his hands still pressing against the two humerus bones. When he looked up, he knew he had committed a terrible crime.

"Junior... Junior Uncle, it's just that my legs are a little weak, but it's okay. We can just count the heads as before. Look how neatly the skulls are arranged..."

Lin Du nodded. "If you put your skull on it, it will look just as neat."

Yuan Ye struggled to his feet, his face contorted in pain. "I was wrong. Look, aren't there still several who haven't dispersed?"

Yan Qing walked to the skeleton that was clearly in the dominant position on the offering table. As soon as she reached out her hand, the skeleton scattered.

It vanished in a flash, with a splash.

Lin Du raised his hand and pressed his temples. Of the four people, there was actually a pair of outstanding talents.

Yan Qing remained silent for a moment, then quietly withdrew her hand. "Would you believe me if I said I haven't met Junior Uncle yet?"

Lin Du nodded perfunctorily, "I'll believe you if you say so."

Yan Qing felt a little wronged. "I really didn't touch it."

With another crash, Lin Du frowned and looked in the direction of the sound, thinking that it was another one of the hidden talents or the young talents who had run into him.

but no.

Lin Du's expression gradually turned serious.

Yan Qing seemed to have found some theoretical support and said loudly, "Junior Uncle, look, I told you so..."

Before he could finish speaking, another skeleton was scattered.

Yan Qing's voice trembled, as if the erhu had been played out of tune and the teacher had forcibly cut it off.

Lin Du narrowed his eyes. "It couldn't be that your voice was too loud and scared this skeleton, could it?"

As soon as she finished speaking, another skeleton fell to the ground.

Ni Jinxuan's eyes widened, her voice trembling, "Junior Uncle... the ghost, the ghost hasn't been dispersed yet?"

"What are you afraid of? We are cultivators, we kill ghosts. Unless they also become ghost cultivators, it is the ghosts who are afraid of us." Lin Du's head was throbbing. He had done too much calculation earlier. He glanced at the timid rabbit's seemingly understanding look and softened his voice.

"Even if they are ghost cultivators, the Heavenly Dao is suppressing them at the Qin Xin Realm. The four of us are all at the Qin Xin Realm, so we can gang up on them."

As Lin Du spoke, several more sounds of bones scattering followed. Of the skeletons that had been sitting perfectly still, only twenty remained.

She suddenly realized something, "Yuan Ye, go touch those bones that haven't fallen apart."

Yuan Ye exclaimed in surprise, not understanding why, but still went over and touched it.

It hasn't dispersed.

"Push harder."

Yuan Ye slapped the skull across the face.

The bones remained completely still.

Instead, Yuan Ye let out a wail and blew on his reddened hands.

"Did you notice?" Lin Du asked.

"We've found them," Yan Qing replied, looking at the skeletons that were still sitting.

"What did you find?" Yuan Ye asked innocently.

"Count the skulls scattered on the ground, Yuan Ye," Lin Du said.

Yuan Ye obediently began counting how many skulls there were.

"One hundred and ninety-six...one hundred and ninety-seven, plus the ones by the offering table, a total of one hundred and ninety-seven, Junior Uncle." Yuan Ye's expression suddenly stiffened as he spoke. "This number sounds familiar, Junior Uncle?"

Lin Du lowered his eyes and chuckled softly, "Yes, that sounds familiar."

The 197 scattered skeletons are because the spirits of the skeletons are no longer in this world, and there is no longer any spirit power to sustain them, so they have scattered.

There were also 197 skeletons at the base of the willow tree.

In other words, a total of 197 ghosts left the small world and mingled in their respective worlds.

If Lin Du hadn't broken the formation today, perhaps twenty more ghosts would have gone out with them this time.

Ghosts roam the human world, resurrected through evil means.

Previously, we only thought the fierce willow tree was man-eating, but now that we've dug it up, we understand.

The culprit was never the willow, but the person.