93: Unexpected, yet also expected

Chen Heng, who had just alighted from the carriage, was completely unaware of everything happening at Azure Dragon Hall.

Leaving Old Liu at the village entrance, Chen Heng walked alone into the desolate Shigou Village.

The original corpses had all been cleaned up by the White Tiger Hall members, leaving only some bloodstains.

Following the familiar small path through the village, Chen Heng once again arrived beside the dry well.

He glanced around, confirmed no one was present, then transformed into a black zombie and leaped into the dry well.

As expected, the ghost gate was still flickering with a faint purple light.

A chill emanated from the entrance.

"There shouldn't be any problems."

Chen Heng felt a bit uneasy today because he hadn't brought his black fiend blade.

It still felt wrong not to have a weapon in his hand.

"I'm not going to fight, so it's fine if I didn't bring it."

If worst came to worst, he'd use his fists; after all, his fists were no softer than the black fiend blade.

Shaking his head, Chen Heng pushed open the ghost gate and entered.

Stepping into the other side of the ghost gate, a cold and damp Qi assailed him.

Looking around, it was pitch black, and he could only make out the ground with the help of the glowing plants nearby.

"What kind of hellish place is this?"

This place made Chen Heng feel a pressure he hadn't experienced in a long time.

Concentrating his Qi and blood in his eyes, Chen Heng looked up.

"Holy crap... a grotto?"

Chen Heng never in his wildest dreams expected that beyond this ghost gate lay an boundless grotto.

He had originally thought it would be a portal connecting to the Netherworld Domain.

But it turned out to be like this.

Here, vision played a limited role; touch, smell, and hearing were the primary senses.

Fortunately, Chen Heng's five senses were exceptionally keen, so the dim environment here didn't affect him much.

He turned his head to look at the faint purple gate behind him, which had now shrunk to a thumb-sized speck of light.

After confirming that this thing wouldn't suddenly disappear and leave him stranded, Chen Heng decided to explore this grotto.

This place didn't seem like a peaceful one; perhaps he could crush a few Anomalies and get some gold coins.

Initially, Chen Heng proceeded cautiously, feeling his way forward.

But after about half an hour, Chen Heng had walked a full sixteen li without discovering any living creatures.

Let alone Anomalies.

This place had nothing but those glowing plants; at least within a dozen li radius, it was utterly barren.

"What kind of wretched place is this?"

Chen Heng scratched his nose, patiently continuing to walk forward.

Suddenly, a faint scent of blood wafted into Chen Heng's nose.

He had been in a state of concentrating his Qi and blood on his five senses; no scent or sound within ten li could escape his nose and ears.

"Beast blood?"

Chen Heng sniffed carefully but found the scent of blood still faint, making it impossible to distinguish between human or beast.

With no better option, Chen Heng could only continue walking forward.

Slowly, the scent of blood lingering in his nasal cavity grew thicker.

"It's not beast blood; it's human blood."

Chen Heng's nerves, which had relaxed for only a few minutes, tensed up again, and he quickly walked in the direction from which the bloody scent came.

After more than half an hour of busyness, he finally found something useful.

No matter what, whether good or bad, it was still a person.

But as Chen Heng drew closer to the source of the bloody scent, he realized something was amiss.

Because a giant ancient castle complex appeared before him.

Castle after castle was connected, surrounded by a completely black city wall.

"Someone lives in this place?"

Chen Heng tried to lower his breathing and heart rate as much as possible, creeping towards the base of the wall.

Even thinking with his left butt cheek, he knew that anyone living in a place like this couldn't be a good sort.

Although Chen Heng considered himself a brute, he wasn't so brainless as to be all muscle.

With every step he took forward, the scent of blood grew stronger.

By the time Chen Heng reached the base of the wall, the bloody scent was already making him feel uncomfortable.

"What kind of hellish place is this?"

Chen Heng frowned; with his hearing, he hadn't heard a single sound until now.

He touched the material of the wall; its hardness wasn't high, but its color was exceptionally black.

It perfectly blended into the environment here.

Clenching his fingers, Chen Heng plunged his hand into the city wall.

Just like that, Chen Heng climbed up the dozen-meter-high city wall like a spider.

The moment Chen Heng climbed onto the city wall, various noisy sounds poured into his mind.

Chen Heng quickly dispersed the Qi and blood concentrated in his ears, and only then did he feel a little better.

He peered into the interior of the city wall, and Chen Heng's eyes instantly widened.

This was no dead city; there were at least a thousand people, if not a sea of humanity, inside.

Countless people in black robes were lining up to walk into a blood pool, seemingly performing some strange ritual.

"Elder Two Seven, this batch of divine slaves has all begun their transformation; it will be completed in three days."

The leader of the black-robed figures was burly, completely shrouded in black robes, his face obscured.

"Have all the Materials for the blood cry pill been collected?"

Elder Two Seven asked in his hoarse voice.

"Yes, the rarest ghost nether grass and god-slaying earth have all been collected, just waiting for you to come and refine them."

"Very good, take me to the warehouse."

Elder Two Seven nodded, leaving two subordinates here to continue overseeing the transformation ritual.

He then followed another black-robed figure into the city.

"I shouldn't have misheard, right?" Chen Heng picked his ears.

"Elder Two Seven..."

Chen Heng felt like he had heard a similar name somewhere.

"I couldn't have stumbled upon the Wutong Sect's stronghold, could I?"

Thinking about it, Chen Heng increasingly felt this was possible.

The people of Shigou Village were used as blood sacrifice Materials by Elder Wu Qi.

And as for that Formation, Qi Qing only knew it was the Wutong Sect's signature Formation.

Any place where that Formation appeared was basically doomed to fall into the Wutong Sect's clutches.

After careful consideration, Chen Heng became even more certain that this was the Wutong Sect's stronghold.

Even if it wasn't, it didn't matter; he had heard a very important piece of information.

This place had ghost nether grass!

Then there was no need to talk about anything else; it was time to act.

He would consider it eliminating harm for the people.

Moreover, Chen Heng was currently in his zombie state; even his father wouldn't recognize him.

There was absolutely no need to worry about his identity being exposed.

Sliding down the city wall into the city, Chen Heng tracked in the direction Elder Two Seven had gone.

Inside the warehouse, Elder Two Seven was carefully inspecting the ghost nether grass brought back from the Netherworld Domain.

They had paid a huge price to acquire this batch of ghost nether grass.

Among other things, they had lost over a hundred divine slaves alone.

"Not bad, all high-quality ghost nether grass."

Elder Two Seven nodded in satisfaction, intending to go check other Materials.

Just then, Elder Two Seven suddenly turned his head but found nothing.

"Am I overthinking?"

Elder Two Seven frowned tightly; he always felt someone was staring at him from behind.

Logically, it shouldn't be possible.

This was the Wutong Sect's main altar, located beneath the Jade Fan Kingdom.

Even the Iron Mask Gate of the Jade Fan Kingdom couldn't find them, so how could anyone outside their own people possibly find it?

"It seems I was overthinking."

Shaking his head, Elder Two Seven intended to continue inspecting the Materials.