121: Chapter 121 Investigating the Truth

"Three more have gone missing! How many times has this happened this month?!"

"Are you, the Mayor, going to do anything about this or not?!"

"Do something? How can I?"

"Two of the Constables sent from above have already been lost. What can I possibly do?"

"Then report it! Ask for reinforcements!"

"I did report it!"

"But what's the use? They say they're investigating, investigating... It's been a month, and not a single soul has been found!"

"Could it be the same as two years ago?"

Li Changsheng and Lu Yu exchanged a look and pushed the door open to enter.

Inside stood two people: one was a middle-aged man in official robes with a distressed face and swollen eyes, clearly lacking sleep; the other was an elderly man in coarse cloth clothes, his face wrinkled and his expression agitated, slamming his hand on the table at the middle-aged man.

Both were stunned for a moment upon seeing someone enter.

The middle-aged man looked at them, a hint of doubt flashing in his eyes.

"You are..."

Lu Yu pulled out his identity token and showed it.

"Outer Sect Disciples of the Qinglan Sword Sect, here by order to investigate the disappearances."

The middle-aged man's eyes immediately lit up. He grabbed Lu Yu's hand, his voice trembling with excitement.

"Immortal Masters! You've finally arrived! I have been waiting for you so desperately!"

The old man was also stunned, then suddenly fell to his knees with a thud, tears streaming down his face.

"Immortal Masters! Please, save our town!"

"My son, my daughter-in-law, and my three-year-old grandson... they've all, all disappeared!"

Li Changsheng quickly helped him up and spoke softly.

"Don't be anxious, elder. Tell us everything slowly."

The old man was helped into a chair. Wiping his tears, he began to tell the story intermittently.

It turned out that starting three months ago, people had begun to disappear from Qingshi Town one after another.

At first, it was just one or two occasionally. No one paid much attention, thinking they had just gone out and not yet returned.

But later, more and more people went missing, and the frequency increased. By this month, someone vanished almost every three or four days.

The missing included men, women, young, and old; there was no pattern.

The only commonality was that they all disappeared while out alone.

Some went to the mountains to chop wood, some to the river to wash clothes, some got up in the middle of the night to use the latrine, and then never returned.

The townspeople reported it to the authorities, who sent several Constables to investigate. However, after a few days of checking, two of them also went missing.

The remaining Constables were so terrified they fled overnight and never dared to return.

"We sent people into the mountains to search, but found nothing."

The Mayor sighed.

"No sign of them alive, no bodies found. It's as if... as if they were eaten by monsters."

Lu Yu frowned.

"Monsters? Have you seen any?"

The Mayor shook his head.

"No."

"But some have heard strange noises at night... like someone chanting scriptures, or like ghostly wails. It makes one's skin crawl."

Li Changsheng was silent for a moment, then asked.

"Did they all disappear near the town? Or did they go further away?"

The Mayor thought about it.

"Most were nearby."

"Some went to the back mountain for wood, some to the river for laundry, and others vanished right at the edge of town."

"The furthest one went to Luanshi Ridge to gather herbs and never came back."

Luanshi Ridge.

Li Changsheng and Lu Yu looked at each other.

"The person who went to Luanshi Ridge to gather herbs—when did he disappear?"

Li Changsheng asked.

The Mayor flipped through his records and said.

"Two months ago."

"His name is Wang Laoliu. He's a herb gatherer who wandered the mountains year-round and was very familiar with the terrain."

"That day, he said he was going deep into Luanshi Ridge to find a rare medicinal herb, but he never returned."

"We sent people to look for him, but we only found his discarded Herb basket. He was gone."

Li Changsheng nodded and asked again.

"Besides him, has anyone else gone to Luanshi Ridge?"

The Mayor thought for a moment and shook his head.

"The terrain at Luanshi Ridge is complex and easy to get lost in. Plus, there are rumors of wild beasts. Ordinary people don't dare go there. Only an old herb gatherer like Wang Laoliu would dare enter."

Li Changsheng stood up and said to Lu Yu.

"Let's go take a look at Luanshi Ridge."

The two left the town hall and walked toward the back mountain.

Leaving the town, they followed a winding mountain path flanked by dense thickets.

After walking for about half an hour, the terrain ahead began to change.

The trees became sparser, replaced by more and more jagged rocks.

The rocks varied in size—some as massive as houses, others as small as fists—piled haphazardly on the ground, forming a sea of stone.

The sunlight hit them, casting mottled shadows that made it impossible to see what lay deep within.

"This is the place."

Lu Yu looked at the Luanshi Ridge before him and frowned.

"It's such a vast area. How do we search?"

Li Changsheng didn't answer. He simply closed his eyes, and the sensory power of the Evergreen Plant Truth Scripture began to operate quietly.

Over the past six months, his use of this Cultivation Technique had become increasingly proficient.

Not only could he sense the vitality of plants, but he could also perceive subtle auras that ordinary people couldn't.

For example, fluctuations of spiritual power, the scent of blood, and... Corpse Qi.

A moment later, he opened his eyes and locked his gaze in one direction.

"That way."

The two headed in that direction.

Inside Luanshi Ridge, the terrain was even more complex than it appeared from the outside.

The boulders were layered upon each other, forming natural stone walls that made it impossible to tell north from south. Had it not been for Li Changsheng's sensory guidance, they would have likely been lost long ago.

After about an hour, Li Changsheng suddenly stopped.

"There's a scent of blood."

He whispered.

Lu Yu also became alert, his hand resting on the hilt of his sword.

The two slowed down, carefully rounding a massive boulder.

The sight before them made them both gasp.

It was a relatively open clearing, with several skeletal remains scattered on the ground.

The remains were incomplete; some had been gnawed by wild beasts, while others were just piles of white bones.

Judging by the tattered clothing, they were likely the missing townspeople.

Lu Yu's face turned ashen as he tightened his grip on his sword hilt.

"The Blood Fiend Sect! It must be the work of the Blood Fiend Sect!"

Li Changsheng didn't speak. He just crouched down and carefully examined the remains.

Soon, he discovered some anomalies.

The wounds on the skeletons didn't look like they were caused by wild beasts.

Some bones had clean cuts, as if severed by sharp blades; others bore eerie black marks, as if corroded by some evil art.

Even more bizarrely, there was a hollow where the heart should have been in all the remains.

The hearts were missing.

Li Changsheng's brow furrowed even deeper.

He stood up and continued to sense.

This time, he perceived a faint fluctuation of spiritual power coming from deeper within.

The fluctuation was cold and eerie, carrying a dense scent of blood.

"Let's go."

He said.

The two continued deeper.

The further in they went, the denser the cold aura became.

Eerie blood-colored runes began to appear on the surrounding boulders.

These runes were densely packed, covering entire rocks and emitting a faint, ghostly blood-red light.

"This is the mark of the Blood Fiend Sect."

Lu Yu whispered.

"They are marking their territory."

Li Changsheng nodded and continued forward.

Soon, a wide fissure appeared in the cliff face ahead. It was deep and dark, extending downward like a gaping maw ready to devour anyone who entered.

The stones on the cliff wall beside the fissure also bore runes, glowing with a bloody light.

Li Changsheng and Lu Yu exchanged a look and cautiously entered.

After advancing one or two hundred meters, a relatively open area appeared ahead, and they saw their target.

It was an altar.

The altar wasn't large, about three zhang in diameter, built from massive black stones.

In the center of the altar stood a thick stone pillar, covered in eerie blood-colored runes.

Atop the pillar sat a large Bronze Cauldron filled with a dark red liquid that gave off a heavy scent of blood.

Several figures in black stood around the altar.

People from the Blood Fiend Sect.

The figures in black had their backs to them and were chanting something in low voices. The sounds were deep and eerie, like ghostly wails, making one's skin crawl.

Li Changsheng and Lu Yu looked at each other, both seeing the gravity in the other's eyes.

An altar.

What was the Blood Fiend Sect trying to do by building an altar in Luanshi Ridge?

Just then, one of the figures in black suddenly turned his head.

His face was as pale as paper, his eyes blood-red, and an eerie smile hung on his lips.

"We have guests."