Chapter 1224 - 1221: Hei Kui
The chubby boy quickly nodded, knowing his cultivation was insufficient and that it was best not to go down and take risks: "Then you go down, it's too cold here. I'll go back to the belly of the mountain and wait for you. Come out quickly." The chubby boy couldn't help but shrink his hands and shiver his shoulders.
Lin Chuan nodded, his gaze fixed on the hole in the ground, and without hesitation, enveloped himself with True Qi and jumped down.
The bone-chilling wind was kept at bay by the True Qi shield, so Lin Chuan couldn't feel the cold. After falling for the time it takes half an incense stick to burn, Lin Chuan finally landed. As soon as his feet touched the ground, the True Qi shield dissipated, and the piercing cold swept through Lin Chuan's body in an instant. An invisible pressure suddenly appeared without a trace of warning, pressing down like a mountain, causing Lin Chuan's legs to sink into the ground.
This was also a cave, more accurately an underground cavern, pitch black and not visible to the fingers. The invisible pressure in the darkness made it hard for Lin Chuan to breathe, and a vague green light flickered intermittently.
"Damn it, what's going on?" Lin Chuan clenched his teeth, circulating True Qi to resist the invisible pressure.
True Qi surged through his body again, dispelling the cold and resisting the pressure, allowing Lin Chuan to finally move freely. He took out a few Lighting Stones from his storage pouch and placed them in his palm.
The gentle light suddenly spread, dispelling the surrounding darkness. Lin Chuan's eyes immediately narrowed as he realized this area wasn't big, at most the size of a basketball court according to his previous life's perspective.
But in this not-so-large cavern, apart from Lin Chuan, there were a full thirteen people—dead.
And that invisible pressure was released precisely from these thirteen, which could be described as the bodies of dead people.
The thirteen bodies had dry skin clinging tightly to their faces, empty eyes occasionally emanating green light, horrifying beyond measure.
What astounded Lin Chuan even more was that these thirteen corpses were dressed neatly, all in black clothes, black robes, black pants, black shoes, standing straight against the wall, with the light in their eyes giving an icy cold feeling.
"Haha, twelve hundred years have passed, and finally someone has come in. Not bad... not bad..."
A voice emerged, changing Lin Chuan's expression dramatically.
This voice was rich and solid, like an honest farmer speaking, but under such circumstances, no one would care for such things, only bringing horror and caution.
"Who are you? Come out." Lin Chuan raised his guard.
"I don't need to go out because I'm right in front of you, look here." The voice echoed again.
Lin Chuan focused and looked ahead, his brows furrowing.
"Can you see me?" The voice was ethereal, echoing in the cavern.
"Is it you speaking?" Lin Chuan looked at the corpse in front of him.
"It's me." In front of Lin Chuan, only a few meters away, the hollow-eyed corpse suddenly had two black flames appear, looking exceedingly eerie in the dark.
"Who are you?" Lin Chuan asked.
"Who am I?" It pondered: "You may call me 'Black Qu'."
"You've had your question, now it's my turn." Black Qu said: "How did you enter here? What's your relationship with the Puppet Sect?"
Lin Chuan retreated a step cautiously: "I haven't finished my questions yet, who are you? Why are you here, what about the other twelve bodies?"
Black Qu laughed heartily, as if hearing a funny joke: "Just because we haven't appeared on the mainland for a millennium, have people already forgotten us, the thirteen battle puppets of the Puppet Sect?"
It seemed both a question to Lin Chuan and self-mockery.
Thirteen battle puppets?
Lin Chuan frowned, he hadn't heard of this name.
"I am Black Qu, the leader of the thirteen battle puppets of the Puppet Sect. When the Puppet Sect was annihilated, the old sect master hid us here to protect us." Black Qu's voice was filled with reminiscence.
"You are battle puppets, aren't you supposed to fight? Why did you hide when the Puppet Sect was exterminated?" Lin Chuan retorted.
"We are mere puppets, although having thoughts of our own, yet controlled by others. And our battle strength completely depends on the power of the sect master controlling us. At that time, the old sect master was already mentally and physically exhausted, having lost much of his battle strength. The enemy was too powerful, the old sect master didn't want us, the thirteen battle puppets, to vanish between heaven and earth, so he directly controlled our bodies and sealed us here to preserve us."
The black flames in its eyes burned more fiercely, seemingly shifting with its emotions.
Lin Chuan couldn't help acknowledging it.
"Thousands of years ago, the Puppet Sect was undeniably the number one sect on the mainland, with countless geniuses under its command. Wherever the thirteen battle puppets went, no one dared to oppose, no one dared to fight..."
Black Qu's voice was filled with sentimentality and memories: "Yet a tall tree attracts the wind, the Puppet Sect, though strong, was merely a sect of the lower realm. The strongest only had the cultivation of a Heavenly Immortal. Later, the Puppet Sect offended a family in the celestial realm. To destroy the Puppet Sect, the family sent three Heavenly Immortals and one Daluo Golden Immortal to deal with us."
Lin Chuan was taken aback and said, "The Immortal Realm, this is somewhat unbelievable."
Hei Kui sighed and said, "The Three Realms of Heaven, Earth, and Man inherently exist in this parallel space. The so-called Heaven refers to those people who have achieved Unity of Heaven and Man through cultivation from the mortal world. Their consciousness has transcended the cycle of reincarnation within the Three Realms."
At this moment, Lin Chuan suddenly thought of the Human King and the Human Mother, and said, "According to all this, are the Human King Fu Xi and the Human Mother Nuwa considered people of the Heaven Realm?"
Hei Kui replied, "That's right, Human King Fu Xi and Human Mother Nuwa were originally creators of the mortal world. They have long since surpassed life and death. Why, have you seen the two of them?"
Lin Chuan shook his head and said, "I haven't seen them, I've just heard others mention them."
Hei Kui said, "In the Three Realms, many have cultivated to transcend life and death. Among these people, there are also distinctions between good and evil. The chaos in the Underworld this time is because that family is causing trouble."
Lin Chuan curiously asked, "Which family are you referring to?"
Hei Kui said, "This family was originally supposed to be a branch of the Quan Dao Sect, but an extraordinarily talented figure emerged from it, broke away from the Quan Dao Sect, and founded a sect called the Maoshan Tao."
Maoshan Tao, Lin Chuan was stunned. He only knew that the Maoshan Tao was a sect that split from the Quan Dao Sect, but he really wasn't clear about the origins of Maoshan Tao.
Hei Kui continued, "This person was called Qin Ling, who reached the pinnacle of cultivation in just fifty years. However, his ambition was immense, aiming to control the entire Taoist world and the Underworld. The Puppet Sect was originally the largest cultivation sect in the Underworld, but he and his followers swept it clean in a single day. From then on, the Puppet Sect became a branch of the Maoshan Tao."
So that's how it was, Lin Chuan thought to himself.
Hei Kui said, "Qin Ling, despite wanting to unify the Taoist world and the Underworld, faced opposition from many cultivators. The leader of the Quan Dao Sect led the entire sect into a great battle against Qin Ling, resulting in the collapse of the Quan Dao Sect overnight, and Qin Ling vanished without a trace."
Upon hearing these words, Lin Chuan was greatly shocked. He had always wanted to understand how the Quan Dao Sect collapsed overnight, but never figured it out. He didn't expect it to be related to the Maoshan Tao.
...
Ye Tiansheng, under Qin Zhengxiong's persistent persuasion, finally agreed to let that person come to examine his illness. However, since he was feigning illness, if by chance that person discovered he was pretending, wouldn't it be exposed?
Ye Tiansheng summoned his servant, instructing them to lead Qin Zhengxiong to the living room to wait, and then hurriedly asked Ye Ling to bring Feng'er in to discuss a plan.
Once Feng'er came in, she said to Ye Tiansheng, "I can now be one hundred percent sure that this person is the one trying to frame you."
Ye Tiansheng was slightly taken aback and asked, "Why are you so certain?"
Feng'er replied, "The cold aura emanating from this person is very similar to the cold aura around your home, which is why I dare to conclude so."
Ye Tiansheng contemplated and said, "Now he wants to find someone to examine my illness, and the person is about to arrive. What should I do?"
Upon hearing Ye Tiansheng's words, Feng'er's face revealed a slight smile as she said, "When the person arrives to examine you, find a way to lead them outside. I have my own methods to deal with this."
For the safety of himself and his family, Ye Tiansheng had no choice but to follow Feng'er's instructions.
About half an hour later, sure enough, someone arrived. This person was dressed in a Taoist robe, appearing not very old, about thirty or forty years old, and was somewhat plump.
When this person entered the villa, Ye Tiansheng was already aware. He rose from the bed, still pretending to look sickly, and walked downstairs.
Qin Zhengxiong and his rather flamboyant secretary were whispering about something, and upon seeing Ye Tiansheng come down, they quickly stopped talking.
"Brother Tiansheng, why did you come down?" Qin Zhengxiong appeared somewhat baffled when he saw Ye Tiansheng suddenly come downstairs and addressed him.
Ye Tiansheng forced a smile on his pale face and said, "Mr. Qin, I suddenly felt a bit restless. Could you accompany me for a stroll outside?"
Although Qin Zhengxiong's face was sporting a smile, the expression in his eyes seemed somewhat off as he said, "Brother Tiansheng, the person I told you about to examine you is about to arrive, so going outside might not be appropriate."
Ye Tiansheng smiled and said, "What's inappropriate about it? You see, the sun is shining brightly outside, which might help lift my spirits, don't you think?"
Just after saying a couple of words, the Taoist entered.
Naturally, Ye Tiansheng remembered Feng'er's instructions. Immediately, along with Qin Zhengxiong and the flamboyant secretary, he and the Taoist stepped out of the villa and sat down on the chairs in front of it.
Qin Zhengxiong signaled the Taoist with a look, then addressed Ye Tiansheng, "Brother Tiansheng, this is the person I mentioned to you. Why not let him take a look?"
Just as Ye Tiansheng was about to speak, Feng'er and Ye Ling approached, directly walking over to Ye Tiansheng.
Once Feng'er came over, her eyes fixed on Qin Zhengxiong and the Taoist, without saying a word.