Chapter 1100: Five Skulls

Hei Shi naturally knew what Wu Chang wanted.

The Demon Canon.

It was the secret text preserved through generations by the successive Saintesses of the Demonic Sect.

After the current generation's Saintess died, the place where the Demon Canon had been hidden seemed to become a mystery along with her death.

No matter how they searched, they could not find it.

In the end, Zhao Xiongge, who had shared a romantic relationship with the Saintess, naturally became the prime suspect.

But no matter what methods they used, Zhao Xiongge stubbornly refused to admit he knew where the Demon Canon was.

Threats were useless.

Temptation was useless.

His attitude amounted to a single answer: death if necessary.

Even if they confirmed the Demon Canon was in Zhao Xiongge's hands, so what?

If he simply refused to hand it over, could they really kill him?

If Zhao Xiongge truly was the only person who knew the secret, killing him would mean losing forever any chance of learning where the Demon Canon had gone.

"Too many people are watching him now. If we contact him rashly, I'm afraid we'll arouse suspicion," Hei Shi replied cautiously.

"Given his current situation, Chuan Ying can't keep running to his side all the time either. Niu Youdao is already suspicious by nature. If we become too eager and too accommodating, I'm afraid it'll only make him more suspicious."

"Sacred Venerable, this matter may require time."

Wu Chang still faced the stone relief.

His voice sank.

"This is all Luo Qiu's daughter's doing."

"Ah." Hei Shi sighed.

Who could have imagined Luo Fangfei would suddenly name Niu Youdao and send him into Sacred Realm?

All the preparations they had been brewing outside had instantly gone to waste.

Later, Luo Fangfei had gotten Niu Youdao out again.

Their side had only just begun celebrating that their external plan could resume when they discovered they had rejoiced too early.

Ding Wei brought Niu Youdao back in.

They wanted to intervene, but if Tianmo Sacred Land made too many conspicuous moves over a single Niu Youdao, the other eight factions would inevitably become wary.

The Nine Saints had always guarded against one another.

They were especially vigilant toward Tianmo Sacred Land.

The moment Tianmo Sacred Land made a move, the other Saints would certainly interfere openly or covertly and try to determine what was happening.

Once the other eight sides became involved, the matter would become far more complicated and even more difficult to handle.

When Niu Youdao had been outside Sacred Realm, targeting him and arranging matters had been relatively easy.

Inside Sacred Realm, it was difficult to do much at all.

Worse, Niu Youdao was incapable of keeping still.

He had offended people almost immediately after arriving, drawing attention from every side and making it even more difficult to approach him.

The steady clang of hammer against stone began again.

As Wu Chang swung the hammer, he said, "That bastard has offended people. Keep an eye on him. Don't let anyone kill him."

Hei Shi said, "He's difficult to watch."

"That fellow waves a chicken feather as though it were an imperial command. He's constantly running east and west all over Sacred Realm and disappears without warning at the slightest opportunity."

"With other people also paying attention to him, it's inconvenient for us to act."

Wu Chang asked, "In other words, there's nothing you can do properly?"

Hei Shi hurriedly replied, "This subordinate does have another idea."

"Speak."

"Why not have someone force him into a dead end first? Then we can step in and save him."

"We might as well state our condition directly and demand that he cooperate with us."

"If he knows we can protect his life, perhaps the result will be much simpler."

Wu Chang said, "Among the nine factions, we were probably the first to notice him. After watching him for this long, do you still not understand that he isn't so easily controlled?"

"He is not someone willing to be controlled by others. He'll think of every possible method to break free."

"Once we reveal ourselves, once he grasps even a trace of the situation, he'll seize the opportunity to stir up trouble."

"This matter cannot become known to the other eight factions."

Hei Shi said, "We might as well test him first. If he refuses to cooperate, kill him directly and try approaching the Shangqing Sect instead."

"Shangqing Sect?" Wu Chang said.

"Do you think I need you to remind me?"

"Zhao Xiongge has spent so many years among the Demonic Sect and still refuses to reveal even half a word to them. Do you really think he would tell Shangqing Sect?"

"Shangqing Sect is where his affections lie. It is not where he places his hopes."

"Why did I choose Niu Youdao?"

"You don't understand the kind of man Zhao Xiongge is."

"Only someone whose goals align with Zhao Xiongge's own has any chance of making him reveal the secret."

"I've looked over everyone connected to him, and only this Niu Youdao appears to possess that possibility."

"So we still need to invest more effort in Niu Youdao. Understand?"

"Sacred Venerable sees clearly. This subordinate understands." Hei Shi bowed.

Wu Chang said nothing more.

He devoted himself entirely to swinging the hammer and carving the stone.

Sweat streamed from his body.

His long, disheveled hair clung wetly against his skin, and the muscles across his body bunched fiercely each time he swung.

Hei Shi slowly withdrew.

In truth, there was one thing he never quite understood about this Sacred Venerable.

Why did Wu Chang insist on reducing himself to the level of a common laborer?

When he carved, he did not use spiritual power.

He relied purely on the physical strength of his flesh and blood, cutting away at the mountain bit by bit.

The enormous hollow carved through this mountain had all been excavated by Wu Chang alone over the years.

He could have summoned others to do the work at any time.

Yet he refused.

He insisted on doing it himself.

At this rate, it looked almost as though he intended to hollow out the entire mountain with his own hands...

The clanging inside the Demon Palace continued without end.

Outside, the mass graveyard buried beneath heavy yin energy was utterly silent.

Not even an insect chirped.

Within that dead stillness, a flock of crows roosting in a large tree suddenly burst into flight.

Under the moonlight, their harsh cawing made two moving figures below freeze in alarm.

Neither dared move again.

Only after the flapping and cawing subsided did the two carefully survey the surroundings.

When no other movement appeared, they finally relaxed.

They flashed down beneath the tree and looked upward.

Neither had realized beforehand that a flock of crows was hiding among the branches.

"Where were they buried?" one man asked.

The speaker was Wu Fei.

There were probably close to a thousand crude graves scattered around them.

Most of the people buried in this mass graveyard had committed some offense.

No one erected grave markers for them.

There were only nameless mounds of earth.

Finding a specific grave among them was not easy.

The other man was a low-ranking worker from Tianmo Sacred Land.

Normally, he handled miscellaneous tasks.

When there were corpses to bury, he sometimes handled those as well.

Wu Fei had found an opportunity to drink with him.

While reminiscing about old times, he casually mentioned a few names.

The corpse-burier happened to say that he had personally buried those people after they died.

What followed naturally fell into place.

Wu Fei found an excuse, and that was why the two men now stood here.

The corpse-burier looked around.

"It was more than ten years ago. I can't remember it clearly all at once."

"I remember that five people, including Xu Ziling, were buried together that time."

"When we buried them, I could see this tree when I looked up. It should be somewhere around this tree."

"Give me a moment to think carefully."

Wu Fei watched the surroundings vigilantly. "You're really something. You buried them yourself, yet you can't even remember where."

The man said, "Of course I remembered. But only for a while. Who could remember forever?"

"They brought the bodies over. Wherever we happened to be, if there was a patch of empty ground that looked suitable, we dug a pit and buried them. We didn't think much about it."

Wu Fei said impatiently, "Hurry up."

The corpse-burier began flashing between the grave mounds.

Every time he landed, he looked back toward the large tree, apparently searching for the position preserved in his memory.

After quite some time, he finally crouched beside one grave mound and began examining it.

Wu Fei, still keeping watch on the surroundings, noticed and quickly flashed over.

"Found it?"

The man crouching on the ground nodded. "Yes. They should be buried here."

Wu Fei's expression darkened. "What do you mean, 'should be'? I don't want 'should be.' I need certainty."

"I haven't forgotten old ties. I want to find them another place and give them a proper burial."

"If I dig up the wrong people and end up worshiping someone else, wouldn't that become a joke? Worse, I'd be letting them down."

The corpse-burier pressed a hand to the ground again and used spiritual power to inspect beneath the earth.

After a while, he confirmed it.

"Mr. Wu, there's no mistake. This is the place."

Wu Fei examined the grave mound. "There's not a single marker. How can you be certain?"

The corpse-burier explained, "First, I still have some impression of the general location."

"Second, look at how far this mound has sunk. It's nearly level with the surrounding ground. This grave has been here for years. It definitely isn't new."

"And there's another point."

"Back then, we casually dug one pit and threw all five people into it together. There shouldn't be another grave around here where five people were buried in the same pit at the same time."

"So there can't be a mistake."

Wu Fei immediately crouched down as well and pressed a hand to the ground.

Using spiritual power, he inspected what lay beneath.

Sure enough, there were five skeletons underground.

Judging by what the man had said, it truly should be the correct grave.

Wu Fei immediately gestured.

"Then dig. Quickly. The longer we stay, the more chances something goes wrong."

The two went to work together, using spiritual power to strip away the soil.

When the five skeletons that had lain underground for more than a decade finally emerged, Wu Fei went blank.

Five bodies had been buried together.

Their flesh had long since rotted away, leaving nothing but bones.

There was no way to tell which was Chu Weicheng, which was Xu Ziling, and which was Guang He.

Wu Fei immediately asked, "Can you tell which three are them?"

The corpse-burier replied, "Mr. Wu, now you're making things difficult for me. How could anyone tell?"

Wu Fei frowned.

His head began to ache.

The corpse-burier added, "Mr. Wu, if you're doing a good deed and reburying them properly, things have already come this far. You may as well take the other two along too. It doesn't cost anything."

Wu Fei sighed. "Fine. Help me get them out."

The corpse-burier had just turned around when his body abruptly stiffened and his eyes went wide.

Wu Fei had struck a finger into his back without warning.

Before the man could react, Wu Fei reached forward, seized his neck, and twisted.

Crack!

The neck snapped.

Wu Fei shoved the corpse aside, then rapidly removed the skulls from all five skeletons and bundled them together.

After leaping out of the grave pit, he quickly filled it back in.

He buried the corpse-burier's body there as well.

Once everything was finished, Wu Fei surveyed the surroundings, hoisted the bundle containing five skulls, and rapidly flew away.

He had found what he needed.

But he had no way to tell which skull belonged to which of the three men.

He could only throw the problem to Niu Youdao and let him find his own solution...

...

Several days later, Niu Youdao once again arrived at the place where he had previously met Wu Fei in secret.

The cloth bundle was opened.

Five skulls lay before him.

Niu Youdao stared in surprise. "Why are there five?"

"Sir, there was nothing I could do. Five people were buried together at the time..." Wu Fei launched into a stream of grievances and explained what had happened.

This made things somewhat troublesome.

Niu Youdao frowned, picked up one skull, and examined it in his hand.

It felt cold to the touch.

The bone carried a faint bluish-black cast.

He nodded slightly.

"Sure enough, these are things that have been buried in a yin-heavy place for many years."

Then he looked up again.

"Can you be certain the three men are among these five?"

"That shouldn't be a problem..."

Wu Fei repeated what the corpse-burier had told him.

Niu Youdao nodded. "You've worked hard."

With that, he wrapped the cloth around the skulls again.

Wu Fei watched eagerly from the side. "Sir, I've done what you asked. About that woman..."

Niu Youdao lifted the bundle.

"Don't worry. I keep my word."

"But first I need to confirm that what you found truly is what I need."

Wu Fei nodded repeatedly. "All right. Then I'll wait for Sir's news."

The two parted there and quietly returned by separate routes.

...

Another beetle.

Standing beneath the archway during his next rotation at Wuliang Garden, Ao Feng noticed it.

It looked like another message from the Demon Fox race.

He glanced at the stalk of grass he had been idly playing with in his hand.

[End of Chapter 1100]