“It must have been left by the cultivators who entered this place,” Gu Baiying said, his gaze fixed on the cave walls.
“Cultivators?” Men Dong looked around. “Where are the signs of any cultivators?”
Gu Baiying turned the spear and pointed at the cave wall ahead. “Here.”
The lighting talisman on the spear illuminated the wall, revealing numerous ghostly traces of battles—sword and spear marks, all left by spiritual artifacts on the stone wall, as if a fierce melee had just occurred here recently.
The marks were dense and chilling.
Earlier, these details had gone unnoticed, but under the illumination of the talisman, everything was laid bare. The traces were chaotic, as if made in a frantic flurry, and it was clear from just a glance how perilous the situation had been.
Men Dong couldn’t help but shudder. “What happened here before?”
No one knew for sure.
Suddenly, the Xiao Yuan Pearl in Zanxing’s chest flickered, and her body moved uncontrollably a few steps forward. Gu Baiying shouted, “Be careful!” and grabbed her arm to stop her from moving further. Zanxing pointed ahead. “Look.”
Among the scattered spiritual artifacts, a small mountain had appeared in the forefront.
This ‘mountain’ was made from piled-up spiritual artifacts. More precisely, it was a mountain of swords. These swords, both broken and new, were densely stacked together. In the dim light, they glinted with a cold, chilling gleam.
“It’s a Sword Mound,” Gu Baiying frowned.
In the Daoist cultivation world of Duzhou, there were indeed several famous Sword Mounds, but he had never heard of one underground.
“Could it be that the spiritual artifacts we saw on the way down were summoned by this Sword Mound?”
Spiritual artifacts without their masters would naturally seek a resting place, which could be a Sword Mound. But if that’s the case, what about the scratches all over the cave?
As he pondered this, a rustling sound suddenly emerged. Gu Baiying called out, “Who’s there?”
From the shadow beneath the Sword Mound, a sword fell at an angle, causing the commotion. Mu Cengxiao walked over and his gaze suddenly froze. “There’s someone!”
In this pitch-black place, how could there be someone?
The group cautiously approached and found a person sitting in the shadows next to the Sword Mound.
However, this person seemed to have been dead for quite some time.
It was a skeleton, whose attire was that of a cultivator. Perhaps because the clothes were made of special material, they had not decayed. The skeleton sat with its head bowed, leaning against the cave wall, appearing serene.
“Could this be a disciple from another sect?” Mu Cengxiao wondered.
Gu Baiying remained silent, stepping forward to examine the skeleton’s clothing.
Men Dong, frightened, hid behind Zanxing while clutching Mimi, not daring to come out. Zanxing stood beside Tian Fangfang, staring at the withered skeleton, feeling uneasy.
Gu Baiying searched the skeleton, trying to find any evidence to identify the person. After a while, he didn’t find any other items but did discover a scroll of writing.
“What’s this…” Meng Ying’s gaze fixed on it. “Is this left by this person?”
“Let’s see,” Gu Baiying said, opening the scroll.
Zanxing carefully leaned in to look.
“My name is Zheng Qing, a disciple of the Huanyang Sect in Duzhou. I am eighteen years old. By chance, I obtained a treasure map and came here with my senior brothers in search of a Divine Sword…” The first line read like this.
A Divine Sword? Zanxing was taken aback. The map given to her by the Snake Shaman mentioned the Sacred Tree. How did it turn into a Divine Sword now?
“Huanyang Sect?” Meng Ying pondered for a moment. “That name sounds somewhat familiar.”
In the Daoist cultivation world of Duzhou, there were many sects. Meng Ying spent most of her time practicing sword techniques and didn’t remember all the names.
Gu Baiying continued to read the scroll.
“There was once a kingdom here, called the Yuezhi Kingdom. It was renowned for weapon forging, and there was a swordsmith named Chai Sang who forged a sword called ‘Wuyou’.”
“The Wuyou Sword was forged with the life’s blood of the master swordsmith, possessing boundless divine power and has even developed a sword spirit. Legend has it that this sword is considered a top-grade spiritual weapon. Chai Sang presented this sword to the ruler of the Yuezhi Kingdom, and after the ruler of Yuezhi passed away, the sword was buried as part of the ruler’s funeral, entombed in the royal tomb of the Yuezhi Kingdom.”
“… We have decided to retrieve the Wuyou Sword.”
Upon reading this, Gu Baiying furrowed his brows.
“These disciples of the Huanyang Sect are really bold,” Men Dong said indignantly. “Although cultivators aren’t afraid of ordinary people, digging up the grave of a nation’s ruler is quite unethical!”
“Junior Brother, you’re being narrow-minded,” Tian Fangfang said dismissively. “A top-grade spiritual weapon buried so deep is quite a waste. It’s better for it to see the light of day and benefit the people, and if it can kill a few demonic fiends, so much the better.”
Zanxing thought, …It’s like being shot while lying down.
The text continued: “The master instructed the highest-ranked senior brothers of the sect to set out together and came to the treasure site. Because we needed to go underground, we left the youngest junior brother on the surface to be the contact person. The senior brothers and I entered the cave beneath the giant tree.”
“The cave was very deep and long. We walked for a long time.”
“…We found the sword.”
The record ended abruptly here. Mu Cengxiao asked, “And then?”
At this point, the scroll abruptly ended.
Gu Baiying flipped a few more pages, which were all blank. It seemed that the disciple named Zheng Qing had ended his writing here and didn’t continue.
“According to Zheng Qing, they found the Wuyou Sword,” Zanxing pondered. “But where is the sword now? Where are his other senior brothers? And what about him? Why didn’t he leave and instead died here?”
The dead would not answer. Zheng Qing remained seated quietly, motionless.
“Could it be that his other senior brothers took the sword and left?” Tian Fangfang speculated boldly. “But if he had conflicts with his senior brothers, they might have left him here intentionally, not letting him out?”
“Impossible,” Gu Baiying immediately rejected. “The cave has an exit. He could have left on his own, and…” He paused. “He died by his own hand.”
Died by his own hand?
Gu Baiying moved aside the bones’ clothing and saw a long sword wound on the chest of the skeleton. This was likely the fatal injury.
“But why would he commit suicide when everything seemed fine?” Men Dong was puzzled. “And if he committed suicide, why didn’t his senior brothers take his body away? Why leave him here alone?”
Tian Fangfang said, “I’ve said before that there were conflicts among them. Their relationship must be bad. There was an internal strife!”
Zanxing looked at the withered skeleton, feeling uneasy.
A young cultivator comes to a treasure site in search of a divine sword, filled with anticipation and excitement in his writing. How could he suddenly choose to commit suicide?