Chapter 35

“Li… Uncle Junior Master, could it be that… you’re overthinking this?” Ni Jin Xuan asked nervously, tugging at the edge of Lin Du’s cloak.

Yuan Ye and Yan Qing both shook their heads simultaneously, then turned to Lin Du.

“Young Master” suspicion is not just baseless speculation,” Yan Qing said, being slightly older than the others and coming from a small family in Zhong Zhou. Despite choosing the path of blade cultivation, he had read many books from a young age and had a more logical thought process compared to his junior brother and sisters.

After the small world collapsed and drifted in the void, it collided with this realm and was discovered by Zhong Zhou sects. Since the discoverer happened to be a senior cultivator, several sects collaborated to develop it, and other sects paid a fee to use it for their disciples’ training, making it a secret realm for Zhong Zhou sect disciples.

This small world was famously known as a secret realm with a low death rate for low-level cultivators.

He pursed his lips. “As far as I know, out of the seven expeditions, fewer than two hundred people were lost, and many of those deaths clearly didn’t occur in the desert.”

Lin Du was naturally sensitive to numbers, with almost perfect memory, while Yan Qing’s more mature thinking quickly aligned with hers.

“Among those who left earlier… it’s very likely that something went wrong,” Lin Du added. “Or to put it another way, among those who returned, there are impostors.”

Yuan Ye gasped, his eyes widening. “Impostors?”

“Incarnations,” Yan Qing explained, adding, “The willow demon consumed their flesh, scattering their souls. There’s a secret technique involving willow branches called ‘Willow Branch Bone Replacement,’ which allows willow branches to replace and heal broken bones. According to ancient texts, a highly cultivated willow demon can form a flesh-and-blood body. After consuming humans, the willow branches can transform into the body of the person it consumed.”

What the willow demon swallowed were humans, but what it spat out, though identical in appearance, were actually impostors.

This was all part of a grand scheme.

The resentment from the spirits caused the red willow to become demonic, and the malice it nurtured fed the willow demon. Meanwhile, the spirits beneath it entered the bodies created by the willow branches, adopting new identities.

When the realm gate opened, these impostors, posing as Zhong Zhou disciples, would leave. After all, the willow demon only consumed humans, not their disciple tokens or storage rings.

Lin Du and Yan Qing exchanged a glance, both seeing the deep concern in each other’s eyes.

Yuan Ye cursed under his breath, “And to think I was considering playing a tune to help them pass on peacefully.”

Lin Du lowered her eyes. “It’s not impossible. We should go down and take a look.”

Yuan Ye hesitated, slowing down as he reached for his erhu.

Ni Jin Xuan, worried, suggested, “Uncle Junior Master, you don’t look well. Maybe we should rest first?”

“Before that group arrives and makes a mess, we should investigate the scene first. Otherwise, when they come to gawk and take a share, they might trample all these skulls to pieces…” Lin Du said, glancing at the small black dots scattered in the distance, rapidly approaching like ants.

Yan Qing agreed, “I’ll go down first. Uncle Junior Master, be careful.”

Lin Du chuckled, “I’m not made of paper, don’t worry.”

Yuan Ye muttered quietly, “Uncle Junior Master can still uproot a thousand-year-old willow demon.”

Lin Du sighed, “I didn’t, I wasn’t… never mind.”

Yan Qing was the first to leap down with his blade, followed closely by Lin Du. Ni Jin Xuan clung to Lin Du’s cloak and jumped after her, while Yuan Ye scratched his head, mumbled something under his breath, and followed suit.

The pit was extremely deep, and even with the use of spiritual power to slow their descent, their joints ached from the impact.

As soon as they landed, Lin Du frowned. “Such heavy Yin energy.”

The Yin energy in her bones hadn’t dissipated yet, making her instinctively wrap her cloak tighter, but it was no use.

An ice block remains cold, even if covered.

The underground area resembled a city. They had landed in what seemed to be the central square, where a table, used for offerings, stood. In front of the table sat a skeleton, still in a meditative posture despite its flesh having long decayed.

Lin Du glanced around, noticing it was likely an altar.

Surrounding the altar was a dense formation of sitting skeletons, numbering in the hundreds.

“Did all these people die sitting here?” Ni Jin Xuan whispered, taking in a sharp breath. She hadn’t looked down earlier, so now coming face-to-face with so many skeletons was unsettling.

Yuan Ye, who had lost his balance during the descent, fell forward, landing directly in the lap of one of the skeletons. The impact caused a domino effect, with the neatly arranged skeletons collapsing one after another, scattering across the ground.

Lin Du, witnessing this, was at a loss for words.

Didn’t I just say something about this?

Yan Qing, who had been examining the items on the altar, turned around at the commotion, closed his eyes for a moment, and then silently questioned the lineage of the royal family.

The young man, sprawled before the ribcage, with his hands still clutching two broken arm bones, looked up and realized he had made a grave mistake.

“L… Uncle Junior Master, I… just got a bit weak in the legs, but no worries, we can still count the skulls as before. Look how neatly arranged this skull is…”

Lin Du nodded, “If you put your skull there, it would be just as neat.”

Yuan Ye struggled to stand, wearing a pained expression. “I’m sorry. But look, there are still a few that haven’t scattered.”

Yan Qing approached the skeleton in the central position by the offering table. As soon as he reached out, the skeleton crumbled into dust.

In an instant, it disintegrated.

Lin Du pressed her hand to her forehead. Out of the four of them, they had somehow ended up with a pair of bumbling fools.

Yan Qing paused for a moment before retracting his hand, “If I said I didn’t even touch it, would you believe me, Uncle Junior Master?”

Lin Du nodded absentmindedly, “If you say so, I’ll believe you.”

Yan Qing felt a bit wronged, “I really didn’t touch it.”

Suddenly, there was another crashing sound. Lin Du frowned, looking in the direction of the noise, expecting to see another blunder.

But there was no one.

Lin Du’s expression grew serious.

Yan Qing, sensing an opportunity to justify himself, spoke loudly, “See, Uncle Junior Master, I told you…”

Before Yan Qing could finish his sentence, another skeleton disintegrated.

Yan Qing’s voice trembled, as if the erhu’s tune had been abruptly cut off by a teacher.

Lin Du narrowed her eyes. “Could it be that your loud voice frightened the skeleton?”

As soon as she finished speaking, another skeleton fell apart.

Ni Jin Xuan’s eyes widened in fear, her voice trembling, “Uncle Junior Master… Are the ghosts not dispersed yet?”

“What are you afraid of? We’re cultivators, the ones who eliminate ghosts. Unless they’ve become ghost cultivators themselves, ghosts should be afraid of us,” Lin Du said, her head throbbing from the earlier calculations. Seeing Ni Jin Xuan’s frightened expression, she softened her tone.

“Even if they are ghost cultivators, the Heavenly Dao suppression is on the Qin Heart Realm. All four of us are at that level, so it’s us ganging up on them.”

As Lin Du spoke, several more skeletons scattered, leaving only twenty intact.

She suddenly realized something. “Yuan Ye, go and touch those remaining skeletons.”

Yuan Ye hesitated but went over and touched a few of the remaining skeletons.

They did not disintegrate.

“Apply more force.”

Yuan Ye slapped one of the skulls with a loud smack.

The skeleton remained unmoved.

Yuan Ye yelped in pain, rubbing his stinging hand.

“Did you notice anything?” Lin Du asked.

“Yes,” Yan Qing replied, looking at the remaining seated skeletons.

“What did you notice?” Yuan Ye asked innocently.

“Count the skulls scattered on the ground, Yuan Ye,” Lin Du instructed.

Yuan Ye complied and counted the skulls.

“One hundred ninety-six… one hundred ninety-seven. Including the ones at the offering table, there are a total of one hundred ninety-seven skulls, Uncle Junior Master.” Yuan Ye’s face suddenly stiffened. “This number… sounds familiar, doesn’t it, Uncle Junior Master?”

Lin Du looked down and smiled lightly, “Yes, it does sound familiar.”

The one hundred ninety-seven scattered skeletons had lost their Yin power and disintegrated because their spirits were no longer in this realm.

And there were also one hundred ninety-seven skeletons under the willow tree roots.

In other words, a total of one hundred ninety-seven ghosts had emerged from the small world and were blending into their world.

If Lin Du hadn’t broken the formation today, perhaps another twenty ghosts would have gone out with them.

Ghosts mingling in the human realm, resurrecting through evil means.

Previously, it was thought that the vicious willow consumed people, but now it was clear that the real danger was not the willow, but the humans themselves.