Chapter 239: Ancient Tomb

Very quickly, the two reached the corner of the temple wall.

Li Yan simply shot Sha Lifei a look. Sha Lifei immediately drew his long blade and snuck along the wall, crouching as he approached the temple gate.

Meanwhile, Li Yan squatted, unleashed hidden force, and sprang high into the air. Bracing his left hand against the courtyard wall, he vaulted onto the rooftop. As he balanced in the fine rain, he formed a hand seal and drew in a deep breath. In an instant, the situation inside the temple immediately became clear to him.

The two fake monks were still preparing food in the kitchen. It was already noon, and even Li Yan himself was beginning to feel hungry, let alone the thieves working in the rear courtyard. The food they were preparing consisted entirely of the temple's own rice, flour, porridge, and vegetables. Clearly, the group had come in such haste that they had not even brought provisions.

Li Yan wasted no time. Keeping low, he moved quickly across the rooftop, pulled two throwing knives from his waist, then leaped down.

While still in midair, he flicked his wrists and hurled both knives. He had infused them with hidden force, making their power astonishing. Combined with his divine ability to pinpoint his targets, his skill with throwing knives was no weaker than that of many hidden weapon experts.

Whoosh! Whoosh!

The knives tore through the curtain of rain and shot into the kitchen.

At the same moment Li Yan landed, the two thieves inside collapsed with a pair of thuds. The knives had pierced directly into their skulls, spraying brain matter everywhere.

Li Yan could not be bothered with them. He quickly reached the temple gate and gently lifted the bar, allowing Sha Lifei to slip inside. The two exchanged a glance and immediately crept toward the rear courtyard.

Upon seeing the well, Li Yan gestured as though shooting someone in the head, then pointed to the side. Sha Lifei instantly understood. He hurried to a narrow gap beside the wall and crouched down, placing his blade nearby before taking out his flintlock and ammunition pouch, both wrapped in oil paper.

He tore open a powder packet, poured a little into the priming pan, and emptied the rest into the barrel. Then, he pulled out the ramrod and firmly packed the powder and ball into the barrel.

The entire sequence of movements was extremely practiced. Then, he settled back into the gap and waited.

It was a life-or-death fight, and they had no idea whether the other side had any real experts. Naturally, they would use their ace weapon whenever possible.

Sha Lifei was effectively acting as a sniper. This was a method of coordination the two had worked out on the road.

Li Yan, meanwhile, crouched beside the well, grabbed the rope hanging above it, and shook it back and forth.

Jingle, jingle!

A faint bell rang below and soon, the well rope pulled taut and began trembling continuously.

The same man from earlier climbed up, panting heavily, and immediately cursed, "Just lower it with the well rope! Why make me–"

Before he could finish, Li Yan sprang upright and reached out. He seized him by the throat, lifted him bodily into the air, and slammed him onto the ground.

Li Yan used a clever application of force, hammering the man just beneath his jaw. He was unconscious before he even hit the ground. Li Yan quickly dragged him over to the corner.

As he dragged the man over, Sha Lifei immediately stepped forward, grabbed a nearby rope, bound the man tightly from head to toe, and stuffed a rag firmly into his mouth.

The two worked together smoothly and efficiently.

Li Yan then returned to the well, formed a hand seal, and inhaled deeply. His brows immediately furrowed.

It turned out that the underground passage was cut into the wall of the well, less than half a chi above the waterline, and slanted downward into the earth. Judging from the angle, it went quite deep. The entrance was also extremely narrow, only wide enough for one person to pass at a time.

Just as Li Yan was considering how to proceed, a sudden change occurred below.

Rustle, rustle, rustle!

A flood of centipedes poured out of the tunnel, each one as long as a palm. Their bodies were glossy black and gave off a sharp, foul, fishy stench as they rapidly climbed the walls of the well. They moved incredibly quickly and reached the top almost instantly.

Another insect controller?

Li Yan frowned and rapidly retreated while activating his Three Talents Demon-Suppressing Coin tassel, using its baleful aura to drive the venomous creatures back.

He already had experience dealing with things like these. If he had the Thundercloud Divine Drum, he could have killed them with the drumbeats, or used the Demon Gourd to suppress them. Any other method would be inefficient and troublesome.

Of course, the most direct solution was to kill the person controlling them. Once that happened, the venomous insects would lose their commands and descend into chaos.

As expected, the insects were merely intended to force him back. The moment the centipedes surged out, a figure suddenly shot from the tunnel below.

The newcomer's movement skills were quite good. He did not even bother climbing the rope, instead twisting his body in midair, kicking off the slick walls of the well from side to side, then vaulting out.

A gunshot cracked through the air, followed by the acrid odor of gunpowder.

The figure staggered and nearly fell back into the well. He barely managed to turn in midair before taking cover behind the well to avoid being in Sha Lifei’s line of fire.

He roared furiously, "A firearm?! Who the hell are you?!"

The newcomer was a scar-faced man dressed in a black robe smeared with mud. He clutched his lower abdomen, his face twisted with hatred.

In the distance, Sha Lifei calmly began reloading.

However, Li Yan frowned. The man was merely a skilled Dark Jin Realm martial artist. He was not the one controlling the venomous insects. The centipedes were still crawling all around him. They were still too intimidated by the Three Talents Demon-Suppressing Coin tassel to approach Li Yan.

Li Yan did not waste words. He spun his blade around and launched forward.

The scar-faced man had been shot in the abdomen. Though the wound was not fatal, the pain was severe. His vision blurred for just an instant, and Li Yan was already standing before him.

The man's expression changed drastically. He had barely begun to move when a heavy blow struck his head. Darkness ate away at his vision as he quickly lost consciousness.

At the same time, the venomous centipedes began scurrying wildly through the courtyard.

Sha Lifei cursed from afar, "Damn it!"

He leaped upward, planted a foot on the stone roller beside the woodshed, and jumped onto the roof. The greatest weakness of a flintlock was damp gunpowder. With no other choice, Sha Lifei opened his oil-paper umbrella and resumed his firing position beneath it.

Li Yan returned to the well and took two black pellets from his waist. He had obtained these Thunderfire Pills from the Taixuan Orthodox Sect. Once thrown, they could burst with an intense flash and thick smoke. It was perfect to deal with the situation they were in.

After lighting them with a fire striker, Li Yan flicked his wrist, sending both pellets into the tunnel, where they rolled rapidly down the sloping passage.

Crackle! Bang!

Brilliant flashes erupted underground, followed by billowing smoke.

"Ah! My eyes!"

Chaos instantly erupted below, with screams and curses ringing out. The men had been excavating a tomb underground, and at most had a few candles for light. The sudden flashes of light left many of them temporarily blinded.

Worse still, the underground passage was a sealed space where the air was already stale and thin. The pungent smoke released by the Thunderfire Pills quickly became unbearable, and the men scrambled over one another trying to escape.

The cultivator controlling the insects had clearly been affected as well. With his technique interrupted, the centipedes throughout the courtyard immediately lost all order. Some scurried everywhere in confusion, while others began crawling back down the well.

Once these venomous creatures were freed, they became savage and frenzied, immediately swarming over several of the men who had just emerged.

"Ah!"

"Third Oldie Ba, what the hell are you doing?!"

The men screamed as they were repeatedly stung, then fell into the water and began thrashing about.

Li Yan narrowed his eyes, keeping his eyes on the tunnel entrance. The moment a mud-covered old man climbed out, Li Yan snapped his wrist. With a wet thud, a throwing knife buried itself into the back of the old man's skull.

Once the cultivator controlling the venomous insects died, the centipedes acted completely on instinct. Some continued biting and stinging wildly inside the well, while others quickly scattered, vanishing beneath the courtyard walls and into the vegetable garden.

This group of Ghost Sect thieves were not weak. They had one skilled Dark Jin Realm martial artist, one cultivator adept at controlling insects, and a group of desperate outlaws. They could easily be considered an elite squad.

Unfortunately for them, they had encountered Li Yan. Their spells, abilities, and weapons were all countered in one way or another, leaving them almost no chance to resist from beginning to end.

Li Yan wasted no time. He walked up to the scar-faced man, and ruthlessly broke the man’s arms and legs.

The intense pain jolted him awake. "Ah! Fuck your..."

Smack! Smack!

Before the scar-faced man could finish cursing, Li Yan slapped him twice, one from each side. Stars burst before his eyes; blood filled his mouth; and several teeth went flying.

Li Yan asked coldly, "Who are you?"

"Damn it, kill me or cut me up, do whatever you want!"

Blood dripped from the scar-faced man's mouth, but his eyes still shone with ferocity. He showed no fear at all. Li Yan narrowed his eyes and suddenly thrust out his left hand.

Clatter...

The Soul-Hooking Chain shot out with a whistle and bound the man's soul, though Li Yan did not pull it free from his body. In an instant, the scar-faced man went stiff, his pupils instantly losing focus.

Li Yan was in no hurry. He simply waited for several breaths. Being bound by the Soul-Hooking Chain would not kill him, but with his soul partially separated from his flesh, he would experience the horrifying sensation of falling into the depths of the Underworld.

The line between life and death was a place of great terror. The sensation alone was enough to scare most people half to death. Sure enough, when Li Yan finally withdrew the Soul-Hooking Chain, awareness slowly returned to the man's eyes.

He gasped for breath, his face filled with fear. "You... What did you do to me?!"

Li Yan smiled. In the man's eyes, that faint smile looked especially sinister. "I can guarantee that if you waste my time again, you'll learn exactly what it means to be unable to die even when you beg for it!

"Speak. Who are you?"

The man's expression shifted several times before he gritted his teeth and said, "Guo Peng, Deputy Head of the Chaoshan Association."

"That's all?"

"That's all!"

Without another word, Li Yan unleashed the Soul-Hooking Chain again.

This time, when the man regained consciousness, he was already on the verge of breaking down. "What the hell do you want?! If you've got the guts, just kill me!"

Li Yan said coldly, "What position do you hold in the Ghost Sect?"

The moment he heard the name, panic flickered in the scar-faced man's eyes. His expression shifted uncertainly.

But when he saw Li Yan preparing to act again, he hurriedly blurted, "Wait, wait! I'll talk! I'm an Altar Attendant."

"What kind of position is that?"

"I don’t know much! I only know that the sect is organized around separate branch altars. Each branch altar has a Sacrificial Master, a Ritual Master, Altar Attendants, and laborers, enough to carry out an entire sacrifice ceremony on its own.

"The Sacrificial Master is in charge of organizing everything. The Ritual Masters are all cultivators, and are responsible for opening the altar. The Altar Attendants capture human sacrifices, stand guard, and protect the altar, while the laborers handle miscellaneous work.

"As for what exactly we are doing, or who is above us, only the Sacrificial Masters know. If we ask even one extra question, we're put to death."

Li Yan asked coldly, "What benefit is there in killing people and sacrificing them to ghosts that makes you all this deranged?"

Guo Peng hesitated before lowering his voice. "I was gravely ill, and a human sacrifice cured me. They also promised to teach me immortal arts, and said that in the future I could live forever."

Li Yan sneered, unsurprised in the slightest. "Live forever?"

Power, wealth, beauty, strength... There are always people willing to risk everything to satisfy their desires.

Even if someone could resist all of those, immortality alone was enough to drive people mad. Since ancient times, emperors, generals, ministers, sorcerers, and great experts beyond counting had gone to extraordinary lengths in pursuit of immortality.

Li Yan wasted no time and continued questioning him. "Who are the Sacrificial Master and Ritual Masters?"

Guo Peng replied, "There is only one Sacrificial Master here, our Chaoshan Association leader, Lu Yuan. The Ritual Masters and Altar Attendants operate in pairs. Third Oldie Ba below was the Ritual Master I was partnered with."

Li Yan continued to interrogate, "What were you digging for down there?"

"An ancient Chu tomb. Lu Yuan ordered us to find a piece of jade. We had just dug it out, and Ritual Master Third Oldie Ba was carrying it..."

As he spoke, the scar-faced man suddenly went stiff. He stared blankly past Li Yan, his eyes filling with terror.

Li Yan frowned and spun around, only to see nothing behind him. There was only the misty rain falling on the vegetable leaves, producing a soft rustling sound. Even with his divine ability, Li Yan detected nothing unusual.

However, the scar-faced man looked as though he had seen something unimaginably terrifying. His entire body trembled; cold sweat poured from his forehead; and his teeth chattered uncontrollably.

Li Yan grabbed him by the collar and barked, "What do you see?!"

But the man could no longer speak. His whole body had stiffened; his breathing had stopped; and a choking sound came from his throat as his lips rapidly turned dark blue.

Li Yan could suddenly smell a cold and bloody current of yin killing qi suddenly appear around the left side of the man's chest.

A curse!

Li Yan hurriedly pulled out the Divine Tiger Token, preparing to cast a protection spell. The Northern Emperor Protection did not simply protect the caster. Everything within three chi around him was also covered by its protection.

However, it was already too late. The man suddenly coughed up a mouthful of blood and went completely still.

That strange yin killing qi rapidly dissipated as well.

Li Yan's eyes turned cold. With one slash of his blade, he split open the man's chest, but the sight inside made his pupils contract.

The man's heart had already stopped beating. But it had been marked by a black claw print, long and sharp, with only four fingers. It did not resemble a human hand at all. The heart itself had been crushed and twisted out of shape.

What a vicious curse!

Li Yan immediately sensed something was wrong. He sprang to his feet and rushed toward the other bound captive.

But he was still too late. That man's face had also turned ashen blue, his eyes filled with terror as he stared fixedly ahead, already completely lifeless.

When Li Yan cut open his chest, the same black claw print was visible on the heart.

Sha Lifei also jumped down from the roof beam. Seeing the scene, he sucked in a sharp breath. "What kind of evil art is this?"

Li Yan said gravely, "These idiots were cursed the moment they joined the Ghost Sect, and they didn't even know it. The Ghost Sect has already noticed what happened here. This place is no longer safe. Let me retrieve something, then we leave immediately."

With that, he reached the well in a few quick steps and jumped in.

Still in midair, Li Yan clamped the well rope between his legs and slid downward headfirst in a posture resembling a scorpion crawling backward along a wall. When he was close to the water, he suddenly tightened his legs and stopped.

Sure enough, everyone in the water was already dead. Some had been killed by the venomous centipedes, while others were the same as the two above, their eyes filled with terror and their lips dark blue. They had clearly been killed by the curse.

The insect-controlling cultivator had also long since gone stiff.

Li Yan sniffed lightly, and a strange look flashed in his eyes. He removed the leather pouch from the sorcerer's waist and took out a piece of jade. The blood-red object was shaped like a short, squat rectangular pillar, round on the inside and square on the outside. It was extremely ancient, its surface already mottled with age.

A jade cong!

Li Yan happened to recognize it. In ancient times, the jade cong, bi, gui, zhang, huang, and hu were the six ritual jade objects known collectively as the "Six Auspicious Jades," specifically used in sacrifices to Heaven, Earth, ghosts, and gods.

Strangely enough, he could not detect any astral or killing qi from it.

What did the Ghost Sect want this thing for?

Li Yan put away the blood-red jade cong, looked toward the dark tunnel entrance, then swung on the rope and used the momentum to enter.

The passage sloped downward for more than three zhang. It was a sealed space, and because of the Thunderfire Pills he had thrown earlier, thick, pungent smoke still filled the air. Water had also accumulated across the floor.

After landing, Li Yan immediately grasped the Divine Tiger Token, formed a hand seal, and stepped in the formation of the Big Dipper. Yin winds instantly surged around him, sweeping the billowing smoke entirely out through the tunnel entrance.

Once the air had cleared somewhat, Li Yan picked up a candle from the ground and lit it with his fire striker. As the space around him was illuminated, he found himself in a strange burial chamber.