Chapter 260: Traces Of The Tiger Demon

"W-What kind of monster is this?"

Even Li Yan had reacted strongly, and Sha Lifei was completely dumbfounded. There was no helping it. The skeleton was simply too sinister. It had no head, yet lumps of bone had grown all over its body, each shaped like a skull. Just looking at it made one's scalp crawl.

But Li Yan soon noticed something was wrong. He carefully stepped forward, drew Earth Breaker, and poked one of the skull-like growths. To everyone's surprise, the thing fell off with a clatter.

Only then did they see clearly that it really was a skull, with a small bronze talisman embedded inside. The metal was already mottled green with verdigris.

The True Martial Palace disciple who possessed Yin Yang Eyes had the Daoist name Yang Chengzi.

He frowned slightly, his expression turning solemn. "I have a rough idea what this object is.

"Back when the Ghost Sect was active in Ezhou during the Great Song, the deity they mainly worshipped was the Lengzheng God. The stranger and more hideous its appearance, the greater the evil god's power. There are records of one of the customs beyond the lakes where people sacrificed humans to ghosts. They would gouge out the eyes of children and women while they were still alive, cut off their ears and noses, bury them in pits, pour boiling water over them, and reduce their flesh to pulp. There was no cruelty they would not commit.

"Judging from this method, they clearly removed the skulls of unborn infants and embedded them into an adult's remains, giving it an extremely heavy resentment. They would first worship it until it transformed into an evil ghost, then cover it with clay and fashion it into an idol.

"Moreover, this person was no ordinary man either. He was probably a mystic path practitioner who had his head cut off before being sacrificed as material for this evil art. This kind of evil god can manifest before people through repeated blood sacrifices and killings. The headless rider was most likely this thing causing trouble, which is why it could vanish after killing someone."

Li Yan felt his stomach churn and could not help cursing, "This Ghost Sect is utterly deranged. They really do deserve to be exterminated!

"It seems the Yu family were originally remnants of the Ghost Sect, and only later joined the Longxiang Army. Whether it's the Longxiang Army or the Heavenly Saint Cult, neither can escape connections with those Ghost Sect remnants."

Wang Daoxuan, however, looked grave. "This thing has been worshipped for nearly a hundred years, and concealed by all sorts of methods the entire time. Clearly, the Ghost Sect valued it greatly. What exactly are they plotting that they would even be willing to bring something like this out and use it?"

At those words, everyone felt an unease settle over them.

Wang Daoxuan was right. As vicious as this thing was, it was also a treasured artifact of the Ghost Sect. It had been secretly worshipped for a century, and was probably close to being fully usable. If the Ghost Sect was willing to expend it, there had to be something of even greater value at stake...

They returned once more to the cells of Dangyang County. The firelight was dim, and the air reeked of sweat and blood.

Clatter!

The man named Cheng Qu had been hoisted up with chains. After seeing the grotesque remains in the old residence, the courthouse runners had shown him no mercy whatsoever. The chains were cinched directly over his wounds, leaving him drenched in blood.

Captain Zheng's face was as cold as ice. He stepped forward, grabbed the stump of Cheng Qu's severed arm, and dug his fingers into the wound as he demanded coldly, "Speak! What exactly are you people trying to do?!"

An iron spike had been driven into Cheng Qu's lower abdomen, making it impossible for him to gather strength and resist. His face was deathly pale from the pain, with cold sweat covering his forehead, yet he still sneered. "You hit like a woman who hasn't eaten. Put some strength into it!"

Captain Zheng snorted and stepped back. At his nod, two squad leaders from the Military Surveillance Department walked forward and began taking various instruments of torture from a wooden chest.

Bamboo splints, branding irons, nail boards... They used them one after another.

The cruelest was something called a brain hoop. It resembled the legendary tightening headband: an iron ring was fitted around the skull, with wooden wedges inserted between the hoop and scalp, then hammered inward so the ring tightened further and further. Taken to the extreme, it could crack the skull open.

Even a man as tough as iron like Cheng Qu could not endure it without screaming and cursing wildly. In the end, he actually fainted from the pain.

However, he had another companion who had been struck in the hip by Li Yan's throwing knife. That man could not withstand the torture and repeatedly begged for mercy before finally beginning to confess.

"What is your name? Where are you from?"

"My name is Wang Qian, from Ganzhou! I originally belonged to the Raft Sect. After robbing and killing merchants, I became wanted by both the authorities and the sect, so I fled into the mountains of Jingchu."

"When did you join the Heavenly Saint Cult?"

"Three years ago."

"Where is the Heavenly Saint Cult's main altar?"

"I truly do not know. There are countless refugee stockades throughout the Jingchu mountains, and almost every hideout has people from the cult hidden inside. Many of them are chaotic and constantly fight among themselves. Whenever jianghu people or practitioners flee there seeking refuge, the Heavenly Saint Cult secretly investigates their backgrounds, then tries to recruit them.

“Once you enter the cult, you have to worship the Heavenly Saint Duke. They hold worship assemblies regularly, with sacrifices and sermons proclaiming his divine power. After enough time, everyone becomes a little mad! Only core members of the cult are allowed into the main altar. But I once heard that the main altar is somewhere in Shennongjia."

"Why weren't you affected?"

"Although I left the Raft Sect, I grew up on rafts since childhood. I only believe in the Raft Drum and Oar Patriarch. I never worshipped this Heavenly Saint Duke. I just pretended to, because I was afraid they'd eliminate me if they found out."

"How many people came to Dangyang this time?"

"About three hundred."

"For what purpose?"

"I truly do not know. The Heavenly Saint Cult has strict rules. No one is allowed to pry into matters at will. If it isn't something you're supposed to know, you absolutely cannot ask. I only know that we were split into three groups after we arrived in Dangyang.

“One group went to meet some Earth Immortal Lady and follow her orders. Another went to compete with some Great King for a treasure. Our group hid in a village outside Dangyang City. Cheng Qu was responsible for everything. I don’t know what exactly we were supposed to do."

"How did you control the evil entity?"

"Cheng Qu was the one who acted. He gathered information inside the city, and whenever necessary, he released carrier pigeons to indicate the target. The actual ritual altar controlling that evil god is inside an underground passage beneath the village. Right, the village is called the Three Mountain Hollow. Everyone there worships the Heavenly Saint Duke. The ritual altar and secret passage are beneath the village ancestral hall."

"What is Cheng Qu's background?"

"His father wasn't Han. He was a captive taken when the Great Xuan exterminated a native tribe. Later, his father was bought by the Cheng family to tend horses. The master of the household took a liking to him, arranged a wife for him, and let him settle down and start a family.

“When Cheng Qu grew up, he entered the Cheng family martial school. He was very talented, but because of his background, they refused to teach him their true techniques. He bore a grudge, killed his master, stole the secret techniques, and fled... I often heard him say that he was some prince of a native tribe. He hates the Great Xuan and the Han people bitterly. Even some people within the Heavenly Saint Cult can't stand him."

"Hmph. You're hardly any better than him!"

The interrogation lasted more than half an hour. The traitor from the Raft Sect could not withstand the torture and ended up revealing quite a lot.

Cheng Qu, however, clearly knew far more. Yet his mouth was extraordinarily tight. He was tortured unconscious several times, then revived with needles and cold water, but never revealed so much as a scrap of information. In the end, he actually went mad.

With a mouth full of shattered teeth and bloody foam spraying everywhere, he laughed crazily. "I am a prince! You people are nothing but the lowborn rabble! This Central Plains will fall into our hands sooner or later!"

Sha Lifei could no longer stand listening and cursed, "You miserable bastard! You grew up in the Divine Continent since you were a child. You probably don't even know where the fuck your original village is. What the hell is wrong with you?"

The only response was crazed laughter.

Wang Daoxuan shook his head slightly. "His heart is trapped by obsession, and his delusion cannot be severed. He won't talk. If he did, it would mean admitting that his entire life was wrong."

Li Yan immediately rose to his feet. "We don't have time to waste! These two have been captured. Even though the city gates are closed, the news may still leak out."

"We'll head to Three Mountain Hollow immediately before the wicked practitioners can escape. Capture a few more of them, and sooner or later we'll get definite answers!"

Everyone knew time was of the utmost importance. They immediately prepared their weapons and ritual implements, mounted their warhorses, and rode toward Three Mountain Hollow.

It was just past the hour of the dragon, and the sky was already fully bright. Normally, the city gates would have been opened long ago by this time. But to prevent any remaining enemy spies within the city from leaking information, the gates remained tightly shut, while hawks were released into the sky to drive away carrier pigeons.

Rumble!

The heavy city gates slowly opened, and more than a hundred mounted riders surged out, heading northwest from Dangyang City.

Dangyang County was higher in the west and lower in the east. The remaining spurs of the Tapa Mountain Range formed branching chains of hills, and Three Mountain Hollow lay in the middle of three such ridgelines.

According to the map, a small river flowed out from the mountains, passed through the village, and continued onward, exactly as the elderly tracker from the Military Surveillance Department had guessed.

The group moved swiftly. In less than an hour, the terrain began to rise, and lush green mountains appeared ahead. By this point, they had already left the official road. Fortunately, there was still an old military road winding around the mountains and leading deep into the range.

Head Constable Yang, who had come along to guide them, explained, "Young Hero Li, many of the mountain people living around here are of mixed native and Han descent. They live in stilt houses and survive through slash-and-burn farming. They're extremely xenophobic in ordinary times. Occasionally, they hunt wild game in the mountains and take it into the city to exchange for needles, thread, iron pots, and other necessities.

"They have their own rules. Even when someone gets killed, they handle it themselves and never report it to the authorities. Don't laugh at us, but these people are wild. Other than when we come to collect grain taxes each year, we really don't dare get too close. We're afraid we might end up dead somewhere in the mountains..."

Head Constable Yang kept rambling as he secretly glanced at Captain Zheng. Truthfully, compared to demons and monsters, he was even more afraid of the Military Surveillance Department.

Captain Zheng saw through him at a glance and said in a deep voice, "Just focus on leading the way. These wicked practitioners are cunning. This isn't your fault."

Only then did Head Constable Yang relax. Smiling, he continued, "Speaking of which, something strange happened around here before. In Ezhou, river bandits are the worst problem, but mountain bandits are no small threat either. In underworld slang, their leaders are called Dragon Mountain Masters.

"A few years ago, there was a Dragon Mountain Master named Wu Long. He was ruthless and vicious, and he had connections with powerful bandits from all over. Even escort agencies had to pay him tribute before crossing these mountains.

"Yichang sent troops to wipe him out, but strangely enough, by the time they found the stronghold, it had already been reduced to ruins. There was blood everywhere, but not a single corpse.

"People said they must have offended the Mountain God..."

"A Mountain God wouldn't kill people for no reason!" Li Yan said solemnly, "The Heavenly Saint Cult has been hiding here for a long time. Those bandits probably got in their way, so they were secretly eliminated.

"Which direction is Three Mountain Hollow?"

Head Constable Yang pointed northwest. "Over there. Just cross this ridge!"

Lu San and Li Yan had long since developed a tacit understanding. Without needing to be told, Lu San gestured, and the hawk shot into the sky to scout ahead.

After all, this was a village infiltrated by the Heavenly Saint Cult. There might be hidden sentries or ambushes. However, after circling once in the sky, the hawk soon began swooping up and down in a distinct pattern.

Lu San's brows immediately furrowed. "Something happened to the village!"

As they came upon the settlement that was surrounded by mountains, they found it in complete ruins. Rows of stilt houses had been burned down, leaving them charred and broken. Many of the wooden buildings also had enormous holes smashed through them. Blood covered the ground everywhere, yet not a single corpse could be seen.

Head Constable Yang stared in shock, a chill rising in his heart. "W-What happened here?"

Li Yan formed the Yang Seal, took a deep breath, and said softly, "What a strong stench of blood and animal musk."

He turned toward the others and asked, "Did any of you find anything?"

Yang Chengzi of True Martial Palace also formed the Yang Seal. A faint gleam seemed to flash in his eyes as he looked in all directions, then shook his head. "No yin souls or vicious ghosts."

The other disciple's ears twitched, and he likewise shook his head. "I can't hear any living creatures."

Li Yan said solemnly, "Looks like it's the one we've been searching for. Everyone, be careful. Brother Lu, send some rats out."

Lu San nodded, but after Rat One and Rat Two squeaked several times, he frowned. "Something's wrong here. All the wild animals in the mountains have fled. It's probably the creature we're looking for!"

With that, he whistled and sent the hawk circling overhead. Li Yan's vigilance also rose. The creature they were talking about was naturally the tiger demon. From the very beginning, they had been misled.

Back at the Guan Clan, they had seen members of the Heavenly Saint Cult killed by the blood ghosts within the Tomb Blood Beam. Then, after hearing Wu Laosi say that the Tomb Blood Beam had been obtained from Heavenly Saint Cult members, they assumed the cult had excavated the Earth Immortal Cavern.

But according to the traitor from the Raft Sect, one group had been sent to the Earth Immortal Cavern to take orders. From that perspective, only two forces were secretly operating in Dangyang County. One was the Heavenly Saint Cult, which had already colluded with the Earth Immortal Cavern. The other was the tiger demon.

The two sides were hostile toward one another. The Heavenly Saint Cult members had clearly taken the Tomb Blood Beam to deal with the tiger demon, only for the tiger demon to break its seal and get them all killed instead.

This village had likewise been slaughtered by the tiger demon. The village before them had been destroyed, yet not half a corpse could be seen, exactly like the bandit stronghold Head Constable Yang had described.

Thus, the tiger demon's lair... was very likely somewhere in these mountains!

At that moment, one of the Military Surveillance Department squad leaders called out, "My lord, we found something!"

There was a tremor in his voice, clearly betraying the fear he felt. Without a word, everyone hurried over. The sight before them made all of their hearts tighten.

Several huge holes had been smashed through the wooden back wall of a stilt house, and the ground behind it was damp and muddy, covered with all kinds of footprints and marks. Some of the tracks belonged to humans. They varied in size and were stained with blood, and there were even handprints mixed among them. It looked as though people had been crawling along the ground.

There were also many oval-shaped tracks with obvious claw marks at the front.

The elderly tracker from the Military Surveillance Department crouched down and examined the tracks, then looked around with a grave expression. "It's the Mountain Lord! A Mountain Lord's claws can retract and extend. When it walks, it extends them to grip the ground. From the looks of it, there was more than one."

Yang Chengzi of True Martial Palace was also fully alert. "These marks were left by possessed bodies. They were most likely made by the tiger demon's spirits. Regardless, spirits must first be refined. They're somewhat like spirit troops, following the tiger and finding blood food for it. The stronger the tiger demon's cultivation, the more spirits it commands.

"Spirits can only cause trouble at night. If they want to move during the day, they have to possess a body. The body becomes like a walking corpse and can only be used for three days."

Everyone remained on guard as they continued forward, and before long, they found another clue. A set of tiger tracks were leading away from the settlement. Judging from the direction, the tiger had been hiding among the trees while watching the village.

Moreover, those tracks were as large as washbasins!