Although Liu Jiang shared a telepathic bond with his brother, the winding stone tunnels made it difficult to pinpoint an exact direction. The two could only press downward as much as possible, keeping their general course steady.
After twisting and turning for a long while, they had just entered another stone tunnel when the sounds of battle echoed from its far end.
Amid the grotesque shrieks of baleful corpses, faint shouts could be heard—and the voices sounded somewhat familiar.
Hearing the commotion ahead, the two exchanged a glance and immediately sped forward. After being here for so long, all they had encountered in the caverns were refined corpses, without a single living creature in sight. Whoever was fighting the baleful corpses could only be their companions.
Had Qin Sang been alone, he could have concealed himself to investigate quietly without fear of detection. But with Liu Jiang beside him, he abandoned the thought and pushed his movement technique to the limit, rushing forward while wondering who was battling the creatures ahead.
"Who goes there!"
Before they even reached the end of the stone tunnel, a loud shout suddenly boomed ahead; their approach had been detected.
Qin Sang's expression shifted slightly as he recognized the voice. Baiyun Shanren!
"Senior Baiyun!"
Liu Jiang was overjoyed. Quickening his pace, he darted out of the tunnel in an instant. Ahead lay another great hall, similar to the one Qin Sang had seen earlier. Its heavy darksteel doors were firmly shut, and the hall was in utter disarray. Over a dozen zombies that had been cleaved in half lay strewn haphazardly across the floor, while two figures were engaged in battle against baleful corpses.
One of them was indeed Baiyun Shanren, while the other was Wu Yuesheng.
"Fellow Daoist Baiyun, Senior Brother Wu..."
Upon spotting Wu Yuesheng, Qin Sang's pupils constricted slightly. Maintaining an unfazed facade, however, he offered a greeting while quietly taking in the situation in the hall.
These two baleful corpses were exceptionally strong—even stronger than the one he and Liu Jiang had encountered. It was evident that Baiyun Shanren and Wu Yuesheng would need to expend considerable effort to finish them off.
Yet they were not fighting together; instead, one stayed to the left and the other to the right, keeping a wide distance between them.
Seeing that the newcomers were Liu Jiang and Qin Sang, Baiyun Shanren's vigilant expression softened slightly. "Liu Jiang, Fellow Daoist Qin, so you two ran into each other."
Liu Jiang glanced back at Qin Sang and hurriedly said, "Thanks to Senior Qin's assistance, I managed to escape with my life from a baleful corpse. Otherwise, I would have perished at its hands long ago."
"Thank you, Fellow Daoist Qin, for looking after Liu Jiang." Baiyun Shanren's expression shifted slightly, and he nodded amiably toward Qin Sang.
Just then, Wu Yuesheng suddenly yelled, "Fellow Daoists, this is no time for idle chatter! Let us deal with these two baleful corpses first! Junior Brother Qin, come lend me a hand!"
Liu Jiang quickly summoned his iron lotus to help Baiyun Shanren attack his foe. Qin Sang restrained his gaze and calmly glided toward the other side of the hall. Activating his Five Elements Dharma-Breaking Sword, he joined Wu Yuesheng in fighting off the creature, though he held thirty percent of his strength in reserve out of vigilance.
Since Wu Yuesheng acted as though nothing had happened, Qin Sang would not bring it up either.
The reason Qin Sang did not expose Wu Yuesheng in public was that Wu Yuesheng had merely lurked in the shadows without actually launching an ambush. Words alone carried no weight, and there was no evidence. Moreover, if he were to lock horns with Wu Yuesheng, there was no telling whose side Baiyun Shanren would take; it was far more likely that the old man would sit back and watch the tigers fight, waiting to reap the spoils.
Now that he knew Wu Yuesheng harbored foul intentions and had taken precautions in advance, Qin Sang did not truly fear him.
With Qin Sang and Liu Jiang joining the fray, the two baleful corpses could no longer run rampant. One after the other, they were slain, disintegrating into two piles of ash.
"Whew!"
Wu Yuesheng let out a breath of relief. Walking over, he cupped his hands to thank the three of them. "Fortunately, the three of you arrived just in time. Originally, there was only one baleful corpse in this hall, but out of nowhere another popped up. I nearly met my end here."
After some pleasantries, Qin Sang learned that Baiyun Shanren and Wu Yuesheng had only just run into each other as well and had not even had time to catch up under the pressure of the baleful corpses. In such an unknown and perilous place, encountering companions was always a good thing. Upon hearing that Liu Jiang could sense the positions of Liu Shan and Qingting, everyone immediately agreed to follow Qin Sang's plan and set out to regroup with them.
While unraveling the restriction on the heavy darksteel doors, Baiyun Shanren looked at the other three and pondered aloud, "Having traveled this far, have any of you made any discoveries or deduced what this place is?"
Liu Jiang gave a bitter smile. "I was too busy running for my life to look at anything else. Did Senior Baiyun notice something?"
"The treasures in the caverns seem to have been plundered, leaving behind only white bones and refined corpses. Like Fellow Daoist Liu, I found nothing and can only guess that this was once the stronghold of some demonic sect proficient in corpse refining arts."
Qin Sang chimed in, then casually turned his head toward Wu Yuesheng.
"Senior Brother Wu, what about you?"
Wu Yuesheng gave a dry laugh and hesitated a moment before saying, "I did make a minor discovery, though in a different aspect. It was only because I was bold enough to stop several times while fleeing—even turning back to investigate—that I noticed the spread of the earth fiend qi is far slower than at the beginning. In my estimation, the earth fiend qi in this cavern was likely never this dense originally; it was sealed behind restrictions for who knows how many years, accumulating until its sudden release created such terrifying momentum. By now, the vast majority of the earth fiend qi has surged out of the underground cavern and will soon dissipate completely. Only a tiny fraction is surging into these caverns. We need only wait patiently for some time, and the crisis will resolve itself. Furthermore, as the earth fiend qi lacks staying power, the speed at which it breaks the restrictions will grow slower and slower. We do not necessarily need to rush deeper inside. Why not search as we go, to see if we can uncover the true identity of this place? That way, our journey will not have been in vain."
Qin Sang nodded inwardly. What Wu Yuesheng described was largely consistent with his own earlier deductions, though he had not doubled back to investigate and confirm it—falling prey to the earth fiend qi by accident would mean certain death.
Baiyun Shanren also nodded slightly. "Fellow Daoist Wu is right. I, too, had similar suspicions early on, though I lacked Fellow Daoist Wu's courage to turn back and verify them. In addition, I did happen to find something... While the treasures on these corpses were indeed looted bare and the stone chambers are empty, even the most meticulous can leave something behind. In the corner of a stone chamber, I found an iron medallion inscribed with the words 'Heavenly Corpse Sect.' Do any of you have any recollection of this demonic sect?"
With that, Baiyun Shanren retrieved a black darksteel medallion from his mustard seed bag and displayed it to them.
The medallion was mottled with rust, clearly an ancient relic. Only palm-sized, its front depicted an ancient corpse identical to the motifs on the heavy darksteel doors, while the three characters "Heavenly Corpse Sect" were written in bold, sweeping strokes on the back.
This medallion was very likely a waist token signifying the identity of a disciple of the Heavenly Corpse Sect.
Qin Sang searched his memory of the ancient records and legends he had read before. He remembered several well-known demonic sects proficient in corpse refining, but none bore the name Heavenly Corpse Sect. Glancing at Wu Yuesheng and Liu Jiang, both wore puzzled expressions, having clearly never heard of it either.
After pondering for a while with no clue, Wu Yuesheng urged, "Fellow Daoist Baiyun, seeing how confident you appear, you must know something about this demonic sect. Stop keeping us in suspense and enlighten us!"
Chapter 162