Translator: Cinder Translations
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Song Wen appeared deep in thought.
He didn't take Zi Yi's faint hostility too seriously. He was confident that even if he couldn't defeat Lao Chun and Zi Yi together, he could still escape unscathed.
Just using the "Blood Escape Technique" would make it impossible for Zi Yi and Lao Chun to catch up.
He was contemplating whether it would be safer to retrieve the Hollow Cicada Wood alone or to have Xuan Ye, who was familiar with the terrain, accompany him.
After pondering for a while, Song Wen said,
"Fine, I'll go with you to get the Snake Scale Fruit first. But you must promise to accompany me to get the Hollow Cicada Wood afterward."
Xuan Ye's face lit up with joy, and he said, "Don't worry, as long as we get the Snake Scale Fruit, I will definitely accompany you."
Song Wen nodded, accepting the promise. As for whether Xuan Ye would keep his word, Song Wen wasn't too concerned.
If Xuan Ye reneged, Song Wen had ways to ensure he fulfilled his promise.
Soon, the five of them reached the fork Xuan Ye had mentioned.
Learning that Xuan Ye, Niu Ding, and Song Wen were all going left towards the Snake Cave, Zi Yi decisively bade them farewell. Her father's poisoning was severe, and she couldn't afford to waste time, so she hurried towards the direction of Forsythia.
After Zi Yi and Lao Chun left, Xuan Ye led Song Wen and Niu Ding down the left path.
As they walked, Xuan Ye asked,
"Niu Ding, can you now tell us where your brother's body is?"
Niu Ding had not revealed the exact location of his brother's body earlier.
"According to the survivors who were with my brother, they came to the cave to get the Snake Scale Fruit. Before they reached the Snake Cave, they were attacked by a group of ghosts. Among the ghosts were vengeful spirits with power comparable to late-stage Qi Refining cultivators. My brother was surrounded by the vengeful spirits and couldn't escape."
"If he was attacked by vengeful spirits, there's a chance we could find his body. If it were zombies, finding his body would be nearly impossible."
Xuan Ye sighed.
Ghosts feed on souls and the essence of cultivators, while zombies feed on corpses and flesh. A vengeful spirit might leave a whole body, but a zombie would leave no remains.
"How long has it been since your brother's accident?" Xuan Ye asked.
"A month!"
"Has it been a whole month?" Xuan Ye muttered.
Xuan Ye wasn't too concerned about finding Niu Ding's brother's body. As long as he accompanied Niu Ding, he fulfilled his promise. The final result was beyond his control.
What Xuan Ye was more interested in was the information revealed in Niu Ding's words.
During the previous journey, Xuan Ye learned that Niu Ding's brother was at the eighth level of Qi Refining. If someone of that strength was killed by vengeful spirits, their group could be in serious danger if they encountered the same spirits.
Hopefully, those roaming vengeful spirits had left after a month.
The three of them walked for over an hour in the winding passage.
The previously five-meter-wide passage suddenly opened up into a spacious, irregular cave about a hundred meters wide.
On the walls of the cave were hundreds of various-sized nests.
Pointing to a spot about a hundred meters ahead, Niu Ding said, "This should be where my brother had his accident."
Niu Ding's words made Song Wen and Xuan Ye tense up, becoming extremely cautious. Their footsteps involuntarily slowed down.
The cave was very quiet, so quiet that Song Wen could hear his own heartbeat and breathing.
"Everyone, don't speak. Communicate using the Voice Transmission Technique," Xuan Ye's voice echoed in Song Wen and Niu Ding's minds.
"Niu Ding, hurry and find your brother's body, but be careful not to make too much noise. Those nests give me a dangerous feeling."
For a cultivator at the seventh level of Qi Refining, the range of their spiritual power generally covers about a hundred meters. Of course, due to different talents, there may be slight differences, but generally not by much. Only those who have specifically trained their spiritual power can significantly exceed this range.
They were now about two hundred meters away from the cave, well beyond the spiritual sensing range of Niu Ding and Xuan Ye.
They could only vaguely see the nests on the distant cave walls with the help of the glowing stones.
As Niu Ding was about to slowly enter the cave to search for his brother's body, he heard Song Wen's voice transmission.
"No need to search. There's only one body in the eighth nest from the bottom left. There are no other human bodies in the nests."
Hearing Song Wen's transmission, Niu Ding and Xuan Ye were full of disbelief.
The nests were two hundred meters away, and Song Wen was only at the sixth level of Qi Refining.
Could Song Wen be hiding his true cultivation level?
Maybe he was a cultivator at the peak of Qi Refining!
"Don't overthink it. I just have stronger spiritual power than most," Song Wen explained via voice transmission to avoid unnecessary trouble.
Hearing Song Wen's explanation, the two didn't dwell on it. Niu Ding asked via voice transmission.
"Brother Guo Tao, are you sure?"
Song Wen nodded and replied, "I'm sure. The body is ten meters inside the nest entrance. It's a male body, tall, about seven feet, but it has dehydrated and become a dried corpse."
Niu Ding's face lit up with joy, and he replied via voice transmission.
"It should be right; that's my brother's body."
Seeing that Niu Ding was about to rush towards the nest, Song Wen reminded him via voice transmission.
"Daoist Niu, you'd better be cautious. The nests are interconnected and very deep. Although I haven't sensed any ghosts, I still feel very uneasy. Your brother's body might not be easy to retrieve."
After entering the cave, Song Wen had been using beetle gu insects to scout ahead.
The beetle gu had initially scouted the periphery of the nests and found no ghosts, but Song Wen hadn't let them venture deeper into the nests. He was worried that powerful ghosts in the nests might discover and destroy the beetles, which would be a significant loss.
After all, it was Niu Ding who was taking the risk, not Song Wen. Finding Niu Ding's brother's body was already going above and beyond.
Seeing that both Song Wen and Xuan Ye had warned of the dangers, Niu Ding, who had been eager, stopped and asked for advice via voice transmission.
"Daoist Xuan Ye, do you have any ideas?"
Xuan Ye replied via voice transmission.
"We don't know what's inside the nests. Acting rashly is too dangerous. We need to find out if there are any ghosts, how many there are, and how strong they are."
Niu Ding said, "According to my brother's companions, they encountered over a hundred ghosts here, including at least twenty powerful vengeful spirits."
"Over twenty powerful vengeful spirits comparable to late-stage Qi Refining!"
Song Wen's eyes widened upon hearing this. The presence of over twenty vengeful spirits made him want to flee immediately.
Such a large number of vengeful spirits, plus nearly a hundred weaker ghosts, was something Qi Refining cultivators could hardly withstand.
What kind of treasure did Niu Ding's brother have that made Niu Ding willing to take such a huge risk to retrieve his body?
Song Wen now completely disbelieved that Niu Ding was only here for a body.
(End of the Chapter)