Then, he asked Youny Geey,
"Reverend, is this place now clear of Ghost Spirits?"
Youny Geey's face blushed due to slight embarrassment as his negligence beforehand crossed his mind. He nodded seriously while saying,
"Rest assured. The area is free of Ghost Spirits."
Wide-eyed, Dquan Ronri gazed at Le Xaan with curiosity while standing by Youny Geey's side.
Youny Geey continued.
"There is a tunnel under the monastery. Miss Quane believes that some living people are in it."
"Where is Miss Quane?" Le Xaan asked but immediately saw Quane Feiy walked out from the hermitage.
"Let's go and have a look."
Le Xaan walked towards the gate, holding the saber tight in hand.
Youny Geey and Dquan Ronri immediately caught up to him and then walked to the front, leading the way.
The monastery was covered in a brownish-gray hue, consisting of three houses in a line.
The house in the middle had its door missing. Through the doorway, one could see clumps of weeds and piles of rocky mess in the hall. And its roof had a large hole.
Le Xaan and Youny Geey strode into the hall. The wall facing the door was emblazoned with a religious picture.
Before, the picture was a stone statue of a deity, but it was decapitated. So, it was unknown what deity the temple was dedicated to.
Youny walked up to the deity statue and stretched his leg into a clump of weeds.
"Clank!"
With a crisp sound, a square-shaped opening measuring one meter by one meter emerged on the ground.
From within the hole, the creepy whooshing sounds of wind could be heard. When Le Xaan stood before it, he felt as if someone was weeping in the tunnel.
To the side, Quane Feiy explained,
"I have already entered into this tunnel once earlier on. There are... some corpses but also a few living people there..."
At this point in her explanation, she showed an awkward expression. She seemed to be fumbling for words to describe the scene in the tunnel.
Le Xaan turned to Youny Geey, who shook his head with a bitter smile.
"Miss Quane has told me what the situation is in the tunnel. I suggest that you enter yourself. Rest assured. There are no Ghost Spirits in it. You'll be safe."
Upon hearing this, an ominous feeling came over Le Xaan. But he forced himself to keep his composure and started descending the stone ladder slowly.
Quane Feiy fell in behind him.
Apart from the two of them, the rest remained in place.
The tunnel got narrower as they walked along. After walking dozens of steps and turning around a corner, Le Xaan was met with a jet-black iron gate.
It was ajar, and from inside, faint rustles could be heard.
Le Xaan glanced at Quane Feiy.
"We've arrived. All the missing people are inside the gate."
Quane Feiy said seriously.
Le Xaan was a little curious about her.
He wondered what experiences had turned a blossoming girl like her into such an impassive, professional bounty hunter.
Quane Feiy didn't seem to be alarmed by Ghost Spirits here. Perhaps she had encountered such entities a lot of times.
Le Xaan intently eyed Quane Feiy up and down before asking,
"Miss Quane, would you consider joining our Le family as a chaplain?"
"No." Quane Feiy declined curtly.
"Alright." Le Xaan knew very well that aside from their affluence, the Le family had nothing to tempt such a talent. Therefore, he no longer spoke.
He extended his hands and pushed open the gate.
While the gate's bottom brushed against the floor, emitting a friction sound, Le Xaan clearly saw the scene behind it.
In the stony room, measured roughly ten meters by ten meters, a large number of bodies were strewn across the floor, without confinement to gender and age.
Besides them, there were three living people in the room.
Two of them were female, another male. All three of them had well-proportioned bodies. Apparently, they shared a habit of working out regularly.
Le Xaan's heart sank at the sight of one among them. It's Le Cinci.
Naked now, she was on her knees, using her hands to support herself. Her long hair was disheveled, her face greenish pallid.
Hearing the disturbance, she sluggishly lifted her head and looked over. Her originally wily eyes now grew listless and dim.
Saliva dropped from the corners of her lips; she looked demented.
"Cinci!" Le Xaan walked up as he took off his coat and wrapped it around her. "Cinci,wake up! Wake up!"
He stretched his hand and patted Le Cinci on her face twice.
But it didn't work at all.
The blank look in Le Cinci's eyes remained unchanged.
Upon seeing this, a trace of sorrow flashed across Quane Feiy's face.
"It's useless. She is already demented... Ghostly Qi seeped into her brain and depleted a large part of it of vitality. It's a miracle that she's been able to live this long. That's what Reverend Youny said."
Le Xaan now grew outright downcast.
Carrying Le Cinci in his arms, he then glanced at the other two persons.
Both of them were handsome or pretty and had impressive-looking figures, apparently kept here by the bunch of Ghost Spirits for an unknown purpose.
While holding Le Cinci in his arms, Le Xaan had mixed emotions.
He was half-siblings with Le Cinci but without much emotional ties.
Firstly, Le Cinci had been learning martial arts away from home these few years. Secondly, he was not the original Le Xaan.
But by now, as an elder brother, he had to show his sorrow, regardless of his genuine emotion.
Le Xaan then carefully inspected this small underground prison. Apart from the three mentally regressed persons, nothing else worth mentioning was found.
Le Xaan and Quane Feiy took these three out of the tunnel. Youny Geey and Dquan Ronri were still waiting outside. Youny was meditating cross-legged with a trace of blood on his lips. At his feet was a pool of dark red blood.