How could Zhen Liu be dead? Ma Lang's face was as cold as ice, yet his voice trembled slightly, like an unstable current in the winter's cold wind, escaping from his tightly pursed lips.
He forced himself to calm down and looked at Director Murong Yunhai, his deep eyes revealing a hint of imperceptible tension and confusion.
Director Murong Yunhai sighed softly, his voice tinged with helplessness and embarrassment. "The cause of death wasn't severe injuries. We treated him promptly." A complex emotion flashed through his eyes, as if this event had also exceeded his expectations.
In the heavily guarded Dao Zong Grand Hall, such a bizarre and cruel incident had occurred, undoubtedly a blatant provocation to the supreme authority of Dao Zong. Director Murong Yunhai held a lofty position, and Dao Zong was filled with experts. When had they ever encountered such a situation? A flash of shame and anger appeared on his face, as if blaming himself for the oversight.
Ma Lang's face was stern, but his eyes flickered with mixed emotions, seemingly filled with pity and scrutiny as he looked at Zhen Liu's corpse. However, he was secretly worried: Now that the person was dead, would the redemption and compensation they had previously agreed upon still be valid? His gaze shifted between Director Murong Yunhai and Zhen Liu's corpse, contemplating his next move.
Director Murong Yunhai waved his hand and led Ma Lang to the scene. Although the prison was for temporary detention, it was heavily guarded. Experts at the Foundation Establishment stage stood like statues, their eyes alert and cold, as if nothing could escape their perception.
Ma Lang scanned the guards around him and thought to himself, "Dao Zong's strength is truly extraordinary. Even the guards are all Foundation Establishment experts at the very least."
According to the information Ma Lang had gathered from his sister Ma Qing, the cultivation system within the alliance was clearly defined.
From the initial stage of Secret Realm, to the foundational stage of Foundation Establishment, then to the transformative stage of Transcendent Realm, and finally to the divine stage of Godly Realm, each realm represented a cultivator's different strength and level.
He withdrew his gaze and focused on Zhen Liu's corpse again. There was no bloodiness in the environment. Zhen Liu's body seemed to have melted, transforming into the state of the five elements, with dull and even revolting colors, and a faint black decay permeating through it.
On the wall of the cell, two large characters "Sha Gui" (Mysterious Killing), burning with fire elements and infused with cold, dark elements, stood out. They were also tainted by black energy, but the aura here was pure and untainted, like the breath of the netherworld rushing towards him, vastly different from the decaying and nauseating feeling emanating from Zhen Liu's corpse.
A core in Zhen Liu's brain was flowing with dark red flame elements, and a deep, decaying stench faintly emerged from it.
The almost melted corpse had two remaining dead fish eyes moving blankly, as if silently conveying something, sending a chill through Ma Lang.
This bizarre way of dying was something he was used to from his nightmares, but if someone else saw it for the first time, they might be frightened to unconsciousness.
"Ancestors protect us!" Ma Lang quickly retreated behind Director Murong Yunhai, his voice mixed with an imperceptible tremor. He strived to maintain his outer coldness and composure, but fear welled up within him like a tide.
"Is... is he still alive?" he asked tentatively, a hint of imperceptible terror flashing through his eyes.
Director Murong Yunhai calmly gazed at the melted corpse on the ground and the constantly rolling dead fish eyes.
His voice was low and deep, as if coming from the depths of the nine hells: "No, he's dead. This is an ancient and cruel punishment. Zhen Liu's soul has been completely erased, turning into nothingness.
His pain continues, ultimately being fully absorbed by heaven and earth, paying for his sins.
Unlike the death of ordinary people, who can linger in the netherworld before reincarnation, or even be communicated with and visited by strong cultivators.
This is true disappearance from heaven and earth. Even if he returns, he will have no connection with his previous existence."
"So, this world can communicate with the netherworld?" Ma Lang's head buzzed, and a gulping sound came from his throat.
He forced himself to look away from Zhen Liu's corpse and began observing the environment of the cell. It was neat and even holy, with no signs of a struggle, which added to the eerie and terrifying atmosphere.
"There's no sign of a struggle at all!" Ma Lang murmured, a hint of confusion and puzzlement flashing through his eyes.
Director Murong Yunhai replied in a cold voice, "Yes, that's the strange part! There was a team of Foundation Establishment experts guarding him last night, and his corpse was only discovered when they brought food this morning." His tone revealed a trace of anger and helplessness, as if he was at a loss about this incident.
Ma Lang's brows furrowed as he thought to himself: How could Zhen Liu have been killed silently in such a heavily guarded prison? And why was such a bizarre scene left behind after his death?
He looked up at Director Murong Yunhai and asked, "So, with such tight security, there's absolutely no clue to follow?"
Director Murong Yunhai's face was as heavy as a dark cloud, so solemn that it seemed water could be wrung out of it. He shook his head slowly, his voice low and powerful: "No! He didn't completely erase his traces. Instead, he deliberately left crucial clues."
Saying this, he bent down and extended his right hand, wrapped in thick mysterious energy, lightly touching the corpse that seemed forgotten by time and melted like a wax figure.
With his gentle yet precise movements, a black, decaying, and nauseating energy slowly separated from the corpse, spreading like ink stains in the darkness, carrying an ominous and bizarre aura.
"Zhen Liu, the one who framed you for being infected with an unknown mysterious force, was the true infected one!" A hint of imperceptible anger and sorrow flickered in Murong Yunhai's words.
Ma Lang's thoughts were instantly drawn back to that thrilling moment—when Zhen Liu attacked him, that abrupt and furious force, and the mysterious black energy entwined around the edges of the fire elements, like tentacles from the abyss, trying to drag him into endless darkness.
At that time, he hadn't noticed anything suspicious due to his lack of experience. Now, under Director Murong Yunhai's guidance, everything became clear.
"Looking back, it's indeed as you said," Ma Lang's voice was cold and distant, as if coming from beneath a layer of ice. He strived to maintain that intentionally cold exterior crafted from his social anxiety.
"I knew nothing about mysterious energy before, so I couldn't make a judgment. But that time, when that mysterious expert saved me, Zhen Liu's attack did contain that eerie black energy, like the whisper of death, sending shivers down my spine."
Director Murong Yunhai's eyes became even deeper, and he said in a low voice, "Now, everything is clear.
This is a punishment method from ancient times, once used by a mysterious organization on the Secret Realm battlefield to punish those who betrayed humanity or were heinous criminals infected with mysterious energy.
For a long time, it was like an ancient legend forgotten by time, almost disappearing from people's memories. Let alone outside the Secret Realm, it had almost become a mythical existence. But it has appeared again..."