chsdbacks Chapter 258: The Mystery of the Spread
Chapter 258: The Mystery of the Spread
The young man, dressed in the outer disciple's robes of the Green Ox Sect, trembled uncontrollably, cold sweat streaming down his forehead and soaking his chest.
He held the urgent letter that had just arrived with trembling hands. The letter unfolded, revealing a row of names written densely on it. Among them, the three characters "Zhang Yanghao" were crossed out with a glaring scarlet mark, like a cold death warrant.
In the center of the dimly lit room stood an octagonal wooden table. Xu Hao sat with his legs spread apart on the edge of the table, his face, hidden in the shadows, deathly pale, devoid of any color.
He remained silent, and the outer disciples standing there became increasingly flustered. Seeing Xu Hao's "calmness," they felt somewhat reassured.
Little did he know that Xu Hao wasn't calm at all; he was terrified by the series of bizarre deaths and completely lost his composure. His hands, hidden beneath his sleeves, clenched into fists so tightly that his knuckles turned white, and his eyes were filled with unconcealed panic and fear.
The story begins about two weeks ago when people in the Green Ox Sect suddenly started dying one after another. The deaths were extremely bizarre, with the deceased's life essence and blood being completely drained, leaving only a withered human skin.
Initially, the sect's elders suspected that the cause was a demonic beast that liked to eat blood essence. The first suspect was the flying bats that could be seen everywhere in the Thousand Mountains region.
This creature feeds on the blood of humans and animals, and its growth potential is extremely low. Even at its strongest, an adult is only at the Essence Blood Realm, and there has never been a case of an individual breaking through to the Bone Forging Realm. With such limited cultivation, let alone silently hunting inner disciples, it would be absolutely impossible for it to even break into the sect's territory protected by the mountain-guarding array.
The sect's grand formation is never just for show.
However, as the investigation deepened, everyone was horrified to discover that all the disciples who had died had died silently while alone, without any contact with anyone, and without leaving any trace of struggle or resistance at the scene.
Xu Hao swallowed hard, the scene he had witnessed flashing through his mind again, and his blood seemed to freeze instantly.
It was midday, the sun blazing down, its intense rays streaming through the windows and filling the room with oppressive heat. Yet, as soon as he and the Third Elder stepped into the inner disciple's residence, they saw the man staring intently at them with bloodshot eyes, his mouth split open to his ears, dark red blood gushing uncontrollably from the gash.
"Die... Haha! They all have to die!!"
The maniacal laughter was sharp and piercing, and the midday heat wave hit them in the face, but Xu Hao and the Third Elder felt as if they had fallen into an ice cellar, and the hairs on their bodies stood on end.
They watched helplessly as the disciple deflated at a visible speed, like a punctured balloon, turning into a mere skin stuck to the ground in just a few breaths, leaving not a trace of flesh or bone.
Afterwards, the elders searched the room thoroughly, examining even the human skin dozens of times, but found no trace of magic or monster attack, not even a trace of spiritual energy fluctuation.
Before they could find any clues, more disciples died in the same bizarre way.
Even if the sect master of the Divine Realm, who had been in seclusion for many years, personally took action, he could not find out the root cause behind this strange death.
If it were only these things, Xu Hao wouldn't be so terrified. If something happened to the sect, he could simply run away to avoid trouble. But what was most despairing was that even if the disciples of the Green Ox Sect left the sect's headquarters and were thousands of miles away, they would still die in the same way, with nowhere to escape.
The series of bizarre deaths and boundless fear had already thrown the entire Qingniu Sect into a state of panic and fear. With no other options, the sect leader personally set out to seek help from the Tianmen Sect, which was ranked number one in the Qianshan region.
"Senior Brother Xu, what... what should we do now?"
Hearing the cries of an outer disciple, his voice trembling with tears, Xu Hao snapped back to reality. He took a deep breath, forcibly suppressing the chill in his heart, and put on a calm demeanor.
"What's the panic? The sect is already investigating with all its might and has made some progress." He said in a deep voice, "From now on, do not have any contact with anyone alone, especially those who behave strangely. Do not touch anything in the sect's kitchen. Just rely on the Bigu Pill to survive. If you really can't stand it, go outside the mountains to hunt monsters and roast meat for yourself."
Hearing his arrangements, the outer disciple finally breathed a sigh of relief, then cautiously asked a few more questions about precautions before bowing and leaving the room.
The moment the door closed, the last ray of light was shut out, and the entire room was plunged back into thick darkness where one could not see their own hand in front of their face.
Xu Hao's forced composure crumbled instantly, his face turning so gloomy it could drip water.
"Damn it! What the hell is that?!"
He slammed his fist on the hard wooden table, smashing a jagged crack into the surface, his voice filled with barely suppressed rage and fear.
That outer disciple was his messenger, responsible for protecting the interests of the outer sect. Now that the sect is in a state of panic, the lucrative businesses he controls have already been greatly affected.
"The sect can't find a single clue; we can only wait for the sect leader to return from the Heavenly Gate Sect..."
Before that, Xu Hao had made up his mind to stay in this room, which was covered with layers of protective arrays, and not to go out even half a step.
This is unbelievable!
……
Yin Yang Sword Sect, Sect Master's Hall.
"Fellow Daoist Zhang, that's the whole story." Feng Xingyu took a sip of the tea in his cup, gently placed the cup on the table, frowned, and sighed heavily.
Across from him, Zhang Ping nodded knowingly, his mind racing as he processed the information brought by Feng Xingyu.
"So, it's not just the Green Ox Sect anymore; several sects have experienced these bizarre, sudden deaths?"
"Exactly." Feng Xing nodded emphatically, his expression extremely solemn.
Zhang Ping fell silent instantly.
To die suddenly and for no apparent reason, alone, with a manic state before death, one whose life essence was drained... Could it be a curse?
He voiced his guess.
Upon hearing this, Feng Xingyu hesitated for a moment, then shook his head: "At first, we also thought of curses, and we specifically searched through all the books on curses in the sect, but we couldn't find any that could cause such a bizarre death."
"The people from the Tianmen Sect will arrive soon. They have a long history and are very knowledgeable. Perhaps they can find some clues."
The path of curses is an unorthodox system in the cultivation world, with very few practitioners compared to the mainstream cultivation of qi, blood, and spiritual power. Moreover, the sects involved are hundreds of miles apart, with no connection whatsoever; it doesn't seem like a curse could cause such widespread destruction.
"I see." Zhang Ping tapped his fingertips lightly on the table, lost in thought.
At the same time, he had already made a decision: it seemed that he had to conduct a thorough investigation of the entire sect in the next two days. This evil thing must not be allowed to spread to the Yin Yang Sword Sect.