"Elder Ghost, this old thing probably knows a lot. Make sure he doesn't self-destruct. Take him back and interrogate him thoroughly." Qian Renyue said to the approaching ghost.
"Understood, Your Highness. I will personally escort him back." Ghost replied.
"Elder Ju, Nana, and Yan, the three of us will go to the village to check. The rest of you, escort these people back first, don't get too close to the Evil Tree, lest they be contaminated." Qian Renyue turned to the crowd and said.
"Yes, Your Highness."
After watching everyone walk back one after another, Qian Renyue gripped the Staff of Life tightly and led the way into the village. Hu Liena and Yan walked beside Qian Renyue, while Yue Guan stood at the very back, just in case.
"Why doesn't Your Highness use the Dragon Roar Divine Sword? Wouldn't that be more convenient for attacking?" Yan asked, somewhat puzzled.
"Although the Scepter of Life has no offensive power, it is still a divine artifact, and the sacred power it contains is the nemesis of these demons," Qian Renyue explained. She walked around the corrupted Tree of Life.
Perhaps because of the connection between the Tree of Life and the Scepter of Life, Qian Renyue seemed to hear cries for help and mournful cries coming from the Tree of Life. Qian Renyue clutched her slightly stuffy chest and murmured, "Don't worry, I will save you."
The village was mostly dilapidated, seemingly uninhabited for a long time. Thick dust, cobwebs everywhere, and crumbling logs all indicated that the village was devoid of life. However, Qian Renyue and the others still cautiously ventured deeper into the village.
They reached the entrance of a shrine. This shrine was located at the deepest part of the village, surrounded by few buildings, clinging tightly to a large mountain behind it.
"Your Highness, be careful, there are signs of habitation here," Yue Guan warned promptly.
"Understood. Is this where those people lived before?" Qian Renyue asked softly.
Gently pushing open the heavy doors of the ancestral hall, two dark figures darted out.
"Your Highness, be careful!" Hu Liena and Yan immediately unleashed their soul skills to attack the figures.
They were two hundred-year-old soul beasts, a hundred-year-old Wind-Walking Tiger and a hundred-year-old Fiery Lion. Both were severely injured.
Sensing Bi Ji's emotions, Qian Renyue stopped Hu Liena and Yan from attacking. "Why are there soul beasts here? Are they kept in captivity? Nana, please go and call Na'er over."
"Yes, Your Highness." Hu Liena nodded and immediately ran towards the edge of the village.
"First Soul Skill, Angel's Blessing." Qian Renyue used her soul skill to heal the two soul beasts' injuries. Seeing them calm down, she gradually felt relieved.
"Yan, let the two little ones rest here for now. Let's go in and take a look."
"Okay." Yan quickly followed, not retracting his martial soul; after all, this place was still very dangerous.
Upon entering the ancestral hall, the previously eerie atmosphere softened somewhat as sunlight streamed in. Although dilapidated, the hall was relatively intact. However, aside from some common items, there was nothing else inside.
Qian Renyue looked around strangely; the place felt incredibly odd and jarring. Having read so many novels and watched so many dramas in her previous life, Qian Renyue's first thought was that there might be a secret room.
Thinking of this possibility, she immediately released her divine sense to probe. However, she didn't sense a secret room, but her divine sense was blocked behind the central stone statue where it met the mountain.
Qian Renyue gripped the Life Scepter tightly and stepped towards the back of the statue.
"Your Highness, I'll go. Be careful." Yue Guan shielded Qian Renyue behind him and went ahead first.
Behind the statue, a smooth wall, its material distinctly different from the ancestral hall's architecture, came into view.
"This is a stone wall built from special minerals, capable of blocking divine sense. It seems there's something behind this wall." Yue Guan gently placed his hand on the wall and said to Qian Renyue.
"Elder Ju, can you sense what's behind it?" Qian Renyue asked. Not knowing what was behind the wall, Qian Renyue didn't dare to let Yue Guan break it rashly, even though Yue Guan was a Title Douluo.
Yue Guan shook his head and said, "I can't sense it, I can only break it. Breaking the stone wall isn't difficult." Yue Guan looked at Qian Renyue, wanting to hear her opinion.
"Fourth Soul Skill: Angelic Assistance." Qian Renyue released her fourth soul skill. A golden shield appeared on both of them. Qian Renyue nodded to Yue Guan.
Yue Guan also summoned his Qirong Tongtian Chrysanthemum. Under Yue Guan's attack, the stone wall collapsed with a crash.
The two were on high alert, expecting a sudden attack. But what they saw was a passage without any light.
Yan approached: "Elder Ju, Your Highness. Nana and Na'er are here. They're at the entrance keeping those two soul beasts company. Elder Gui was worried, so he came along too."
"Perfect, now that Old Gui is here, we can go in and take a look without worry. Yan, light the way." Yue Guan pointed to the dark passage.
Yan lit a fire, illuminating the dark passage. The three of them stepped inside.
The passage was long, and the further they went, the colder it became. After walking for a while, they came to another fork in the path, each leading to a different place.
Qian Renyue used her divine sense to probe, but the surroundings seemed to be filled with rare minerals resembling stone walls, making it difficult for her divine sense to penetrate further.
Yue Guan pondered for a moment and said to Qian Renyue, "Old Gui is outside, so we don't need to worry too much about Nana and the others. Should we check them one by one?"
"Okay. Elder Ju, be careful." Qian Renyue nodded.
"You too." Yue Guan nodded to the two of them. He took the lead and walked towards one of the forks in the path.
The three walked through the secret passage for a long time, each small branch leading to a different secret chamber, some large and some small. Some chambers were clean, some had old bloodstains on the walls, and some contained many skeletons, both human and spirit beast. However, all the chambers had been completely emptied, leaving nothing behind.
"It seems they've noticed the Spirit Hall's investigation and have emptied this place," Qian Renyue said with a grim expression, looking at the remaining traces. "But this doesn't look like it could be emptied so quickly. Judging from the traces, it's been emptied for quite some time. That black-robed old man was probably just giving us a perfunctory explanation."
"There's one last passage we haven't checked yet. Should we continue?" Yue Guan asked.
"Let's check it all and write it down. Let those who are in positions of power but neglect their duties see just how rampant the evil spirit masters have become," Qian Renyue said.
When the three reached the last secret chamber, they suddenly heard a noise.
"Someone's there, be careful," Yue Guan quickly told the other two.
Upon opening the door to the last secret chamber, they found several infants under the age of three, along with some soul beasts imprisoned in cages. There were also three women chained up, their eyes vacant, and barely clothed.
Qian Renyue immediately stepped forward and took out some robes from her soul tool to cover the three women. Yan, meanwhile, checked the infants' vital signs.
"Your Highness, their condition is not good," Yan hurriedly exclaimed.
Qian Renyue remained silent, immediately using her soul skill to heal the group. Although their injuries had improved, their eyes remained vacant, seemingly unresponsive to everything happening around them.
"Let's take them out first, and then we'll figure out what to do next," Yue Guan sighed. This matter was likely far-reaching and not so easy to resolve.
"Elder Ju, rest assured, leave the rest to our Empire's Blade. This is part of our divine examination," Qian Renyue stepped forward and said to Yue Guan.
Yue Guan chuckled softly, thinking: This future ultimately belongs to you young people.
...
You can now download the complete English PDF of the story you're currently reading at my Patreon shop. I also have a wide variety of other books available there for you to explore!
I've just uploaded several new Adult (18+) Douluo fanfics. Feel free to head over and check them out. before checking out please be caution because most of the fanfictions contains incest, ntr rape loli like things.
Here are titles of recenlty uploaded Douluo adult fanfics on Patreon:
" Douluo: Plane Master (18+) "
" Douluo: Legend of the Divine Realm R18 Story — Original Sin of Desire (18+) "
" Douluo 2: Unrivaled Tang Sect R18 Story —The Snow Empress and the Holy Spirit Cult (18+) "
" Douluo Side Story: Xiao Wu is Manipulated by her Son-In-Law Huo Yuhao's Huge P*nis (18+) "
" Douluo: Brothel 2 – The Humiliation of Hu Liena (18+) "
" Douluo: Zhu Zhuqing and Ning Rongrong's SM Training (18+) "
" Douluo: Cultivating Pure Flesh (18+) "
" Douluo: The Legend of the Madman (18+) "
" Douluo: Random Notes (18+) "
" Douluo: The Legend of Fallen (18+) "
" Douluo: The Shapeshifting Star Sovereign Martial Soul (18+) "
" Lust Douluo: Xiao Wu's Final Consciousness R*forged into a D*ll After Being Captured by a Titled Douluo (18+) "
" Sl*t Douluo: Poor Ye Qing was brut*lly r@p#d to de@th (18+) "
" Douluo: Starting with Hypn0tic Time Stop Dual Martial Souls! (18+) "
" Douluo: Unlocking Bibi Dong's Hidden Side (18+) "
many more up to 300+ are available.
Your support means a lot—thanks in advance, legends!
Patreon.com/UIGOD
(End of Chapter)