With a flicker, the Feng family's ancestor appeared outside the tomb's grand formation. He thrust his hand out and grabbed at the empty space. After a slight ripple in the air, a Voice Transmission Talisman appeared in his hand.
This talisman had been sent by a Feng family disciple. They would never use one unless they had encountered something important. The Feng ancestor's heart tightened, his sense of unease growing stronger and stronger.
After immersing his Divine Sense into it, the Feng ancestor's face instantly became incomparably gloomy, and he crushed the talisman in his hand.
In the tomb-cavern where Li Yan had been before, the Feng ancestor stood in a passage with an embarrassed look on his face. Before him stood the lower half of a corpse, with only the feet remaining. From the clothing, he had already confirmed it was the body of a male disciple from the Falling Star Valley.
To one side, a branch family head was incessantly recounting some matters to him. They had also just come over to look for Feng Zaiyu as per the Feng ancestor's instructions.
"You saw all this when you arrived? Were there any other ghostly creatures present?" the Feng ancestor asked, his face as dark as water.
He had just contacted Feng Zaiyu again. Feng Zaiyu's group was fine, but they didn't know what had happened here. Feng Zaiyu was currently setting up some simple formations around the blood pool and would be heading over shortly.
"Reporting to the Ancestor, starting from here and for more than ten li into the seven passages ahead, there are large numbers of dead Corpse Bees, and... and five corpses of Feng family disciples. Their bodies are almost completely destroyed..."
When this branch family head mentioned the number of deaths, he couldn't help but steal a glance at the Feng ancestor's face, which was so grim it looked like water could drip from it. His heart was filled with apprehension.
"A large number of Corpse Bees? You will stand guard here and send a voice transmission to the others, telling them all to gather here. They must be careful of Corpse Bee attacks along the way. Require them to search the passages beside them as they return, and make sure to notify everyone. I will go take a look and be right back!"
The Feng ancestor said only this before his figure vanished from the spot. At this moment, he couldn't be bothered with the pain of using up Voice Transmission Talismans. Including Fang Guangjun, at least two people from the Falling Star Valley had now perished. What about the others?
He was already cursing Fang Guangjun endlessly in his heart, wishing he could take out his corpse and whip it to vent his frustration.
'Dammit, you deserved to die! There are a large number of Corpse Bees here, yet you ran off alone to provoke that Foundation Establishment ghostly creature! When did the Falling Star Valley get such a brainless idiot...'
Half an incense stick's time later, when the Feng ancestor reappeared in the passage with the standing half-corpse, the aura around him was already faintly on the verge of erupting. He had seen the five corpses of the Feng family disciples. Each body was either riddled with thousands of holes like a broken sackcloth bag, or had been gnawed on until it was incomplete. It was impossible to recognize who they were at a glance; they could only be simply identified as their own disciples and clansmen by their robes.
These people had all been thrown into the swarm of Corpse Bees after being killed by Fang Guangjun. After a few breaths, he had retrieved them, and with a surge of Spirit Power, had killed the Corpse Bees attached to the bodies. Then, he had scattered these corpses among several passages to create the illusion that they had all been killed in a Corpse Bee attack.
Every corpse, whether on the surface of the body or its five viscera and six bowels, had been gnawed on until it was mangled beyond recognition. Even if the Feng ancestor investigated, there was no way to determine the true cause of death. Looking at the large number of dead Corpse Bees scattered on the floor of the passage, it only made him hate Fang Guangjun even more. If he had been here, how could the casualties have been so severe? These clansmen must have cried out for his help before they died, yet not a single one was saved.
"Ancestor, everyone should be here!" Feng Zaiyu's voice rang out. He had come over and waited here for the Feng ancestor to return.
The Feng ancestor's eyes swept over them one by one. Beside Feng Zaiyu was a deathly pale Feng Tao. She was currently biting her slightly bluish lips, her red-rimmed eyes staring at the half-corpse on the ground. Feng Tao had already recognized the clothing as her Senior Brother's. Although everyone wore the sect uniform of the Falling Star Valley, those shoes belonged to her Senior Brother; Feng Tao wouldn't be mistaken. Her body was trembling nonstop as she tried to control her emotions. Even now, her Second Senior Sister and Tian Denghu still had not appeared. She feared the worst.
The Feng ancestor quickly spotted the other Falling Star Valley disciple named Zhang Ming. The man was standing to one side with his head lowered, lost in thought.
"That's good. Fellow Daoist Fang discovered some Corpse Bees escaping the tomb just now, and he has gone in pursuit. Where are the other two disciples from the Falling Star Valley? And why are four Feng family disciples also missing?"
The Feng ancestor's gaze swept around. He found three more corpses of Feng family disciples on the ground, but the numbers still didn't add up. He steadied himself and continued to ask. When he spoke the first half of his sentence, his gaze lingered on Zhang Ming for a moment, as if explaining Fang Guangjun's whereabouts to him, but Zhang Ming remained silent.
The second half of the Feng ancestor's question was directed at Feng Zaiyu.
"Ancestor, Feng Tao and Fellow Daoist Zhang just identified the body. This mutilated flesh should belong to Fellow Daoist Tang. The other two, Fellow Daoist Wu and Fellow Daoist Tian, are missing. We have also recounted the numbers here. Besides these three Feng family disciples who fell during the earlier clearing of the tomb, four other clansmen are also missing. These four had also taken this passage earlier, led by Elder Brother Zaihua. Elder Brother Zaihua, he..."
Feng Zaiyu spoke cautiously. He had learned of the situation here from others, but he didn't know who the mangled corpses inside belonged to.
"Zaihua has fallen too?" The Feng ancestor felt a sharp pain in his chest.
Feng Zaihua, a tenth-level Qi Condensation expert, was an outstanding individual even among the Feng family's branch lines. Although he was over forty, there was still hope for him to successfully achieve Foundation Establishment before he turned seventy. For a small family like theirs, as long as one didn't perish before the age of a hundred, achieving Foundation Establishment later in life was a joyous event worthy of great celebration. He had previously thought Feng Zaihua had gone into another passage. Could he be among the five corpses he had collected?
Seeing the Feng ancestor's gloomy and terrifying expression, everyone immediately held their breath, not daring to answer. Even Feng Zaiyu chose to remain silent.
Although the Feng family had gained a lot this time, the price they paid was just as tragic. Not including the Falling Star Valley cultivators, and counting the disciples who died while clearing the tomb on the Feng ancestor's side, their own family had lost fourteen people. Adding the disciples who had died during the ghostly creature attack on the family these past few days, the Feng family would not be able to recover its vitality for thirty or forty years.
"You all stand guard here strictly. Pay attention to whether any other ghostly creatures attack. I will go and take a look!"
After taking a deep breath, the Feng ancestor decided to personally search this tomb-cavern one more time and lay down the grand formation while he was at it. With two Falling Star Valley disciples missing, he had to confirm it himself.
More than an hour later, when the Feng family's ancestor held up a grey skull to open the Yin Tomb-Cavern in the back hills and let Feng Zaiyu and the others step out onto the ground, the sky outside was already bright with the light of the second day.
Looking at the faint sunlight filtering through the fog in the valley, Li Yan also felt much more comfortable in his heart, and his mind felt refreshed for a time. In contrast to the expressions of the Feng family cultivators, Li Yan couldn't help but sigh inwardly.
'I can never cultivate this kind of technique. Just staying here for one night feels like I've been cut off from the world for several months.'
Then, thinking of the Feng ancestor's final words, Li Yan chuckled to himself.
'That old man went back into the tomb, saying he would come out after handling the final matters with Fang Guangjun. His heart is already filled with fear. This time, of the people the Falling Star Valley sent to help, besides myself and Feng Tao, the rest are either missing or dead, including a Foundation Establishment cultivator. If he doesn't come up with a foolproof plan, he won't even dare to notify the Falling Star Valley. However, it all depends on whether you have the guts. Otherwise, I'll have to find a way to guide you, and that would be much more troublesome.'
Li Yan scoffed inwardly. He knew that the Feng ancestor was more anxious than anyone right now. This matter couldn't be hidden for long. He couldn't just let Fang Guangjun never show his face again, could he?
In the great hall of the Feng family's fortress ahead, Feng Tao's third ancestor was listening to Feng Zaiyu's account. When he learned that so many disciples had died during the clearing of the Yin Tomb-Cavern this time, his face twitched uncontrollably. He was especially stunned when he heard that three Falling Star Valley disciples had also perished, with two of their bodies being devoured by Corpse Bees without a trace left.
After a long while, he finally waved his hand at Feng Zaiyu and said, "Go and arrange for Little Friend Zhang to rest. As for the other matters, we will make a decision after Fellow Daoist Fang and Big Brother return!"
After all the disciples had retreated, this Foundation Establishment cultivator of the Feng family sat in his chair in a daze, his mind in a state of chaos. With three elite disciples of the Falling Star Valley having perished this time, the Feng family didn't know how they would bear the sect's thunderous wrath. But in reality, these people had all wanted to go to the back hills to seek treasure on their own.
Just then, his expression suddenly changed. An astonished look appeared on his face. After a moment's stun, his figure vanished from the great hall.
In a secret chamber of the Feng family, this was the place where the Feng ancestor went into seclusion. Ordinarily, no one was allowed to enter except himself. But now, the figure of that third ancestor of the Feng family also appeared here.
"Big Brother, are you saying that Fang Guangjun went crazy for no reason and attacked that Foundation Establishment ghostly creature, which is why things ended up like this? Didn't we agree with him before that once we reached the Yin Tomb-Cavern in the back hills, everything had to be done according to our deployment? He... he..."
"Who knows what madness possessed him? Previously, he seemed to be an experienced person in every action, but who would have thought..." The Feng ancestor stood with his hands behind his back, looked up at the Moonlight Stone on the ceiling, and let out a long sigh. (TN: Moonlight Stones are magical stones that emit light.)
"He really perished? Then what should we do now?" the Feng family's third ancestor murmured. Just hearing that three low-level disciples from the Falling Star Valley had died had already given him a massive headache. Who knew that there would be something even more terrifying to follow.
"He's as dead as can be!" The Feng ancestor flicked his hand at his waist. After a flash of light, a corpse appeared on the ground.
The Feng family's third ancestor immediately sent his Divine Sense to probe it. After a short while, he said with some confusion, "The death qi in his body is very thick. He was killed in one blow by a powerful ghostly creature, that much is certain. However, we also saw him in action yesterday. He didn't seem as weak as you described, Big Brother. How could he have been beaten so badly that he couldn't even fight back? This is very strange."
"I can't figure this matter out either. Although that ghostly creature had the advantage of time and place, it shouldn't have been like this. As you can see, Fang Guangjun's other injuries are not fatal at all. All of this combined is truly puzzling and incomprehensible. That's why I called you over, to see if you could find anything else."
"Big Brother, tell me everything you saw and heard again in detail. Let's go over it together one more time."
Subsequently, the Feng ancestor carefully recounted the story of how he had gone to support Fang Guangjun. This time, he spoke very slowly, recalling the events carefully as he narrated, afraid of leaving anything out. But to his disappointment, even after recalling the events in detail one more time, the Feng family's third ancestor still found nothing new.