As soon as Li Yundong heard the voice, he felt a terrible stab of panic and began running to the place it was coming from.
After they reached the spot, Li Yundong looked at the things there and suddenly took a deep breath. He was shocked and angry.
A coffin had been placed in the southwest corner of the Taoist temple. On the coffin was the memorial tablet for Liu Ye, the former leader. However, the lid of the coffin had been pushed open and there was nothing inside. Next to the coffin were two women’s bodies. One was close and the other was a distance away. Both had been turned into dried meat. Their faces were withered and they looked like mummies which had been dead and shrivelled for thousands of years, looking extremely terrifying.
Li Yundong saw that the body in the distance was wearing lurid, revealing clothes and they were a little messy. Based on the attire, he could suss that this person was Mei Niang. The corpse closer to him was wearing a Daopao and was probably a disciple of Fox Zen School. However, Li Yundong couldn’t tell who she was at that moment, as her dried out body made her unrecognizable.
Before long, Su Chan, Cao Yi, and others arrived as well. When Cao Yi saw what had happened, her eyes widened in shock and she cried out involuntarily, “Fourth shijie!”
Zhou Qin couldn’t use catharsis. She ran over on foot and arrived last, everyone else having already gotten there earlier. As soon as she saw the bodies, She covered her mouth with her hands at once and her expression was one of horror.
Li Yundong looked at Cao Yi, his face livid. “Is this Zhangsun Hong?”
Cao Yi was terrified and said in a trembling voice, “This is my fourth senior sister’s clothes. Look at the belt. There is a yellow embroidered purse beside it. This is her powerful magical weapon, the colorful brocade bag.”
Li Yundong was both shocked and angry. He hadn’t expected that someone would dare to kill his disciple right under his nose after he had taken over the sect, especially when there was an outsider!
Li Yundong took a look at Mei Niang, who had also been squeezed dry, then turned his head and said to Wu Hua, who was putting his palms together devoutly and constantly chanting scriptures, “Great master, you just said that something was so close, yet so far away. Did you mean the thing in front of us?”
With his eyes downcast, he said, “Amitabha. I can’t tell you.”
Li Yundong said angrily, “Now that such a thing has happened, you still want to put on an air of mystery? Don’t you know the Metasamsaras? You must know everything that just happened here.”
Wu Hua smiled and said, “Zhenren Li, if I knew everything in the world, I would have become a Buddha already! Even the Buddha himself couldn’t see through all the confusing things in the world with his sacred eyes, let alone someone like me. I can only see a little. You cultivators who practice the Tao can’t kill people with Magic, and nor can I. I can’t reveal all the secrets of heaven, otherwise I will suffer divine punishment.”
Only then did Li Yundong’s anger dissipate appreciably. He swept his gaze over the people present and saw that everyone of the Fox Zen School was filled with fear. Those who had been on good terms with Zhangsun Hong were even secretly wiping away tears.
Li Yundong’s expression was still one of rage, and he couldn’t speak for a while. Zhou Qin gently tugged on his arm and whispered, “Master, shall we call the police?”
“Call the police?” Li Yundong sneered.”How could we? What will we say when they get here? Do you want to be jailed?”
Li Yundong looked at Cao Yi with his sharp gaze and asked, “Why is the previous sect master’s coffin here?”
Cao Yi had been looking at Zhangsun Hong’s corpse and secretly shedding a few tears. When she heard Li Yundong’s question, she quickly wiped her tears away and replied, “Today is the seventh night since the former leader’s death. We elders of the Fox Zen Sect discussed it in private and decided to worship the former leader, but we didn’t tell you because we were afraid that you would overthink it. After your return, I originally wanted Zhangsun Hong to come and see you with us, but she said that there had to be at least one person here to protect the area, so she stayed and didn’t come.”
After saying this, Cao Yi couldn’t help crying, “It’s all my fault. If I hadn’t agreed with her, she wouldn’t have died!”
Seeing her starting to cry, the other disciples of Fox Zen School who had spent all day and night with Zhangsun Hong also started to cry loudly. For a moment, the sobbing in the backyard shook the sky, and the atmosphere became oppressively gloomy.
Although Su Chan had left the Fox Zen School when she was a child, the corners of her eyes could not help turning red when she saw that her shibo had been killed.
Li Yundong flew into a rage and shouted, “B*stard!”
No one knew whether he was scolding the disciples who were crying or the murderer, but after he shouted, their crying suddenly stopped, and the disciples of Fox Zen School were so scared that they only dared to whimper.
It was rare for Su Chan to see Li Yundong so angry. She gingerly pulled on Li Yundong’s sleeve and whispered, “Yun… leader, don’t be angry.”
Hearing Su Chan call him leader, Li Yundong realized that they were all frightened by his behavior. His heart softened and he said gently, “Don’t be afraid. I’m not angry with you. I’m angry with myself for failing to protect you. I’m not qualified to be the leader!”
As soon as he said this, Cao Yi and the others said one after another, “Leader, if you speak like this, we will only feel ashamed.”
“Yes, Leader, it’s not your fault,” another discipline said.
“I wonder which vicious cultivator it was that killed fourth shibo!” one discipline said in an angry and forceful tone.
Li Yundong looked at Wu Hua and asked, “Master Wu Hua, do you really not know who killed Zhangsun Hong of my school?”
Wu Hua put his palms together and said, “Zhenren Li, we monks don’t lie. I really don’t know. But what I do know is that when you find the murderer, you will also find the whereabouts of Ao Wushuang.”
Li Yundong clenched his fists and secretly made a mental note of what he had said in his heart. When he looked at Mei Niang. he immediately felt a headache coming on and said, “This woman died in our Taoist temple, and in such a bizarre way. What should we do? If the police find out about this, it will be troublesome.”
Just as he was worrying, a timid voice sounded beside him, saying, “I have an idea.”
Upon hearing this, all the people immediately looked in the direction of the voice and saw that it was Xiaozhu, who had come with Mei Niang.
Xiao Zhu timidly hid behind Wu Hua and said in a low voice, “Mei Niang doesn’t have any relatives. I can just tell people that she has returned to her hometown when I go back. She usually treated others harshly, so no one will ask too much about her whereabouts.”
Li Yundong was very surprised to see that an ordinary person like Xiao Zhu was daring to speak so boldly. He looked at her once more and nodded to her, saying, “Although this is the only thing we can do right now, this is, after all, a matter of life and death. I, Li Yundong, will definitely find the murderer for the sake of Mei Nian’s spirit in heaven.”
Seeing that he was looking at her, Xiaozhu was so scared that she hid behind Wu Hua’s back again and did not dare to speak anymore.
Cao Yi looked at Mei Niang’s body and couldn’t help but laugh bitterly. “Her body has already been sucked dry, so her soul must have also been sucked away. There’s no spirit left in her body.”
When Li Yundong heard this, he suddenly trembled and recalled something. His eyes widened as he said, “I remember that Ye Yu was once attacked by Mo Ahshi’s Threaded Hairpin of Traversing Soul. The symptoms were just that the flesh and blood were sucked dry and the soul was consumed.”
Su Chan, who was standing by his side, also said loudly, “Yes, I remember Mo Ahshi. Ah, no. I remember that when Yan Fang fought against Gu Feng, Yan Fang killed Gu Feng with the Threaded Hairpin of Traversing Soul and sucked his flesh and soul dry! Could it be that the same thing has happened to these two people?”
Li Yundong couldn’t help but say in surprise, “Could it be that Yan Fang took the Threaded Hairpin of Traversing Soul and has been lurking in this Taoist temple?”
As soon as his words fell, everyone around couldn’t help but shiver.
Although Yan Fang had lost her physical body and couldn’t use powerful magic, her character was patient and her means were extremely fierce, which really made people shudder. If it was really her, no one in the Fox Zen School would be able to restrain the fright apart from Li Yundong!
All of the people of Fox Zen School, from the old to the young, including Cao Yi and Su Chan, could not help but think, “If Yan Fang is by my side, then…”
When the people of the Fox Zen School thought of this, they all became frightened and flustered.
Fortunately, Cao Yi remained calm. Her expression cooled a little and she said in a dry voice, “Leader, wasn’t the Threaded Hairpin of Traversing Soul taken away by someone last time?”
Li Yundong asked in reply, “Could it be that Yan Fang is the one behind it?”
Cao Yi shook her head and said, “It was a black smoke that took the Threaded Hairpin of Traversing Soul back then. This kind of kung fu can only be used with a physical body. Yan Fang was out of her body in Yang Spirit at that time, so she wouldn’t have had the ability. What’s more, according to the situation on Mount Wuyue, Zheng Yuan, the leader of Yin Yang Sect based in Mount Wuhua, is the most likely suspect.”
When Li Yundong heard Zheng Yuan’s name, fury immediately overwhelmed him. “This b*stard, last time he made himself my enemy, and now he dared to come to our school again? Isn’t he afraid that I’ll trample his Yin Yang Sect in Mount Wuhua?”
Red-eyed, Su Chan also said, “Yes, it has to have been him! Last time, we disturbed his business. This time, in order to take out his anger, he snuck into our Fox Zen School to kill us and take our treasures!”
Li Yundong was stunned. “Grab the treasures? What treasures?”
Su Chan pointed at the coffin and bellowed, “The coffin of the former leader has been opened. The body and the powerful magical weapon of former leader are both gone. If it’s not as I said, what explanation is there?”
Li Yundong thought of something and a contemplative expression appeared on his face. After pondering for a while, he said, “If that’s the case, why didn’t he also snatch Zhangsun Hong’s colorful brocade bag?”
Cao Yi sighed. “The former leader’s magic powerful weapon, the Jade pole, is one of the most precious powerful magical weapons in the world. If villains wanted to steal a powerful magical weapon, they naturally would not go for fourth senior sister’s bag. It is just a small magic weapon which can only be used once, just like the two purses I gave you last time. However, the other magic powerful weapon is permanent. Not only can it carry a lot of things in it, it will never be damaged.”
Li Yundong frowned and asked again, “Can you tell whether the scream you just heard was from Zhangsun Hong?”
Cao Yi, Liu Yuehong, Zhuang Yating and the others looked at each other and shook their heads.
Li Yundong frowned even more deeply and didn’t say anything for a while.
Wu Hua next to him suddenly said to Li Yundong, “Zhenren Li, your school has just happened upon such a big thing. I’d better not stay any longer. I plan to leave first.”
At that moment, Li Yundong was not in the mood to ask him to stay, so he said to Wu Hua, “I planned to invite you to have a meal with us, but now that such a thing has happened, it’s a little inappropriate and I won’t be able to accompany you if you stay here. I have to apologize to you.”
Wu Hua put his palms together and said to Li Yundong, “It doesn’t matter. However, Zhenren Li, you should pay more attention. Everything in the world is connected to each other. Even if it’s groundless, there must be a reason for this. That’s all I can say for now. I hope it can help you, Zhenren Li.”
After that, he turned around, patted Xiao Zhu’s shoulder, and left Fox Zen School with her.
Watching them leave, Li Yundong was a little confused for a moment. He repeatedly thought about Wu Hua’s parting words. It seemed that he was on the edge of understanding them, but a fog was surging toward him and almost drowning him.
