How could there be infant skeletal remains beneath the tree?
The assembled martial heroes were utterly astonished!
Wei Jia noticed this as well.
Could this have been the handiwork of the Hatred-Hating Ancestor?
Wei Jia proceeded to uproot the entire peach tree straight out of the ground.
Even more infant remains were exposed to the open air.
Hundreds upon thousands of them.
Everyone present was filled with shock and horror!
Right at that moment, a woman in her early thirties came running over. She was dressed in gray cotton work clothes, the corners of her eyes marked by fine lines, her face weathered by hardship.
The woman practically crawled in a frantic rush among the skeletal remains, searching desperately for something.
Her expression was deadpan, her brows filled with stubborn resilience.
Finally, she caught sight of a strip of grayish-blue fabric, upon which two lotus flowers were embroidered.
She could not help trembling all over.
The woman’s surname was Zhu. She had originally been the daughter of a prominent family, but she was unfortunately defiled by a villain and unexpectedly became pregnant with a child.
Her family viewed her as a disgrace and sought to strangle her to death. Unable to bear watching her die, her mother released her with tears in her eyes. From then on, Madam Zhu concealed her identity and fled to Spring Town.
She gave birth to the child in her womb. It was a boy, fair and clean, exceedingly adorable.
However, as a lone and weak woman, making a living was already a monumental struggle; how could she possibly afford to raise a child?
Coincidentally, the White Lotus Temple posted notices offering to take in orphans from across the world. With no other options available to her, Madam Zhu could only entrust her child to the care of the White Lotus Temple.
She had watched with her own eyes as a monk carried the child into the Buddha hall.
Yet what was she looking at right now?
The grounds of the White Lotus Temple were buried with numerous infant skeletons, and her child was among them!
Trembling violently, Madam Zhu clutched the strip of grayish-blue fabric, dropping from her stance into a kneeling posture as her dark hair pressed directly into the mud.
A choked, utterly suppressed sob tore from her throat.
My child, it is your mother who failed you.
The monks of the White Lotus Temple arrived shortly afterward. Dressed in turmeric-yellow monastic robes, they sealed off the entire Heavenly Prison, forbidding anyone from entering.
“What right do you have to keep us out? We finally managed to find a clue; why seal this place off?” an unsatisfied martial hero protested.
The leading monk pressed his palms together. “The White Lotus Temple has only just learned of this matter as well. To think that such a vast quantity of skeletal remains would be buried right outside the Heavenly Prison is truly shocking! The White Lotus Temple will definitely uncover the culprit! Abbot Gongsun considered the matter thoroughly, fearing that you honorable guests might inadvertently disrupt the clues, which is why he instructed this poor monk to seal off the area. We hope you will not take offense!”
The moment those words fell, a hoarse female voice rang out. “Save your mother’s breath! You bastards! I entrusted my child to your care, and this is how you treated him? The third-largest sect in the martial world, yet you couldn’t even protect a single child. Who would ever believe such a thing? It must be you, you treacherous scoundrels, who harmed my child, and I am going to fight you to the death!”
Eyes swimming with tears, Madam Zhu lunged forward, ready to fight to the bitter end.
Lu Fenghuo pulled her back. “Madam, calm down. You cannot defeat them. Matters have already reached this stage; you would be better off investigating the truth first.”
Madam Zhu took the advice to heart, her eyes red as she forced herself to calm down.
The monks watched Madam Zhu’s weeping and wailing with cold detachment, treating the scene like a farce.
They surrounded the Heavenly Prison so tightly not even a drop of water could pass through.
Nobody was allowed in.
“Honored young heroes, do not you find this suspicious? We only just discovered these remains, and the White Lotus Temple immediately sealed off the area. Their movements were so swift; it looks as though the White Lotus Temple has a guilty conscience.”
“It is indeed a bit strange. But finding it strange does us no good! The entire perimeter of the Heavenly Prison is sealed, and we cannot get in! How are we supposed to investigate the truth?”
“I actually think what the White Lotus Temple monk said makes sense. With so many of us bustling about in disorder, we might very well destroy the clues. As the third-largest sect in the rivers and lakes, letting them handle it is not a bad arrangement.”
Opinions were split in every direction.
Wei Jia’s brows were dark and gloomy. He walked over to Madam Zhu’s side and retrieved the strip of grayish-blue fabric from her hands.
He turned around immediately and called out, “Ink Block.”
An ink-black cat appeared.
Its coat was so dark that ordinary people would easily overlook it.
One could not even make out its facial features!
Only two sapphire-blue eyes were visible.
Round and exceedingly lively.
Wei Jia crouched down and brought the grayish-blue fabric close to the black cat’s nose. “Go find this scent.”
The black cat immediately bolted forward.
Wei Jia hurried to keep pace.
A crowd of martial heroes, seeing this, trailed closely behind the ink-black cat.
The cat, Ink Block, led them into a peach grove.
Within the grove, gnarled tree branches twisted together, concealing countless pagodas among them.
Just as the group was about to step into the grove, four monks emerged from nowhere. Their expressions were stern and cold. “This is a sacred Buddhist ground, idlers keep out!”
Wei Jia had no time to waste arguing with them; he struck out and knocked all four monks unconscious in one swift motion.
The group stepped into the grove.
Running for a short distance further, the black cat halted in an open clearing.
“Why did it stop running? There is nothing around here either?” a martial hero asked in confusion.
Wei Jia stared at the cat sitting on the ground, falling into deep thought.
A moment later, Wei Jia drew the long sword from his waist and slashed downward into the earth!
Infusing his strike with internal energy, every slash he delivered carved a massive fissure into the ground!
In no time at all, the terrain became pitted and uneven.
Gazing at the ground beneath their feet, the crowd seemed to realize something.
Shortly after, every single person raised their weapons and began hacking away at the ground.
For a moment, the scene was a frenzy of activity!
An aged voice shattered the air. “What are you people doing?”
Everyone turned around to look.
A white-haired elder clad in pristine white monastic robes approached with a deep frown. The elder was gaunt and skin-and-bones, yet his movements were remarkably agile. It was none other than the Abbot of the White Lotus Temple, Gongsun Bai!
Gongsun Bai shouted angrily, “This is a sacred Buddhist ground, how dare you people act so presumptuously? Benefactors, do you even know where you are standing?”
“Where is this?” someone asked, clueless.
“This is the resting place of the past eminent monks of the White Lotus Temple! Countless seniors slumber here! Yet what are you people doing right now? Digging three feet deep into the ground and disturbing the peace of the dead?” Gongsun Bai’s tone was icy.
At those words, the crowd fell silent.
It seemed they truly were in the wrong.
Relying purely on subjective speculation, they had jumped to conclusions against the White Lotus Temple.
And now they had even barged into a sacred Buddhist sanctuary, disturbing the eternal slumber of eminent monks.
Silence fell.
Lu Fenghuo stood off to the absolute edge of the group.
He paid no attention to what was being discussed over there.
Logically speaking, the black cat stopping at this location meant the clues were right here.
With nothing else surrounding them, the clues had to be underground.
Yet why had everyone smashed the ground for so long without discovering anything?
Was it buried too deep?
Pondering this, Lu Fenghuo drew the saber from his waist. Channeling his internal energy, he casually brought the blade down against the ground.
The earth instantly split apart.
The fissure widened rapidly, ultimately spreading across the entire clearing!
Following a deafening crash, more than half of the open ground collapsed inward!
Lu Fenghuo:
I really just swung it casually.
As the dust settled, everyone rushed forward to peer into the collapsed cavern.
Below lay a spacious secret chamber.
The room was vast, piled high with countless blocks of ice and snow.
A chilling, bone-deep frost radiated upward.
And resting atop those blocks of ice and snow were dozens of infants.
The infants were dressed in nothing more than single, thin undergarments.
Their little faces were pale and bluish, and many had already ceased breathing.
The crowd was struck with horror, frozen in place.
They had never expected this! They had thought the skeletal remains under the peach tree were tragic enough, only to uncover an even more harrowing atrocity right beneath their feet!
What on earth was going on here?
Infant abuse and murder?
“What are you standing there for? Hurry down and help rescue them! Carry these children out! We cannot carry them all by ourselves, come down and lend a hand!” someone shouted from within the collapsed chamber.
Several martial heroes immediately leaped down into the void.
Above ground, the expression on Gongsun Bai’s face twisted into one of absolute, unspeakable horror.