The chamber below was unlit, plunging him into absolute darkness.
Yet, with a sweep of Li Fan's divine sense, its interior was laid bare.
A wisp of flame flew from his fingers, igniting candles that had been waiting in the gloom.
In the flickering candlelight, Li Fan's expression gradually grew solemn.
Within this space that was neither large nor small, a faceless stone statue stood leaning against a wall.
At the center of the room was a long, dark-brown wooden table. Faint traces of what appeared to be dried, dark-red blood were visible on its surface.
A wooden chest sat at one corner of the table.
Li Fan opened it to find tools of uncertain purpose: hammers, knives, nails, needles, and more.
Numerous transparent jars filled the shelves on the walls. Inside them, suspended in an unknown liquid, were many strange and oddly shaped organs.
In one corner, Li Fan also spotted the skeletal specimens of several young humans.
Mister Bai...
A complex emotion flickered across Li Fan's face as he continued searching the chamber.
By another wall, he saw that the markings on the floor differed from those elsewhere.
His divine sense probed downward. Beneath it lay one, two...twenty-eight skeletons in total.
Judging by the remains, they were all like Gouzi from the small temple, creatures that were half-human, half-beast.
Beyond these, the secret chamber yielded nothing more.
Li Fan did not rush to act. He stood still, thinking.
Based on the various objects discovered here, Mister Bai’s persona as "the greatest, kindest man under heaven" seemed to be facing a challenge.
Yet, it could not be completely dismissed.
Back when he was still mortal, governing a region in Great Xuan, Li Fan had presided over countless cases, large and small.
Some cases that appeared straightforward at first glance often held hidden complexities.
Take the scene before him.
One possibility was that Mister Bai was a master of disguise, outwardly benevolent, but inwardly a being of profound wickedness.
The bones buried deep below were all his victims. Perhaps even the human-headed, beast-bodied beings in Ningyuan City were his creations, a perverse application of his masterful medical skills.
His aid to the orphans in the small temple could then be a convenient way to select research subjects.
But another possibility existed: Mister Bai wore no disguise.
The specimens and skeletons in this chamber were simply tools for his medical research.
As a transmigrator, Li Fan found this notion not too difficult to accept. Though here in Ningyuan City, it would likely be considered shocking and blasphemous.
His need to conduct such studies in a hidden underground chamber might stem from the world's inability to accept such practices, a measure born of necessity.
Both possibilities were plausible. To uncover the truth, Li Fan would have to verify it himself.
For now, it was almost certain that the master of this spacetime of lingering obsession was this never-before-seen Mister Bai.
Li Fan decided to stick to his original plan. He would first attempt to resolve the Ningyuan Longevity Fruits Retrieval incident without mortal casualties.
His mind made up, Li Fan focused his gaze on the damaged stone statue.
It seemed that a great deal of time had passed since the statue's creation. It bore the heavy marks of countless years, its former sanctity long faded.
The faceless visage stared back at Li Fan in silence.
With a piece of stone this large, one would be able to forge two or three sets of Immortal-Severing Stone Nails. Li Fan mused to himself.
He glanced again at the wooden chest in the center, feeling quite satisfied.
Excellent. He's even prepared the tools for me.
Without further hesitation, Li Fan used his divine sense to manipulate the hammers, chisels, knives, and other tools.
A series of clinks and clangs echoed in the chamber.
Before long, several dozen slender Immortal-Severing Stone Nails were completed, which Li Fan laid out one by one on the long table in the basement.
Next, I need to test whether the Immortal-Sealing, Spirit-Severing Needles can subdue Senior Brother Zhang. If they can...
Chu Liang and the others are nothing but clay chickens and pottery dogs. I can easily capture them using my Insect Binding divine ability.
As for Song Hesong, I can use the same method, subduing him with the Immortal-Severing Stone needles.
Hmm. Immortal-Severing Stone cannot be stored in a storage ring. I'll need to lure him into the trap.
After some thought, Li Fan returned to the surface, moved the slab of Immortal-Severing Stone into the basement, and then sent a message to Senior Brother Zhang.
"Senior Brother, come quickly! I've made a major discovery!”
Li Fan then returned to the underground chamber, extinguished the candles, and quietly awaited Senior Brother Zhang's arrival.
Before long, Zhang Qianmo's voice sounded from above. "Hmm? Junior Brother, what have you discovered in this secret chamber?
"So many skeletons...Huh? Beastkin!?"
Noticing the half-beast, half-human skeletons in the chamber, Zhang Qianmo's tone instantly darkened, and a hint of anger seeped through.
He descended into the underground chamber.
"Senior Brother, look. Not only are there many strangely shaped bones here, but also a strange statue. I don't know its origin."
In the darkness, Li Fan slowly approached Zhang Qianmo, pointing at the dilapidated statue.
He couldn’t perceive it with divine sense. Only now, by the faint light spilling from above, did Zhang Qianmo notice the faceless stone statue not far away.
His mind was violently shaken. "Xuantian Idol?" he exclaimed, his voice breaking.
At that moment, Li Fan, standing behind him, violently thrust a slender stone nail into his back, targeting the position of his dantian.
It pierced straight through.
Zhang Qianmo grunted.
Never expecting his dear junior brother to ambush him, Zhang Qianmo seemed to realize something, and his expression changed drastically.
He turned to counterattack, but the flow of spiritual qi in his dantian stalled. The Purple Firmament Divine Thunder technique he intended to unleash was delayed by a single breath.
In that fleeting instant, another stone nail was brutally driven into the center of his chest, at the Danzhong acupoint.
One after another, without pause, a total of thirty-six Immortal-Severing Stone needles sealed all the vital acupoints across Zhang Qianmo's body.
His aura plummeted. Senior Brother Zhang, who outwardly possessed the cultivation of the Foundation Establishment realm, was now reduced to the strength of a mortal.
“Immortal-Sealing, Spirit-Severing... Remnant of the Xuantian Sect...”
Though captured, not much panic showed on Zhang Qianmo's face. Instead, he stared at Li Fan with hatred. "You are not Junior Brother Li Chen! What have you done to my junior brother?"
Li Fan hadn't expected the Immortal-Severing Stone nails to be so effective, allowing him to subdue Senior Brother Zhang with such ease.
Hearing him mistake Li Fan for some remnant of the Xuantian Sect, Li Fan's mind stirred slightly.
Outwardly, however, he remained impassive, his tone unchanged. "Senior Brother, you've grown confused. Can you not even recognize your own junior brother?"
He then proceeded to recount, one by one, some past events from Li Chen's memories—things only the two of them, as master and disciple brothers, would know.
Zhang Qianmo’s expression shifted, a storm of doubt and suspicion playing across his face.
“Was Junior Brother soul-searched? No, impossible—with the intent of the Purple Firmament Divine Lightning protecting him, he would be impervious to any soul-searching technique.
“Could it be...”
Zhang Qianmo’s face darkened completely.
“Don’t tell me... Junior Brother, you were a sleeper agent planted by the Xuantian Sect within our Purple Firmament Sect since childhood?”
Li Fan was inwardly speechless.
Yet he could see that Zhang Qianmo seemed unafraid, not truly worried about his own predicament. Instead, he was using this moment to fish for information.
So Li Fan decided to play along, matching the act.
“Senior brother, you jest. What Xuantian Sect? I haven’t the faintest idea what you’re talking about.” Li Fan shrugged, his face a mask of innocence.
“No idea?” Zhang Qianmo let out a cold laugh. “There’s no need to keep up the act now.
“Hiding a Xuantian Idol, engaging in secretive deeds... Who else could you be but a remnant of the Xuantian Sect?
“Junior Brother, you’ve hidden your true self remarkably well all these years.”