Dark green tendrils carried the three people into the depths of the wood domain, shrouded in dense spirit fog.
And just shortly after Chen Ye and the others left,
a team stepped into the boundary of the stone stele forest, littered with lifeless corpses, and chaos everywhere.
It was the cultivators from the Xu Family, who broke into the wood domain from the direction of the ancient Song crossing!
As soon as they entered, they stopped, shocked by the hellish and brutal scene before them.
Before them lay several dismembered corpses of Medicine King Valley disciples, strewn about in the ruins.
Their deaths were indescribably horrific, drained of flesh and blood, limbs twisted.
"Ugh—"
Some of the younger Xu Family cultivators turned pale at the sight of these bizarre cadavers, their stomachs churning, dry retching audibly.
The other older cultivators showed no exception, all with grave expressions and tightly furrowed brows.
"Old Ancestor, this... these are people from Medicine King Valley! Wait, isn’t that Xu Maocai? How come he also entered Songyang Cave Heaven."
Xu Changhe’s gaze sharpened, instantly spotting Xu Pharmacist’s corpse.
His visage of crane-haired and youthful face still vaguely recognizable, tightly clutching a shattered purple jade flute, fragments scattered beside him.
This Second-Tier magical treasure, though lower grade, is a treasure nonetheless, yet it was destroyed to this extent...
This person’s full name was Xu Maocai, but in Medicine King Valley, he held the position of Pharmacist, others often called him Xu Pharmacist, while disciples called him Xu Master out of respect.
Xu Pharmacist was a Foundation Establishment Second Layer cultivator.
Foundation Establishment Second Layer, meaning he wasn’t one of those who rely on external objects, forcibly establishing foundation only to remain as Foundation Establishment First Layer cultivators.
He had considerable skill and power, moreover as a Medicine King Valley pharmacist, he was exceptional in the way of spirit plants.
Logically, he should have thrived in the wood domain, but why... did he die?
Another Xu Family elder squinted and examined closely, grumbling:
"Drained of essence blood... and these broken vines. Is this a blood-draining demon vine? But this demon plant is only at the Qi Cultivation stage, how could it harm Xu Maocai?"
"Strange, a Foundation Establishment demon vine wouldn’t be problematic for Xu Maocai."
Xu Changhe found it increasingly odd, the more bizarre it seemed, the more it signified great terror here.
Fortunately, the Xu Family patriarch is present here.
The cultivators of the Xu Family were confident, fearless, and spread out to inspect the clues nearby.
Even a young girl was curiously eyeing the bodies.
Though she appeared delicate and adorable, she was at the tender age of innocence.
Yet she wasn’t afraid of these bodies.
"Qing Jun, there may be danger here, quickly return to the ancestor’s side."
Xu Changhe’s expression changed, the stone stele forest was riddled with traps, he feared the young girl might inadvertently fall into one.
Previously,
Their spiritual ship was scrapped upon triggering a prohibition on the outskirts of the stone stele forest.
If not for the ancestor’s presence, many might have died.
Even after disembarking, aware of the prohibitions, exercising caution, three Xu Family cultivators still met their demise inadvertently.
The young girl glanced at him, pouted her lips with a hum, and continued crouching, playing with the shattered fragments of the purple jade flute.
Xu Changhe found some amusement in this.
As a Foundation Establishment Third Layer cultivator, his status in the Xu Family was second only to the ancestor, alongside other Foundation Establishment cultivators.
Who usually dared to ignore him?
This girl even seemed to glare at him!
"Sigh! Qing Jun, be good, what’s so interesting about these flute fragments? When we go back, Uncle Changhe will give you a magical treasure!"
Xu Changhe rolled up his sleeves, intending to walk over and carry the young girl away.
Thinking this, his hands started to itch a bit.
Truth be told, he had long been fond of Little Qing Jun.
This girl was so appealing and lovely; who wouldn’t want to get close when seeing her?
Unexpectedly, the young girl was wary, her eyes glaring:
"You... are you an old daoist too! Stay away from Qing Jun!"
"Old daoist?"
Xu Changhe was stunned by this sudden title, then laughed helplessly.
How did he look like a daoist?
Moreover, why does this girl’s gaze feel so strange... he could feel the surrounding Xu Family cultivators sneaking glances at him.
It seemed like he was about to do something disgraceful.
"Little Qing Jun, you shouldn’t speak nonsense."
He knelt with good humor, trying to reason with her,
"See, uncle doesn’t resemble those charlatan daoists, right?"
"Humph!"
Qing Jun hid the flute fragments behind her, looking at him warily with a childish voice,
"Master said, unwarranted kindness is either treachery or theft! You want to give me magical treasures, carry me, and get close to me, aren’t you an old daoist!"
This bizarre logic rendered Xu Changhe speechless momentarily.
Cursed!
I, Xu Changhe, am your real uncle Xu Qingjun!
Who says such things about their real uncle!
"Pff—"
Beside him, a few young disciples finally couldn’t help but burst into laughter.
"Outrageous!" Xu Changhe’s old face blushed, he glared at them, then gently said to Qing Jun, "Uncle is just worried about you, there’s danger nearby."
"Dummy!"
Qing Jun furrowed her soft eyebrows, suspecting there was something wrong with this Xu Changhe’s mind.
"How am I dumb?"
Xu Changhe was quite intrigued.
"Calling you dumb, and you still don’t believe it!"
The young girl spoke righteously; she missed her master terribly, people outside were all foolish, even though her master was also a bit foolish, not as much as to worry her.
Serious-faced she said,
"Did you not realize, only the outer part of the stone stele forest has prohibitions? We’re already beyond it, regarding dangers like demon beasts and plants, if there are any, grandpa would have discovered them. If grandpa misses it, worrying won’t help!"
"..."
Xu Changhe froze for a moment; indeed this was logical.