The disciples stood in silence for a long time. The sky once again turned grim, with a persistent drizzle shrouding the quiet green bricks and black tiles of the mountain in a misty veil, so clear it exuded a piercing chill.
Among the disciples, the sisters Zhi Ran were the most senior, yet they could not offer any explanation. All eyes turned to Ying Caiwei and Ren Yuanhao, who stood with his sword drawn, as if awaiting a reasonable explanation from the two.
However, Ying Caiwei knew that her explanation of the 'Cicada Body' technique would be difficult to convince her senior sisters. She also had no evidence and was lost in emotions of grief and regret. If Ren Yuanhao hadn't continuously comforted her, she would have likely collapsed.
How could Ren Yuanhao not understand her predicament? Thus, after briefly comforting Ying Caiwei, he slowly took out a short dagger and a jade pendant from his pocket under everyone's gaze.
"These are Master's personal belongings." Ying Caiwei's eyes were filled with tears and confusion. "Where did little brother get them?"
The other disciples were even more bewildered. Since these items were Master's personal tokens, and Master was in seclusion, and this man had not even come up the mountain, where did these two items come from?
Ren Yuanhao glanced at the 'Fang Muyan' resembling a painted skin, then at the items in his hand, and said solemnly, "If I hadn't stumbled upon these two items by chance, I wouldn't have rushed back. Fortunately..."
He cleared his throat and recounted, in clear detail, how he had found the cave, discovered Fang Muyan's body, and found these personal tokens.
"What? A cave with Master's remains inside?" Zhi Ran and a group of female disciples looked perplexed, while also sneaking glances at the 'Master's' body, their confusion deepening.
"This matter is rather complicated. I'll explain it later. We can't just let Master's body be exposed to everyone like this," Ying Caiwei said with a pained expression. To buy herself time to recover, to give her senior sisters time to recover, and for the sake of Master's reputation, she could only do this.
Zhi Ran and her sister exchanged glances. Although the doubts in their hearts churned like waves, they couldn't be calmed. However, as Ying Caiwei had said, the most important thing now was to properly handle Master's body and comfort the junior sisters.
She nodded, then selected a few of the braver junior sisters to stay and help. Ying Caiwei discussed with Senior Sister Zhi Ran and, to prevent outside enemies from taking advantage of the situation, decided not to set up a mourning hall or wear mourning clothes for the time being. They would make a decision after everyone's emotions stabilized, the sect affairs were back on track, and a sect leader was chosen.
After all, the eldest senior sister had just gone through such an ordeal, and Master had died in such a bizarre and inexplicable way. Qingfeng Sect was severely weakened. If external enemies invaded, this cultivation sect might immediately vanish from this world.
As a distinguished guest, Ren Yuanhao stayed at the mountain gate for a full three days. Perhaps due to the extremely weak signal in the area, or some secret technique interference, his phone had no signal at all.
He thought about how he had informed a few women before leaving, urging them to act as if nothing had happened. He figured everything should be fine, and his worries gradually subsided.
Finally, on the fourth day, the entire Qingfeng Sect, under the management of the sisters Zhi Ran and Ying Caiwei, had slightly recovered its former appearance.
However, Ying Caiwei's explanation of the 'Cicada Body' technique still could not convince the sisters Zhi Ran. Out of necessity, Ren Yuanhao led the three of them and three or four highly respected members of the sect to the cave where Fang Muyan's body had been discovered that day.
The group passed through the warm and dry cave and soon arrived at a large cavern. As few people ventured into the wilderness, the cave retained its appearance from that day.
"I never expected there to be such a cave here," Zhi Ran quickly spotted the steel frames of the cells on the sides.
"I wonder what these cells were used for." Zhi Xuan, who had never ventured down the mountain, felt that although the place was warm, the air was filled with a dead energy that made her breathing difficult and uncomfortable.
This time, the cave was well-lit, with four or five torches placed in corners. The entire space was illuminated by the flames, causing their shadows to sway and flicker, creating a ghostly spectacle.
They emboldened themselves and moved forward, soon seeing their Master's body.
Fang Muyan's corpse had decomposed even more severely than it had a few days prior. Maggots writhed and crawled in the decaying wounds, while ants and maggots moved back and forth between the body's mouth and nose. A swarm of flies, like a dark cloud, circled above, as if proclaiming this was their territory.
Fortunately, those present that day were all people of some fortitude. Upon seeing the scene, they merely turned pale but did not vomit uncontrollably. This greatly surprised Ren Yuanhao, and he felt a deeper reverence for these cultivators.
"It really is Master..."
"Could it be that, as Junior Sister said, Master really cultivated that evil method?"
"It's likely true. I've been in the library these past few days and found some records related to the 'Cicada Body' technique. Although they are scattered, there is already too much evidence to prove the existence of that evil method."
Ren Yuanhao thought that it was no wonder Zhi Xuan had been out of sight these past few days; she had been hiding in the library.
As soon as the library was mentioned, the system's萝莉 voice instantly boomed.
"Beep beep, the library of a cultivation sect is a treasure trove. What, not tempted?"
"Of course, I'm tempted. But I'm not a disciple of Qingfeng Sect. Oh no, ordinary disciples don't have permission either. At least elite members of the sect are qualified."
"Hey, hey, hey, are you truly foolish or just pretending to be? You can be considered a great benefactor to Qingfeng Sect this time. Getting permission should be as easy as saying a word, right?"
A light bulb lit up in Ren Yuanhao's mind. He thought, "Hey, it seems like that's really the case. Am I truly foolish?"
Whether he was truly foolish or just pretending to be, Ren Yuanhao decided that he must obtain permission this time. These books were like a great treasure trove from another world, and from then on, he could open the door to the cultivation world!
"The library of a cultivation sect might contain some 'treasures'. After this mission ends, I suggest you 'scavenge' it. Don't miss this opportunity."
Ren Yuanhao came back to his senses and heard Zhi Ran say again, "There are still many suspicious aspects to this matter. For example, what was this cave used for? Why did Master choose to perform the 'Cicada Body' here? Also, I just took a look, and there are signs of life in the cells, clearly indicating that people were confined here before. Where have these people gone?"