Chapter 179: A Shocking Scene

Chapter 179: Chapter 179: A Shocking Scene

As they ventured deeper, the air grew thinner, indicating that this tunnel was seldom used.

Whenever Gu Qingli felt she couldn’t go on, they would rest in the Space before continuing.

「Outside, the Secret Sect subdued the Baiyue Clan in just two hours.」

“Speak! Do you want to live, or do you want to die?” Xiao Yunjing’s face was suffused with murderous intent as he stood on the central platform amidst the Baiyue Clan, looking down at the captured clan members.

Men and women, young and old, they numbered a full eight hundred.

The Clan Patriarch and the four Great Elders were bound to pillars, their heads hanging, their faces deathly still.

The Secret Sect members had scoured the entire Baiyue Clan encampment but found no trace of Wuqing and the others, let alone Li’er.

Xiao Yunjing was on the verge of exploding, possessed by an impulse to slaughter every last one of them.

In the crowd, Xi Chenyu looked up and, upon seeing Xiao Yunjing, could scarcely believe his eyes.

He shuffled his feet, desperate to go out and tell Xiao Yunjing that truly, no such people had entered their clan’s domain.

However, the Master in the crowd had a flicker in his eyes; these people could enter and exit, which meant there was a way out.

Mustering his courage, he stepped out from the crowd, cupped his hands in a salute to Xiao Yunjing, and said, “Sir, the people you speak of truly have not entered our clan. A few days ago, however, our clan’s Poison Elder and Xi Chenqing did disappear.”

Xiao Yunjing looked at the man, a chill gripping his heart.

Isn’t this Yan Ming, my military advisor from my past life? So, he was a member of the Baiyue Clan.

He recalled that in his previous life, two years from then, during the campaign against Xi Chen, this man had come scrambling down from the Yanshan Mountain Range and been captured on the spot as a spy.

Later, discovering Yan Ming was not only well-read but also proficient in military strategy, Xiao Yunjing had kept him by his side as his military advisor.

Yan Ming had never spoken of his origins, nor had he ever married, remaining constantly with Xiao Yunjing.

It wasn’t until Xiao Yunjing returned to the frontier that Yan Ming, citing old age, resigned from his position. Xiao Yunjing never saw him again after that.

Xiao Yunjing himself died later, with no further opportunity to see Yan Ming.

Yet, in this life, they had met here.

Xiao Yunjing nodded at him; he still trusted Yan Ming’s words.

“Yun No. 6, relocate all these people to Baiyue City. Select a village for them.”

Xiao Yunjing issued the order. Since he couldn’t get any useful information from them, he wouldn’t waste any more time.

Upon hearing they were to be sent out, more than half of the Baiyue Clan members were willing. Only a small number remained on the central platform, refusing to leave.

“Kill them,” Xiao Yunjing said flatly, then turned and left with his men.

This place was a natural stronghold, and from now on, it would belong to him.

“We’ll go! We’ll go!” When those who hesitated saw Xiao Yunjing departing and his ferocious-looking subordinates preparing to act, they hurriedly complied and rushed back to pack their belongings.

Xiao Yunjing scanned the village, searching meticulously, and then arrived at a mountain hollow.

Yan Ming, following behind him, felt a knot of anxiety in his stomach, unsure why Xiao Yunjing had specifically kept him by his side.

But upon seeing this place, he suddenly recalled that this was the Baiyue Clan’s ancestral land.

He quickly said, “Sir, this is the ancestral land of the Baiyue Clan.”

“Ancestral land?” Xiao Yunjing glanced back.

“Yes. Clan members are forbidden here. Only the Clan Patriarch and the Elders are permitted entry, and only they know the way in.”

Xiao Yunjing frowned.

Are Li’er and the others inside?

He waved his hand skyward, and a Secret Sect member flashed into appearance.

Yan Ming watched, stunned.

Such speed!

Xiao Yunjing ordered, “Bring the Clan Patriarch here.”

“Yes, Sir.” The Secret Sect member vanished as quickly as he had appeared, his movements like lightning.

“Tell me, why is the Baiyue Clan so secretive?” The two stood before the mountain hollow as Xiao Yunjing questioned Yan Ming.

Yan Ming replied, “Sir, to be honest, I, this humble one, stumbled into the Baiyue Clan by accident twenty years ago. I know very little about them; they were always extremely wary of me. From what I’ve managed to learn over the years, the Baiyue people are born with immense strength and the ability to see in the dark. Most of them practice martial arts. The Poison Elder can concoct poisons, but beyond that, there’s nothing particularly different about them.”

Xiao Yunjing nodded.

So, Yan Ming wasn’t originally of the Baiyue Clan. When I captured him back then, he must have been trying to escape on his own. And he just happened to run into me. What a stroke of fate, to encounter him in both lifetimes.

However, I still have many unresolved questions from my past life. I’ll keep Yan Ming with me; perhaps he can help me find answers.

At that moment, Yun No. 50 and several other Secret Sect members arrived, hauling the Clan Patriarch with them.

The Clan Patriarch was carried like a dead dog.

Yun No. 50 dropped him to the ground.

“Have him open the forbidden area,” Xiao Yunjing said indifferently. But as his words fell, the Clan Patriarch, who had been limp as a dead dog, visibly flinched.

His flinch was not missed by anyone present; they all saw it.

Could it be that this forbidden area truly holds some secret?

Yun No. 50 prodded the Clan Patriarch forward. “Open it.”

Trembling, the Clan Patriarch walked to the rock face. He reached out and felt along the stone, and astonishingly, where the wall had seemed perfectly smooth and unmarked, a stone door appeared.

As the stone door swung open, a foul, suffocating stench billowed out.

“Get in.”

Yun No. 50 gave the Clan Patriarch a hard shove, sending him stumbling into the cave.

Yun No. 50 followed him inside.

A moment later, Yun No. 50’s slightly horrified voice called from within, “Master, come in.”

Xiao Yunjing strode in.

The scene that met his eyes almost made him vomit his dinner from the previous night.

Inside the cave, it was as bright as day. About ten naked people lay on stone beds, their bodies blackened and bloated, as if inflated. Insects seemed to be squirming within their bodies, visibly moving from one side to the other. Occasionally, strange insects the size of a little finger crawled in and out of their facial orifices.

What was most eerie was that these people were still alive. Judging by their expressions, they were in excruciating pain.

Their mute acupoints had clearly been sealed; no matter how intense their agony, they could not scream.

RETCH.

Some of the Secret Sect members could no longer hold back their nausea. Yan Ming, in particular, vomited yellow bile.

“How cruel! Are these… are these even human?” Yan Ming stammered, shivering.

He recognized all of them; they were all members of the clan who had gone missing.

Heavens, who could have imagined the Baiyue Clan capable of such utterly depraved deeds?

With that, tears streamed down his face, and he fled outside.

The Clan Patriarch stood with his head hanging, utterly motionless.

The Baiyue Clan was well and truly finished.

Their grand plans for vengeance had died in the womb.

An immense unwillingness churned in the Clan Patriarch’s heart, but at this juncture, what could he possibly do?

In the face of absolute power, the Baiyue Clan was hopelessly outmatched, with no power to resist whatsoever.

It was all because of this man.

The Clan Patriarch swallowed down the roiling mass of his fury and resentment.

Xiao Yunjing’s eyes, however, were practically spitting fire.

These beasts! Using humans to raise cursed insects—they’re utterly depraved!

Those from the Southern Frontier who specialized in raising cursed insects would, at most, use their own blood to feed their cursed insects; never had humans been used for such a purpose.

Fortunately, he didn’t see anyone he knew here. If he had, he couldn’t imagine what earth-shattering things he might have done.

But where is Li’er?

Xiao Yunjing felt somewhat lost.

Li’er has the Space. Even if she’s hiding somewhere, she should have revealed herself by now.

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