The righteous alliance mobilized its forces, preparing to thoroughly investigate the case of Situ Lei Sheng's murder.
If the culprit was not found and a satisfactory answer was not given to the Situ family, the Situ family might retaliate indiscriminately.
If someone was causing trouble from within, deliberately spreading false intelligence, the Situ family might be used as a pawn, stirring up a bloodbath in the martial world!
At this very moment, the righteous alliance received news that in a mountain village in western Hunan, several villagers had gone missing in recent days.
Local officials conducted large-scale searches but found no clues. Such supernatural events were ultimately handed over to the righteous alliance, as some matters were beyond the capabilities of ordinary people.
Thus, this time, the righteous alliance dispatched Xie Chong, the nephew of Secretary-General Xie Liheng, and a young Daoist named Zhang Ziying, to investigate the matter.
This Zhang Ziying was a disciple of Longhu Mountain. Although only in his early twenties, he had cultivated on the mountain since childhood, possessed high martial arts skills, and had a keen understanding of Daoist arts.
Longhu Mountain had instructed him to descend the mountain to gain experience in the secular world for a few years before returning to the mountain. After some specialized training, he could potentially become a high-ranking member of Longhu Mountain, or even its sect leader.
Speaking of which, as a disciple of Longhu Mountain, Zhang Ziying was also one of Zhang Caifeng's admirers. However, Zhang Caifeng showed no favor to any of her fellow disciples on the mountain.
Especially now that they heard Zhang Caifeng already had someone in her heart, and even the sect leader of Longhu Mountain, Zhang Daoyun, had tacitly approved of this matter, all the young disciples of Longhu Mountain were heartbroken!
The two drove for a full day from the provincial capital before nearing their destination. They were still dozens of kilometers away from the affected mountain village. They rode motorcycles, bumping along mountain roads for half a day before finally arriving at the village where the incident occurred.
This place had been a land of poverty and harsh conditions since ancient times, with steep mountains, strategic terrain, and rugged roads.
As late as a few decades ago, bandits still occupied this area until they finally tasted the iron fist of justice.
Accompanying the bandits were various eerie legends. In such deep mountains, encountering anything was not unusual.
This village was already sparsely populated, with only about a hundred people, most of whom were elderly left behind who were reluctant to leave their homeland. Only a few dozen young people remained in the village, making a living by collecting mountain herbs or rare medicinal herbs.
However, starting a few months ago, young people entering the mountains began to go missing, and later, those sent to search for them also disappeared.
Later, the matter was reported to the authorities, and several search and rescue teams were formed to look for the missing people, but none of them made any progress.
The two arrived at the village, which couldn't even be found on a map. The elderly village chief received them. Upon hearing their purpose, the chief settled them into an old house in the village.
This house had been uninhabited for a long time, and the air inside was filled with a musty odor. Fortunately, both of them were martial artists and had been traveling for years, so enduring hardships was not a problem.
They spoke with some villagers about the relevant matters. Many villagers were tight-lipped about it, while some villagers suggested that there might be an ancient tomb in the nearby mountains, and that there were some unclean things within the ancient tomb.
Near that ancient tomb, many precious medicinal materials grew. The young people who first went into the mountains to collect herbs and went missing were heading in the direction of the ancient tomb.
The two instinctively felt that the so-called ancient tomb was likely problematic and might be the place where the truth lay.
Therefore, they asked the village chief to find a villager to act as a guide to take them there. However, the village chief stated that it was a forbidden area and no villager would agree to take them.
The village chief also wanted to take them, but seeing the village chief's frail and elderly appearance, the two feared he might die in the mountains.
As evening approached, a young man named A Liang found the two, offering to guide them into the mountains to find the ancient tomb, but he asked for some money as a reward.
This young man named A Liang was thin, with small eyes that darted around, clearly indicating he was a shrewd character.
Xie Chong and Zhang Ziying discussed it and finally agreed to hire the young man as a guide for twenty thousand yuan. They gave him ten thousand yuan upfront and the remaining balance after they returned from the ancient tomb.
The next morning, at the crack of dawn, A Liang met them, and the three of them went up the mountain.
A Liang's movements were very agile. He moved quickly on the mountain path, his speed almost like that of a monkey.
It was only because Xie Chong and Zhang Ziying had grown up in the mountains and possessed martial arts skills that they could barely keep up with A Liang's pace.
More than two hours later, they were deep in the mountains when A Liang suddenly stopped.
"Sirs, let's rest for a bit. The ancient tomb is not far ahead, but the path is difficult, and there are many venomous snakes and insects in the forest. If you're not well-rested, it's easy to fall into danger."
Xie Chong nodded, "Alright, let's rest for a while. A Liang, thank you for your hard work!"
A Liang smiled, excused himself to relieve himself, and his figure disappeared into the woods.
Xie Chong and Zhang Ziying quickly drank some water, then took out their phones, only to find that there was no signal here, and even GPS had failed.
It should be noted that their phones were not ordinary phones; they were specially made by the relevant departments and equipped with various navigation modules and satellite phone communication modules.
But here, all their electronic devices seemed to have failed.
Suddenly, from the bushes in the distance, there was a rustling sound, clearly different from the sound of someone walking.
Xie Chong and Zhang Ziying immediately became alert. They stood up and drew their long swords and short knives from their long satchels.
However, what they saw next made the two feel a chill down their spines. In the surrounding mountain forest, the figures of more than a dozen people appeared.
These dozen or so people had sunken eyes, their eyeballs rolled upwards, and their skin was a pale white. There was no life in these people!
Xie Chong and Zhang Ziying scrutinized these people closely and were shocked to discover that they were the villagers who had disappeared not long ago!
However, at this moment, their movements were extremely bizarre. Their joints seemed unable to bend, and they shuffled forward step by step in a strange posture!
As a disciple of Maoshan, Zhang Ziying was greatly alarmed, "These, these are Jiangshi!"