Yi Hehuan was dead, and this was no small matter.
In fact, Yan Shouyi knew more information than Zhang Shanli, so when he learned of Yi Hehuan's death, he had already made up his mind to investigate thoroughly.
After all, Longhu Mountain was now a mix of fish and dragons, with people who wanted to kill him, people who wanted to kill the Old Heavenly Master, and various other factions. All of them posed a threat to Yan Shouyi.
The Old Heavenly Master had seen Yan Shouyi quietly leave the scene, but he did not stop him.
After leaving, Yan Shouyi had Sanyuan keep an eye on Zhang Shanli and his group from the air, while he maintained a distance, following them from afar.
Zhang Shanli, accompanied by Zhang Wuma and a team of elite disciples, entered the forest with weapons in hand.
The path was already secluded, and eventually, there was no path at all. Zhang Shanli cursed as he walked:
"The people from Wuzhen Sect really know how to pick a spot. Even if they wanted to do something unsavory, we could have provided rooms if they had given us notice. Why must they come to these desolate wildernesses for excitement! It's truly a disgrace to the purity of Taoism!"
Zhang Wuma might have calmed down, or perhaps he no longer held the previous voluntary surrender against anyone. At this moment, he was fully focused on the task at hand, holding his sword and vigilantly observing the surroundings.
After a while, the group arrived at the scene of the incident.
The place was densely wooded and the terrain was secluded. One had to admit that Yi Hehuan had chosen a good location.
However, as soon as they arrived, Zhang Shanli and the others were shocked by the tragic scene.
In the desolate wilderness, corpses lay scattered on the ground. Each corpse was mangled, with blood splattered on the surrounding tree trunks, grass leaves, and even seeping into the soil.
At this moment, Yan Shouyi also arrived nearby. Witnessing the scene with his own eyes, he couldn't help but frown.
Zhang Shanli looked at the scene and remained silent for a long time before finally saying:
"Count the bodies, identify them, examine them, and check the surroundings for any clues!"
However, after he issued the order, the disciples he brought, except for Zhang Wuma, did not act immediately.
Zhang Shanli looked back and found that these disciples were all stunned by the horrific scene. Some were even pale-faced, standing there blankly as if they were about to faint at any moment.
Zhang Shanli roared, "What are you still standing around for! If you keep dawdling like this, the murderer will have already escaped down the mountain!"
The disciples then reacted, suppressing their discomfort, and quickly took action.
They believed themselves to be battle-hardened and resilient, but they never expected to be so terrified by this scene that their legs went weak.
While the disciples were examining the scene, Yan Shouyi was also observing with all his might.
Unfortunately, he was too far from the scene and could not directly touch the bodies. Just by looking, it was difficult to discern anything.
One had to admit that although the disciples of Longhu Mountain were not yet resilient enough, their training was quite disciplined.
After reluctantly overcoming their discomfort, their actions became much more efficient, and soon they had results.
Zhang Wuma, after compiling the information, reported to Zhang Shanli:
"Hall Master Shanli, according to everyone's count, there are nine bodies here, including Wuzhen Sect disciple Yi Hehuan and the three disciples she brought for cultivation, three lookouts, and two people who came to find them later. All nine bodies belong to the Wuzhen Sect."
With nine people dead at once, the situation was even more serious than Zhang Shanli had imagined.
He crouched down beside a corpse, examining it while asking, "Are there any problems with the bodies?"
"All of them had their skulls smashed by blunt weapons, and their souls were taken after death. The methods were indeed cruel," Zhang Wuma replied.
Zhang Shanli sighed.
This was no different from his own findings.
There were some signs of a struggle at the scene, but they could not be used to analyze the killer's characteristics. Instead, they made the scene more chaotic and difficult to find clues.
Just as Zhang Shanli was at a loss, Zhang Wuma suddenly frowned and his gaze locked onto Yan Shouyi, who was hiding in the woods!
He immediately drew his sword and shouted, "Who is hiding there! Come out quickly, or we won't show mercy when we act!!"
Yan Shouyi was greatly startled. He thought he had hidden very well, and even Zhang Shanli had not discovered him, but Zhang Wuma was so perceptive.
Before, when Zhang Wuma had surrendered without a fight, Yan Shouyi had not seen his true strength and felt some regret.
Now, he had gained some understanding of Zhang Wuma's abilities.
If this person had not surrendered, he might have made it into the finals, and even winning the championship would not have been impossible.
Longhu Mountain truly harbored hidden talents!
Since he had been discovered, Yan Shouyi saw no need to continue hiding. More importantly, Zhang Shanli was his granduncle, and he believed his granduncle would not do anything to him.
So, Yan Shouyi walked out calmly:
"Don't be agitated, it's me."
Zhang Wuma recognized Yan Shouyi: "So it's you."
Zhang Shanli frowned: "Why aren't you staying in the Ten Thousand Dharma Altar and following us?"
As Yan Shouyi approached, he explained, "Granduncle, Yi Hehuan and I have an old grudge. Hearing that she was in trouble, I came to check. Besides, Wang Qihe assassinated the disciples of the Suishan Sect to kill me. If anyone else gets into trouble this time, I would naturally suspect that they are here to kill me, so I have to follow and see."
Yan Shouyi's hastily fabricated excuse was quite reasonable, and neither Zhang Shanli nor Zhang Wuma questioned him further.
And Zhang Shanli did not drive Yan Shouyi away, which meant he tacitly allowed him to stay. Zhang Wuma had even less to say.
Yan Shouyi chuckled a few times and then began to examine the bodies.
He did not rush to look at Yi Hehuan's body, but walked along, glancing at each corpse.
The other elite disciples of Longhu Mountain saw Yan Shouyi strolling among the corpses with a relaxed and casual demeanor as if he were in his own backyard, and they couldn't help but feel a sense of admiration for him.
Many of them had been so frightened by the scene at first sight that they couldn't move, but Yan Shouyi appeared so calm. Such composure was already beyond their reach.
After examining several corpses, Yan Shouyi also confirmed that all the deceased had been killed by blunt force to the head.
Furthermore, their souls had been taken, leaving them no chance at all.
Yan Shouyi arrived at Yi Hehuan's body.
Yi Hehuan and the other three disciples of the Wuzhen Sect were all naked. It was likely that they were indeed cultivating before the incident.
The three disciples of the Wuzhen Sect were sallow and thin, clearly having been drained significantly by Yi Hehuan.
But strangely, Yi Hehuan's body was more than ten meters away from the bodies of the other three disciples.
This meant that when the killer appeared, Yi Hehuan must have exchanged a few blows with the killer, fighting over that distance of more than ten meters. In the end, she could not defeat them and was killed in the same manner.
Looking at the fair-skinned but ice-cold corpse, Yan Shouyi sighed.
Zhang Shanli asked, "Did you find anything?"
"I think we should focus on examining Yi Hehuan," Yan Shouyi said. "Yi Hehuan was the only one who fought with the killer. Perhaps clues can be found around her."