Longevity Martial Arts: Grinding Experience in the Chaotic World Chapter 1533 - 789: Eerie Silence (Part 2)

Gu Sheng turned around, the iciness in his eyes had faded, reverting to his usual gentle demeanor.

"Xueli, did I scare you?"

Tantai Xueling bit her lip, tears welled up in her eyes.

"You...will you still kill people?"

Gu Sheng was silent for a moment, then spoke softly.

"Some people must pay the price."

Tantai Bingtang stepped forward, meeting Gu Sheng’s gaze.

"What grudge is there between Beichen Sect and Wanliu Sect?"

Gu Sheng looked into the distance, his voice somber.

"Twenty years ago, Wanliu Sect collaborated with the Seven Great Sects to bloodbath Beichen Sect, killing all three thousand people within, just to seize the ’Beichen Heavenly Scripture’. My parents died defending the sect, and I...am the only survivor."

Xie Qingxuan gasped.

"So today..."

"Today is just the beginning."

A cold light flashed in Gu Sheng’s eyes.

"The Seven Great Sects still remain, blood debts must be repaid in blood."

Tantai Bingtang’s expression turned complicated.

"Do you intend..."

"You don’t need to get involved."

Gu Sheng interrupted her.

"The path ahead, I’ll walk alone."

"No!"

Tantai Xueling suddenly lunged forward and hugged Gu Sheng’s arm.

"I’m not letting you go alone!"

Gu Sheng was stunned, looking down at the timid little girl.

Tantai Bingtang sighed.

"Xueli is right, we won’t leave you."

Xie Qingxuan stood with her arms crossed, a slight smile at her lips.

"I have nowhere else to go anyway, might as well tag along to see the spectacle."

Gu Sheng looked at the three’s determined eyes, feeling as if something touched his cold heart.

He gently nodded.

"Fine, but the path ahead will be dangerous."

They proceeded in silence to Linyin Pavilion; the sound of footsteps echoed across the bluestone, but no one spoke.

Gu Sheng walked ahead, his black robe billowing without wind, surrounded by a suffocating chill.

Tantai Bingtang followed three steps behind, her cold eyes occasionally glancing at Gu Sheng’s upright figure, with bewilderment in her gaze.

"What’s wrong with this guy..."

Tantai Bingtang questioned inwardly.

She had never seen Gu Sheng in such a state...not angry, not sad, but a eerily calmness that was like the dead silence before a storm.

Tantai Xueling couldn’t help but quicken her pace, tugging at her sister’s sleeve.

"Sis, Gu..."

"Silence."

Tantai Bingtang gently shook her head, signaling her sister with her eyes not to ask more.

She could sense that Gu Sheng was like a suppressed volcano, ready to erupt at any moment.

Passing through the main hall of Linyin Pavilion, they descended a spiral stone staircase.

The deeper they went, the colder and damper the air became, the luminous pearls on the walls casting a bleak glow.

Xie Qingxuan walked at the end, her hands tightly gripping her sleeves, knuckles white.

She felt like something terrifying was about to be revealed.

"We’re here."

Gu Sheng finally spoke, his voice hoarse and unlike his own.

Tantai Bingtang rushed forward, her hands making sealing gestures, channels of spiritual power shot into the surrounding walls.

Suddenly, complex array patterns lit up, enveloping the entire underground space.

"Can you tell us now?"

Tantai Xueling couldn’t help asking, unable to bear such a stifling atmosphere.

"What has happened?"

Gu Sheng didn’t immediately answer, but instead turned to look at Xie Qingxuan trembling in the corner.

In his gaze, there was...pity?

"Miss Xie."

Gu Sheng said softly.

"I have brought all the Xie Family people here."

Xie Qingxuan trembled, disbelief surfacing in her eyes.

"Gu, Young Master Gu...what do you mean?"

Gu Sheng raised his right hand, a dark light flickered from the storage ring.

The next moment, dozens of figures appeared out of nowhere in the center of the hall, neatly arranged, yet completely motionless.

"Father! Mother!"

Xie Qingxuan screamed, rushing toward the two corpses at the front.

When she saw the ghastly white faces of her relatives and the blood pattern on their foreheads, she was struck as if by lightning, collapsing to the floor.

Tantai Bingtang’s pupils contracted sharply.

"This is... the refining technique for Corpse Puppets!"

She quickly stepped forward to check, her fingertips touched Xie Family Master’s forehead, and the blood pattern wriggled as if it were alive.

"Moreover, it’s an Evil Cultivator technique, it takes at least forty-nine days to complete the transformation."

"Not just that."

Gu Sheng’s voice was icy.

"Their Three Souls and Seven Spirits have been extracted, they don’t even have the chance to reincarnate."

Upon hearing this, Xie Qingxuan let out a heart-wrenching wail, tears gushing like a broken dam.

Tantai Xueling hurriedly stepped forward to hold her, but didn’t know how to comfort her.

"I need to talk alone."

Gu Sheng looked at Tantai Bingtang.

"Let Xueling take care of Miss Xie."

Tantai Bingtang gave Gu Sheng a deep look, nodded, and said,

"Come with me."

The two walked through several secret doors, reaching a stone chamber at the deepest part underground.

Tantai Bingtang laid down a Third Level restriction again, then turned to face Gu Sheng.

"You can talk now."

Gu Sheng took a Memory Stone out of his chest.

Injecting Spiritual Power, images were projected from the stone... they were scenes from deep within Wanliu Sect, infant corpses piled up like mountains, each with the same blood pattern on their foreheads.

"This is..."

Tantai Bingtang’s face turned deathly pale.

"Innate Qi."

Gu Sheng’s voice was low.

"Wanliu Sect discovered that newborn infants contain the purest Innate Qi, which can compensate for a Martial Artist’s lack of aptitude."

The image changed, showing scenes of Wanliu Sect disciples receiving "salaries"... Respectfully taking packages from elders, opening them to reveal baby corpses!

"One per month for Outer Disciples, three for Inner Sect."

Gu Sheng’s fists clenched so tightly they creaked.

"These beasts distribute infant corpses like Cultivation Technique Pills!"

Chilly moonlight cast broken shadows through the cracked window panes onto the ground.

Tantai Bingtang stood in the center of the room, at her feet were twelve neatly arranged infant corpses.

These tiny bodies were preserved by some Secret Technique to look lifelike, the skin exuding an eerie pinkish-white glow, as if merely asleep.

"Wanliu Sect..."

She gritted her teeth, fingernails digging deep into her palms.

"Deserves to perish."

A faint medicinal aroma permeated the air, mixed with an indescribable sweet metallic scent.

Tantai Bingtang squatted down, her fingertips lightly touching the cheek of one infant.

The touch was cold and soft, causing a spasm in her stomach.

"Using live infants for Alchemy and preserving them this well."

She let out a cold laugh, her eyes flashing with a chilling glint.

"To be buried under the Beichen Flower is too lenient for them."

"You know about the Beichen Flower?"

A deep voice suddenly came from behind.

Tantai Bingtang’s entire body stiffened, she hadn’t sensed anyone approaching.

She turned sharply, seeing a man in a dark cloak leaning against the door frame, moonlight coating him with a silver edge.

The man seemed about twenty-seven or twenty-eight years old, handsome yet with hints of weariness.

The most striking were his eyes... as black as ink, bottomless, as if they could devour all light.

"Gu Sheng."

Tantai Bingtang squinted her eyes, warily stepping back half a step.

"When did you arrive?"

Gu Sheng walked nonchalantly into the room, his boots making no sound on the ground.

His gaze swept over the infants on the floor, showing no expression, finally fixing on Tantai Bingtang’s face.

"I asked if you know about the Beichen Flower."

He repeated, his voice terrifyingly calm.

Tantai Bingtang felt an invisible pressure enveloping her, as if being watched by an ancient fierce beast.

Instinctively, she tensed her body, True Qi frantically circulating within her, yet found herself unable to muster the slightest thought of resistance.

This feeling... like facing an emperor.

"I..."

Her throat tightened, forcing herself to meet those dark eyes.

"I once saw it in an ancient book. The Beichen Flower is a unique skill of Dan Emperor Qin Beichen, rumored to cleanse all filth in the world. Other than... other than the legendary Emperor, no one has seen it."

Gu Sheng’s mouth slightly curved upwards, revealing a smile full of meaning.

He said nothing, merely watching her silently, as if waiting for something.

The room fell into an eerie silence.

Tantai Bingtang could hear her own rapid heartbeat, cold sweat sliding down her back.

Never had she felt the threat of death so clearly... this man before her only needed a single thought to turn her to ashes.

"You..."

She finally broke the silence, shifting her gaze away proactively.