112: Chapter 112 The Secret Passage Meat Grinder

The secret passage was incredibly narrow.

The Qingyun Sect team was squeezed together from front to back.

They could only advance slowly in a single file line.

Walking at the very front was a Cultivator with a bit of age and experience.

His cultivation had barely reached the third level of Crystallization, making him the strongest among this group of Disciples.

He held his longsword horizontally in front of him, his back already soaked with cold sweat.

His eyes scanned the darkness ahead warily.

He had just seen the corpses of the two patrolling Disciples.

Each had a single bloody gash across their throat.

Their expressions were filled with terror; they had clearly died before they could even let out a scream.

To be able to silently insta-kill two Late Stage Foundation Establishment Disciples in a place like this...

The opponent's strength was definitely not to be underestimated.

He swallowed hard, and his palms began to sweat.

Just who was it that dared to break into a Secret Realm guarded by the Qingyun Sect?

Weren't they afraid?

Just as he was looking left and right...

A cold glint suddenly shot out from the darkness.

"Get out of the way!"

The lead Cultivator's face changed drastically. With no time to defend, he instinctively dodged to the side.

But the secret passage was simply too narrow.

By dodging, he instead exposed the Disciple behind him directly to the Flying Sword.

With a squelch...

The Flying Sword pierced through that Disciple's chest.

The Disciple didn't even make a sound.

He fell straight down.

Before the lead Cultivator could regain his senses, countless streaks of sword light poured out from the darkness.

There was nowhere to hide in the secret passage.

The sword light bounced and crisscrossed within the narrow space, forming a lethal meat grinder.

He only felt his vision blur.

Followed by a world-spinning sensation.

The next second...

He actually saw his own body standing there, with a fountain of blood erupting from the neck.

Immediately after, it shattered into several pieces.

It turned out his head had already been severed.

And his body had been sliced apart.

How is this possible...

So fast...

Before his consciousness faded, his last thought was to warn the other Disciples behind him.

But he could no longer speak.

He could only watch helplessly as a figure swept past his body.

Sword light poured out.

Slaying the panicked Disciples behind him one by one.

The entire process took no more than five seconds.

Mo Zixing came to a halt.

The dozen or so Flying Swords hovering around him slowly dissipated, turning into specks of spiritual light that merged back into the air.

His robes were splattered with crimson liquid, and strands of hair were stuck to his cheeks by blood.

Far from looking disheveled, this appearance made his aura seem even more sharp and fierce.

He had dealt with all the Disciples single-handedly.

Not a single survivor.

Liu Qingyan quickly caught up, following Mo Zixing's instructions to check for any stragglers.

But in the secret passage, aside from the bloodstains covering the ground, not even a single intact corpse could be found.

All the bodies had been sliced into fragments by the sharp Sword Qi, scattered across the floor of the passage.

Although Mo Zixing was covered in blood, Liu Qingyan didn't show the slightest hint of distaste.

She simply walked quickly to Mo Zixing's side, reaching out to grab his arm to check him over carefully.

"Are you injured?"

Her hand brushed over the tears in Mo Zixing's clothes cut by the Sword Qi, her tone full of reproach and worry.

"That was too dangerous just now. Why did you charge in alone without waiting for me?"

After speaking, she took out a clean handkerchief and gently wiped the blood from his face.

"Tsk tsk, I really didn't expect you to be such a good fighter."

Sect Master Bai Ruotong stood to the side, crossing her small arms as she watched the two of them, curling her lips in a mock-mature fashion.

"I think you shouldn't be the Peak Master Elder of Qingsu Peak at all."

"With this kind of killing power, you'd be better off going straight to the Deacon Hall to be the Chief Deacon."

Mo Zixing was about to say something when he suddenly frowned.

He looked down at the mangled remains on the ground, his expression becoming solemn.

He saw those fragments of flesh and blood actually writhing and melting at a speed visible to the naked eye.

As if being sucked by something, they seeped bit by bit into the soil beneath their feet.

In just a few short seconds...

The bloodstains and mangled corpses that had covered the ground disappeared without a trace.

Not a single mark was left behind.

The secret passage was clean.

As if the slaughter just now had never happened.

"What's going on?"

Liu Qingyan also noticed the anomaly. Her face changed slightly as she grabbed the corner of Mo Zixing's robe.

"The corpses... they've all disappeared?"

Mo Zixing narrowed his eyes, deep in thought.

He recalled what Liu Qingyan had said earlier.

The growing wood marrow lotus needs to absorb a large amount of vitality to bloom.

Could it be...

That the vitality of these recently deceased people was absorbed by the wood marrow lotus through some means?

If even corpses could be used as nourishment...

Then this wood marrow lotus might not be simple at all.

It might even be quite sinister.

"We need to hurry."

Mo Zixing snapped back to reality, his tone becoming somewhat serious.

"The wood marrow lotus should be maturing soon. We must move faster."

"Any later, and Sect Master Kang Qiao will get her hands on it."

Liu Qingyan and Sect Master Bai Ruotong both nodded.

The three of them quickened their pace.

They headed deeper into the secret passage.

Even though the corpses had vanished without a trace...

The smell of blood in the air grew thicker and thicker, seemingly mixed with a hint of a cloyingly sweet and eerie fragrance.

The two scents mixed together...

Making one feel a bit dizzy and lightheaded.

It was nauseating.

Because Sect Master Bai Ruotong couldn't mobilize her spiritual energy to resist, she couldn't help but cover her small nose.

And the further they went...

The stronger that scent became.

The soil beneath their feet also became increasingly moist.

It felt soft when stepped on.

Like stepping on flesh and blood.

After another few dozen steps, light finally appeared ahead.

At the end of the secret passage...

Was a low-ceilinged small Attic.

The Attic's ceiling was very low, and Mo Zixing bumped his head with a thud as soon as he entered.

The tense atmosphere relaxed slightly because of this little interlude.

Sect Master Bai Ruotong couldn't help but giggle and whispered teasingly:

"Who told you to grow so tall? Look at me, I'm fine."

Liu Qingyan also let out a soft laugh and reached out to rub his forehead:

"Zixing, be careful."

Mo Zixing gave a light cough and didn't respond, instead beginning to observe the surroundings.

The Attic was empty, with nothing inside.

There was only a small wooden door on the opposite wall.

"As long as we go out from here, we should reach the main hall of the Stone Hall."

Sect Master Bai Ruotong also stopped joking, pointed to the small door opposite, and whispered:

"I remember there's a very large stone statue in the center of the hall; it's quite distinctive."

The three of them walked quietly to the small door.

Mo Zixing took a deep breath and slowly pushed the door open a crack.

The scene behind the door...

Caused all three of them to hold their breath at the same time.

In the center of the vast hall stood a giant stone statue.

The statue's face was majestic.

Draped in long robes, its hands were pressed together in prayer.

It should have looked solemn and dignified.

But at this moment, it appeared extremely eerie and terrifying.

A massive dark green flower bud was growing from the statue's chest.

Thick black roots were tightly wound around the statue's neck, limbs, and torso.

Binding the entire stone statue firmly.

The tip of the flower bud trembled slightly, emitting that cloyingly sweet yet bloody fragrance.

Right at that moment...

The outermost petal of the flower bud slowly cracked open, revealing a sliver of a gap.

A faint, eerie red light shone through the crack.