57: Gu Ku Village, I am here to take the master’s treasure.
Originally, it should have been a sunless deep underground, but looking up, there were twinkling stars.
The rock wall at the top of the cavern was like a galaxy.
Li Yan focused his eyes and saw that these were not starlight from the night sky, but rather pearls hanging from the top of the rock wall.
It was countless pearls that formed this starry ceiling, providing faint light within the dim cavern.
“This underground cave is too big, and it’s all traces of excavation… How long has this been excavated?”
Li Yan reached out and touched the rock wall, discovering that these rock walls were all traces of excavation, clearly chiseled by hand, not natural caves.
Such a massive project, if done by Mortals, would take at least a hundred years to dig.
He raised the treasure lotus lamp in his hand, dispelling the darkness ahead.
Li Yan’s ears twitched slightly, as if he heard the sound of chiseling ahead.
He formed a hand seal with two fingers and waved his hand, controlling a shadow clone to go ahead and investigate.
Within this labyrinthine underground cave with countless forks, there were actually several Cultivators wielding picks, chiseling at the rock walls and digging out withered bones.
Li Yan scanned these Cultivators with his Divine Sense, feeling a bit surprised.
“They are actually living people, not evil spirits?”
“They are all ordinary Cultivators with low cultivation, only at the Blood Condensation Realm.”
The Blood Condensation Realm is the first Realm one reaches after just touching the threshold of Cultivation.
The existence of these people immediately piqued Li Yan’s curiosity.
He controlled the shadow, silently approaching these low-level Cultivators who were chiseling the rock walls.
Following a series of clanging sounds, those burly men, after digging out a basketful of withered bones, wiped the sweat from their foreheads.
Several of them sighed, “If we keep chiseling like this, when will it end?”
“Big Brother, we originally came to learn from a master, but now we have to work for Quiet Void Taoist our whole lives and end up dying here as monsters?”
The slightly older burly man leading them leaned against the rock wall to rest. He picked up his water pouch, took a sip, and sighed.
“We were tricked into this by Quiet Void Taoist, how can we possibly escape?”
“Have you forgotten? The underground cave only allows entry, not exit! Once here, you’re destined to die here.”
“Those who tried to escape, or couldn’t work, were all dismembered by Quiet Void Taoist and turned into human Gu.”
From their conversation, it was clear that they too had been lured into this Gu Cavern as laborers by Quiet Void Taoist using deceptive means.
One can only say that the world is dangerous…
They wanted to find a reliable sect to learn from a master.
Instead, they were deceived into this underground cave, becoming oxen and horses that chiseled the cave day and night.
Looking again, they also had ‘Utility Disciple’ tags hanging from their waists.
This group of people had been staying in this sunless cave, working for Quiet Void Taoist day after day.
The leading Utility Disciple patted the shoulders of those next to him: “Look on the bright side, we can live to sixty or seventy years old working in the underground cave.”
“Compared to the current world where people can’t even get enough to eat, at least we can marry and have children in this underground cave and live out our lives without worries.”
However, a young Utility Disciple in the crowd clenched his fists and said through gritted teeth.
“But I was born in the underground cave. I’ve never seen the outside world since I was little.”
“My sister and I’s biggest wish is to escape the underground cave!”
Hearing the young man say this, the old Utility Disciple chuckled and began to mock him.
“Kid, the outside world isn’t as good as you imagine.”
“Outside is a chaotic world of demons filled with evil spirits, and everywhere are demonic sects and evil Cultivators.”
The young man retorted defiantly: “So what? Even if I die, I want to see the world outside the underground cave. Even if it’s just to see the sun once, I’ll die without regrets!”
As they discussed, they didn’t know that Li Yan was hiding around the corner, listening to their conversation.
He roughly understood the situation here.
Some people were tricked in by Quiet Void Taoist, and some were trapped in this underground cave from birth.
Generation after generation, they were slaves of Quiet Void Taoist.
What Li Yan found most curious was, what were they digging for?
Why would Quiet Void Taoist build an underground city in this underground cave?
Perhaps from these Utility Disciples, he could unearth the answers he sought.
Li Yan continued to control the shadow, approaching them.
In the darkness, no one noticed that a shadow was right beside them.
The old Utility Disciple leading them patted his stomach: “Strange, why hasn’t this month’s food been delivered yet?”
“Normally, the food should have been distributed yesterday, right?”
“If the food isn’t delivered soon, all six hundred people in Gu Ku Village will starve to death.”
Another Utility Disciple swallowed, lowering his voice.
“I saw the human Gu riot just now, scrambling out of the cave.”
“Do you think… Quiet Void Taoist might have died?”
The young Utility Disciple instantly panicked: “If Quiet Void Taoist dies, and no one brings us food while we’re trapped underground, won’t everyone starve to death in the cave?”
A sense of fear permeated among them.
They hated Quiet Void Taoist deeply, but if Quiet Void Taoist died outside, they would be trapped underground forever.
Just as everyone was in a state of panic, footsteps sounded from a distance.
“Listen… What’s that sound?”
The Utility Disciples quickly picked up their picks, assuming a defensive posture.
Then, Li Yan, dressed in a Jingxu Sect Taoist robe, appeared before them with a calm expression.
“I am Li Yan, an Inner Sect Disciple of Jingxu Sect.”
“Grandmaster ordered me to bring you food.”
As he spoke, Li Yan held up his waist token.
Those were all things from his time at Jingxu Sect, which Li Yan had kept in his Storage Ring.
Now, he could use those items to disguise himself before them.
Seeing Li Yan dressed as a Jingxu Sect Disciple and holding a waist token, the old Utility Disciple stood in awe and respectfully cupped his hands towards Li Yan.
“Utility Disciple, Yao Yan, greets Senior Brother.”
Although the other party was a middle-aged man in his forties or fifties, he still showed a respectful demeanor when he saw Li Yan.
The other Utility Disciples underground also belonged to the ‘Yao’ generation.
At this moment, the old Utility Disciple Yao Yan cautiously asked: “Senior Brother, usually Grandmaster always leaves things at the cave entrance for us to pick up ourselves.”
“Why did he send you today…”
Li Yan narrowed his eyes, emitting an oppressive aura.
“Is Grandmaster’s conduct something a Utility Disciple like you can comment on?”
The old Utility Disciple Yao Yan turned pale with fright and immediately knelt on the ground.
“I wouldn’t dare! We wouldn’t dare to presume Grandmaster’s thoughts.”
“It must be Grandmaster who sent you, Senior Brother, to retrieve a treasure, right?”
Treasure?
Hearing this word, Li Yan was no longer sleepy.
Quiet Void Taoist had undertaken such a complex project underground, he must have been after something.
The treasure the old Taoist painstakingly dug up would now be Li Yan’s.
Li Yan’s lips curved into a smile.
“Hmm, quickly take me to retrieve it. Grandmaster is still waiting outside.”