Meanwhile, Tang Nian had already arrived at the foot of Muyun Mountain.
Dusk had fallen, and night had enveloped the mountain. The entire mountain was silent; even the sound of the wind rustling through the leaves had disappeared, and only the faint sound of rushing water could be heard.
Tang Nian took the sword off her back and held it in her left hand. She glanced back at Muyun County, which was no longer clearly visible, and resolutely went up the mountain.
When Tang Nian came to investigate in the morning, she did not disturb Lou Mu and drove away all the poisonous snakes on the mountain. Snakes should be more active at night, but Tang Nian did not find a single one.
This is not a good sign.
If Tang Nian hadn't grown up in an illusion and been extremely sensitive to illusions, she would have suspected that she had stepped into an illusion set up by evil spirits.
It was almost 7:15 PM, and Tang Nian dared not linger on the mountain road. She dared not gamble with the lives of the innocent people in the city.
When she arrived at Mirror Lake, the first thing she saw was a bronze cauldron with a snake's head that was emitting black smoke.
Although the four snake heads did not move, Tang Nian clearly felt that several pairs of eyes were staring straight at her after she arrived.
Tang Nian drew her sword, gripped the hilt, and looked around. She noticed that a patch of weeds seemed a little different.
Tang Nian slowly moved closer to the bushes, parted the grass, and saw the messenger bound hand and foot and thrown into the bushes, with a wad of cloth stuffed in his mouth.
The man was still awake, and after seeing Tang Nian, he mumbled something for a long time. Tang Nian frowned, squatted down, pulled the wad of cloth out of his mouth, and threw it on the ground.
"Master Tang! Save me! Save me!"
Tang Nian ignored him, stood up, and checked the area around Mirror Lake again. Perhaps it wasn't time yet, because she didn't find any trace of the evil spirit.
"Master Tang! I'll tell you everything I know!"
Tang Nian glanced at the man writhing and struggling in the grass, but did not untie him. She hadn't forgotten the paper for the appointment; it was he who had brought it to her.
"Tell me about it."
Upon hearing Tang Nian's response, the man swallowed hard: "My name is Ren... Ren Xing'an. I came to Muyun Mountain with Brother Li six years ago."
Brother Li was the one who was buried alive.
Tang Nian's guess was correct; the person in front of her was indeed the fifth person who had been forgotten by everyone.
"When Brother Li went up the mountain to chop firewood, he found a tomb on the mountain and called us to come and see if there were any treasures inside that we could take and resell. As we went in, all we saw was that bronze cauldron."
As he spoke, he swallowed again and looked at the bronze cauldron behind Tang Nian with some fear.
“Brother Chen Hong used to do this kind of business. He could tell at a glance that this bronze cauldron was no ordinary object. The five of us discussed it and decided to carry it out, thinking of selling it to a wealthy family.”
Chen Hong was shot to death by arrows in the iron mine. Although it sounds like being buried alive would be more cruel, Tang Nian had read the description in the dossier. The arrows were not fatal; he bled to death.
Tang Nian also had doubts at the time. The only requirement of the Five Elements Altar was to be shot to death by arrows, so why did Chen Hong die so tragically?
Now it seems that this must be the reason.
Tang Nian nodded, signaling him to continue.
Ren Xing'an's voice trembled slightly, as if he was unwilling to recall that past event.
“This cauldron is really too strange. Five of us couldn’t carry it out of the tomb. In the end, Brother Chen Hong opened a hole and we were able to escape from that tomb.”
"As we were descending the mountain, we couldn't shake the feeling that something was amiss. Brother Li suggested that we take the cauldron to see Elder Zhang. Elder Zhang was traveling around and happened to be visiting our village at that time. Although Brother Chen Hong was a little unhappy, he agreed."
"Old Zhang is very knowledgeable and immediately recognized that this was a burial object, so he told us to quickly send the tripod back to the tomb."
"But you didn't do it, right?" Tang Nian knew that if they had returned the cauldron, this wouldn't have happened six years later.
Ren Xing'an remained silent for a moment, then nodded.
“It’s not that we didn’t want to do it, but it was already late that day, so we decided to meet at the village entrance the next day and take the cauldron up the mountain together. But the four of us waited for a long time and Brother Chen Hong never showed up, and the cauldron disappeared from Old Zhang’s place.”
"He took the cauldron and sold it all by himself?" Tang Nian turned to look at the bronze cauldron that was still emitting black smoke and asked.
Ren Xing'an shook his head: "At the time, we thought so too. He disappeared for three days along with the bronze cauldron. When we saw him again, none of the four of us saw the bronze cauldron. When we asked him, he wouldn't say anything."
"Later, we saw that nothing happened, so we stopped paying attention to it."
As he spoke, Ren Xing'an cried out again, "Master Tang, I've told you everything I know, please save me!"
Tang Nian chuckled lightly, but gripped the sword in her hand even tighter: "Now that you've heard the story, it's time for you to show yourself."
The black smoke emitted by the bronze cauldron instantly bypassed Tang Nian and rushed towards the man in front of her. Tang Nian calmly took a step back.
The black smoke slowly dissipated, and the ropes binding Ren Xing'an were cut. Ren Xing'an stood up and stretched his joints.
"Don't you intend to introduce yourself?" Tang Nian could tell at a glance that the person in front of her was not the cowardly and incompetent Ren Xing'an from before.
The man gave a soft snort, clearly dissatisfied with the body he was occupying.
“Jiang Chen.” As he spoke, he revealed his fangs.
Tang Nian never expected that the tomb contained the ancestor of the legendary zombies.
In Tang Nian's memory, the Five Elements Altar was an evil magic that could bring people back to life. But why would a zombie like Jiang Chen, who was immortal, need the Five Elements Altar?
Why did you choose me, senior?
Jiang Chen looked up at the sky; there was still some time before 7:15 PM.
"Why don't you tell us your opinion on that story first?"
"Ren Xing'an lied."
"Oh? What makes you say that?"
"If what he said is true, then the person the senior possessed would definitely not be him."
Jiang Chen's possession of Ren Xing'an's body must mean that Ren Xing'an and he reached some kind of agreement.
“You are as intelligent as she says, what a pity.” Jiang Chen laughed, but his words made Tang Nian tremble: “Choosing you was, of course, at someone’s request.”
Tang Nian suddenly remembered that activating the Five Elements Altar could greatly increase the strength of the person who activated it, but if any one of the links was missing, the person who activated it would lose their mind.
Ren Xing'an's soul should have already been devoured by Jiang Chen, so the so-called "one person saving the whole city" means that she drowned in place of Ren Xing'an.
Therefore, the moment of 7:15 PM is when the Five Elements Altar is truly activated.
If Jiang Chen loses his mind, it won't just be Muyun County that suffers. But if the Five Elements Altar is successfully activated and Jiang Chen's strength increases significantly, how can we guarantee that Muyun County will be spared destruction?
Jiang Chen, who was not involved in worldly affairs, caused such a major incident six years later. This could only be because the actions of the five men back then had angered him.
And who was it that was entrusted by someone?
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