Chapter 29
Late at night, the guards watching over Zhou Xuanzhi and Shi Yunzhou were yawning incessantly, and the descendants of the traitorous disciples were nowhere to be seen. It was at this moment that Xiao Mu sent a message.
There is a small island in Tianyu Mountain called the Execution Platform, where disciples who violate the sect rules will be punished.
Wen Sushu knelt in the center of the execution platform. After the elder in charge of law enforcement finished reading out the rules she had violated, he asked her, "Do you admit to what you just said or not?"
"I admit it." Wen Sushu, who was locked in the center, had no physical injuries, but her mental state was not very good.
"In that case, carry out the execution!"
Absorbing the life essence of mortals, indiscriminately killing innocents, and beating fellow disciples—each of these is a capital offense. Wen Sushu's calm acceptance of death now fills those present with deep regret.
The elder in charge of law enforcement looked at the person kneeling there, and it would be a lie to say he didn't feel sorry for him. This was a genius, but he had gone down the wrong path. It was a real pity.
Just as the sword was about to fall, a figure in cyan suddenly appeared in the center of the execution platform. Before anyone could react, he struck the executioner with a palm strike.
Wen Sushu looked up and saw the person who had come. It was Ding Xiuyao from the Qingxu Sect. She was somewhat surprised, but quickly understood the purpose of his visit. She turned around and chased him away, saying, "Why did you come? Get out of here!"
Ignoring Wen Sushu's words, Ding Xiuyao directly drew his sword and cleaved the iron chains binding her.
No one had ever come to disrupt the execution platform since the founding of Tianyu Mountain, and even the enforcement elder was taken aback. Only after seeing the person who had been knocked down did he sternly ask, "Who are you?"
Seeing the elder's whip about to strike them, Ding Xiuyao rushed to Wen Sushu's side, blocking the blow, and coughed up blood.
He was young and naturally no match for the elder in charge of law enforcement. If they lingered here any longer, none of them would be able to leave. With a wave of his hand, dozens of talismans formed a powerful barrier around them, which the elder in charge of law enforcement could not break through no matter how he attacked. But only he knew that this barrier was only temporary.
However, this short period of time was enough for him to take Wen Sushu and escape far away on his sword.
The elder in charge of enforcement watched the two disappear and ordered his disciples to give chase. He himself went down from the high platform, came to the execution platform, squatted down and picked up the broken talisman: "Qingxu Sect."
It was a storybook, recording events from over seven hundred years ago, but that was all there was to it. After Xiao Mu finished reading it, Shi Yunzhou questioned, "Are you sure everything written here is true?"
Life on the mountain consisted of nothing but cultivation, which was indeed quite boring. As a result, storytelling became very popular, and about one-fifth of the disciples wrote them. Some people did indeed record their experiences in storytelling books, but it was difficult to distinguish between truth and fiction.
Even fellow students cannot question one's expertise. "Of course it's true. I just remembered that the reason I collected this storybook in the first place was because this part actually happened. Otherwise, why would I have collected a storybook from over seven hundred years ago?"
Zhou Xuanzhi thought for a moment and said, "Perhaps it is true." Tianyu Mountain had never mentioned what happened back then; they all learned about it from their senior sisters and brothers.
There are many versions circulating in Tianyu Mountain, some of which are not very reliable. Compared to others, this version is much more reliable.
After all, no matter how strong Ding Xiuyuan was, he couldn't compare to the Enforcement Elder of a faction. Just listen to the previous versions, like how he knocked down the Enforcement Elder with a single palm strike, and you can see how much everyone hated the Enforcement Elder and wouldn't miss any opportunity to belittle him.
After saying all that, Xiao Mu remembered something very important: "How are things going on your end?"
Logically, receiving my message should prove that they are probably alright, so why aren't they messaging me?
"We're fine, don't worry. Let's continue according to plan!" Shi Yunzhou looked at the barrier that trapped him and pursed his lips.
With Su Qiwen's help, Xiao Mu had already gathered a group of people, who came to the edge of the cemetery in a grand procession, carrying torches and farm tools.
Seeing that everyone had arrived, Xiao Mu put down the incense and pointed to the large number of tombstones, saying, "The girls who have disappeared in the last hundred years are all in here."
The torches illuminated the entire cemetery, and the originally gloomy place felt somewhat warm under the light.
“Since you once helped the Ye family, we naturally trust you.” As he spoke, he slung the hoe over his shoulder and wiped non-existent sweat from his forehead, saying, “Today, we will dig wherever you point, sir.”
The practice of arranging marriages between living people and ghosts is so vicious that people would not feel guilty even if they dug up their ancestral graves.
The resentment here was too great, and Xiao Mu had been trying to dispel the vengeful spirits ever since he arrived. He sat on the ground, chanting soothing sutras. Golden runes surrounded Xiao Mu, giving those near him a sense of peace. Slowly, some birds flew into the gloomy and desolate cemetery, and the eeriness that had gripped people when they arrived dissipated.
Therefore, everyone trusted Xiao Mu even more.
The digging up of graves in the middle of the night naturally provoked discontent among some people. The families whose graves were being dug up naturally came out to stop them, and members of large families arrived with weapons, leading to a brawl.
A fight broke out between the family whose daughter had died and the two groups whose graves had been desecrated. The fight even alarmed the authorities, who dispatched a large force to try and stop the situation.
The graves marked by Xiao Mu had already had coffins lifted from the ground. The moment the courageous people pried open the coffins, they heard a mournful cry. Black gas, accompanied by a piercing sound, rushed out of the coffins and surrounded Xiao Mu, who was sitting on the ground.
"Is this a vengeful spirit?" Those who witnessed this scene all stepped back.
Everyone was initially stunned, silently watching Xiao Mu dispel the resentment emanating from the woman. Then, some of those who had done wrong became frightened, and some even considered backing out.
The parents, whose daughter had gone missing, came to the coffin. Pushing open the half-closed coffin, they finally saw the person lying inside. Perhaps because of the resentment surrounding her, her body had not decomposed but instead had a rosy complexion, as if she were fast asleep. However, the couple's expressions were solemn; this was not their daughter.
They frantically searched everywhere, jumping into a grave and touching the coffin with pity and sorrow. Then, their expressions changed, and they angrily grabbed a crowbar and pried open the coffin. The moment the coffin was pried open, resentment overflowed.
Upon seeing this, Su Qiwen immediately called for people to come forward and pull the couple out of the grave. The moment they left, a surge of resentment welled up from them.
The entire cemetery seemed shrouded in a thick black fog, with the only light emanating from Xiao Mu. All was quiet, the only sound being Xiao Mu chanting scriptures.
Finally, someone couldn't take it anymore, yelled, and ran out.
In that instant, the resentment receded, condensing into a black sphere. It rushed towards the running man, passing through his body again and again…
When the resentment left the person's vicinity, only a patch of blood remained on the ground, with not a single piece of flesh to be seen.
At that moment, the golden light surrounding Xiao Mu began to expand, and beads of sweat dripped from his forehead. Suddenly, a resentful aura approached Xiao Mu, enveloped by the golden light.
The initial resentment gradually dissipated, slowly leaving only scattered specks.
Seeing this, Su Qiwen muttered to himself, "Is he performing a ritual to deliver the souls of the dead?" Xiao Mu is a cultivator, so he shouldn't know the Buddhist rituals for delivering souls of the dead. He said before that he wanted to resolve these resentful spirits, so this must be some kind of magic from the immortal sects. Can he handle so many wronged souls by himself?
"Everyone can see that this cultivator Xiao is dispelling the resentment. Everyone, dig out all those girls!" One person waved a shovel and continued digging.
The officials were at a loss for what to do when they saw this scene. They stared at the men with weapons and at the parents who had lost their daughters and were blocking the way in front of the cemetery, feeling endless hesitation.
"Can this cultivator handle it alone?" someone quietly asked the person next to them. "Should we find someone to help him?" There must be too much wronged souls for such a young cultivator to handle.
In truth, Xiao Mu wasn't entirely confident either. With so many wronged souls here, it would take him ten days to half a month to deal with them all by himself. He also wondered how those two from the Gou family were doing; he hoped they could escape soon.
As more and more coffins were unearthed, Xiao Mu's pressure increased.
More resentment surrounded him, as if burying him in darkness. Because of the increasing resentment, the surrounding sounds grew louder and louder.
"Why?"
"It hurts so much!"
"Why me? Why me?!"
"I'm going to kill them, kill them!"
"Why are you stopping me? Why aren't you stopping them?"
...
Xiao Muchen knew that he was being suppressed by resentment. He needed to calm himself down and not let them drag him into the resentment.
To those outside, the golden runes were obscured by black resentment, but they did not extinguish. In the darkness, the runes appeared even brighter.
Those who witnessed this scene had no idea what kind of strength Xiao Mu possessed. If all the coffins were opened, would he die inside? The black resentment emanating from them was like a bottomless abyss, making anyone who looked at it want to fall into it. But reason still told them to stay away.
"Should we continue?" Most of these people were brought by Su Qiwen, so naturally they were asking Su Qiwen.
Remembering Xiao Mu's instructions when he approached him, he hesitated for a moment before nodding. Xiao Mu had helped him find Ye Lingxi before, so naturally he should trust him now.
Seeing Su Qiwen nod, everyone opened the remaining coffins.
When all the coffins were opened, the parents who had lost their daughters rushed to the coffins despite any attempts to stop them, looking at the people lying inside, wanting to see if they had suffered a lot.
That was their daughter whom they had raised for many years. Although she couldn't compare to the pampered young ladies of wealthy families, she was still their precious jewel.
The bodies of those women whose resentment had been dispelled rotted into piles of white bones.
Seeing their daughter like this, the parents couldn't stop crying. They couldn't bear to part with their daughter, but they also knew that her transformation meant the resentment within them was gone, and she could be reincarnated.
"Don't come into my womb in your next life. Go to a good family. You'll have plenty to eat and wear, and you won't have to suffer anymore." Looking at the pile of bones, the mother wiped away her tears and said, "My daughter..."
"I'm so sorry, it's all my fault for being so incompetent as your father. I've let you get bullied like this. It's all my fault." The father said, slapping himself in the face and collapsing to the ground.
Meanwhile, Xiao Mu was completely enveloped in darkness, with not a single ray of light penetrating through.
Everyone was very worried when they saw this. Someone pointed in Xiao Mu's direction and asked Su Qiwen, "This... will the young cultivator be alright?"
Something's wrong? Su Qiwen was also very worried, but everything he was doing was what Xiao Xiushi told him to do. He just hadn't expected it to turn out this way, so he didn't ask any more questions.
"There should be no problem." Cultivator Xiao knew his own strength; a person like him would not do anything beyond his capabilities.
Just then, a pleasant metallic clanging sound came from outside. Su Qiwen turned around and saw a young, handsome monk. The monk's robe was somewhat worn, but it appeared graceful due to his tall and slender figure.
The sound of metal clashing came from the staff in his hand.
Su Qiwen noticed that the closer the resentful spirits got to the staff, the more rapid the sound it emitted became. Xiao Mu was not disturbed by the sounds of the resentful spirits around him; he was even calculating that Su Qiwen and his men had now released almost all the wronged souls.
He hoped that what he was doing now could help the three people in the Gou family! It was at this moment that he felt the resentment and vengeance around him lessen, and the pressure lessen.
It seems there's another force at work, dissolving the resentment in these people.
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