Chapter 88 - New Clue, Two Possibilities

Translator: Henyee Translations Editor: Henyee Translations

Of course, Zou Hao didn’t know what Lin Ran was thinking. When he was asked to investigate this kind of murder case, he couldn’t help but find it strange. “Sword God, is there a reason why you want me to do this?”

Huo Qiyun also looked at Lin Ran with a curious gaze. In his heart, he always had a plan. It was a list of problems that he had summarized over the years. If the Heavenly Saint Dynasty wanted to live in peace for a long time, these problems had to be solved as soon as possible.

However, what Lin Rai said wasn’t one of the problems.

Lin Ran wanted to find an excuse to fool him, but he suddenly thought of something and narrowed his eyes at Zou Hao. “From what you said, you seem to know something?”

Zou Hao did not dare to lie in front of the Ten Mile Sword God. After a pause, he hurriedly said, “I don’t know the details, but your description just now reminds me of an unsolved case from decades ago.”

“Do you even remember something that happened decades ago?”

Lin Ran raised his eyebrows in surprise. “Tell me about it.”

“Sword God, you got me wrong. It’s not that I have a good memory. That unsolved case is too strange and hard to forget!”

Zou Hao let out an embarrassed smile, and a hint of reminiscence appeared in his eyes. “About sixty years ago, I was just an ordinary disciple of the Dao Seeking Sect. I was ordered by my late master to travel outside to gain experiences.”

“When I arrived at a village one day, I wanted to go in and get some water, but I realized that the village was very strange. There were farming tools thrown everywhere and unfinished food in every house, but I walked through the entire village and didn’t see anyone.”

When Lin Ran heard this, his pupils constricted. This was almost the same situation as what he had encountered on the Eight Directional Mountain.

Zou Hao didn’t notice the change in Lin Ran’s expression and continued, “At that time, I thought that the villagers were going out together, so I didn’t pay much attention to it. But a few days later, I heard…”

“On that day, a total of more than 3,000 people went missing in seven villages. Three days later, the officials found a large number of bones in a mountain 20 miles away. After the coroner counted them, they basically matched the number of the missing villagers.” Huo Qiyun continued Zou Hao’s words.

Seeing that Lin Ran and Zou Hao were both looking at him, he said matter-of-factly, “At that time, I was also traveling around. That case concerned the lives of more than 3,000 people. Of course I’ve heard about it.”

Lin Ran looked at him solemnly. “Have you been to that mountain? What do the bones look like?”

Huo Qiyun shook his head. “I was at the southern border at that time. When I came back and wanted to visit the mountain it had already been cleaned up by the officials… But what else could the bones look like?”

“I-I’ve been there…”

Zou Hao raised his hand hesitantly. “Sword God, when it happened back then, I was nearby. Later, I went to the col to take a look. The valley that was dozens of feet deep was filled with bones. All the bones were so clean that it looked like… like…”

Zou Hao looked troubled, as if he did not know how to describe it.

Lin Ran thought of something. “Like jade?”

Zou Hao immediately nodded. “Yes, yes, yes! Jade! Like jade!”

Lin Ran’s heart skipped a beat and he asked, “Then do you remember what the seven villages are called?”

“I really can’t remember this.”

Zou Hao shook his head in embarrassment. Suddenly, his eyes lit up as he thought of something. “By the way, those villages are near Mount Sword where you were in seclusion!”

“There you go!”

Lin Ran exclaimed in his heart. He could basically conclude that this unsolved case was caused by the demon. The time when the case took place was exactly the same as when the demon broke the seal.

When all the dots were connected, Lin Ran felt inexplicably refreshed.

Sixty years ago, the demon broke through to the Half-Saint Realm and fought with the Ten Mile Sword God in the cave.

After that, the demon used tricks to defeat and kill the Ten Miles Sword God.

However, the demon was also severely injured by the Ten Mile Sword God. After escaping from Mount Sword, it used the flesh and blood of the villagers in the nearby village to repair its injuries. After that, it disappeared without a trace until Lin Ran discovered it not long ago.

In Lin Ran’s mind, the thread began to split and lead to two different possibilities:

The first possibility was that the demon could devour flesh and drink blood to heal.

In the past sixty years, the demon must have done this often, but it still didn’t dare to face Lin Ran in its true form, which meant that it hadn’t returned to its peak state.

The second possibility was that the demons could devour flesh and drink blood to increase its cultivation.

If that was the case, even if the demon only devoured one person a day, there would still be a total amount of more than 20,000 lives taken over the course of 60 years. Lin Ran could not imagine how powerful the demon was now.

At this moment, Lin Ran could only think of these two possibilities. He couldn’t help but feel conflicted.

If it was the former, after Lin Ran found traces of the demon, he could just kill it with his sword. But if it was the latter, he had to be prepared.

But no matter what, Lin Ran had never thought of giving up.

After sorting out what to do next, Lin Ran looked at Zou Hao. “Since you’ve seen that scene with your own eyes, it must be much easier to investigate… Go, after the meeting, start investigating.”

“Yes!”

After Zou Hao bowed respectfully, he stood up and left with the elders.

After a few of them walked away, Huo Qiyun couldn’t help but step forward and say, “What’s wrong with you? Although it’s time to recruit people, isn’t it inappropriate for you to tell them that the war is about to begin?”

“Do you think they’re all fools?”

Lin Ran glanced at Huo Qiyun and said helplessly, “All these years, the Great Yong Dynasty has repeatedly invaded the border. Your empress sister declared officially that the Heavenly Saint Dynasty will not abandon any city or chase after the enemy, but do you really think she’ll let it go just like that?”

Huo Qiyun was speechless for a moment. Lin Ran continued, “Besides, the Great Yong Dynasty has been gathering troops since three years ago. Now, if you go to the north and ask any commoner, they all know about this. They’ve never thought of hiding it.”

Huo Qiyun’s expression began to turn solemn, but he still argued stubbornly, “Even so, the war between the two countries is still not declared. War is inevitable, but when to start is uncertain.”

“Silly child.”

Lin Ran stood up and patted Huo Qiyun’s shoulder. He was almost a head taller than Huo Qiyun, and this action made him look like an elder lecturing a junior. “When the Ten Miles Sword God came out of seclusion, the war had already begun.”

Huo Qiyun shook off Lin Ran’s hand. Just as he was about to speak with a heavy expression, he suddenly seemed to understand something, and his youthful face instantly turned pale!

Seeing Huo Qiyun’s reaction, Lin Ran knew that he understood. He smiled and didn’t say anything else. He brought the Dragon Roar Sword and walked towards the sect training ground, wanting to see how Zou Hao was going to hold this assembly.