Yuwen Jun raised his eyebrows: "Exactly how many people have disappeared in the mountains?"
"Only Wu Nuan and two maids are missing."
Yuwen Jun paused mid-step: "Do you mean two men broke in and took away three women?"
The Great Elder nodded.
Just then, someone added from behind: "Many people at the foot of the mountain also ran away."
"At the foot of the mountain?" Yuwen Jun was skeptical.
The Great Elder waved his hand indifferently: "Those were all hermits we recruited from the outside, who came here to avoid the wars outside. It must be that seeing catastrophe befall Witch Ancestor Mountain, they were overcome with fear for their lives and ran away again. However, most of these people died in the poisonous miasma, and it’s impossible to recognize who is who."
They didn’t even bother to drag out the bodies, letting them slowly decay in the poison barrier.
Seeing the Great Elder’s unconcerned demeanor, Yuwen Jun figured that they had already investigated the foot of the mountain, so he didn’t dwell on it and continued to follow them further in.
They soon arrived at the Forbidden Land, where despite the clean-up, a dense air of death still lingered.
The Great Elder took the lead in bringing him to a spot: "It was right here that Mr. Hunchback and Zi Xiao were found, both of whom died from countless arrows piercing their hearts."
There was an indescribable heaviness in his tone, indicating how demoralizing Mr. Hunchback’s death was.
Yuwen Jun listened in silence as the Great Elder led him deeper: "This is where the Gu Master and her Gu insects met their death, all were cleaved in two by a blade."
The Elder gave an insinuating glance at Bailou in Yuwen Jun’s hand.
Yuwen Jun pursed his lips without speaking, for even his Bailou did not have the capability to strike with such precision in a single blow.
Yuwen Jun didn’t offer explanations, just calmly took a few steps forward, peering into the cave ahead.
All that could be seen was an immense, charred pit, within which lay many charred shells of insects.
"Has this place always looked ?"
"Not at all, we came upon it ablaze with a great fire, most likely set by the culprit."
The smell of char was yet to disperse, causing one’s head to throb painfully if they stayed for a while.
The Great Elder pulled at Yuwen Jun, who was still peering down: "There’s nothing special here, I’ll take you to see the Gu Master’s corpse."
Witch Ancestor Mountain possessed various solutions, and currently, the bodies of important people like the Gu Master and Mr. Hunchback were soaking in such tanks, preserving them from decaying for three years.
The Great Elder led Yuwen Jun over, and it was truly a terrifying sight to encounter unexpectedly a dismembered corpse soaking in the solution of a cave.
Though the body had not swelled from immersion, its skin had, due to the lack of vitality, gradually aged, appearing within a few days as an eighty-year-old woman.
The Great Elder glanced awkwardly at Yuwen Jun: "This is the Gu Master."
Although the Gu Master usually looked to be in her thirties, after losing her life, her body visibly reverted to its original state.
The guards initially responsible were also startled; after all, the Gu Master was dead, but for her to go from her thirties to her forties overnight was quite frightening.
However, as the Gu Master’s body aged day by day, now looking over eighty, the guards had grown accustomed to it.
They went from being fearful to curious, wanting to see how old the Gu Master would become.
The Gu Master’s age had always been a mystery to them, and to witness this with their own eyes one day was indeed a unique experience.
Originally, the Elder was concerned that Yuwen Jun would be startled, yet Yuwen Jun appeared rather unperturbed.