Searcy was kicked by the dark-clothed figure, and as she groggily opened her eyes, she stared with wide eyes at the person.
The faint scar on her face really made her look unappealing.
The dark-clothed figure cast a disgusted glance at her and said coldly, "Go, cook outside."
Gui Yunxi hurried over, scurrying and said, "Taoist Priest, our earthen stove is in senior priest Zhuo’s room, do you think we could... perhaps cook later?"
Zhuo Qing was their leader, and early in the morning, he didn’t dare to knock on the door.
But they had to cook, as everybody would get up soon and need to eat, and he was waiting to finish breakfast so he could change shifts; he had been guarding the tomb entrance all night and was eager to go rest.
The dark-clothed figure looked down at Searcy and said menacingly, "Get up, go knock on senior brother Zhuo’s door."
Oh, he was afraid to do it himself so he was making her go?
Searcy pursed her lips, got up, and went to the ear chamber to knock on the stone door.
"Taoist Priest, are you awake, we need to get the earthen stove for cooking."
There was no movement inside the ear chamber, so Searcy knocked on the stone door again, "Taoist Priest, Zhuo Qing, I’m coming in now."
Still, there was no response.
She turned her head to the dark-clothed figure and said, "Perhaps he’s sleeping deeply; there’s no way to tell dawn from dusk in this tomb chamber, I’ll just open the door and take it."
The dark-clothed figure thought it strange, for senior brother Zhuo was not one to sleep so soundly.
He nodded and said, "Open it."
He wanted to see as well.
The stone door opened, and there lay Zhuo Qing peacefully, as though deeply asleep.
But Searcy knew, he was already dead.
She turned back to Gui Yunxi and said, "What are you standing around for? Come and carry the earthen stove. The Taoist Priest is sleeping!"
Gui Yunxi hurriedly came forward, but his legs were clearly shaking.
Having heard that placing the earthen stove in Zhuo Qing’s resting ear chamber would kill him, he had been skeptical, but now he had no choice but to believe.
If he were not dead, why was there not the slightest movement from him?
The two of them carried out the earthen stove, and Zhuo Qing still hadn’t woken up; the dark-clothed figure finally sensed that something was wrong.
Even if he was extremely tired, Zhuo Qing couldn’t possibly continue sleeping with all this commotion.
He strode into Zhuo Qing’s resting ear chamber, and upon seeing the Straight-laying Zhuo Qing, his complexion changed instantly.
He crouched down and pushed Zhuo Qing forcefully, shouting, "Senior brother Zhuo, wake up!"
Zhuo Qing did not react, and he carefully placed his hand near his nose; there was not the slightest breath of life, he was dead.
This revelation caused the dark-clothed figure to collapse weakly to the ground.
How could he have died so inexplicably?
Among the junior members of Xuanzong, he was ranked in the top ten, and the eldest senior disciple Huo Li had held him in high regard, so many of the junior disciples were always trying to ingratiate themselves with him.
But now he lay dead here without any clear reason.
He simply couldn’t believe it, so he stretched out his hand again to feel for his pulse.
The neck pulse was still, was he really... dead?
The dark-clothed figure’s eyes widened, staring fixedly at the dead Zhuo Qing.
He couldn’t understand how someone healthy could have just died.
He felt dizzy, his chest was stuffy, he felt nauseous and even had difficulty breathing.
With a loud boom, the stone door to the ear chamber was closed.
The dark-clothed figure felt increasingly off, as if he had been poisoned.
But that woman had been closely watched by them these past few days; they never let her go into the mountains to dig for wild vegetables, and they closely monitored everything she ate, so she had no chance to poison them.
Could it be... there was something wrong with that earthen stove?