Chapter 97 - Sunken Bones
Measure Heaven River.
Lu Zhou and the others approached the area from beyond the ravine and entered a crumbling courtyard.
Two of Ding Fanqiu’s disciples lifted their hands and sent out their energy to open the courtyard’s doors.
After that, all of them slowly walked in.
One of Ding Fangqiu’s disciples said, “Master, this is the rendezvous point. They won’t dare to be tardy since you personally came.”
Ding Fanqiu nodded.
The two disciples hastily found a chair in the simple and crude house before placing it in the middle of the courtyard.
It was apparent this was not their first visit here. They were very familiar with this place.
“There’s nothing under the heavens that my grandfather is afraid of,” Little Yuan’er said with a wave of her fist.
Ding Fanqiu regarded Little Yuan’er with a look of satisfaction. ‘This is what I like. Nobody can blame me if something happens. It’s best if something happens.’
They took the paizas. After Ding Fangqiu’s two male disciples changed their clothes, they left the crumbling courtyard and walked toward the jetty where the corpses were being fished out from the river.
…
About 15 minutes later.
They saw the jetty. Apart from the ships that were there to fish out the corpses, there were no other commercial vessels. Officers and soldiers were patrolling the area as well.
Ding Fanqiu maneuvered the area with great familiarity. He walked calmly along the way.
At the entrance, two guards with spears in their hands barred their way.
“Authorized personnel only.”
Ding Fanqiu’s disciples produced the paizas.
“Those at the back…” One of the soldiers began to say.
“Please, make an exception.”
Some silver was exchanged, and everything proceeded smoothly.
If they were only fishing corpses for a day, the soldiers would not be able to make money through such means. However, these men had been doing this for a decade. They were unsure of what they were fishing out of the river themselves nor were they aware of the importance of the task they were carrying out. Rocks, rotten fishes, rotten shrimps, everything was taken away. After repeating the same routine day after day, they became apathetic toward their jobs.
Little Yuan’er muttered under her breath, “Why aren’t we killing our way in? This is so much more complicated.”
The girl whom Little Yuan’er defeated turned around to look at her said, “There are powerful witchcraft traps around here. Someone’s controlling them.”
“Oh,” Little Yuan’er replied, “I still don’t get it.”
They walked at a fast pace along the way. It was clear that this was not their first visit.
“The warehouse is up ahead…”
They easily avoided the guards. They passed several buildings before they prepared to enter the warehouse.
Ding Fanqiu raised his hand suddenly. His voice was deep and domineering as he said, “Stop.” It seemed like he had discovered something. He bent down and scrutinized the tracks on the ground. “There’s a witchcraft cultivator around.”
Lu Zhou looked at the lines on the ground as well. Indeed, the soil was fresh. Someone had planted a trap here.
In witchcraft, timing, location, and the people involved were important. The spellcaster would call upon the power from external structures to inflict harm or bestow blessings on the target.
Ding Fanqiu turned around to look at Lu Zhou and said, “Old householder, please take care of yourself.” Then, he turned his attention to Little Yuan’er and said, “Little girl, if you’re afraid, you can stay closer to me.”
Little Yuan’er hugged Lu Zhou’s arm and said, “I’m not afraid!”
“Let’s go.”
They walked around the trap and found themselves looking at the huge warehouse. It was impossible for the doors of the warehouse to stop a bunch of cultivators from entering.
With a slight movement of the hand, the lock was broken.
The instant the warehouse’s doors opened…
Lu Zhou frowned.
This warehouse was dozens of meters long. Rows of boxes were arranged neatly inside the warehouse. They were stacked on top of each other as well. On the other side, there was a mountain of bones.