Chapter 41: Who Exactly Is It?

"Damn it..."
"Ugh!"
"Those damn monsters!"
Jiang Mingyuan vomited while cursing, "Evil cultivators! They’re all a bunch of lunatics!"
Chen Fan silently closed the lid and said calmly, "Lunatics who will stop at nothing to gain power."
There were nearly a hundred large porcelain jars laid out before them, and the number of people buried here was no less than a thousand.
"Heaven laments and earth weeps, consumed by raging fire."
Chen Fan formed a hand seal with both hands, then looked at Jiang Mingyuan. "Fire."
Jiang Mingyuan paused for a moment, then immediately pulled a box of matches from his pocket.
He struck a match, lit it, and threw it forward.
The moment the burning match touched the ground, the damp, foul-smelling earth ignited instantly, as if it had been doused in gasoline!
True men never look back at explosions.
As the flames began to spread, Chen Fan had already turned and walked away.
Jiang Mingyuan glanced back a few times, watching the fire climb onto the statues and the porcelain jars, spreading toward their position, and he immediately scrambled to follow Chen Fan’s pace.
"Heavenly Fire Scorches the Yin."
Jiang Mingyuan ran out panting; having vomited several times, his complexion looked even worse than before.
He looked at Chen Fan, who was walking ahead, and exclaimed, "Master Chen... Master, you can actually summon the Heavenly Fire!"
"No wonder you became the youngest Daoist Leader in the Great Xia!"
Chen Fan said indifferently, "Just a stroke of luck."
Jiang Mingyuan wiped the cold sweat from his forehead and gave Chen Fan a sheepish look.
Luck?
Heavenly Fire Scorches the Yin was a secret technique of the Zhengqing Daoist Sect that was never taught to outsiders; if a single disciple in a generation could master it, they would inevitably become the leader of the sect.
And any random disciple from the Zhengqing Daoist Sect could hang him, Jiang Mingyuan, up and beat him.
Yet, when the entire Zhengqing Daoist Sect had launched an all-out attack on Chen Fan back in the day, they were the ones who ended up getting beaten, suffering such heavy losses that they had yet to recover.
And to think, the technique for Heavenly Fire Scorches the Yin had actually been snatched away by him...
Then there was the vast, righteous energy of Kunlun and Chen Fan’s methods for controlling ghosts—all of which were the closely guarded secrets of various sects.
Yet, after Chen Fan killed their people and seized their techniques, they didn't even dare to let out a peep.
"The Earth-Protecting Feng Shui will be good for Old Fu."
Chen Fan said calmly, "Since the matter at Liangmian Mountain is resolved, tell Old Fu that I’ll be going now."
Jiang Mingyuan had originally wanted to keep Chen Fan for a simple meal to show hospitality and build a connection.
But he was also terrified that Chen Fan might turn him into a ghost spirit...
"Yes, yes, I will tell Fu Ankang in a moment," Jiang Mingyuan said with a respectful smile. "Master Chen, please go carefully."
Chen Fan nodded, took one last glance at the burning Daoist temple, and turned to leave.
Heavenly Fire Scorches the Yin would incinerate everything tainted by evil spirits.
The thicker the evil aura, the more fiercely the heavenly fire would burn.
As the temple was engulfed in flames, the strange statue with three heads and six arms began to collapse.
Chen Fan did not look back, simply walking away.
...
Inside a hidden room within an office building.
Thirty-three strange statues were enshrined.
An elderly man with white hair, kneeling on both knees, coughed up a mouthful of blood.
"Ancestors..."
"You protect me, and I offer sacrifices to you."
"But my body cannot hold out much longer. Is there still a chance for me to attain longevity?"
Suddenly, one of the three-headed, six-armed statues developed a crack.
Immediately following that, cracks spread across the entire body of the statue, and it shattered violently!
"Ancestors?!"
"How can this be!"
"How could something go wrong at Liangmian Mountain? Tunhunzi was guarding it!"
"Damn it! Damn it! Damn it!"
The white-haired old man turned his head and glared at the man in a suit and leather shoes standing at the doorway of the hidden room.
"Today, the ancestors demand blood. Go and prepare."
"And... go investigate who killed Tunhunzi! Who killed the disciples of my Ghost Nether Sect!"
"Find him... I want to use his physical body as a new vessel!"
...
Nightfall.
Liangmian Mountain.
Despite it being the middle of the night, a long-haired man wearing sunglasses stood at the entrance of the burned-down temple.
"Ya, ya, ya, this is interesting."
"The old evil thing has been destroyed."
A car pulled up behind him, and Yu Yu and her companion from the Special Investigation Unit stepped out.
The man with the peach-wood sword looked at the long-haired man in sunglasses, a smile appearing on his face.
"Greetings, Daoist Fengyun!"
Daoist Fengyun turned his head and glanced at him.
"Oh, so you are the 'Nameless One'?" Daoist Fengyun raised an eyebrow.
"That's right!" the man with the peach-wood sword laughed.
Yu Yu ignored them and walked into the charred temple.
Her expression was one of surprise. "This place... what on earth happened here? The fluctuations of Daoist power are immense."
"Destroying an old evil thing—could the commotion be anything less?" Daoist Fengyun said calmly.
"This..."
The man with the peach-wood sword stepped forward and placed his hand on the statue that had been burned through by the fire at the entrance.
He paused for a moment and said in surprise, "A Plague God statue?"
"Many people died here, but their souls have been sent to the underworld for reincarnation."
"Reincarnation by special exception?"
"Who was it that destroyed this temple?"
Yu Yu frowned and instinctively stepped back a few paces.
She said in a deep voice, "Does this matter have any connection to the recent murders in Qingcheng?"
"Was this done by those who worship the Plague God?"
Daoist Fengyun said calmly, "Perhaps. The Ghost Nether Sect worships the Plague God, though they were wiped out by Kunlun years ago."
"But it seems Kunlun didn't clean them out entirely back then."
Yu Yu felt the pressure mounting. She had already been troubled by the supernatural murder cases in Qingcheng.
Now, there was evidence of something like the Ghost Nether Sect...
And they didn't even know who had managed to wipe out this branch of the sect.
"Should we continue to investigate?"
Daoist Fengyun said calmly, "If you want to continue, I can give you a lead."
"The person who destroyed this place used the Zhengqing Daoist Sect’s 'Heavenly Fire Scorches the Yin,' yet they are not a disciple of the Zhengqing Daoist Sect."
"As long as you follow the trail to find out who was responsible for this Liangmian Mountain site, you will be able to ask..."
"Who exactly this person is."