The Massacre in Luoding Village: The Murderer Emerges

The Holy Fire Cult Master sneered.

"From the early stage of the martial arts to the middle stage, so many martial arts geniuses are unable to cross this threshold. What makes you think our Holy Fire Cult has the ability to help you break through? If we had such a method, I would have used it myself. Would it ever be your turn?"

"Then you're useless."

Just as you were about to slaughter this guy, you suddenly noticed a tattoo exposed through his torn clothes on his chest, caused by your previous attack.

It was a flame pattern.

You had seen this pattern somewhere else.

You took out a white mask from your storage ring, pointed at the flame pattern on it, and asked.

"Is this pattern the same as the tattoo on your chest?"

"The Holy Fire Crest. Of course it's the same."

You grabbed the foul-smelling burn scars on this guy and hoisted him up.

"Speak! Forty-eight years ago! Did your people go to the Central Plains and massacre a village called Luoding Village?!"

The Holy Fire Cult Master looked at you with a strange expression.

"What is your relationship with this village?"

"Answer my question honestly, and cut the crap!"

You knew that without using some methods, you might not get the answers you wanted.

The clues to the village massacre case might welcome a new breakthrough today, and you absolutely could not let this opportunity slip by.

Myriad Soul Banner!

"Oh—pitiful Holy Fire Cult Master, have you ever experienced ultimate despair?"

The black mist emitted by the Myriad Soul Banner wasn't just for setting the mood.

When this black mist drilled into the Holy Fire Cult Master's seven orifices—his nose, mouth, ears, and eyes—he screamed incessantly.

"No!! God of Fire! Don't abandon me!! Lord Fire God!! Burn me!! Lord Fire God!!"

He seemed to be experiencing earth-shattering agony, the kind of dual torture that afflicted both mind and body.

Looking at his agonizingly twisted facial features, you momentarily suspected he might undergo a horrific metamorphosis right then and there.

At the very least, this guy truly had faith.

You made the Myriad Soul Banner stop.

The Holy Fire Cult Master looked as though he had returned from another world.

"Was... was that an illusion?"

"If you don't answer my questions honestly, it will become real right away!"

"I'll speak! I'll speak! Alas, the Holy Fire Cult has already been reduced to such a state today, what secrets are there left that cannot be told! The God of Fire will forgive me!"

"It's good that you have this level of awareness."

"However, this matter happened too many years ago. What I know is only a few fragmented words passed down by the survivors of that time..."

From the mouth of the Holy Fire Cult Master, you learned the general outline of the village massacre case from back then.

What kind of grudge or enmity could a first-rate religious faction from Xiliang have with a small village in the Central Plains?

Therefore, the Holy Fire Cult was not the mastermind; they were directed by someone behind the scenes.

To put it bluntly, the Holy Fire Cult was just a hired thug.

To deal with a small village, they didn't even dispatch any elites or top experts.

They only symbolically sent out a small squad to execute the mission, and then contacted their branch organization in the Central Plains, letting this branch take charge of the main operation.

When the Holy Fire Cult was at the height of its power, their territory was not limited to Xiliang; they also had branch-like organizations in the Central Plains.

However, the imperial court of the Central Plains banned religious activities, so they couldn't operate under the name of the Holy Fire Cult. Instead, they adopted another form—a martial arts sect.

This sect was exactly the Chixin Sect, which had been smashed into ashes by a single tail strike from the demon race's ancestor, the Azure Dragon.

The small squad from the Holy Fire Cult in Xiliang, along with the martial artists of the Chixin Sect, wore masks with the Holy Fire Crest pattern and slaughtered everyone in Luoding Village.

"Who was the mastermind? Who ordered you to go to the Central Plains to massacre the village?"

The Holy Fire Cult Master shook his head.

"I don't know."

"Do you not know, or do you not dare to say?"

"Hehe... How do you think our Holy Fire Cult declined? How did all those higher-ups and elites disappear?"

You were suddenly jolted to a realization.

"They were silenced."

"I don't know, I didn't see it with my own eyes, but after pondering over it for many years, I feel this is the only possibility."

"Why wasn't the Chixin Sect silenced?"

"Those from the Chixin Sect who participated in the village massacre were also killed off. It's just that the person behind the scenes probably didn't know about the relationship between the Chixin Sect and our Holy Fire Cult, so they didn't take action against the entire Chixin Sect."

You looked thoughtful.

"When your Holy Fire Cult was at its peak decades ago, you were able to challenge the Vajra Temple, which is at the level of the Five Regions and Eight Pillars. You even had branches in the Central Plains. With such a massive force, who could possibly order you around?"

The cult master shook his head with a bewildered expression.

"Back then, I was just a teenager, an outer sect handyman disciple who had just joined the Holy Fire Cult. How could I possibly know these things..."

Seeing a layer of the secrets behind the village massacre case being peeled back.

Outside the simulation, Chen Yi also fell into deep thought at this moment.

"So the Chixin Sect's cultivation methods have many fire elements because it originally derived from the Holy Fire Cult.

So the corpse of the Chixin Sect disciple wearing a Holy Fire mask that the Black Stone Gang found in the Qing River was actually one of the people who were silenced.

But who was silencing them? Who was directing the Holy Fire Cult? Why massacre the village?"

The clues broke off here once again.

The other party was able to direct the Holy Fire Cult, which was of such a massive scale back then, and then almost completely wipe out the entire cult afterward to silence them.

This showed that the mastermind behind the scenes was absolutely not a simple character.

He didn't want others to discover him, so it would inevitably be incredibly difficult for Chen Yi to find out his true identity.

"It's fine if I can't find out right now. This person must be very strong. It will only make sense for me to figure out who he is after I have sufficient strength."

Chen Yi investigating the village massacre case was partly for revenge, but on the other hand, he wanted to figure out the other party's motive.

It should be known that he was a survivor of the village massacre.

If the other party knew of his existence, they might continue to hunt him down.

Only by understanding what the other party wanted could he counter their moves effectively.

Investigating this case was not just for his massacred relatives and neighbors, but even more so for Chen Yi himself.

You sent the Holy Fire Cult Master to meet his God of Fire.

You walked out of the cave, your face heavy with worry.

When you came out, you saw someone.

Zhenpin.

He stood under a tree, his bald head reflecting the moonlight.

"Amitabha. It seems the benefactor has already settled accounts with those heretics."

You patted your clothes, wearing a relaxed and comfortable expression.

"Just a bit of dirt on the hem of my clothes."

"Was the benefactor perhaps worried about some danger and didn't want this poor monk to intervene, which is why you said those words earlier?"

"No, you're overthinking it. I really did want to join them, it's just that it was too difficult to join. They're a bunch of lunatics. My allergy to stupidity flared up, so I slaughtered them all. Speaking of which, didn't you leave?"

"After this poor monk left earlier, I thought it over and felt something was fishy, so I decided to come back and take a look."

You chuckled softly, feeling that this old monk was quite a good friend.

Hakimi Bald Donkey, you...

["I only hope the Sword Master knows that this humble monk did not just stand by and watch his close friend die."]

[You thought wrong, you damn bald donkey!]

Starting today, I will update three chapters a day.

Also, there are simply too many inline comments right now, and I, Liuzi, cannot keep up with them all. If you are dissatisfied with the plot or find any mistakes I have made, you can tag me when leaving an inline comment. As long as I think your point makes sense, I will make the changes (please understand that for some issues where a single change would disrupt the entire overarching plot, I cannot alter them even if there is indeed a problem).

Alternatively, you can write your thoughts in the book reviews, the ones where you leave a rating. I read all of those rated reviews, as there are relatively few of them.

Lastly, my dear readers, could I ask you for a five-star review?