Chapter 5

After going downstairs, Zhan Yi searched the courtyard again. It wasn't until he found some footprints in a corner that he stopped. This place clearly saw frequent foot traffic, and the footprints disappeared here, but why was there nothing particularly unusual around?

Zhan Yi, not giving up, circled the corner for a long time and knocked on the wall in several places. Finally, when he knocked on a particular brick, he discovered something secret. This brick clearly produced a hollow sound, and upon closer inspection, there were fine cracks around it, which were hard to notice from a distance.

Zhan Yi's eyes lit up. He found a small object and poked it a couple of times. With a click, the brick opened like a small door. Inside, there was a protruding button, which made Zhan Yi laugh: "Hehe, no matter how well you hide it, you can't escape my eyes."

After saying that, he gently pressed the button. There was a creaking sound, and the wall at the corner retracted inward, revealing a passage about two meters deep. The walls inside were lit by energy-saving lamps.

Looking at the passage, Zhan Yi was momentarily stunned. He wondered if this was the legendary mechanism and whether any hidden weapons might fly out.

To be cautious, he searched the area for a long time and finally found several wooden poles, which seemed to be prepared by the old Taoist Xuanming for setting up a plum blossom stake. Zhan Yi picked up a pole and threw it into the passage. There was a loud noise, and countless arrows shot out from the passage, along with various flying daggers and other hidden weapons, some of which had yellow paper talismans attached.

Seeing this, Zhan Yi couldn't help but draw a sharp breath. He was glad he had been cautious and not rushed in, or he would have been turned into a pincushion. This made him even more cautious. He threw another pole down, and more hidden weapons shot out from the walls.

This left Zhan Yi in a dilemma. If this continued, he didn't know when the hidden weapons would run out. Sitting on the ground for a while, he suddenly saw the rope he had used to climb in. An idea came to him.

He ran to the wall, took down the rope, and tied it to one end of a pole. He pushed the pole down the passage, and more hidden weapons shot out. Zhan Yi pulled the pole back up and pushed it down again, repeatedly triggering the hidden weapons. After about ten minutes, no more hidden weapons came out. He still wasn't sure, so he used the pole to check a few more times. When he was certain no more hidden weapons would come out, he followed the marks left by the pole and entered the passage, sprinkling his own urine along the way.

All the way down to the bottom of the passage, nothing happened. But when he turned the corner, he found a basement. Zhan Yi looked inside and was truly shocked.

The basement, about twenty square meters, was brightly lit with various colors: golden yellow, light blue, light green, dark red, and light brown. Dozens of lights formed a circle, and a row of gray lights snaked across the ceiling. In the center of the ceiling were two particularly large lights, one emitting a strong white light and the other a hazy black light.

On the walls were various yellow paper talismans, which glowed red with the light. All the lights were adjusted to shine directly on the center of the basement, forming a strange light mist. In this mist was an object like a large incense burner, with sealing talismans attached.

Zhan Yi looked at the large incense burner and heard a strange sound coming from inside, like an animal struggling before death or a ghost screaming. Although the sound was very faint, it made his hair stand on end.

Observing the scene, even though Zhan Yi was usually very brave, he felt uncomfortable. He took a deep breath and began to study the lights. This study revealed some strange things.

The lights formed a large yin-yang fish shape, and the five-colored lights seemed to have some meaning. However, he didn't understand what kind of monster was inside the large incense burner, why it was screaming so pitifully, as if being burned by fire. He could only curse in his heart, thinking how perverted the old Taoist Xuanming was.

Although he understood some of the mechanisms, Zhan Yi still didn't dare to move recklessly. He remembered his grandfather saying that anything set up by a cultivator had a special reason, and moving it without understanding could be fatal.

Looking around the basement, he found a shelf and a table, which seemed to be used for experiments. There were some glass bottles and jars on them, but he couldn't see what was inside because they were too far away. He could only see some labels with writing on them.

Zhan Yi took the plastic bucket of urine, sprinkled some on the ground, and used a long stick to probe ahead before taking steps forward. He walked to the table without any incidents, which calmed him down.

He thought he had been too cautious. This was probably where Xuanming stored his treasures and practiced. If it were full of mechanisms, he might accidentally trigger one and destroy the items inside.

With this thought, his courage grew, and he began to examine the bottles and jars. To his shock and anger, the larger bottles contained the bodies of infants, and the smaller ones contained human organs.

There were at least twenty bottles and jars on the table and shelf. Even if some people had been dismembered, Xuanming must have killed ten infants and several adults to gather these items.

The more he thought about it, the angrier he became. If he had any doubts about Xuanming's nature before, seeing this confirmed that Xuanming was a heinous criminal. The idea of a Taoist killing innocent infants and preserving their bodies in containers was utterly inhumane and beyond forgiveness.

From the knowledge Xiao Jiao had given him about cultivation, he knew that Xuanming killed people to create evil objects and to absorb their souls' energy to enhance his own cultivation. This meant that anyone he killed would not only have their body used but also their soul trapped in eternal suffering.

The more he saw, the angrier he became. Zhan Yi wanted to burn the place down, but this also made him more uncertain about Xiao Jiao. Could he have misunderstood him?

But if that was the case, should he help him recover his soul fragment? After thinking for a long time, Zhan Yi finally decided to find it first. Regardless of whether Xiao Jiao was good or bad, his presence would be detected by Xuanming, and it might not be so easy to come back again. With this in mind, he began to search the shelves and table. After a while, he found a bottle in a drawer labeled "Bai Po Bao Ping" (Hundred Souls Treasure Bottle).

The bottle was not large, about the size of a water cup. Its shape matched what Xiao Jiao had described. Zhan Yi was delighted and put the bottle in his pocket. He then noticed a jade pendant at the bottom of the bottle. The jade was translucent and colorful, and it seemed to have something flowing inside under the light.

Zhan Yi picked it up and saw four ancient characters "Ling Xiu Yu Bao" (Spirit Cultivation Jade) engraved on it. It felt warm and comfortable in his hand. Zhan Yi didn't know what it was for, but since it was with the "Bai Po Bao Ping," it might be related, so he put the jade in his pocket as well.

After that, he searched the shelves and table for a while. Apart from finding a stack of money in a drawer, he didn't find anything particularly valuable. Checking his phone, he saw it was already two in the afternoon. Thinking he didn't need to stay any longer, he headed towards the exit of the basement.

But as he passed the large incense burner-like object, he heard the faint screams again. Zhan Yi frowned, stopped, and looked at the incense burner and the bottles and jars on the shelves and table. He felt a pang of sympathy. Should he really just leave? What if the incense burner contained the souls of the infants and innocent victims? Could he just let Xuanming turn them into evil objects?

The more he thought about it, the more he couldn't bear it. Finally, he gritted his teeth and walked towards the incense burner. When he got close, he saw ancient characters engraved on it: "Yin Yang Wu Xing Lian Hun Lu" (Yin-Yang Five Elements Soul Refining Furnace).

"Damn, I was right. This is really for refining souls. That damn old Taoist, if I ever catch him, I'll refine him too," Zhan Yi muttered, though he didn't understand cultivation, he could guess the purpose of the incense burner from the characters.

After looking at the incense burner for a while, he finally reached out to lift the lid. But as his hand touched the lid, the sealing talismans suddenly emitted a strong light, and a current-like sensation entered his body, making him quickly pull his hand back.

"Damn, you old Taoist, I won't believe I can't open your damn thing," Zhan Yi shook his head to clear his mind, realizing he wasn't particularly uncomfortable, and cursed again.

After cursing, he poured some of the urine he had brought onto the paper talismans. There was a loud noise, and the talismans caught fire and turned to ashes. Zhan Yi's face showed a hint of satisfaction, and he was about to praise himself.

But before he could finish, there was another loud noise, and the lid of the incense burner was suddenly blown to the side. A gray-black mist spewed out and mixed with the light mist from the large yin-yang fish, enveloping Zhan Yi's body.

"Ah...," Zhan Yi hadn't reacted yet when he felt intense pain, and strange things began to enter his body. The pain grew worse until he couldn't bear it and fainted on the incense burner.

After he fainted, the lights around him became even brighter, and the paper talismans under each light began to emit strong red light, mixing with the light and enveloping Zhan Yi's body. The gray mist from the Yin-Yang Five Elements Soul Refining Furnace also entered his body.