Chapter 65

As Su Shiyin and Hao Qi sped through the desert city, they found it indeed deserted. From the streets, houses, and scattered items on the ground, as well as some traces of fighting, it seemed that the city had experienced a major disturbance. Someone, or some creature, had attacked here, causing massive casualties among the residents, forcing them to flee the city in a hurry, leaving behind many valuable items, and even failing to carry enough basic supplies like water and food into the desert.

Su Shiyin and Hao Qi found a lot of bloodstains on the streets, at the sites of the fights, and in some houses. However, strangely, they did not find a single corpse. From the traces they discovered, it seemed that the city's residents left in a great hurry, and it was unlikely that they would have taken their companions' bodies with them. Therefore, logically, there should have been a large number of corpses, but the current situation was different...

"Was it a non-human creature?" Hao Qi stood up from the bloodstains, having just touched the ground and found that the blood had completely dried, leaving only blackish-red traces. These were traces from many days ago, indicating that the city had been abandoned for a long time after being attacked by some unknown entity, leaving behind this empty city.

Su Shiyin was also investigating the surroundings. After hearing this, she looked around and, after a long silence, said, "It doesn't seem likely. Not to mention the city's guardian, who is at the Inner Qi realm, what kind of powerful monster could match that? Fierce, Mad, Violent, and Savage—Fierce is at the Quasi-Inner Qi realm, Mad is at the Inner Qi realm, and Violent can match the Inner Qi realm. Do you know how huge a Violent beast is? Even the smallest Violent beast is at least a hundred meters in size. If such a beast attacked the city, the city would have been completely destroyed. But the battle traces here are limited to the destruction of a few buildings, so it's unlikely to be an attack by a non-human creature... It seems more like an internal rebellion or an attack by humans themselves."

After investigating without finding any results, they returned to the group and reported the general situation. The group was initially indecisive, but after careful consideration, they decided not to enter the city for the time being. They set up a camp at the edge of the oasis, with one Inner Qi realm guard watching over the camp, while the other five Inner Qi realm members entered the city to continue their investigation.

That day passed slowly with everyone on edge. The five Inner Qi realm members spent the whole day investigating almost the entire city but found no valuable clues. The other Inner Qi realm members also mostly came to the same conclusion as Su Shiyin: it was likely not an external enemy but an internal disturbance that caused this. As for the fate of the city's residents, it was unknown—perhaps they had fled into the desert, or perhaps they had all been wiped out. In any case, the city was now completely deserted.

That night, the six Inner Qi realm members gathered again, and there was one more person—Lan Ling'er. They discussed the issue of the city being deserted and also asked Lan Ling'er about the city and the possible location of the ruins.

Lan Ling'er's dreamy eyes were already swollen from crying, making her look incredibly pitiful. When she saw everyone discussing the city, she sniffed and said, "Grandpa Sutuka is very powerful. With him guarding the city, no one could have attacked it. There must have been a reason for Grandpa Sutuka to lead the tribe away. It must be like that!"

"This is the question we want to know," the Su family elder said, looking at Lan Ling'er. "What reason could make a person at the Inner Qi realm retreat? If we can't figure this out, we won't be able to move forward, and we won't find the ruins. So, we want to ask you, if the people of this city really encountered a great enemy and had to leave, where would they most likely go?"

Lan Ling'er shook her head and said, "It's impossible. The Sutuka tribe is the descendant of the guardians. Even if they all died in battle, they wouldn't leave here. Unless... unless they had to... I know, they all went to the ruins!"

Hao Qi, Su Shiyin, and the others looked at each other, clearly understanding that Lan Ling'er's words contained some special information. For example, what it means to be the descendant of the guardians, and why they cannot leave this place, as well as the ruins... It seemed that the existence of the Sutuka tribe was to guard these ruins. In any case, Lan Ling'er's identity was not ordinary, and even the Sutuka tribe was not ordinary, including the ancient sect ruins, which seemed to have a significant backstory.

Since Zhang Heng joined the martial group, Hao Qi often asked him about various things. Zhang Heng's knowledge was clearly much better than Hao Qi's. After all, he had been bullied and monitored since childhood and had almost no friends. His time was almost entirely spent reading books. As the largest medicinal nation in the eastern part of the Blue Sea, Bai Cao Kingdom collected a large number of books in addition to medical and biological books, and these books were almost all within Zhang Heng's reading range. Especially after he became disillusioned with medicine due to his father's affairs and the bullying he endured for twenty years, these books were like his friends, and his knowledge was much richer than Hao Qi's.

On the other hand, the Su family was a large clan. As a direct descendant of the Su family, Su Shiyin had read many extraordinary books from a young age, including some secret ancient texts that Zhang Heng could not access. Therefore, Su Shiyin knew a lot.

Since entering the desert, Hao Qi often asked them about the ancient sect ruins and other situations. However, according to the books they had read, the history of the ancient sects and the periods before that were a mystery.

The historical records of this world only go back to the period when ancient humans were still in a slave society. Records from earlier periods are scarce and scattered, with only a few words remaining in almost extinct ancient texts. These texts mention that before the ancient period, there was the era of the ancient sects, and before that, the era of the ancient Inner Qi civilization. It is said that before the ancient Inner Qi civilization, there was the era of ancient technology, but these are just legends, and no one knows what level of civilization or political structure existed in those times, with only scattered words remaining like legends.

Many martial groups dedicated to exploration, archaeology, and historical research are searching for the secrets of the ancient, prehistoric, and ancient technology eras. According to them, those three eras were so glorious that they are hard to imagine today, being much more advanced civilizations than the current society. They were lost to history for unknown reasons, but if the true history could be found, human glory would be restored.

Moreover, these martial groups have a theory that while the prehistoric and ancient technology eras are too distant to be verified, there is still hope of recovering the civilization of the ancient sect era. That is, the descendants of the ancient sect era may still be living in some hidden places in the world. If they can be found, the glory of the ancient sect era can be restored.

"In other words... Lan Ling'er could be a descendant of the ancient sect era? Even the entire Sutuka tribe could be descendants of the ancient sect era... This could explain many things."

After Lan Ling'er agreed to take everyone to the ruins the next day, she left the camp. The Su family's Inner Qi realm members exchanged glances and whispered to each other. Su Shiyin secretly told Hao Qi that Lan Ling'er was likely the descendant of the ancient sect era, as she and Zhang Heng had mentioned to Hao Qi before. She possessed the ancestral information of the ancient sect era and held the truth of history.

Hao Qi carefully thought about the strange things about Lan Ling'er and the existence of the Sutuka tribe. He nodded in understanding. Looking at the strange expressions of the four Su family Inner Qi realm members, he immediately knew what they were planning—nothing more than trying to find the secrets of the ancient sect era and uncover the truth of history. In this world, the ancient sect era is a lost glorious era, and any artifacts or martial arts from that era are priceless treasures. The Jade Muscle Pill is a pill from the ancient sect era, which gives an idea of how glorious that era was, a glory that people of this era find hard to imagine. Therefore, it is understandable to be curious and greedy...

However, understanding is one thing, and whether to agree is another. Hao Qi coldly watched the four Su family Inner Qi realm members whispering to each other, their eyes occasionally showing greed. He shook his head slightly and made up his mind. If these four Su family Inner Qi realm members really planned to do something, he would not stand idly by. Even if he wouldn't kill them for Su Shiyin's sake, he would...

He would teach them to be good people, definitely.