Volume 1, Chapter 63: The Mission Accomplished

Gu Mingxi and Gu Mingyue had each sent messages back to their respective sects to report the incident regarding the rogue cultivator and the Soul-Devouring Banner that they had recently encountered.

After transmitting the messages to their sects, they also dispatched a letter to the Gu family.

Since rogue cultivators had appeared in the world, preparations had to be made early to prevent the family members from suffering any danger.

Leaving aside the immense ripples caused by the messages sent back to the sect and the Gu family, by the time they finished dealing with Jia Wanming, it was already the dawn of the next day.

Although they had roughly guessed that the anomaly in this small mountain village was caused by this rogue cultivator, they still needed to go and investigate just in case there were other reasons.

When Gu Mingxi and Gu Mingyue arrived at the small mountain village again, the villagers had already woken up and begun their daily labor.

Upon seeing two strangers like Gu Mingxi and Gu Mingyue enter the small mountain village, the villagers all wore deeply vigilant expressions.

Seeing that the villagers were all so guarded, they knew they wouldn't be able to get any information out of them, so they went directly to find the village head.

At the Village Head's House:

Upon hearing that Gu Mingxi and Gu Mingyue were disciples of the Tianyan Sect, the village head was so panicked that he wanted to kneel on the ground immediately.

This was also the first time the village head had ever seen immortals, and although the immortals were very young, he did not dare to slight them in the least.

Seeing how nervous the village head looked, Gu Mingxi frowned, stepped forward to support him, and made him sit down on a chair.

After seeing that the village head had regained a bit of composure, Gu Mingxi asked, "So many children have mysteriously gone missing in your village. As the village head, do you know what the cause is?"

With a bitter expression upon hearing this matter, the village head replied, "I don't know either. At first, I thought beasts from another mountain had come over to cause trouble, but I investigated the homes of the villagers who lost children and didn't find any traces of beasts in their houses. I don't know if it really was beasts. I've heard from other villages before that when beasts cause trouble, they don't only eat very small infants; children around ten years old would also be eaten. But the only ones missing in our village are children under six years old..."

Although Gu Mingxi was even more certain in her heart that this matter was done by Jia Wanming, she still had to go through the motions.

Gu Mingxi said, "Take us to visit the families who lost children so we can check if there are any clues!"

The village head replied, "Alright, alright, alright. Two immortals, this way please!"

The village head led Gu Mingxi and Gu Mingyue to visit every single family that had lost a child.

Upon hearing the village head say that Gu Mingxi and Gu Mingyue were cultivators, these families who had lost children knelt directly on the ground, begging them to help bring their children back.

Seeing the reactions of these families, Gu Mingxi and Gu Mingyue felt a kaleidoscope of mixed emotions in their hearts; these children could never come back.

After confirming that this matter was indeed the work of a rogue cultivator, Gu Mingxi and Gu Mingyue returned to the village head's house and told him definitively, "Those missing children can no longer be found alive!"

The village head turned pale with fright and stammered, "What? Could it be that they are already gone..."

Meeting the village head's disbelieving gaze, Gu Mingxi still nodded with difficulty and explained the situation to him.

However, she did not mention that this was the work of a rogue cultivator; instead, she explained that the children had been snatched away by fierce ghosts. She stated that after arriving at the village last night, they had already eliminated the fierce ghosts, but the children had all been devoured by the ghosts and could not be brought back.

Upon hearing the origin of the matter as explained by Gu Mingxi, the village head collapsed flat onto the ground.

He burst into tears, murmuring through his weeping, "My little grandson, it's all grandfather's fault. How could I not have seen it? Why did I let you get lost? Why can't you come back..."

Gu Mingxi and Gu Mingyue sighed. No wonder the village head had been so enthusiastic about wanting them to find those children; it turned out his own little grandson was also missing.

Gu Mingxi squatted down on the ground and said to the village head, "Although those children cannot come back alive, you can still retrieve their bodies!"

The village head stood up and wiped away his tears with his sleeve. "Yes, yes, yes. There are still their bodies. We must bring their bodies back home. I'll go notify the others right now so we can go bring the children home together..."

When the other families heard that the children were already dead, several women fainted directly from crying. After a flurry of chaos, these villagers who had lost children followed the village head to meet Gu Mingxi and Gu Mingyue.

Looking at the sorrowful villagers before her, Gu Mingxi did not know what to say and could only silently lead the way for them.

When these villagers laid eyes on the bodies of their children, another wave of earth-shattering wails and cries erupted.

These deceased children were at most barely six years old, making them ineligible to be buried in the ancestral tombs. In the end, these children were buried in an open space right beside the ancestral graveyard.

During the burial of these children, Gu Mingxi and Gu Mingyue quietly came to the scene and chanted the Rebirth Mantra for them several times, hoping they would be reincarnated into a good family in their next lives.

Because these children were very young when they died, Jia Wanming had not intended to torture them in any particular way and had simply drained them of their blood. Compared to the grievance-laden souls in Jia Wanming's soul-devouring banner, their departures could be considered relatively clean.

Looking at those small mounds of graves, Gu Mingxi prayed silently in her heart: May you all be cheerful and happy in your next lives, living a lifetime free of worries!