I Can Recognize Everything, But the Information is Wrong

Ju Yunhai understood Sister Jia's intention; if the Qingming Sword was truly taken, then going to the secluded place of the Gu family's ancestor would be a wasted trip.

Sister Jia clearly wanted Ju Yunhai to give up on going to the secluded retreat.

"Whether the Qingming Sword has been taken, and by whom, can only be understood by going to the secluded retreat of the Gu family ancestor,"

Ju Yunhai spoke to Tian Lin and Fairy Mei:

"Moreover, if we just leave now, we will have wasted these few days. Even if we return to the sect, we would need to choose another task to complete.

And the tasks left for our academy this month are all leftovers chosen by others, none of which are easier to resolve."

Tian Lin nodded, agreeing with Ju Yunhai's perspective.

Fairy Mei was noncommittal; she was the strongest among them and acted decisively, unlike Sister Jia who hesitated.

Moreover, she hoped Tian Lin would become a Class A disciple, allowing her, as Tian Lin's sword holder, to enter the secret realm to gather evil souls inside.

"Sister Jia, have you decided whether to go or stay?"

With Tian Lin's approval, Ju Yunhai gained the confidence to ask.

Sister Jia thought it over and realized that if she couldn't rally Tian Lin and Fairy Mei, staying alone would be even more dangerous.

It's important to know that their peaceful journey was entirely due to Fairy Mei's assistance.

Without Fairy Mei, her and her sword holder would not be able to stand up against the surrounding tree demons, let alone the demon beasts in the mountains.

"Since Brother Ju is determined to go to the secluded retreat of the Gu family ancestor, I have no choice but to follow your lead, Brother Ju."

Ju Yunhai smiled and said, "Well, fortunately, there are only a few steps left, we can explore the truth."

The group set off again and quickly found the valley where the Gu family ancestor secluded themselves.

The valley was overgrown with trees, but strangely, it was particularly quiet.

"According to reason, there should be demon beasts in this place, but for some reason, it seems like someone has cleared the area."

Tian Lin suddenly stopped, squatting down to feel the soil.

Seeing this, Fairy Mei and the others gathered around and grabbed a handful of soil.

Ju Yunhai sniffed the scent of the soil and couldn't help but say, "This bloody smell is indeed strange, I wonder if it's left by demons or humans; your keen sense of smell is admirable, Brother Tian."

Tian Lin looked at the entries and said:

"These are likely left by demon beasts. Clearly, someone has killed many demon beasts here. Regrettably, the corpses have mostly been turned into manure by the surrounding tree demons."

After speaking, he stood up and felt the soil a few more times around, eventually throwing the soil away, and dusting his hands:

"Many demon beasts have died around, but these tree demons have 'smoothed out' the traces. I'm sure someone passed through here not long ago. I just wonder if this person passed by accidentally or came for the Qingming Sword of the Gu family ancestor."

After speaking, Fairy Mei darted into the valley.

Fairy Mei moved swiftly, leaving only a shadow behind, and quickly stopped at a hundred feet away.

The group hurriedly followed, only to see Fairy Mei suddenly slap the top of Tian Lin's head.

Tian Lin paused, immediately activating the Buddha and Demon Freedom Skill to protect himself.

When he looked up, he saw Sword Qi being intercepted by Fairy Mei's plum blossom.

In the east and south directions, multiple strands of Sword Qi swept through branches and twigs, attacking the six of them in succession.

Tian Lin was fortunate to have Fairy Mei save him; however, Ju Yunhai and Sister Jia were not as lucky. Despite their quick reactions, Sword Qi still injured their faces and shoulders.

The unluckiest were the two sword holders who did not possess protective magical treasures as good as Ju Yunhai and Sister Jia, resulting in their death without any magical treasure to save them.

One was split in half at the waist while the other was cleaved at the shoulders.

"Quick, hide in the cave!"

As Ju Yunhai spoke, he grabbed one of the sword holders and fled into the cave ahead.

Though the cave was dark, it was the best place to hide at the moment.

In haste, Tian Lin and the others had no other choice.

They knew the cave might not be safe, but outside they would certainly be exposed to attacks from unknown enemies.

At this moment, they couldn't ascertain how many were hidden in the dark, so they could only follow Ju Yunhai into the cave.

At this time, only one sword holder remained outside.

Sister Jia, upon entering the cave, did not risk bringing her sword holder inside for refuge like Ju Yunhai.

"Miss, save me!"

The remaining sword holder was severed at the waist, her legs left behind while her hands dragged her upper body towards the cave.

Late-stage Foundation Establishment cultivators aren't that easy to kill, but her situation was still dire.

Seeing her dragging entrails behind, Tian Lin frowned and pulled out Creation Water from his storage bag.

Creation Water has the ability to bring the dead to life and restore flesh to bones, a gift from Fairy Mei's Nascent Soul grandfather, given to Tian Lin in a small bottle.

Due to Creation Water being linked to a demonic skill, Tian Lin had never used it.

Now wanting to use it to save a life, he readied Creation Water while raising his hand towards the sword holder to pull her through air.

Unfortunately, though Tian Lin moved quickly, the Sword Qi outside moved no slower.

The sword holder's body had just lifted when it was quickly sliced into chunks by Sword Qi.

Even so, she hadn't completely died.

But by this time, one small bottle of Creation Water was not enough to save her life.

Tian Lin returned the Creation Water to his storage bag, watching as the sword holder's remains were snared by vines emerging from nowhere, before turning his gaze to Fairy Mei.

Fairy Mei calmly replied, "I rescued you which is already commendable, but why should I help you save others?"

Beside them, Sister Jia said, "The sword holder's death is due to her unfortunate luck, and we should avenge her later. You need not blame yourself, Brother Tian."

Tian Lin shook his head. The sword holder was neither harmed by him nor his sword holder, why should he feel guilty?

He didn't dwell on the sword holder's death but turned to look at the dark cave behind.

At this moment, Ju Yunhai was treating the sword holder with a severed arm, while Fairy Mei cautiously watched outside.

Sister Jia and Tian Lin looked at the tunnel of the cave and couldn't help saying, "This should be the secluded retreat of the Gu family ancestor. It seems my speculation wasn't wrong; someone took the Qingming Sword before us."

Tian Lin remained silent, bending down to pick up an engraving array stone from the ground.

The engraving array stone had long been broken, with distinct sword marks visible on it. It can be foreseen that someone forcibly entered the cave and, due to not knowing the cave's array layout, had thoroughly destroyed the array inside.

"Go deeper into the cave to see. If enemies are hidden inside, we will be besieged from both sides."

Tian Lin took the lead, activating the Buddha and Demon Freedom Skill, cautiously proceeding into the depths of the cave.