The golden needle was seen trembling erratically toward the surrounding stone walls, before finally ceasing its movement and returning to its starting position.

"It's said that the senior brothers who came to search for people before also encountered this situation. The needle would spin in a circle and return to the start. With not even a single clue, they could only hastily patrol the valley and return empty-handed."

"Forget it, don't count on the needle." The other two disciples said, unable to resist looking at Wu Xingxue. "I wonder if you seniors have a way?"

Wu Xingxue shook his head.

He didn't remember anything. He had some instinct for self-preservation, but nothing else.

However, he remembered that before Xiao Fuxuan and the others came down, the armless Fang Chu had cried out: "What is this thing?"

If he remembered correctly, Fang Chu should have been standing...

Wu Xingxue had kicked Fang Chu at the time and remembered the approximate location. He walked back to that spot, carefully examining the various-sized holes in the stone wall. The ones above held oil lamps, while the one below was larger, big enough for a person to hide in.

Wu Xingxue reached into the hole and could feel a damp, cold wind.

"Oh, right, Ci... Young Master!" Fang Chu saw his movement and finally spoke up. "There's something in there, I glimpsed it before! But I was interrupted later and didn't get a clear look."

Just as Wu Xingxue was about to bend down to look, the red-faced young Immortal Sect disciple darted over.

He probably wanted to regain the face he had lost over the golden needle. Saying, "I'm small enough to get in," he grabbed an oil lamp and ducked into the hole.

Inside the hole, the young disciple raised the oil lamp, illuminating a figure squatting in the depths of the hole—it had its hair in two buns, a deathly pale face, and black, hollow eyes that didn't blink. It just stared at him silently.

"I—"

"!!!"

The young disciple's soul nearly flew out of his body!

"What are you trembling for?" Someone patted him lightly from behind.

It would have been fine if he hadn't been patted. The touch made the hair on his body stand on end. He let out a shriek and shrank back, bumping into the person behind him.

"I told you I'd do it." Wu Xingxue irritably turned sideways and pulled the young disciple out. Just as he was about to crouch down, he saw someone lift a foot in his peripheral vision.

The long black boot was narrow, making the leg look straight and powerful.

With a single step against the stone wall, the low, cramped hole instantly cracked open with countless fissures. Crushed stone clattered and fell, and the hole expanded to more than half a person's height. Without needing to crouch, one could see the scene inside with a sweep of the oil lamp.

"..."

Wu Xingxue turned his head and saw Xiao Fuxuan's face.

How should he put it...

He had a feeling that by the end, not much of this tomb would be left in one piece.

'High Immortal Tianxiu acts like this???'

Wu Xingxue grumbled inwardly, lowered his head to sweep the oil lamp's light inside the hole, and also saw that deathly pale face.

"..."

With that appearance, squatting in a place like this, it was easy to frighten people.

Fortunately, the hole had been enlarged, making the thing's appearance a bit clearer. Wu Xingxue saw a ceramic sheen on its face and said, "It's a statue of a child maiden."

The thing was not a living person nor a ghost; it was a statue. Its face was painted snow-white, with rouge on both cheeks—the kind of child attendant statue that is offered on either side of an immortal temple.

However, a paper talisman was stuck to this child maiden statue, and there were words on the talisman.

It read: An offering from Immortal Envoy Zhao Qinglai.

The characters were written in blood and were somewhat crooked. It wasn't just ordinary bad handwriting; it was more as if the hand that wrote them was too stiff and lacked dexterity.

"Zhao Qinglai?" Wu Xingxue read the name and straightened up.

One of the Immortal Sect disciples said, "Oh! That name... I've heard it. Didn't Senior Brother mention it last time? It should be one of the people who were Summoned."

The faces of the few Immortal Sect disciples suddenly turned grim. "How big is that child maiden statue? Can it fit a person?!"

"Don't tell me the ones who were Summoned are sealed inside this stone statue?"

Xiao Fuxuan braced his hand on the top of the hole, bent over slightly, and glanced inside.

Then, with a flick of two fingers, the paper talisman on the child statue flew into his hand.

"!!!" The Immortal Sect disciples immediately shouted, "We haven't figured out what's going on, you can't just move that talisman!"

Only after shouting did they realize that since he was a Rogue Cultivator master and a senior, he probably knew what he was doing.

Sure enough, Wu Xingxue looked at Xiao Fuxuan and asked, "What kind of talisman is this?"

Xiao Fuxuan flipped it to the back and said, "It's for a Shengling Ritual."

Wu Xingxue: "..."

Wu Xingxue: "And what is a Shengling Ritual?"

Xiao Fuxuan: "..."

"Oh—" Yi Wusheng said, "I know about this. I heard my teacher talk about it when I was young. He said that there used to be a formation for summoning immortals where you'd place a statue of an immortal in the center, then have people dress up as the male and female child attendants from an immortal's retinue, arrange them according to the formation's positions, and then affix paper talismans with the offerer's name written on them. This could summon the immortal into the statue."

"Later on, who knows who got the story wrong, but it became a ritual that could make the god statue come to life, which is why it's called Shengling."

As he spoke, a quick-handed Immortal Sect disciple had already smashed the child maiden statue with his sword. Ceramic shards littered the ground. The inside was full of blood, and a thick, metallic smell wafted out, making one's stomach churn.

It was clear that something had really been packed inside this child maiden statue.

"It's so short, you can't fit a person inside, right?"

"So they were divided..."

Everyone recalled the people who were Summoned and the blood soaking the ropes, which looked as if they had been cut. If the limbs and head were separated, it wouldn't be hard to stuff them inside.

It's just...

Now there was only blood in the child maiden statue. Where had the people stuffed inside gone?