Chapter 1355: Chapter 681: Stirring Up the Snake

So many innocent children have actually been cooked into this pot. The cruelty of these people is simply worse than that of beasts!

Lin Beichen’s heart was filled with anger and disgust, wishing he could smash the pot to pieces immediately.

However, his remaining rationality stopped him. He knew that if he smashed the pot now, it might alert the enemy and make them wary, making his actions more difficult.

These children didn’t harm him; instead, they might be hoping that he could rescue them.

Although Lin Beichen didn’t understand why they were trapped here, he could see that even if these children had become soul bodies, their strength was not strong. Their helpless eyes and small figures filled Lin Beichen’s heart with pity.

After vomiting for a long time, Lin Beichen’s stomach had nothing left to vomit, mostly spitting out sour liquid. He panted as he sat on the ground, surrounded by children who looked at him with concern.

Lin Beichen waved his hand, trying to calm his breathing, and said softly, "I’m fine, don’t worry."

Despite his words, he didn’t have the strength to stand up now, only able to lean on a bench, trying not to think about the horrors in the pot. 𝑓𝘳𝘦𝑒𝑤𝑒𝘣𝘯ℴ𝘷𝘦𝓁.𝑐𝑜𝑚

After a while, Lin Beichen shakily stood up. He deliberately avoided the pot and sat at the furthest position from it.

Yet those children still stood in their original places, seemingly unable to approach him due to some reason. Lin Beichen looked at the children with a heart full of helplessness and sorrow.

It turns out the missing children’s final fate was so tragic. He even held onto a glimmer of hope earlier, thinking he could find them.

Just then, a sudden voice interrupted his thoughts: "A new task has arrived, will you accept it?"

It was the system’s notification sound.

Lin Beichen was stunned for a moment, still not recovered from the previous shock.

After a while, the system reminded him again, and Lin Beichen dully replied, "Yes."

Following this, the system read out the task: "Find the murderer, bring justice to these children. Upon completion, there will be a mysterious gift."

After listening to the system’s task, Lin Beichen agreed without hesitation. He clenched his fists, and his eyes were full of blazing anger.

Even without the so-called mysterious gift, he would act to find the murderer. Such people, worse than beasts, should pay the price they deserve and avenge the children!

To uncover the mystery surrounding the host, Lin Beichen felt he should start with the secret chamber.

Since the guest rooms in the Zen house were hiding so many secrets, the secret chamber must conceal even more shameful secrets.

This thought emerged instantly, and Lin Beichen immediately followed behind the host. When he wasn’t paying attention, he turned the vase quietly and entered the barely noticeable hidden door.

Behind the hidden door, the dim light felt unsettling. Lin Beichen used the faint light on the walls to see a staircase extending downward.

Where does this staircase lead? How large is the space hidden behind the secret chamber? All of it was full of the unknown.

Initially, Lin Beichen’s attention was entirely drawn to the staircase. However, when he stepped onto the stairs, he discovered the walls on both sides painted with frescoes.

If these stairs only led to a secret chamber used to store something shameful, no one would have gone to the trouble of painting frescoes on the walls on both sides of the staircase.

Since frescoes existed, it proved that the chamber connected by this staircase was definitely not simple.

To figure out the true significance of the secret chamber, Lin Beichen began carefully observing the frescoes on both side walls.

However, when he clearly saw the frescoes’ content, even he, who had seen much of the world, couldn’t help but gasp.

The frescoes depicted various vicious evil cult techniques, such as how to skin people alive and how to use children to make everlasting lamps.

These evil cult techniques with the orthodox Dharma Gate of Daoism differ greatly, yet fraudulently claimed to be under the Daoism banner.

Lin Beichen didn’t expect that in this era, where Daoism was gradually declining and even regarded as superstition, there were still those who believed in cults.

This explained why the Zen house above this secret passage was filled with the aggrieved spirits of children, and even a copper cauldron cooking children’s flesh and bones.

After viewing all the frescos, Lin Beichen gradually understood this cult’s style.

The cult believed that by using children’s flesh and souls as mediums, their cultivation could make a qualitative leap. Because of this, Lin Beichen’s hand clenched tightly, filled with hatred towards these cult people. Their callousness, disregard for the life and death of others, using the word "insane" was insufficient to express Lin Beichen’s inner rage.

"You mustn’t be caught by me, otherwise today will be the day of reckoning for you cult followers!" Lin Beichen squints his eyes, looking determinedly towards the deepest part of the staircase. Without delaying any further, he quickly walked to the end of the staircase.

However, the end of the staircase was not a secret chamber, but a very well-constructed circular stone platform.

On the stone platform, the host had his back to him, his body constantly moving as if he was eating something.