The Eternal Sin-Chapter 40: Investigating the Village Massacre.

At sunrise, Black Iron Village was deathly silent.

Early morning light crept over the broken huts and collapsed fences, illuminating a sea of corpses scattered across the ground.

Two figures clad in Heavenly Tiger Sect enforcement robes stood among the dead.

One of them used the toe of his boot to push aside a body. As the corpse rolled away, the severed head of a Copper Bone Wolf was revealed beneath it.

Mu Han sucked in a breath and clicked his tongue. "Tsk, this is an ugly sight. Judging by the tracks, Copper Bone Wolves attacked in a horde. Sheesh, these wolves are really no different from mountain bandits. Makes me want to slaughter every last one of them just to cleanse the air."

Beside him, Lu Yanshi covered his nose with his sleeve as he stepped carefully between the bodies. After a moment, his brows knitted together. He said, "This is somewhat strange. Most of these corpses are half eaten, but look at their complexion. They are far too dry and shriveled. It is not just blood loss from lacerations. No, it is as if they were sucked empty by some demonic technique."

He crouched and scooped a handful of dark soil, letting it fall through his fingers. "There is blood everywhere. Nonetheless, for the number of dead, the total amount is quite lacking. It is as if the corpses weirdly forgot how to bleed."

Mu Han frowned and followed his gaze. "You mean to say their blood essence was taken deliberately? Under the nose of our sect?"

Lu Yanshi snorted, a cold light flashing in his eyes. "Even chickens bleed more when slaughtered. This is just too obvious to me. If this is not the work of a cultivator, then I have cultivated only to become an idiot."

Mu Han’s eyes narrowed as he reassessed the scene. He slipped a hand into his sleeve and withdrew a thin bronze mirror no larger than his palm. Its surface was clouded and dull, with faint golden runes stretching across it like veins of metal.

He bit his finger and smeared a trace of blood onto the mirror. The bronze surface shuddered as spiritual energy was drawn in, and Mu Han murmured a low incantation. The mirror lifted from his palm and expanded, stretching outward until it hung above the village like a second sky forged of bronze.

Golden light poured down in slow waves, sweeping across shattered huts and strewn corpses. It flowed through alleys and over broken ground, leaving no corner untouched. In Mu Han’s eyes, the world rippled, faint distortions surfacing in a chaotic rhythm.

Time passed in silence. When the golden radiance had combed through the village from end to end, it receded like a withdrawing tide. The mirror shrank and drifted back into Mu Han’s grasp, its surface once more dull and clouded.

Mu Han exhaled softly and put the mirror away. "There are no large scale spiritual traces here that indicate a cultivator personally slaughtered these mortals."

Lu Yanshi did not even waste a breath. "If your Yellow Rank high grade Spirit Tracing Mirror could not find anything, then either the perpetrator’s cultivation is far beyond ours, or they possess extraordinary means of concealment."

The reason the Spirit Tracing Mirror had not revealed any clues about Jiang Chen was because he never used any techniques within the village, relying solely on raw strength to mass murder. And with a peak-grade concealment talisman, it was quite easy to deceive the treasure.

Mu Han remained silent, stroking his chin as if recalling something. "Wait. Considering the location of Black Iron Village, the breeding grounds of Scarlet Belly Bees are not more than five miles from here. Those vile insects primarily feed on blood. It is possible they were drawn here by the scent slaughter."

Lu Yanshi hummed softly. "Hm. That certainly explains the shriveled condition of the bodies. Those annoying pests leave nothing but skin and bad luck. However, if a beast horde attacked, why was no distress signal sent to the sect? There is a defensive formation here. The overseer should have had enough time to report."

Mu Han walked toward the edge of the village, stopping near a shattered formation node. "I wondered the same thing. But look closely. Outside the village, there are barely any corpses. The few we found clearly display signs of being dragged out."

He turned back, his tone gaining a sharp edge. "That suggests most of the killing happened inside the formation barrier. It is possible the beasts were already inside when the formation was activated."

Lu Yanshi stood up sharply. "Then why activate the formation at all? That would be like locking a wolf inside one’s own house. Pure idiotic madness."

"If I had to venture a guess," Mu Han replied, "the beast horde was already inside when the overseer realized what was happening. But there must have been a portion of the horde still outside. The overseer was forced into a desperate situation. He probably decided to trap the enemies within so he could deal with them, rather than let the entire horde overrun the village."

He paused, adding, "Besides, according to the records, the overseer was an old bag of bones nearing the end of his life. It would not be surprising if he failed to respond properly. Old age is a disease that rots the spirit before the body, and I firmly believe that."

Lu Yanshi gave a soft grunt of agreement.

Mu Han hesitated, then said, "But Senior Brother, there is something that does not sit right with me."

Lu Yanshi looked at him. "Speak. Do not act like a maiden hiding her peaches."

"Huh?" Mu Han resisted the urge to roll his eyes as he spoke. "The formation was destroyed, but not by brute force. These formation nodes were targeted specifically. Since when can beasts understand the intricacies of formations?"

Lu Yanshi fell silent. He walked slowly through the village, stepping over bodies and debris. After a long moment, he spoke. "Perhaps the mortals did it."

"The mortals?" Mu Han blinked in surprise.

Lu Yanshi explained, "Each village is usually supplied with a certain amount of spirit stones to run the formation. Usually, the overseer holds the main control, while he trains a mortal squad to handle the task of supplying the formation with spirit stones. If the overseer died early and the beasts were slaughtering everyone inside, perhaps they chose to destroy the formation themselves and risk everything for a chance to escape. Hehe, better to die under open sky than be gnawed apart like rats trapped in a jar."

Mu Han considered this. "It is... possible."

Lu Yanshi stopped walking and turned back. "Or perhaps the sealed cultivators here orchestrated this. Or someone else entirely."

Mu Han was silent for a long while. Then he said, "My investigation methods detected no spiritual traces that could explain such a level of massacre. Nevertheless, I hesitate to blame it all on the beast horde. And demonic cultivators would not be so bold as to strike one of our sect’s resource points openly. Plus, nothing substantial was taken. That does not fit their greedy habits."

He lifted his gaze. "If it were sealed cultivators, they would seize any chance to escape their miserable fate. Wealth means nothing to a person facing endless imprisonment. Only they might abandon this pile of resources to deceive us."

Mu Han looked at Lu Yanshi. "But in the end, these are only possibilities. Senior Brother, you have seen more corpses than I. What is your judgment?"

Lu Yanshi let out a low sigh and reached into his storage pouch, withdrawing several formation flags. "This matter is not simple. With the Jade Heart Plantation incident that happened recently and the growing undercurrents within the sect, I do not dare draw conclusions lightly."

He continued, "Junior Brother, you are talented, but you lack experience of the world. So you may not have noticed, but with the Heavenly Star Treasure Auction drawing near, the Inner Disciples have begun acting in secret. When big fish fight beneath the surface, small shrimp like us would be wise not to rush in."

Lu Yanshi planted the first flag into the ground. "Let us wait for the team leader to return. With her divination methods, the truth will surely emerge from this fog of uncertainty."

"Agreed! With Senior Sister leading the investigation, even old ghosts will be forced to speak." Mu Han’s eyes brightened at the mention of their leader. "Um, she should return in about two weeks, right?"

"I suppose," Lu Yanshi said with a teasing smile. "Until then, let us seal this place and stand guard. Hehe, if you do well, I will even put in a good word for you."

Mu Han’s ears flushed slightly red. He straightened his back even further, his expression burning with resolve. "I will not disappoint. Even if the sky falls, I will stand my post."

This time, it was Lu Yanshi who resisted the urge to roll his eyes.