The Sacred Leaves Family's Wishes for Peace

"Dead! They're all dead! Every single one of them!"

"Lao Wu is dead, Lao Ba is dead too! Everyone is gone!"

Inside the room, Sun Tianli sat on the bed, his hair disheveled and his voice trembling with despair as he muttered incessantly. His face was still etched with terror.

Every time he recalled the horrific scene in the Chuyun Mountains, where his brothers and cousins were slaughtered and devoured by that monstrous corpse-eater, his entire body trembled uncontrollably.

The memory lingered like a relentless nightmare, vivid and inescapable, replaying over and over in his mind.

"Third Brother!"

Sun Tianming entered the room with several core members of the Sun clan, his expression full of worry. He found Sun Tianli huddled in the corner of the bed, his eyes filled with panic.

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"Don't come near me! Stay away! Don't kill me! Please, don't kill me!"

As Sun Tianming approached, Sun Tianli flailed his arms wildly, trying to push him away, his voice desperate and frightened.

Seeing this, Sun Tianming paused, unwilling to agitate his brother further. He turned his gaze to another clan member, one of the family's healers.

"What's wrong with Tianli? Why is he acting like this?"

"Tianli is suffering from severe fright. The shock has unsettled his mind, causing him to lose his sanity."

"And the injuries on his body?"@@novelbin@@

"According to the clan members who found him, he was lying in a thicket at the bottom of a slope. His injuries likely came from tumbling down and being scratched by thorns, branches, and stones along the way.

I've already treated the wounds—they're not serious.

But as for his mind… I'm afraid…"

"You mean it can't be healed?"

"Conventional medicine won't help him. Whether he recovers depends entirely on himself."

Hearing this, Sun Tianming's face darkened. Watching his brother slip into madness over an unknown horror was like a dagger to his heart.

"What about the others who went into the mountains with Tianli?"

After a long silence, Sun Tianming asked.

"No one knows," Sun Fenglin stepped forward and reported. "According to the others who returned from the mountains, they only found Third Uncle. None of the others were seen."

"Your Third Uncle must have encountered something terrifying to end up like this.

Fenglin, take a group into the mountains and investigate the situation. Report back immediately if you find anything."

"Yes, Father. I'll leave at once."

Sun Fenglin bowed and quickly departed.

The sun dipped low in the sky, painting the Chuyun Mountains in the golden hues of dusk.

Following Sun Tianming's orders, Sun Fenglin led a group of clan members into the mountains to search for the missing relatives. As they approached the slope where Sun Tianli had fallen, the air grew thick with the stench of blood.

Whoosh!

Sun Fenglin darted nimbly across the slope, stepping lightly on the branches of nearby trees as he moved toward the source of the foul scent.

Below, several Sun clan members prepared their iron hooks, throwing them into the gaps between sturdy branches on the slope above. Once they were sure the hooks were secure, they gripped the ropes tightly and began the arduous climb.

When they reached the top of the slope, the overwhelming stench of blood hit them like a physical force.

Then, they saw it.

Their missing brothers and cousins lay scattered across the ground, their corpses torn apart and mutilated beyond recognition. The flesh had been gnawed to shreds, their internal organs devoured completely, leaving nothing but grotesque remnants of what had once been human.

"What… what kind of monster could have done this?"

One of the clan members stared at the grisly scene, his eyes red with fury, veins bulging across his forehead as anger coursed through him.

The others were equally enraged.

They refused to believe that this massacre was the work of ordinary mountain beasts. After all, the victims were seasoned hunters, skilled in survival and combat. No common predator could have taken them all down.

Sun Fenglin clenched his fists tightly, suppressing the rage and grief swelling in his chest. His eyes burned red as he looked at the mangled remains of his uncles and brothers, men who had treated him kindly when he was young.

As a child, whenever he wanted treats or toys, these men had always indulged him.

Now they were gone. All of them.

Each had died a gruesome death, their bodies desecrated and torn apart until not a single complete corpse remained.

Sun Fenglin stepped through the blood-soaked ground, his every step heavy with grief and rage.

In the distance, he saw a figure kneeling on the ground.

It was a rotting corpse, its head bowed, its face festering with pus. Maggots writhed in and out of the decayed flesh, an endless, nauseating dance of decay.

The corpse remained motionless, its head drooping low. Its face and lips were smeared with blood, and its slightly open mouth revealed jagged fangs, still holding scraps of flesh and gristle.

Seeing this, Sun Fenglin silently channeled the spiritual energy within his body, taking cautious steps toward the kneeling corpse.

Only after confirming that the rotting figure was immobile did he exhale in relief, allowing his tense nerves to relax slightly.

"Fenglin, is this...?"

The Sun clan members following closely behind furrowed their brows as they saw the kneeling corpse before them.

"It seems this was what Third Uncle and the others encountered!"

"But why has this corpse lost its ability to move?"

Sun Fenglin's gaze remained fixed on the kneeling figure, his brow tightly furrowed.

"This bastard... I'll burn it right here and now to avenge our fallen family!"

"Uncle, don't be rash. We should take this corpse back for Father to examine. I suspect the real cause behind our uncles' deaths isn't as simple as this corpse alone," Sun Fenglin quickly interjected.

"Fine. We'll do as you say."

The air was filled with the sound of heart-wrenching cries.

The remains of over a dozen clan members, killed in the mountains, had been carried back by Sun Fenglin and his group.

As soon as their families learned the tragic news, they rushed to the stone plaza, embracing the lifeless bodies of their loved ones and wailing in grief.

Separated by death were their beloved wives, their cherished children, their respected siblings, and their aging parents.

All around, other members of the Sun clan gathered to witness the scene. Their faces were somber, and many eyes glistened with unshed tears.

The atmosphere in Sun Clan Village was heavier than it had ever been.

"Father, I suspect that there is someone behind the deaths of our uncles and brothers!"

Sun Fenglin recounted everything he had encountered in the mountains to his father, Sun Tianming, in meticulous detail. He also had the corpse brought forward for inspection.

To ensure the corpse did not suddenly go berserk, Sun Fenglin had taken precautions, binding it tightly so that even if it awakened, it would be completely immobilized.

"A walking corpse," Sun Tianming muttered as he inspected it.

"Father, you recognize it?"

Sun Fenglin and the other senior members of the clan were visibly taken aback.

"Your Second Uncle, who serves as an official in the court, has told me many things. He once mentioned a cult within Yue Country known as the 'Gu Master Cult.'

"The members of this cult are skilled in raising worms, employing a vast array of bizarre and unpredictable methods.

"Some raise gu worms to control poisons. Others use them to manipulate minds. And some refine corpses using these worms.

"The gu worms they cultivate come in countless varieties, each with its own unique purpose, making them nearly impossible to guard against."

Sun Tianming gestured toward the corpse. "This appears to be a 'walking corpse,' but the gu worm controlling it is missing. That's likely why it's fallen dormant and lost the ability to move."

"Then... does this mean that the Chuyun Mountains are harboring members of the Gu Master Cult?"

"It's highly likely."

"Father, I will go to Lanlin County immediately to report this to the authorities and request that the court send immortal masters to handle the situation."

"That would be wise," Sun Tianming agreed with a nod.

The members of the Gu Master Cult were known for their ruthless nature and sinister, unorthodox methods. For the Sun clan, which had only three cultivators with spiritual roots, attempting to confront these cultists directly would be extremely dangerous—and likely fatal.

Reporting the matter to the authorities and requesting that the court dispatch immortal masters, either from other cultivating families or from their own ranks, was the safest course of action.

"Brother Tianming, we can't send any more people into the mountains to search for the obsidian vein!"

At this moment, one of the senior clan members stepped forward to voice his concern.

"I understand."

Sun Tianming glanced toward the stone plaza, where grieving families still clung to the bodies of their loved ones, their wails echoing through the village. He let out a heavy sigh.

After this tragedy, his clan would be filled with fear of the Chuyun Mountains. Convincing anyone to venture back in to search for the obsidian vein would be nearly impossible.

Moreover, after months of fruitless searching, discontent had already begun to fester among the clan members.

And now, more than a dozen had lost their lives in the pursuit of this endeavor.

If Sun Tianming continued to insist on sending people into the mountains, he would surely face the scorn and resentment of the entire clan.

For now, all he could do was wait—wait for the court to send immortal masters to deal with the Gu Master Cultists hidden in the Chuyun Mountains. Only then could they reassess their plans.