The register had been comprehensive, but she didn’t know if the people listed were alive or dead. She had only glanced at it briefly and hadn’t looked at the names closely.
Meng Youmu murmured, “Sun Qi studied under Chang Zhanyan. There was a peer of the same generation named Chu Xu. Chang Zhanyan died of illness, and I heard that Chu Xu was burned to death in a fire when they were young. No remains were ever found, so whether they actually died or just faked it, no one knows.”
“Chu Xu,” Feng Yun’ai whispered the name.
Meng Youmu narrowed her eyes slightly. “It was during that incident that the Moonlight Sect’s tracks were exposed. Everyone rose up to hunt them down as rebels. The sect declined from that point on, and news of them became increasingly scarce.”
“Sounds like internal strife,” Sang Chencao chuckled.
“The martial world knows very little about the Moonlight Sect. I can only remember these few fragments.” Meng Youmu began weaving through the rows of coffins.
“If it was someone from the Moonlight Sect, it explains how they got their hands on the silk scrap. Familiarity with the formations and such high-level disguise art… I imagine swapping one thing for another would be child’s play for them,” Sang Chencao said mockingly.
Meng Youmu frowned. “Why go through all that trouble? Just to take over the Martial Arts Alliance?”
“Who knows?” Sang Chencao’s tone was full of disdain.
Suddenly, the sound of disorganized footsteps drifted in from outside.
Meng Youmu abruptly struck out with her palm. The heavy, mountain-like coffins beside her suddenly levitated, revealing an ancient, weathered coffin hidden beneath them. She flipped the lid open and signaled the two of them, whispering, “Get in.”
Feng Yun’ai quickly scooped up Feng Rong’s body and flew into the coffin. To her surprise, the coffin had no bottom. she tumbled downward, falling into an unknown space.
A dark shadow followed from above, grabbing her shoulder with a light chuckle.
Feng Yun’ai landed on a straw mat. She gasped softly and immediately placed Feng Rong down beside her.
Sang Chencao laughed in her ear. “Don’t be afraid, Xiuxiu. This hidden chamber is a bit cramped, but it’s a good place to hide.”
The coffin lid above them closed, plunging the space into pitch-black darkness.
With her vision obscured, the sensation of the hot breath against her ear became even more pronounced.
“I’ll go out and scout for news in a day or two,” Sang Chencao said. “We need to see when the Hero Recruitment Meet actually starts. I’m afraid the flower by your Master’s ear is about to bloom.”
In the quiet, dark room, a fragrance seeped into Feng Yun’ai’s senses.
She instinctively held her breath. The flower’s juice wasn’t poisonous, but she didn’t know if its scent was.
Noticing this, Sang Chencao laughed. “If the scent were poisonous, they wouldn’t have bothered going to all the trouble of poisoning Feng Rong’s cup. Besides, you and I have been smelling it this whole way.”
“Is the vial of poison still with you?” Feng Yun’ai turned her head. For a brief second, she felt a flash of heat on her lips, nearly losing her composure before realizing their faces were only hair-widths apart.
“I won’t be able to distinguish its properties until tomorrow,” Sang Chencao whispered, pressing a finger to her own lips.
Fortunately, both of them were skilled in martial arts. Even through the thick wood of the coffin above, they could hear what was happening outside.
“Has anyone strange visited?” a voice asked.
Meng Youmu had likely hidden under the table again. Her voice sounded faint and ethereal. “No.”
She was muttering something under her breath, chanting some scripture or another, sounding quite eccentric.
The courtyard was already eerie, filled with coffins and hanging white lanterns; her chanting only made it more spine-chilling.
Another person spoke. “Forgive us. The Hero Recruitment Meet is approaching, so please cooperate. We received a secret report that suspicious individuals have entered the city. We must conduct a thorough search.”
Meng Youmu continued her chanting, not moving to stop them.
A series of thuds echoed from outside as the coffins were flipped open one by one.
Someone cried out, “There’s a body!”
The group crowded forward, but immediately clutched their noses and mouths, reeling back from the stench of rotting flesh.
“Where did this body come from?”
Meng Youmu replied indifferently, “You men look like new faces. Those who came here in the past never asked so many questions.”
“Just answer. We are acting on the orders of the Acting Alliance Leader of the Dieshan Alliance.”
The Dieshan Alliance. It was likely the organization that had replaced the Hantian Alliance.
In just a few short days, they already had a name.
Meng Youmu said, “People come here to order coffins and leave the bodies with them. Those with a conscience take the coffin and the body for burial. Those without… well, they just leave them here.”
The men’s martial arts were nowhere near Meng Youmu’s level; they didn’t have the internal qi to levitate the coffins. Simply flipping the lids was an exhausting task.
They searched the entire place. At one point, they even reached the coffin covering the secret hole, but after lifting the lid and seeing nothing but an empty bottom, they pushed it back into place.
The door creaked shut.
After a long while, the wooden coffin was tapped five times—the exact rhythm Sang Chencao had used to knock on the door earlier.
Feng Yun’ai breathed a sigh of relief. “Are we going out?”
Sang Chencao stood up. The top of her head nearly touched the bottom of the coffin above, proving just how narrow the hidden chamber was.
“Can I leave my Master here?” Feng Yun’ai asked softly.
“Probably for the best. Otherwise, if those people come back tomorrow, we’ll have to waste more effort hiding the body.” Sang Chencao tapped sharply on the bottom of the upper coffin.
The floorboard slid open with a click, like a window.
Meng Youmu was already outside, circulating her inner qi to levitate the stacked coffins. This allowed the two of them to simply climb out.
The levitated coffins were lowered slowly back into place. They didn’t make a loud thud, only a soft sound like a mountain rat scurrying.
“What are your plans now?” Meng Youmu asked.
“I need to see what this Dieshan Alliance is planning for this year’s Hero Recruitment Meet,” Sang Chencao said darkly.
“It won’t be easy to get information,” Meng Youmu shook her head.
“I have my ways.” Sang Chencao looked at Feng Yun’ai, then reached up to tap her own cheek, lightly feeling the skin of her face.
Feng Yun’ai understood immediately. She looked at her in shock. “You’re going to sneak in?”
“Not just me,” Sang Chencao said with a smile. “You’re coming too.”
