The county of Lianghe was named after its proximity to the Liang River.
Lin Ji and Lu Zhao'er left the county town.
But just as they had walked along the Liang River for a short distance, Lin Ji stopped in his tracks.
Lu Zhao'er also looked towards Lin Ji.
"I smell it," she was referring to the previous scent of blood.
Lin Ji nodded, looking down at his feet.
The ground was brown.
After the blood had dried up, it mixed with the muddy brown soil.
He reached out and grabbed a handful of soil. Although it was close to the river, the soil in his hand was dry.
"The bodies are at the bottom of the river," Lu Zhao'er suddenly walked towards the riverbank.
Lin Ji quickly followed.
The bright moon shone, and the river water was clear.
Countless bodies, haphazardly piled up, lay quietly at the bottom of the river.
Occasionally, fish and shrimp would take a bite, some bodies already gnawed to the bone.
There were no obvious traces of blood, it must have been washed away.
Fortunately, the Liang River was a live river, flowing into the sea.
"These are the common people who were scared by the demons, trying to escape from Lianghe County," Lin Ji said in a low voice, "They must have traveled together in groups, and there were quite a few of them. They were targeted by the demons, leading to this second incident, the scene before us."
"Let's continue forward," Lu Zhao'er pursed her lips, her face growing colder.
The two continued on, both lost in thought.
Silently searching for any traces left behind by Zhan Chengfeng.
They advanced for two hours.
By late night, they had walked over a hundred miles, and Lianghe was already approaching the Qing Shan Mountain Range.
The Qing Shan Mountain Range crossed Liangzhou.
A section of the Liang River passed through the range of mountains.
There were countless monsters in the mountains, and it was said that deep in the mountains, there were great demons equivalent to the seventh or eighth realm of cultivators.
Lin Ji estimated that with his cultivation at the fourth realm, he could only wander around the outskirts of the mountains.
"Do we enter the mountains?" Lin Ji looked at Lu Zhao'er.
"Yes," Lu Zhao'er nodded.
But she obviously knew the risks of entering the mountains, so she added, "I wasn't joking about what I said at your mansion earlier."
“Why bring this up all of a sudden?” Lin Ji was puzzled.
"I hate indecisiveness. If you are really in danger and there's nothing I can do, I will definitely make a quick decision to save myself," Lu Zhao'er said firmly. "On the other hand, if I am in danger and you can't save me, don't waste time, saving yourself is more important."
Lin Ji smiled, finding the atmosphere too serious.
"Don't worry, I can definitely run faster than you."
"That's for the best," Lu Zhao'er didn't smile, she just took the lead and walked into the mountains along the Liang River.
Lin Ji felt a bit awkward, rubbing his hands and muttering, "She's quite cold-hearted."
"I can hear you!" Lu Zhao'er's voice came over.
Lin Ji slapped his forehead, quickly catching up.
Forgetting that she was also at the fourth realm, her hearing was exceptional.
After taking a few quick steps, Lin Ji soon caught up with Lu Zhao'er, walking side by side with her.
As they entered the forest, a damp, decaying smell of vegetation filled the surroundings.
With every step, the ground would feel a bit soft.
This was due to the accumulation of fallen leaves over the years, as well as the lack of human presence.
After advancing through the forest for about half an hour.
Lin Ji casually picked up a leech that had crawled onto his pants at some point, squashing it with a slight frown, and said, "Something's not right."
"What?" Lu Zhao'er stopped in her tracks.
"It's too quiet, there should be more than just the chirping of insects," Lin Ji said.
Upon hearing this, Lu Zhao'er also realized.
"Exactly! In these mountains, at night, it's the time when fierce beasts are active. How come we haven't heard a single roar for half an hour?" Lu Zhao'er said.
"I've been using my spiritual sense to scan since we entered the mountains, there are no living creatures around, except for insects," Lin Ji said.
When Lin Ji mentioned no living creatures, it even included the birds perched on the branches.
Lu Zhao'er quickly scanned the area and found it to be as Lin Ji had described.
She pondered for a moment, hesitating, "The birds and beasts in the mountains also know to seek advantages and avoid disadvantages, perhaps something has happened here."
"And that something must have happened not long ago," Lin Ji added.
Nevertheless, they had to continue forward.
After walking for a while, they came to a clearing.
In the middle of the clearing, a huge pit appeared before them.
On both sides were large trees broken in half.
Lin Ji and Lu Zhao'er hastened their steps and arrived at the edge of the pit.
"This is the work of a cultivator, it should be the handiwork of Master Zhan?" Lu Zhao'er looked at Lin Ji.
"Yes, the broken ends of the trees on the side are still fresh, showing no signs of weathering, it must have happened in the past few days."
As he spoke, Lin Ji jumped into the pit.
But as soon as his feet touched the ground, there was a crisp sound.
Crack.
"What's that?" Lu Zhao'er heard the sound and also jumped down.
"I don't know," Lin Ji used his foot to move the soil.
Along with the soil that was moved, there was a decayed bone.
The expressions of the two suddenly turned serious.
Lin Ji continued to dig with the scabbard of his sword, and after digging down two palms deep, the soil disappeared. In its place were countless skeletons.
"This is a burial ground," Lin Ji took a deep breath of the earthy scent of the forest and continued to dig.
Lu Zhao'er on the side also started to help.
After a while, a pit about seven to eight zhang long and wide was dug out.
Rows of skeletons were exposed, haphazardly piled up, exposed to the air.
"This is just the tip of the iceberg," Lin Ji frowned. "How could there be a burial ground like this here? And looking at these skeletons, they must have been dead for a long time. No wonder the trees in this area are so lush, their roots have spread over here."
"This is the mass grave from a thousand years ago," Lu Zhao'er said slowly. "This place used to be the territory of Liangguo, which was destroyed by the Great Qin."
As she spoke, Lu Zhao'er pointed to the decayed clothes on the skeletons in the pit.
"There are clothes of both Great Qin soldiers and Liangguo soldiers, there's no mistaking it."
"I see," Lin Ji suddenly understood.
"When the soldiers died back then, they were hastily buried like this?"
"When a battle is won, thousands of bones lie bleached on the ground. It's considered good to find a place to dig a pit and bury them," Lu Zhao'er said.
"Yes, when a battle is won, thousands of bones lie bleached on the ground," Lin Ji nodded.
After burying the pit again, the two continued on their way.
After walking along the river for a while, they encountered a rocky wall blocking their path.
The wall wasn't very high, only a few dozen meters, but the Liang River bypassed the wall and flowed in another direction.
In the middle of the wall, there was a dark cave.
"Do you smell it?" Lin Ji looked at Lu Zhao'er again.
"I smell it," Lu Zhao'er stared at the dark cave.
The scent of blood they had smelled by the river earlier was nothing compared to the strong scent emanating from this cave.
(End of Chapter)