Inside the wooden building, as Ji Yuan's voice fell, the expressions of a group of people changed instantly.
As if recalling everything that had happened in the past two days, including Old Master Zhao, deep fear appeared on everyone's faces.
The three noticed that even the guard martial artists were trembling slightly, let alone the household servants without any martial strength, who were about to collapse to the ground.
Ji Yuan instinctively turned, exchanging glances with the two behind him. Although he had anticipated it, he did not expect that the events of the past two days would have such a profound impact on these people.
However, when he thought of the inferno outside the wooden building, he could understand it. If it were them, they would probably not be much better.
They had only glimpsed it once before, and their minds had almost collapsed, although this was also related to their shallow experiences.
"Old Master Zhao, what exactly happened in the past two days?"
Ji Yuan took a deep breath, then asked in a deep voice.
Upon hearing this, Old Master Zhao gave a wry smile. Supported by two servants, he turned and sat on the chair. Then, he gestured, inviting the three to sit down.
After Ji Yuan, Xu Qiqi, and Jiang He were seated, he silently poured a few cups of cold tea, then gazed at the tea cups before him, his thoughts sinking into memory.
After repelling the evil creatures, the Zhao family had indeed been safe for one night. However, before dawn arrived the next day, a catastrophe descended upon the entire Zhao family mansion.
Before the break of dawn, a gust of yin wind and malevolent energy appeared out of nowhere above the mansion, carrying with it a ferocious roar that instilled fear in one's heart.
The heart-wrenching wails awakened everyone in the Zhao family. When they looked up at the sky, a rain of blood suddenly poured down.
The entire Zhao family was instantly enveloped in a nauseating smell of blood. The countless drops of blood that fell to the ground quickly formed streams of water.
At that time, Old Master Zhao noticed that these streams of water, formed by the blood rain, were forming a strange pattern on the ground of the Zhao family mansion, and as the blood rain continued to fall, this pattern became more and more complete.
Although he did not understand what would happen when this strange pattern was completely formed, he knew with certainty that it would not be a good thing, even if he used his heels to think about it.
But before Old Master Zhao could give orders on how to deal with the situation, a gust of yin wind and malevolent energy descended from high above and swept through the mansion.
Anyone who was blown by this malevolent wind would immediately bleed from all seven orifices, their yang energy would be greatly depleted, and they would act as if they had seen something terrifying, charging around the mansion like madmen.
Even worse, some lost their minds and began to mutilate themselves, either by smashing their heads against the ground or by repeatedly cutting themselves with sharp blades, letting their blood flow out.
More than ninety percent of the Zhao family's maids and servants went mad, and even began to fight each other, their cries sounding like those of vengeful spirits from the underworld.
At first, the guard martial artists tried to stop these people, but after realizing it was all in vain, they no longer knew what else they could do.
Finally, under Old Master Zhao's command, all the guard martial artists gathered in the main house, silently listening to the wails from outside the courtyard, which sounded like vengeful spirits.
"You just watched, and didn't look for help outside?"
Xu Qiqi's eyes widened, and a hint of anger appeared on her face.
However, Old Master Zhao couldn't help but smile bitterly and shake his head. "Do you think we didn't try to send people to leave the mansion and seek help outside?"
When the blood rain poured down, he had already sent several of his trusted confidants, who were not weak in martial arts, intending to go to several gangs and the county yamen for assistance.
Unfortunately, these servants, the weakest of whom were in the early stage of the skin-and-muscle realm, and the strongest of whom were in the middle stage, were reduced to skin and bones by a gust of malevolent wind as soon as they left the Zhao family mansion.
The skeletons were then carried by the malevolent wind and thrown before them, as if warning everyone not to try to leave the mansion.
"Then what happened later?"
Ji Yuan continued to ask, while giving the girl a look, indicating that she should not interrupt him for now.
Old Master Zhao exhaled heavily and slowly recounted what happened next.
That day, after dawn passed, the blood rain in the sky finally stopped, and the incessant wails of despair within the mansion disappeared in an instant.
But the true inferno had only just begun...
Maids and servants, like walking corpses, converged towards the residence. They broke through the courtyard gate, climbed over the walls, and lunged at the guard martial artists with bared teeth and claws.
An indescribable battle ensued, and the courtyard and its surroundings were filled with gruesome corpses, both of Zhao family servants and guard martial artists.
These maids and servants were like madmen who knew no pain. Even with broken limbs, they would crawl and attack with their teeth.
Once overwhelmed by the human tide, the guard martial artists would be torn to shreds by these madmen, leaving them no chance to survive.
"Out of a total of fifty-seven guard martial artists in the Zhao family, only eighteen remained in the end."
Old Master Zhao sighed softly, his face filled with heartache and bitterness.
These guard martial artists were the foundation of the Zhao family, the basis of their ability to become one of the three sects.
In addition to these martial artists, ninety percent of the Zhao family's maids and servants died in this battle. It was not that the martial artists were ruthless, but if they didn't, they themselves would have been torn to shreds.
However, even with countless reasons, the surviving guard martial artists couldn't help but hang their heads, and some of the younger ones couldn't help but shed tears.
"If I'm not mistaken, those people had already died when they were corrupted by the blood rain and blown by the malevolent wind. What you fought were just corpses manipulated by evil spirits."
Seeing this, Ji Yuan pondered for a moment, then spoke a few words of comfort.
Indeed, after hearing his words, the dozen or so martial artists subconsciously raised their heads, and a spark of life finally appeared in their eyes; at least they were not as tormented as before.
As for whether Ji Yuan's words were true or not, these people did not care. What they needed most was comfort, a reason to feel better about themselves.
"After that, a man radiating evil energy emerged from that yin wind and malevolent energy."
Old Master Zhao spoke in a low voice, but a hint of ruthlessness appeared in his eyes.
According to him, after the man emerged from the evil wind, he only needed a few punches to send five old servants in the middle stage of the skin-and-muscle realm flying. If the man had been a little more ruthless, these servants would have been seriously injured and their foundations destroyed, even if they hadn't died on the spot.
In the end, it was Old Master Zhao who intervened. Relying on more than ten powerful talismans, along with the destruction of a valuable artifact and the cost of his own serious injury, he managed to temporarily repel the man.
This gave a group of people the opportunity to escape to this place. Otherwise, if Ji Yuan and the others had broken into the Zhao family mansion now, they would not have seen them.
"So you hid here for two days?"
Ji Yuan frowned. If this were the case, then the clues about the evil creature that these people here possessed might not be much.
Upon hearing this, Old Master Zhao nodded slightly, stating that if he had not paid a great price in his early years to invite a Confucian scholar to inscribe the sage's writings on this wooden building, they would probably not have had a place to hide for two days.
"That evil creature has a cultivation base of at least the Barrier-Breaking Realm."
Old Master Zhao said with a grim expression.
The so-called Barrier-Breaking Realm was actually the second realm of cultivation, the Spirit-Touching Realm. However, because it required the soul light to break through the physical barriers, it was also often called the Barrier-Breaking Realm.
As soon as these words were spoken, although Ji Yuan and the other two were mentally prepared, their expressions couldn't help but change when they actually confirmed it.
In fact, it was understandable. Old Master Zhao, with his half-step Bone-Muscle Realm cultivation, ranked among the top three in terms of martial strength within a radius of several hundred miles around Qianyu City.
And the only ones who could force him to this point were either exceptionally talented individuals who cultivated peerless techniques, or cultivators or martial artists of the second realm or above.
However, this meant that they were already extremely fortunate to have survived this trip. To investigate further and uncover the plans of the evil creature and the mastermind behind it would become increasingly difficult.
But fortunately, the sage's writings inscribed on the wooden building's walls were likely the work of a Confucian scholar of the second or third realm, which could resist the evil creatures outside and prevent them from entering.
Therefore, as long as they stayed in the wooden building, they could ensure their safety, despite the extreme danger outside.
Next, they only needed to wait patiently. Whether Zhao Yuansong could bring reinforcements or if the three elders of the Nine Profound Sect arrived in a day or two, the current crisis could be easily resolved.
And the person behind all this planning would likely not prematurely activate the grand scheme they had laid out because of them.
"It's just a pity that the sage's writings on the outer walls of the building can probably only hold on for another half a day, after which they will dissipate into the heavens and earth due to the exhaustion of spiritual energy."
Old Master Zhao suddenly sighed with a look of helplessness.
Ji Yuan nodded in agreement. The sage's writings, which were numerous enough to cover the entire staircase, would indeed be a great pity to dissipate into the heavens and earth like this.
"Wait! What did you say?"
Ji Yuan was stunned for a moment, then suddenly stood up from his chair, staring at the old man before him with wide eyes.
Upon seeing the old man nod seriously, albeit with a look of confusion, Ji Yuan, as if he had lost his soul, slumped back into his chair, feeling weak.
On either side of Ji Yuan, Xu Qiqi and Jiang He looked stunned. After a long while, they came back to their senses and silently covered their foreheads. They couldn't understand why, in a matter of life and death, the old man's focus was on the pity that a sage's writing was about to dissipate.
"Old Master Zhao, please tell me, even if the sage's writings dissipate, there are still fallback measures sufficient to resist the evil creatures outside!"
Ji Yuan looked at the old man before him, his expression more serious than ever.
However, the other party looked bewildered. "Wh-what fallback measures?"