Yunmeng Immortal Clan

The Song family resource point is located before the Qingwu mine.

At the urging of Song Daoxuan, the sixth elder of the Song family, all the ordinary people and servants of the mine, as well as all the family cultivators guarding this place, gathered in one place.

Song Daoxuan stared at the crowd: "Bring up all the brochures on the mines. As for the bodies of the two immortal cultivators, I need to examine them!"

Song Hongxiang's eyes flickered, and he instructed his servants to bring a booklet, which he then presented to Song Daoxuan.

"Reporting to the Sixth Elder, this is a detailed list of the 76,059 menial laborers at the Qingwu Town mine. Among them are 11 low-level Qi Refining cultivators, 9 mid-level Qi Refining cultivators, and 6 late-level Qi Refining cultivators. The two deceased cultivators were both low-level Qi Refining cultivators!"

"As for the elders, the corpses of these two deceased clan members have already been peacefully buried. It's best not to disturb their rest!"

Song Daoxuan ignored the words of his clansman and clamored to open the coffin and examine the body. Song Hongxiang, however, was adamant and refused to back down.

Upon seeing this, Song Daoxuan frowned, and a spiritual pressure belonging to a Foundation Establishment cultivator pressed down on Song Hongxiang.

"Considering you are a member of the same clan, if we disregard the title of elder and only consider seniority, I, Song Daoxuan, should address you as Sixteenth Uncle. If you are ungrateful, I will have no choice but to behead you on the grounds of obstructing official business. Don't expect me to disregard family ties!"

Seeing Song Daoxuan in this state, Song Hongxiang had no choice but to take him to the burial site of the two clan cultivators and open the coffin to examine the bodies.

He discovered that the corpses were covered in marks, especially the back of the heads of the two Qi Refining cultivators, which had been pierced by sharp objects.

"This hole must have been made by some sharp object..." Song Daoxuan pondered carefully.

Upon thinking of this, Song Daoxuan summoned several ordinary people from that time.

"Greetings, Immortal Master. My surname is Jiao. I am a laborer who has been mining this spirit ore in Qingwu Town for generations. This hole must be the object!" An elderly laborer surnamed Jiao brought over a long pickaxe.

The long pickaxe in front of us is an essential tool for mining this Qingwu mine. The head of the long pickaxe is sharp and should match the so-called hole mark.

Song Daoxuan shook his head and questioned the mortals again. He found that their statements were almost identical: the two family cultivators who died had indeed incurred public wrath and were beaten to death by a mob.

Song Daoxuan then turned to ask about the deceased's life before death. Based on what others said, he learned that the two deceased clan cultivators were named Song Hongshan and Song Hongshui, both of whom were at the second level of Qi Refining.

Both of them were of mediocre talent and not particularly remarkable in the eyes of their clansmen. However, since they possessed spiritual roots and had cultivated to the Qi Refining stage, their status was still more noble than that of these mortals.

"You two spend so much time with Song Hongshan and Song Hongshui, you should have some understanding of their personalities, right?"

Song Daoxuan then selected a female cultivator named Song Hongxiu from among the remaining twenty-odd clan cultivators. This woman was only at the fourth level of Qi Refining.

Song Hongxiu stepped forward, her eyes misty, revealing a pitiful appearance with freshly dried tears: "Elder, others may not understand Hongshan and the flood, but I do. They were childhood playmates of mine. They have always been honest and law-abiding cultivators. We are not talented enough and just want to live a peaceful life in town!"

"As for instigating conflict between these servants and our clan cultivators, it doesn't seem like something those two people would do!"

Song Hongxiu wanted to continue speaking, but Song Hongxiang beside him said in a sinister tone, "Aren't you talking a little too much..."

"It's you who talks too much, Uncle!" Song Daoxuan stared coldly at Song Hongxiang.

Upon hearing this, Song Hongxiang fell silent and followed beside him.

However, with Song Hongxiang's interruption, Song Hongxiu, who seemed to have something to say, was now unable to utter a single word.

"Was there anything unusual at the scene when this happened..." Song Daoxuan did not press Song Hongxiu further, because he knew that Song Hongxiu was not a party to this incident.

Upon hearing this, the elderly man surnamed Jiao stepped forward again and cupped his hands in greeting: "Master Immortal, this matter is quite strange. At that moment, dozens of mine laborers in our mine were inexplicably irritable, almost affected by that violent aura, and their minds seemed to go out of control..."

Upon hearing this, Song Daoxuan's eyes suddenly lit up, and he then questioned several miners and laborers in the same mine.

Just as Old Man Jiao had predicted, at the same time, these mine laborers all exuded a fierce aura and inexplicably attacked the two clan cultivators of the Song family.

"It's true that this method, capable of significantly influencing the consciousness of mortals, is a technique of cultivators. However, it's unclear whether this method is from the righteous path or the demonic path! But based on my understanding, it seems more like the style of the demonic path!"

"There seems to be something wrong here, everyone. Think carefully about whether anything unusual has happened in the mine recently!" Song Daoxuan asked, pressing for details.

"Speaking of unusual things, there is one: we unearthed a Buddha statue in these mines, which we considered a very auspicious omen. The mine entrusted the Buddha statue to Master Hongxiang for care!"

"There's something wrong with this Buddha statue!" Song Daoxuan's expression shifted slightly, and he became very interested in this mysterious mineral vein Buddha statue.

"Uncle Hongxiang, may we have a look at this Buddha?" Song Daoxuan asked Song Hongxiang beside him.

"Since the Sixth Elder wishes to view this Buddha statue, I naturally have no reason to refuse. However, the Buddha statue is extremely precious, and only you may view it..."

Song Hongxiang lowered his voice slightly as he spoke.

"What exactly is Song Hongxiang up to?"

Song Daoxuan was led to a shrine in the town where a Buddha statue was enshrined. The statue was an ancient Buddha with a completely black body, a broken arm, and a gash on its cheek.

"Elder, this is the ancient Buddha statue that was unearthed from the mine. Since its appearance, we have enshrined it here, and the miners in these mines have been worshipping it for good luck..."

"This Buddha statue should be perfectly fine. Otherwise, Elder Song, you can simply take it down for a closer look..."

Song Hongxiang stood beside Song Daoxuan, and said with great excitement.

Song Daoxuan had secretly hidden a second-tier defensive talisman in his sleeve. He was somewhat interested in the ancient Buddha that had been unearthed from the mine, but he also knew that the ancient Buddha was likely the culprit behind all these events, so he was extremely cautious whenever he came into contact with it.