What do you mean by saying that the corpses I sew are all ominous creatures?

Four people, occupying four different positions.

They formed a tight encirclement, trapping me firmly in the open space of bluestone outside the Blue Hall.

I took a deep breath and quickly scanned the people around me.

Apart from the mysterious masked man whose background was completely unknown, I had seen the other three people at the previous banquet.

Lan Haiping goes without saying.

The old man in black on the left and the white-haired old woman with a cane on the right were also two of the other two of the five elders of the Lan family.

At this moment, there are a total of five elders in the Lan family.

Apart from Grandpa Lan Manshan and the elder with the cold look in his eyes at the banquet, the other three elders were all gathered here.

Seeing the predicament before me, where escape seemed impossible, my furrowed brow, which had been furrowed with worry about being taken advantage of, slowly relaxed.

It seems that the current situation is developing in a similar direction to what I predicted in the Blue Hall.

The whereabouts of the sinister elder who never appeared are unknown—whether he is dead or alive, friend or foe.

As for Grandpa Lan Manshan... he's probably really in grave danger.

Thinking of this, I slowly exhaled the turbid air from my chest caused by the fight just now, completely suppressing the surging blood and qi in my body.

I stood in the very center of the encirclement, my gaze calmly sweeping over the people who had surrounded me.

Finally, their gaze fell upon Lan Haiping, who stood high on the steps, looking down at them.

"Elder Lan, it seems that the path for your Lan family to visit the sick is not easy."

Faced with my somewhat mocking question, Lan Haiping, who was standing on the steps, did not immediately refute it.

He dropped the fake smile on his face, and his originally kind features appeared particularly gloomy in the shadows of the night.

At that moment, he completely ignored me.

Instead, he turned slightly to the side and bowed his head slightly towards the mysterious man wearing half a bronze mask.

Lan Haiping clasped his hands in a fist salute, his tone clearly showing respect and trepidation:

"Holy Envoy, please forgive us; it was our incompetence that led to this."

"I was careless just now and failed to subdue this kid inside the Blue Hall, allowing him to escape and alarm the Holy Envoy."

He spoke in a very low voice and adopted a very humble posture.

An elder who once held immense power in the Lan family now appeared before this masked man like a subordinate who had done something wrong, apologizing to his master.

A mysterious figure wearing half a bronze mask stood still, his gray robe fluttering in the night wind.

His withered hand had slowly retracted into his sleeve, and he gave a noncommittal snort in response to Lan Haiping's apology.

"My mother-in-law said that whoever can personally take down this Chen family member will become the new head of the Lan family."

The masked man's voice was hoarse and hollow.

"At the same time, the mother-in-law will also bestow that qualification of longevity as a reward upon the final winner."

As for the process, the Holy Church doesn't care.

After saying this, the masked man actually took a step back, his figure floating away like a ghost to the outer edge of the encirclement.

I looked up and saw that he was standing in the shadows under the eaves of the Blue Hall, with his arms crossed.

It seems they really don't intend to get involved in the upcoming battles.

Seeing the masked man step back, the other two Blue Family elders who were originally standing on either side immediately changed positions in unison.

They pressed forward a few steps, precisely filling the gap left by the masked man, and once again locking me firmly in the center of the encirclement.

I stood still, ignoring the two elders who were filling in.

His mind was churning with the masked man's few words.

"Mother-in-law"?

"Immortality"?

These two words together are like a rusty key, instantly unlocking a not-so-pleasant memory in my mind.

Throughout the power structure of southern Xinjiang, the leaders are called "Grandma," and they promise the elusive yet intoxicating condition of "immortality"...

There's only one place!

Butterfly Valley!

That evil sect, hidden deep within the Ten Thousand Mountains, acting mysteriously and ruthlessly, and having clashed with me in life-or-death conflicts several times.

From the initial death of my grandfather in Huilongzhai, to the witchcraft case in Zhoujia Village, and then to the Holy Maiden of Wandie Valley whom I personally sent to the Folklore Bureau prison.

The feud between me and Wan Die Valley has long been irreconcilable.

I never imagined that Wan Die Valley would have such a long reach and such a huge appetite.

Judging from the current situation, the Lan family, one of the powerful local forces in the Southern Frontier, has actually been completely infiltrated and disintegrated from within by the Wan Die Valley.

It could even be said that they were completely absorbed into the fold!

The Lan family, this ancient family that was once famous throughout the southern border, has now probably become a tool in the hands of the Butterfly Valley.

And this knife is now aimed at me.

Just as I was rapidly analyzing the situation in my mind, Lan Haiping, who was standing on the steps, suddenly let out a low, sinister laugh.

He slowly began to walk down the bluestone steps.

His slightly plump body seemed to swell even more in the night.

With each step he took, the sweet and pungent aura emanating from him, belonging to a high-level Gu Master, grew stronger.

He is trying to use this method to create a double sense of pressure on me, both psychologically and in terms of his aura.

"Young Master Chen, you are indeed very smart and alert."

"It takes skill to get out of the Blue Hall."

As Lan Haiping walked slowly, he spoke in a condescending tone, as if I were already dead.

"However, don't feel wronged."

I'll tell you the truth: that hijacking in Luohua Town was orchestrated by me personally.

That old man in black is nothing but a complete idiot who knows nothing.

We went through all this trouble for only one purpose:

"It was all to lure you, the corpse-stitching peddler from Jiangcheng, from a thousand miles away to these Hundred Thousand Mountains."

At this point, he stopped less than five meters away from me, his narrowed eyes flashing with undisguised greed and murderous intent.

"Now, you have entered our Lan family's main camp, and you are surrounded by our people."

Even if you had wings, you couldn't escape this inescapable net.

Lan Haiping coldly tried to persuade him to surrender.

"If you're going to listen to the old man's advice, you might as well just surrender."

That way, you can avoid suffering physical pain.

You should know that the excruciating and corrosive Gu worms of our Lan family are not something an ordinary person can endure.

Hearing his smug revelation, the expression on my face remained unchanged.

I could clearly sense, as Lan Haiping approached, the old man in black playing with the centipede on the left and the old woman with white hair on the right.

Their internal energy had already been circulated to its maximum.

Clearly, they were all secretly gathering strength, ready to launch a fatal blow at any moment.

But I did not immediately retaliate, nor did I react with any fear to his threats.

I simply watched Lan Haiping quietly as the murderous aura within my dantian began to accumulate wildly, and at the same time, my left arm, hidden beneath my robes, began to tremble slightly.

Then, I asked a question:

"Where is Lan Manshan?"