Chapter 876: Black Hand Emerges

## Chapter 878: The Mastermind Revealed

Having experienced the calamity of Feathered Immortal Valley, they became even more cautious. The Black Sovereign had already meticulously scouted the area from afar, ensuring there were no terrifying forbidden formations.

The tiger cave remained as it was, dry and spacious. Ferocious beasts once resided there, and a malevolent aura still lingered.

Pang Bo's expression froze. He saw divine alligators, their dark scales glinting with a cold light. There were over a dozen of them, lying motionless.

"You persistent little devils!" Pang Bo exclaimed, extending his large foot and furiously kicking. "Always showing up wherever we go. You killed so many of my classmates back then."

"Wait, no, they're all dead," Li Tian said. "They must have lost their lives years ago."

Ye Fan and Pang Bo particularly detested the divine alligators. When they crossed the starfield back then, these creatures left an indelible impression of cruelty on them, taking the lives of many old friends. Seeing them always filled them with intense hatred.

"They've been dead for over two decades, all died of old age," the Black Sovereign said after stepping forward, nudging them with a large paw, and carefully inspecting them.

Ye Fan crouched down and also examined them carefully. It seemed that when they escaped from the Ancient Desolate Forbidden Zone back then, their lifespans were also plundered, causing their deaths.

"Back then, so many divine alligators actually survived," Pang Bo said, his voice filled with hatred. "They must have hidden among the corpses of our old friends to evade our notice, and then followed us out."

The divine alligators' flesh had long since rotted away, but their dark scales still glimmered with an eerie light, making them appear lifelike, sinister, and chilling.

Everything that happened back then exceeded their imagination. Some unknown entities had followed them across, but this only began to reveal itself when Lin Jia's phone was discovered.

"They... they actually died!" Ye Fan exclaimed, his pupils contracting. This situation was beyond his expectation.

In the deepest part of the tiger cave, three individuals appeared to have died from extreme terror, huddled together in the innermost corner. Their bound arms still had rotten strips of cloth, belts, and other bindings.

Over two decades had passed, and they had long since turned into dry bones. Only some keychains, hairpins, and similar items remained, along with some messy, rotten hair, which was terrifying to behold.

"Were we wrong?" Pang Bo murmured to himself.

Liu Yunzhi, Li Changqing, and Wang Yan were all dead. They were not the malicious individuals who had targeted them in the darkness. Had they gone too far back then, abandoning them here?

Not far from the divine alligators, lay the skeletal remains of two sword tiger cubs, no more than a foot long. Additionally, there was a massive tiger skeleton, also lying prostrate, with a tiny hole pierced through its brow, indicating it had died from a penetrating wound.

Back then, when they left, they had heard a tiger's roar. They had assumed it was the saber-toothed tiger returning to its den, enraged by Liu Yunzhi and the others invading its lair. They never expected this outcome.

They stepped forward and carefully examined the three skeletons. Each person's jaw was slack, having died in extreme terror, their brows pierced, seemingly dying under the jaws of the divine alligators.

"Based on my years of experience," the Black Sovereign said, "these people died over two decades ago. Judging by their bone density, each lived to be about twenty-five or twenty-six years old. Of course, if we brought a tomb raider here to examine them, it would be more professional."

"Yes, it's definitely them," Pang Bo said in a deep voice.

Although the three individuals' hair was withered, it was still present. Their hairstyles were completely different from those in this world. Judging by their bone structure, height, and other features, they matched the three individuals from back then.

On the female's chest, there was a necklace with a blood diamond pendant, stained with foul blood. It was Wang Yan's favorite, and even now, it still shimmered with a bloody light.

"In the past, Liu Yunzhi's prized mutton-fat jade was also here," Pang Bo added. "That was his most cherished possession. There's no doubt they died here."

Such an outcome left both Ye Fan and Pang Bo feeling a wave of despondency and loss. They had expected to unravel the mystery instantly, but this was not the scene they anticipated.

Ye Fan had always believed that Liu Yunzhi was still alive and was the hidden enemy. But truly unraveling the mystery left him bewildered.

"Were we too heartless back then?" Pang Bo murmured to himself.

A gust of wind blew through, carrying fallen leaves past in the distance, causing them to fall silent for a long time.

Monkey and the others stood outside the cave. They could do nothing about this situation, merely comforting them that those who wished to harm them deserved such a fate, and there was nothing to feel bad about.

"Exactly," Li Heishui said. "They wanted to kill you all. Leaving them alive would have been a great danger. Their deaths are well-deserved."

Ye Fan crouched down and meticulously examined the area once more. Finally, he could only let out a long sigh, standing up and saying, "I actually wished they hadn't died."

Who exactly was the mastermind? The situation was perplexing. He had thought he had figured it out, but it turned out to be nothing. After seeing this outcome, Ye Fan felt very uneasy.

"Don't fret," the Black Sovereign said. "Let this Emperor perform a small spell to restore their true appearance and see the final result."

A faint light shot out from its brow. Immediately, a substance resembling flesh regenerated on the heads of the three skeletons, reshaping their facial features and restoring their original forms.

"Indeed, it's quite simple; this small spell can reveal it," Monkey said, nodding. That was not flesh and blood, but divine power, which could reconstruct the original appearance based on the bones, reproducing the deceased's true visage.

Ye Fan and Pang Bo watched anxiously. A quarter of an hour later, the three faces gradually became full, revealing their original forms, leaving them despondent. It truly was Liu Yunzhi, Wang Yan, and the third person.

"Stop, no need to reconstruct further. It's them."

They left the tiger cave and walked towards the outside of the forbidden zone. Ye Fan pondered where things had gone wrong, why it contradicted his intuition and his deductions.

"There are no suspicious points; this just hit us like a heavy blow," Pang Bo said.

Ji Ziyue said, "No suspicious points is the most suspicious thing. It's clear they anticipated you would come to verify, and meticulously calculated every detail with a specific aim to mislead you and make you believe they were truly dead."

"Exactly!" Ye Fan nodded.

"Summon Duan De!" Pang Bo said.

"Right, let's call the tomb raider," the Black Sovereign said. "He has special methods to discern truth from falsehood." Even the Black Sovereign admitted that it was impressed by Duan De's professional expertise and trusted his methods.

Summoning Duan De was quite simple. They believed that as long as they spread a rumor, saying that a Great Saint's tomb had appeared somewhere, that damned fatty would surely rush over excitedly.

Of course, this time it wouldn't be necessary, because the Victorious Fighting Buddha's great battle here had shaken the entire Southern Region, and it was certain that major forces and individuals like Duan De would come to investigate.

Indeed, on that very day, numerous cultivators arrived in this 'nose ridge' area, all from major forces.

The Black Sovereign, lacking patience, shouted, "Summon Duan De!"

It spread a rumor among the crowd: The exterior of the Ancient Desolate Forbidden Zone had cracked open, revealing many large ravines, and an ancient great tomb had appeared, suspected to be a Saint's tomb.

The effect was excellent, to say the least. Duan De appeared full of life, with astonishing speed. When Ye Fan and the Black Sovereign showed themselves, Duan De immediately jumped in frustration, cursing and swearing, saying they were too mischievous and that this wasn't the first time, forcing him to rush back from Central Province.

"Brother Duan, your business is truly busy," Ye Fan chuckled. "This time, we just had to trouble you."

"Limitless Heavenly Venerate! This humble Taoist is practically a summoned beast now!" Duan De said, his face dark. "Damn it, don't call me next time unless there's a king-tier weapon or better as payment!"

Upon returning to the tiger cave, all the hairs on Duan De's body stood on end. He stumbled back several steps, his expression turning grave as he asked, "What kind of existence have you provoked?"

"Fatty, are you trying to scare us to demand an exorbitant reward?" the Black Sovereign asked, baring its fangs.

"I'm serious," Duan De said, his heart pounding. "An extremely terrifying malevolent spirit once lingered here. I've only encountered one like it once in my life, in an ancient Great Saint's tomb, and I almost died there."

"No way," Ye Fan countered. "It's just a stone cave, with three dead people, three dead tigers, and a dozen dead alligators. How could a ghost king be born here?"

Duan De took out an ancient mirror. It was one he had stolen from the ancient great tomb he had just mentioned. This was also the reason Ye Fan and the others had invited him here, as they needed this treasure, which had previously been used in the Purgatory beneath Falling Eagle Cliff.

This was the only Dao bone left by a Human Great Saint after achieving Dao, specifically the one from his forehead, enduring through the ages. The frontal bone is considered the Sendai Dao bone in humans, and a mirror made from it possessed innate Dao patterns, infinitely intricate, with numerous wondrous uses.

A beam of light from the mirror shone into the ancient cave. A dim scene unfolded: Liu Yunzhi, Li Changqing, Wang Yan, and others' terrified expressions reappeared. The female tiger returned to the cave, and divine alligators also crawled in. Everything happened as they had previously deduced.

Until the crucial moment, the mirror light flickered, and a blurry figure entered the cave, killing the divine alligators and the tiger, then seizing the unconscious Liu Yunzhi, Li Changqing, and Wang Yan.

"It changed again! Someone covered up the truth here!" Pang Bo exclaimed, clenching his fists.

At this moment, white sweat broke out on Duan De's body. He couldn't help but tremble, saying, "This time, we've encountered something huge, something I've only seen once in my life!"

Suddenly, the mirror light flickered one last time. The blurry black figure, just as it was carrying the three individuals out of the ancient cave, abruptly turned back and revealed a chilling smile towards them in the mirror, revealing its true form for the first time: it was a terrifying malevolent spirit!

Before this, everything had been blurry, its form indiscernible. At this moment, they truly saw it for the first time: ferocious and terrifying, with snow-white teeth, dead fish-like eyes, and a dark, black body. There was no sign of life, only pervasive death energy!

Everyone involuntarily recoiled. This malevolent spirit was too frightening, appearing suddenly in the mirror, causing the little phoenix bird in Ji Ziyue's arms to have all its splendid golden feathers bristle.

The light in the bone mirror dimmed, everything vanished, no longer able to be displayed. The stone cave fell into extreme silence, filled with a chilling aura.

"It's the malevolent spirit we saw in the ancient bronze coffin!" Pang Bo exclaimed.

"That's right, it's exactly it. It really did follow us out," Ye Fan said, his heart sinking.

Those three people were not killed by the divine alligators at all; they were rescued by that malevolent spirit, which then covered up the truth of this place. This sent shivers down their spines.

Ye Fan and Pang Bo simultaneously recalled the past: back then, inside the bronze coffin, a classmate had died mysteriously, their neck covered in bruises and bloodstains, looking exactly like finger marks left by a malevolent spirit, as if they had been strangled to death.

A confrontation had even ensued because of this, and Ye Fan had been drawn into it. Although he tried to prove that the person was killed by a divine alligator, the distinct purple finger marks on the neck were difficult to explain away, making the previous speculation seem a bit far-fetched.

"So, that means our classmate back then was first strangled to death by the malevolent spirit," Pang Bo said, shivering uncontrollably, "and then a divine alligator burrowed into their body?"

Back then, that person was right next to Ye Fan, almost touching him, and died so bizarrely. Only now did he understand the truth. Ye Fan couldn't help but shiver; the malevolent spirit had been so close to him!

Duan De broke into a cold sweat, saying, "Damn it, you guys are always getting me into trouble! This kind of malevolent spirit is completely different from the yin spirits we talk about. Its cultivation is terrifyingly deep; it might be an old ghost from six or seven thousand years ago. Once it latches on, it's for life, until it achieves its goal!"

"Liu Yunzhi, Li Changqing, and Wang Yan didn't die," Pang Bo murmured to himself. "And now there's a malevolent spirit, and divine alligators. Did anything else follow us across?" The process of crossing the starfield was far more complex than they had imagined.

"Wait a minute," Duan De interjected, his eyes gleaming as if he recalled something. "Are you saying you've been to the ancient planet Yinghuo? A place suppressed by a bald old man named Sakyamuni? I remember now! When I was on an archaeological expedition to an ancient sea demon tomb overseas, I met an old bald monk. He seemed to be one of that bald Sakyamuni's ten great disciples. We talked for most of the night, and he told me some things..."