Ruling Martial World by Infinite Insect Swarms

Chapter 19: Chapter 18: Blood Demon Sect

”Someone’s here?”

Zhang Shun, Zhou Feng, and the others all suddenly tightened their grips on their weapons, their eyes fixed on the pitch-black interior of the cave.

”No, Brother Zhang, you’ve misunderstood. I’m afraid it’s just some ordinary people inside, but there are quite a lot of them.”

Qin Yu’s expression was grim as he slowly shook his head.

Though he couldn’t see inside the cave, he had a few suspicions thanks to the astonishing sense of smell of his Rapid Insects.

Ordinary people?

This allowed the tense group to breathe a small sigh of relief. But Patriarch Chen Baixuan of the Chen Family, who was following at the rear of the party, took a step forward and rushed into the cave.

Chen Family Manor had been annihilated, and not a single one of its thousand residents had escaped.

Many had been turned into corpses, while others had simply vanished. He had originally thought they were all devoured by the Demon Fiends, but seeing the valley floor littered with human limbs, a sliver of hope rose in his heart.

The group moved forward quickly, venturing deep into the cavern.

The cave was not particularly deep. After rounding a bend, they saw a huge space, nearly a thousand square meters in size.

Sunlight trickled in from above, so while the interior was still dim, they could make out the general layout.

In the most conspicuous spot in the center of the cave was a three-legged copper tripod. A thick, foul stench wafted from it.

Beneath the tripod, firewood was still smoldering.

In the corner of the cavern were several simple cages woven from tree branches. Over a hundred raggedly dressed villagers were crammed inside, including a dozen or so children.

All of them had terrified expressions. Some were dazed and catatonic, surrounded by a mess of excrement.

On a nearby table, countless dismembered torsos were neatly stacked.

Those that didn’t fit on the stack were pierced with branches and hung on the walls.

Three tiger cubs, each the size of a house cat, were curled up under the table, nibbling on soft entrails.

Seeing this scene, the faces of everyone from the Demon Suppression Bureau darkened, and a shiver ran through Qin Yu’s heart.

Any human would find it difficult to accept such a scene of their own kind being treated as food.

But Patriarch Chen strode forward, a flush of color appearing on his deathly pale face. With a wild roar, he rushed ahead and swung his long saber, hacking violently at the cage.

Inside were almost all the missing people from his Chen Family Village!

”Patriarch!”

”Mama! Mama!”

”SOB SOB SOB—”

”They’re gone, they’re all gone! The Demon Fiends ate Mommy and Daddy!”

”...”

A torrent of long-suppressed, mournful wails and children’s cries burst forth like a river breaking through a dam.

Before this, the villagers hadn’t even dared to cry, as it would only attract the Demon Fiends’ torment, or even lead to them being eaten on the spot.

”Go help them, and search this cavern thoroughly!”

Zhang Shun ordered coldly, looking at the scene.

”Yes, sir!”

Everyone moved quickly, some helping the captives, others heading deeper into the cave.

For a moment, the entire cavern was plunged into chaos.

After a short while, Zhang Ming ran out from the inner part of the cave, holding an animal-skin bundle. His expression was panicked. ”Lord Zhang, there’s another chamber inside! We found a Demon Fiend statue, and this.”

Zhang Shun nodded and took it. When he opened the animal-skin bundle, he found a stack of snow-white paper inside, covered in densely packed small characters and diagrams of dissected human bodies.

”The Human Pill Technique...”

Zhang Shun’s already grim face instantly turned ashen. He cast a chilling gaze at the three-legged copper tripod in the center of the cavern.

”Where’s the statue?”

”This way!”

Zhang Shun immediately strode forward with Zhang Ming leading the way. After a moment’s hesitation, Qin Yu followed.

He already had a bad feeling about this.

In the deepest part of the cave was a small space.

Within this space stood a bizarre statue about three feet tall. It had menacing fangs, three heads and six arms. In the middle of its forehead were three eyes.

The statue was soaked in blood and radiated an astonishingly evil aura.

The moment he saw the statue, Qin Yu felt as if he were being watched by some ancient, malevolent entity. The statue seemed to tremble slightly, as if it were about to come to life.

An uncontrollable panic welled up from the depths of his heart.

SWOOSH!

Zhang Shun strode forward, took off his outer robe, and threw it directly over the statue. Only then did the feeling of panic abruptly vanish.

”What is that?”

Qin Yu panted heavily. It was a fear that came from the depths of his soul, completely beyond his control.

”A statue of the Blood Demon Sect!”

Zhang Shun’s face was incomparably grim.

”The Blood Demon Sect?”

Qin Yu frowned. He had never heard that name before.

”It’s normal that you don’t. Besides slaying Demon Fiends, my Demon Suppression Bureau is also responsible for hunting down Evil Demon Sects.

The Blood Demon Sect is one of them!”

”The Blood Demon Sect has an extremely ancient heritage. After a thousand years of suppression by the Demon Suppression Bureau, it had gradually faded into obscurity. I never expected it to reappear and cause such disaster!”

”Within the Blood Demon Sect, there is an evil technique called the Human Pill Technique. It uses humans to create pills that, when consumed, can rapidly increase one’s cultivation.

They have massacred entire cities for alchemy and blood sacrifices in the past, acts that the Great Wei Court will not tolerate.

This statue is used for those blood sacrifices!

And now, it has appeared in the hands of Demon Fiends.”

Zhang Shun said in a frigid voice. Looking again at the stack of white paper in his hand, he understood completely. The Demon Fiends in Cyan Peak County were likely not a natural disaster.

But a man-made one!

Demon Fiends don’t know how to make paper.

Furthermore, the text and diagrams weren’t handwritten—they were printed!

He then thought about how more than a dozen counties large and small around Bishui City had been attacked by Demon Fiends, and that Demon Fiends had even appeared on the outskirts of Bishui City itself.

A chill rose in Zhang Shun’s heart.

’I have to report this immediately!’

Thinking of this, he spun around abruptly.

”Zhou Feng, pack up this statue and take it with us! Zhang Ming, ask these captives if they’ve seen any cultists from the Blood Demon Sect!”

”Yes, sir!”

”Yes, sir!”

Zhou Feng and Zhang Ming immediately sprang into action.

Meanwhile, Qin Yu’s mind was in turmoil. ’The Blood Demon Sect, the Human Pill Technique, blood sacrifices...’

His gaze fell upon the weeping villagers from the Chen Family and the children who had been frightened into a stupor.

’This Demon Fiend crisis that has engulfed all of Cyan Peak County and left me severely injured... was actually caused by humans!’

’If I hadn’t awakened the Insect Race’s legacy at the critical moment, cultivated an Insect Swarm, and greatly increased my own strength, what would have happened?’

’Would the Qin Family, my parents, my relatives, and even the tens of thousands of people in Cyan Peak County have all been used in a blood sacrifice?’

’Would they all have ended up like this?’

In an instant, his hatred for this so-called Blood Demon Sect reached its peak, and his heart surged with boundless fury and lingering fear.

’Kill!’

’Kill them all!’

’Anyone who colludes with Demon Fiends must die!’

Meanwhile, Zhang Ming quickly returned with Patriarch Chen Baixuan and a pale-faced middle-aged man.

Chen Baixuan clasped his hands and said.

”Lord Zhang, this is my younger brother, Chen Baitao. He was abducted when our Chen Family Village was overrun by Demon Fiends the night before last.”

Zhang Shun nodded and spoke to Chen Baitao.

”After you were brought to this cave, what happened? Did you see anything unusual?”

Chen Baitao gave a bitter laugh and began to speak.

”Lord Zhang, after Chen Family Village was overrun, three hundred of us were brought here. In just one day and one night, the Demon Fiends cut out their hearts and disemboweled them, throwing them into the three-legged copper tripod to be refined into Blood Pills.

I saw an old man dressed in black. He was tall and thin, with eyes like a snake’s pupils, and a strange, jet-black snake coiled around his body.

He seemed to understand the language of Demon Fiends. Even the Blazing Flame Tiger Demon was very respectful toward him. He was the one teaching the Demon Fiends alchemy and how to consume the Blood Pills.

He only left this morning.”

Tall and thin, with eyes like a snake’s pupils!

And a strange, jet-black snake coiled around his body!

Zhang Shun and Zhang Ming exchanged a look. The same name surfaced in both their minds.

”’Snake Demon’ Li Tianyi! To think he actually joined the Blood Demon Sect!”

Instantly, all of Zhang Shun’s questions were answered. He now knew why the Demon Fiends were abnormally strong.

He also felt a surge of relief.

If ’Snake Demon’ Li Tianyi had been here, all of them would be dead!

”We must return to Bishui City at once and report this!”