Star Trace Gate

The Milky Way flows, the wilderness is serene.

Ren Ye and Xiao Pang squatted behind the Jin man, their faces pale and their expressions shocked, completely bewildered.

They originally just wanted to see what state this death row inmate, who was said to have been sacrificed and refined into a little golden statue, would be in. Would he suffer the extremely painful absorption and deprivation of spiritual energy, or would he become a mindless living dead...

With this goal in mind, they approached the first Oscar statuette, but the result was quite surprising.

The golden humanoid shell was completely empty, devoid of anything, and there was not even the stench of a decaying corpse.

"What the hell is going on? Where's the living dead?!" Li Xiaopang exclaimed in astonishment, "Could it be... that what we're looking at has been 'eaten up' by the strange devouring power of the Tomb of the Gods? And because this little golden figure has existed for so long, it didn't even leave a trace of its special smell, but has completely weathered away?"

Ren Ye sensed the small hole at the back of the golden man's head and shook his head slightly, saying, "I don't think that's the case... I just tried it, and the hardness of this golden shell is comparable to that of a priceless treasure. Let alone that pebble you casually threw, even if you bombarded it with the full force of an ordinary offensive magic weapon, it probably wouldn't leave any mark. So how could such an incredibly hard shell suddenly have its head split open, leaving a hole the size of a child's fist?"

“What you said makes some sense; this little hole does look a bit strange,” Li Xiaopang agreed.

Ren Ye turned his head slightly to look at him, but suddenly asked a chilling question: "Do you think... this entire land of death sacrifices, could it be that all that's left are empty shells, with no living dead left, and it's all empty inside?"

"No way... There are countless little golden bodies here. Before death row inmates are refined into golden bodies, the elders of the clan hall are always watching and witnessing them being sent here in full view of everyone. So how could all these living dead... have disappeared?" Li Xiaopang felt a little uneasy at the question and instinctively shook his head, saying, "I think this is an exception."

"I don't think so." Ren shook his head, knowing the other person's temperament well.

"Then...then let's check it again?" Li Xiaopang tried to ask.

“I respect your proposal…!” Ren agreed instantly.

"Go to hell! You just want to see it yourself, but you insist on forcing me to tell you first." Li Xiaopang rolled his eyes: "Then you go to the east, and I'll go to the west. Be careful."

"Okay." Ren nodded decisively.

As soon as they finished speaking, the two of them, under the cover of night, stealthily parted ways in the sacrificial ground, one heading east and the other west. But they were both very cautious, not straying too far apart, to ensure they could sense each other immediately and support one another.

Ren Ye walked in the eastern wilderness and examined three small golden figures in a row, only to find that they all had small holes in the back of their heads, and that they were empty inside, with only a golden shell remaining.

However, upon closer inspection, he noticed subtle differences among the little golden figures: they each had their own distinct scent, though faint, which could still be detected upon careful sniffing.

Aside from the first golden figure he and Little Fatty had explored together, the other three all emitted a faint smell of blood, some almost imperceptible, others more pronounced. In addition, this bloody smell seemed to be masked by a rather subtle but complex medicinal fragrance, or perhaps the scent of elixirs…

That peculiar medicinal fragrance was faint and vague, seemingly familiar yet complex, making it impossible to discern what kind of medicinal elixir it was, or perhaps what kind of herbal scent it was.

After Ren noticed this detail, his first guess was that someone might have secretly touched the body of the living dead and used some secret method to extract the other's blood and spiritual power, and finally used some kind of powder to cover up the smell.

The bloody smell emanating from the golden statues varied in intensity, some fainter and some stronger. This might be because they were "murdered" at different times. Some may have been tampered with a few months ago, while others may have been tampered with several years ago, hence the difference in the strength of the odor.

It's important to understand that these condemned prisoners sacrificed were intruders whom the Void Village deeply hated. Their divine abilities and cultivation levels far surpassed those of ordinary rogue cultivators. Even without using golden elixir to forge their bodies, such experts, simply placed in coffins after death, would not easily decay. In fact, the bodies of those who diligently cultivated the physical body during their lifetimes could remain incorrupt for a thousand years, with spiritual energy still surging within them.

Therefore, the smell of their blood is very difficult to remove, and it is quite normal for it to persist for several years.

"boom!"

Just as Ren was deep in thought, a muffled sound suddenly came from not far away.

He turned around abruptly, only to see the void to the west tremble and emit a blinding light.

"Whoosh!"

Immediately afterward, an ancient mirror floated in mid-air, and the chubby figure darted out of the mirror in a disheveled state, cursing, "Damn, that was close! I almost died."

Upon seeing this, Ren rushed over immediately and asked anxiously, "What happened? Are you alright?!"

"Ong!"

Little Fatty retrieved his Void-Transcending Mirror mid-air, then fell from the sky, his face pale and eyes bloodshot, panting, "It's so close, it's really so close...!"

"Tell me quickly, what exactly happened?" Ren Ye asked again after seeing that he was alright.

"I first examined the two little golden figures, but they both had holes in the back of their heads, and they were empty. Then I went higher up the hillside and saw the third little golden figure." Little Fatty wiped the sweat from his forehead, his eyes filled with lingering fear. "Unexpectedly, the third little golden figure didn't have a hole in the back of its head. I was curious, so I wanted to go and examine it… but… but suddenly I felt incredibly exhausted, my eyes drooping, as if I was about to fall into a deep sleep… In my dazed state, I even heard… an ethereal voice calling to me. Saying it was too cold here, too lonely… and asking me to hug it…!"

"I instinctively reached out to hug him, but then... a life-saving treasure left to me by my second uncle suddenly shone brightly, restoring my mind to clarity."

"I was absolutely terrified. I used the Ancient Mirror of Escape immediately to get out of there."

Li Xiaopang's face grew paler and paler as he spoke, and his short legs trembled: "To be honest, if it weren't for the life-saving magic item my second uncle gave me, I probably would have fallen asleep and most likely died in that strange situation."

"Are you sure that little golden statue doesn't have a hole in the back of its head?" Ren Ye asked seriously.

“Yes, there’s no hole.” Li Xiaopang shook his head. “Brother, based on what I just experienced, I think there must be a corpse inside this little golden figure with no hole in the back of its head. In other words, not all the living dead have disappeared in this sacrificial site…!”

“That makes sense.” Ren also agreed with his analysis: “If the golden man’s outer shell is not damaged, then no one can take the living dead away through the golden shell. And you also said that you heard a summons. Judging from the context of that summons… it’s very much like the living dead’s faint soul sensed your presence.”

“That’s right, exactly.” Li Xiaopang nodded emphatically, then licked his lips and asked, “Brother, should we continue investigating?”

"I think we can take another look at those with holes in the back of their heads, but we shouldn't get close to those without holes," Ren replied thoughtfully.

"Okay." Li Xiaopang was definitely a warrior. Even after almost dying, he still had curiosity and a strong drive to check on the condition of the other little golden figures.

After Li Xiaopang's dangerous experience, the two became even more cautious. They inspected over two hundred more small golden figures before quickly returning to the edge of the green forest outside the sacrificial site.

After the two bent down to sit, Li Xiaopang took out a wine flask from his consciousness space, tilted his head back and took a big gulp before handing it to Ren Ye.

The little rascal didn't mind; he just tilted his head back and took a big gulp, letting his whole chest burn before he felt a little warm.

Holding the wine jug, he sensed the entire sacrificial ground and suddenly spoke up: "After the little golden man was sent here, someone secretly came here, and frequently at that, and used some kind of secret method... to 'eat' the living dead inside the little golden man... Is my speculation reliable?"

“That makes sense!” Li Xiaopang nodded heavily. “My guess is the same as yours. Someone must have been sneaking in here regularly, secretly feeding on the living dead. Judging from the extent of damage to the golden shells, they all only have a hole in the back of their heads, which means… the murderer who stole the food didn’t rescue the living dead. Instead, they used some kind of secret method to ‘swallow’ their flesh and even their souls alive through the small hole, using it as nourishment to enhance themselves.”

"To be honest, I know a bit about the powerful figures in the Illusionary Village." He shook his head slightly, his voice trembling as he added, "But I really can't imagine who would secretly cultivate such a terrifying evil technique that can devour their own kind alive...!"

After a long silence, Ren said in a hoarse voice, "It's Zhao Mi, it must be him."

Upon hearing this, Li Xiaopang turned his head, his gaze grave, and said, "Just now, the two of us jointly examined over two hundred small golden figures, and most of them were already empty... If it really is Zhao Mi, then how many living people has he... how many has he already devoured?! Just how high has his true level and cultivation reached...!"

"Perhaps... he has already far surpassed my second uncle."

At this point, Li Xiaopang suddenly felt a chill for no reason, goosebumps rose all over his body, and his face became extremely solemn.

His position and status differed from Ren Ye's. Although he appeared reckless and overly cheerful on the surface, he was, after all, a descendant of a prominent clan. Naturally, he was also very sensitive to the matter of maintaining balance in the Void Village.

“It’s Zhao Mi.” Ren Ye frowned and said, “He stole my original eyes and mastered the secret technique of ‘devouring living people’. That’s why he often enters the Tomb of Illusions and secretly improves himself by using the little golden people here as nourishment.”

"This sacred tomb requires a guide talisman to see the correct path into the tomb, and no one usually comes here. His actions go unnoticed, and no one cares what happened to the little golden man after he was sent here."

He stroked his chin and added, "The situation here today just happens to prove that our previous guesses were correct. There is a very high probability that my primordial eyes are indeed in the God's Tomb. Because the commotion of devouring the living must be quite significant, and during the process, it may also be necessary to suppress the awakening of the undead. After devouring people, it will need to nurture and digest them... And all of this is inconvenient to do in the Illusion Village. Only the deserted God's Tomb is the most ideal place for this practice."

“That’s right, Zhao Mi, that old scoundrel, always seems ruthless, but I never imagined he could be this ruthless... that he could actually devour the life force and soul of a living person…!” Li Xiaopang said with fear, “He may have already surpassed his peers…!”

"No, not necessarily." Ren Ye shook his head slightly and said, "If he hadn't successfully refined my Origin Eyes, then all of this... might have just been a favor to someone else."

Li Xiaopang was stunned upon hearing this: "You mean...?!"

"The living dead nurture my original eyes. If I can find them tonight and merge them with the Three Thousand Secret Treasures, then tell me... what kind of expression will Zhao Mi have?!" Ren Ye asked rhetorically.

“That’s right!” Upon hearing this, Li Xiaopang suddenly stood up, excitedly cupping Ren Ye’s cheeks and saying, “I don’t know what his expression is like… but I do know that if this ‘terrifying power’ extracted from over a hundred little golden statues cannot be refined by Zhao Mi in the end, then my Li family will still dare to speak loudly in this illusory village!”