Chapter 156: Doubt, the Scorched Corpse!

Although somewhat blurred, the handwriting was unmistakably clear.

The moment he laid eyes on the two characters, Lin Yi’s first thought went straight to the Underhell Organization.

According to that deceitful old river god, this organization was practically omnipotent, with eyes and ears reaching across the heavens and earth.

He guessed that this must be some kind of pass token issued by the Underhell Organization.

The material of the small wooden plaque appeared extremely unusual; just from the substance itself, faint wisps of medicinal fragrance seemed to emanate outward.

Once the Demon King’s bead was put away inside the bronze box, that medicinal fragrance grew even more intense.

In Lin Yi’s view, this was simply incredible.

Something mixed up with the Demon King’s bead of the bird-man demon king Blood Demon was actually emitting a medicinal fragrance—wasn't this a complete joke?

Yet, the more ominous and ill-fated an object was, the more likely such anomalies became.

With these thoughts in his mind, Lin Yi brought the small wooden plaque up to his eyes to examine it closely.

The plaque was only about the size of a palm. Aside from the archaic characters for "Underhell" inscribed upon it, there were no other carvings whatsoever, not even a simple pattern, and its entire body possessed a somewhat pitch-black appearance.

Judging from the statue fragments that had been stuck to it earlier, this item should also have been embedded inside the statue.

Inhaling the drifting wisps of medicinal fragrance, Lin Yi looked at it from every angle, yet still could not figure out what this small wooden plaque actually was.

Pulling back his thoughts, Lin Yi quickly began searching around the area, hoping to see if there were any other good things hidden inside the statue.

After searching for a while, Lin Yi came up empty-handed.

Deciding against wasting more time, Lin Yi packed away the bronze box and other items, then leaped back up out of the large pit.

This place was a veritable treasure trove, and Lin Yi had already made up his mind to seal it off. Whenever he decided to properly excavate it again in the future, there might still be some unexpected surprises waiting.

After jumping up, Lin Yi addressed the black bear demon, who had not left and still wore a peculiar expression on its face: "Alright, wipe that look off your face. Now, get back down there and clear the place out for me..."

"..."

The black bear demon desperately wanted to say, Big Brother, I don't want to do manual labor anymore.

Yet, meeting Lin Yi's gaze, the black bear demon could not utter a single word.

A moment later, the black bear demon leaped into the pit with a loud thud, continuing to labor away with grunts and groans.

This time, the black bear demon did not dare to vent any unconventional emotions, because Lin Yi was glaring at it from above.

Lin Yi watched the black bear demon busy at work. Estimating that half an hour had passed and that the ominous energy value of the black bear demon's body had plummeted rapidly from over five thousand points down to just one or two thousand points, Lin Yi finally shook his head. It seemed there were no other rewards to be found here.

With that in mind, Lin Yi called the black bear demon back up, and together they rode the elevator across to Yan Liang's office.

Lin Yi instructed Yan Liang to immediately seal off the underground parking lot, forbidding any outsiders from entering or leaving, as he would drop by at any time in the future.

Additionally, he told Yan Liang to have the surveillance cameras repaired right away.

After giving all these instructions and watching Yan Liang nod in earnest, Lin Yi and the black bear demon headed downstairs and left.

Along the way, gentle breezes carried faint perfumes, and beautiful women were visible everywhere.

Especially since it was getting later into the night and the Red Romance Bath Center was in full swing during peak business hours, the women were wearing even more revealing outfits, leaving Lin Yi’s eyes spinning with too much to take in.

The black bear demon had truly opened Lin Yi's eyes; this creature actually seemed to fancy human women, though it remained unclear whether it wanted to eat them or harbored other intentions entirely.

At any rate, as it stared at those human beauties, its eyes bulged wide, and saliva was practically dripping from its mouth.

Lin Yi withdrew his energy, and instantly, he could see what kind of illusion the black bear demon was projecting of itself to others under the influence of its spellcraft.

Why do they say that regardless of life form—whether human, demon, or ghost—the more one lacks something, the more one desperately tries to display it?

The black bear demon was quite short, standing at only around one meter seventy, which was frankly a disgrace to the bear demon race. Therefore, the illusion currently projected by this black bear demon was that of a robust, muscular man standing nearly two meters tall, with remarkably handsome facial features.

Consequently, as the black bear demon strolled along this path, it managed to attract the gazes of many beauties. Even Lin Yi, whose appearance had become quite dashing after tempering his body several times, felt somewhat ignored by comparison.

Watching the swaggering and pompous gait of the black bear demon, Lin Yi found it utterly comical. Would you dare reveal your true face for these beauties to look at?

What are you still putting on such a big act of arrogance for in front of me?

Before long, the two of them emerged from the Red Romance Bath Center.

This time, the black bear demon had driven here. Upon catching sight of the black bear demon’s car, Lin Yi’s eyes lit up, realizing there was an unexpected bonus.

He had originally planned to acquire a designated vehicle for himself, but now it seemed he could drive even without one of his own.

The car was a top-tier Lamborghini Aventador. Parked right there, it had already captured the attention of countless passersby.

The men looked on with envy and jealousy, while the women longed to sit inside it.

A few internet celebrities were even continuously taking photos right next to the car.

Lin Yi glanced at the black bear demon: "Hurry up and hand me your car keys. I’ve never driven a luxury sports car like this before."

The black bear demon nodded submissively, then instinctively reached out to pat its pockets, only to find them completely empty.

That was when the black bear demon remembered its armor had been confiscated by Lin Yi, and the keys had been attached to the armor.

"Um, Immortal Master, my car keys are on my armor. But since my armor was... was taken away by you, those keys..."

The black bear demon spoke with extreme caution, its bear eyes fixed intently on Lin Yi.

Ever since meeting Lin Yi, the black bear demon had felt that the young man in front of it exuded an aura of profound bizarreness.

Young, yet possessing immense strength; moreover, despite keeping his hands empty the entire time, he had suddenly produced a pile of tools down in the basement.

Its armor had been confiscated, leaving it unable to trace where the armor had gone, those tools had vanished as well, and subsequently, this fellow had acquired a duffel bag, though what was inside it remained a complete mystery.

In short, the black bear demon genuinely felt that the young man before it was far too uncanny.

Could it be that besides being a martial arts expert, this young man was also a sorcerer capable of genuine magic?

In any case, the black bear demon was utterly bewildered.

Right now, the black bear demon resolved to find out where on earth the young man had hidden those car keys.

Yet the black bear demon was met with disappointment. Almost in the blink of an eye, its very own car keys magically appeared in the young man's hand.

There was no telling where the youth had conjured them from.

The black bear demon cast its gaze all around, yet from start to finish, it discovered nothing unusual.

Lin Yi merely shook his head.

He was already well aware of what the black bear demon was plotting.

Lin Yi figured that this black bear demon certainly had a lot of nerve. Knowing full well that he had displayed such capabilities before it and would undoubtedly kill it in the end, the bear demon stubbornly stuck by him and hadn't even attempted to flee just now.

Ever since he mentioned accompanying it to the treasure secret realm, the black bear demon hadn't tried to escape at all; the conspiracy brewing in its mind must be massive.

Fine then. Since you are plotting against me, I shall likewise concoct a scheme targeting you.

Relying on his sharp senses and keen memory, Lin Yi quickly figured out the functions of the various buttons, started up the supercar, and finally drove off into the distance.

His destination: Four Elephants Mountain.

Four Elephants Mountain was a mountain located not far from the suburbs of Jingcheng City, and it was actually connected to Two Dragons Mountain.

Strictly speaking, the two formed a single continuous mountain range.

The mountain range at the deepest part of the back mountain of Jingcheng Academy belonged to this very same system, and the deepest point of this range connected to none other than... the legendary region where Lady Huang Jiu resided!

However, after learning that Lady Huang Jiu possessed the art of avatar replication, Lin Yi had already concluded that her true physical body must exist within the misty zone where thirty-three high mountains hovered.

Deep within this remote mountain forest, there should only be one of her avatars.

That said, Two Dragons Mountain was extremely famous as a scenic tourist spot, whereas Four Elephants Mountain was merely a small attraction, reasonably well-known locally, but virtually unknown outside of Jingcheng City itself.

The mountain was filled with jagged, strange rocks, and much of the interior consisted of dilapidated, quarry-like terrain that had once been dedicated to producing limestone.

Along the way, the black bear demon had already filled Lin Yi in on all the details concerning the treasure secret realm in Four Elephants Mountain.

The location of the secret realm was within a river channel nestled deep among the undulating mountain ranges of Four Elephants Mountain.

That river channel had now been modified into a reservoir.

Upstream of the reservoir lay the most iconic scenic spot of Four Elephants Mountain—a small waterfall and deep pool. Within that deep pool lay the entrance to the treasure secret realm.

According to the black bear demon's account, there was an array set up there known as the Four Elephants Formation.

This information had been revealed by the Nine-Headed Dragon King, and that entire river channel was completely under the control of the Nine-Headed Dragon King.

Once the vehicle drove to the edge of the reservoir, they had to continue on foot.

Lin Yi made the black bear demon walk in front while he followed closely behind.

After a brief thought, Lin Yi summoned the Fierce Tiger Ghost-Head Saber.

The moment the weapon made its debut, it startled the black bear demon profoundly, while deepening its inner perplexity even further: What kind of methods did this young man behind it actually possess?

How could these items be produced in a seemingly endless stream?

Even if he knew magic, such a massive saber should still be quite exhausting for him to carry, right?

Pondering this, the black bear demon’s greed flared up continuously, and it genuinely wanted to rob Lin Yi.

At this point, it didn't even want to kill Lin Yi right away; it wanted to torture out of him the secret of where all these items were hidden.

Once it mastered this remarkable trick, wouldn't it be wonderful to kill Lin Yi afterwards?

Man and demon walked onward in this fashion, and soon they arrived at the aforementioned deep pool guarded by the Four Elephants Formation.

By now, the moon had risen, and the starry sky was dotted with light.

Just as they arrived, Lin Yi spotted a campfire in the distance, from which wisps of roasted meat fragrance constantly drifted.

A heavy stench of blood also lingered in the surrounding air.

Through the darkness, Lin Yi caught sight of three people bound together with vines.

Those three individuals had lost all control of their bowels and bladders out of sheer terror, their eyes wide with horror as their bodies trembled violently, huddled back-to-back and paralyzed on the ground.

Looking closer at what was roasting over the campfire ahead, Lin Yi instantly felt a surge of rage pierce through his heart like a sharp hook.

For Lin Yi saw that roasting on the campfire ahead was the corpse of a human being.

The body had already been cleaved in two halves, just like that, resting across the flames and being steadily roasted.