Chapter 336 170: The Greatest Tragedy of All Time

"But once I actually got here, I discovered an unexpected change at a critical point, forcing me to retreat...

"Moreover, this change means the purpose of this array is no longer just to obstruct us.

"It seems to be trying to guide us, to make us visit every location it wants us to see."

"What do you mean?"

For a moment, Ruan Yuqing didn't quite understand.

Jiang Ran pondered briefly.

"Let's go!"

Ruan Yuqing was taken aback. 'So suddenly?'

Caught off guard, she nearly lost her grip. In a fluster, she could only cling tightly to Jiang Ran.

She was practically a human pendant.

But Jiang Ran had already taken a step and landed in another spot. He said to her softly,

"Look."

Ruan Yuqing looked up at Jiang Ran, feeling her ears burn bright red. She couldn't help but shoot him a glare.

"Did you do that on purpose?"

"Huh?"

Jiang Ran paused, confused. "Do what on purpose?"

"Made me... hold onto you like this on purpose?"

Ruan Yuqing worried her lower lip.

Jiang Ran stared blankly for a moment, then it dawned on him.

He couldn't help but smile.

"Miss Ruan, you've misunderstood... Besides, you're the one clinging to me. I haven't made a single improper move."

"Oh, just be quiet."

Ruan Yuqing rolled her eyes at him.

"Fine, I'll believe you this once. We'll just say the situation called for it. What were you telling me to look at earlier?"

"Behind you."

Jiang Ran pointed.

Ruan Yuqing turned to look and saw, on one of the giant swords behind them, a relief carving.

It depicted a person sitting cross-legged while someone behind them pierced their skull with a steel needle.

Although the image was carved with just a few simple lines, the excruciating, soul-piercing agony was still rendered in vivid detail.

"This…"

Ruan Yuqing's brow furrowed.

"We already saw tortures like 'Heart Devouring,' 'Bone Grinding,' and 'Burning and Boiling.'

"And there are even more over here…"

"Based on my deduction, there are probably a dozen or so more of these relief carvings. By the time we've traversed the entire array, we should have seen them all," Jiang Ran said softly.

But Ruan Yuqing's brow remained furrowed.

"But why make the people who enter the array see these carvings?

"If it's just to scare people, that can't be the only reason."

"I'm afraid we'll only have an answer after we've seen them all."

With that, Jiang Ran leaped into the air.

Ruan Yuqing's brow twitched. She subconsciously tightened her arms around Jiang Ran's neck and shot him a small glare.

Having learned from his previous experience, this time Jiang Ran landed perfectly smoothly.

The two of them then examined another relief carving.

In this way, they saw seventeen carvings in a row, and Jiang Ran and Ruan Yuqing completed a full circle around the array.

They arrived before the final, eighteenth giant sword.

This time, however, there was no horrific relief carving on it.

Instead, there were words…

The characters were twisted, as if written in blood. Just looking at them stirred the emotions and filled the heart with anguish.

Jiang Ran's gaze swept over the words, and his pupils contracted sharply.

Written on it was none other than:

"Eighteen Celestial Demon Records, the Greatest Sorrow of All Ages!"

...

...

RUMBLE!!

A clap of thunder echoed through the sky as the rain began to fall even harder.

Tang Huayi and the others were now inside a room.

They gazed grimly at their surroundings.

This was a secret room.

Outside the secret room was an ordinary room.

The room was kept very clean, perhaps the cleanest in the entire post station.

They had originally come here to find the old man.

But they never found him. In their relentless search, however, they stumbled upon a secret room.

The secret room contained nothing else… only heads. Human heads!

Some of these heads were freshly severed, still dripping with blood.

Others, however, had been severed many years ago, their flesh gone, leaving only bleached skulls.

They were piled in the corners of the secret room, some scattered, some neatly arranged.

Fortunately, everyone present was a veteran of the martial world, well-acquainted with grisly scenes.

Otherwise, the sight within this secret room alone would have likely scared one or two of them to death.

But even so, Cheng Tianyang, Dao Wuming, and the others looked grim.

"To think a Demon has been hiding in a post station abandoned for years.

"How many years has this person been entrenched here?

"And what is the purpose of severing all these heads?"

Dao Wuming's face was livid.

He was from the Sword Holding Department, making him a proper government official.

For instance, even with his Assassin's Order, Jiang Ran wouldn't be qualified to stay at an official post station.

But Dao Wuming could.

The reason they hadn't gone to the station six miles away was twofold: first, this place was closer, and second, they were traveling with Feng Wu and the others.

They had met on the road and were journeying together to Evergreen Mansion; it just wouldn't have been right to abandon their companions midway so they could stay at an official station.

He never expected to encounter something like this in an abandoned post station.

"A person this extreme must have an equally extreme plot in mind."

Cheng Tianyang's brows were tightly knitted.

"We shouldn't linger here… The fact that this person is nowhere to be found worries me even more.

"Everyone, let's get out of this secret room before we plan our next move."

Everyone nodded and left the secret room.

Tang Huayi walked at the back. When the others weren't looking, she reached out, touched a human head, and slowly pulled a long needle out of it.

The needle was over six inches long, buried deep in the brain, yet it left no visible trace on the outside.

Tang Huayi let out a soft breath, a contemplative look on her face.

But before she could sort out her thoughts, a cry of alarm suddenly cut through the rainy night.