<h4>Chapter 1215: Chapter 1206: The Signal</h4>


    The firelight ahead grew increasingly clear, and Xiao Yifei soon saw the source of the mes. It turned out to be torches hanging on the cave walls, supported by a peculiar kind ofmp oil that emitted a strange scent. Xiao Yifei realized it was corpse oil; his grandfather once told him that lights burning with corpse oil could sustain for a long time.


    While observing the torches, Xiao Yifei noticed a chicken drumstick on the ground within reach of the light. This drumstick seemed particrly familiar; thinking back, he realized it was the same drumstick Ci Xin used to eat while cultivating with him in the woods!


    Xiao Yifei thought to himself: How could there be wild chickens in this wild expanse of the Ten Thousand Mountains? Even if there were, these secluded ancient tribes wouldn’t know how to cook a chicken drumstick. Clearly, this drumstick was a signal left for him by Ci Xin.


    Ci Xin must be in this cave!


    With this realization, Xiao Yifei felt even more certain and quickened his pace into the cave.


    Finally, after about ten minutes of exploration, Xiao Yifei reached the end of the cave, where a slightly ajar Stone Gate stood. Light shone from beyond the gate. Cautiously peeking, he saw behind the stone gate was a passageway twisting downward into the depths, narrow enough for only two people to walk abreast.


    Carefully, Xiao Yifei slipped into the passageway behind the Stone Gate. Immediately, he heard a cacophony of shouts below. Thisnguage he had heard before during meetings between the Zhang Family and the strongmen. It was thenguage of this tribe, suggesting the tribespeople were up to some unspeakable activities below.


    Things were bing clear: Zhang Po and Ci Xin must be down there in the passage.


    Just as Xiao Yifei intended to descend, he hesitated. Judging by the raucous cries earlier, there must be at least eighty to a hundred tribe members below. Moreover, even powerful figures like Ci Xin and Zhang Po fell into their hands. Charging down recklessly would be like throwing an egg against a rock; a strategy was essential. Rushing forward blindly would only lead to certain death.


    However, even after simting ten thousand scenarios in his mind, Zhang Po still felt the chances of rescuing Ci Xin and Zhang Po and retreating unscathed were nearly zero.


    In his understanding, Ci Xin was the only one on Earth to have broken through to the Golden Elixir Realm, and Zhang Po was equally powerful, though Xiao Yifei hadn’t seen Zhang Po’sbat skills in action. Based purely on fighting prowess, Zhang Po could easily match or surpass him. What dire situation could force Zhang Po to surrender and Ci Xin to capitte?


    You two are really driving me to my wits’ end!


    As Xiao Yifei thought of their uncertain fate below, while he stood here weighing gains and losses, he wanted to p himself. Things hade to this; what was the point of hesitating? He was already halfway in, and retreating was not his nature.


    "Fine, if we die, we die together. After all, we’re all from the ancient Seven Great Families, dying together counts as havingpany. It would also appease our ancestors below." With this thought, Xiao Yifei steeled himself and plunged into the passageway.


    After a few twists and turns, the firelight ahead grew brighter, and the cries became deafening. Finally, after rounding yet another corner, the scene before him opened up.


    Xiao Yifei realized he was inside a mountain. Using some unknown method, the tribe had hollowed the entire mountain, creating a tunnel leading to an open space inside, muchrger than the stone za he had seen before.


    Several towering bonfires rose around the za. At the center stood over a hundred people, all with their backs to Xiao Yifei, obscuring their faces from him.


    These hundred people all looked up towards the same direction. Following their gaze, Xiao Yifei saw on the mountain opposite him a tform nearly ten meters high. Atop the tform stood an unusually tall man, also with his back to Xiao Yifei. Though Xiao Yifei couldn’t see his features, seeing the man’s arms made cold sweat break out instantly.


    This man was the spitting image of the statue of the ax-wielding giant he had seen in the Zhang Family’s small za; he must be the n Leader of this strange tribe.


    Whenever the ax-wielding man on the tform swung his massive hand, the group below erupted in frenzy, shouting words Xiao Yifei didn’t understand, but full of fervor.


    Looking in the direction the ax-wielding man gestured, Xiao Yifei saw hundreds or even thousands of bodies hanging around the cave. Some had decayed to skeletons, others were just beginning to rot, and some had died not long ago with their features still intact. Judging from the identifiable bodies, without exception, all the deceased were women. Moreover, each body had the same characteristic: all their hearts had been removed.


    At the lower end of this row of bodies, near Xiao Yifei’s left, several living people were bound there. Inspecting closely, the two near the stone tform were those Xiao Yifei had met briefly when they were married under his witness.


    And at the farthest edge were Ci Xin and Zhang Po, their faces filled with fury, shouting at the ax-wielding man on the tform. Given the distance and the tribe’s cries, Xiao Yifei couldn’t make out what they were shouting, but he could vaguely identify that both were sending heartfelt regards to the ax-wielding man’s parents.


    By contrast, the other women appeared resigned to their fates, keeping their heads down, gazing grimly at the stone wall.


    Perhaps due to thenguage barrier, the ax-wielding man ignored the two yelling profanities next to him and continued to listen to the cheers of his tribal followers with his head held high.


    Hiding behind a rock at the entrance, Xiao Yifei carefully witnessed everything, restraining his Qi so much that he didn’t dare to breathe loudly. If these hundred burly men attacked, they could tten the entire mountain!


    The ax-wielding man raised his left hand, which wasn’t holding an axe, and clenched it hard in the air. The za instantly fell silent, and then he suddenly turned and pointed at a tribal member.


    The tribesman seemed taken by surprise, repeatedly bowing to the ax-wielding man, who nodded back at him. ted, the tribesman leaped toward the Zhang Family woman closest to the stone tform, his eyes full of terror. She shook her head, pleading with the tribesman not toe closer.


    But he ignored her pleas, thrusting arge hand into the woman’s chest. She choked twice before spitting blood and dying. The tribesman extracted her heart and, removing his mask, began to devour it ravenously.


    Underneath the mask, his mouth tore into a grotesque grin stretching to the back of his head, filled with sharp fangs, chewing the woman’s heart with crunching sounds.


    Zhang Po watched, teeth clenched in anger, shouting, "Come at me if you have the guts! Eating our nsmen proves nothing, but I swear to settle this score!" Yet bound firmly by chains, he couldn’tsh out, with no way to vent his rage.


    <fn2f92> Checktest chapters at find~novel</fn2f92>


    The scene terrified Xiao Yifei as he helplessly watched Zhang Po’s nsman die so brutally before him, unable to do anything but hide on the sideline to see how events unfolded.


    Soon, the tribesman finished eating the woman’s heart, reced his mask, slid his eyes into a satisfied squint, and remembered to thank the ax-wielding man on the tform.


    The ax-wielding man selected another tribesman, who repeated the previous process, eating another Zhang Family woman’s heart.


    This is terrible. Ci Xin is next; what should I do?


    Thinking this, Xiao Yifei could no longer sit still. Just then, he felt a piercing gaze hit him, making him shiver half to death. Looking up, he locked eyes with the ax-wielding man’s evil gaze.


    It’s over, I’ve been discovered!