Chapter 1441: Old Secrets

Seeing her leave, Zu'an and the others sighed in relief. He quickly began circulating the Primordial Chaos Sutra to heal his injuries.

Just then, several figures rapidly approached, shouting, "Nüba is here!"

Vaguely, someone was seen waving a sleeve, and the surrounding dust and smoke were immediately sucked into it, significantly improving visibility.

Several strangely dressed figures, appearing to be shamans, were gathered nearby, faintly revealing a decaying corpse.

It was clearly Nüba's corpse.

Now, only her head seemed to remain; her body was nowhere to be found.

Zu'an couldn't help but marvel at Nüba's astonishing cultivation. The recent blast was more powerful than a nuclear bomb, yet a head still remained?

The leader sighed, "Nüba, why did you go to such lengths?"

Nüba did not reply; she was already dead.

Her eyes were open, seemingly filled with indignation and anger.

The group collectively sighed, then chanted strange syllables, seemingly a eulogy. Nüba's expression slowly softened, and she finally closed her eyes.

Witnessing this, Zu'an and the others were amazed. Was this a scripture for salvation?

At that moment, the shamans noticed their presence and quickly surrounded them, staring with hostile expressions.

Only then did Zu'an get a clear look at them. To call them human was, frankly, a stretch.

Each of them had extremely bizarre appearances. Some had colorful paint on their faces, others wore ferocious masks, and a few had huge necklaces made of unknown animal bones, making them look terrifying.

"They're with the Golden Crows! Kill them to avenge Nüba!" one of them exclaimed indignantly.

Zu'an's heart stirred. It seemed these shamans were allied with Nüba and were on opposing sides with Xihe and her group.

He immediately explained, "Esteemed senior, you've misunderstood. We are not allied with the Golden Crows; on the contrary, we have a grudge against them."

"Nonsense," the previous speaker sneered. "I clearly saw you in Xihe's golden chariot just now. If you're not allied, then what are you?"

"That's because we were captured by her," Zu'an quickly replied. "We went to Tanggu to deal with the Golden Crows, but Xihe discovered us and overpowered us, capturing us. Later, when Xihe battled that Nü... Nüba, she was fully engaged and couldn't pay attention to us, which is how we managed to escape in the chaos."

The shamans' expressions turned strange. "With your strength, you intended to go to Tanggu to deal with the Golden Crows?"

Yan Xuehen and Yun Jianyue showed some embarrassment. Ordinarily, they were prominent and renowned powerhouses, but now they were being scorned for their low strength.

Yet, they couldn't refute it. Whether it was Xihe, Nüba, or the shamans before them, their strength was unfathomable.

Both felt a sense of powerlessness. Although they had prepared for the dangers of the Unknown Land, they hadn't anticipated it would be this perilous.

No wonder no one had ever returned alive from the Unknown Land for thousands of years.

How did this Zu'an manage to escape from these terrifying secret realms? And from what he said previously, it seemed he had entered more than one Unknown Land.

Zu'an was also secretly complaining at this moment. The several Unknown Lands he had experienced before combined were not as terrifying as this one.

This was entirely approaching a mythical world.

However, since things had come to this, he could only push on with a thick skin: "Indeed, we were arrogant and underestimated the Golden Crows' strength, which led to our capture. Fortunately, you appeared in time, distracting them and giving us a chance to escape."

The shamans exchanged glances, their expressions showing a mix of belief and doubt. Clearly, his story was quite outlandish.

The leading shaman, however, nodded slightly. "True, Xihe has always been arrogant. I've never heard of her having human friends, nor would she allow humans to ride in the same chariot as her."

"But I am very curious, why would Xihe let you go? Although she isn't bloodthirsty, she has always been indifferent to humans. How could she carry you as prisoners?"

As soon as he finished speaking, the shamans stared intently at them, seemingly ready to kill at the slightest sign of deception.

Zu'an reacted quickly and immediately said, "Because at that moment, I had a flash of inspiration and claimed we knew the reason behind the sudden rampage of the ten Golden Crows. That's why Xihe temporarily spared our lives, then rushed off to follow the Golden Crows."

"Oh, you know the reason the ten suns appeared?" The leading shaman's gaze sharpened.

Zu'an gave a wry smile. "That was just a desperate measure to save our lives at the time. Of course, I don't know the real reason. Thankfully you arrived, otherwise, if she had interrogated us later, we would probably be in danger."

Any sane person now understood that the sudden mass emergence of the ten Golden Crows couldn't simply be attributed to childish playfulness, as initially rumored. There was likely some huge conspiracy behind it.

He worried about being dragged into it and getting annihilated, so naturally, he wanted to distance himself.

"I see." As the shaman pondered, he suddenly noticed a corner of a mulberry leaf peeking from Zu'an's clothes. "Where did you get this mulberry leaf?"

"The great mulberry tree in the Mulberry Forest gave it to us earlier," Zu'an replied, secretly observing their expressions. "It said it was to dispel the miasma from Dongting Lake and help us heal."

Hearing this answer, the shamans visibly relaxed. "Since that old mulberry tree gave you this leaf, it proves you are indeed not bad people."

"You are seriously injured. Come back to our place to rest for a while."

With a casual wave, several exotic beasts appeared on the ground and carried them.

The shamans, one by one, also summoned their own mounts, all strangely shaped and unidentifiable.

Although these mounts looked clumsy, they moved with incredible speed, as if soaring through clouds.

While thanking them, Zu'an seized the opportunity to ask, "Are you the legendary Ten Shamans of Mount Ling?"

The shamans chuckled. "So you've heard of us."

Only Yu Yanluo and the two other women blinked, looking bewildered, but they didn't voice their confusion at that moment.

Zu'an was inwardly shocked. He said, "I've heard many legends about you all, but I don't know which ones are true..."

He then roughly described the plots he had read in the ancient mythology novels in his previous life, leaving Yun Jianyue and Yan Xuehen utterly astonished, wondering if such powerful beings truly existed in the world.

Yu Yanluo, meanwhile, wondered if Zu'an was flattering them. She had to admit, it was an incredibly clever compliment, praising them flawlessly.

The shamans' old faces flushed. The leader quickly waved his hand, saying, "Exaggerated, exaggerated! We're not that powerful, nor are we descendants of Pangu the Great. We are just a few leaders of the Witch Tribe. I am Wu Xian, their elder brother, and they are Wu Ji, Wu Pan, Wu Peng, Wu Gu, Wu Zhen, Wu Li, Wu Di, Wu Xie, Wu Luo..."

He then introduced them one by one.

Zu'an and the three others also introduced themselves. After getting acquainted, their attitudes became increasingly relaxed and friendly.

"By the way, was that Nüba just now your friend?" Zu'an took the opportunity to ask.

Wu Xian sighed. "She was our old neighbor, so I suppose you could call her a friend."

"She's so pitiful. Why did the ten Golden Crows attack her?" Yu Yanluo asked, her voice filled with sympathy.

She was already exceptionally beautiful and amiable, and the aura of the Sacred Spirit Pearl on her made the Ten Shamans of Mount Ling feel even closer to her. So, Wu Xian replied, "This involves an ancient secret, and everything is related to the Immortality Elixir."

"The Immortality Elixir?" Zu'an and the others were immediately startled. They realized that ever since entering this Unknown Land, they had heard legends of the Immortality Elixir several times. At first, they were somewhat disbelieving, but seeing how many events seemed linked to it, they had no choice but to believe.