Fulong Mountain, located in the Kunlun Mountain range, is a small peak that is actually part of the larger range. It is unclear whether the town was named Fulong Town because of the mountain, or the mountain was named Fulong Mountain because of the town.
"Senior, the place where the townsfolk held their ritual is in the cave ahead. I secretly followed them at the time but dared not get too close, only catching a general glimpse from outside the cave," Xu Xiaoqing said as she led Ye Ling to the mountainside of Fulong Mountain, pointing to a cave in front of them.
There were many cut thorns around the cave, and a faint demonic aura lingered at the entrance.
"Judging by this, these thorns were likely planted by the townsfolk of Fulong Town to conceal the cave, but they were cut down by the great demon that broke the seal."
Just seeing the cave, Ye Ling could roughly confirm Xu Xiaoqing's words. The truth was likely as Xu Xiaoqing had guessed: the great demon sealed there broke free, and in revenge against the townsfolk, annihilated Fulong Town. Furthermore, it was not enough to sate the demon's hatred; it even used a secret technique to kill everyone with the bloodline of Fulong Town. It is likely that only extreme hatred towards Fulong Town could lead to such an act. As for where the people of Fulong Town learned their evil arts, and what grudges the great demon had with Fulong Town, further investigation was needed.
"Let's go in and take a look."
After scanning the area outside the cave and noting the great demon's aura, Ye Ling walked into the cave.
"Be careful, senior. Let me go first!"
Xu Xiaoqing, fearing Ye Ling might encounter danger, quickly moved ahead of him to clear the path. She had experienced the power of the Fulong Town villagers, and this cave was opened by them to suppress the great demon, so it might still hold dangers. In Xu Xiaoqing's eyes, although Ye Ling was a divine doctor senior, his cultivation might not be stronger than hers. She was, after all, a fourth-rank异士 (yishi - a term for a practitioner with special abilities), and if danger arose, she could save Ye Ling's life.
Seeing Xu Xiaoqing volunteer, Ye Ling smiled and shook his head, but said nothing else, allowing her to take the lead.
After they entered the cave, Ye Ling discovered that the stone walls were covered with numerous murals. Judging by their style and content, the timeline seemed to span from the Western Zhou Dynasty to modern times. If these murals were made public, they would likely drive archaeologists worldwide into a frenzy and cause a huge sensation.
"There are such grand murals inside! Could this be depicting the history of Fulong Town?" Xu Xiaoqing looked at the murals on the stone walls, feeling dazzled and incredibly shocked. From the murals, she felt as if she were watching a grand epic of time, with a heavy historical aura washing over her.
Ye Ling glanced at the murals on the stone walls and said, "Judging by the content described in these murals, the townsfolk of Fulong Town migrated from beyond the domain. They received a divine stone bestowed by the Queen Mother of the West and worshipped it for generations on Kunlun Mountain. Later, an evil dragon coveted the divine stone bestowed by the Queen Mother of the West. The warriors of this tribe fought desperately against the evil dragon, suffering heavy casualties. Subsequently, a deity descended from heaven and suppressed the evil dragon. The dragon's blood splashed into the hot springs, turning the springs on this mountain into divine springs."
After interpreting this part of the murals, Ye Ling lowered his gaze. "It seems that for this reason, this place was called Fulong Town."
"Senior, quickly look at the murals here." Xu Xiaoqing beckoned to Ye Ling. Looking at the murals, she said, "According to the murals, the seal of the deity later weakened, and the evil dragon sealed here became restless. Some evil dragon cubs even emerged from the ground. The townsfolk of Fulong Town suffered heavy casualties trying to kill the evil dragon cubs."
"Later, fearing that the evil dragon would break the seal, these townsfolk continuously sought help from the Queen Mother of the West in the heavens using the divine stone. However, they no longer received any response from the deities and could only watch as the seal weakened and the evil dragon was about to break free."
After scanning the murals here, Xu Xiaoqing walked deeper into the cave and continued to interpret the murals. "Judging by the style of these murals, the timeline has reached the near modern era, just a few decades ago."
"By this time, the spiritual energy of heaven and earth had long since declined, and the immortal realm and the human realm had lost contact. These townsfolk prayed to a stone for help from the deities, but even the deities in the immortal realm likely could not receive their prayers."
"It is probably for this reason that the townsfolk of Fulong Town became disappointed with the deities and began to find ways to seal the evil dragon themselves. At this time, a swordsman dressed in a long robe came from the east. He displayed the power to summon wind and rain, and also brought a scripture that could grant eternal life. Subsequently, these townsfolk exchanged the divine stone for that scripture with the swordsman."
"Looking at the timeline, the current townsfolk of Fulong Town are all people who learned the secret arts from that scripture..."
"The evil arts they wield were likely taught by that swordsman..."
After interpreting the murals on the stone walls, Xu Xiaoqing was somewhat dazed. She never expected that the history of Fulong Town could be traced back three thousand years! With such a long history, this tribe had always stayed at the foot of Fulong Mountain, all for the sake of worshipping the divine stone of the Queen Mother of the West. And the divine stone they had guarded for three thousand years, because they could not get a response from the Queen Mother of the West, they handed it over to others in exchange for a scripture of evil, causing the entire tribe to fall.
Thinking about how the people of Fulong Town had relied on killing to maintain their longevity in the past few decades, and used human souls to seal the great demon, Xu Xiaoqing felt immense sorrow. That evil dragon was originally a great demon of the region, and the people of Fulong Town further increased its evil nature by using human souls to suppress it. Using such an evil formation would only make the evil dragon more violent and strengthen its power.
Ye Ling walked to the depths of the cave and looked at a large pit in front of him. "That swordsman who traded the divine stone for the scripture never intended to let the people of Fulong Town go from the beginning."
"After deceiving them and obtaining the divine stone, he knew that the evil dragon would eventually break the seal and slaughter the townsfolk of Fulong Town."
"However, although these townsfolk were deceived at first, their heinous crimes over the past few decades are unforgivable."
"Their slaughter by the evil dragon was their own doing."
Xu Xiaoqing sighed, "Alas... If our Shushan sect had discovered this earlier and used our demon-suppressing formation to seal this evil dragon, such a tragedy would not have occurred..."
"I wonder how much sin has been bred in this place." She sighed endlessly, with boundless emotion for the history of the Fulong Town tribe. A race with such a long history, only because of the deception of an outsider, had its future ruined. And for the heavy sins this tribe bore, they would likely not be reborn even in the underworld.
Ye Ling remained calm, not surprised by the tribe's fate. In the Eastern Profound Continent, there were too many races deceived by evil cultivators and ultimately fallen. Attributing it all... it was simply due to their insufficient strength and possessing supreme treasures, which attracted covetous outsiders.
An innocent person is not guilty, but possession of a treasure makes one guilty. This principle holds true in any world. The Fulong tribe possessed the divine stone of the Queen Mother of the West, yet lacked the strength within the tribe to guard it... Their fate was thus sealed.