The hot spring town was not too far from Jiang Du, and they arrived in about seven or eight hours.
As they exited the station, they saw Da Hu already standing under a lamppost, smoking and waiting alone.
Seeing Yu Daohen arrive, Da Hu walked forward, a smile on his face, and pulled out a cigarette, offering one, "Master Yu, you're here."
Yu Daohen nodded, looking at Da Hu. In the more than a year since they last met, Da Hu had become much stronger, but a wrinkle had appeared on his forehead.
"Brother Da Hu, you've gotten a lot stronger than before in this past year," Yu Daohen teased.
Da Hu rubbed the back of his head with a hearty laugh, "Ah, don't mention it. Ever since we went back to Taohua Village last time, my old man has been calling me to carry cement every day."
Yu Daohen shook his head helplessly. They were coffin bearers, a family business. Everyone in it was basically related by blood or marriage.
Da Hu, seeing the young man beside Yu Daohen, asked curiously, "Master Yu, who is this?"
"This kid is a disciple of my sect, Zhou Fu," Yu Daohen said, then turned to Zhou Fu beside him, "This is Yang Da Hu, a coffin bearer."
Seeing this, Zhou Fu respectfully bowed and called out, "Master Hu."
Da Hu nodded. He had just wanted to ask if this was a new disciple Master Yu had taken in, but he was afraid Master Yu would be reminded of that kid Zhou Fu, so he didn't speak.
"Master Yu, the hot springs here are famous. Let's go soak in the hot springs and relax," Da Hu said, leading Yu Daohen and Zhou Fu forward.
On the way, Yu Daohen looked at Da Hu beside him, "Brother Da Hu, you're not being a good friend. It's been over a year, and every time I call you for a drink, you make excuses. Have our feelings faded?"
Da Hu shamefully rubbed the back of his head and said helplessly, "Master Yu, I wanted to come, but there have been some issues within the family."
Yu Daohen looked at Da Hu's expression and sensed something was wrong, "What kind of issues?"
Da Hu sighed and began to explain, "Ah, Master Yu, you know, we are a family of coffin bearers. Excluding those who have completely left the profession, there are only a little over a hundred clan members. But half a year ago, more than twenty people died suddenly."
"More than twenty people!?" Yu Daohen was surprised, "How could so many people die?"
Da Hu shook his head helplessly and began to speak.
Half a year ago, the family suddenly received a big job: transporting five coffins from Xiangxi to Hebei.
However, according to the employer, the coffins contained extremely malevolent things.
The clan leader also attached great importance to this, specifically dispatching all the skilled disciples of the family, even sending out the deputy clan leader.
A total of twenty-five people went out, and even Da Hu's younger brother, Er Hu, went with them.
Everyone loaded the coffins onto the vehicle and set off. Everything was going smoothly at first.
But on the second day after departure, it suddenly started to rain heavily. The ink lines got wet from the rain, and the five corpses inside suddenly went berserk.
Seeing the corpses mutated, everyone grabbed their weapons and extinguished the five corpses. But when everyone saw clearly, they were all horrified.
These five were not ordinary zombies, but the most ferocious existence among zombies: Ba!
Zombies are generally divided into White Zombie, Black Zombie, Hopping Zombie, Flying Zombie, and Ba.
Reaching the Flying Zombie stage, even an expert on the Heavenly Ranking might not be able to deal with them, let alone Ba.
Upon hearing this, Yu Daohen's expression was one of surprise. Ba were the most difficult to deal with among zombies, and they were not even afraid of sunlight.
What was even more terrifying was their strength. It was rumored that when Ba appeared, within a radius of a hundred miles, no living thing would be spared, and the land would be devastated.
In the end, it was the deputy clan leader who, along with more than twenty disciples, fought desperately to delay until the Heavenly Master's Mansion's rescue arrived.
Even for the Heavenly Master's Mansion, eliminating these five Ba came at a considerable cost.
In this battle, almost all the elite disciples of the Yang family were lost. Now, only the clan leader and a few elders were left to support the family.
"Didn't you open the coffins to check beforehand?" Yu Daohen asked, confused.
Da Hu shook his head helplessly, "The coffins were sealed by the employer, and they couldn't be opened for inspection at all."
After listening, Yu Daohen's brows furrowed in thought.
Such malevolent beings as Ba could not have formed in just a few months, nor could five Ba have formed all at once.
This indicated that someone wanted to harm their Yang family.
Moreover, Ba were rare treasures, and the conditions for their mutation were extremely harsh, with no room for error.
The appearance of five Ba at once could only mean one thing: these Ba were not naturally formed but were cultivated by humans.
But in the martial world, only the Xiangxi corpse herders had the ability to cultivate Ba, such beings of great malevolence.
Da Hu also saw what Yu Daohen was thinking and shook his head helplessly, "Master Yu, you suspect the Xiangxi corpse herders are responsible?"
Yu Daohen nodded and explained his thoughts, "Although other sects in the martial world also practice corpse cultivation, it's a drop in the bucket compared to the corpse herders. As far as I know, only the Xiangxi corpse herders can cultivate such malevolent beings as Ba."
Da Hu agreed with a nod, "That's right, that's what we thought too."
Seeing Da Hu suddenly fall silent, Yu Daohen inquired, "Did you find anything?"
Da Hu shook his head helplessly, "The Xiangxi corpse herders are a top-tier force, and they also have Huang Yong, who is ranked eighth on the Black List. Without conclusive evidence, acting rashly would only bring disaster to the Yang family."
Yu Daohen thought about it and agreed, nodding. The Yang family was now severely weakened, with almost all their elite disciples dead. If a war were to break out, they would have no chance.
Now, the only way to bring them to justice was to find evidence.
"What about the employer?" Yu Daohen asked.
If they could find the employer who paid for this, they could find out who was behind it.
Da Hu shook his head, his fists clenched, making cracking sounds, and killing intent flashed in his eyes, "We found the person, but he was already a corpse. Even his soul was extinguished, silencing him."
Hearing this, Yu Daohen sighed inwardly.
What a vicious method. This way, there was not a single clue left.
Da Hu continued, "However, there is still a clue."
Yu Daohen was puzzled, "With even the soul extinguished, where is the clue?"
Da Hu explained the clue they were investigating: "Before we set off, we checked the weather forecast. It said there would be strong sunshine for the entire week, so rain was impossible. But on the night of the second day after they departed, it poured. The clan leader suspects that someone might have performed a ritual to summon rain."
Right!
Yu Daohen suddenly realized that as people in this line of work, Da Hu and the others would certainly pay attention to weather forecasts. "Did you gain anything?"
Da Hu nodded, "After our investigation, it is true that someone performed a ritual to summon rain in that area for a hundred miles."
Yu Daohen nodded. Since they knew someone had performed a ritual to summon rain, there was a lead.
Being able to perform a ritual to make it rain in a hundred-mile radius was not something ordinary people could do. In the martial world, it at least meant they were somewhat famous.
As long as they followed this lead and investigated who had been to that area recently, they would be able to find the mastermind.