Could it be that villain Cheng Kun?
Remembering his uncle's instructions, Zhang Cuishan immediately guessed the identity of the person who came. His heart was filled with murderous intent, and he wanted to get up and chase after him to stop him. However, thinking of Xiao Ning's instructions, he thought it over again and decided to suppress his anger.
After a while, once the figure had disappeared into the distance, Zhang Cuishan quietly followed. He didn't follow too closely, afraid of alerting the other party.
After following them for nearly ten miles, they had entered the depths of the dense forest when suddenly, they heard the sound of rushing water ahead. It was a pool formed by the convergence of a stream.
"So he really did go to the Ming Cult's forbidden area. It seems he's probably that scoundrel Cheng Kun!"
Arriving at this familiar place, Zhang Cuishan became even more certain of his guess.
Sure enough, the figure vanished in an instant, clearly having entered the forbidden area through the entrance.
Zhang Cuishan squatted in place and waited patiently for a full hour before emerging from his hiding place and walking to the bottom of the cliff by the pool.
Sure enough, the vines that had been covering the hole had creases.
The creases on these vines are very slight, clearly indicating that someone deliberately arranged them to avoid revealing their presence. However, any damage to vines will inevitably leave a mark.
Reaching the vines, Zhang Cuishan lifted them aside, revealing a cave as tall as a person, with a row of light footprints at the entrance.
"Hmm? What's that smell?"
Just as Zhang Cuishan was about to step into the cave, he suddenly smelled a strange odor. He sniffed and found the smell to be unusually pungent, like the smell of sulfur.
"Oh no! Could it be that my martial uncle was right after all? That scoundrel Cheng Kun actually prepared gunpowder?"
A sudden inspiration struck Zhang Cuishan, and he exclaimed softly.
He quickly squatted down and carefully examined the ground. Sure enough, he found a small groove on the side near the wall, which would be impossible to spot without careful observation.
There was some black powdery substance piled up in the groove, extending all the way to the depths of the secret passage.
Zhang Cuishan reached out and pinched some powder, then examined it carefully.
Then, he muttered a curse under his breath: "Damn it, Cheng Kun, you bastard! It really is gunpowder!"
He quickly got up and followed the grooves of the secret passage.
After a long while, Zhang Cuishan, standing at the end of the secret passage, was completely stunned when he saw the huge pile of gunpowder in front of him.
"This... must weigh at least three to five thousand catties, right?"
Zhang Cuishan's eyes widened in disbelief.
"If so much gunpowder were ignited, the power... it would blow up the entire Bright Peak! And the people of my six major sects and the Ming Cult are fighting outside. In that case... boom... hiss..."
Zhang Cuishan seemed to see the entire Bright Peak turn to ashes and everyone buried with it. He was so frightened that he trembled all over and could hardly stand up.
During those six years, Zhang Cuishan had come into contact with gunpowder and witnessed its power.
He had also heard his martial uncle Xiao Ning lament: "The advent of gunpowder heralded the tragic end of martial arts!"
Zhang Cuishan kept these words in mind.
Suddenly, it is discovered that Xie Xun's sworn enemy is planning to use gunpowder in an attempt to wipe out both the righteous and evil factions in the martial arts world.
After discovering this shocking conspiracy, Zhang Cuishan was covered in cold sweat.
"call!"
Taking a deep breath, Zhang Cuishan forced himself to calm down. He kept telling himself that all of this was within his uncle's expectations, a trivial matter, nothing to worry about... nothing to worry about my foot!
"Oh right, what did my martial uncle say again...? I need to think about it carefully..."
Zhang Cuishan kept recalling Xiao Ning's words in his mind.
"Right, let's get this gunpowder out of here first, just in case, and then we'll figure out a way to capture Cheng Kun..."
"To testify before all the heroes of the land that Cheng Kun was behind the siege of Bright Peak by the six major sects..."
"Then... he naturally became the savior of the Ming Cult, and smoothly ascended to the position of leader of the Ming Cult..."
"However, we need to strike the right balance; we can't show up too early, nor too late..."
"But... in that case... hehe! Father-in-law, I'm afraid you'll have to suffer a little..."
After mentally reviewing the program, Zhang Cuishan's eyes lit up.
Without further hesitation, he immediately began moving the gunpowder.
Fortunately, Cheng Kun did not pour out all the gunpowder. Instead, he piled up sacks and only poured out two of them to use as fuses.
They carried bag after bag of gunpowder out of the secret passage and threw it into the pool outside. Then, they cleaned out all the gunpowder from the grooves in the secret passage.
Half an hour later, looking at the forbidden area where there was not a single speck of gunpowder left, Zhang Cuishan clapped his hands, feeling an immense sense of pride.
"Wouldn't you say I'm the savior who saved all the heroes of the martial arts world? Heh!"
With a slight smile, Zhang Cuishan followed the detailed map of the forbidden area recorded in Yang Dingtian's will, found the entrance to the forbidden area from the front hall of Bright Peak, and walked out from there.
After exiting the entrance, Zhang Cuishan was stunned. He found himself in a woman's boudoir, but there was no one there. Judging from the furnishings, it was clear that no one had lived there for a long time, and it was covered in dust.
Zhang Cuishan didn't think much of it. He left the room, walked through two corridors, and passed through two halls.
Then, he suddenly heard the sound of weapons clashing, a fierce and chaotic battle. His eyes darted around, and he thought to himself, "Could this be the internal strife within the Ming Cult that my martial uncle was talking about? I have to go and see!"
Zhang Cuishan slowed his pace and arrived at a large hall, where he saw eight people fighting fiercely. Judging from their appearance, it was a man in gray who had ambushed the other seven.