Shen Luo gently brushed off the dust on the book and saw the words "The Book of Conquering Demons" written on the cover. He was inspired and wanted to pick it up and read it, but as soon as he exerted force with his hand, the book, which had already been rotten, shattered into debris.
Seeing this situation, he could only shake his head helplessly.
Shen Luo walked out of the stone chamber and continued forward along the corridor, checking the disciples' houses along the way one by one. He found that the conditions inside were almost the same. They seemed to be just the most ordinary places where the outer disciples of Fangcun Mountain lived.
After he left the disciple quarters, he arrived at the foot of the mountain wall and entered a lush woodland.
There is a winding path in the forest, and a stone path covered in weeds extends into it.
Shen Luo walked along the path inside, and saw that there were actually independent courtyards scattered along the way. However, most of them had collapsed and were charred black, as if they had experienced a fire and had become ruins.
After passing by dozens of small courtyards in the forest, the stone path began to extend to the right. Not far from a fork in the road, Shen Luo saw a courtyard that was relatively well preserved.
To say it was intact was only in comparison with the previous ruins. The gate of the courtyard had completely collapsed. Although a two-story attic inside was still standing tenaciously, a big hole had been smashed in the roof by something unknown.
Shen Luo walked into the yard and saw that the ground was full of potholes and smashed marks. It was also filled with building debris that had flown from nowhere. There were beams and pillars of the house, as well as broken eaves. It was a mess.
"From a distance it looks like a paradise with neat houses, but when you get closer and take a closer look you will see ruins everywhere. It is obvious that this place has experienced a tragic war many years ago, but why haven't we seen a single corpse in half an day? I wonder if we can find some relics left by our ancestors." Shen Luo was puzzled, but also had a glimmer of anticipation.
He stepped over a broken roof ridge, walked to the attic, raised his hand and pushed open the door.
The door, which had not been opened for a long time, made a slight "creaking" sound and opened inward, raising a cloud of dust.
Shen Luo raised his hand to cover his mouth and nose and walked into the house, but saw that the furnishings inside were the same as those of an ordinary home. In the middle was a small living room with a landscape scroll hanging on the wall, which was already rotten and broken.
There is a guest room on each side of the main hall, equipped with a bed, table and chairs, but they are all rotten and dilapidated. There are also clumps of weeds growing in the gaps between the blue bricks on the ground, making it look very desolate and dilapidated.
Shen Luo originally wanted to look around the house to see if there was anything recording about this place, but in the end he found nothing.
He walked around the back of the main room and climbed up to the second floor of the attic along a tattered wooden ladder.
There was only one room on the second floor of the attic. As soon as Shen Luofang entered, he saw a bronze bell about as tall as a person embedded in the floor. It looked like the culprit that had caused the big hole in the roof.
He walked closer and saw that the bell was densely engraved with words and decorated with floral patterns all around. It looked very exquisite, so he recited silently according to the words:
"The universe is full of benevolence and virtue, and it blesses the common people. The sun and the moon go back and forth, and it bestows great achievements on the world without showing them. The Dao is reborn, and the palace is built. The gods bless and support silently, and the oath is fulfilled, praying for the blessings of heaven and earth and warding off disasters..."