The mountain range where the Wang family had taken up seclusion was vast.
Though it was merely a remote mountain range, its area was several times the size of the entire Lower Realm of Martial Ancestor.
This was the difference between the Upper Realm and the Lower Realm — the disparity in the land available to those who cultivated the martial path.
The Lower Realm, to those who lived within it, was already a boundless expanse that many would spend their entire lives without ever traversing in full.
Yet that very expanse, which the people of the Lower Realm regarded as vast beyond measure, was still smaller in territory than a single mountain range in the Upper Realm.
No wonder the people of the Upper Realm called those of the Lower Realm frogs at the bottom of a well.
And this mountain range was not only enormous — it was also nearly devoid of human presence.
Finding the Wang family here was truly like searching for a needle in the ocean.
But Chu Feng was not worried in the slightest. If they had taken refuge here, they were bound to have left behind traces and clues. For a Spirit World Master of his caliber, that was no difficult task at all.
Before long, Chu Feng followed the clues he had observed and located the Wang family estate.
The Wang family was a prominent household, and their compound was enormous — calling it a small city would not have been an exaggeration.
However, it lacked the grandeur and splendor of the estate they had maintained within the ancient city, instead bearing an air of simple antiquity.
And before he even entered the compound, Chu Feng had already noticed that there were quite a few deranged individuals inside, the majority of whom were young people and children.
"Little Fishy, same as always," Chu Feng said, glancing at her.
"Mm." Little Fishy nodded in understanding.
Chu Feng then revealed himself openly, while Little Fishy continued to conceal her presence, following along behind him.
"Who goes there?"
The Wang family was on high alert. The moment Chu Feng appeared, multiple experts immediately flew out from within the compound, surrounding him in an instant.
"I mean no harm by coming here."
Chu Feng clasped his fists in a respectful salute, but at the same time, he released his aura of cultivation.
His aura was merely a display of his strength — it carried no oppressive pressure whatsoever.
Yet even so, every single expert in the Wang family blanched the moment they sensed his cultivation level.
One elderly man in particular hurried forward and bowed deeply to Chu Feng.
"This young hero, I am the head of the Wang family — Wang Chengyang. I did not know your identity, and I beg that you not take offense."
After bowing, the Wang family head maintained the gesture, keeping his back bent low, not daring to even lift his head.
As for the other members of the Wang family, they sheathed their weapons and followed the family head's lead in bowing. They were terrified.
The reason was simple: the strongest among them, their very family head, was only at the early stage of Martial Ancestor.
But Chu Feng was a third-tier Half God — the gap between them was so vast that how could they possibly not be afraid?
"I mean no harm by coming here."
Chu Feng got straight to the point, directly stating his purpose.
He wanted to ask about the truth of what had happened all those years ago.
But the Wang family head did not answer directly. Instead, he asked Chu Feng: "Young hero, I do not mean any disrespect, but I must first ask — which sect do you belong to? Who is your master?"
"My name is Chu Feng. As for where I come from, that is not something I can disclose," Chu Feng replied.
Hearing this, the Wang family head's brows furrowed slightly.
"Wang family head, do you think my identity isn't sufficient to warrant being told the Wang family's affairs?" Chu Feng asked.
"No, no — Young Hero Chu Feng, please don't be angry. I truly have my reasons, and it is certainly not a matter of looking down on you."
The Wang family head then recounted the full story.
It was his granddaughter who had originally dug the well.
For a cultivator of her level, digging a well — even without using any special abilities and simply using a shovel — was about as trivial a task as could be imagined.
So when his granddaughter had decided to dig a well, she hadn't consulted anyone and simply went ahead and did it on her own.
But that very night, she went mad — screaming and shouting, which finally drew everyone's attention.
By the time they found her, she was already deranged and incapable of any normal communication.
People discovered that there was a new well in her courtyard, and that something had appeared in her room — something that had not been there before.
"What was it?" Chu Feng asked.
The culprit was most likely that very object.
The Wang family head then opened his palm, and the power of a formation barrier materialized. In moments, a copper jar roughly three inches tall took shape before them.
"My lord, this is what it looked like."
"We believe this object was most likely dug up from deep underground when my granddaughter was digging that well."
"At the time, however, we did not connect her madness to this object — not until more and more of the Wang family's younger generation began to go mad, and the elderly with weaker cultivation started dying one after another."
"Because at first, only the younger generation was going mad, and only the elderly with weak cultivation were dying, while everyone else remained perfectly fine. It was extremely bizarre."
"That was when we began to suspect that this object might be responsible."
"Later, we became certain — it had almost everything to do with this thing."
"Normally, upon encountering such an inauspicious object, one should discard it immediately."
"But... I was greedy. I reasoned that if this object possessed such power, it might also be a treasure."
"As the saying goes, fortune favors the bold. Perhaps this object could elevate the Wang family to new heights."
"So I moved the entire family to this place, intending to hide the object deep in the mountains, far from our people, thinking that would put an end to the matter."
"But as it turned out, this object seemed to have latched onto the Wang family. Even after I hid it deep in the mountain, far removed from my family, members of the younger generation continued to go mad one after another."
"It was my greed. After all these years, I have never been able to decipher this object, and in doing so, I have brought suffering upon the Wang family's descendants."