"Yes, True Venerable!"
After Yunxi acknowledged the order, she instructed the Ye siblings:
"The two of you are not to leave for the time being. Remain at True Venerable Canglou's side and await orders. While you are at it, keep a close watch on Feng Xichao. Use the Imprint Jade to record every change in him clearly. I need to determine how to counteract these tampered pills by observing the course of the 'poison's onset.'"
Ye Yirui and Ye Yuchen immediately answered in unison:
"Yes, Venerable."
Cang Lou understood perfectly well that Ranxi's so-called "detoxification" was merely a cover for the matter of the Evil Insects. Thus, he did not refute her and tacitly accepted her explanation.
Yunxi then nodded to Cang Lou before vanishing into the rear hall of the Pill Pavilion, leaving behind only Feng Yan, who was panting in fury, and True Venerable Canglou, who continued to radiate icy coldness.
The moment Yunxi appeared above the encampment, True Venerable Xiongwei appeared at her side and asked in a gruff voice:
"Ranxi, have you caught the chief culprit?"
Yunxi immediately cupped her hands and replied:
"Reporting to True Venerable, Feng Xichao has been brought under control. True Venerable Canglou searched his soul. That fool refined Evil Insect Eggs into pills, intending to spread the Evil Insects across the battlefield and turn more cultivators into puppets of the evil cultivators."
At these words, Xiong Wei's face darkened in a rare display. For an instant, even the air around them seemed to freeze. Yunxi, however, remained entirely unaffected as she continued:
"True Venerable Canglou instructed me to first seize the cultivators involved, as well as any disciples who may have consumed problematic pills. He will contact True Venerable Huayi in the rear and send new cultivators to relieve the garrison.