Found It

"Who?! Who was it?!" A savage roar echoed through the entire Karst Cave. It was Danyangzi's voice. This was the first time he had flown into such a towering rage.

When someone had escaped before, Danyangzi had not been angry. When Li Huowang had accidentally offended him with a written character, he had not been angry either. But now, he was angry.

The atmosphere throughout Qingfeng Temple became suffocatingly oppressive. Even the oil lamps hanging on the walls seemed much dimmer than usual.

Under Danyangzi's orders, everyone gradually gathered in the Great Hall where morning lessons were held.

The air was thick with the stench of blood. The disorderly corpses on the ground already proved that Danyangzi had poured his nowhere-to-spend fury onto some innocent people.

Killing people could make him feel a little better, but it was not enough. Far from enough.

"Plop!" A bloody, mangled mass still connected to a head slammed down before everyone.

It was the Vase Head Li Huowang had smashed earlier. Death had dimmed the blush on her cheeks, while deep terror seeped from her lifeless eyes.

"Who did this? Who sneaked into my room while I was refining pills?!"

Danyangzi's voice was low and suppressed, like a lion on the eve of eruption. "Step forward obediently now, and this Daoist master will grant you a quick death. But if I catch you myself later, heh heh! I'll make you kneel and beg this Daoist master to kill you!"

The entire cave was silent as a grave. Whether they were Medicinal Guides, disciples, or Apprentices, not one dared move.

"Fine! None of you will talk, is that it? Then I'll question you one by one! Chang Ming, Chang Ren, what were you doing while I was refining pills earlier?"

The two disciples carrying longswords immediately bowed to Danyangzi. "Reporting to Master, the two of us followed your instructions and guarded Qingfeng Temple's gate without slacking for a single moment!"

Expressionless, Danyangzi walked before them and carefully scrutinized their expressions. Only after staring until cold sweat nearly streamed down their faces did he slowly turn aside. "Xuan Yuan! What about you?"

Standing beside Xuan Yuan, Li Huowang's heart clenched. He knew he would be next. He hurriedly encouraged himself inwardly. Hold steady! As long as he doesn't spot a flaw, I've won!

"Xuan Yang! Your turn. After delivering the Medicinal Guides today, where did you go?"

The instant he heard that, Li Huowang immediately blurted out, "This disciple was in the Material Room, preparing the pill ingredients Master will need next time."

"Is that so?" Danyangzi walked over. The nauseating stench on him, coupled with that suffocating pressure, made Li Huowang's body tense to the extreme. He finally understood why his senior brothers had sweated so much just now.

Time passed second by second. Under that crushing pressure, more and more beads of sweat formed on Li Huowang's forehead.

Suddenly, the pressure lifted. Just as he thought he had escaped disaster, Danyangzi's voice rang out again. "Did you people truly see Xuan Yang in the Material Room?

Li Huowang looked over and saw that Danyangzi had already arrived before Bai Lingmiao and the others from the Material Room. He was asking those Medicinal Guides.

"Think carefully before you answer. Whoever helps me find the culprit, this Daoist master will not only send him home, but also give him travel money."

As soon as those words came out, the dozen or so remaining disabled people from the Material Room widened their eyes. They wanted to go home. They dreamed of leaving this hellhole.

"Master. Senior Brother Li really was with us at the time." Sensing the unrest in people's hearts, Bai Lingmiao spoke up at once.

Danyangzi stared deeply at her face. "Oh? What about the others?"

At that moment, Gou Dan's breathing grew hurried. His expression struggled fiercely, but in the end, he gritted his teeth, stomped his foot, and stepped forward. "Um, Immortal Grandpa, I'll talk! Xuan Yang never came to the Material Room even once today! It must have been him!"

At those words, the corners of Xuan Yin's mouth curled up slightly among the crowd, his face pale with fright. He nearly laughed aloud. His life had been saved.

Danyangzi glanced back at Li Huowang, then slowly walked before Gou Dan. With a swing of his right arm, he slapped him hard across the face. "Bullshit! Xuan Yang personally delivered the Medicinal Guides this morning! If he never went to the Material Room, where did he get the Medicinal Guides? Are you looking to die?"

Gou Dan seemed frightened out of his wits. He hurriedly dropped to his knees, tears and snot streaming down his face as he repeatedly kowtowed. "Immortal Grandpa, I was wrong. Lard clouded my heart for a moment, so I lied."

Danyangzi expressionlessly watched Gou Dan, who was so terrified he was nearly pissing himself. The next moment, he abruptly turned to look at Xuan Yin. "What were you laughing at just now? Xuan Yang was falsely accused, and that made you happy?"

Those words made Xuan Yin's body jolt. The immense pressure emanating from Danyangzi nearly crushed the breath from him.

As Danyangzi slowly approached him, Xuan Yin's expression grew more and more panicked. He was so panicked that even those beside him who knew nothing of the truth could see something was clearly wrong.

When Danyangzi reached him, he could no longer hold out. He collapsed onto the ground, yellow urine slowly seeping from beneath the hem of his Daoist Robe. "Master! I didn't want to do this! Senior Brother Zheng Kun forced me to!!"

As soon as those words left his mouth, Zheng Kun's expression twisted viciously. He kicked hard against the solid ground and charged toward the cave entrance like a cheetah, leaving an afterimage behind him.

"So it was you!" Danyangzi snorted coldly and flicked his Daoist Robe with his right hand. Accompanied by a crisp jingling, a bronze coin mottled with verdigris tumbled onto the ground and spun like a top.

Just as Zheng Kun was about to escape through the cave entrance, Danyangzi's cloth-shoed right foot suddenly lifted and stamped down. Dust soared high into the air.

With a crack, the bronze coin instantly shattered into pieces and flew in all directions. It was not only the coin that shattered—so did Zheng Kun in the distance.

His limbs were torn straight off, as though he had suffered Dismemberment by Five Horses.

Without his limbs, Zheng Kun still did not die despite bleeding without stop. He continued wriggling toward the entrance like a flesh maggot.

"Child, you've been with me the longest. Why did it have to be you? I should have realized it long ago. Only you could undo the restraints in my room." Danyangzi's twisted face loomed above him as his foot stepped onto Zheng Kun's head, stopping his wriggling.

"Master. I... I was wrong. Master, I'm already crippled now. Please spare me this once!"

"Master, when those monks from Zhengde Temple were hunting us down, it was my two blood brothers who traded their lives for our escape! Master!"

Danyangzi's foot shifted slightly downward, pressing Zheng Kun's purple-red face directly against the ground and leaving him completely unable to speak.

"Child, do you know? This Daoist master knows every last thing in your heart. You and your two brothers are all white-eyed wolves that can never be raised!" Danyangzi spoke one word at a time, while his foot continued increasing its pressure.

Bang! With an explosive blast, a drop of thick blood splattered onto Li Huowang's face.