Little Stone's eyes reddened.
With an alchemy pill in his mouth, his words came out muffled. "They're our fellow disciples."
"Fellow disciples who've turned demonic. You don't even feel it when they bite you." Zhou Xuan straightened and swept his gaze around.
"Senior brother!"
A jumble of shouts came from behind the broken wall.
Zhou Ye was the first to clamber out, charging over despite having lost an arm.
"You fucking finally came back!"
Zhou Ye rushed up and seized Zhou Xuan by the collar, his voice so hoarse his throat might have been smoking.
"Ten years! You didn't come back once in ten years! Do you have any idea how close this place came to being wiped out?"
Zhou Xuan did not struggle. He let Zhou Ye hold him.
"I brought Pills and spirit stones. Treat the wounded first."
"Who's talking about that?"
Snot and tears smeared Zhou Ye's face.
"The Sect Master... the Sect Master took all the Nascent Soul Cultivators down there! It's been three days! Not one of them has come back up!"
The others from the Chore Servant Courtyard gathered around too.
Tan Lei was absent.
Zhou Xuan took another look.
"Tan Lei's at Medicine Peak."
Zhou Ye wiped his face.
"Half of Medicine Peak collapsed. He's leading the others in a desperate defense of the herb fields. His last message said he was still alive."
Zhou Xuan nodded, took a heap of Pills and spirit stones from his Storage Ring, and distributed them.
"Stabilize the wounded first. Don't abandon those who turned demonic, either. I've already cleared the demonic qi from their bodies. They'll be fine once they wake up."
As he spoke, he swept the square once more with Taiyi Divine Power.
The purified remnants of demonic qi still hung in the air,