A Sect in Terrible Shape

Song Junning's instincts told her that Feng Wuhen must never find out they could hear his inner thoughts, so she made up an excuse. "Senior Brother Sect Leader merely had his spiritual energy go astray for a moment. It's nothing serious. He just needs to guide it back properly."

Hearing this, Feng Wuhen relaxed and continued thinking about Qin Che's family.

[This isn't even the worst of it. That witch had always been secretly associating with the Devil Race. When Senior Brother Qin Xiaoran went out to train this time, the Devil Race ambushed him because she had informed them in advance and told them to prepare.

She had originally intended to kill Senior Brother Qin Xiaoran outright, but Senior Brother Qin Xiaoran truly deserved his reputation as unmatched among his generation. Even at the Nascent Soul Middle Stage, he escaped from the hands of three Spirit Transformation cultivators.

Although he escaped, he was still seriously injured. He should be recuperating on the main peak right now.

When the witch saw that he had returned alive, she naturally wouldn't let the matter rest. Under the pretense of applying medicine to Qin Xiaoran's wounds, she smeared Spirit-Severing Powder onto them.

It would wipe out all the spiritual energy in his body, leaving him unable to absorb spiritual energy ever again. In the end, he would die from his severe injuries, and Mount Grand Mystery would lose its chief senior disciple.

Then there was the sect leader's wife. After her son died from his severe injuries, she fell ill. Under the guise of caring for her mother, Qin Leyan poisoned her medicinal soup every day. Within a year, the sect leader's wife was poisoned to death.

The sect leader didn't fare any better. Losing his son and wife one after another aged him decades in an instant.

The witch also gave him Spirit-Dissolving Powder. When she led the Devil Race army in slaughtering Mount Grand Mystery, his spiritual energy stagnated at the crucial moment. The Demon Lord crippled most of his meridians with a single palm strike, turning him into a useless man.

He could only watch helplessly as Mount Grand Mystery was slaughtered. Aside from the elders and disciples who had gone out to train, the entire Mount Grand Mystery was burned by demonic flames until not even a blade of grass remained.

The crippled sect leader was taken away and tortured by the witch. His limbs were torn off, and he was soaked in a wine vat, bitten by poisonous insects day after day. That painful life continued until my master returned. After learning that Mount Grand Mystery had been destroyed, he charged into the Demon Realm alone.

He killed the Demon Lord of that time and personally ended the sect leader's suffering.

Come to think of it, it wasn't just the sect leader's family that suffered horribly. We disciples seemed to have had it even worse. Because we trusted Qin Leyan after the witch possessed her body, we drank the poisoned wine she gave us without any guard up and were slaughtered without being able to resist.

But it seemed I wasn't around then. Master hadn't taken any disciples either, so I probably hadn't come to study under him yet.

But now that I'm here and have successfully become his disciple, I have to change Mount Grand Mystery's tragedy.

I'll start by changing Senior Brother Qin Xiaoran's fate. I remember that this afternoon, the witch will use the excuse of showing concern to go apply medicine to Senior Brother Qin Xiaoran.

This afternoon, I'll find an excuse to visit Shen Ziheng on the main peak and bring him along. It'll be the perfect chance for him to see the witch's true face and be on guard, so he can avoid being tragically used as a shield later.

If I really can't change it, then before he enters the secret realm, I'll find an excuse to beat him up. It would be best if he can't get out of bed for half a year.

If he can't even get out of bed, let's see how he goes to the secret realm.]

Shen Ziheng was quite happy to hear how concerned Feng Wuhen was about him. But when he heard that Feng Wuhen planned to beat him until he couldn't get out of bed, he suddenly wanted to cry. He knew Feng Wuhen meant well, but there was really no need!

Now that he knew that woman was no good, he naturally would not have anything more to do with her.

When Qin Che heard that his son would die that afternoon, he wished he could stand guard outside his son's door immediately. But he still had enough reason to know that it was not yet the time of his son's death. The most urgent matter now was to discuss Feng Wuhen's inner thoughts with the other peak masters.

Qin Che stood and looked at everyone in the great hall. "Today, Mount Grand Mystery has gained several more exceptionally gifted disciples. This pleases me greatly!

I hope that from this day onward, you will do good deeds and punish evil; when the heart is upright, the Dao is upright. Cultivate diligently and ascend as soon as possible.

That is all I have to say. The peak masters and I have important matters to discuss. The elders and newly accepted disciples may return first, or wait outside."

The elders knew what they were going to discuss and took their newly accepted disciples away with them. The disciples accepted by the peak masters could only wait outside for now.

While the sect leader and peak masters discussed matters inside, the newly accepted disciples outside were not idle either.

Seeing Feng Wuhen staring at him as though lost in thought, Shen Ziheng took the initiative to walk over. "Junior Brother, I have something to give you. Can you come to the main peak to find me this afternoon?"

Feng Wuhen had been wondering what excuse he could use to visit Shen Ziheng. He had not expected Shen Ziheng to come to him on his own, saving him the trouble of making one up, so he agreed at once.

"Alright! I'll go to the main peak to find you this afternoon."

Hearing the two of them, Meng Hongying squeezed in as well and joined the conversation. "Senior Brother Shen, you can't favor one over the other. You can't give him something and not give me anything."

Actually, Meng Hongying did not particularly want a gift from Shen Ziheng. She merely wanted to tag along and enjoy the excitement.

Shen Ziheng knew her well enough to understand that she was not really asking him for something, but wanted to watch the fun. He smiled and agreed.

While they arranged their plans for visiting the main peak that afternoon outside, the people inside began discussing Feng Wuhen's inner thoughts.

Chen Tianze was the first to ask Qin Che, "Senior Brother, were the inner thoughts that child spoke of true? Did you really save such a woman while traveling?"

Qin Che slumped into his chair and nodded. He said to his junior brothers, junior sisters, and senior brother, "There was indeed such a thing. Though it wasn't exactly traveling. At the time, the Grand Elder of Melodic Sound Pavilion was celebrating his two-thousandth birthday, and I went to deliver a congratulatory gift. Since I had plenty of time, I concealed my identity and intended to see what the cultivation world was like these days.

On the road, I encountered a woman being pursued by members of the Devil Race and helped her. At the time, I did not realize that she was also one of the Devil Race. If I had not heard Nephew Feng Wuhen's inner thoughts today, I would still think she was merely an ordinary female cultivator, only somewhat more shameless."

After Song Junning and Qu Lanxin learned that it was true, they began to feel sorry for their senior sister, the sect leader's wife—Ruan Siyao—as well as their true martial niece.

"The most important thing now is to seize that witch and save the real Leyan!"

As soon as Song Junning said this, everyone agreed. Chu Moqing extended his divine sense and overheard what Shen Ziheng was saying to his disciple outside, then devised a plan.

"Shen Ziheng invited my disciple to the main peak this afternoon. I'll take Wuhen there. Once I arrive at the main peak, Senior Brother Sect Leader and Senior Sister will naturally come out to receive me.

Then I'll take the initiative to suggest visiting Xiaoran, and I'll 'happen' to discover the witch poisoning him. We'll capture her on the spot."

Qin Che and the others all thought this was a good plan. That witch's cultivation was not high, after all. She merely possessed many strange secret arts.

Song Junning and the others decided that they would wait in the clouds above the main peak. If the witch escaped, they would join forces and capture her.