"Eldest Senior Brother, seeing the Artifact Peak disciples just now reminded me of something I heard. A very talented disciple from Artifact Peak went missing not long ago."
"Have there been any leads?"
When the spectators saw Tang Yan talking to his eldest senior brother,
they turned all their attention to the competition in the arena.
Earlier, to keep Tang Yan from noticing anything amiss, they had pretended to discuss the disciples' artifact-refining techniques now and then, even as Tang Yan served up juicy gossip.
In truth, they had not paid the slightest attention to how those disciples were doing.
Now, however, their discussions became genuine.
Xiao Jixue thought for a moment, then leaned sideways toward Tang Yan's ear and lowered his voice, making sure Han Zhongjin, seated above them, could not hear.
“There have been some leads. Didn't I just tell you to avoid spending too much time with Uncle-Master Han? Actually, Master and Uncle-Master Bai already suspect him. They're secretly...”
Xiao Jixue did not finish, but Tang Yan understood what he meant.
Relieved inwardly, he put on a shocked expression and lowered his voice as well.
"What?! He's involved? Uncle Han seemed so refined and well-mannered. Who would have thought..."
[Who would have thought he was secretly such a lunatic!]
[I'd only ever heard of Jade Pendant crazies and handkerchief crazies before. Now I've actually encountered a lunatic like this.]
Fu Shouci and the others: he really was a deranged, demonic lunatic.
[Since Master and the others already suspect Han Zhongjin, I can finally stop worrying. Hopefully, they'll find something. Even if they don't, there's always Soul Searching. That'll get the truth every time.]
[Even if Soul Searching turns a lunatic like him into a raving idiot, he deserves it.]
Watching Tang Yan put on that little act right in front of him, Xiao Jixue could not help chuckling.
An inexplicable pleasure bloomed in his heart.
Only I get to see these little sides of him.
As Xiao Jixue thought this, a faint smile softened his features.
[Ding—Xiao Jixue's affection +5. Total affection: 163]
Tang Yan had already grown used to Xiao Jixue inexplicably increasing his affection for him.
He composed himself and was about to release Xiao Jixue's sleeve.
Then he suddenly realized that Xiao Jixue had turned half his body toward him, letting him tug at his sleeve.
The gentleness in his expression, in particular, gave Tang Yan the absurd impression that there was a hint of indulgent affection in it.
Worst of all!
Xiao Jixue's soft breaths brushed against his face, making his skin tingle and itch.
Even the heart inside his chest seemed to tingle unbearably.
Thump, thump! Tang Yan's heart abruptly skipped two beats, and a rosy blush sprang up across his handsome, jade-like face.
His delicate little earlobes flushed the same rich shade.
Tang Yan hurriedly released Xiao Jixue's sleeve and sat up straight, putting some distance between them to dispel the intimate atmosphere.
"Ahem. Senior Brother, let's keep watching the competition."
Xiao Jixue caught sight of his reddened ear tips, and a quiet chuckle escaped his thin lips.
To think Ah Yan could get shy too.
With all those outrageous, provocative thoughts someone had entertained earlier, he had assumed Tang Yan never got embarrassed.
[Ding—Xiao Jixue's affection +2. Total affection: 165]
Tang Yan picked up a peach blossom pastry and chewed it. After he sat quietly for a while, the blush on his face and ears gradually faded.
Then he was shocked.
[Holy shit! I thought Han Zhongjin was just a complete pervert. Who knew he was actually a mole for the Demon Clan?!]
The disciples' discussions fell silent for a moment, then they quickly resumed their pretense of murmuring among themselves.
Wei Lianyi clenched her fists. Her suspicions had been right.
[I was wondering why he only picked talented male disciples above the Golden Core stage. Turns out he wanted to use them as nourishment for an Evil Being!!]
[Fuck! That secret base of his is a den where they feed the Evil Being!! He even has an organization backing him?? Everyone in an entire village belongs to it, and they regularly abduct young disciples to feed that Evil Being!]
[God! Those disciples don't just suffer horribly before dying. Even after death, their flesh and blood are fed to the Evil Being, leaving nothing of their bodies. Some aren't even dead when they're fed to it. They're just forcibly...]
[Fuck! Is this bastard even human?]
[Wait!]
A piece of the plot suddenly flashed through Tang Yan's mind.
[I remember that fifteen years from now, an Evil Being appears out of nowhere in a small town ten thousand li from the Ten Thousand Swords Sect. Its cultivation is at the early Tribulation Transcendence stage.]
[That thing is very good at hiding itself and loves eating cultivators' flesh and blood.]
[Since it's near the Ten Thousand Swords Sect, the sect sends plenty of people to capture it. Unfortunately, they all end up in its stomach, rapidly depleting the sect's backbone forces.]
[Looks like Han Zhongjin is raising that Evil Being specifically to destroy the people of the Ten Thousand Swords Sect.]
Countless disciples pressed their lips together and clenched their fists, towering waves of fury surging through their hearts.
Xiao Jixue's eyes abruptly turned icy, a chilling glint of danger flashing in their depths.
Fu Shouci, Bai Wuxia, and the others wore dark expressions, radiating the oppressive tension of an approaching storm.
Bai Wuxia abruptly stood, about to step out of the void and settle the score with that utterly heartless beast, Han Zhongjin.
Jiang Mei hurriedly stopped him.
"Senior Brother, we can't alert him. If he escapes, the Immortal Spirit Continent is boundless. Where would we even look for that animal?"
Jiang Mei was immensely grateful that they had set up an array beforehand to isolate every fluctuation of spiritual energy in this pocket of the void.
Otherwise, Han Zhongjin would already have noticed the commotion they were making.
"Phew!"
Bai Wuxia let out a heavy breath. Only after telling himself to endure did he suppress his turbulent emotions and sit back down.
[Huh? So Han Zhongjin's disciple Li Jiang is his accomplice too. That eldest disciple of Han Zhongjin's who went missing before was also one of his victims, and Li Jiang helped cover it up.]
Remembering that Han Zhongjin had two other disciples, Tang Yan asked the system.
[What about Liu Yunsheng and Jiang Xiao? Don't tell me they're in on it too?]
Whoosh, whoosh, whoosh!
Quite a few sharp, probing gazes landed on Liu Yunsheng and Jiang Xiao in the arena, some openly and others covertly.
Faint, bitter smiles appeared at the corners of their mouths. Their hearts were pounding so nervously they nearly leaped out of their chests.
[Oh? These two are decent people! Good thing they haven't done anything evil.]
Liu Yunsheng and Jiang Xiao both let out enormous sighs of relief.
In a way, Junior Brother Tang had just vouched for their innocence.
But a moment later, both nearly lost their composed expressions.
[Huh? Han Zhongjin already has his eye on Liu Yunsheng? He's planning to pick a suitable day, send him out to gain experience, and then make his move?]
[Jiang Xiao is on Han Zhongjin's waiting list too?]
Liu Yunsheng and Jiang Xiao: !!!
Liu Yunsheng suddenly remembered what Han Zhongjin had said to him earlier, and his poor heart quivered repeatedly in fright.
His handsome face went deathly pale.
From his seat above, Han Zhongjin noticed that these two disciples of his were slacking off rather than taking the competition seriously.
He sent them a message through his divine sense. "Yunsheng, Jiang Xiao, what's wrong with you two? Why are you so distracted instead of concentrating on the competition?"
Liu Yunsheng and Jiang Xiao's hearts tightened.
That once-familiar voice now sounded like a curse in their ears, terrifying beyond measure.
Liu Yunsheng replied cautiously, "Master, I was busy cultivating last night and didn't rest well. That's why I'm a little out of sorts."
Jiang Xiao hurriedly added, "Yes, yes, Master. I asked Third Senior Brother about some cultivation problems last night, so I didn't get enough rest either."
Han Zhongjin suspected nothing. After all, these two disciples often cultivated together.
Li Jiang had told him that before.
"Mm. You should cultivate in moderation. You must neither push yourselves too hard nor grow too complacent. All right, go back and get some proper rest once the competition is over."
"Oh, and Yunsheng, your mental state has reached a bottleneck. As I mentioned before, you should leave the sect to gain experience. Pack your things and head out in a couple of days."
Liu Yunsheng: !!!
He was about to refuse when he remembered hearing Junior Brother Tang say that the Sect Leader and the venerables already had their eyes on Han Zhongjin.
His heart instantly settled.
"Yes."
Meanwhile, Tang Yan wore a complicated look and sighed inwardly.
[Being a disciple of that beast Han really is miserable. On top of cultivating, they have to stay on guard against their sick pervert of a master at all times.]
[Tsk, tsk.]
The little figures inside Liu Yunsheng and Jiang Xiao's hearts were streaming with tears.
Sob~~ Exactly! They had it so hard!
The other Artifact Peak disciples also silently counted themselves lucky.
Fortunately, they had not become disciples of that beast Han. Otherwise, they would never sleep soundly again.
PS: Han Zhongjin sexually assaults men and cuts off their..., then dries, cures, and plays with them. There is a real case like this.
If you're interested, search for the "han wei xing case."
The real-life case was even more depraved. Once he grew bored of playing with them, he would stir-fry them into a dish to eat with alcohol.
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