"Why are you looking at us like that?"
"This is just a coincidence, isn't it? We're all living, breathing people. Look for yourselves if you don't believe us!"
Those being stared at felt their skin crawl and hurried to speak up.
Li Ling stepped forward. "These fellow Daoists returned with us. Don't jump at shadows and stir up needless trouble!"
Rather than rushing to uncover the truth, he first calmed everyone down.
"I remember now! The Corpse-Persons that attacked those rogue cultivators before seemed to look like them, too! Elder Qi once told us to keep a close eye on them in secret."
Someone suddenly remembered something and exclaimed in surprise.
Li Ling said, "Are any of the rogue cultivators who were attacked earlier here? Bring them all over. I have questions for them."
The Merchant Association's people immediately obeyed and brought several rogue cultivators over.
"Yes, that did happen. We even suspected one another at the time, but later we realized those monsters were deliberately making things mysterious, so we put our minds at ease..."
After learning what had happened, the rogue cultivators began explaining.
"There's no need to panic, everyone. This is just a transformation trick those Black Demon Corpses use. They only look like us to confuse us!"
"Just a trick to confuse us?"
That was an explanation consistent with the logic of the cultivation world, but Li Ling had a somewhat different view.
"What did you do after returning, besides resting as usual?"
"M-Master Li, what do you mean by that?"
"Don't tell me you suspect us of bringing those monsters here?"
They were clearly resistant.
Li Ling shook his head. "I'm not interrogating you. This is for your own good. Unless I'm mistaken, all of you have been weak since returning, with no sign of