Deep in the night, another squad of disciples wearing the Vast Righteousness Sect's robes suddenly approached from nearby.
They first glanced in surprise at Su Jiu and the others sitting beneath the tree, then turned to the row of fellow disciples ahead.
The leaders of the two groups stepped aside and spoke in low voices for a while, completing the handover.
The newly arrived cultivators took up guard at the entrance, while the other group left with the Senior Brother of the Vast Righteousness Sect.
Before leaving, that senior brother did not forget to glance at Su Jiu and the others, his gaze laden with things he could not put into words.
The senior brother who had spoken with Su Jiu and the others during the day soon returned to the Vast Righteousness Sect with his squad of junior disciples.
Meanwhile, a trace of unease appeared on the face of the disciple who had attacked a passerby without cause, as though he feared something.
On the way back, he watched his senior brother's back and tried several times to speak, but his friend stopped him each time.
His friend spoke to him through voice transmission. "If you speak now, you'll only add another mark against yourself when Eldest Senior Brother makes his report. Don't you know what he's like?"
The disciple scratched his head in agitation, then bit his lip hard. In the end, he swallowed the words he had wanted to say.
Though it was the dead of night, one of the Vast Righteousness Sect's side halls remained brightly lit.
As the disciples filed inside, footsteps broke the silence of the hall.
A young man sat at the very center of the hall. He wore a half mask, his expression cold and stern, as though nothing in