Ruan Meizhen made no attempt to hide the contempt in her voice.
Only Zhao Changfeng, Teng Kun, and a handful of others knew about the slaughter between fellow disciples in the cave. Naturally, she knew nothing of the truth.
In her eyes, Zhao Changfeng was a scoundrel who had betrayed his sect for survival and favor, even going so far as to slaughter his fellow disciples.
She had never thought much of those so-called Righteous Dao practitioners, and Zhao Changfeng's deeds were even more vile than those of demonic cultivators. That was precisely why she had chosen him as her calamity bearer.
Now, upon hearing that Zhao Changfeng wanted to kill Song Zejun and his wife, she was surprised that the couple had survived, but became all the more convinced that Zhao Changfeng was vicious beyond measure.
"Regardless of how they survived, their presence might not be a bad thing under the circumstances."
Ruan Meizhen did not suspect Zhao Changfeng of making things up.
The matter was easy to verify, and from what she had learned of Zhao Changfeng lately, she knew he would not act recklessly at a critical moment.
However, she had her own considerations.
Even if Song Zejun and his wife deserved death and were, in principle, targets for every demonic cultivator, they were still human, and came from a supposedly righteous sect at that.
With the demon spirit tide imminent, they could hardly remain uninvolved. They, too, would have to face the demon spirits' corruption and ravages.
As long as they stayed in Tamu Town, the strongest demon spirits would inevitably set their sights on them, whether they liked it or not.
Both were in the three calamities realm, so they could naturally relieve much of the pressure on everyone else. It would not be too late to deal with them once her master arrived afterward.
Zhao Changfeng feared that the couple would settle old scores with him and proposed gathering their forces to kill them immediately. Of course, Ruan Meizhen disagreed.
"What if I told you they were colluding with demon spirits and serving as inside agents for the corruption of Tamu Town? Would you believe me, senior sister?"
Zhao Changfeng spoke in a stern voice.
Ruan Meizhen gave a soft, derisive laugh and shook her fair neck, disgust in her eyes. "You really will say anything to get your master and his wife killed!"
Even so-called demonic cultivators like them dared not become entangled with the alien beings of the Unordered Zone, let alone members of the Lingxiao Sect who prided themselves on their righteousness.
She felt that Zhao Changfeng was dumping a bucket of filth over the couple's heads solely to get them killed. He had truly lost every shred of sanity.
Zhao Changfeng had grievances he could not voice.
If he truthfully explained that he had seen demon spirits gathering and sensed their aura on Song Zejun and his wife, not only would Ruan Meizhen disbelieve him, but anyone else likely would as well.
After pondering for a moment, Zhao Changfeng could only choose to lie. "Master knows about this."
Ruan Meizhen frowned and gave a cold "Oh?"
"You weren't there at the time, so naturally you didn't see their remnant souls, tainted with demon spirit aura, trying to escape when the Soul-Pacifying Bead emerged. Master then burned them to ashes with a mouthful of demonfire."
"Master was shocked, too. He never expected them to be secretly colluding with demon spirits from the Biluo Realm."
"It was precisely because I revealed the whereabouts of the Soul-Pacifying Bead and earned great merit by letting Master discover their collusion with demon spirits that he agreed to admit me into the sect."
Zhao Changfeng spoke with a solemn expression.
Nearly everyone who knew the details was dead. The two junior brothers who had been shown mercy and allowed to escape Demon Mountain were probably more dead than alive as well.
Under such circumstances, no matter how colossal a lie he spun, it would be difficult to find anyone to verify it.
The only people who could truly confirm it were Song Zejun and his wife, along with Teng Kun, who had ventured deep into the world membrane and had yet to return. But he had already confirmed that something was wrong with the couple, and Teng Kun could not be reached for the time being.
He had long since found out that Teng Kun could use the Demon Tokens to issue orders, but the disciples could not use them to contact him.
"Zhao Changfeng, you absolutely must not make things like this up! You should know the consequences!"
Ruan Meizhen remained doubtful, but dared not dismiss the matter. Her expression turned grave as she continued, "We don't have enough fighting strength in Tamu Town. With demon spirits liable to arrive at any moment, striking at that couple now would be terribly unwise!"
"Besides, they're in the three calamities realm, after all. Even if Master destroyed two of their souls in the cave, we still have no certainty of victory if we fight!"
"This really isn't something you can joke about at all. You should understand that!"
Ruan Meizhen's mind was in turmoil. She did not know whether to believe him, yet feared that he was telling the truth, in which case the consequences would be unimaginable.
Zhao Changfeng looked deep into her eyes, his voice firm and forceful. "Senior sister, I wouldn't talk nonsense about something like this! The moment I saw them, all I could think about was fleeing Tamu Town, even if it meant betraying my sect again!"
"I thought about it for a long time. Only after deciding that I probably couldn't escape right under their noses did I choose to tell you the truth."
"Senior Sister Ruan, you must trust me this once. I'm willing to bear all the consequences!"
"They carry demon spirit aura, and now they're both in Tamu Town. Are they really here solely for me, Zhao Changfeng?"
"With their cultivation, if I were their only target on this trip, would I still be alive once they found out where I was?"
The more Zhao Changfeng spoke, the clearer his reasoning became. He was certain that Song Zejun and his wife had a much larger scheme, and killing him was probably just an incidental part of it.
"Th-that does make sense."
Ruan Meizhen considered it and felt that, with the couple's three calamities realm cultivation, if they had truly come for Zhao Changfeng, they would already have killed him and left at their leisure.
"There's no time to lose. I'll go find Cui Pinyuan and the others right now!"
"Tamu Town currently has only three primordial spirit realm cultivators. Cui Pinyuan is one, and the other two came from Heavenly Shield City as reinforcements."
"Three primordial spirit realm cultivators against two three calamities realm cultivators who may be badly wounded... I'm afraid..."
She was already considering their chances of success.
"There's actually one more!"
"Chen Jian from the Ghost-Controlling Sect! He changed out of his sect robes, and he's in Tamu Town right now!"
With a sharp declaration, Zhao Changfeng exposed Chen Jian, describing his current clothes and appearance, as well as his location.
Like the Crippled Demon Sect, the Ghost-Controlling Sect was a Demon Dao Great Sect within the Beichen Demon Kingdom, and likewise bore responsibility for protecting mortal kingdoms against corruption by the alien beings of the Unordered Zone.
Chen Jian had taken off his Ghost-Controlling Sect robes and posed as a rogue cultivator in Tamu Town. Perhaps he intended to slip away quietly the moment things looked bad.
Naturally, Zhao Changfeng would not let him stay out of it!
The reason he dared risk inciting everyone to kill Song Zejun and his wife was also that Ruan Meizhen had once said Chen Jian's true cultivation was at least in the primordial spirit realm.
Thus, he had counted Chen Jian in from the very beginning and would not allow him to make a clean getaway.
"He's here, too?"
"Good! If he's here, our chances of winning will be much greater!"
"Pah! What a sneaking rat. His cultivation is outstanding, yet he insists on being a turtle with its head tucked into its shell!"
"With his strength, if he put everything into fleeing, the demon spirits probably couldn't do anything to him. Yet he actually plans to pose as a rogue cultivator and refuse to help?"
"He wishes!"
Ruan Meizhen launched into a teeth-grinding tirade against Chen Jian. From her manner, she hated his refusal to act even more deeply, and immediately declared that she would drag him out.
Chen Jian had spent his entire life playing it safe.
As a Formal Disciple of the Ghost-Controlling Sect, a Demon Dao Great Sect, all he wanted was to quietly build his strength. Whenever a sect mission carried considerable danger, he dodged it however he could.
That was precisely how he, Chen Jian, had stayed alive until now.
Even within the Ghost-Controlling Sect, Chen Jian had made something of a name for himself, though certainly not a good one.
The Crippled Demon Sect was responsible for guarding the world membrane in the Sola Desert region. He had happened to wander here this time merely to collect some Spirit Materials for Ghost Refining, never expecting to stumble into an outbreak of demon spirits.
Disciples of great sects had a duty to protect mortal demon kingdoms from corruption by the alien beings of the Unordered Zone. Whether this place fell under the Ghost-Controlling Sect's jurisdiction or not, once his identity as one of its members was exposed, he would have to hold Tamu Town against the demon spirits.
Naturally, he was unwilling. Otherwise, he would not have taken off the Ghost-Controlling Sect's distinctive robes and appeared as a rogue cultivator.
With his cultivation, once the situation truly spiraled out of control, he could seize the opportunity to sweep up some ghosts and retreat at his leisure.
As long as his identity remained hidden, who would know that he, Chen Jian, was in Tamu Town?
Precisely because he had that confidence, he showed no sign of panic and watched the people coming and going through Tamu Town with unruffled composure.
Everyone in Tamu Town was gripped by fear. Only Chen Jian remained calm and at ease.
Until...
"You're Chen Jian, aren't you?"
A seductive, enchanting figure suddenly appeared before him, glaring at him with utter exasperation. "Come with me," she said coldly.
Chen Jian's paper-thin lips moved. "You have the wrong person," he said indifferently.
He had long since spied on them through his Corpse-Eating Vulture, so naturally he knew that Ruan Meizhen practiced the Ten Thousand Poisons Art and intended to use Zhao Changfeng as her calamity bearer to seek a breakthrough.
Whether Ruan Meizhen succeeded or not, that boy surnamed Zhao was certain to die. That was why he had been willing to give him his real name.
Of course, the demon spirits had not yet run rampant then, and he had not thought that far ahead.
When Ruan Meizhen called out his real name, he inwardly sensed trouble but flatly denied it. He wanted no part of Tamu Town's troubles and was even preparing to leave as soon as possible.
"Chen Jian, Formal Disciple of the Ghost-Controlling Sect. Do you need me to keep going?"
"My junior brother Zhao Changfeng is right here in Tamu Town. You thought he was dead, didn't you?"
Ruan Meizhen sneered repeatedly.
"He's still alive...?"
Chen Jian was utterly surprised. He lowered his head and frowned slightly for a moment before asking with extreme reluctance, "What do you want with me?"
"Tamu Town needs your strength. Come with me now to discuss a major matter concerning Heavenly Shield City's survival!"
Rather than speaking of the lives of the people in Tamu Town, Ruan Meizhen invoked Heavenly Shield City directly, leaving Chen Jian no room to find another excuse.
The disciples of the Crippled Demon Sect and the rogue cultivators in town had chosen the path of cultivation. If they died, they died.
But Heavenly Shield City was a mortal city, home to hundreds of thousands of ordinary people. They were the foundation from which Demon Dao Great Sects recruited talent, and protecting them was the duty of those sects' disciples.
That held true for the Crippled Demon Sect, and for the Ghost-Controlling Sect as well.
"A major matter? All right, then. I'll come with you."
Chen Jian sighed softly, rose, and followed her with his head hanging. He asked casually, "Where is that Junior Brother Zhao of yours?"
Seeing that Zhao Changfeng had exposed his identity, he inwardly berated himself for saving that tiny bit of spiritual power and time. If he had simply killed him then, none of this would be happening now.
Knowing that he wanted to settle the score with Zhao Changfeng, Ruan Meizhen could not help reminding him, "This is Tamu Town."