Gu Yuan frowned, instinctively feeling that there must be something complicated going on.

"Does the shopkeeper know what happened?" Gu Yuan asked.

"This matter is not written in the file, I have it all in my mind. How about I wait until you have finished reading it before I tell you? This way you may understand it more clearly." The shopkeeper asked tentatively.

"No need, just say it directly, I'm listening!"

Gu Yuan lowered his head, flipped through the file in his hand, and then listened carefully to every word the shopkeeper said.

"The origin of this matter has to start with a friend of mine."

The shopkeeper's eyes showed a look of reminiscence, and he said, "My friend used to be a businessman. He had a good business sense and was in the vegetable business. His business was pretty good, so the scale of his business grew and he became well-known in our area. Later, my friend somehow got in touch with the Huoyun Sect, and every year, my friend was responsible for the Huoyun Sect's vegetables and other things. He would deliver vegetables to the Huoyun Sect on time every month to meet the Huoyun Sect's needs. But about two years ago, because the Huoyun Sect was not a small customer, my friend took care of everything for the Huoyun Sect himself. Two years ago, my friend went to deliver vegetable resources to the Huoyun Sect as usual, but unfortunately, he disappeared and never returned."

"Oh? What happened? Was there an accident?" Gu Yuan asked with his pupils shrinking slightly.

"I don't know what happened, but half a month later, he suddenly appeared in front of my restaurant! But... he looked horrible! He had become half-human, half-ghost, unconscious, and muttering some incomprehensible things. I didn't know what had happened at the time, I just thought he was upset, so I wanted to see a doctor. But before the doctor could come, pus started oozing from his body, accompanied by a deadly black aura, and then he died completely!"

When he said this, there was a hint of fear in the shopkeeper's eyes.

He looked at Gu Yuan and continued, "This matter has actually been on my mind for a long time, but I have never spoken about it in all these years because the tragic death of my friend left a huge shadow on me."

"Don't you know what happened?" Gu Yuan asked with a frown.

"I don't know. I still don't know until now."

"Then how does this relate to what you said before?" Gu Yuan asked.

"Sir, listen to me slowly!"

The shopkeeper continued, "After my friend died, high-ranking officials from the Fire Cloud Sect came to my restaurant, took my friend away, and ordered me not to tell anyone about what happened!"

"Then why did you tell me?" Gu Yuan became alert.

"Well, to be honest, I have been feeling a little uneasy recently, often waking up in the middle of the night, and the scenes of my dead friend before his death always appear in my dreams, so I think this may be reminding me of something, so I plan to close this restaurant tomorrow, move away from this place, and find a new place to live. It just so happened that you came to me today and said that you wanted to know these things, so I asked you for some silver and money, which can be regarded as a plan for my family in the second half of my life. I hope you don't mind!" The shopkeeper said with a wry smile.

Gu Yuan waved his hand, indicating that it was okay, and said, "Go on."

"A high-ranking member of the Fire Cloud Sect came directly to my restaurant and warned me not to tell anyone, and to pretend nothing had happened. At the time, I thought my friend had provoked the Fire Cloud Sect and angered it, so he was being retaliated against. But now I feel that things might not be that simple. What's the use? I can't risk my life to avenge my friend. Since then, I don't know what happened. People who are unconscious have appeared one after another, and they all died in miserable ways. At that time, I speculated that something had happened to the Fire Cloud Sect, because after about half a month, I found that dozens of disciples wearing Fire Cloud Sect clothes appeared on the street, but they were quickly captured by normal Fire Cloud Sect disciples. What's more, there was even a crazy and powerful disciple who was killed directly in the street by the elders."

"There's actually such a thing?"

Gu Yuan frowned and asked, "Then, shopkeeper, think carefully. Are these people in the same state of madness? You said your friend said some insane words before he died. What were they saying? What special characteristics or changes did those insane people have before or after death? Think about it carefully!"

The shopkeeper looked at Gu Yuan and said meaningfully, "Sir, you don't look like an explorer?"

Gu Yuan was stunned and quietly circulated the spiritual energy in his body.

"I'm just interested in these things!" said Gu Yuan.

The shopkeeper waved his hand and said, "Whatever the young master wants to do, it's none of my business. I don't know either. Young Master Ye has never received any news from me!"

“It’s natural!”

Gu Yuan looked at the shopkeeper, smiled and said.

"That's good!"

"I later reflected on these events, and the most obvious thing was that those people seemed to have experienced something terrible before they died. I saw several dead people, and I could see fear and despair in their eyes! And even stranger, after they died, they all had a layer of gray or black mist around them that lingered for a long time!"

"Black mist?!"

Gu Yuan's heart skipped a beat, and he thought to himself that it was confirmed!

This is obviously the method of the domain demon!

"It was also from that time that the Huoyun Sect seemed to tighten its watch over its disciples. In the past two years, there has been almost no news about my nephew's logistics work in the Huoyun Sect. The occasional news was always about insignificant things. It seemed... like he was being monitored!"

"Being monitored? Why do you say that?" Gu Yuan asked.

"Because my nephew was sent to the Huoyun Sect by his parents to work in logistics, or through a lot of connections, but he is not willing to do those things. He wants to learn business management like me and open a restaurant. This is his dream. In the past few years, he often wrote to me, complaining about the environment in the Huoyun Sect and complaining about himself. But after two years, my nephew would write to me, but the frequency has greatly decreased. And most importantly, his attitude seems to have changed. He still praises the Huoyun Sect from time to time, but he hasn't come out in the past two years. I feel a little suspicious. I hope I am worrying too much!"

"Never came out? Didn't you go to look for it?" Gu Yuan asked.

"We can't go to a place like the Huoyun Sect. It's useless!" The shopkeeper sighed helplessly.