Glimpse into a Hundred Faces (24)
The news of the death of the only daughter of the Yanqing Sect's leader spread throughout the continents within days. No one saw her body, but all cultivators knew that her inner core had been dug out by the demonic cultivators of the Puppet Sect, and her death was gruesome. The Yanqing Sect leader was furious and vowed to be irreconcilably opposed to the Puppet Sect. Aristocratic families and sects also condemned the despicable path of demonic cultivation.
But compared to these things, people were more concerned about the demonic cultivator who claimed to have killed Qin Wenshuang. This person was two whole realms lower than Qin Wenshuang, yet he was able to kill her. This kind of strength caused an uproar. You must know that in the past, after more than a hundred years of hard work cultivating in the sect, one could only run away with one's tail between one's legs when encountering a cultivator of a higher realm. Now, there are actually such methods of killing people of a higher level. If this continues, wouldn't it be no problem to challenge those reclusive great masters?
In an instant, the reputation of demonic cultivators soared, and cultivators flocked to cultivate the path of inner demons, joining demonic cults. This trend was most prevalent among independent cultivators. Among the many demonic cults, the Puppet Cult was the most popular. Even though their leader, Lu Jiuzhong, was elusive and rarely appeared in public, countless cultivators still joined him. Other cults also benefited, their memberships surging and their influence reaching unprecedented heights.
With the sect as their backing, these demonic cultivators became even more unscrupulous in harming cultivators. Whether they were rogue cultivators or members of aristocratic families and sects, they could all become their targets.
In this situation, a small number of rogue cultivators unwilling to switch to cultivating inner demons joined an organization called the Lingyun Alliance in Ganzhou to protect themselves. Its leader, Zhao Huai Ren, denounced the evil ways of demonic cultivation and called upon all the powerful families and sects in the land to unite in a campaign to restore peace. Unfortunately, very few sects responded. Prestigious sects like the Yanqing Sect, though enemies of the demonic cult, disdained to deal with a mere pawn like the Lingyun Alliance; while other smaller sects feared that standing up would make them the next target of the demonic cult.
Fortunately, Zhao Huai Ren was not discouraged. He personally led the righteous men of the alliance to fight against the demonic cultivators in various places, and they were victorious wherever they went.
However, compared to the cult's rapid, locust-like advance, Zhao Huai-ren's actions were merely a stopgap measure. To truly quell the chaos, the root cause must be addressed.
"But with our small numbers, we can't possibly go toe-to-toe with the Puppet Sect."
"Who said we should confront them head-on? We should at least know where their stronghold is first!"
As night fell, Zhao Huai-ren and his group settled down to rest on a hilltop in Jinzhou. They sat around a campfire, discussing their next move. Although Zhao Huai-ren spoke with great confidence, the others were not optimistic. One of them bluntly stated, "If it were that easy to find out, would we even have a chance? The Yanqing Sect would definitely be the first to rush in and wipe us out."
While this statement had a somewhat sarcastic tone, it wasn't entirely without merit. Unlike other demonic sects that were flamboyant, the Puppet Sect had become increasingly low-key since the Qin Wenshuang incident. Perhaps still wary of the Yanqing Sect's strength, the Puppet Sect leader had practically vanished without a trace, and even the demonic cultivator who killed Qin Wenshuang had disappeared without a trace. Everyone suspected they were hiding in the Puppet Sect's headquarters, but even after the Yanqing Sect had hunted down the Puppet Sect members for so long, they still hadn't found out where their headquarters were hidden.
Zhao Huai Ren glanced at him sideways and said calmly, "Yan Qing Sect is not the only one that has a grudge against the Puppet Sect."
The guy blinked, then suddenly panicked: "Bro, even if you have a grudge, you can't do something like this at a critical moment! Your wife is still in her postpartum period, how are we supposed to explain this when we get back if something happens to you?!"
"What are you thinking about!" Zhao Huai-ren was both angry and amused, and punched him on the head. But Zhao Huai-ren quickly stopped laughing and fell silent.
Actually, he had ulterior motives in searching for the Puppet Sect's headquarters. Yun Yanqiu had been missing since that day, and it was obvious to anyone that he had gone to find Li Zhoubai. And it goes without saying where Li Zhoubai could have gone; with the news of Qin Wenshuang's death causing such a stir, he was certainly also looking for the Puppet Sect's stronghold.
In other words, once the Puppet Sect's stronghold is found, the whereabouts of Yun Yanqiu and Li Zhoubai will become clear.
But how easy is that? Zhao Huai-ren has been searching for the whereabouts of the Puppet Sect for more than a few months, but every time he catches some small fry, or even worse, some of them just parade around under the banner of the Puppet Sect. He can't get any useful information out of them.
Thinking too much about worries is a waste of energy. Zhao Huai-ren rubbed his temples and told the others to go to sleep as soon as possible, so they could go to Yuancheng tomorrow to exchange information with Qi Rong-ting.
Night fell, and all was silent, save for the crisp crackling of the fire roasting wood. Zhao Huai-ren bent one leg, rested his hand on his knee, and gazed at the campfire before him. The firelight danced in his eyes, yet it could not burn away the sorrow within.
After an unknown amount of time, so long that Zhao Huai-ren was starting to feel drowsy, a dull thud suddenly jolted him awake. He jerked his head up and looked around, his hand immediately gripping the hilt of his sword. The sound wasn't far away; it was probably from where they could see the cluster of firelight. Zhao Huai-ren quickly woke up his companions, preparing for any possible attack.
Just as they hurriedly grabbed their weapons, an even clearer sound pierced the darkness. Zhao Huai-ren immediately rushed towards the sound and, in the dim light, spotted a short, dark figure. He instinctively swung his heavy sword at it, but stopped abruptly at the sound of a child's panicked scream.
The companions quickly followed, only to find a crying child beneath Zhao Huai Ren's sword. The child wore tattered, filthy clothes, and his face was no cleaner, as if he had just rolled around in a mud pit.
The child was terrified by Zhao Huai Ren's sword strike; he cried his heart out and kept begging for mercy. After checking him and confirming that he had no spiritual power, the group carried him back.
The campfire illuminated the child's figure, and the group was surprised to discover that the dirt on the thin child was not mud at all, but dried blood.
Everyone wanted to ask him what had happened, but the child was terrified, only clutching his head, eyes tightly shut, repeatedly crying out, "Don't kill me." He was consumed by fear, his body trembling uncontrollably.
The crowd exchanged bewildered glances, wondering what kind of shock he had caused to be so panicked.
Seeing this, Zhao Huai Ren silently took out a water pouch, tore a clean piece of cloth from his clothes, and wiped the bloodstains stuck to the child's body while gently comforting him: "Child, don't be afraid, no one here wants to kill you."
"No! Someone's trying to kill me! Someone's trying to kill me!" the child screamed, his voice almost hoarse from crying.
Zhao Huai-ren looked at him with some heartache: "Who wants to kill you? Tell me, and we'll help you beat him up."
The child was stunned by these words, hesitated, and looked up, revealing his big, dark eyes: "Really?"
"Of course! Would I lie to you?" Zhao Huai-ren raised an eyebrow and smiled. "If you don't believe me, let's pinky swear."
The child sniffed, staring blankly at the outstretched little finger, still somewhat hesitant. Zhao Huai-ren wasn't annoyed, and took the initiative to hook his finger with the child's, making a promise. But no sooner had they finished pinky-pinching than the child burst into tears, catching Zhao Huai-ren off guard: "Hey, we're really not bad people..."
"Is it because you look too fierce?" His companion looked at him with suspicion.
"That can't be right! Ah Yu complimented my looks last time!"
"Sister-in-law, that's just love blinding you. The child's reaction is the real one."
Everyone else agreed that the explanation was reasonable and was about to find someone else to comfort them when they heard the child wailing, "Father, Mother..."
Zhao Huai-ren hurriedly asked again, "What happened to your parents?"
"They're dead..."
Everyone immediately fell silent, their expressions serious.
Who killed them?
“A group of people in black clothes…” the child sobbed. Zhao Huai-ren asked him what other characteristics those people had, but the child couldn’t say.
"Where did you escape from?" Zhao Huai-ren changed the subject. Seeing the child nod, he understood. "Then can you tell me your location? We'll go and avenge you."
The child shook his head violently: "No, they're terrifying! They can bring the dead back to life!"
Zhao Huai-ren was taken aback for a moment, but quickly realized that this was a demonic cultivator creating a corpse puppet. He smiled and patted the child's head: "It's alright, we specialize in dealing with these kinds of bad people!"
He smiled brightly, seemingly calming the child's mind. The child hesitated for a moment, then raised his hand and whispered the general direction to him.
Zhao Huai-ren immediately stood up and said to the others, "You take him back to Yuancheng first, I'll go check that place out."
"You're going alone?" His companion was clearly worried. "How about...?"
“No need,” Zhao Huai-ren interrupted. “I’m just going to scout things out first; it’ll be easier for me to get away alone.”
He urged the others to set off immediately, then turned and ran in the opposite direction. Judging from the child's description, the place was likely on the nearby mountainside. Zhao Huai-ren darted through the forest, suddenly spotting a faint light. He stopped, noticing the light seemed to be approaching. Zhao Huai-ren nimbly disappeared into a thick tree trunk, holding his breath. He heard a grumble from not far away: "That newcomer is really useless; he can't even keep an eye on a little kid!"
"Hey, how far can a kid run at night? Just hurry up and find him." Another voice rang out, clearly his accomplice.
"How could I not know?! But the boss is already angry. Even if we find it and go back, we'll still get beaten up!" The man's voice was even more agitated. "It's all that new guy's fault!"
"Stop cursing, he's already been beaten to death, what's the use of cursing?" his accomplice sighed helplessly. "Hurry up and look for him, if we find him we'll just get beaten again, if we don't find him we'll all be dead..."
"Tsk!" The man spat in frustration, but suddenly stopped in his tracks.
"What's wrong?" His companion stopped and looked up at the higher place, following his gaze with a puzzled expression.
A gentle evening breeze rustled the leaves in the forest. Suddenly, a sharp cry pierced the once-silent woods. The two looked up and saw a bluebird circling incongruously above them. Before they could react, a flash of sword light appeared, and a fatal gash opened on their necks.
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