’What is wrong with this guy?’

’He was completely silent before, but now he’s more talkative than a chatterbox.’

’And if he’s going to talk, fine, but does he have to do it without even taking a breath?’

Jiang Xu watched the incessantly chattering Ding Shiping, feeling all hope drain from his life.

’Didn’t he say he practiced Silent Meditation or something?’

’What’s that all about?’

’It sounds like something from Buddhism. Isn’t he a cultivator of the Taoist path?’

’How can he learn Buddhist techniques?’

Although Jiang Xu was dying to ask questions, he looked at Ding Shiping, who was still blabbering away in front of him, and decided to keep his mouth shut.

’Maybe if I just ignore him, he’ll get the hint and leave on his own.’

But Jiang Xu had severely underestimated the man before him.

When Ding Shiping saw that Jiang Xu was actually listening to him the whole time, his eyes instantly filled with tears.

"You’re a great guy, man. You’re the first person to ever seriously listen to me talk. Everyone else either runs away or tries to pull out a Magical Artifact to beat me up. It’s so sad when you think about it. I don’t even have a single confidant who will listen to me! It’s all the fault of this Silent Meditation! An old monk from the Buddhist Sect insisted that this Taoist Skill was perfect for me. He said the more a person talks, the stronger the effect of Silent Meditation becomes, and that I was the most effective case he’d ever seen. Tell me, wasn’t he just asking for it? Am I really that talkative? Not at all! And sure, this Silent Meditation makes my Magic more powerful—the longer I keep my mouth shut, the stronger the Magic—but how could I possibly hold it in...?"

Jiang Xu decided to continue ignoring him, turning his attention instead to the three items spinning on the table.

"The Seeking Technique has been cast. They’re getting ready to head to their owners. Just a few more seconds now. They’ll fly to their owners on their own, and all we have to do is follow them. Sigh, speaking of which, Chairman Yan is really something else. Normally, the Seeking Technique doesn’t need to be this powerful, but she insisted I maintain my Silent Meditation the whole time without breaking it. Otherwise, she said the Seeking Technique might not be strong enough to find those three missing Outer Disciples. But with my level of power, do I really need to maintain Silent Meditation? Even if it were a bit weaker, couldn’t we just find them one by one? I’m only doing this out of respect for Chairman Yan..."

"Shut up!"

Yan Chunyu slammed her hand on the table. A Talisman appeared in her grasp, and she slapped it directly onto Ding Shiping’s mouth.

"Mmmph, mmmph~~~"

The world was quiet again.

’Praise be to Senior Sister Yan.’ 𝗳𝚛𝗲𝕖𝕨𝕖𝗯𝚗𝚘𝕧𝕖𝗹.𝗰𝗼𝕞

...

The three items belonging to the disciples, which had been hovering in the air, suddenly froze. Then, they turned and flew out of the house.

Jiang Xu and the others quickly opened the door and chased after them.

The three objects didn’t separate, seemingly heading in the same direction.

Everyone exchanged a look.

They all saw the grim expressions on each other’s faces.

’That direction...’

It was the direction of the Celestial Blade Sect.

’Don’t tell me... they actually defected?’

’And joined another Sect?’

But Jiang Xu wracked his brains and couldn’t figure out what the Celestial Blade Sect would possibly see in them.

’Was it their aptitude for taking decades of Cultivation just to reach the Third and Fourth Layers of Qi Cultivation?’

’Give me a break!’

But it was undeniable that their personal belongings were flying in that direction.

Jiang Xu glanced over at Yang Shu. Although he looked just as conflicted as everyone else...

...based on his own years of acting experience, Jiang Xu could tell that Yang Shu was most likely faking it.

’He probably knew this would be the outcome.’

When Ding Shiping had first cast the Seeking Technique, Jiang Xu had clearly sensed Yang Shu’s panic.

But when the missing disciples’ items flew out of the house, he had calmed down again, even looking somewhat excited.

It was as good as a smoking gun. Yang Shu was definitely suspicious.

’But what exactly is the problem?’

’Is he the main culprit behind this incident?’

For now, it was all just speculation.

After flying for several miles, the three items enchanted by the Seeking Technique suddenly slowed down and then descended.

The group hurriedly followed.

After landing, the three objects began circling endlessly above a patch of flat ground, no longer flying elsewhere.

Ding Shiping landed and mumbled "mmph mmph" for a while, but ultimately couldn’t get any words out. Helpless, he could only point at the ground, then jab his finger downward again.

"You don’t think they’re under there?"

Zong Ziqi asked.

Ding Shiping nodded.

HISS!

Everyone had a bad feeling. Yang Shu hurried forward and scooped up a handful of dirt.

"This soil has clearly been disturbed! It’s very likely something is buried here!"

"Dig it up, quickly!"

At Yan Chunyu’s command, several Magical Artifacts flew into action. Within seconds, a large pit was gouged out of the ground before them, revealing four corpses!

Among the four bodies, three were in a state of advanced decomposition, bloated beyond recognition. They had clearly been rotting for a long time.

Gases from the decay filled their abdomens, their bodies were swollen, and the stench was utterly nauseating.

Beside these three bodies lay another, charred black and carbonized.

Jiang Xu’s face paled. It was the first time he had ever seen a dead body, let alone one so disgusting and horrifying. He nearly threw up the Spiritual Food he had eaten the day before.

Yan Chunyu’s expression also changed upon seeing the sight.

Although she had killed a few people before, she had never seen bodies that had been dead for so long. She instinctively turned her head away.

Because his mouth was sealed, Ding Shiping couldn’t even vomit successfully when he felt the urge.

The one who had it worst was Shan Lanlan. The moment she saw them, she clapped a hand over her mouth and flew far away on her Magical Artifact.

She probably wasn’t going to keep down yesterday’s Spiritual Food.

Yang Shu hurried forward to inspect them. But at the sight, he stumbled back two steps in fright, pointing a trembling finger at the three bloated corpses.

"Th-th-this... These are my men... How could this be!!!"

Everyone was stunned to hear this.

’They’re actually dead?!’

Jiang Xu had already suspected as much.

But when the truth was laid bare before him, he couldn’t help but sigh.

Among the group, the only one whose expression remained unchanged was Zong Ziqi.

He walked over to the bodies and began to search them carefully.

After searching for three or four minutes, Zong Ziqi walked back holding a Token.

"Take a look."

The group gathered closer and saw that it was a Token from the Celestial Blade Sect.

"I found it under the charred corpse. Other than that, there were no Storage Bags or anything else. It’s the same for the three bodies next to it."

Seeing this, a flurry of speculations popped up in everyone’s minds.

’What’s going on?’

’Why is a disciple from the Celestial Blade Sect dead here too?’

’And they died together?’

’Don’t tell me they took each other out?’

’But who buried them?’

’The Storage Bags are all gone. Was there a third party involved?’

’Or were there two people from the Celestial Blade Sect, and the other one cleaned up the scene?’

Just then, Yang Shu came forward. Seeing the Token, he became overwhelmed with grief and indignation, his voice trembling as he spoke:

"It must have been this Celestial Blade Sect disciple! He got greedy, murdered them, and stole their treasures! My poor brothers!"