If they succeeded and the status quo continued, then the Towering Mountain Sect would never receive criticism for attacking a neutral sect, which would make me lose a lot of opportunities for further chaos under the guise of justice.
So I couldn't let Ghost and his fellow disciples succeed. Also, he was under the faction of an elder that was in direct competition with my prime. So it was truly a win-win situation for me.
"Quite impressive isn't it, all you have to do is protect this area for the next two months, then it will all be over."
So I had a timeline now. Of course, he could be telling a complete lie, but I didn't think so.
He walked me through the facility.
"We will supply everything you might need for the next two months. Once we complete the attack on the Flowing Stream Sect and raid their stores, everyone will receive their rightful benefits."
I was always a little concerned when anyone from a Demonic Sect, myself included, of course, when they say benefits, it almost always means death.
So I had to look forward to now. The tour finished a few moments later. We ended up back at the stairs up to the mansion. He gestured me forward to continue the walk-up. Just as I got past him, I felt a force grab me, slam me against the wall, my back shouting out.
Ghost held me up by my throat; he seemed to have changed his mood a little from a few seconds ago.
"If you betray us, Byren, I will do a lot worse than you."
Releasing me, he let me slide down to the ground.
"Do whatever you want to protect the Sect, you just have to report back once a day with what you are doing."
With that, he left me on the ground. He quickly disappeared up the stairs as I got to my feet.
I was going to enjoy killing him when I got the chance.
Now was the time to return to the camp and see if they improved, moving through the house and town was still a depressing site, they really didn't need it to be this bad.
Moving back towards the camp, I constantly sent out my soul sense to make sure I wasn't followed. Apart from the arrays in the cavern, the rest of their organization hadn't been the most competent, most of them very high on karmic imbalance.
So I was confident they wouldn't be able to send out anyone competent anytime soon to follow me.
I had to be careful, though. There was no point in getting my troop killed prematurely.
I needn't have worried. I got back to the troop through a winding route that I was confident they wouldn't be able to track me from. Also, if they were, I would be able to find them following me easily.
The valley had disappeared, so they had managed to get the illusion arrays up and running, Bin Ji had come up with an impressive team. They did know their stuff academically, at least, which has translated a little to the real world.
I slipped through it. I didn't even set off any alarms; they were very obviously placed, so I would have to fix that soon.
I came down the hill to see a relaxed group, made a little lake, diverted the small stream into a big hole they had made, and were all relaxing, swimming around and enjoying the sun.
It was a real shame to interrupt them.
I clapped my hands together, the force pushing some of them back.
"Urgent Team meeting."
They all groaned but soon began to trail in behind me. Bin Ji and Yurt were the only ones inside, both seriously pouring over maps trying to figure out all the tactics possible to ambush an invading party from any side, if the needs demand it.
"Byren you're back, How went the scouting trip."
My return seemed to alleviate her stress, already dependant on me, that was a good sign. Yurt barely seemed to acknowledge my return, so we would have to fix that in the future.
"We have an issue."
Bin Ji looked startled. She let everyone trickle into the room, all wearing swimming and relaxing gear, hopefully, they would stay relaxed after I drop this piece of news.
"Cultivators have completely taken over the town. They have placed a figurehead in charge, sapped all the life from the town."
Bin Ji's sister was the first to throw something out as usual.
"That's terrible, but what has that got to do with us."
Quite a few people looked at her like she was an idiot this time which was nice to see, I wasn't the only one doing it anymore.
"They are from the Demon Hair sect, but they have been radicalized by a core formation cultivator from the ghost devouring Sect."
That did get quite the response, confusion from most having never heard of the sect only the presence of the Core formation cultivator giving them pause, Yurt, and Bin Ji, however, showed the terrified reaction that just warmed my heart. They had obviously heard of the sect before, which was very handy.
"That is not even the worse part. They have a giant cavern under the town where they make tens of constructs like the one that attacked us each and every day. They already have a few thousand, ready to attack anyone."
Any hint of relaxation quickly disappeared.
That was the news they were not expecting. The small town was an army on the doorstep. This was big news that we would have to report to the headquarters, which we had no way of contacting this far out without using the tower.
I felt it was best to keep quiet about how I could get in and out of the tower whenever I wanted.
"So, what are we going to do now."
"Now, we fight."