"Elder Wei, I will be there once I take these disciples back from this place," Elder Qin said solemnly.
The old man with white hair, Elder Wei, nodded and vanished as if he had never been there in the first place, surprising the disciples who were watching him.
"Let's go. I believe Elder Hei has already told you everything about the demons, so I won't waste any more time here," he said seriously as he headed toward the Combat Pagoda visible in the distance.
The disciples followed him quietly. Li Yun noticed the sudden shift in Elder Qin's behavior and became curious.
'It seems something is going on in the sect,' he mused as he followed Elder Qin quietly like the other disciples.
Not long after, Elder Qin led the disciples back to the collective space of the Outer Sect.
"You are all dismissed," Elder Qin said quickly and left in a hurry.
As soon as Elder Qin left, the disciples began to scatter.
'I should also leave for the Seven Peak Forest,' Li Yun thought and was about to leave when someone placed a hand on his shoulder.
"Hey, Li Yun, are you free?" Hua Fu asked.
"I'm not," Li Yun replied, shaking his head. "Do you need my help with something?"
"No, no, forget it then," Hua Fu quickly dismissed, waving his hands.
"Tell me, what is it you need my help with?" Li Yun insisted, asking again.
Hua Fu sighed. "It's nothing big. Some other disciples and I are planning to take on a sect mission, so I thought you'd join."
"I would have joined, but I'm kind of busy right now," Li Yun said regretfully. "Definitely next time," he added with a bright smile.
"I understand. See you later then," Hua Fu nodded, understanding, and left.
Li Yun felt a bit disappointed that he couldn't go with Hua Fu and the others, but he knew his current matters required the most attention, and unlike other things, he couldn't compromise. He had to do what needed to be done.
"Let's leave as well," he muttered to himself as he headed toward the sect's exit for the first time in the four years since he'd joined.
***
Somewhere in a dark, cave-like structure supported by wooden pillars that seemed to have aged for a long time, various old men stood with solemn expressions on their faces.
All of their attention was directed at the table—or rather, the thing placed on the table.
From its outer shape and body structure, it resembled a human, and if one didn't know better, they might think it was just a human corpse, albeit slightly butchered. However, it wasn't.
A human corpse, whoever it may have belonged to, simply couldn't make so many elders of the Mystic Cloud Sect so serious.
At that moment, an old man with a long, thick beard entered the scene.
"Elder Qin, you're here," Elder Wei nodded to him lightly and gestured toward the body on the table.
Elder Qin looked at the table and saw the human corpse. "How is this possible?!" he exclaimed in shock and terror at the sight.
The human corpse had bright red marks running from its face down to the entirety of its body. Its chest bones had elongated to the point that they pierced through the skin and resurfaced on top, creating a ghastly sight.
The nails on both hands and feet had also extended unnaturally, while two protruding bumps appeared on top of the head. Though it wasn't clear what they were, the presence of two pointed protrusions was clearly ominous.
"Another one of them, and this time it's a disciple of our sect," Elder Qin muttered as he closely inspected the body for several minutes.
"Elder Qin, what do you think?" Elder Wei asked, his expression grim.
"It is indeed demonification," Elder Qin said, looking at the elders. "This disciple suffered the same fate as the last hundreds of beasts we found. There are clear signs of demonification if you look closely at the red markings and the bones coming out of his chest."
He added in a grim tone, "Whoever is behind this has clearly gained much experience in conducting experiments on beasts and inducing demonification. And now, it seems they've upped their game by choosing humans as their targets—their guinea pigs."
The elders present became grim and solemn upon hearing Elder Qin. They understood how severe the situation was.
It wasn't long—around five years ago—when they had first encountered a beast that had undergone demonification. Since then, they had found large numbers of such beasts, all dying from the same process.
This incident had alarmed the entire sect, as these demonified beasts were mostly found around the part of Seven Peak Forest where their sect was located.
And now, the sudden appearance of a human—a disciple of their very sect—dying from the same process as those beasts made the situation even more dire.
They couldn't allow the situation to escalate any further, or the entire sect might be at risk.
"I'll inform the sect master right away," one of the elders said before leaving after receiving Elder Qin's report.
"Who could be behind all of this?" Elder Wei muttered, his expression dark.
"That's the mystery," one of the elders said. "There hasn't been a demonic sect in the entirety of Greenwood Empire, at least none that we know of. There are some humans who have gone astray and follow the demonic path, but that's still somewhat human compared to demonification."
The speaker was a short, middle-aged man holding a stick in his hand. His hair was greying, clearly turning white with age, and he was slightly bald at the top of his head. He was Elder Lao.
"That is indeed the case," Elder Wei said, frowning.
"Haven't I mentioned someone suspicious before?" Elder Qin said, causing all the elders to frown simultaneously.
"Elder Qin, I said this last time, and I'll say it again," Elder Wei said in a serious tone. "Elder Shu has served the sect for many years, even longer than some of us here. It couldn't be him. He has no reason or motive to do something like this."
Elder Qin sighed. "I know, I know, you don't need to get so serious about it. I just suspect him because only he has the kind of knowledge to do what's happening around here."
"Don't you have that knowledge too?" Elder Wei said, giving him a side-eye. "But have we ever suspected you? No. So stop suspecting Elder Shu."
Elder Qin shrugged. "As you say. But I'll say this again: I don't trust that guy. Call it a personal feeling, or maybe it's because we both deal in the research field, or maybe it's just my instinct. I just don't trust him."
Elder Wei sighed as he listened. It was for this reason that he hadn't called both Elder Shu and Elder Qin at the same time. He knew that if he had, they would argue more and work less.