Shen Ying caught up with Yi Qing at the mountain entrance of Blackheaven Sect.
“Master, you really want to join us?” He was a little surprised by this sudden decision of Shen Ying’s.
“Cough. You are my chef… disciple!” Shen Ying patted his shoulder and said gravely, “You are going for this experiential training, so of course I worry for you.”
“But… this is not my training.” This was just a simple sect mission. He only needed to accompany the sect’s disciples to the designated location and see to their safety.
Could it be…
Struck with a sudden thought, Yi Qing’s eyes lit up and he turned to look at Shen Ying with a face filled with emotion. “Master is trying to remind me that no matter what kind of task, they are all a form of cultivation practice, so I must treat it seriously and be fully prepared. Have no worries, Master. Disciple fully understands your point.”
“Er, that’s not exactly it…” Whatever makes you happy.
“No?” Perplexed, Yi Qing bowed his head in thought. After pondering for a while, his eyes widened and he asked, “Could it be that… Master thinks that something unusual will happen during this expedition which will put my cultivation to the test and you are worried that I can’t cope?”
“Cough, cough, cough…” I’ll let you guess.
“Come off it!” Lonemoon, who had tagged along, rolled his eyes and cut to the chase, “The only thing she is worried about is that there will be no one doing the cooking.”
“I understand now. In that case… thank you, Master, for your trouble.” Yi Qing still wore that look of unwavering conviction. How can Master’s well-meaning intentions be understood by outsiders? “Your disciple will definitely not let you down.”
“Hey, hey hey…” Lonemoon’s mouth twitched. Did you even listen to me? When will you recover from your ‘brain-damaged fan’ sickness?
“Why did you come?” Yi Qing finally turned to look at the person next to him, a chilly look in his eyes. He’s trying to steal my master again!
Somewhat shocked by Yi Qing’s hostile glare, Lonemoon felt a pang in his heart. Now the Sword Immortal was not even bothering to address him as Supremacy. The difference in his attitude was glaring.
“Why do you ask? If she can go, why can’t I?” He could not tolerate such discrimination. “I’ve come along to protect the both of you as I think this expedition is going to be dangerous.” If the both of them left, he would be bored to death.
Yi Qing’s expression turned even colder, but he really had no grounds to stop him. He looked at the disciples who had gathered in front and in a loud voice, commanded, “Depart!” Turning around, he summoned his sword and reached his hand out to Shen Ying. “Master, let us go!” Completely ignoring a certain someone next to him, Yi Qing immediately took off with Shen Ying.
“Hey, hey, hey, why are you flying so fast?” Lonemoon also followed behind immediately on his sword.
The disciples, still in the dark: “…” The Soul Formation Supremacy and the Nascent Soul Perfected One are leading the team. This must mean that the level of difficulty on this experiential training mission is off the scale!
Σ(°△°|||)
The area this experiential training team was assigned to was a remote town located to the south of Blackheaven Sect. The SOS message they had received said that a big demon had appeared near the town three months ago. Quite a number of people had claimed to have seen it. Dozens of people had been killed so far, their organs removed from their bodies. It had been a gruesome spectacle, and included among the casualties was a Golden Core Dao Lord. The whole town was in a state of panic. It was in desperation that they requested the Blackheaven Sect for help.
A demon who could take on a Golden Core Dao Lord must have attained at least an eighth-stage cultivation, so Sect Master Qiu had made the decision to let a Nascent Soul Perfected One lead the training team. There were dozens of disciples on this trip who all at the Foundation Establishment stage. The highest among them were only at the Perfected Foundation Establishment stage.
The group flew for half a day before arriving at the small town they were assigned to. The town was not big; everything in it could be taken in at one glance. After settling down at an inn, Yi Qing let the disciples go by themselves to scout for information. After all, this was meant to be their training so he could not intervene too much.
About a dozen disciples came back in the evening after having gone scouting for a whole afternoon, all wearing strange looks on their faces. Their expressions seemed to be one of bewilderment?
“What’s wrong?” Lonemoon looked at the disciple nearest him. He seemed to recall him as being the most senior disciple of Yi Qiu. “Cheng An, what have you found?”
“Cheng An, reporting to Uncle-Master.” Cheng An stepped forward and cupped his fists. “Our intention had been to ask only those who had seen the demon to find out what kind of demon it was, but after our questioning we found out that about half the town folk had seen this demon.”
“Oh, it’s that bold?” Lonemoon frowned, motioning him to continue.
“They said that this demon only came out in the middle of the night. It was shrouded in a black Qi, so they couldn’t see its appearance at all.” Cheng An continued, “The textile shop, the winery, the inn in the west of the town, the school, the rouge shop in the east of the town, and even the houses of the hunter families at the end of the street have been broken into by the demon.”
“So it seems that this demon has been wreaking havoc here for a long time.” Lonemoon clenched the jade flute in his hand. “How are the people who have seen the monster? What condition are they in?”
Cheng An’s face twitched a little and the conflicted expression on his face deepened. “They… have not been harmed.”
“What?” Lonemoon was confused. How could that be?! “No injuries? But weren’t we told that the demon has killed more than a dozen people including a Golden Core cultivator?”
“That is indeed the case.” Cheng An nodded and said, “But those who have seen the demon were not injured. I have also checked the pulse of every one of them, but there was no damage to either their mind or body, and they even said that… they seemed to have become even stronger than usual.”
When he said this, the other disciples nodded and chipped in with their own accounts.
“That’s right. The boss of the textile shop, Old Zhuang, also said that his mental condition has improved.”
“The winery boss has no more insomnia.”
“The book store master’s back pain has gone away.”
“The rouge shop owner is cured of the rheumatism in his legs.”
Lonemoon: “…” What the hell?
(╯‵□′)╯(┻━┻
Don’t tell me that this demon is doing charitable work during the night? Then how are the deaths of those dozen or so people supposed to be explained? Is this monster trying to fatten people up before killing them?
“The residents whose houses were broken into didn’t really lose anything much.”
“That’s not it! Did something else happen?”
“What is it?”
“The textile shop lost a big rooster.”
“…” What?
“The winery shop lost two.”
“The yellow dog in the book store lost two of his legs.”
“The rabbit in the rouge store is missing.”
Lonemoon: “…” This affair was turning into a bloody farce. Was this monster trying to be funny? Killing people and taking out their hearts, then doing charity at night. But why had only the domestic animals like chickens and rabbits gone missing? Could it be that it was a fox demon?
He frowned and pondered over it. He came up with a plan, but then remembered that this was the experiential training of the disciples. Unless they met with a situation they couldn’t deal with, otherwise he should not intervene. He thus kept his thoughts to himself and swept his gaze over the group before him.
“Have you all come up with a plan?”
Everyone was silent and looked at each other for a long time. No one came forward with any ideas.
Shaking his head, Lonemoon was about to say that they were indeed a green lot and then present his own views. But suddenly, Shen Ying, who had been sitting next to him eating her snacks, interrupted, “It likes to eat chicken. You can catch a few chickens and use them to lure it out.”
On hearing this, Lonemoon let out a snort of derision and rolled his eyes. There were so many cultivators here; the demon was not blind, so why would it fall for this ruse? Only a fool would…
“Good idea, Junior Sister!” Cheng An’s eyes brightened, turning to look at Shen Ying with an excited expression on his face.
Huh?
Holy sh*t, you are all really dumb!
The other disciples also gathered around Shen Ying.
Disciple 1: “Yeah, why didn’t I think of it? This can lure the snake out of its hole!”
Disciple 2: “Junior Sister is really smart. You look unfamiliar, which peak’s disciple are you?”
Disciple 3: “Great, why don’t we lay out the plan tonight?”
Disciple 4: “Good, we’ll adopt Junior Sister’s idea. I will buy the chickens!”
Disciple 5: “I am going to set up the array!”
Disciple 6…
Yi Qing: What? Was there a profound Dao principle behind Master’s casual comment?
Lonemoon: “…”
Lonemoon suddenly felt deep worry for the future prospect of Blackheaven Sect!