Huangxiu

Chapter 1158 Response
They exchanged glances, then looked away.

As the top-level elders, they were naturally aware of Zhu Lingyun's mission this time.

Seeing that Zhu Lingyun had returned alone and that his aura hadn't changed much, they had a vague feeling that things weren't going well.

There must have been a mishap in the middle, otherwise Zhu Lingyun, who returned at this time, would not be in his current state.

However, this matter is confidential and should not be discussed here, especially when the sect leader is not present.

Zhu Lingyun went to a corner of the main hall, sat down on the ground, closed his eyes and remained motionless, entering a state of deep meditation.

The elders around him would occasionally glance at him.

Seeing their reaction, Chu Zhiyuan became extremely curious about the power dynamics of the Giant Spirit Sect.

How could an elder not inquire about this matter?

Knowing full well that it was inappropriate, yet remaining silent and not uttering a single word?
It is evident that this sect leader held extremely high prestige, surpassing that of all the elders.

……

Half an hour later, a cold and stern middle-aged man floated into the main hall.

Zhu Lingyun sensed something, abruptly opened his eyes, turned his head to look, then leaped up and floated down in front of him, clasping his hands in greeting: "Master!"

Chu Zhiyuan observed him through Zhu Lingyun.

The middle-aged man had a square face, and his eyes were large and bright, shining with a dazzling light.

Almost everyone's attention is drawn to his eyes, while other parts of his body are ignored.

Ignore the fact that he is not tall or strong, but of medium build, and even somewhat thin.

Through Zhu Lingyun's memories, Chu Zhiyuan knew that the middle-aged man in front of him was Zhao Ruilin, the sect leader of the Giant Spirit Sect.

Zhao Ruilin glanced at the other elders in the main hall and slowly asked, "What happened?"

Zhu Lingyun slowly said, "Master, after I woke up, I found that all my senior brothers and uncles were dead."

"Dead?!" an elder couldn't help but exclaim. "Who did it?"

Zhu Lingyun shook his head.

"Didn't you see that?"

"No." Zhu Lingyun looked confused. "I was cultivating when I inexplicably entered a strange realm. I don't know how much time passed in a daze. When I woke up, I found that it was already dawn, and all around me were the corpses of my senior brothers and uncles."

His face was pale, and he looked bewildered and confused: "Everyone is dead, not a single one survived. They all died with blood flowing from their foreheads."

"Blood flowing from between the eyebrows?!" The middle-aged elder frowned and asked, "What weapon caused this?"

Zhu Lingyun shook his head repeatedly: "I can't tell. I can only see a bloody hole, which looks like a sword, but also like something else."

Another middle-aged man said in a deep voice, "Little Zhu, are you saying that all your disciples died at the hands of one person without your knowledge?... Is that even possible?"

Zhu Lingyun said, "It's also possible that many people are using the same martial arts and the same weapon."

An elder said in a deep voice, "Little Zhu, it is possible that he really did die at the hands of one person."

Zhu Lingyun looked at him curiously: "Uncle-Master Sun, even Master doesn't have such cultivation, does he?"

"Hmph." Zhao Ruilin snorted coldly, "I might not be unable to do it!"

Everyone understood what he meant: it was almost impossible.

The people sent on the secret mission were all highly skilled; it would be almost impossible to kill them all in one go without them escaping.

An elder said in a deep voice, "This is an array, isn't it?"

"Illusion array?"

"Very likely."

Zhu Lingyun gently shook his head: "If it's an illusion array, it can't hide it from me."

The group exchanged glances and slowly nodded.

This is true.

Zhu Lingyun possesses an extraordinary physique, keen senses, and a powerful spirit, making him impossible to conceal with an illusion array.

An elder exclaimed, "How did they manage to do that?"

Zhao Ruilin said in a deep voice, "This matter will eventually be exposed. We'll find out eventually by asking around."

An elder said in a deep voice, "Senior brother, we won't feel at ease until we figure this out. If it's just one person, that's terrible. If it's a group of people, what if they take other actions?...Should we continue?"

Zhao Ruilin said, "That's natural."

How can we disobey the decree issued by the Spirit Lord?

If it doesn't work the first time, then try again; we must get it done eventually.

He looked at Zhu Lingyun: "Lingyun, do you still dare to leave the valley?"

“Master…” Zhu Lingyun hesitated, then slowly said, “If we don’t figure this out, I’m worried that going out will be useless and will only lead to our destruction.”

"What a coincidence!" Another elder shook his head. "Besides, it's not like we're the only ones acting; there are other sects too. These guys can't be targeting us alone, can they?"

"Exactly, it's impossible for it to be such a coincidence."

"Besides, our operation is clandestine, and it's impossible for anyone to leak it out. How could these guys possibly find us again?"

"Let's go somewhere else."

"This time, it needs to be even more secretive."

"Only a few of us know about this, how could it be leaked?... This time it's all a coincidence, just bad luck. By the way, where's the idol?"

"Yes, we need to find the statue. Hopefully, it hasn't been discovered or seen by those city guards." "If they saw it, we'd definitely move it back."

"Then we'll have to go into the city and take it back."

"Little Zhu, where is the statue?" an elder asked Zhu Lingyun.

Zhu Lingyun solemnly replied, "The statue has been destroyed."

"Destroyed?!" All the elders exclaimed in shock.

Sect Master Zhao Ruilin's eyes widened, and he said in a deep voice, "Destroyed?!"

Zhu Lingyun nodded sadly: "It has been reduced to a pile of fragments and is completely destroyed."

"impossible!"

"No way!"

"Hey, Xiao Zhu, you've got it wrong."

"Hmm, they'll probably just move the statue away and then try to fool you with a bunch of rubble."

"No one in the world can destroy the statue of a god. No matter how strong one's cultivation is, even divine weapons cannot destroy it."

"There must be a mistake."

"I think it's just to fool Xiao Zhu."

"Who exactly are these guys? This doesn't seem like something the imperial court would do."

"It certainly doesn't seem like it, it's very strange. Could it be one of the four major sects?"

"Even the Four Great Sects don't seem to have such methods. I've never heard of them before... Is it a secret force of the imperial dynasty?"

"It seems we really should find these guys first; otherwise, I'll feel uneasy."

"...That's right."

They all nodded in agreement, reaching a consensus that they first needed to figure out who these enemies were.

Only by finding this group of saboteurs can we feel at ease and continue our plans.

"How do we find it?" Zhao Ruilin frowned as he looked at the elders.

Their gazes, however, fell upon Zhu Lingyun.

Zhu Lingyun solemnly replied, "This disciple has indeed not seen these people and cannot find them."

"Is there really no way to help?" an elder laughed. "Little Zhu, your senses are far more acute than ordinary people. Surely you're not completely oblivious?"

Zhu Lingyun solemnly shook his head.

Zhao Ruilin frowned and said, "Junior Brother Hu, Junior Brother Sun, go with Lingyun to see what's going on over there and see if you can find any clues."

"Yes." The two middle-aged men solemnly clasped their hands in greeting.

They were all experts in tracking and were exceptionally sensitive to auras.

"Go, be careful." Zhao Ruilin waved his hand and said, "Lingyun, if anything goes wrong, get away immediately and don't linger in the fight."

"Yes, Master." Zhu Lingyun solemnly clasped his hands in a fist salute.

From the moment he entered the valley, he remained serious and unsmiling, hardly uttering a single word.

This is a coldness and taciturnity cultivated over many years, deeply ingrained in people's minds.

The members of the Giant Spirit Sect would not blame him for this, after all, there was no need to argue with a man who was destined to die.

Chu Zhiyuan, accompanied by two elders, floated away from the main hall and the valley, heading towards the imperial city.

As evening fell, they reached the mountain peak a mile from the woods and stopped at a distance.

He looked solemn, frowning as he stared at the distant grove of trees.

The two middle-aged men lowered their voices: "What?"

"There's an ambush," Zhu Lingyun said solemnly. "Something's not right."

"Over there?" The two middle-aged men looked over in that direction, focused their gaze, and finally shook their heads.

"There's no one around, right? Xiao Zhu, did you see anyone?" a middle-aged man asked in a young voice. "Who was it?"

Zhu Lingyun said, "I didn't see it, but I could tell something was wrong. It might be a trap."

He turned and left, heading back towards the Giant Spirit Sect.

This startled the two middle-aged men, who then quickly stepped forward to stop him.

"Xiao Zhu, what's wrong with you...?"

"It's not advisable to linger here; we should head back," Chu Zhiyuan said. "Master instructed us not to take unnecessary risks."

“...Otherwise, Junior Brother Sun and I will go and take a look. Xiao Zhu, you stay here and observe. If there is any problem, you can return to the sect first and don’t need to worry about us.”

A middle-aged man hesitated, but ultimately made this decision.

Zhu Lingyun hesitated.

The middle-aged man laughed and said, "We still have some ways to escape. If we are really outmatched, we will find a way to get away."

“…Okay.” Zhu Lingyun thought for a moment, looked at them, and finally nodded with difficulty.

The two middle-aged men smiled.

They exchanged a glance, then floated forward, their movements subtle and silent.

(End of this chapter)