The Legend of Fangren

"Elder! Elder!"

Two more disciples rushed back, and when they heard what had happened, their accounts were exactly the same as what Luo He had said.

In total, four disciples have been killed.

"This matter is perilous; we must hurry and pursue them." The junior elder immediately prepared to set off.

The Grand Elder remained where he was and did not make any move.

Luo He was extremely anxious. "Elder, let's hurry and go find them!"

"Don't rush," the First Elder said. "The Junior Elder has already gone to search for them. Finding people to protect the grain is an important matter, and we cannot neglect one area. The rest of you, protect the grain carts for me, and do not be distracted."

"Yes, Elder." The remaining disciples had no choice but to obey and escort the carriage back to the city with the soldiers.

……

"Senior Sister Qian, let's split up and search. Those thieves and their men can't have gone far."

"Alright."

The three elders scattered into the forest, their forms blurring. Qian Shaoyun leaped into the air, scattering a thin cloud that fell upon the earth.

With his eyes closed, he felt the mysterious energy flowing from the earth beneath him, a mixture that was difficult to discern, yet a few wisps of energy remained hidden in the forest.

"As Luohe just said, there is such a direction."

She then trailed a cloud tail and disappeared into the mountains.

wow~

A man in black carrying his disciple on his shoulder swept through the trees and leaves, moving swiftly through the forest, his destination unknown.

He suddenly heard a rustling sound from above, and without even looking up, he dodged to the side. In his haste, he dropped the person on his shoulder, climbed onto the tree trunk, and landed on a branch.

With a tearing sound, a wisp of white silk emerged from the clouds, slender yet powerful, swift as lightning. Anyone struck by it was cleaved in two by a single lash, as if by a blade.

A wisp of cloud landed on a branch, as light as a wisp of smoke: "You audacious thief, how dare you kidnap a disciple of my Dragon River Sect! What are your intentions?"

"..."

The man in black remained silent, then with a flick of his wrists, several thin needles flew towards him.

Such tricks could not escape the keen eyes of Qian Shaoyun. She lightly touched the branch with her toes, and drifted over the mountains and forests wrapped in clouds and mist. The fine needles went unnoticed in the clouds and were completely useless, only earning her a cloud whip.

Seeing this, the man in black quickly leaned back to dodge the attack, landed naturally, rolled to dissipate the force, and then carried the unconscious disciple on his back, trying to escape.

"Don't run!" Qian Shaoyun gave chase, but the other party carried the hostage on his back as a shield.

She chased after him several times, but he only ran away and stopped fighting back. He knew he had nowhere to go, but he still struggled in vain. If she hadn't been worried about accidentally hurting her disciple, she would have captured him long ago.

"Hiss... Something's not right." She finally sensed something was amiss and probed the mysterious energy again.

Wherever the man in black passed, traces of profound energy remained, suggesting that his cultivation was not refined, but rather that it was deliberate.

Oh no, we've fallen for the thieves' diversionary tactic; it's just a smokescreen.

With a furious lash, Qian Shaoyun lashed out with her whip, which instantly grew several times larger, obliterating the trees beside the man in black. The man in black was cut in half at the waist, and without even a scream, he collapsed into the pile of weeds, turning into dust.

"Just as I suspected, a puppet..."

His gaze then fell upon the "disciple" beside him, who was also just an empty puppet, a mere illusion.

With this delay, it was hopeless for her to find the disciple given her cultivation level. The other two junior elders had also chased after her to a distance, but their whereabouts were unknown. She could only return to the city first.

However, she did not enter the city gate upon returning. Instead, she used her sect token to send a soldier to the post station to deliver a message, and then waited at the city gate for the other two junior elders.

Two hours passed before the First Elder replied, saying he was aware of the situation and would immediately contact the city lord and the sect, and asked her to patiently wait for the other two elders to return.

In the end, however, she only got one person back.

"Senior Sister Qian! We've been attacked! Junior Sister Yun... she's seriously injured and surrounded by bandits, in grave danger!"

The young elder who rushed back was also seriously injured and bleeding profusely, but he had no heart to treat him and only hoped that Qian Shaoyun would go to his rescue as soon as possible.

"What? There are other people here!"

"Exactly! There are seven or eight third-tier Qi Gathering Realm cultivators lying in ambush in the forest, along with a fifth-tier Manifestation Realm leader!!!"

"Oh no!" Upon hearing this, Qian Shaoyun's pupils shrank dramatically. "Go and report to the Grand Elder immediately. I'll go and rescue them first."

"Yes."

With his mouth full of blood, the young elder hurriedly said, "Junior Sister Yun, to protect me as I escaped, lured the thieves into the mountains five miles south of the city to fight them off!"

"Alright." Upon hearing this, Qian Shaoyun leaped into the clouds and flew into the distance.

However, she did not notice that the little elder, whose mouth was full of blood, leaned against the city gate, his lips trembling as he curled up.

"Cough cough...cough...heh...as expected of Senior Sister Qian, what a fine temperament."

He supported his injured body and slowly walked into the city. Although he was not better, he no longer showed any anxiety.

"These Heavenly Rank disciples are perfect as stepping stones..."

……

Meanwhile, a thousand miles south of the city, in the mountains and forests, the young elder Yun Yue was stabbed in the waist, which led the thieves to flee into the mountains.

"Senior brother... I'm counting on you."

She risked her life to lure the thieves away, placing her hopes on her longtime colleague, completely unaware that she had been betrayed.

He used his inner energy to stop the injury and hid in the mountain stream, but a wicked, lewd laugh came from above.

"Young lady, don't hide anymore! We've been waiting for you in the mountains for a long time, how could we let you go? Come out sooner rather than later and have some fun with us, so you can die a quick and painless death! Hahaha..."

Yun Yue remained silent, assuming the other party was lying.

Sure enough, after a short while, the shouting of that group faded into the distance.

Taking a breather, she quickly applied medicine to herself, but couldn't understand why a group of thieves had suddenly appeared.

Especially the leader, who actually had a fifth-level cultivation. Logically speaking, a fifth-level cultivator would not be unknown. With a casual move, he could become a guest of honor in major cities and families. Why would he do such a vicious thing?

Unless... a family did this intentionally?

Absurd! In this chaotic world of beasts, what family would dare to attack someone from a sect? Even if they are vying for power in the city, they shouldn't make such a move. Otherwise, even if they control the city, offending a sect will not bring them any good.

After much thought, two words suddenly flashed through Yun Yue's mind.

"Evil Sect." 』

The so-called evil sects are sects and religious groups that oppose prestigious sects like the Dragon River Sect. Orthodox religions follow the way of nature, cultivate themselves with a pure heart, and protect the people of their region, while evil sects take unorthodox paths, are eager for quick success and instant benefits, go astray, and use evil methods and blood techniques to harm the world.

Thinking about it this way, the man in black kidnapped the disciple rather than killed him, which doesn't seem like an enemy. He is very likely a member of an evil sect or a heretical cultivator.

The evil sect has not appeared in the Five Realms for a long time. It was wiped out by the major sects and cities hundreds of years ago. Even some remnants were driven to the wilderness. Why did it have to make a comeback this time?

There wasn't much logic to it, but Yun Yue was unwilling to accept it, and today she feared that things would turn out badly for her.

Their only hope was that the elders would come to their rescue soon.

Just then, someone above said, "Really gone? This mountain isn't big, and the valley isn't deep. How could she have gotten away?"

"Boss, we really couldn't find it."

"Sigh, alright, alright, then let's look elsewhere... just kidding."

Suddenly, the leader's voice sank into the valley below, becoming several degrees clearer than before: "Young lady, stop hiding. This is the only place to hide, both in front of and behind the mountain."

"Cough..." Yun Yue's heart tightened, and she was so angry that blood trickled from the corner of her mouth.

The medicine I just applied hasn't worked yet; the thief's knife was poisoned, and the wound is hard to heal.

Fine, if those people dare to come down, she will kill one of them first, then disfigure herself to preserve her innocence after death.