The entire sect is obsessed with love, but I'm the only one who's truly insane.

Mo Lin was surprised to hear someone knocking on his door in the middle of the night. He was huddled on a kang (a heated brick bed) with his two junior brothers. The spiritual energy was thin, making it difficult to meditate and cultivate. Yuan Ye was rambling on about how strange things had been going on that day.

"Senior Brother, you practice the Hidden Edge Sword Technique. Tell me, why doesn't Junior Aunt let us say she's really powerful? She wasn't like this before. Could it be because of that Shao Fei?"

"Junior Martial Aunt must have her reasons for doing this." Yan Qing was quite astute. "Children shouldn't meddle in adult matters."

Yuan Ye: ?

"How come I remember that Junior Uncle is two years younger than me?"

"What did you call him?" Yan Qing asked, arms crossed and holding a book.

Yuan Ye immediately replied, "Junior Uncle."

Yan Qing slapped the book on her lap. "Isn't that enough?"

He paused for a moment, then added, "Besides, Shao Fei does have a problem."

Mo Lin nodded slightly, then suddenly had a flash of inspiration. "There are too many flaws in their statements, it's just an attempt to cover things up. They've been asking about our capabilities, I wonder if they're sent by those information-selling organizations to gather intelligence."

As soon as the four new disciples made it onto the Azure Cloud Ranking, people would inevitably try to find out about them, whether openly or secretly: which sect they cultivated, what level they had reached, where their talent lay, and their cultivation level. Information such as their characteristics, physical skills, and combat abilities would also be sought.

Afterwards, a high price was offered. When he reached the Foundation Establishment stage and made it onto the Azure Cloud Ranking, his information was offered for a high price of seven thousand spirit stones.

He completely forgot that the night before, a group of people had been laughing and discussing whether Shao Fei liked him or not.

Many things require you to calm down and think them through before you realize the many possibilities.

Shao Fei was acting strangely, and all six members of the Wushang Sect sensed it.

"What if this is a setup she orchestrated to test our capabilities?"

Yuan Ye was a member of the royal family. In his eyes, such spies should have been dragged into the dungeon and interrogated properly long ago. But this was the spirit world, and he didn't understand the rules of the spirit world. In the end, he couldn't just take people's lives at will.

Mo Lin stroked the sword and staff standing beside him. "Of course, we'll teach her a lesson and show the people behind her that we are very valuable."

Otherwise, how come back then, information about him was worth seven thousand spirit stones, and seven groups of people were sent to investigate, yet they still couldn't find out his background?

There was a sudden knock on the door, followed by a woman's trembling voice entering the room, "Fellow Daoist Mo, are you there?"

Her voice was trembling with haste and tears, even with a hint of pleading and panic.

The three exchanged surprised glances. Mo Lin picked up his sword and staff. "Fellow Daoist, it's late. What brings you here?"

Shao Fei lowered her voice, "Fellow Daoist, could you please let me in to explain in detail? I am filled with fear, afraid that I might cause a great disaster. Unfortunately, I am weak and powerless, and can only ask for your help."

Mo Lin glanced at Yan Qing. "Since you're already here, why not bring him in and try to get some information out of him?"

Yan Qing closed the book and looked up; Yuan Ye also smiled slightly.

As expected, those senior uncles and elders all enjoyed traveling. The things they encountered in a day outside were much more interesting than a year of cultivation in the sect.

Mo Lin opened the door, leaning against the doorframe with one hand. He was startled by the white clothes in the darkness. Xia Tianwu also liked to wear white clothes, but he was not like the person in front of him who was swaying in the wind.

He thought about it carefully and concluded that it was probably because his second junior sister was always calm and composed, and her clothes had other colors and patterns. Especially this winter, a red plum blossom was always adorning her temples, like the cinnabar mole at the corner of her eye, adding a touch of vibrancy to her whole being.

"What has made you so uneasy, fellow Daoist?" Mo Lin asked, taking a step back so as not to let the woman get too close.

He had once heard his junior sister mention that Gu Masters' Gu were so powerful that they were impossible to defend against, so he surrounded himself with a bit of spiritual energy to protect himself.

Shao Fei looked up and met the handsome young man's downcast eyes. She was momentarily stunned, but quickly spoke up, "Please, fellow Daoist, save the villagers. I hesitated all day about whether to tell you or not. My fellow disciple has encountered a problem in his cultivation and has been attacked by Gu worms. He is in great pain, which is why we are staying in this mountain village. But I never expected..."

Her voice trembled slightly as she spoke, and she almost cried. "I heard about the incident during the day and rushed to the house, but I only saw a dark figure. I thought to myself that it might just be a tiger demon, not my fellow disciple."

The woman looked up, tears streaming down her face. The young man frowned slightly, seemingly listening intently to her.

"I held onto a sliver of hope and waited until nightfall. My fellow disciple stared at me for a long time, like he was watching prey. I could even hear him grinding his back teeth. That's when I realized it was just wishful thinking. I didn't want you to see him because I was afraid he would target you. After all... a cultivator's spiritual energy and flesh are far more nourishing than a mortal's."

"Fellow Daoist Mo, please..."

She took a deep breath, as if trying to stop her sobbing, and inhaled a cold air, her voice changing tone.

Yuan Ye couldn't hold back any longer and burst out laughing. Then, to cover his embarrassment, he covered his face, tilted his head back, and gripped Yan Qing's strong arm tightly with his other hand.

Yan Qing transmitted her thoughts to him, "You're laughing too loudly."

Yuan Ye was trembling with suppressed anger. "I'm sorry, I just remembered what my second uncle said: women in the palace complain like they're putting on an act, and he told me that if I wanted to learn how to act, I should just find the empresses in the palace."

Upon hearing this, Mo Lin finally made a move. He withdrew his hand from the door and glanced at his troublesome junior brother.

Just then, a series of hurried footsteps approached. Most of the new disciples who were able to practice physical skills had learned footwork, so they wouldn't make such a loud noise when running.

Even Shao Fei stopped crying and looked in the direction from which the footsteps came.

"Junior Sister?" Mo Lin was startled when he saw the face clearly and immediately went forward to greet her.

Following her junior uncle's instructions, Ni Jinxuan shouted out her lines, "Senior Brother, something terrible has happened! Junior Uncle has been captured by a monster!"

Mo Lin tightened his grip on the sword and staff, then realized the word was a bit strange. "Demon beast? Or monster?"

"It's a black mist," Ni Jinxuan said. "Like a ghost."

Mo Lin felt as if a bucket of ice water had been poured over his head, and he jolted awake. His left hand even subconsciously reached for the end of the sword staff, the actual hilt of the sword. "Do you know which direction we're going? You go find Second Senior Sister, she will protect you. I'm going to rescue Junior Uncle."

Ni Jinxuan shook her head, her brows furrowed with worry. But she remained obedient and waited for just as long as she could, rushing out the door ten breaths to go, and calling for her senior brother exactly fifteen minutes later.

For some reason, she wasn't as panicked as she thought, because when her junior uncle left, his voice carried a confident, gentle smile.

It felt like... it wasn't her who was taken away.

Lin Du was a little different from the other new disciples. Usually, new disciples would follow their masters and senior brothers like fledglings, and would look to their elders for advice as soon as they encountered a problem.

But perhaps because of his naturally high seniority, the junior uncle sometimes even overshadowed the senior brother, always managing to orchestrate and command with ease.

Mo Lin was panicked, he was really panicked. His second junior sister had told him a little about his junior uncle's physical condition.

Lin Du cannot use a large amount of spiritual power, and she has never used her full strength. If she acts rashly, what is more terrifying than the enemy is her own body.