Players: All NPCs in the Sect Are Moles

"First Senior Brother?"

She seemed to have been waiting for a while. This time, his vacant stupor lasted much longer than the brief spells Su Ling’er had seen before. She cautiously reached out and waved her hand in front of his face. Lin Qingfeng’s eyes didn’t even twitch.

’What’s wrong with First Senior Brother? Don’t tell me... First Senior Brother, you haven’t been targeted for liquidation by the great demon lord behind the sect, have you!!!’

’Snap out of it, First Senior Brother! You’re not about to be transformed by the demon lord into another Mr. Qian, are you?! First Senior Brother, don’t you die on me!’

A horrifying image instantly flashed through Su Ling’er’s mind: one day in the future, inside and outside the gates of the Guixi Sect, countless identical versions of First Senior Brother would appear, all with numb, lifeless eyes and even a faint smile on their lips!

Some of these "First Senior Brothers" would stand before the Instructor Hall, expressionlessly assigning sweeping duties to new disciples. Others would blend into the crowd of disciples, cultivating alongside everyone else. Still others would appear beside the Alchemy Furnace, cleaning up...

’Isn’t... isn’t that just a carbon copy of Mr. Qian?!’

Then she remembered! During that so-called "friendship tournament," First Senior Brother had patted Mr. Qian on the shoulder in front of everyone!

’Or was it because First Senior Brother didn’t slaughter a city or give treasures to his useless siblings that the great demon lord behind the sect has finally targeted him?’

’So he’s facing a "reckoning" now?! But why now?’

Su Ling’er stared at the dazed First Senior Brother before her, her expression growing incredibly complex.

’I mean... First Senior Brother, just how many things have you been doing behind the scenes to offend the great demon lord?! Or... is this a standard warning sign before one is refined into a flesh-and-blood puppet? After all, he... does occasionally slip into this kind of daze... It’s just that this time, it seems to be lasting a little longer...’

As she thought, she recalled everything she had experienced with her First Senior Brother.

’Although First Senior Brother has done many absurd and terrifying things, looking back, in all the time the Guixi Sect has been in Anhe City, it seems... they haven’t really done anything cruel to the ordinary people here, have they?’

’Compared to those demonic titans who slaughter cities and refine souls at the drop of a hat, First Senior Brother and the others, despite their bizarre behavior, could actually be considered... extremely restrained for a demonic sect.’

’The ones who truly suffer seem to have always been the disciples within their own sect. Every day, they were either self-destructing or sacrificing themselves, dying over and over again, and they seemed to enjoy it immensely...’

Another theory began to form in her mind: ’Perhaps... the Guixi Sect isn’t a demonic sect focused on external expansion, but rather... on "cultivating a champion" from within?!’

’They use brutal internal elimination to screen for the strongest "champion"! And an outstanding "specimen" like First Senior Brother will also, one day, be completely consumed by that great demon lord and turned into a mindless puppet!’

At this thought, Su Ling’er’s heart clenched for no apparent reason.

"First Senior Brother! Don’t scare me! Did you get caught for embezzling sect funds?!"

She looked at First Senior Brother’s vacant, foolish face, and for a moment, she was at a complete loss, unsure of what to do...

But it seemed she didn’t want First Senior Brother to die because of this...

Wang Xiedi, who was standing to the side, noticed the strange expression on Su Ling’er’s face. He leaned in and asked quietly, "Miss Su, what’s wrong? What’s... with First Senior Brother this time?"

Su Ling’er snapped back to her senses. Looking at Wang Xiedi, she used a secret voice transmission to share her theory.

’Mr. Wang... look at First Senior Brother right now. Doesn’t he look... doesn’t he look like he’s about to be ’Qian-ified’?’

Meanwhile, Li Chunfeng had already pulled Mu Ling aside.

"Mr. Mu," he said in a profound, inscrutable tone while sheathing his Wooden Sword with a CLANG, "think carefully again. Were there any other details, before or after the incident, that might have been overlooked?"

’It’s probably best if I don’t get mixed up in whatever’s going on with these three,’ he thought.

And so, Su Ling’er and Wang Xiedi stood there with complicated expressions, watching Lin Qingfeng grin foolishly at the empty air before him, a storm of emotions churning within them.

’Although... although he’s the First Senior Brother of a demonic sect, when you really think about it, all his cruel methods... seem to be used only on his own demonic sect-mates.’

Having been saved by him before, they even began to follow the "champion cultivation" theory and wonder if First Senior Brother... perhaps had no choice in the matter?

’The reason he uses all these absurd methods to make the sect disciples "die over and over" is actually... a form of self-harm, meant to passively weaken the power of the great demon lord behind the sect?!’

After all, as far as they knew, First Senior Brother had never committed any atrocities against the outside world. Of course, being his fellow demonic sect member and treated as a mere resource in this sect was also quite tragic...

But they couldn’t be sure. Was First Senior Brother sometimes just a psycho with too much time on his hands? After all, many of his actions were completely beyond the comprehension of a normal person, making it impossible to understand his intentions.

But no matter what, First Senior Brother had saved them many times. The thought that even someone like him might one day be completely refined into a mindless puppet made them sigh in sorrow...

They glanced at each other, seeing a deep sense of helplessness in the other’s eyes. If even someone with First Senior Brother’s strength couldn’t resist, what could they possibly do... *Sigh*... They probably couldn’t save him at all...

Finally, the two of them sighed in unison.

And just then, the First Senior Brother who was "soon to be deceased" in their eyes finally finished chatting in the sect channel and came back to his senses.

The moment he regained awareness, however, he saw his junior sister and junior brother staring intently at him with a look that screamed, "Farewell and rest in peace."

Lin Qingfeng: "?"

’Wait... what happened? I was just shooting the breeze with the guys in the guild and dividing up the loot. Why are you two looking at me like I’m about to be six feet under?’

When he saw Su Ling’er let out a visible sigh of relief upon seeing him awake, her eyes even holding a hint of thankfulness, he grew even more confused.

Lin Qingfeng pointed to his own face, completely bewildered. ’Seriously, what are you guys doing? Can someone please explain? Did I just miss some important plot point or what?!’

...

「But just then, outside the Su Mansion.」

BANG! BANG! BANG!

A series of rough, urgent pounds suddenly erupted from the courtyard gate of the Su Mansion!

It was followed by a roar, aged but filled with towering rage, that echoed throughout the entire rear garden: "Mu Ling—!! You son of a bitch! Get your ass out here!! I’m going to beat you to death!!!"