Players: All NPCs in the Sect Are Moles

"It stinks!"

Their excitement was instantly extinguished by the gloomy surroundings. The group huddled together, warily surveying the area.

At that moment!

"AHH!"

A bloodcurdling scream shattered the silence as a black shadow shot out from a hole in the wall next to one of the newcomers!

The companion next to the newcomer reacted in a flash, shoving him out of the way.

SCHLICK!

The black shadow’s claws, however, raked across the rescuer’s arm.

Several gashes immediately appeared, oozing with a bit of pus!

"My hand! The rat is poisonous! But it doesn’t seem too potent!" the man shrieked in terror.

Only then did the crowd get a clear look at the attacker.

It was a rat made entirely of bones, with two points of crimson ghost fire burning in its hollow eye sockets!

A Shadow Bone Rat!

Before the group could recover from their shock...

"SCRITCH SCRATCH! SCRITCH SCRATCH! SCRITCH SCRATCH—"

The scraping sound instantly magnified a hundredfold!

"A rat... a rat tide!"

Someone shouted.

The next moment, a black wave composed of Shadow Bone Rats surged toward them!

Although they were a bit tougher to deal with than the ones on the first floor, their strength hadn’t increased by much. The undercover disciples sensed that these Shadow Bone Rats weren’t as strong as they expected and were still manageable.

After what felt like an eternity, the last Shadow Bone Rat was hacked to pieces, and the cavern finally returned to a dead silence.

They had won.

"Let’s go. Back to collect our reward." Su Ling’er’s cool voice broke the silence.

A reward!

These two words jolted the resting gamblers awake, giving them a glimmer of hope.

’That’s right! There’s a reward! After all that hard work, there has to be some compensation, right?’

The group dragged their weary bodies out of the Demon-Locking Tower.

Outside the tower, Mr. Qian was still sitting there, expressionless.

Su Ling’er walked up and handed him the Trial Order that recorded their achievements.

Mr. Qian took the Token and stared at it for a moment.

"First floor, one hundred and twenty-seven demon wolves cleared."

"Second floor, three hundred and five Shadow Bone Rats cleared."

"Total contribution: two hundred and ninety-three."

As his voice fell, he waved a hand, and a small bag of Spirit Stones appeared on the stone table with a crisp clink.

Two hundred and ninety-three Spirit Stones!

A wave of heavy breathing immediately rose from the crowd.

The undercover disciples, in particular, were reeling with shock.

’This is just the first day! Nearly three hundred Spirit Stones on the very first day of joining?!’

’This is more than we’d make from a whole month of grueling missions in our old sects!’

’The Guixi Sect... is terrifyingly powerful!’

However, looking at the bag of Spirit Stones, Su Ling’er’s heart felt a little heavy.

’If I distribute these to them now, they’ll definitely think they’ve struck it rich. Then, not only will they not have enough to pay, but they might even start enjoying this and refuse to leave, eventually all turning into living corpses!’

’I have to put on the appearance of a majestic, imposing guide from a demonic sect!’

Just as the crowd was filled with anticipation, calculating how much they would each get, Su Ling’er took a step forward and casually swept the bag of Spirit Stones into her own storage pouch.

Her movements were so natural, it was as if she were simply taking what belonged to her.

Then, she turned around and looked at the crowd.

No one made a sound.

The joy on the gamblers’ faces vanished in an instant.

The shock on the faces of the various undercover disciples also faded.

???

A giant question mark appeared above everyone’s head.

’Miss Su... what are you doing?’

’Where’s our reward?’

Su Ling’er met the crowd’s gazes—some stunned, some bewildered, some angry—without a hint of emotion.

She mimicked the way she remembered her Eldest Senior Brother looking when he would occasionally lecture, and began to speak.

"Do you have a problem with this?"

"You think killing a few beasts gives you the right to negotiate rewards with the sect? What do you think this place is? A charity?"

"On the path of cultivation, every bit of fortune is built upon a foundation of blood and bone. What you experienced today was merely a glimpse of this path’s true nature."

"The sect granted you the opportunity to see bloodshed and allowed you to survive. That in itself is the greatest reward."

"As for these..." She patted her storage pouch. "Consider them merely a small tuition fee you’ve paid to the sect for today’s lesson."

She spoke with righteous and unyielding conviction.

The gamblers were completely dumbfounded, their faces turning beet-red with indignation, yet they didn’t dare utter a single word.

A few of the righteous sect spies exchanged an ’as expected’ glance.

’Demonic practices! Sucking the very marrow from our bones! Squeezing every last drop of blood and sweat from the disciples! They truly are a wicked and crooked sect!’

The spies from the demonic sects, however, had a completely different reaction.

’Oh, so that’s how it is.’

’This is perfectly normal.’

One of the spies even felt a little out of place.

’That’s it? Shouldn’t she take this opportunity to pull out a few Cultivation Techniques, or some bottles of pills, and have us take out a loan to cultivate?’

’Back in my sect, I borrowed three thousand Spirit Stones from an elder for my Foundation Establishment. With compound interest, the debt is almost five thousand now.’

’Although the elder made a special exception and waived the interest for this undercover mission... the principal wasn’t waived!’

’When I think about it like that, the Guixi Sect seems pretty good. At least they don’t do predatory lending.’

The more he thought about it, the less he wanted to go back.

But right now, no one dared to cross Su Ling’er.

In the face of absolute power, all dissatisfaction could only be swallowed.

In the dead silence, one gambler was the first to react, forcing a smile onto his face.

"Miss Su is right! Miss Su’s lesson is right!"

"It’s our honor to serve Miss Su and the sect! A few mere Spirit Stones should naturally be offered to you, Miss Su, as a sign of respect!"

Once he spoke up, the others snapped out of it and scrambled to agree.

"Right, right! Miss Su’s divine skills are unparalleled. Leading us to slay demons is already a monumental kindness. How could we dare ask for a reward!"

"These Spirit Stones should be used to buy some medicinal pills for you to recuperate, Miss Su!"

"Thank you for your hard work, Miss Su!"

For a moment, the sounds of flattery were endless, with no trace left of their earlier eagerness to split the money.

’If we praise her this much, surely she’ll let a little something slip through her fingers when we turn in the next mission, right?’

Su Ling’er turned a deaf ear to all the sycophantic praise.

’They’re just saying nice things now because they’re still thinking about that reward. Greed truly does lead to corruption. You’re all willing to walk the demonic path and face mortal danger for it, without hesitation.’

Without another word, she turned and walked toward the Transmission Hall. The group could only follow closely behind, still clinging to a final shred of hope.

Inside the Transmission Hall, the atmosphere was as lifeless as ever.

Su Ling’er walked up to Mr. Qian and handed him the jade slip recording the mission.

Mr. Qian’s stiff head turned toward her, his hollow eye sockets seemingly sweeping over the crowd behind her.

"Mission: Demon-Locking Tower, second floor. Clear three hundred Shadow Bone Rats. Complete."

"Contribution: three hundred and twenty."

As his voice fell, another small bag of Spirit Stones materialized and landed on the stone table.

The crowd’s breathing hitched.

’Another three hundred-plus! That’s over six hundred Spirit Stones in total!’

’This time she has to split it, right? The last bag was the reward for the trial inside the tower, but this one is the reward for the sect mission. They’re different!’

They watched with desperate eyes, only to see Su Ling’er step forward again and, with the same fluid motion, sweep that bag of Spirit Stones into her storage pouch as well.

Then, she turned around and gazed at them.

No one spoke.

The smile on the face of the gambler who had led the flattery froze.

’So all that sucking up was for nothing? Miss Su, are you really this greedy? At least give us something!!!’

The demonic sect spies, however, quickly accepted reality. This move was all too familiar. In their sects, this was standard procedure.

Meanwhile, the righteous sect spies mentally raised the Guixi Sect’s evil rating by another level.

Just as a mix of emotions churned within the crowd and they thought the ordeal was finally over...

Su Ling’er turned back to Mr. Qian.

"Elder."

"I’ll take it again."

Her cool words made everyone freeze.

’Again... she’s doing it again?’

Before they could react, a new mission jade slip had already landed in Su Ling’er’s hand.

She turned around again, looking at the group of "newcomers" who were already growing numb.

"Let’s go."

A small spark of hope, which had just been extinguished in their hearts, flared up again.

’Maybe... maybe Miss Su only collects the fee once? When we complete the next mission, she’ll give out all the rewards?’

’Yes! That must be it!’

Clinging to this thought, they were herded once more into the towering, dark tower.

...

The third time.

The fourth time.

The fifth time.

By the time the crowd dragged their exhausted bodies out of the Demon-Locking Tower for the tenth time, everyone was completely numb.

The entire process had been compressed into an assembly line.

Accept mission, enter tower, kill, exit tower, turn in mission, and then watch helplessly as Su Ling’er took both Spirit Stone rewards before accepting the mission all over again.

Again and again.

Su Ling’er stood before the stone table and once again pocketed the nearly six hundred Spirit Stones. The hole in her heart was finally filled a little.

She looked at the group before her, their morale at rock bottom, barely able to stand, and felt the time was about right.

"What? Can’t even endure this little bit of hardship?"

"The path of cultivation is long, and this trial is merely an appetizer. If you don’t even have the resolve to serve our sect, then get lost and scram down the mountain. Don’t embarrass yourselves here."

"My Guixi Sect does not accept disrespectful ingrates who only think of taking!"

Her words finally ignited the fire of resentment that had been building in everyone’s hearts.

’Respectful to teachers?’

’You haven’t taught us anything!’

’From start to finish, besides working us like cattle, what have you taught us? A breathing method? A basic sword stance?’

’Nothing!’

’You’re not a senior sister, you’re a slave driver!’

’You’re just using us as free labor, exploiting a loophole in the sect missions to farm Spirit Stones for yourself!’

’Truly worthy of being a demonic sect’s guide! This style is so demonic! Miss Su! We, your disciples, beg you to act like a human being!!!’

The righteous sect spies cried out in their hearts. ’This demonic woman is clearly using this repetitive, tedious hard labor to wear down our willpower! But with the sect’s restrictions on them, they dared not act rashly and could only endure.’

The demonic sect spies, on the other hand, felt it wasn’t so bad.

’It’s an obedience test. What demonic sect doesn’t pull this? Even the righteous sects like to play these games. Just bear with it. If you want to get ahead in a demonic sect, how can you not act like a suck-up at the beginning? Just get through it and it’ll be fine.’

Only the gamblers had a complete mental breakdown.

They had come here to gamble on a life of immense wealth, not to be worked like oxen and horses!

Every time they watched Su Ling’er take those hundreds of Spirit Stones without hesitation, their hearts bled.

’Those Spirit Stones were what we earned with our hard work!’

’And what was the result? We didn’t get a single damn thing!’

’So we’re just slaving away here with no benefits, and we could lose our lives at any moment. For what?’

’This is worse than being a rich young master in the mortal world. At least then we could live a peaceful life!’

Finally, after yet another repetitive mission, one gambler couldn’t take it anymore. Without a backward glance, he bolted down the mountain.

Su Ling’er watched him with a cold gaze, not moving an inch.

With one person taking the lead, the rest of the group came to their senses.

"That’s right! I’m not cultivating anymore either!"

"Let’s go, let’s go! Down the mountain!"

WHOOSH. In an instant, more than half of the nearly one-hundred-person team fled.

Su Ling’er watched their fleeing backs without trying to stop them, and instead felt a sense of relief in her heart.

’Run. The farther, the better.’

’Even if you hate me, even if you spread rumors down the mountain that I, Su Ling’er, am an insatiably greedy demonic woman... as long as you can see the error of your ways and live on safely, I’ll take the blame for this!’

A few moments later.

The once bustling group had dwindled to just a dozen or so scattered people.

The ones who remained included Lu Ping, still standing in a corner, and the group of undercover disciples from various sects who were bound by restrictions and had no choice.

Su Ling’er withdrew her gaze and let it fall on the dozen or so people left. She sighed.

"Sigh... It seems they have no fate with the Great Dao. So all that’s left are you few who still have some backbone?"

’Excellent! Only these last dozen or so are left! If I just push a little harder, I can drive them away too, and Eldest Senior Brother’s mission will be perfectly complete!’

...

[Welcome back to Ashen Heaven]

Having finished the lottery draw, Lin Qingfeng returned to the game.

The figure on the Frost Jade Bed sat up again. He stretched his limbs and suddenly remembered something.

"I wonder how little junior sister is doing. It’s been a while. She should have gotten everyone sorted out by now, right?"