Chapter 129.2: Senior Brother is indeed a demonic cultivator
However, some voices in the crowd offered a counterargument: “It’s not impossible. Senior Brother has spent most of his time on Hanya Peak and rarely interacts with others. When he descends the mountain, it’s always to slay demons. If he were cultivating demonic arts, no one would notice.”
“I once saw Senior Brother deal with demons while I was training outside. His methods were brutal, and I was concerned at the time that he might be too bloodthirsty—more like a demonic cultivator than someone of the Immortal Path.”
“It’s not uncommon for those who fight demons to turn into demons themselves.”
“Why did demonic cultivators appear at the Sword Tournament when Senior Brother was there? And now they’re showing up in the sect just as he’s returned?”
“They say Senior Brother can see through the disguises of demonic cultivators. So why hasn’t he found the hidden one yet? Unless the demonic cultivator is him.”
“Of the two disciples who died, one was killed on the very day Senior Brother returned to the mountain, and the other was found dead on the patrol route not long ago. Senior Brother was in charge of leading the patrol—why didn’t he discover anything?”
“When that patrol disciple died, where was Senior Brother? I heard that when the body was found, Senior Brother was nowhere to be seen.”
As these discussions swirled, Mo Cunzhi stood in the center of the hall, his expression unchanged, merely listening.
“Cunzhi, is there anything you would like to say?” Qin Haoran asked.
Mo Cunzhi replied, “I am not a demonic cultivator, nor did I kill any of my fellow disciples. These accusations are groundless.”
He had gone back to Hanya Peak at the time of the patrol disciple’s death to check on his junior brother, worried about his health.
“The disciple’s death was due to my negligence. I had returned to Hanya Peak.”
Xie Ji then produced a damaged formation pattern. “Then, Brother Mo, can you explain why the demon-trapping array in your quarters has been corroded?”
“As long as Brother Mo can give me a reasonable explanation, I will believe you,” Xie Ji stated firmly.
At that moment, the crowd suddenly heard a voice: “Senior Brother is indeed a demonic cultivator.”
All eyes turned to Yu Le.
Standing beside him, Bai Feishuang and Meng Qing were particularly shocked.
Yu Le’s face was pale, filled with apparent fear and anguish. He took two steps forward and said, “At this point, I can no longer hide the truth for Senior Brother.”
“Everyone here knows that I have lived with Senior Brother on Hanya Peak. During our time together, I unintentionally saw traces of demonic energy on him.”
“But I hesitated before. I didn’t know whether I should speak up or not.”
“On the night we returned to the sect, I saw with my own eyes that Senior Brother left the mountain. Not long after, the patrol disciple was found dead. Senior Brother claims he returned to Hanya Peak, but I never saw him there… Senior Brother is lying.”
The hall was thrown into an uproar. Bai Feishuang, unable to hold back, asked urgently, “Yu Rui, did you really see clearly? This is not something to say lightly!”
Mo Cunzhi, equally stunned, looked at Yu Le. The indifference in his eyes had finally cracked.
He couldn’t understand why his friend suddenly said that he was a demon cultivator, and even the person who had always leaned on him, who only recently had smiled in his arms, calling him Senior Brother, would suddenly turn against him.
Yu Le’s words hit Mo Cunzhi harder than any of the accusations and misunderstandings from the others in the room.
Yu Le didn’t look at anyone else, fixing his gaze straight on the Sect Master at the head of the hall. “Please, Sect Master, take action!”
Sect Master Xu Bingjiu had remained silent until then, not because he wished to avoid the matter, but because he wasn’t sure—he wasn’t sure whether his disciple had truly killed his fellow disciples.
Mo Cunzhi’s demonic energy was becoming harder to suppress, threatening to cloud his mind.
At last, Xu Bingjiu spoke: “For now, detain Mo Cunzhi. Once the truth is uncovered, we will discuss it further.”
As expected, he wasn’t willing to publicly verify Mo Cunzhi’s identity on the spot.
Yu Le locked eyes with Mo Cunzhi. He wasn’t looking at anyone else, only staring intensely at him, as if some fierce emotion was about to break through the cold, unfeeling exterior.
“Why…?”
Why slander me? Why lie? Why… do you want me dead?
The young man seemed to waver, lowering his pale face, and softly said, “I’m sorry, Senior Brother. I can’t hide this for you.”
If this had happened before today, Mo Cunzhi would have immediately stepped forward to support him, worried that something was wrong again with his health.
But now, seeing him like this, Mo Cunzhi only felt as though the cold wind from Hanya Peak had pierced through his frozen body.
The junior brother he had grown accustomed to now seemed like a stranger.
No—had he ever really understood this person?
What had started as a ridiculous trial ended hastily after Yu Le’s testimony.
Yu Le dealt with his senior brothers and sisters, as well as his master, before returning to Wutong Courtyard, where he hadn’t stayed for some time.
After shutting the door, the pale unease on his face vanished, replaced by a smile.
Su Yugou appeared from the corner of the room, holding a folding fan. “My Lord, Xiao Niang is waiting outside the Wuyue Immortal Sect. I’m the only one here to welcome you. Please forgive me.”
“It’s time to leave,” Yu Le said with a grin. “But before we go, there’s still something good I need to do.”
Under the night sky, a group of disciples gathered, still discussing the matter of Senior Brother Mo Cunzhi being suspected of demonic cultivation.
“Mo Cunzhi has been imprisoned in the stone cell but hasn’t been dealt with. Could it be that the sect master still wants to protect him?”
“It’s possible. Mo Cunzhi has been the chief disciple for so many years. Everyone says he’s the future sect master of the Wuyue Immortal Sect. If he really is a demonic cultivator, how would our sect save face if the news got out?”
“Even if they do plan to deal with him, it’ll probably be done in secret. What a shame—people won’t get to see his true colors.”
“I always felt that our senior brother was just putting on a show. He claims to be out hunting demonic cultivators, but who knows if he’s secretly using them to cultivate demonic techniques? Otherwise, how could his cultivation level rise so quickly?”
These were the same few disciples who had first questioned Mo Cunzhi in the grand hall, accusing him of being suspicious.
“Oh, so all of you senior brothers are here together? Good, it saves me the trouble of finding you one by one.”
A young, friendly-looking face suddenly appeared by the doorway, smiling brightly at them.
There were six people present, and with just a glance, Yu Le had them all under his control.
“I happen to have a particular fondness for those who are scheming, sinister, and ruthless, which is why I admire you all so much, senior brothers.”
Yu Le crooked his finger, and Su Yugou emerged from the shadows, holding puppet strings that dangled like living worms from his hands.
“As a sign of my appreciation, I’ve decided to make you all my subordinates by planting these demonic puppet threads in you. From now on, you will be my eyes and puppets within the Wuyue Immortal Sect, unable to disobey any of my commands… Isn’t that exciting?”
The six disciples trapped in place had gone pale with terror, wanting to speak but unable to utter a word.
As they watched Su Yugou approach, their expressions filled with despair.
Yu Le sat down at a nearby table, picked up the white jade cup they had been using to drink earlier, and began to toy with it, smiling as he said:
“Why are you so hopeless, senior brothers? As long as you hide carefully, no one will discover your identities. You won’t end up like our senior brother, getting caught.”
“But do be careful. If you get captured, the demonic puppet threads will prevent you from explaining anything. At that point, your master and fellow disciples will be calling for your heads… Hahaha!”
Watching them collapse to the ground in despair, Yu Le laughed joyfully.
After dealing with these small matters, he headed to the outer sect of Wuyue Immortal Sect, where guests were being entertained.
Xie Ji was still staying there, as he had not yet returned.
“Is it you? What do you want with me?” Xie Ji’s tone was cold toward the one who had exposed Mo Cunzhi’s identity.
Yu Le replied, “I wanted to talk to you about Senior Brother. After all, there’s no one left to talk about it now.”
Xie Ji clenched his fists tightly. “What do you want to say?”
“Let’s talk over there,” Yu Le pointed toward a nearby bamboo grove.
Within the Wuyue Immortal Sect, Xie Ji had no reason to be on guard, so he followed Yu Le into the bamboo grove.
Then, a pair of pale hands seized his throat.
Xie Ji was dragged out of the Wuyue Immortal Sect, with no one noticing anything amiss thanks to Yu Le’s status as a direct disciple, which allowed him to come and go freely.
Xie Ji’s neck was held in an iron grip, making it impossible for him to resist in the slightest.
As he was being taken out of the sect, countless possibilities swirled in his mind. When he saw Su Yugou and Xiao Niang appear and greet Yu Le as their lord, he finally confirmed his worst suspicion.
“You… you’re the real demonic cultivator!” The fury in Xie Ji’s eyes was enough to kill.
He immediately thought, “You’re the demonic cultivator who framed Senior Brother Mo!”
Yu Le tossed him aside and stomped on his yet-to-heal severed hand. “Yes, and my dear Senior Brother deserved it. If he hadn’t saved you last time, you’d already be dead, and none of this would’ve happened.”
“But I don’t want to kill you right now.” Yu Le squatted down, grinning as he studied the twisted expression on Xie Ji’s face.
“Do you hate demonic cultivators? How much do you hate them? If you became one yourself, would you kill yourself?”
A terrible premonition grew in Xie Ji’s heart, and he began to struggle violently. “Kill me! Just kill me!”
Yu Le extended his hand, and Xiao Niang placed a small gray demon core into his palm.
Yu Le forced the demon core into Xie Ji’s mouth and pressed his hand against Xie Ji’s chest, flooding his body with demonic energy, corrupting all of his spiritual energy.
Xie Ji let out a painful wail as the spiritual energy within him was gradually overtaken by demonic energy.
Yu Le got up, wiped his hands, and said with a smile, “Congratulations, you’ve become a demonic cultivator.”
And not just any demonic cultivator, but the weakest kind, unable to enhance his cultivation further.
“No! I’m not a demonic cultivator! You all…”
“I’m not! I’ll kill you all!”
“Ahhhhhh!”
Xie Ji went mad and suddenly saw the demonic energy spilling from his hands. In a frenzy, he raised his sword and chopped off his own arm.
Seeing him lose his mind, Yu Le scoffed but didn’t do anything further.
“Let’s go.”
“Yes, My Lord.”
“No, no! You can’t leave, you damned demonic cultivators!” Xie Ji screamed from behind, helplessly watching them disappear from sight.
*
Mo Cunzhi sat in the stone prison.
There was no sound in the stone prison; it was quieter than on Hanya Peak.
Even though there was clearly no noise, the words of that person echoed in his ears.
“Senior Brother is indeed a demonic cultivator.”
Why, why, why?
Suddenly, Mo Cunzhi spat out a mouthful of blood.
He raised his hand to wipe it away, only to find that it was trembling.
The door to the stone prison opened, and Bai Feishuang hurried inside.
“Senior Brother! Your suspicion has been cleared. Master sent me to release you.”
“Master said to let you handle the hidden demonic cultivators and the matter of Junior Brother… Yu Rui’s defection from the sect.”
