When all eyes fell on the remaining people, the middle-aged Qi Condensation couple couldn't help but tremble all over. Their cultivation was the lowest, and being stared at directly by so many Foundation Establishment cultivators made their hearts pound with fear. The purple-robed youth was shielded behind the hunchbacked elder. Although his face was pale, he didn't feel the pressure. Li Yan, on the other hand, put on a pale-faced expression.
As the middle-aged couple's hearts trembled, the male cultivator quietly pulled the female cultivator behind him a little. Although his face was bloodless, he still managed to speak, "This... this junior is Zhang... Zhang Peng of the 'Songyue Sect.' This is my humble wife, also my junior sister. We came to the Trading City yesterday to buy medicine for our Master, and we were returning to the sect today. But... but because my wife was feeling unwell earlier, we have been resting in a side room. But... but we really haven't left the room. I beg you, Senior, to be merciful and let us go back. Our Master... is still waiting for this medicine to heal his injuries. You seniors can even inspect our storage pouches." With that, the male cultivator hurriedly took out two green porcelain bottles from his storage pouch and untied the storage pouch from his body. At his signal, the woman also untied the storage pouch from her waist with a flustered expression, but a blush appeared on her face. It was clear that the storage pouch contained items for a woman's personal use, which she didn't want others to know about.
The two of them were also helpless. They had flown here entirely on their spirit artifacts, which had delayed them. After buying the needed medicine yesterday, they thought it would be a rush to return like this. Gritting their teeth, they decided to use the Teleportation Formation this morning. Who knew they would get caught up in this mess? It was truly one misfortune after another. Actually, if inspecting their storage pouches would have allowed them to leave earlier, they would have been fine with it. They figured no one would be interested in the things in their storage pouches anyway. It was just that one of them had a wood spirit root and the other a water spirit root, which put them under suspicion, so they didn't dare to speak up.
Hearing this, Daoist Gong did not take their storage pouches. He just waved his hand, and the two green porcelain bottles flew into his hands. He opened the stoppers and probed them slightly with his Divine Sense, then capped the two green porcelain bottles again. With a wave of his hand, the green porcelain bottles flew back.
His expression, however, had softened a lot. "You two take out your sect tokens and let me have a look." Hearing this, the middle-aged couple felt apprehensive. Seeing that no one else had taken out their tokens, they didn't know what Daoist Gong meant. But seeing Daoist Gong's softened expression, they relaxed a little and hurriedly took out two small, exquisite tokens carved like pine trees from their storage pouches.
This time, Daoist Gong just swept them with his Divine Sense and nodded. "These are indeed the tokens of the Songyue Sect. Is Min Songzi your Master?"
Hearing Daoist Gong speak like this, as if he knew their Master, the middle-aged couple were overjoyed. The male cultivator hurriedly said, "It is indeed my Master. So Senior knows him."
"Oh, he's injured?" Daoist Gong asked faintly.
"Reporting to Senior, my Master was injured four years ago while exploring a secret cave with a few friends. He has been recuperating in recent years. This time, he has reached the final juncture and needs some medicinal pills to assist, which is why he sent the two of us to the Trading City to purchase them," the male cultivator replied. But his expression became somewhat gloomy as he spoke. He thought of his unranked sect, which originally had only about twenty disciples. With his Master's injury, the sect had been reduced to less than ten people over the past few years.
Daoist Gong paid no mind to the male cultivator's thoughts. After hearing this, he nodded again. He actually knew about Min Songzi's injury. Four years ago, he, Min Songzi, and a few others had gone out treasure hunting. Min Songzi's cultivation had reached the late stage of Foundation Establishment and was quite formidable. He was just asking deliberately now. But that Min Songzi was truly remarkable. In that treasure hunt, the last few of them encountered a third-tier, early-stage White Jade Spider. Although they got some things in the end, two of them died. Min Songzi, however, managed to survive. Even Daoist Gong himself was not lightly injured. But he was the sect master of a second-rate sect and had a Golden Core Master. His injuries had long since healed. That Min Songzi had only been a rogue cultivator in his early years and had founded his own sect many years ago. He had no one to rely on but himself.
"Alright, you two can go as well. I am acquainted with your esteemed Master. I also know his cultivation technique. This matter has nothing to do with you two," Daoist Gong said slowly. Hearing this, the middle-aged couple were overjoyed. They bowed repeatedly in thanks and then stood aside with happy expressions, putting some distance between themselves and Li Yan and the others. Although this incident had been a scare for them, they would also be saving a lot of Spirit Stones in a while. For their sect, this was a considerable expense.
Seeing that so many people had cleared their names in such a short time, the purple-robed youth's face immediately showed some anxiety. He couldn't stay for long. He hurriedly opened his mouth, "Although my master and I were in a side room, we..." But before he could finish, the hunchbacked elder pulled on his sleeve, and an old voice came out, "Young Master, we have no proof of whether we left the side room at that time. Let's just let that Golden Core grand cultivator investigate when he returns." Although he was anxious, he was also helpless. He knew that just the two of them couldn't prove anything to anyone. Leaving in such a hurry would only arouse suspicion.
Hearing this, the purple-robed youth looked towards the courtyard gate, his expression even more anxious. For a moment, he also knew he couldn't find a reason to leave. In the end, he could only lower his head resentfully, constantly muttering, "If I had known, I would have stayed in the main hall. If I had known..."
Seeing this, the cultivators of Xuanqing Temple looked at him with a bit more vigilance, especially since the hunchbacked elder had maintained a stoic expression all along, making it impossible for others to know what he was thinking.
"Hehe, the two of us also went to a side room after we arrived. We also have no proof of whether we left," just as the crowd was still looking at the master and servant pair, a gloomy voice sounded. It was one of the two black-robed figures. They actually admitted it directly, with no intention of defending themselves, as if they were not at all afraid of that Golden Core grand cultivator coming back to investigate. They were quite straightforward.
Hearing this, Li Yan put on an uneasy expression and said with a somewhat timid look, "I... I also can't prove that I didn't leave the side room..."
With Li Yan's words, everyone was finally divided into two areas. Although some people stared at Li Yan, after a glance, they still focused on the purple-robed youth and the black-robed figures. After all, a hunchbacked old man whose cultivation was unreadable and two Foundation Establishment cultivators were what caught people's attention. Luo Sanpang and Qin Chengyi had even colder looks in their eyes. Although they were temporarily fine, they were still the biggest suspects.
When Daoist Gong's gaze passed over Li Yan, he remembered that this person was recorded in the Jade Slip as a disciple of the "Bloodleaf Sect." He knew of the Bloodleaf Elder, but they had never met, so he naturally couldn't let Li Yan leave casually.
'This child's cultivation is not bad. Although he's a little scared under the pressure, overall, he's already quite good,' Daoist Gong gave Li Yan an evaluation in his heart.
Since things had come to this, Daoist Gong turned to Kong Nantai and said, "You take Fellow Daoist Lin, Sect Master Yue, and the others to the Teleportation Formation. The Spirit Stones will all be covered by the sect." With that, he turned to the scholar, the Bloodhand Flying Sickle, and the others, "Fellow Daoists, I won't delay you any longer. Please!"
The scholar, the Bloodhand Flying Sickle, and the others stood opposite Li Yan's group of five, with what seemed like a barrier between them. Seeing this, they all cupped their hands to Daoist Gong and then followed Kong Nantai out of the courtyard. But as they left, they all couldn't help but look at Li Yan and the others. Some looked with sympathy, like the middle-aged couple; some were indifferent, like the scholar, the Bloodhand Flying Sickle, and Gui Liugang; some even showed excitement, with a look of schadenfreude, like Sect Master Yue's male and female disciples. Just moments ago, they had been terrified and trembling, but now, looking at Li Yan and the others, their eyes revealed excitement.
Seeing this, Li Yan thought to himself, 'There are indifferent and ruthless cultivators, and there are also those who kick a man when he's down. That middle-aged couple probably lived at the bottom of the cultivator hierarchy and haven't lost their sense of sympathy. It seems that as one's cultivation grows, many cultivators will cut off more things and become more and more heartless.'
Daoist Gong no longer looked at the scholar, the Bloodhand Flying Sickle, and the others. He looked up at the sky. It was already dusk. In the dusk of the seventh month, the starry sky appeared early, reflecting the setting sun. Even in summer, this courtyard seemed cold and gloomy.
He looked at Qin Chengyi and Luo Sanpang behind him. "Junior Brother Luo, you will go and pick a few clever disciples later. You will guard Junior Brother Liu's place until Master returns. Nothing can be moved, lest we lose clues. If there are any more mistakes then, you will explain it to Master yourself."
Hearing Daoist Gong's words, the fat on Luo Sanpang's face trembled a few times. He wasn't stupid. He knew this was his senior brother passing the buck. Senior Brother Liu's status was very different. Although he also had the legacy of his great-grandfather, how could he compare to Senior Brother Liu, who had blood ties with their Master? Now that something had happened to Senior Brother Liu, they didn't know how their Master would deal with them when he returned. Guarding the murder scene... to put it lightly, it was just guarding the place. The killer had already killed someone; there was no reason to come back. But in the end, if they couldn't find the killer and someone needed to bear their Master's wrath, he believed Daoist Gong would casually find a reason of lost clues, and coupled with the fact that he was the first to appear at the crime scene during the day, this blame would be impossible to shake off. But though he knew, how could he dare to refute? He could only agree and go to pick people with a bitter face. However, he was not a kind person either. He had already made up his mind in his heart; he would go and pick a few disciples he had long disliked. He would pass the buck too.
Seeing that Luo Sanpang had gone to pick people, Daoist Gong turned his face to Qin Chengyi and said, "Junior Brother Qin, you go and arrange for the accommodation of these fellow Daoists. I still have matters to discuss with the other junior brothers and sister."
Hearing this, Qin Chengyi quickly agreed. He knew he was new to the sect and had low cultivation, so he had to be diligent with these errands. And this was much better than Senior Brother Luo's situation.
He was about to take a step when he suddenly stopped. He looked up at Daoist Gong, this time using voice transmission, "Sect Master Senior Brother, should we arrange for disciples to stand guard at their residences?"
Daoist Gong was greeting his junior brothers and sister for a discussion. Without turning his head, he transmitted his voice, "All the grand formations of the sect have been activated now. No one is allowed in or out. Them... how many formations can they get through? I will have the patrol pay more attention to their area."
Qin Chengyi relaxed. He thought, 'That's right. If they wander around randomly, they probably won't get far before falling directly into a formation attack.'
Li Yan and the others had been quietly watching the arrangements of the Daoists here without making a sound. Qin Chengyi walked over at this time and smiled slightly at them. "Fellow Daoists, today's incident was something none of us wanted. We can only trouble you fellow Daoists to stay here for a night. Please follow me." With that, he had already turned and walked out of the courtyard.
Li Yan and the purple-robed youth looked at each other, while the two black-robed, cloaked cultivators didn't even look at them and were the first to follow Qin Chengyi.
So, Li Yan and the other two also followed, but they still maintained a certain distance from each other.
After leaving the courtyard, Li Yan saw that Luo Sanpang was leading a few Qi Condensation disciples towards them. Luo Sanpang waved helplessly at Qin Chengyi and brushed past them, giving Li Yan and the others a fierce glare before going to arrange for the guarding of this place with a ferocious expression.
Qin Chengyi led Li Yan's group of five not too far, just another hundred meters or so along this row of houses, before stopping at the entrance of a courtyard. He reached out and pushed open the courtyard gate, then turned back to the crowd and said, "Although our temple has many disciples, it is not as prosperous as it used to be, so there are still many empty houses. Many of these houses have been converted for receiving guests. This courtyard is one of them. However, although there is a grand formation covering the entire courtyard, it is usually not activated when there are no guests. After all, the operation of the formation requires Spirit Stones at all times."
As he spoke, he had already led Li Yan and the others into the courtyard. In the courtyard were four towering ancient trees, and behind them was a row of six houses. As night fell, a white light also lit up in the rooms. Qin Chengyi then pointed to the houses behind. "Because this place has been converted for receiving guests, a small protective formation has also been individually arranged in each room. The Spirit Stones to activate the formation have already been placed. You only need to activate it yourselves. After all, this kind of formation is just an ordinary protective restriction. The activation technique is common, and its main purpose is for sound insulation and early warning. There are also disciples on patrol in the temple at night. If any movement appears here, someone will rush over soon, so this formation still has a certain effect. Of course, if you fellow Daoists are not at ease, you can set up another set of protective formations in your rooms yourselves."
Qin Chengyi said with a slight smile.