Atop the loft.
Chen Yang was quietly circulating the Yimu Immortality Art, guiding the warm, gentle flow of vitality through a full Circulation Cycle within his body.
Suddenly.
A growing clamor of noise drifted over from the direction of the courtyard.
Mixed within it was Xiaochunhua's voice, pitched high and laced with anger.
He furrowed his brow slightly.
He slowly concluded his practice, rose, and descended the stairs.
He had barely reached the courtyard gate when he saw Xiaochunhua standing there like a mother hen shielding her chicks — arms spread wide, planted firmly in the gateway, refusing to let anyone outside enter.
Beyond the gate.
Led by a stout, heavyset female laborer, seven or eight women were crowded at the entrance.
Some were trying to push the gate open; others stood at the sides to prevent Xiaochunhua from shutting it.
The broad-shouldered female laborer was using her size advantage to shove forward, trying to push Xiaochunhua aside.
Xiaochunhua was small in stature, but after living for some time in the Spiritual Energy-rich inner disciple quarters, her cultivation had quietly advanced — she was nearly at the third level of the Qi Refinement Realm.
At this moment, she gritted her teeth and planted her feet like nails in the ground, holding firm against the shoving.
Neither side would yield.
"No one is coming in! This is Senior Brother Chen's place of seclusion! What do you think you're doing?!" Xiaochunhua's cheeks were flushed red with fury.
"Chunhua, please, have a heart — just let us through! We only want to ask Senior Brother Chen to take us in for one night! We absolutely won't disturb his seclusion!" one female disciple pleaded.
"Exactly, Chunhua — we're all from the same sect. You can't just enjoy the good life and leave the rest of us to fend for ourselves!" another said with a sour edge.
Yan Xi pushed forward while keeping a smile on her face:
"Chunhua, we've come all the way to the door — just let us in to say a word to Senior Brother Chen!"
Xiaochunhua was about ready to explode.
She hadn't expected these women to be so shameless!
She and Sister Liu hadn't even fully secured their positions yet, and these women were already brazenly trying to muscle in?!
Just then, Yan Xi's sharp eyes spotted Chen Yang walking up behind Xiaochunhua. Her face instantly lit up with wild delight, and she cried out shrilly:
"Senior Brother Chen! Senior Brother Chen!"
Hearing the shout, Xiaochunhua instinctively turned to look.
Her grip loosened for just an instant.
Yan Xi seized the moment.
She puffed out her chest and slammed forward with full force!
Thud!
Xiaochunhua let out a startled cry, lost her footing, and toppled backward.
But she didn't hit the ground — she fell into a warm, solid embrace.
Chen Yang had gently caught her. He looked down and asked:
"Are you all right?"
Still shaken, Xiaochunhua looked up, saw it was Chen Yang, and immediately felt at ease. She shook her head:
"I'm… I'm fine."
With that.
Rather than stepping away from Chen Yang's arms, she took the opportunity to wrap both arms around his waist and press her cheek against his chest.
Like a declaration of ownership, she stared at the group of female disciples outside — who had gone suddenly quiet — with a look of smug triumph mixed with wariness.
The female disciples watched Xiaochunhua clinging so intimately to Chen Yang, and exchanged glances, their expressions a tangle of emotions — envy, jealousy, and no small measure of apprehension.
Chen Yang gently patted Xiaochunhua on the back, swept his gaze over the crowd outside, and finally settled it on Yan Xi, who stood at the front. His brow creased slightly:
"Aren't you a Menial Disciple from Butterfly Valley? Why have you left the herb plot without permission and come to Qingyun Peak?"
Yan Xi was thrilled that Chen Yang actually recognized her, and quickly forced a smile:
"Senior Brother Chen, you remember me! That's so—"
Chen Yang cut her off, his tone calm but carrying an authority that brooked no argument:
"Answer my question. Why are you causing this commotion?"
The smile on Yan Xi's face stiffened. Her lips trembled.
Then — thump — she dropped to her knees!
The moment she knelt, the seven or eight female disciples behind her fell to their knees in unison, like wheat being scythed down!
"Senior Brother Chen! Please, have mercy and take us in! We… we have nowhere else to turn!" Yan Xi cried out, her voice breaking.
Xiaochunhua, still in Chen Yang's arms, immediately spoke up in alarm:
"Senior Brother Chen! Don't believe them! These women are experts at scheming and playing the victim! They're just taking advantage of your good nature to leech off you!"
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But Chen Yang did not respond right away.
His sharp gaze took in the female disciples. Their clothing was still relatively intact.
But every face was haggard and shaken, still gripped by lingering fear.
In particular, one frail female disciple kneeling at the back had her hand pressed over her left leg the entire time, her face twisted in pain. The fabric of her trouser leg was seeping with dark red bloodstains.
He gently freed himself from Xiaochunhua's arms, stepped forward, and crouched down in front of the injured disciple, speaking gently:
"Roll up your trouser leg and let me see."
The female disciple froze for a moment, visibly frightened.
But under Chen Yang's calm, steady gaze, she trembled as she slowly rolled up the left leg of her trousers.
A gruesome wound was laid bare before everyone's eyes!
It ran from her calf all the way up toward her ankle, the flesh torn and peeled back, deep enough to expose bone.
Though it had been crudely treated to stop the bleeding, it was still a bloody mess, the surrounding skin mottled purple and black — clearly a serious injury.
The other female disciples flinched at the sight, their faces filled with pity and dread.
Even Xiaochunhua was so startled she covered her mouth, her earlier hostility forgotten. She stammered:
"You… that wound… how did you get it?"
Chen Yang said nothing. He reached into his Storage Bag and withdrew a small gourd containing a solution he had prepared — Pure Origin Pill powder dissolved in clean water.
The Pure Origin Pill was no longer of much use to him at his current cultivation level.
But its properties were mild, and it had some healing effect on external wounds. He kept it dissolved in water as a first-aid remedy for Xiaochunhua, who loved to run around and often got bumped and scraped.
He carefully poured some of the pale yellow liquid over the disciple's wound.
The moment the liquid touched the wound.
The female disciple hissed sharply in pain.
But very quickly, the bleeding from the wound visibly stopped entirely.
At the torn edges of the flesh, the faintest traces of new tissue even began to appear, healing at a slow but unmistakable pace!
"Thank you, Senior Brother Chen! Thank you, Senior Brother Chen!"
The female disciple felt the cool, tingling sensation spreading from her wound, and knew the spirit medicine was taking effect. Overcome with gratitude, she kowtowed again and again.
The other female disciples also looked on with expressions of relief and hope.
Chen Yang put the gourd away and asked in a grave voice:
"How did you get this wound?"
The female disciple's voice still trembled with lingering fear:
"It was… last night… Shadow Wolves… so many Shadow Wolves attacked the herb plots and living quarters at Butterfly Valley…"
Xiaochunhua's eyes went wide:
"I knew it! I said I hadn't heard wrong!"
Chen Yang's brow furrowed deeply:
"Shadow Wolves? They're only first-rank demon beasts — their strength is roughly equivalent to the second or third level of Qi Refining. The medicine garden at Butterfly Valley has stewards and steward-disciples on watch. Dealing with a pack of Shadow Wolves shouldn't be a problem."
"It wasn't enough, Senior Brother Chen!"
Another female disciple jumped in, her face pale with terror:
"There were too many! They just kept coming! And then… and then later… a Blazing Flame Tiger appeared!"
"A Blazing Flame Tiger?!"
Chen Yang's heart lurched!
The Blazing Flame Tiger was a second-rank demon beast, typically found deep in the back mountains.
How had one wandered out to the outer laborer zones?
"Are you certain it was a Blazing Flame Tiger?"
"Certain! It was wreathed in flames, and its roar was terrifying! Steward Zhang was hit by one of its claws—"
The female disciple stopped mid-sentence, as though a horrifying image had flashed through her mind. Her face went ashen, and she could not continue.
Just then, another commotion broke out beyond the courtyard gate.
A group of over a dozen male and female disciples in laborer's clothing came trudging over from the direction of a neighboring inner disciple's courtyard, heads hanging low — clearly they had been turned away.
Seeing the crowd of people kneeling inside Chen Yang's courtyard, and sensing that someone here was offering shelter, hope ignited in their eyes, and they timidly shuffled over.
Chen Yang saw this and simply waved them in as well.
After a chaotic round of questioning and piecing together accounts, Chen Yang finally got a rough picture of what had happened.
The previous night, something unusual had stirred in the back mountains.
For reasons unknown, large numbers of demon beasts had broken through their usual territorial boundaries and surged wildly toward the outer Menial Disciple zones!
Among them were fearsome creatures like Shadow Wolves — and even Blazing Flame Tigers!
The laborer zones had suffered heavy losses, with many casualties.
The disciples who had managed to escape fled instinctively toward the safer inner disciple quarters for help.
After all, inner disciple residences were equipped with simple protective restrictions capable of repelling demon beasts.
As for why they hadn't sought out the Foundation Establishment Stage Elders?
Not for lack of wanting — they simply couldn't find them.
Foundation Establishment Elders were like dragons — you might glimpse the head but never the tail. How could mere Menial Disciples ever hope to track one down?
In the eyes of Menial Disciples, inner disciples were already lofty, exalted figures.
They were the strongest help these disciples could realistically reach out to.
After hearing all of this, the unease in Chen Yang's heart deepened further.
A mass movement of demon beasts, attacking the laborer zones, causing significant casualties…
Could it be that the sect's upper echelons and the Foundation Establishment Elders had noticed nothing?
Or perhaps…
A far more alarming thought surfaced:
Perhaps it wasn't that they hadn't noticed — but that the trouble that had arisen was far greater than what the Menial Disciples had witnessed!
It was likely not just first- and second-rank demon beasts. There were probably third-rank creatures out there — or worse.
So severe that every Foundation Establishment Elder had been forced to rush deep into the back mountains to deal with a far greater crisis, leaving them no time to spare for the "minor trouble" in the outer laborer zones!
At this thought, Chen Yang's mood grew suddenly heavy.
He glanced at the sun, now tilting toward the west, and addressed the twenty or thirty shaken Menial Disciples gathered in the courtyard:
"Rest here in the courtyard for now. Do not wander about, and under no circumstances enter the loft or the rear yard. I will close the gate and activate the restriction — it should be relatively safe."
Everyone heard this and felt as though a death sentence had been lifted. They kowtowed in gratitude.
Xiaochunhua also let out a sigh of relief. All the commotion had worn her out, and she yawned, ready to head back to her room for some sleep.
But just then, Chen Yang's gaze swept across the crowd — and he suddenly realized a familiar figure was missing!
His heart lurched. He quickly turned to Xiaochunhua and asked:
"Xiaochunhua! Where's Yiyi? I haven't seen her this whole time!"
Xiaochunhua blinked and replied casually:
"Oh, Sister Liu said she was going back to Butterfly Valley to fetch some spirit soil and grafting tools. She said it would only take about half a day…"
Halfway through the sentence, Xiaochunhua herself suddenly realized something. Her voice cut off abruptly!
The color drained from her face in an instant, leaving it deathly pale. Her eyes went wide as saucers, filled with absolute terror!
"But… Butterfly Valley! Sister Liu went back there!!"
She screamed, her voice cracking with panic!
Chen Yang's expression turned equally grim in that same instant.
He had been too careless.
He hadn't noticed from the very beginning that Liu Yiyi was not in the courtyard!
He spun around sharply, his gaze cutting like a blade toward Yan Xi and the other female disciples who had fled from Butterfly Valley, and demanded urgently:
"On your way here — did any of you see Liu Yiyi?!"
Yan Xi and the others flinched at the sudden ferocity in Chen Yang's bearing, and shook their heads in a panic:
"No… no! We ran the whole way here and didn't see Senior Sister Liu!"
Xiaochunhua cried out tearfully:
"Sister Liu must have taken the shortcut! That path runs along the edge of the back mountains — it's much closer than the main road. If you move fast, you can make the round trip in half a day!"
"A shortcut?! Along the edge of the back mountains?!"
Those words hit Chen Yang like a blast of ice from the soles of his feet to the top of his head.
That path was already remote and dangerous under normal circumstances. With the demon beasts rampaging through the back mountains, it was nothing short of a road to death!
"Damn it!"
Chen Yang cursed under his breath, all pretense of composure gone.
He grabbed the panicked Xiaochunhua by the arm and spoke in rapid, urgent tones:
"Watch the courtyard! Hold the gate! No matter who comes — even someone I know — unless I return in person, do not open the gate under any circumstances! This courtyard has a restriction. As long as the gate stays shut, it should hold for a while!"
Without waiting for Xiaochunhua to respond, his figure blurred!
Everyone felt a rush of wind sweep past them.
The next moment.
Chen Yang was already beyond the courtyard gate, his speed pushed to its absolute limit, a blurred streak of shadow hurtling in the direction of the back mountains — toward Butterfly Valley.