Immortal Cultivation: Starting from a Pharmacy Apprentice

Chapter 248: Chapter 248: Bloodlust

The assailant’s corpse, along with the two living ones, were all brought back to Xu Ruyuan’s courtyard.

The white-robed youth looked at Bai Mo.

"Do you want them? Or should I take them?"

Bai Mo shook his head.

"They’re a group of Cultivators of unknown origin, and they clearly have their own faith. What use are they to me?"

"I just need to ask a few questions."

The white-robed youth gestured for him to proceed, then went off by himself to examine the corpse of the dead assailant, sighing silently.

’This fish is clearly a bigger catch.’

The blood-stained tip of a blade appeared before their eyes, and the two assailants’ faces turned pale.

The man holding the blade said coldly, "Answer when you’re asked. If not, I’ll cut you down!"

Seeing that the two had been thoroughly cowed, Bai Mo slowly walked closer.

"Who are you?"

"We... we are the Three Talents Child, serving under the Refinement Master."

One of them stammered.

Bai Mo frowned slightly. ’This sounds like an organized group.’

"Who is this Refinement Master? And what the hell is a ’Three Talents Child’?"

"The Refinement Master is the great Cultivator who bestowed upon us our cultivation and physique!"

"Everything we have today, we owe to the Refinement Master!"

The Cultivator replied quickly.

Now that they were prisoners, that little bit of faith-based defiance instantly vanished. They answered every question asked.

However, these two were new members and weren’t clear on their group’s arrangements or its secrets.

They couldn’t even give a rough outline of the organizational structure behind them.

After a few more questions, Bai Mo could see that these two truly had nothing more to say. Finally, he asked,

"Why did you come here to do this?"

Xu Ruyuan, standing nearby, took a step forward, his face filled with rage.

"Speak!"

"Spare us, my lords!"

One of the assailants struggled to his knees and cried out,

"It was the Refinement Master’s command! We had no choice but to obey."

"We heard there was a family here who meant to act against us, so he ordered us to do this!"

"First, it was to create a diversion. Once the incident escalated, we were to kill the target. Second, the Lord Refinement Master wanted to use this opportunity to spread his teachings."

As he spoke, he described the methods they usually used to spread their doctrine, which were nothing more than various scams and deceptions.

"It’s all just tricks to deceive ignorant men and women."

Qin Wen spat, his voice full of disdain.

But Xu Ruyuan’s expression was grave.

"Not entirely."

He shook his head.

"I’ve been to the countryside, to remote mountain villages. The people there really fall for this sort of thing."

"Especially these fancy tricks where they start the trouble themselves and then ’solve’ it. That’s the most popular kind. It can leave their heads spinning."

After speaking, he looked at the two assailants.

"Where have you all preached before?"

The assailants listed the locations one by one, which Xu Ruyuan marked on a map.

After looking at it, everyone was startled.

"They’re this widespread?"

There were traces of this group all over the map, mostly concentrated in mountain villages and the wilderness.

"When we spread the doctrine, we teach this painless and fearless method."

"Many people joined us this way."

The assailant confessed, spilling everything.

Bai Mo’s expression turned ugly.

"You teach this method? What happened to the villagers who didn’t follow?"

The assailant glanced at him and said in a low voice,

"Most of the villagers who refused to accept in the end... are dead."

"Only a few are left. The Lord Refinement Master plans to deal with them slowly."

Xu Ruyuan sighed. "Such evil deeds."

A moment later, the white-robed youth got his wish and took the assailants away.

Even the assailant’s corpse was carried away on the back of the white-robed youth’s servant.

It must have been difficult for the servant, carrying a corpse with such a gruesome death, but he was a hardy and diligent man and truly didn’t complain.

The white-robed youth was the very disciple the Cultivator from Mountain View Tower had arranged. He was supposed to arrive tomorrow.

In reality, after receiving the news, he had set out immediately and had been lying in wait on a nearby rooftop, secretly observing.

The reason he hadn’t appeared right away was that the youth had decided on his own to try a low-key ambush, hoping to see if he could catch anything.

Bai Mo looked at Xu Ruyuan.

"Is it clear now?"

Xu Ruyuan nodded.

"Yes. I never imagined that manor would be so incredibly resourceful."

"The manpower they control has already surpassed the Demon Hunting Team by an unknown degree. They are one of the foremost powers in the city."

"Your fellow disciples in the Mountain View Tower are probably going to have some sleepless nights again."

Xu Ruyuan felt a sense of vindication. By playing such games within Immortal Arrival City’s jurisdiction, this group had already crossed the Xuandao Sect’s bottom line.

’They’re finished, sooner or later!’

"However, there is one thing I don’t understand."

Xu Ruyuan lowered his head in thought.

"An old man like me... if they were to make a move on me, it wouldn’t last more than five days."

"But the mission they received was to stay in the city for over five months."

"They said they came for a painting. What painting could be so precious?"

Bai Mo shook his head. "Don’t worry about it so much."

According to the assailants’ confession, the painting was called the *Distant Mountain Cold Fishing Painting*.

There were many paintings with that kind of artistic conception in Immortal Arrival City.

You could find them by the dozen.

"This isn’t something we need to waste our efforts investigating."

"Just be careful not to get dragged into it by forces beyond your control. If that happens, there’ll be no way out, even if you want to escape."

...

A few days later, Xu Ruyuan came to the shop again.

After the medicinal herbs were delivered, he brought another piece of news for Bai Mo.

"The Cultivators of the Xuandao Sect have already taken their forces to purge the places severely corrupted by the doctrine."

"The process... it’s truly hard to describe."

Xu Ruyuan said with regret,

"Those mountain folk, with only a few years of practice under their belts, picked up their farming tools and knives and charged the forces organized by the sect, all to buy time for their so-called Refinement Master to escape."

"Now, their remaining bones have become scattered remains in the mountains."

"At the time, to prevent any further trouble, the numerous corpses were gathered together and burned in a great fire that lasted for three days and three nights, leaving almost nothing behind."

Bai Mo was shocked.

"Such bloodlust?!"

The members of the Xuandao Sect often acted decisively, even killing when necessary, but such slaughter was truly a rare sight.

Xu Ruyuan recounted what the villagers who sold him medicinal herbs had seen with their own eyes.

"Those places... they’re unrecognizable now."

"Human sacrifices, animal sacrifices... the mountain folk who hadn’t submitted to the doctrine were all laid out on altars, like livestock."

"They even developed a strict hierarchical system. It was very barbaric. Status was determined by the quantity of sacrifices one’s family offered."

"In my humble opinion, people like that are beyond saving."

Everyone who heard this was horrified. No wonder the Xuandao Sect had resorted to such a massacre.

In the following days, Bai Mo also heard about this matter from others.

The Xuandao Sect rallied powerful clans, influential figures, and various Loose Cultivators, forming a mighty force that brought the butcher’s knife down upon the common villagers.

It was an appalling matter, but the Xuandao Sect made no effort to conceal it.

All voices of dissent would vanish the moment their owners witnessed the scene of the slaughter.

It’s unknown whose idea it was, but the altars and the instruments for handling the sacrifices were not destroyed.

Instead, they were preserved, perfectly intact.

As for those who only clamored in the city, ignorant of the truth, they were merely clowns who no one paid any mind to.

Xu Ruyuan remained active, bringing a great deal of news back to Bai Mo.

Whether it was useful or not, the old man was always happy to do so.

Some of his old followers were still willing to work with him, even when his reputation had been ruined earlier.

Recalling all this and weighing the gains and losses, Xu Ruyuan felt a new surge of motivation.

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