Immortals and Demons Forever

Chapter 10: Accountability

Su Mu discovered that his mental power was very strong—much stronger than he had expected—and he quickly became proficient in how to harness it. From scanning a single plane to multiple planes and then an entire area, he experimented and found that his perception could extend as far as about fifteen meters. He was now brimming with energy and enthusiasm. He had no idea how much time had passed, but he had to hurry back to the sect—if he were absent from his duties for several days without cause as an Outer Sect disciple, he would be kicked out. But before heading back, there was one thing he had to do. Su Mu piled up a mound at the bottom of the pit and found a relatively square stone to serve as a tombstone. He struggled with what to inscribe on it. Since the one who had saved his life wasn’t human, how exactly should he refer to this benefactor? In the end, he decided not to write anything. He knelt before the nameless grave and bowed his head three times with a loud thud. After bowing, he carefully climbed out of the deep pit; the black mist outside had already dissipated. He breathed a sigh of relief and walked forward a short distance, where he discovered the corpse of the Royal Beast that had fallen from the sky—it was already decomposing. He assessed the direction and quickened his pace. The sect’s mountain-protecting formation had already been deactivated, and it had been two days since the Demon-Drinking Barrier had dissipated; life throughout the sect had quickly returned to normal. Floating Cloud Peak, Songzhu Monastery. Elder Qingsong was in seclusion, so his eldest disciple, Bi Hua, was in charge here. He was sitting on a bench inside the room, flipping through the ledgers, which detailed this month’s overall expenses for Songzhu Monastery and the cultivation resources available for distribution next month. If anything was insufficient or missing, he could report it to the higher-ups. “Brother Hua, I got my hands on something great—I came especially to give it to you.” Lu He loved to curry favor with his senior disciple. “What kind of good stuff could you possibly have? Don’t make me laugh.” Bi Hua set the ledger on the table and couldn’t resist teasing him. Given his status, position, and family background, it was usually the case that he’d discard things he no longer wanted and toss them to his underlings—and someone like Lu He would treat them like treasures. “Brother Hua, I’m not bragging this time. It’s all thanks to the Demon-Drinking Barrier from a few days ago—otherwise, I wouldn’t have been able to get my hands on this. Take a look!” He flipped his wrist, producing a crystal-clear bracelet. The material resembled both jade and stone, and a streak of bright red ran through it, making it exceptionally beautiful. “What is this?” “Hehe, a gemstone craftsman discovered the corpse of a Crystal-Horned Demon Beast. When the Demon-Drinking Barrier descended, for some reason it couldn’t escape. The body had completely rotted away, but the horn on its head remained intact. The craftsman cut off the beast’s horn and used it to fashion this pair of bracelets. They’re quite pricey—I stumbled upon them while strolling through the town at the foot of the mountain and snapped them up without hesitation!” Bi Hua held the bracelets in her hands and examined them closely. “They’re truly exquisite. Crystal-Horned Demons aren’t hard to hunt, but they’re extremely cunning and hard to spot. Besides being beautiful, wearing these jade bracelets also has a slight nourishing effect on the body. What’s most rare is that hint of red inside—that’s where all the essence lies. You don’t have much money, but spending it all to buy these was still a great deal.” “Hehe, when I saw this bracelet, you were the first person who came to mind, Brother Hua. Senior Sister Cheng Yao’s birthday is coming up in a few days. If you give this to her, I’m sure she’ll love it!” Upon hearing this, Bi Hua’s eyes lit up instantly, and he burst into laughter. “You’re a good kid—I’m touched by your thoughtfulness. Well then, I’ll gladly accept it.” As he spoke, he pulled a small vial from his pocket and casually tossed it onto the table. “How could I ever shortchange someone who’s been so kind to me? You’ve hit a bottleneck in your cultivation recently, haven’t you? This vial contains five Tongxi Jade Toad Pills—they’ll help you break through.” The Tongxi Jade Toad Pills were a sect’s secret elixir for cultivation—only core disciples like Bi Hua were eligible to receive them. “Thank you, Brother Hua, thank you, Brother Hua!” He hurriedly picked up the small bottle and tucked it into his pocket. “Brother Hua, you go ahead and get back to work. I won’t keep you any longer.” With that, he turned to leave. Just as he reached the doorway, there was a loud thud—someone had kicked the door open! Cheng Yao stormed in, looking furious. “Junior Sister, you look terrible. Who’s upset you? They’ve got some nerve! I’ll go and settle this for you,” Bi Hua said as he stood up. “It’s none other than you!” “Me? I’ve hardly seen you these past few days. Where on earth did you get that idea?” “On the day the Demon-Drinking Barrier arrived, didn’t an outer-sect disciple come to Songzhu Monastery looking for you?” “That’s true. So what?” “How dare you ask ‘what’s the matter’? This person told you that Junior Brother Su Mu hadn’t returned from the back mountains of Misty Peak and urged you to rush to his rescue. How heartless of you to stand by and watch him die! I know you look down on him, but after all, he was once Master’s disciple—your junior brother. Don’t you have even a shred of loyalty to our sect left?!” Cheng Yao had only just learned by chance today that someone from the Outer Sect had come to Songzhu Monastery seeking her help. However, at that time, she had been outside the sect helping to evacuate the crowd and wasn’t here. After the sect’s protective array was activated and a headcount was taken, she discovered Su Mu was missing. She knew there was no way this junior brother could have survived. While it’s true that natural disasters and unforeseen calamities can catch people off guard, the truth is that his death was essentially caused by human hands. An outer-sect disciple had already reported the incident—it was someone with knowledge of the situation who deliberately failed to act, leading to his death. How could she not be furious? How could she not be enraged? Bi Hua gave Lu He, standing beside her, a meaningful glance. “Junior Sister, calm down. Let me explain. How could I possibly turn a blind eye to someone in danger and fail to help, given our ties to the sect? There’s a very good reason for this!” “Fine! Tell me the reason right now. If you can’t convince me, I’m going to report this to the Disciplinary Elder!” Cheng Yao’s words carried an extremely heavy weight. Lu He hurriedly replied, “Senior Sister Cheng, you’ve misunderstood Brother Hua. That outer-sect disciple did indeed come to Songzhu Monastery—I was the one who received him. But he arrived very late that night, and Brother Hua had suffered an injury that day due to a cultivation setback; his Source Energy was nearly depleted. If we’d sent him to the back mountains of Misty Peak to rescue that person, he wouldn’t have made it back.” “Is that really true?” “I swear to heaven—if even a single word of this is a lie, may I die a miserable death!” “Then why didn’t you report this to the other elders? If you couldn’t go, you could’ve sent someone else to rescue them. Why didn’t a single person go?!” Bi Hua sighed. “Junior Sister, I, too, am deeply saddened and heartbroken by Junior Brother Su Mu’s death. Although I had a mishap during my cultivation at the time, that was no excuse to back down. I mounted the immortal crane, but it simply refused to fly. It took a tremendous amount of effort to get it moving, but I never expected that before we’d even left Floating Cloud Peak, it went into a frenzy, no longer recognizing its master, and flung me from the sky…” “What? Senior Brother, are your injuries serious?” Cheng Yao asked anxiously. “I’m fine. Compared to saving Junior Brother Su Mu, this minor injury is nothing. I fell from the sky and passed out immediately; I have absolutely no idea what happened after that.” “Senior Brother, I’m so sorry—I wrongly accused you!” After hearing this, Cheng Yao felt deeply remorseful. “It’s my incompetence. As long as you don’t blame me, that’s all that matters…” Bi Hua wore a sorrowful expression. Lu He quickly added, “After that, I carried Brother Hua back on my back and rushed to find someone to capture the crazed immortal crane. In the midst of all the commotion, I completely forgot to ask for help. I’m also partly to blame for Junior Brother Su Mu’s death.” “None of you are at fault. It was his fate to face this calamity; such is the will of Heaven.” Cheng Yao looked up and sighed, then turned to leave. Their eyes met, and they both thought to themselves: Women are so easy to fool!