Chapter 60

As the chimes of the bell rang, Lin Du was practicing spiritual consciousness techniques with her master.

Winter at Supreme Sect was particularly long, but it was the perfect season for cultivation for both master and disciple. The bell only rang once, but Lin Du quickly stood up.

“The sect is summoning us, Master. I’ll head out now.”

Yan Ye nodded indifferently. “Go quickly and come back soon. If you get hurt on such a low-level task, I’ll really think less of you.”

The bell summoned all the sect’s disciples currently present. One ring was for low-level cultivators, three rings for those at the third rank or above, and so on.

Lin Du was in the forbidden area, some distance from the main peak, and was the last to arrive.

He Gui, who didn’t look as kind as he did during the initial selection in Zhongzhou, was now solemnly speaking to the other disciples. When he saw Lin Du, his gaze softened slightly.

“Actually, little junior sister didn’t need to come.”

Lin Du waved her hand dismissively. “Don’t patronize me. I’m not some fragile porcelain doll. What’s the matter?”

He Gui continued his explanation. The task wasn’t overly dangerous, otherwise, lower-ranked disciples wouldn’t have been summoned.

“A nearby village, Heding Village, sent a distress signal to the sect. They reported that a demon beast had come down from the mountain and was injuring people. You need to investigate, protect the village and their spiritual fields, and if you can capture it, bring it back to the beast park for training practice.”

During the winter, wild beasts often came down from the mountains due to hunger and injured people, but high-level demons were rare in the area. These were usually beasts in the early stages of gaining intelligence, not yet capable of transforming.

As a great sect, they benefited from the spiritual veins of heaven and earth and concentrated cultivation resources not just to produce powerful cultivators but also to protect the spiritual world, the sect’s territory, and the ordinary people with weaker spiritual roots.

The righteous path is always paved with corpses, and saving the world is the duty passed down through the generations.

“What if we can’t capture it?” Yuan Ye asked.

A man-eating demon beast wouldn’t be easy to capture alive; even when they slaughtered pigs and cows, it took them at least half an hour to chase them down.

“Then just kill it and add it to the kitchen’s menu,” Lin Du replied with a smile, clearly familiar with such tasks.

He Gui glanced at Lin Du with a smile. “Junior sister is right.”

Ni Jinxuan echoed, “Little master is right!”

Heding Village wasn’t far. The group of six didn’t even bother with a flying boat. The four who hadn’t yet reached the third rank used their flying artifacts, following Mo Lin and Xia Tianwu at high speed, their robes billowing in the wind.

A heavy snow had just fallen, covering the ground in a thick frost. The sky was still gray-white, with a faint halo of the sun.

In such weather, flying wasn’t too blinding. Xia Tianwu, worried the youngsters might catch a cold, forced them to cover their mouths and noses with scarves.

“This is our first sect mission,” Yuan Ye said excitedly, speaking even with the scarf covering his mouth.

Yan Qing, ever the steady one, replied, “I wonder if it’s a bear or a golden tiger. Finally, we can have a proper fight.”

Lin Du glanced at Yan Qing, the oldest of the four new disciples. “I thought you were a scholar.”

“You don’t understand, little master. In the northern part of Zhongzhou, every body-training cultivator wants to fight a tiger to prove themselves,” Yan Qing said, his voice muffled by the scarf.

Scholars convince others with reason, but that only works on people.

Mo Lin nodded in agreement.

Lin Du truly didn’t understand these straightforward men.

She then turned to Yuan Ye, who had only been around for a year. His phoenix eyes were full of excitement. “Yeah, let’s fight a tiger! I want to ride a tiger into battle!”

Lin Du: …Never mind, a bunch of kids.

“But you might be disappointed. Fierce beasts are rare. Last time I came, it turned out the village was just dealing with a neighbor’s dog that liked to steal spiritual chickens. It wasn’t polite about it, leaving feathers and blood everywhere, so the villagers thought it was a wild beast.”

Mo Lin sighed, a touch of weathered experience showing on his face.

Yuan Ye was a bit disappointed. “What happened then?”

“After a day of investigation, we captured the dog and disciplined it. The two families almost got into a big fight, and our senior brother had to mediate. He ended up getting hit with eggs and rotten cabbage leaves,” Xia Tianwu added.

Lin Du glanced at the tall, handsome young man leading the group and, holding back her laughter, thought of the veil she was wearing. She couldn’t hold back anymore and laughed out loud.

She was grateful to her second disciple-nephew; otherwise, it would have been quite impolite.

Heding Village wasn’t far, only about ten miles from Dingjiu City. The group soon arrived, still laughing and joking.

But they quickly stopped laughing.

The thick scent of blood in the air indicated a recent attack.

All six immediately drew their spiritual weapons, their expressions turning serious.

A strong wind swept over the snow-covered path, lifting swirling snowflakes into the air. From above, the scattered low houses of the village should have appeared peaceful. However, the snow piled up in front of the houses hadn’t been cleared, leaving the paths impassable. The reflected light from the snow was harsh.

Suddenly, a short, helpless cry echoed through the air.

“Ah… Ahh…”

The sound was like someone frozen in shock, forced from their throat, incapable of speech, reduced to a primal instinctual scream.

Lin Du, who had spent many years living in Luo Ze, was unaffected by the cold light and merely squinted slightly, locking onto a particular spot.

“There,” she said.

She was the first to activate her artifact with her mind, moving toward the chaotic area. The deep green bamboo leaf at the tip curved in the air, leaving behind a trail of white spiritual light.

“I am Lin Du, a direct disciple of the Supreme Sect,” she announced.

Landing in the courtyard, she paused, simply stating her identity without saying anything more.

The door to the house was wide open, and a middle-aged woman knelt on the ground. She was desperately and hopelessly trying to gather some trace of her loved ones from the scattered pieces of flesh on the ground.

Lin Du did not move. She stood quietly at the doorway for a long time before finally speaking. “I’m sorry for your loss. We will catch that demon.”

It was just after the New Year, and red banners with auspicious characters still hung at the entrance, a custom in the village that was rarely seen in the city anymore.

Now, those festive decorations had turned into a mocking, eye-sore red, with one corner torn by the cold wind.

Inside, the woman suddenly turned her head, her face purple and red from the freezing wind and snow, showing a blank yet utterly desolate expression. In a low voice, she muttered, “My child, my child!”

She suddenly snapped back to reality and finally burst into heart-wrenching sobs.

“You—why did you come too late too?!!! My child!!!”

Lin Du silently turned her head away. Too late again.

Life is often full of moments when you’re just a step too late.

But she quickly noticed a particular word in the woman’s outcry. What did she mean by “too”?

Yuan Ye stood in the courtyard, glanced inside, and then frowned.

He had never liked the sight of blood, and even after witnessing it countless times, he still wasn’t accustomed to it.