After Master and her disciples returned to the quiet halls of Tianyue Peak, none of them looked well. Their expressions remained tense as they walked through the mountain courtyard. When Lü Se came up to greet them, he could tell at a glance that Zhēnzūn's trip to Tianhua Peak hadn't gone smoothly, so he didn't dare ask much about the details. He only served the spirit tea with a steady hand, then quietly withdrew from the room.
Once Jian Dan took her seat at the head of the chamber, she gave Jian Feng another instruction.
"Send another message to Xueru and tell her to come back as soon as possible."
"Yes, Master."
Jian Feng knew exactly what she was worried about as he stood before her. He was uneasy as well, so he immediately took out a jade slip and sent another message to Xueru in front of both of them, urging her to return to the sect at once.
"This time, I came back just in time," Jian Dan said with a sigh that echoed in the silence of the hall. "Otherwise, all of you would've been calculated against by those hiding in the dark."
Hearing this, Jian Feng and Yu Zongfan immediately stepped forward to salute her with lowered heads.
"It's because we disciples haven't mastered our skills well enough and our cultivation is lacking, which made Master worry so much," they said.
"This matter isn't your fault," Jian Dan replied, her gaze moving between the two of them. "The cultivators who targeted you are most likely running dogs the insect race found on the Spirit Nurturing Continent. They were tempted with benefits and promises, and once they got their gains, they naturally didn't care about anyone else they harmed.
Since I stepped onto the path of cultivation, I have had plenty of dealings with the insect race. Time and again, I was the one who uncovered their hidden traces. I exterminated countless of them, dragged them out of the shadows where they lurked, exposed them to the light of day, and ruined many of their most secret schemes.
They couldn't get any advantage from me directly, so the three of you naturally became their targets for revenge. If any one of you had truly been harmed during this time, how could I not blame myself?"
At this point, Jian Dan let out another quiet sigh. She decided to use this incident to make everything clear to them and continued speaking.
"Their intentions are extremely vicious and well planned. Against Jian Feng, they directly used a blood insect to parasitize you. That way, they could both control you and force me to hold back my hand. With Jian Feng's temperament, you would have chosen to perish together with that blood insect. How could your Master's heart be at ease then?
As for Yu Zongfan, they wanted to destroy your foundation entirely. Even if they let you live, they planned to force me to personally extract your spirit root to save you. Setting aside whether your life could be saved in the process, as the most outstanding disciple of the Yu family, once your immortal path was cut off, would your family accept that outcome? Wouldn't they come to demand justice from me for your loss?"
As Jian Dan spoke, both disciples' faces grew darker and darker as they realized the depth of the trap.
With their Master's guidance, they finally understood the malice and sinister intentions behind the scenes. At the same time, their gratitude for everything she had done for them deepened even further within their hearts.
"Of course, I'm only telling you the worst possible outcome," Jian Dan went on, her voice steady. "I want you to understand the darkness beneath the surface of the cultivation world. Today, it's because I have already advanced to late Mahayana. If I were only at late Unity, once the Jia Ancestor learned that Yu Zongfan suffered in Jia Yushu's place, do you think he wouldn't come looking for trouble with our line?"
The two of them frowned again, yet they knew every word she said was the truth.
"That's why I will definitely save Jia Yushu this time and make the Jia family owe us master and disciples a favor. Yushu can be considered half my disciple, so I won't stand by and do nothing while he suffers.
What I'm saying today is for you to stay vigilant at all times. Within the sect, as long as I'm here, no one dares to trip you up. Outside the sect, because of the reputation of the sect and your Master behind you, others will show some restraint.
But all of that's illusory. Once someone is determined to die and drag you down with them, none of this will help you. Only your own strength is something you can always rely on. Do you understand?"
"Jian Feng understands and will remember Master's teachings."
"Yu Zongfan understands and will remember Master's teachings."
Seeing the solemn expressions on their faces, Jian Dan knew they had taken her words to heart. She had intended to use this incident to knock some sense into them. A loud drum needed a heavy hammer to strike it. Her three disciples were all intelligent, but it was still necessary to keep them grounded from time to time.
"Yu Zongfan, let Bai Bai come out. I have got something to ask him."
By now, Jian Dan's expression had softened a great deal, and she even spoke with a small smile.
"Yes, Master."
Because of what happened earlier in the journey, Yu Zongfan had kept Bai Bai sealed inside the spirit beast pouch and hadn't let him out. Only now, when his Master mentioned it, did he remember and release him.
Bai Bai landed on Yu Zongfan's palm, still a bit sulky after being cooped up. He chirped twice in protest at his master. Yu Zongfan chuckled, tapped his little head with a finger, and said,
"Don't be angry. Things were chaotic back then. If something had happened to you, what would I have done?"
Only then did Bai Bai lift his head proudly and flick his slender tail, showing that he forgave him for the confinement.
"Come on, go greet Master. Didn't you keep shouting that you brought her a gift when we came back?"
Bai Bai turned around and spotted Jian Dan smiling warmly at him. With a quick leap from the palm, he landed on the jade table to her left. Holding up his two little paws, he respectfully saluted her.
"Mhm. Bai Bai did well this time," Jian Dan said. "Tell me, when that female cultivator wanted to give Yu Zongfan a pill, why did you attack her directly? Did you sense something wrong with it?"
Hearing that she was asking about this, Bai Bai immediately began chirping excitedly, using gestures to explain his discovery.
It turned out that after they eliminated the insect race that day, when the group claiming to be from a loose cultivator alliance approached, Bai Bai already felt that their scent was off. It wasn't the stench of black armored insects, nor did it feel like parasitism, but it still caught his attention as they drew near.
Bai Bai was a treasure seeking mouse. What made treasure seeking mice truly powerful was their noses. Just by scent alone, they could tell what kind of heavenly material or earthly treasure it was and track it down no matter how deeply it was buried in the earth.
So when that female cultivator came close, the medicinal fragrance from the pill bottle carried a sickly sweet, fishy odor mixed in with the herbal scent. Bai Bai's first reaction was that something was wrong. He had eaten plenty of pills before. Even low grade pills shouldn't have that kind of smell. His instinct was to attack first and destroy the pills.
On top of that, Yu Zongfan had already been wary of that female cultivator. Seeing Bai Bai's reaction, he naturally trusted his spirit beast more than a stranger. When Yu Jiajia conveniently shattered another pill bottle and the other side's reaction exposed everything, that became the final proof, allowing Yu Zongfan to narrowly escape disaster.