"Let's go take a look!"
Upon hearing the commotion nearby, Ye Ling and Ye You were slightly startled before leaping towards the source of the explosion.
"Roar!!!"
Within the Ancient Town of Demons, a tiger demon, over three meters tall, roared in fury. The surrounding buildings had already been smashed into ruins by it, and numerous demons had met their end under its claws.
Although the Ancient Town of Demons was a gathering place for demons, in reality, many demons within the town were similar to ordinary people outside, possessing only a faint trace of spiritual power.
They lived ordinary lives every day, harmless to humans and animals, with no combat prowess whatsoever.
The rampaging tiger demon was only at the sixth-grade cultivation level, but before those lesser demons, it was like an invincible god of war.
Faced with the frenzied tiger demon, the other demons could only scatter and flee!
"Fiend!"
Seeing the tiger demon wreaking havoc, Ye You was about to step forward to slay it when Ye Ling stopped her.
Ye You looked at Ye Ling in surprise, "Brother?"
Ye Ling shook his head and said, "Someone is handling this tiger demon. We shouldn't interfere casually."
As soon as Ye Ling finished speaking, several flying swords streaked from not far away.
"Fiend, perish!"
With a sharp cry and several streaks of sword light, the rampaging tiger demon was pierced through several times by the flying swords and fell to the ground, stiff and unmoving.
Several people clad in Shu Mountain Taoist robes arrived, riding their swords.
"So it's people from Shu Mountain..."
Seeing the arrival of the Shu Mountain disciples, Ye You calmed the surging spiritual power within her body and muttered, "Why did the people from Shu Mountain arrive so quickly?"
It should have taken some time for the news of this tiger demon's rampage to reach Shu Mountain. Yet, the people from Shu Mountain appeared almost immediately to resolve the situation, as if they had been waiting. This felt somewhat eerie.
Ye Ling, however, remained calm, seemingly unfazed by the event.
Perhaps it was simply a coincidence.
Ye Ling said, "Let's go. Since the Shu Mountain disciples are here to clean up, it's not appropriate for us to overstep. We should head to Shu Mountain first."
Although Ye You found the matter peculiar, she knew it wasn't the right time to approach the Shu Mountain disciples. She could only nod, "Mm."
Seeing the Shu Mountain disciples beginning to deal with the tiger demon's corpse, Ye Ling and Ye You concealed their presence and flew towards Shu Mountain.
On their way to Shu Mountain, several more incidents of demon rampages occurred in the Ancient Town of Demons. However, the outcomes were similar. As soon as the demons went berserk, they were suppressed by the Shu Mountain disciples and the guards of the Ancient Town of Demons, resulting in no major casualties.
Once or twice might be a coincidence, but three or four times, it couldn't simply be dismissed as coincidence.
The more Ye You thought about it, the more something felt wrong. She couldn't help but ask Ye Ling, "Brother, as we've traveled along, don't you find anything strange? It's as if the people from Shu Mountain knew these demons were going to go berserk."
Ye Ling said solemnly, "It is indeed not right. I have observed that those rampaging demons were normal just moments before, and then suddenly went berserk, killing indiscriminately."
"Moreover, although the Shu Mountain disciples appear to be patrolling randomly, every time a demon goes berserk, there are Shu Mountain disciples nearby. It's very clear... they are deliberately waiting for the demons that are about to go berserk."
Ye You's eyes narrowed slightly. "Shu Mountain and the Ancient Town of Demons are supposed to coexist in this semi-spiritual realm. If they knew about the demon rampages in advance, they should have controlled them beforehand. Why did they let them run wild and cause casualties?"
Ye Ling replied, "Perhaps they have some objective to achieve."
Ye You: "Brother, do you mean that the rampaging demons in the Ancient Town of Demons were all orchestrated by Shu Mountain?"
Upon saying this, Ye You herself found it hard to believe.
Shu Mountain was one of the few immortal Taoist traditions in China that adhered to the righteous path. They had always been the leader of the righteous path and the paramount of the immortal sects.
If Shu Mountain had been engaging in such petty schemes in this semi-spiritual realm all along, their reputation within the circle would have collapsed!
This would trigger a major earthquake in the circle of Chinese mystics!
Ye You had interacted with the Shu Mountain sect many times before and did not believe Shu Mountain capable of such sordid deeds.
Ye Ling shook his head. "We cannot ascertain the facts based on speculation alone. Although the Shu Mountain disciples were always conveniently near the rampaging demons, I haven't found any evidence that the Shu Mountain disciples caused the demons to go berserk. We cannot rashly accuse others."
"Regardless, Shu Mountain should know something. We'll know once we go and ask."
"Mm." Ye You nodded solemnly, her mood somewhat heavy.
This matter was filled with strangeness.
The Ancient Town of Demons was located below Shu Mountain. Ye Ling and Ye You soon ascended the mountain gate of Shu Mountain, arriving before a mountain gate constructed of white jade.
Behind the mountain gate, a stone staircase paved with marble led up the mountain.
Ye Ling and Ye You stood at the entrance of Shu Mountain and looked up the marble steps. They could see a massive palace at the summit!
Behind the palace stood a colossal sword, a hundred zhang tall, as if carved from the entire mountain, awe-inspiring!
"After so many years, Shu Mountain has become so magnificent!"
Ye You stood at the entrance of Shu Mountain, gazing at the grand palace before her, exclaiming repeatedly, her eyes filled with astonishment.
"Something is not right..."
Ye Ling, however, frowned, not at all impressed by the magnificent mountain gate. His attention was drawn to something peculiar.
"Brother?"
Seeing Ye Ling's unusual reaction, Ye You was startled and asked curiously, "Did you notice something that's not right?"
Ye Ling shook his head. "Perhaps it's an illusion. Let's first go up the mountain to visit the Shu Mountain Sect Master. It seems something has happened at Shu Mountain."
Hearing Ye Ling's words, Ye You secretly took note and began to actively observe the anomalies around Shu Mountain.
Starting from the Ancient Town of Demons, everything here felt off.
Ye Ling and Ye You did not conceal their aura. Shortly after stepping onto the stone staircase, two Shu Mountain disciples arrived on their swords, hands behind their backs. "Who are you two fellow cultivators, and what business do you have at Shu Mountain?"
Ye You said, "My name is Su Xue'er. I'm looking for an elder at Shu Mountain named Xu Changsheng."
"The Grand Elder?"
Upon hearing Ye You's words, the two disciples' expressions changed slightly. They then asked Ye You, "What business do you have with the Grand Elder?"
Seeing the unusual reaction of these two Shu Mountain disciples, Ye You did not react specially, feigning ignorance. She said to the two Shu Mountain disciples, "Xu Changsheng is an old friend of mine. We've come to catch up."
The two Shu Mountain disciples exchanged glances and nodded. Then, they dismounted from their flying swords and bowed to Ye Ling and Ye You, "Apologies for the earlier discourtesy, esteemed guests."
"Please follow us. We will escort you to see the Grand Elder."
With that, the two Shu Mountain disciples turned and headed up the mountain.
Ye Ling and Ye You exchanged glances before following the two Shu Mountain disciples up the mountain.
It was clear that Shu Mountain...
had trouble.