With Bi Cheng's intervention, the chaos downstairs was quickly quelled. The floor was stained red with blood, giving it an eerie appearance.
Maintaining her previously delicate demeanor, Xing Yuan showed a hint of fear, clutching Mo Liyue's sleeve. When Mo Liyue tried to pull away, Xing Yuan offered her a sweet smile. For some inexplicable reason, Mo Liyue felt inclined to indulge her.
"Fine," she thought, "she's just holding my clothes, it doesn't hurt anyway. Let her be!"
Bi Cheng tossed a money bag to the innkeeper, and the group gradually departed.
Mo Liyue had come to find someone, but after inquiring all around, she couldn't find any trace of the person she was looking for. Coupled with the constant urging from within the Demonic Cult to return, she finally decided to give up.
Xing Yuan was exceptionally attentive throughout the journey. Although her "sister" didn't seem like an ordinary person this time, sincerity could move mountains! Her primary objective now was to win her sister's affection; everything else could wait!
Xing Yuan felt her "love-struck brain" growing stronger. Lately, whenever she saw her sister, she couldn't maintain even basic rationality. It was only after arriving at the Demonic Cult that Xing Yuan remembered she had a disciple.
The day she remembered happened to be the day the Demonic Cult was accepting new disciples, otherwise, she might have forgotten entirely.
Even though she believed her disciple was living out a protagonist's script, it didn't stop her from seeking him out for a reckoning. It was obvious from the start that this was someone who would betray his master.
Because she was preoccupied with how to find that disciple, Xing Yuan's attitude had become somewhat lax these past two days. Mo Liyue, who was with Xing Yuan almost all day, was the first to notice something was amiss.
After spending some time together, their relationship had become more familiar. Furthermore, after Xing Yuan had cast two rather inaccurate divinations for her, Mo Liyue had abandoned her initial suspicion that Xing Yuan was a spy sent by another sect.
It wasn't that she was looking down on Xing Yuan, but based on her understanding of other sects, they were currently sending their most talented disciples to gain the trust of the Demonic Cult. Someone like Xing Yuan, who showed no obvious strengths, was truly rare.
When Xing Yuan broke three cups in a single day, Mo Liyue, unable to bear it any longer, asked, "What's wrong with you today?" Even though she was clumsy before, she shouldn't be unable to even pour tea, right?
Xing Yuan was startled. Tears instantly welled up in her eyes, and she looked at Mo Liyue with a wronged expression, accusing, "You're yelling at me!"
Mo Liyue instinctively replied, "I'm sorry."
Only after speaking did she realize what she had said. She cleared her throat as if nothing had happened, but her tone softened considerably.
"I was merely asking out of concern because you can't even pour tea properly today!" she said. "If you don't want to talk about it, then don't."
"Oh!" Xing Yuan nodded blankly, slowly holding back the tears in her eyes.
"Sister~" Xing Yuan said coyly.
Mo Liyue felt inexplicably pleased and asked, "What is it?"
"Um, has anything major happened in the martial world recently?"
"No, I don't think so. What happened?" Mo Liyue asked curiously.
Xing Yuan let out a disappointed "Oh," and then continued, "Then, I heard the Demonic Cult has a Young Master. Can I meet him?"
Mo Liyue looked at the little girl's expectant eyes and felt inexplicably annoyed. What was so great about that brat? He just had a pretty face! She wasn't bad-looking either, so why wasn't she pursued by young girls?
Mo Liyue said coldly, "He's not here!"
"Is that so!" A flicker of disappointment crossed Xing Yuan's eyes. She lowered her head, though it wasn't entirely unexpected.
After a moment's thought, Mo Liyue softened her tone. "He'll be back in a while. If you're curious, I'll take you to see him next time."
After all, that brat always listened to her, his sister, the most. She'd make him deliberately act ugly then, so the little girl would know who was better.
Mo Liyue curved her lips, extremely pleased with her plan.
Xing Yuan looked up at Mo Liyue and finally nodded obediently.
Perhaps it was her imagination, but she felt her sister's tone was a little off, as if she were angry.
Soon, the new disciples recruited by the Demonic Cult were brought before Mo Liyue.
The previous Demonic Cult Leader had died years ago, and Mo Liyue was now responsible for almost all affairs within the cult. Therefore, the allocation of these new disciples naturally fell to her.
Mo Liyue assigned the disciples according to the established rules and the requests of the Demonic Cult's elders. After finishing the assignments, she suddenly looked at Xing Yuan thoughtfully and said, "Why don't you become my disciple from now on and learn martial arts from me?"
Xing Yuan was unwilling, but Mo Liyue had already made up her mind. No matter what methods Xing Yuan used, she remained unmoved, determined to teach her martial arts. Xing Yuan truly couldn't understand when her sister had developed such a habit of wanting to teach others.
However, ever since she started learning martial arts, her life had become very difficult.
It wasn't because the martial arts were too difficult, but because she already knew them, yet she had to pretend to be completely clueless. It was truly exhausting.
Several times, Xing Yuan feigned illness to avoid being exposed, but that wasn't a long-term solution. Her martial arts were already solidified, and even if she were to abolish her cultivation and start anew, the original traces would remain, making it impossible to hide.
So, she tried every means possible to prevent her identity from being revealed. However, as time went on, Mo Liyue gradually began to sense that something was wrong. But she was too busy, too busy to figure out if it was just her imagination or the truth.
Because the Demonic Cult's Young Master, Mo Liyan, had gotten into trouble!
Rumors in the martial world said: The Demonic Cult's Young Master fell in love with a woman from a righteous sect, and even resorted to killing to be with her. He slaughtered an entire sect at the Martial Arts Convention.
The various sects united and issued a kill order against him, calling for a martial alliance to storm the Demonic Cult and eradicate this scourge of the martial world.
When the news reached the Demonic Cult, Mo Liyue scoffed dismissively.
If her brother were truly that ruthless, she wouldn't be having such a headache now. For so long, the martial world had been pinning baseless accusations on their Demonic Cult, as if they were the only ones who did wrong.
In truth, it wasn't like this at the beginning.
The Demonic Cult was merely the name given by its founder. Later generations had never changed it to commemorate him. But who would have thought that just because of a name, the Demonic Cult would endure so much?
There was no fundamental difference between the righteous and the demonic paths; only their cultivation methods differed.
The righteous path acted with reason and calmness, while in contrast, the Demonic Cult acted with freedom. Therefore, even if a sect was annihilated for revenge, in the eyes of the righteous, it was an extremely evil act.
But to the people of the Demonic Cult, it was just a common occurrence, not worth mentioning. And if the roots weren't removed, wouldn't they grow back when the spring breeze blew?
This was the fundamental difference between the two and the origin of their conflict.