The man's usually indifferent eyes held a trace of warmth.
If only life could remain this peaceful and serene, it would be quite good.
But in a moment, his gaze darkened, and a hint of deep meaning crept into his eyes…
*
Immortal Sect.
"Ah! Someone come quickly! Someone's dead!"
A sharp wail pierced the sky, instantly waking everyone in the Immortal Sect who were resting.
In no time, the disciples of the Immortal Sect were all awake and gathered at the scene.
"What happened?"
Tang Zun glanced at the female disciple before him with slight displeasure, flicking his horsetail whisk.
The female disciple's face was panicked, her entire body trembling violently from fear. She stammered, her lips quivering, "De… dead…"
Di Yang looked at the female disciple and gently soothed her, "Don't rush. Tell us everything you saw. We're here, and nothing will happen to you."
The female disciple took a deep breath, and after calming down slightly, she spoke, "Sect Leader Di, someone is dead!"
The female disciple trembled with fear, pointing her finger in a direction.
Di Yang followed the direction of her finger and said, "Let's go and see."
As Di Yang stepped away, the disciples of the Immortal Sect followed behind him.
In a clearing in the woods.
A mangled corpse lay quietly, its skin peeled off, revealing even the white bones. A large pool of bright red blood flowed on the ground.
A cool breeze swept by, and the scene before them was extremely gruesome, sending shivers down their spines.
"Ah! Who could be so heartless to commit such a brutal act!"
"Her skin… it was actually peeled off alive!"
The disciples of the Immortal Sect cried out in shock and quickly retreated a few steps.
Upon seeing the corpse, Di Yang's pupils involuntarily contracted, and the features on his face furrowed tightly. "The clothes she's wearing are from the Immortal Sect. I'll go and see who it is."
Di Yang strode towards the corpse.
The woman's eyes were wide open, as if she had seen something terrifying. Her cheeks were stained with a lot of blood, and her features were still vaguely discernible.
The woman's body was a bloody mess, with not a single piece of intact skin.
Even Di Yang found it cruel. He took off his outer robe, covered the woman with it, and gently closed her wide-open eyes.
"Sect Leader, who is this disciple?"
Feng Qingcheng walked over from the side and approached him.
Di Yang met her gaze and let out a light sigh. "It's Wang Junzhao."
Among these younger disciples, Wang Junzhao was considered quite outstanding.
The familiar words echoed in her ears, as if a thunderbolt had struck Feng Qingcheng from the heavens.
Her steps faltered, and she staggered back several steps, shaking her head in disbelief. "Wang… Wang Junzhao? How could it be her?"
"Wang Junzhao? She's always been kind-hearted and never offended anyone in the sect. How could she have ended up like this?"
"Yes? She never provoked anyone. Who did she offend this time to be skinned alive?"
The cultivators buzzed with disbelief, gathering together and discussing animatedly.
Feng Qingcheng hurried forward a few steps and took out a clean handkerchief to wipe the blood from Wang Junzhao's cheeks.
When she saw the face before her clearly, she immediately collapsed to the ground, shaking her head frantically. "Wang Junzhao came to bring me medicine today. How long has it been? How could this have happened so quickly?"
Di Yang looked at Feng Qingcheng with some sympathy. "Qingcheng, you and Wang Junzhao have always been close. You must be the most heartbroken by what happened to her."
A few brave cultivators cautiously approached, their eyes fixed on Wang Junzhao.
"I never thought anyone could be so heartless to inflict such a brutal blow!"
"Wang Junzhao died so tragically. She was always kind and helped me a lot!"
The cultivators chattered, looking at Wang Junzhao with pity.
A cultivator discovered something and quickly picked up a jade pendant from the ground. "Everyone, look! What is this! There's an inscription on the jade pendant!"
The jade pendant was crystal clear, indicating it was made of good jade.
A character, "Feng," was carved onto the jade pendant.
Feng Qingcheng's eyes sharpened, and she quickly got up. "This is a personal item of the Feng family's matriarch. No one else has the right to touch it."
"How did this thing get here?"
A disciple came closer and pointed at the jade pendant with some curiosity. "Could it be that the person who attacked Wang Junzhao is from the Feng family? Sister Qingcheng, who is the matriarch of the Feng family?"
Feng Qingcheng bit her lip, her gaze fixed on the jade pendant before her. "The matriarch of the Feng family is Feng Ninghe. Only she would possess this jade pendant."
"What! It's Feng Ninghe?"
"Why is it this woman again? How many more things does she want to do before she stops!"
"This woman is a menace. She has attacked disciples of the Immortal Sect time and again. This time it was Wang Junzhao, who will it be next?"
"We must kill her and avenge the deceased disciples of the Immortal Sect! We cannot let this woman get away with it!"
The disciples of the Immortal Sect were enraged.
It seemed that all the misfortunes of the sect were caused by Feng Ninghe.
This cruel woman deserved to die!
Tears streamed down Feng Qingcheng's cheeks. She quickly took out a handkerchief to wipe away the tears, and the corners of her mouth, hidden by her veil, curved slightly upward.
In a moment, she put down the handkerchief, her eyes filled with grief. "It is Qingcheng's incompetence. I have failed my fellow disciples and cannot avenge Junior Brother Di. Now, Junior Sister Junzhao has also lost her life."
"Sister Qingcheng, you are not the one who did this. The one at fault is Feng Ninghe. If anyone should apologize, it should be her!"
"Yes, Sister Qingcheng has already done enough for us fellow disciples. Sister Qingcheng, you don't need to blame yourself."
At once, the disciples of the Immortal Sect began to comfort her.
The comforting words made Feng Qingcheng bite her lips tighter. Her long eyelashes were adorned with large teardrops, and her misty eyes were pitiful. "If I had known this would happen, I would have stayed by Junior Sister Junzhao's side the entire time, never letting her leave, and then she wouldn't have had the chance to be harmed."
Her eyes, visible outside her veil, were exquisitely beautiful.
Even though her face was disfigured and she wore a veil, people couldn't help but imagine how stunning her face must be.
In recent days, there had been much gossip about Feng Qingcheng within the Immortal Sect.
But she was, after all, Feng Qingcheng, the most beautiful woman in Jinling. The disciples, seeing the beauty in tears, rushed to comfort her.
Di Yang's brows furrowed, and his gaze swept around.
He didn't quite believe Feng Ninghe would do such a thing.
Why would this woman want to attack Wang Junzhao?
Logically speaking, Feng Qingcheng had a deeper feud with her. If anyone were to act, it should be against Feng Qingcheng.
Di Yang had thoroughly investigated the internal affairs of the Feng family and was well aware of the enmity between Feng Ninghe and Feng Qingcheng.
There was no sign of anything unusual around. Apart from the disciples of the Immortal Sect, there were no outsiders.