29: Chapter 29 Before the Ancestral Hall, the Evidence is Laied Out

Before the horizon turned white, the mist at the foot of the Taichu Sect had not yet dispersed.

When Sect Master Di Kun led the group around from behind the rocky slope, a line of light first flickered on the ruins of the array above the Sect gate.

That was not an offensive spiritual light, but merely an identification pattern temporarily modified by the Tower Defense Player; it was light cyan, flashing three times against two damaged array bases before quickly extinguishing.

Sect Master Di Kun raised his hand and flicked a wet pebble toward the withered tree on the left.

The stone hit a crack in the tree trunk, making three short and one long sound.

A moment later, the sound of ropes rubbing came from high above the Sect gate; a thick hemp rope stretched across the outer stone steps was pulled away, and the caltrops disguised as a pile of broken wood nearby slowly moved aside, revealing a path wide enough for only two people to walk side by side.

The Dark Souls Youth looked up and took a glance: "Not bad, our front door almost has a dungeon entrance guard now."

On the Sect gate tower, the Tower Defense Player revealed half of his face, which was red from staying up all night, a piece of charcoal pencil still clutched in his hand.

He did not smile; he first counted the number of people behind Sect Master Di Kun, then scanned the bloodstains on everyone's bodies before making a gesture downward.

"Don't step three paces to the right; I've buried tripwires there. The wounded take the center line, bring the living captives separately."

Hearing this, the tension in Sect Master Di Kun's chest, which had been stretched tight all night, relaxed by half an inch.

The remaining defense System was not in chaos.

With the main force away, those left in the Sect were not a group of idlers waiting for news, but an operational temporary wartime camp.

Rough and dilapidated, yet capable of identifying signals, diverting the wounded, and controlling the entrance. For the current Taichu Sect, this was worth more than any flowery words.

The Chuunibyou Player rushed out from within the Sect gate, a string of messy cloth bags hanging from his waist, and half a wooden plate armor worn over his robes.

As soon as he saw Sect Master Di Kun, he immediately raised his finger to the sky: "Sect Master has returned in triumph! The fire of darkness has been crushed by us, and the gate of Taichu remains—"

The Life-Skill Player grabbed his collar from behind: "Stop reciting, help bring people in first."

The Chuunibyou Player stumbled, his lines cut off midway, but his hands moved quickly.

He directed two servants to lift the stretcher, while another player brought hot water and dry cloths to the wounded.

The Dark Souls Youth was just about to wave his hand to say it wasn't necessary, but the Chuunibyou Player pressed down on his shoulder.

"Brave hero, shut up; the healing cutscene cannot be skipped."

The Dark Souls Youth's face twitched in pain: "You NPCs have forced interactions."

Gu Heng followed behind Sect Master Di Kun, his footsteps slowing by half a beat.

He looked at the scene inside the Taichu Sect gate, and the seasoned, cynical guard on his face faltered for a moment.

The dilapidated Sect was still dilapidated; gaps in the stone steps were bridged with wooden planks, cracks in the array bases were bound with iron hoops, and the remains of Yao Beast corpses that hadn't been processed yet were piled against the wall.

Yet everyone was moving; ropes, medicinal powders, crossbow bolts, hot water, and markers for the wounded all had their place.

Those guys, whom outsiders regarded as insane Disciples, were managing a Sect on the verge of collapse like a military camp.

Sect Master Di Kun glanced sideways at Gu Heng.

Gu Heng immediately lowered his head, as if afraid that his expression from just a moment ago would be caught.

"Take him to the outside of the Founders Hall; do not let him leave your sight," Sect Master Di Kun ordered.

The Sect Protection Elder nodded, and with a light flip of a spiritual talisman in his sleeve, a thin, invisible grey thread appeared by Gu Heng's feet.

Seeing that thread, Gu Heng's mouth twitched, but he didn't dare to speak.

Sect Master Di Kun did not return to his room, nor did he let anyone disperse.

He led everyone straight to the Founders Hall.

The stone steps in front of the hall had been cracked by Yao Beasts last night, and dried black blood was still caught in the crevices.

The morning light fell obliquely from the east, shining on the old plaque of the Founders Hall; the peeling gold paint on the edges of the plaque was illuminated by the light, revealing the blackened wood grain beneath.

The core players, the Sect Protection Elder, and several servants were all called over.

Some had blood on them, some had dark circles under their eyes; the Tower Defense Player sat by the stone steps, clutching a wooden board covered in markings, with a charcoal pencil still tucked behind his ear.

Sect Master Di Kun stood in front of the hall and placed a blood-stained cloth bundle on the stone steps.

The cloth bundle was opened.

The torn pages of the account book were spread out on top, the corners of the paper curled from being scorched by fire, and several blood-stained fingerprints pressed over the ink marks.

Beside it were the black bone fragments brought back from the Beast Taming Ground, contained in broken porcelain shards, emitting a pungent, medicinal stench.

Further to the side was half a bottle of murky beast-taming medicinal liquid, the mouth of the bottle sealed with wax, with Yao Beast fur stuck to the wax.

Dispatch talismans, Red Snake Sect identification tokens, and the broken keys to the iron house were all laid out under the sunlight one by one.

No one spoke.

The wind blew past the front of the hall, and the edges of the account pages lifted gently, revealing a few lines of text that had been blurred by mud and water.

The Life-Skill Player squatted down and pressed the edge of the account pages with a dry cloth, her brows knitting together: "If this thing gets rained on one more time, it'll really just be mush."

The Tower Defense Player put down the wooden board and leaned in to look at the hook mark on the back of the dispatch talisman: "I haven't seen this symbol before. Sect Master, is it related to the Abandoned Mine Warehouse?"

Sect Master Di Kun did not answer immediately, but instead pushed Gu Heng into everyone's view.

Being stared at by so many people, Gu Heng's throat felt dry. He glanced at Sect Master Di Kun, and seeing that Sect Master Di Kun had no intention of speaking for him, he could only repeat what he had confessed in the stone crevice.

From Steward Xu at the market to the outer accounts and goods; from the Sect Affairs Bureau's division of accounts to the tidal-inducing medicinal powder; from his failed attempt to steal the account book to the transport cycle of the Abandoned Mine Warehouse B3.

With every layer he revealed, the air in front of the hall grew colder.

The Chuunibyou Player was the first to stop joking. He stared at that half-bottle of medicinal liquid, his finger digging into the edge of his wooden plate armor; even when a wooden splinter pricked his fingertip, he didn't let go.

The Sect Protection Elder stood by the threshold of the Founders Hall, his complexion greyer than the morning mist in the mountains.

Previously, he had worried about annexation by neighboring Sects and the Taichu Sect being unable to hold the Sect gate.

Now, the things laid out before the hall told him that what they had burned down last night was not just some wild nest of the Red Snake Sect, but the corner of a dirty table.

There were still people sitting behind that table.

Sect Master Di Kun raised his hand, his fingertips sweeping across the front of the evidence: "This trip was not in vain. The Beast Taming Ground is destroyed; the Red Snake Sect has lost one hand on the periphery. The Abandoned Mine Warehouse B3 is the other hand."

The Dark Souls Youth sat with his back against the stone steps, and hearing this, the corners of his mouth curled up again: "Then do we chop off the hand in the next round?"

The Life-Skill Player glared at him: "You should focus on protecting your own back first."

At this moment, a transparent panel floated up at the edge of Sect Master Di Kun's vision, visible only to him.

Pale silver text unfolded line by line, like fine sand falling in the morning light.

Destroy the Red Snake Sect's outer Beast Taming Ground, stage mission complete.

Reward: Second check-in enhancement unlocked.

The summoning progress for the second batch of Disciples has increased by twenty percent.

Sect contribution points credited.

The fatigue in Sect Master Di Kun's eyes was scraped away by these few lines of text.

The summoning progress for the second batch of Disciples jumped from zero to twenty percent, the progress bar stopping at a position slightly to the left of the middle of the panel.

Below, a new function floated up: Candidate Soul Tag Preview.

Several blurred tag outlines hung in the panel; for now, only the shadows of the types could be seen, such as rough groupings like "Construction Inclination," "Combat Inclination," and "Logistics Inclination," but the specific candidates were still locked.

He tapped his fingertips lightly against the hilt of the blade at his waist.

The System had started to give him the power of choice.

What the first batch of players were like, he hadn't chosen before; he could only accept what came.

Now that he could preview tags, the composition of the next batch of Disciples would no longer rely entirely on luck.

Whatever the Taichu Sect lacked, he could fill in that direction.

But Sect Master Di Kun did not let that hint of excitement show on his face.

He closed the panel and looked at the Life-Skill Player: "Statistics."

The Life-Skill Player had long been waiting, clutching a wooden board, and upon hearing this, she immediately flipped the page: "Twelve people went out last night; two are seriously injured, and seven have minor injuries."

"There are less than three bags of medicinal powder left, not enough hemostatic cloth, and only four usable low-grade Medicinal Pills remaining. Regarding Spirit Stones, after deducting the costs for array base repairs, Disciple recovery, and medication for the wounded, the accounts still look very grim."

She flipped the wooden board to the other side and continued: "The harvest includes Yao Beast Materials, medicinal liquids, several Red Snake Sect weapons, identification tokens, and evidence. It looks profitable, but the short-term cash flow hasn't been solved. The pressure on the Spirit Pool is also there; if we start summoning the second batch of Disciples now, the Physical Body Materials and maintenance consumption will drag us to the brink of collapse."

The Chuunibyou Player raised his hand: "Then postpone the server launch?"

The Tower Defense Player added from the side: "The version content hasn't been optimized yet; a postponement is reasonable."

The Dark Souls Youth looked up and rubbed the back of his neck: "Will you lose HP if you speak like normal people?"

Sect Master Di Kun listened to them bicker for a moment, then raised his hand to quiet them.

The area in front of the hall immediately went quiet.

"The second batch of Disciples, no rush to open," Sect Master Di Kun said. "Digest the existing resources first. Let the wounded recover, repair the Sect gate, and seal the evidence. Abandoned Mine Warehouse B3 is fatter than the Beast Taming Ground, but also more dangerous. We will talk about expansion once we take it down."

Gu Heng stood to the side, and upon hearing the words "fatter," his eyelid twitched.

The Sect Protection Elder looked at Sect Master Di Kun: "How should we release the news?"

Sect Master Di Kun picked up the Red Snake Sect identification token, his thumb wiping across the snake pattern on it, smearing away the blood and mud to reveal the dark red lacquer pattern beneath.

"The fire at the Beast Taming Ground cannot be suppressed, nor should it be acknowledged by the Taichu Sect." He tossed the identification token back onto the cloth. "Let the news spread toward the Border Wasteland. Only release one thing: the Red Snake Sect's secret den caught fire, and the Yao Beasts escaped; the local Mountain Dwellers all saw it. Don't mention the Taichu Sect, and don't mention the account book."

The Chuunibyou Player's eyes lit up: "Understood, anonymous world announcement."

The Tower Defense Player had already fished out the charcoal pencil: "I'll map out the distribution routes. Word of mouth among Mountain Dwellers, market pharmacies, and hunting party tavern stalls; we will keep the three lines separate so the source doesn't trace back to the Sect gate."

The Life-Skill Player added: "I'll find a few servants to change their clothes and go down the mountain. Don't make the speech too uniform; the more it sounds like casual chatter, the better."

Sect Master Di Kun nodded.

This was the Taichu Sect he wanted. The players had their madness, the logistics had their meticulousness, and the tower defense had its methods. He only needed to point the blade where it should strike, and these people would grind the blade into different edges.

In front of the Founders Hall, the evidence was still laid out in the sunlight. The bloodstains were not yet dry, the medicinal stench was pungent, and the black bone fragments were clumped together in the broken porcelain shards. Those things had been hidden in the Red Snake Sect's iron house and medicinal pools just last night; now, they pressed down on the stone steps of the Taichu Sect, weighing so heavily that no one could treat this defense of the Sect as mere luck anymore.

The morning mist outside the Sect gate was torn open by the wind, and the first full ray of sunlight crossed the damaged archway, landing at Sect Master Di Kun's feet. He bent down to re-wrap the torn pages of the account book, his fingertips pressing over the blood-stained fingerprints, a slight friction sound emitting as the corners of the cloth were tightened.