"Is this the way the Beast Taming Sect treats its guests?" Mr. Baiās pleasant voice echoed through Heaven and Earth.
Without a trace of anger, it nevertheless made the Guardian Qinglong feel a tremendous threat; its eyes glared furiously.
Driven by its instinct to defend itself, and just as the Qinglong was about to take action, a figure suddenly soared up from the ground.
"Ahhh!"
Accompanied by a scream, the figure flew straight to Mr. Bai.
The tense and solemn atmosphere was broken in an instant.
Countless gazes between Heaven and Earth converged on that small figure in the blink of an eye.
"Itās Xu Ke..." Mr. Bai smiled.
Xu Ke, on the other hand, rubbed the back of his head, feeling uneasy.
Still, following what Li Fan had taught him, he shyly asked, "Mr. Bai, why are you here? Are you here to see me?"
Before Mr. Bai could respond, a streak of blue light suddenly arrived from the horizon, positioning itself between him and Xu Ke.
"Brother Lu Ya!" Seeing someone he recognized, Xu Ke was very excited.
While Mr. Bai, looking at Lu Ya, whose face was full of vigilance, a trace of helplessness flashed through his eyes, "Lu Ya, itās been a long time."
Lu Ya said, "What brings you here?"
His tone was icy cold and full of caution.
Mr. Bai wasnāt bothered, and slowly said, "I come with no ill intent. Iām just here to seek help from the Beast Taming Sect for a matter."
Upon hearing this, Lu Ya hesitated, pondering.
Just then, an aged voice rang out, "Faraway visitors are guests; it was our Beast Taming Sect that failed to receive you properly."
An old man with white hair and eyebrows appeared all at once.
"The Great Elder?" Lu Ya was taken aback.
Emperor Tri-Moa nodded in acknowledgment and then turned to Mr. Bai, "Honored guest, please follow me. If thereās anything that Beast Taming Sect can help with, we will certainly cooperate."
This very polite attitude puzzled Lu Ya somewhat, and he found it hard to accept.
But after all, he was still a person who respected his teachers and valued the path, and he didnāt contradict them outright.
"In that case, I must thank you in advance." Since itās said ādonāt hit a smiling face,ā Mr. Bai also retracted his intimidating aura.
Following Emperor Tri-Moa, he disappeared from view.
"Eh? Why did he leave?" Xu Ke thought Mr. Bai would take him along and was a bit annoyed for a moment.
"I told you not to get too close to Mr. Bai! And yet you foolishly rushed over to him the moment you saw him!" Lu Ya gently patted Xu Keās head, admonishing him.
"He is not at all what he seems when he is in front of us," Lu Ya said, looking towards the distant Beast Taming Sect, with a dark expression.
"Brother Lu Ya, why do you say that? Mr. Bai is really a good person!" Xu Ke didnāt understand but spoke very earnestly.
"You...sigh..." Lu Ya sighed deeply, "Well, thereās no point in hiding it from you now."
"After Ningyuan City was leveled to the ground, we at Mr. Baiās House..."
"Under his command, he called for the public to save themselves. And he helped carry all the injured to a small, dilapidated temple."
"But that day..."
Lu Ya was caught up in his memories, his expression somewhat distant.
"Suddenly, one of the injuredās condition worsened dramatically; it looked like he couldnāt hold on much longer. Mr. Bai happened to be away, and we just didnāt have the skills to save him..."
"So we had to split up and search the city for Mr. Bai."
It was then that Xu Ke suddenly said, "Right, I remember now. There was such an incident. Not long after that, Big Brother Lu Ya, you completely changed your attitude towards Mr. Bai. But why?"
Lu Ya took a deep breath, "At that time, I searched everywhere for Mr. Bai to no avail. Then it occurred to me that when I had been seriously ill, Mr. Bai had taken me to his house for treatment. I vaguely remembered that there seemed to be a secret room in his house."
"I thought maybe he was in the secret room at that moment. After a lot of effort, I finally found the entrance to the secret room near Mr. Baiās house. Just as I was about to shout and ask, I faintly smelled a whiff of blood coming from inside. I thought Mr. Bai was injured, so without hesitation, I rushed in. But what I saw..."
"What did you see?" Xu Keās heart was firmly gripped by Lu Yaās description.
"Bodies. The whole secret room was filled with mangled corpses. And there he was, wielding sharp knives, dismembering the bodies and conducting some evil ritual. Do you remember that Dog had several brothers before? All of them had dog bodies sewn onto them," Lu Ya asked.
Xu Ke nodded his head.
"Back then, they disappeared without explanation, and I asked Mr. Bai about them. He said he hadnāt seen them either. But..."
Lu Ya said through gritted teeth, "I clearly saw them among the several corpses in the secret room!"
"This..." Xu Keās eyes widened in disbelief at the whole thing.
Lu Ya continued, "The scene in that secret room was nothing short of hellish. I still feel chilled to the bone when I think about it today. Not only was the stench of blood so strong it was horrifying, but the ground was stained black and red with it. In the deepest part of the secret room, there even stood an extremely strange, faceless statue!"
"Even though I only glanced at it, it still often recurs in my nightmares. If you hadnāt seen it with your own eyes, you would never be able to imagine just how vile it really was!"
"He seemed quite shocked by my unexpected intrusion. But I quickly realized that he might kill to keep his secret, without a second thought, I fled the secret room, tumbling and crawling. I scurried back to the temple in a frenzy, trying to expose Mr. Baiās true nature. But his disguise had always been too perfect! No one believed me!"
Lu Ya let out a long sigh.
"If I had stayed by his side, I would definitely have been in danger. I had no choice but to flee! Sadly, no matter what I said, the only person willing to escape with me was you."
"Fortunately, we encountered our master on the way, and in the Beast Taming Sect, we finally found a home. But unexpectedly, he followed us here, his evil spirit still lingering."
Seeing the deep furrow in Lu Yaās brow, Xu Ke felt extremely conflicted.
"Maybe thereās some misunderstanding?" Xu Ke still tried to persuade him.
"Misunderstanding? What kind of misunderstanding could there be?" Lu Ya snorted coldly.
"Youāve seen him yourself now. Facing the Unity Realmās Guardian Qinglong, he didnāt even bat an eyelid. Just imagine how terrifying his strength must be by now! In such a short time, heās cultivated to this extent. Except for the power gained from that evil sacrifice, I canāt think of any other way he could have achieved this!"
"Moreover..."
Lu Ya paused momentarily, "Iāve also investigated that strange, faceless statue."
"It was worshipped by an ancient evil sect, the Mystic Sky Sect! Remnants of the Mystic Sky Sect, we cultivators, must eliminate them all on sight!"
Xu Ke wasnāt clear about what the Mystic Sky Sect was.
However, he knew the reason for Mr. Baiās rapid cultivation progress.
Yet as he was about to speak, he suddenly remembered Li Fanās admonition that "the secrets of heaven must never be revealed," and he had no choice but to swallow his words back down.