Chapter 6
Senior Brother Is Our Sun! Loyalty!!!
What⊠whatâs with this old Taoist?
Has he lost his mind?
Why is he calling everyone âMomâ?
Alsoâdo I really look that old?
Iâm still a pure, unmarried maiden, for heavenâs sake!
She stared blankly at the teary-eyed old Taoist, completely at a loss for how to respond.
Then, with a heavy thud, the old Taoist dropped to his knees, crying âMama!â as he crawled toward Su Lingâer, hands raised.
Su Lingâer backed away in alarm, barely managing to avoid him.
What the heck is going on here?
Canât this old man tell that Iâm clearly younger than him?
Noâwait. In the cultivation world, you canât judge age by appearance alone.
âŠBut thatâs not right either! I havenât even formed my foundation yet, nor taken any longevity pills to preserve my looksâmy lifespan is still that of a mortal!
His messy hair, puffy eyes, and thick beard made him look like an unkempt beggar.
With that face, how could I possibly have given birth to you?!
What are you even doing?!
Are all the people in this sect this terrifying?
Do they just randomly start recognizing strangers as relatives?
Too scary!
Meanwhile, Lin Qingfengâs face had gone completely black.
All his effort convincing this person to join the sect had been utterly ruined by this crazy old Taoist who came out of nowhere!
This had to be sabotage!
Yesâthis must be a spy sent by the rival sect, the Da Wa Sect!
How could the noble Gui Xi Sect possibly harbor someone so disgraceful!
Before Su Lingâer could recover from her shock, Lin Qingfeng kicked the old man hard, sending him flying. Then, without missing a beat, he lifted his right hand and began tracing shapes rapidly through the air.
âDonât worry, junior sister,â he said solemnly, âI can tell at a glance this is a spy sent by the Da Wa Sect. Iâll deal with him immediately!â
His voice was reassuring, but his hand never paused. Finally, he pointed into the air.
To Su Lingâerâs eyes, though, he hadnât formed a single hand seal or used any visible techniqueâthere wasnât even the faintest fluctuation of spiritual energy.
Heâd only kicked the old man, waved his hand a few times in the airâand just like that, under everyoneâs gaze, the old Taoist turned into specks of light and vanished completely. Not even ashes remained.
Su Lingâerâs breath caught.
That old Taoist⊠was dead?
Just like that?
All because he mightâve mistaken her for someone else?
He only called the wrong person âmotherâ!
What if⊠what if he really did know some elder of mine who looked like me, and thatâs why he lost control?
To kill him outright over a misunderstandingâwasnât that too rash?!
Just for possibly calling someone the wrong name, he was executed on the spot?
Her heart went cold. Slowly, she turned her pale face toward Lin Qingfeng.
His expression still carried traces of angerâbut more than that, there was a chilling indifference, as if everything that had happened was perfectly natural.
Remembering how he had previously slain fellow disciples with ease, Su Lingâer felt a jolt of dread.
This really was a place where human life was worth less than grass!
Noticing the horror in her eyes and her pallid face, Lin Qingfengâs stomach sank.
Crapâdid this NPC just get scared?
He quickly coughed twice, trying to salvage the situation, forcing a gentle smile back onto his face.
âJunior sister, donât be afraid. Like I said, that man was a spy from another sect, with evil intentions.â
âOur Gui Xi Sect is righteous and uprightâwe would never kill the innocent!â
âI merelyâŠâ
âAh, yes, I merely banished him from the sect. Donât worry yourself about it.â
But to Su Lingâer, every word of his sounded like cruel mockery.
Not killing the innocent? The man was completely gone!
Youâve already killed two of your own disciplesâhow is that not excessive killing?
And that whole âspyâ excuseâŠ
That wasnât an explanation. That was a threat.
He was warning her not to act suspiciousâ
otherwise, sheâd end up like that old Taoist.
A wave of terror surged through her chest.
At that moment, she caught snippets of hushed conversation around herâvoices from the other disciples, leaking clearly into her ears through her lingering spiritual sense.
âHow did a âDa Waâ spy get in here?â
âProbably that âGo Seniorâ sectâs scheme again. That guyâs tricks are getting nastier.â
Da Wa?
Go Senior?
What kind of names were those?
Were they code wordsâor the names of those evil sects?
So Gui Xi Sect had multiple enemiesâŠ
This world of cultivation was darker than she had imaginedâmonstrous beasts hidden in every shadow, sects plotting against each other in silence.
An evil cult called âDa Wa.â
Another ominous group called âGo Senior.â
The terrifying web of demonic sects unfolded in her mind.
Seeing Su Lingâerâs increasingly grim expression, Lin Qingfeng could only double down on the act.
âAnyway, junior sister, donât overthink things.â
âOur sect is perfectly normalânone of that strange nonsense youâre imagining.â
âJust rememberâstay loyal to our sect, and weâll never treat you unfairly!â
The moment he said that, something unexpected happened.
One of the players in the crowd suddenly straightened, raised both arms high above his head, and shouted with solemn fervorâ
âSenior Brother is our SUN!!!â
The actionâthe chantâwas like a spark hitting oil.
In an instant, the entire plaza erupted. Every disciple of Gui Xi Sect mimicked the same movement.
âSenior Brother is our SUN!!!â
âSenior Brother is our SUN!!!â
âLOYALTY!!!â
âLOYALTY!!!â
âLOYALTY!!!â
Su Lingâer flinched violently at the sudden, deafening chorus.
What⊠what is this bizarre ritual?!
She looked around at their crazed, fanatical faces, at the hands raised skyward in unison.
Now she was certainâthis place was far more terrifying than any demonic sect described in storybooks.
Here, the slightest hint of defiance could mean death.
But on the surface, she could only pretend to be naĂŻve and obedient, mimicking the crowd.
She raised her hands too, forcing out a timid mosquito-like whisperâ
âL-loyaltyâŠâ
Seeing her compliance, Lin Qingfeng let out a long sigh of relief.
Perfect.
Turns out stupid NPCs had their advantagesâsimple-minded and easy to manipulate!
Feeling smug, he ignored the still-chanting âgratefulâ idiots behind him and continued leading Su Lingâer toward the sectâs inner registration hall.
Finallyâthey were about to complete the sectâs first official mission.
The two of them walked one after another across the plaza and onto a quiet forest path.
Just as the ancient temple ahead came into view and Su Lingâer began to relax slightly, her steps froze again.
Beneath a large tree up ahead stood several disciples in Gui Xi Sect robesâcompletely motionless.
They stood in different posesâsome gazing upward, some looking downâbut all with vacant eyes and dull expressions, utterly devoid of life.
And that wasnât even the scariest part.
From the grass, several venomous insects with dark green-spotted backs crawled up their legs.
The bugs opened tiny mouthparts and began gnawing at their flesh.
Yet the disciples didnât react at all.
No pain, no movementânothing.
Could they even tell what was happening?
Did they⊠even know they were still alive?
A chill shot up Su Lingâerâs spine, straight to the crown of her head.
One dreadful thought flashed through her mind.
These peopleâ
Had their souls been drained, their consciousness refined awayâ
leaving only their empty bodies standing here?
Were they⊠the living dead?!
[Real World]
[News Archive]
Over a year since the launch of âAshen Sky,â complaints about âfunctional NPCsâ in the player community continue to rise.
Numerous players report that key NPCsâsect elders, quest givers, and othersâshare nearly identical models and behavioral patterns across different regions.
A viral forum post titled âHow Many Clones Does Qian Buyu Actually Have?â has remained pinned on the official boards for weeks.
In it, veteran player âLin Qingfeng,â leader of the guild Front Nine Flow, wrote angrily:
âThis completely ruins immersion! Our guildâs elder NPC keeps glitching into wallsâseriously, is this a bug or a feature?!â
