Chapter Ninety-Four: Savage Carnage

“Oh, I see now!”

After hearing Qiao Xinran’s explanation, Yuxuan’s gaze toward them turned awkward.

“I’m truly sorry.” She hurriedly cupped her hands in apology.

“It matters not.” Shen Qingyun waved a hand indifferently, though a hint of distance had already crept into his tone. No matter how little he cared, her words still left a faint discomfort in his heart.

Yuxuan then planted her hands on her hips and gave a soft huff. “But whose fault is it for not explaining sooner?”

Qiao Xinran gave an embarrassed smile. They had not even had a chance to explain.

“We’ll go to the other side.”

With that, Shen Qingyun strode toward the far side of the safe zone, placing himself directly opposite Yuxuan’s group. The two teams stood at opposite edges of the area, and his intention was clear enough: he did not wish to be entangled with her.

Seeing this, Yuxuan curled her lip inwardly. Small-minded. Not much of a man.

Clearly, she assumed Shen Qingyun’s behavior meant he was still holding a grudge over what had happened earlier.

But that was not his thought at all.

Once Shen Qingyun left, Ling Xiao and the others naturally followed. That left only the Qiao sisters behind.

Standing together with Yuxuan, the three girls were like three blossoms in full bloom, lending a touch of color to the bleak and lonely Demon Valley.

After Shen Qingyun left, Yuxuan resumed her attempts to poach from the wall.

“Junior sister, little junior sister, if you ask me, you two should just join my team.”

As she spoke, her gaze kept darting toward Shen Qingyun. “Look at him—he can’t even keep the people in his own team. The moment Gu Yang’s side made a move, twelve people were taken away. With only the few of you left, what can you possibly accomplish in the Demon Valley?”

Hearing this, Qiao Xinran felt an urge rise in her heart, wanting to explain everything clearly. But reason stopped her. If she truly said it, she would be revealing that Shen Qingyun had personally executed the disciples of the Withered Bamboo Peak.

What would Yuxuan think then? She did not know, but she could guess the outcome would be far worse. Yuxuan would stop merely poaching and instead force the two of them into her team.

Yet watching Yuxuan misunderstand Shen Qingyun like this made Qiao Xinran feel a pang of grievance, as though Shen Qingyun himself were being wronged.

An hour after Shen Qingyun and the others arrived at the safe zone, teams began to trickle in one after another. Judging by their appearances, it was obvious their luck had been poor and they had encountered the black storm; many were injured, and some were even carried in.

The sect disciples’ teams were still manageable. The real problem was the clans’ young heirs’ teams: they had started with very few people to begin with, and now they had suffered the blow of the black storm as well.

The worst case Shen Qingyun saw was a team left with only a single person. The moment that lone survivor stepped into the safe zone, he broke down completely.

He knelt on the ground and wailed in grief. Those around him cast sympathetic glances, yet not one person reached out a hand.

Everyone understood very well that within the Demon Valley, whatever befell you was your fate. If only one person remained from an entire team, what could be done?

That collapsed man gave everyone the answer. After crying his heart out, he slowly stood. His whole body looked like a walking corpse, his eyes devoid of any light.

Then he raised his weapon and drove it into his own chest, piercing straight through his heart. With a sudden, forceful pull, he withdrew it, sending blood spraying into the air and staining a stretch of the safe zone red.

On his face there was no pain, only relief.

Some could not bear to watch and turned their heads away. Others stared directly at the bright crimson pool and the body lying within it, shaking their heads, their expressions varied and complex.

Shen Qingyun watched the scene unfold with calm eyes, without the slightest ripple in his heart. Perhaps for that man, death was the true liberation. Only no one knew what his team had gone through.

At the same time, a heavy thought surfaced in the hearts of all the team leaders.

The first team had been wiped out.

If one thought back to the first safe zone, teams had suffered losses there as well, but overall they had remained intact. That place could even be said to have been overcrowded.

But now? The safe zone was the same size, yet with the teams gathered here, it looked sparse and thin.

Of course, it could not be ruled out that some teams had not arrived yet.

Shen Qingyun also did not see anyone from the Feng clan. Naturally, he would not assume the Feng clan had been wiped out as well. A team with a Spirit Aspect realm cultivator and another half-step into that realm—could it really be so easily destroyed?

Another three hours passed before the Qiao sisters returned, though their spirits were not especially high.

“What happened?”

Noticing their odd demeanor, Shen Qingyun could not help but raise a brow and ask.

Qiao Xinwu shook her head without speaking. She walked over and knelt beside Shen Qingyun, sitting quietly at his side.

Seeing this, Shen Qingyun grew even more curious. What could possibly have made the usually lively Qiao Xinwu so downcast? He could not help but wonder.

Qiao Xinran knelt before Shen Qingyun, facing him directly.

“Our Azure Cloud Sect teams have all returned.”

“And then?”

Shen Qingyun looked at her and asked.

“No team was completely wiped out.” As she spoke, a trace of relief could be heard in Qiao Xinran’s voice.

“That was to be expected.” Shen Qingyun smiled lightly. Every team had at least one Spirit Aspect realm cultivator. If such a formation were wiped out so easily, then the Azure Cloud disciples would only have been too useless.

“But every team suffered heavy losses!” Qiao Xinran’s eyes reddened at once. “Aside from us, almost every team had more than three people sacrificed. Most of them died after encountering the black storm!”

Such a tragedy—how could she not have red eyes? They were all living lives, and just like that, they were gone...

Yet she heard Shen Qingyun say, “The losses were within expectations as well.”

Seeing that he remained so calm and unruffled, Qiao Xinran rarely felt a spark of anger rise in her chest. She said indignantly, “Young Master Shen, they were all our fellow disciples. How can you be so unmoved?”

“Is that so?”

Shen Qingyun lifted a brow and looked at her. “Then what sort of emotion do you think I ought to show?”

“This...”

Qiao Xinran was momentarily at a loss for words.

Seeing that she could not answer, Shen Qingyun continued, “You see? Even you don’t know. Since you don’t know what attitude to take, why not simply regard it calmly? Rather than grieving over it, think about yourself instead.”

“At what point will you become one of them?”

“Do you remember what I told you before? In the cultivation world, killing is always the main theme.”

Shen Qingyun said slowly, “Now I will change that a little: death is the eternal main theme of the cultivation world. You should be thankful that you are still alive, rather than shedding tears because someone who seems to have some relation to you on the surface has died.”

Qiao Xinran stared at him in a daze, not expecting Shen Qingyun to be able to speak so many seemingly reasonable but actually twisted words.

In truth, Shen Qingyun understood as well. Qiao Xinran still retained the pure heart she had when first stepping into the cultivation world. That was in fact rather rare. How many people, after entering this world, lost themselves in its splendor and cruelty?

Of course, Shen Qingyun would not praise her openly either. People like that were often the ones who died the fastest.

“So, how many are left in total?”

“One hundred and eighty-three.” Qiao Xinran answered.

“Hm?”

Hearing that number, Shen Qingyun’s brows lifted sharply as well. It was beyond his expectations.

When they set out, the total number had been two hundred and fifty-five, not counting the team leaders. Now, without counting the leaders, nearly seventy people had been lost.

That number was nothing if not grim.

At that moment, the once fairly quiet safe zone suddenly grew noisy. Everyone’s emotions turned uneasy and restless.

It turned out that black storms could also be seen passing outside the safe zone from time to time, and someone anxiously voiced the question that had arisen in many hearts.

“Is the safe zone really safe? A black storm can grind even shattered stone into dust—if one sweeps through here, can this place really withstand it?”

The speaker may not have meant much by it, but the listeners certainly did. Their fear of the black storm had not yet passed, so how could they not panic upon hearing such words?

That panic swiftly spread from team to team.

“Everyone, shut up!”

Just as fear was about to spread through the entire safe zone, a sharp shout rang out.

A man in white robes stood at the center of the safe zone. It was none other than Gu Yang. He barked sternly, “We are all cultivators; our hearts should be firm. This Demon Valley was said to be a trial. Since it is a trial, then everything we encounter is part of that trial!”

“From the moment you entered the Demon Valley, from then until now, and even until the end—what of life, what of death? All of it is your own choice. Those eliminated and stripped of their lives can only blame their own insufficient strength!”

“Most of those present are disciples of the sects. You all passed the Heaven-Ascending Road, yet because of a few rumors and scraps of hearsay, you let yourselves become so panicked! Are you not shaming your own sects?”

“Do you still have even a little of the bearing of cultivators and sect disciples?”

Gu Yang’s expression was stern, his words sharp and forceful. After speaking, he turned toward the source of the rumor—a team with only three people left. The one who had spoken was one of them.

“How do you know this place is not safe?” Gu Yang looked at him expressionlessly, utterly unlike the man Shen Qingyun had seen that day.

“I...”

“And how do you know the black storm will sweep through here?”

As he spoke, Gu Yang’s expression grew colder and colder. “The safe zones in the Demon Valley were all determined by our five great sects’ ancestors, who tested them with lives and ultimately established these few safe locations. Yet with a single sentence, you seek to deny all their effort!”

“Furthermore, the Demon Valley trial was originally only for the disciples of the five great sects. Your clans have always treated it as an opportunity. But do you know that for generation after generation, the trials held by our five great sects have always been of this sort—one moment’s carelessness, and life is lost!”

Gu Yang’s voice carried with spiritual power, spreading throughout the safe zone and thunderously quelling the agitation from before.

Many from the five great sects could not help lowering their heads, shame showing on their faces.

As for the clan disciple who had been rebuked by Gu Yang, he stammered and faltered, unable to utter a single word for a long while.

Hearing Gu Yang’s words, Shen Qingyun also nodded slightly. This performance of Gu Yang’s made him regard him a little more highly. It seemed that his being esteemed by the disciples of the Withered Bamboo Peak was not without reason.