In the end, only six bandits thought they were very smart and tried to lie their way out of it. The other twelve confessed in detail what they'd done the past few months. Fortunately, it didn't seem like they were too malicious.

  With Qin Ye and Li Fanghua's enhanced spiritual senses, they were able to tell when something was off their lies. Further interrogation revealed what they were hiding - and it wasn't pretty. Of the six liars, four had committed unredeemable crimes and were wanton in their treatment of civilians.

  Lu Qingshan didn’t want them in his sect even if the other bandits had a bottom line. He decided to make their deaths a spectacle, further testing the bond between the sect members.

  “Go interrogate the leaders,” he said to Qin Ye and Li Fanghua, flashing them a look as he rode around to gather the bandits back together. A trace of pain appeared on his face.

  “Are you okay?” Li Fanghua suddenly asked. Her voice was a touch too loud, and her hand quickly rose to her mouth. “Sorry,” she mouthed.

  Qin Ye looked confused. Li Fanghua quickly sent him another look and he happily went over to harass the bandit leader and vice-leader while they watched in frustration.

  The entire group heard his loud, arrogant shouting from where they stood. “Wang Mu. Killer of three families and murderer of five civilians. Executed two children for taels of silver. Are you defending him?” Qin Ye roared.

  Lu Qingshan winced as he stepped down from the horse. A few of the bandits noticed this and turned to whisper to one another. He pretended not to know as he walked into their midst.

  He pulled Wang Mu to the front of the group, who struggled to escape in fear. Lu Qingshan, injured and under the state of Tiger Stalks Prey, only displayed the prowess of a Marrow Tempering expert with his attack. Yet still he was pleasantly surprised by the bandits’ lack of action.

  The other three liars tried to run as well. Lu Qingshan casually cut their tendons with thrown monster teeth then dragged them back into the crowd. He had Qin Ye list off their crimes while he smiled at each of the bandits. Every time the boy finished his spiel, he’d finish off the bandit in question with a severed head.

  A trickle of blood appeared on his lips after each attack, yet nobody chose to fight or flee. They were just wary. He did see them take looks at his face from time to time, as well as some stares at Qin Ye and Li Fanghua.

  The third bandit’s head rolled onto the earth. Lu Qingshan moved towards the fourth, and then a commotion started behind him.

  “You can’t kill him,” the vice-leader said, his shoulder held back by the bandit leader. “You just can’t!”

  “Lies!” Qin Ye roared. “You’re just trying to save a family friend. I’ve seen this dozens of times!”

  “No, you don’t get it. Lin Zheng is from one of the eight families in the city. He’s got connections.”

  “Who cares?” Qin Ye ignored the man and continued to list off his crimes. This one was a degree worse than the others — Qin Ye couldn’t even finish before the vice-leader pushed himself in front of the boy.

  “You have to stop him at all costs!” The man shouted at all the bandits, but it looked like he had no authority. Only two people looked concerned and stepped beside the fourth bandit, staring at Lu Qingshan, though they made no move to take out their weapons.

  “I’ll give you a minute to reveal his entire backing,” Lu Qingshan said. “There’s something you’re not telling us.”

  “I can’t. If I do that, we’re all dead.”

  “Try me.”

  “Okay. Fine. You win,” the man laughed mockingly. “Have you heard of immortals? Flying in the clouds, one strike to kill from horizons away, a longevity shared with the mountains and seas? This scum has an immortal behind him.”

  “Tell me the details.”

  “I was eavesdropping on him in the dead of night one day, trying to figure out his crimes. We don’t usually tolerate that kind of behavior,” he said while the bandit leader came up to them with Li Fanghua and Qin Ye. “Then I saw an immortal descend from the heavens and enter his house.”

  “Did he see you?”

  “Yes.” The vice-leader shuddered. “I’ll never forget the look he gave me. It was like he was staring at food — he was hungry.”

  Lu Qingshan frowned. Was it a demonic cultivator? But hunger could mean anything from a whole range of desires, not necessarily eating flesh. He couldn’t tell at the moment.

  Lin Zheng himself didn’t look too surprised at this turn of events. A cocky smile was still on his face and he began to scold them.

  “That’s right. I have an immortal behind me. Back off.”

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  “Truly arrogant from someone who’s about to die,” Lu Qingshan said. He shoved the man to the ground, eliciting a cry of pain and fury.

  “You’ll pay for this,” Lin Zheng said as he got back up. “All of you are dead!”

  “Did you hear that? He just said he’s going to kill all of you anyway.”

  The vice-leader looked much more hesitant to intervene again. “Do as you wish,” he muttered.

  Lu Qingshan’s claw swipe didn’t take the man’s head off like he expected. Instead, a jewel flashed, and a water barrier blocked his attack. Lu Qingshan took away his hand covered in blood. His own blood.

  “Seems you were telling the truth,” he said with a deep look in his eyes. The smug look on Lin Zheng’s face only grew. Then it froze, stricken with horror.

  “How long has it been since you saw him meet with the immortal?” Lu Qingshan took out the red-gold scabbard, slowly sliding the blade out.

  “A year. The other time was two years ago. Why?”

  “Doesn’t look like he’s anything special. At least two years and he hasn’t yet reached the Spiritual Awakening stage? Pathetic.”

  Lin Zheng tried to run. His former comrades blocked his path. Lu Qingshan’s sword first looked like a regular sword except for the fancy scabbard. Nobody expected it to cleave through the magical barrier in a single stroke, severing the bandit’s head.

  “There we go,” Lu Qingshan said, picking up the fallen jewel that had adorned the man’s neck. “Congratulations. You’ve all passed our tests.”

  The vice-leader was still shaking, but he wasn’t blind. There was something very wrong with what just happened. How did Lu Qingshan ignore such magical means of defense? Why was he so confident in attacking? The man didn’t know, turning to look at his leader for answers.

  “We will follow,” the bandit leader muttered.

  “Good. I won’t ask for your names yet.” Lu Qingshan took the group to continue onwards to the Seven Mysteries Gate meeting point. “We’re headed for the ghost market nearby. Have you heard of it?”

  “A little. The man you killed should know the most,” the vice-leader said. “I’ve been there a few times that I know how to enter, but not the inner workings.”

  “We’ll have you accompany us in.”

  The rest of the journey was spent in silence as everyone took the time to digest what had happened, their worldviews expanded greatly from what they saw. Lu Qingshan confirmed the presence of immortal cultivators living among martial artists. Whether or not this incident would bring future troubles didn’t matter as long as he accomplished his goals. From what he saw, the man only had that jewel on his body.

  Lu Qingshan toyed with it. After the head detached from the body, the jewel had stopped glowing. He couldn’t get it to work again. Perhaps Qin Ye and Li Fanghua might be able to figure out more about the item. He tossed it to them, then continued to focus on the Insect Harmony Mantra.

  They arrived at the Seven Mysteries Gate meeting with plenty of time to spare. Lu Qingshan introduced the Iron Pine Sect to the Elders and disciples who had arrived first.

  “Dong Qianyu, Wu Ruoling, I’ve brought us some new recruits. Make sure they learn our rules and customs.” Lu Qingshan took a look around. “Where are Meng Zhang and Liu Yingting?”

  “They’re leading four disciples to scope out the area for potential escape routes,” Dong Qianyu said. “What’s odd is that no one else has come near here in the past few days of patrol.”

  “Hope nothing has happened.” Lu Qingshan said.

  “This is the ghost market area,” the bandit vice-leader said, now looking a lot more relieved after he’d seen the others. “So you’re the remnants of the destroyed Seven Mysteries Gate. Good to know we were actually brothers.” He had recognized Dong Qianyu at first glance.

  “Rest easy,” Lu Qingshan said with a smile. “We need your expertise and are currently recruiting manpower. There’s not many of us left.”

  “We’d be happy to help.”

  Lu Qingshan had Dong Qianyu fill them in on anything important while he himself went to scout the area as well. Liu Yingting had explained the ghost market would send guides to this meeting spot and take the people there to the market. There should’ve been other people who had arrived early as well - they only had a few more days before the guides arrived.

  Dong Qianyu had fashioned masks for them, while the bandit Iron Pine Sect remnants had their own ways to conceal their faces. Lu Qingshan continued to stay wary of their surroundings. He recited the Insect Harmony Mantra as he patrolled, sending waves of insects out from their nests to patrol with him.

  In the meantime, Lu Qingshan’s Bloodseeker Fly eggs finally hatched. The maggots devoured most of the corpses he had on hand, only leaving the pieces of Qi Refinement flesh intact as their teeth couldn’t bite into them just yet. Good thing the bodies of higher stage cultivators were a lot more resilient to rot, letting him keep them for a while longer.

  It was only until one day remained that they finally discovered the presence of another group. This was a small group of three. Their steps visibly hesitated for a moment when they saw how many people were already there.

  Nobody spoke a word. They all just stared at one another, then returned to their own devices. Many in the Seven Mysteries Gate had sat apart from one another to disguise their true allegiance. The Iron Pine Sect stayed relatively close together.

  Five more groups arrived before night fell. One of them was Liu Yingting’s group, finally back from patrol, who Lu Qingshan noticed when two of his insects had frozen in his senses for an unusual amount of time. He went to find out the cause and discovered Liu Yingting smiling up at him. Meng Zhang stood by the side, quietly watching.

  The man released the two beetles in his hands. "Since you're here, I assume things are fine?" he asked.

  Lu Qingshan nodded, repeating what he told Dong Qianyu. "Most of the attackers should be dead. But we've still lost our territory," he said. "I don't think it's safe to continue staying there."

  "That's a shame. We'll have to find another source of ingredients," Liu Yingting muttered. "Be careful on this trip," he added. "I received word that the ghost market's seen some changes."

  They split up when returning to the main meeting spot. Lu Qingshan eyed the four other groups and noted their members before he continued taking care of the fly larvae again.

  When the forest turned completely dark under the new moon, a final set of footsteps approached. Clad in black robes and ghostly white masks, the guides of the ghost market came into view as a group of seven. Lu Qingshan couldn’t see through them.