Chapter 132: Chapter 132: Disciples

The elder’s voice lowered slightly as he continued, as if even repeating the words felt wrong.

“They said the dead were moving,” he said. “Not just twitching. But it’s fighting, and knows martial arts.”

A faint murmur spread across the hall.

One of the elders frowned deeply.

“That’s impossible.”

Another shook his head.

“No technique at this level allows that.”

At the head of the hall, the Sect Master finally spoke.

Fuing’s gaze sharpened slightly as he leaned forward.

“You’re saying that dead people started attacking?” he said, his tone calm, but there was a clear edge beneath it. “You know well enough that it’s impossible.”

The elder met his gaze without backing down.

“That’s what they said.”

Silence followed.

Another elder crossed his arms.

“Refugees panic. They imagine things. Insects, monsters, that’s believable. But dead men rising? That’s a story.”

Fuing’s fingers tapped lightly against the armrest, once, twice, then stopped.

His eyes moved across the room.

“Whether it’s true or not doesn’t matter,” he said. “What matters is that something strong enough to destroy five towns is moving toward us.”

No one argued with that.

An elder near the back spoke up.

“Then we should prepare the disciples. If this turns into a large-scale conflict, they’ll need experience.”

Another nodded.

“And motivation.”

Fuing didn’t respond immediately.

Then he gave a small nod.

“Release a mission.”

—

Outside, the sect courtyard was far from quiet.

Hundreds of disciples moved through the open space, some training, some talking, others simply passing time, unaware of the full weight of what was happening beyond the city.

That changed quickly.

A bell rang, clear, sharp.

It echoed across the entire courtyard. All movement slowed, then stopped.

Eyes turned toward the central board where missions were posted.

A sect deacon stepped forward, unrolling a scroll and pinning it in place.

“New mission issued by the Sect Master,” he announced.

That alone drew attention.

Students began to gather.

The deacon stepped aside.

The words were clear.

[Mission: Investigation of the Fallen Towns

Description:

Five surrounding towns have been destroyed under unknown circumstances. Survivors report abnormal phenomena, including large-scale insect swarms and moving corpses.

Objective:

Investigate the cause of destruction. Confirm the source of the threat.

Reward:

500 Gold Coins

1 Body Tempering Pills

Direct contribution points to the sect]

For a moment, there was silence.

“What?!”

“Five hundred gold?!”

“And Body Tempering pills too?!”

The courtyard erupted.

Students pushed closer, eyes wide, voices rising all at once as excitement spread like fire.

“That reward is insane!”

“No way this is just a simple investigation.”

A tall disciple near the front narrowed his eyes slightly.

“That’s because it isn’t.”

Another laughed, but there was tension in it.

“So what? You scared?”

“Not scared,” the first replied. “Just not stupid.”

Nearby, a group of younger disciples were already fired up.

“This is our chance!”

The excitement kept rising, voices overlapping, confidence growing louder by the second as more and more outer disciples stepped forward, already imagining the reward in their hands.

Then, the noise shifted.

Not because it faded.

But because something heavier pressed down on it.

From the far end of the courtyard, a group began to approach, their robes cleaner, their posture straighter, their presence alone enough to make people instinctively move aside.

Inner gate disciples.

The crowd parted almost without thinking.

Some stepped back out of respect.

Others out of instinct.

At the front of the group walked a young man, tall, composed, his expression calm but distant, as if everything around him didn’t matter.

His aura wasn’t restrained.

It didn’t need to be.

It pressed outward naturally, heavy enough that even the air around him felt thicker.

An outer disciple near the front swallowed.

“…That’s him.”

“Who?”

“You don’t know? That’s Ren Kai.”

The name spread quickly through whispers.

“The strongest inner disciple.”

“I heard he can fight elders already…”

“No. Not fight. He can win.”

The group stopped a few steps away from the mission board.

Ren Kai didn’t look at the outer disciples.

Not even once.

His eyes went straight to the mission.

He read it silently.

Behind him, the other inner disciples began talking among themselves, their voices low, but not quiet enough to hide the tone.

“So this is the mission?”

“Five towns destroyed… sounds interesting.”

One of them glanced at the outer disciples nearby and let out a faint chuckle.

“Looks like they’re excited.”

Another smirked.

“Of course they are. They see the reward, not the danger.”

A third crossed his arms.

“Most of them won’t even make it back.”

The words weren’t whispered.

They didn’t care if they were heard.

And they were.

An outer disciple clenched his fists.

“What’s that supposed to mean?”

One of the inner disciples glanced at him, his expression flat.

“It means exactly what you think it means.”

“You—”

“Relax,” another inner disciple cut in, his tone almost bored. “If you want to go, go. No one’s stopping you.”

His gaze moved over them, dismissive.

“Just don’t expect us to save you.”

The tension rose instantly.

Outer disciples straightened.

Some angry.

Some embarrassed.

Some silent.

“Enough.”

The voice wasn’t loud. But the inner disciples behind him fell silent immediately.

He stepped forward slightly, eyes still on the mission.

“…This isn’t a normal task.”

His voice was calm.

Clear.

“This level of destruction doesn’t come from something weak.”

One of the outer disciples hesitated, then spoke.

“Then… are you taking it?”

For the first time, Ren Kai glanced at him.

Just briefly.

“Yes.”

That one word sent a ripple through the crowd.

“If he’s going…”

“Then it’s real.”

“No way this is just an investigation.”

Another inner disciple smirked slightly.

“Of course we’re going. You think we’d let something like this pass?”

He looked toward the outer disciples again.

“You can follow if you want.”

One of the outer disciples stepped forward, his jaw tight.

“We won’t.”

Another followed.

“Yeah. We’re not dead weight.”

The tension didn’t disappear.

It settled.

—-

The ruined town stood in silence.

Not the kind of silence that felt peaceful, but the kind that pressed against the ears, heavy and wrong, as if the place itself had already been abandoned by life long before the five figures arrived.

Broken walls leaned at odd angles, roofs had collapsed inward, and the streets were empty.

Too empty.

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