Chapter 24: Rotten Roots
Back at the village, Liu Guan Yi stands before the village elder, a frail old man with cloudy eyes and trembling hands.
> "You said the girls vanished at night?"
"Y-Yes," the elder stammers. "They heard music… then they walked into the forest, like sleepwalkers. We never saw them again."
Liu Guan Yi's expression remains cold. He glances at a girl hiding behind a wall, eyes wide with fear.
> "No broken doors. No forced entry. No struggle. All of them walked into the woods willingly."
He draws a symbol in the air with his finger—a rune from the Refinement Path, activating a memory-echo from the soil.
A faint image appears: a girl, dazed, following the sound of a flute… and behind her, a robed elder with a jade talisman around his neck.
Liu Guan Yi's eyes sharpen.
> "An inner sect elder?"
He clenches his fist, and the image fades.
> "So, this isn't just a rogue cultivator. This is internal."
He returns to the main peak. Ji Ning waits for him in the sword pavilion, graceful and calm, sipping tea.
> "Master," Liu Guan Yi says, bowing. "I found evidence… an elder is involved in soul refinement."
Ji Ning's expression doesn't change.
> "I know," she says quietly.
Liu Guan Yi looks up.
> "You… already suspected?"
Ji Ning sets down her teacup.
> "This world isn't as clean as it pretends to be, Guan Yi. Some elders… grow too old, too hungry. But I wanted to see how far it spread before I moved."
She stands, her aura trembling with suppressed power.
> "Now that I have proof, the Sword Sect will cleanse itself."
But Liu Guan Yi shakes his head.
> "Not yet. Whoever this is, they're connected to someone stronger. That flute user called me Sword Demon. And he said 'she' was watching."
Ji Ning's eyes narrow.
> "Then dig deeper. Find 'her'."
She hands him a jade token.
> "This gives you temporary authority as an inner sect investigator. Use it wisely."
Liu Guan Yi accepts it silently.
As he leaves, a shadow behind the pavilion moves. An elder with sharp eyes and a smiling face watches him go.
> "That brat found too much," the elder mutters. "Looks like we need to change the plan…"