The Elder spat blood, and countless strange worms crawled from the severed neck, a terrifying sight.
The young Taoist, seeing this scene, was so scared his legs went limp and he couldn't move.
The sect leader of Liangshan was slightly better, but his face was also deathly pale.
"Demonic creature..."
Gathering his courage, the Liangshan sect leader threw his golden sword, chanting an incantation and making a sword finger gesture to control it.
The golden sword flew out swiftly, piercing the Elder's chest.
The Elder grunted and knelt down, the head in his arms displaying a pained expression.
The young Taoist's face lit up, "Master, you are truly amazing!"
However, in the next second, the Elder, who had already fallen to the ground, suddenly threw his head forcefully.
The head, like a ball, struck the Liangshan sect leader's neck. The golden sword had no time to react, and the Elder's head bit down on the sect leader's neck!
With a *thwack*, blood splattered, and the sect leader screamed and struggled.
"Master!"
The young Taoist rushed forward to help, his hands tightly gripping the Elder's head and pulling backward.
With a *rip*, the young Taoist tumbled several times. He came to his senses and saw the Elder's ferocious head in his arms. He quickly threw it aside and picked up a large stone from the ground, smashing it down several times.
Soon, the Elder's head was a bloody mess, completely still.
The young Taoist, covered in blood and breathing rapidly, had not yet recovered from the terrifying experience.
"M-Master!"
He suddenly turned his head, wanting to tell his Master that he had dealt with the Elder.
But when he looked back, his Master was already lying in a pool of blood, half his neck gone, beyond all hope.
It turned out that when the young Taoist had been pulling the Elder's head, his excessive force had inadvertently helped the Elder tear off a large chunk of flesh and skin from the sect leader's neck, killing the sect leader.
"Master..."
The young Taoist trembled, looking at his Master's rapidly cooling corpse, at a loss.
As he was in utter terror, a pale hand suddenly patted his shoulder.
Like a startled bird, the young Taoist rolled several times on the ground, flailing his limbs as if trying to swat away flies, shouting, "Don't kill me!! Don't kill me!!!"
"Martial Nephew, wake up! It's me!"
The Elder's voice came. The young Taoist opened his eyes and was stunned.
The person before him was his Elder Uncle, the Elder, who looked like a living person with no bloodline on his neck.
"I just went to relieve myself, and you all disappeared. A thick fog also rolled in... What's going on here? How did Senior Brother Sect Leader die?!" the Elder asked in alarm.
The young Taoist shakily got up and looked around, but could not find the body of the Elder from before. However, his Master's corpse was indeed lying beside him.
If the person before him was the real Elder, then what was the one from before?
The young Taoist's heart pounded, feeling as if it would leap out of his throat.
He stammered, "There was a... fake Martial Uncle just now. He had a bloodline on his neck, and then his head... fell off and bit my Master to death..."
Overcome by fear, the young Taoist had lost his basic ability to narrate, only managing to blurt out a few keywords.
Upon hearing this, the Elder's face broke into a sinister smile.
He picked up the golden sword from the ground, thrust it violently into his own neck, and with a *squelch*, sliced his neck open by more than half!
The young Taoist's eyes widened, his scream forgotten.
"Did that Elder just now have a bloodline like this on his neck?" the Elder grinned, staring at the young Taoist with a morbid gaze.
"Ah—ah!!! Ah—!!!"
The young Taoist had gone mad.
The Elder before him slowly removed his head. Strangely, there was no bleeding from the severed neck.
His joints were connected by a peculiar wooden structure.
Footsteps echoed from the surroundings, and more and more wooden figures emerged from the white mist, surrounding the young Taoist.
These wooden figures were unclothed and had no facial features, appearing crudely made.
One of the wooden figures walked over to the Liangshan sect leader, removed his Taoist robe, and put it on. Its body began to change, becoming very similar to the Liangshan sect leader.
Even more terrifying, this wooden figure directly cut off the Liangshan sect leader's face and attached it to its own.
Soon, the skin seamlessly merged with the wooden figure, its expression perfectly natural.
The "Master Sect Leader" adjusted to his new body and walked up to the young Taoist.
He extended his hand, revealing a kind smile, "Disciple, come with me to see the National Preceptor. The National Preceptor is hosting a grand banquet in Qingjiang Kingdom, where there is endless meat, endless wine, and beautiful women to accompany you..."
The young Taoist had gone mad. Drool trickled from the corner of his mouth, and he giggled foolishly, reaching out to grasp the "Master Sect Leader's" hand.
A group of wooden figures led the young Taoist, slowly walking into the depths of Daqing Mountain...
...
The same thing happened in every corner of Daqing Mountain.
These self-righteous individuals, dreaming of slaying demons and achieving fame, initially paid no heed to the National Preceptor, even hoping to encounter him alone so that no one would compete with them for the credit.
However, they did not even get to see the National Preceptor's face before they lost their lives.
When they faced the terrifying wooden figures, they finally realized how foolish they had been.
But it was too late for regrets. They were either killed, their faces stolen by the wooden figures, or taken by the wooden figures into the depths of Daqing Mountain, into the ruins of Qingjiang Kingdom...
...
*Bang!*
Inside the Celestial Master Hall, Yu Luming was furious.
He couldn't help but smash the inkstone in front of him onto the ground, cursing these righteous cultivators for their stupidity!
"Yan Shouyi demonstrated his strength in the Celestial Master Hall that day precisely to make everyone recognize the National Preceptor's power. How could these fools still be so confident, venturing into Daqing Mountain to seek the National Preceptor on their own?!"
Although Yu Luming knew that some disciples from the renowned sects were decadent, he never expected them to be so arrogant.
Yan Shouyi called, and Yu Luming hurried to handle it, only to find it was too late. Those people had all entered Daqing Mountain.
After waiting for a few more hours, Yu Luming began to receive news of those people going missing in Daqing Mountain.
The foolish individuals finally understood the severity of the situation and began to seek help from the Celestial Master Mansion, hoping Yu Luming would quickly send people to Daqing Mountain to support and find the missing people.
But Yu Luming was now unable to help.
Entering Daqing Mountain was like entering a tiger's den. Yu Luming did not have full confidence in dealing with the tiger that was the National Preceptor, let alone snatching people from its jaws?!
Liu Yiren sighed softly, "Perhaps the renowned sects are destined to face this tribulation. Someone always has to pay the price for their arrogance."
"They are reaping what they sowed; they are not to be pitied!" Yu Luming shook his head. "What worries me now is that they have alerted the enemy and provided sustenance for the National Preceptor to recover from his injuries! If the National Preceptor regains his strength, even if Yan Shouyi gathers everyone's might, he might not be able to kill him!"