Chapter 503: An Inexplicable Plague

"Fifth Elder, Chen Chuyang is very strong, I admit that, but we are not weak either."

"If we cannot deal with him, we can deal with the people around him. As far as I know, the Chen Clan is not strong."

"The strongest among them is merely at the Void Core stage, without a single Inner Core. Handling them would still be very easy."

"Chen Chuyang values his kin greatly — this is his weakness. We can start from here and force him to hand over Ghost King Zhuge Gui, otherwise, we will destroy Longshe Cheng and Baihu Cheng."

The Seventh Elder spoke aggressively. His plan had no problems.

The Second Elder shook his head: "Seventh Elder, do not act recklessly. Longshe Cheng is not so easy to touch. The moment we enter the vicinity of Longshe Cheng, we will be watched by that person. Are you certain you can stand against Chen Chuyang?"

The Fifth Elder did not believe it: "Second Elder, Chen Chuyang can sense us entering Longshe Cheng? The distance from Longshe Shan to Longshe Cheng is not short."

The Second Elder nodded: "That is the truth. If Fifth Elder does not believe it, you can go and try."

The Fifth Elder fell silent.

If that were the case, then the success rate of his plan might not be very high, and it would also draw Chen Chuyang's hostility — the losses would outweigh the gains.

The Chen Clan could not be touched, and Longshe Cheng and Baihu Cheng could not be touched either. Both places belonged to Chen Chuyang.

Their Yin Gui Sect, on the contrary, could not make a move — unable to make a move even against a tiny clan. How humiliating.

If they did not dare provoke the Heavenly Heart Sect or directly pressure the Spirit Sword Sect, that was not their problem — rather, the Heavenly Heart Sect and the Spirit Sword Sect were also colossal powers, no weaker than their Yin Gui Sect.

But the Chen Clan — what did they even count as?

If they could not even take down a Chen Clan, how would the people of the world view their Yin Gui Sect? Would it mean that any small clan at all could provoke their Yin Gui Sect and look down on their Yin Gui Sect?

The Second Elder said gravely: "Fifth Elder, the reasoning is sound, but the Chen Clan has Chen Chuyang. With him there, it is impossible for the Yin Gui Sect to move against the Chen Clan."

"As for the Sect Master's side, you have seen it too — he will not allow us to make a move on Longshe Cheng. If we act on our own, he can pretend not to see it. He would even love for us to go make trouble for Chen Chuyang."

"The Third Elder's death is related to him. If not for him, the Third Elder would not have gone after Chen Chuyang, and would not have been killed."

Hearing this, the Fifth Elder fell silent.

The Seventh Elder also fell silent.

The situation within the Yin Gui Sect was gradually exceeding their expectations.

Or rather, it had already slipped out of their control. After the Grand Elder died, Yin Gui Zhenren began to continuously seize control of the Grand Elder's disciples, steadily hollowing out their authority. Within half a year, they too would be sidelined by Yin Gui Zhenren. By then, the Yin Gui Sect would no longer be their Yin Gui Sect.

The former situation would likely never appear again.

"We must not act rashly, nor fall for Yin Gui Zhenren's trap. He has long wanted us dead."

The Fifth Elder and the Seventh Elder exchanged a glance. They were now in a very difficult position — stuck in the middle, unable to make a move, and unable to leave.

Not only did they have to be wary of outsiders, they also had to be wary of their own people.

Such was the interior of the Yin Gui Sect — once you lost your power and your advantage, those below would grow disloyal.

"Our most pressing matter right now is to quickly take control of the mess the Grand Elder left behind. The Grand Elder is dead, yet we have not been able to smoothly take over. Now with the Third Elder's death as well, the people below will inevitably be panicking."

"The Great Qi Dynasty is watching us, and so is the Heavenly Heart Sect. And the Spirit Sword Sect as well — though there has been no movement, they are surely watching too."

"Besides them, we must also be careful of the Monster Race. Those beasts do not show mercy."

The Seventh Elder pondered for a moment, then said: "Second Elder, if we were to make use of that Plague Demon Beast, would that work?"

The Plague Demon Beast could contaminate the Chen Clan, contaminate Longshe Cheng, and thereby destroy the Chen Clan.

This would enrage Chen Chuyang, leading him to strike at the Monster Race and Mu Longhao, allowing them to reap the benefits as the third party.

He might even go after Yin Gui Zhenren and the others.

The Fifth Elder's eyes lit up: "Seventh Elder's proposal is not bad. The Plague Demon Beast is a fine demon beast, and it surely wants to devour more people as well."

"Why not lend it a hand and let it grow rapidly? When the time comes, not only the Chen Clan, but the Heavenly Heart Sect, the Spirit Sword Sect, and the Great Qi Dynasty would all be drawn to it, and we could seize the opportunity to… enter the Great Qi Dynasty."

The Second Elder thought for a moment, then asked: "Fellow Elders, the Plague Demon Beast was born in Baihu Cheng before. Why did it not make a move on Longshe Cheng?"

By rights, at that time, the Plague Demon Beast was closest to Longshe Cheng. A single Baihu Cheng would not be enough for it to consume.

Why did it not make a move?

Instead, it avoided Longshe Cheng — even if it went to other towns, it would not go to Baihu Cheng.

During this period, the Plague Demon Beast had gone quiet. They knew that this demon beast was surely hiding somewhere, secretly spreading plague, ready to strike at any moment.

"Have you ever considered this question? Was it because it had eaten its fill? Or because it was afraid?"

If it was afraid, then who was it afraid of?

The answer was self-evident.

Longshe Shan's Chen Chuyang.

That person, though he never showed himself, his very existence directly intimidated the Plague Demon Beast.

That person was not so simple.

"Huuu." The Fifth Elder exhaled a breath: "It seems we still underestimated Chen Chuyang."

The Seventh Elder agreed: "This plan needs to be discussed at length. However, we can give it a try — success or failure, it will do us no harm either way."

The three nodded, their opinions reaching a consensus.

Three days later.

In a certain town, a plague appeared.

The scale was very small and it did not spread.

At first, they thought it was an ordinary illness and did not pay it any mind.

Some beggar-like people died on the streets and were quickly cleared away. The people of this town did not take notice.

One should say that most people did not care — beggars dying on the streets happened frequently.

Having seen such things often, one naturally grew accustomed to them.

Indifference was everywhere.

Then over the following days, people began dying one after another.

Everyone who had come into contact with the beggars died in succession.

More people died, gradually, and suspicion began to arise.

Upon investigation, many people were found to be sick.

This discovery terrified the townspeople.

Many people wanted to leave, not wanting to stay here, because this situation was just like the initial Baihu Cheng: first they discovered someone had died, then people kept dying.

With more deaths, it naturally turned into a plague.

The unsolvable plague suddenly brought two words to everyone's mind.

Another day passed.

Everyone in this town was infected; the death toll rose rapidly, from a few at first to over ten, then to several hundred, and now to over a thousand.

Now everyone panicked; over a thousand had died, and the survivors also showed some symptoms.

The plague appeared.

The Great Qi Dynasty quickly received the news and sealed off the town.

This town is named Baihe Zhen.