Chapter 697: Seventh Hundred and Eighteenth Chapter: The Truth Comes to Light

"Where is Senior Sister Lin Qingqing? I haven't seen her for a long time. I remember she used to be very active! Could it be that she went into seclusion?"

"I don't know. Senior Sister Zhang Biru had an appointment with me today to pick out a new cauldron, but I waited all day and didn't see her. I went to her cave dwelling to look for her, but no one answered me."

"Forget about that for a moment. Can you help me find where Senior Sister Chen Shulian is? Elder Kong is giving a lecture today, and she actually skipped it! Elder Kong is furious right now!"

The disciples of the Joyous Union Sect were chattering away, their faces full of confusion.

The number of disciples who had suddenly become unreachable was simply too high, which sparked large-scale discussions within the Joyous Union Sect.

After all, these disciples had all vanished without a trace—neither living nor dead, not even a single hair could be found.

Some even began to speculate whether there was something unclean inside the Joyous Union Sect.

This situation soon caught the attention of the Joyous Union Sect's upper echelons.

The Punishment Elder, the Blood-Handed Butcher Pei Jiuye, personally led the Punishment Hall to begin an investigation.

It didn't matter until they investigated, but the results terrified everyone to the point of horror!

Pei Jiuye quickly determined that those missing disciples had all met with foul play!

Although no corpses or bloodstains were seen, traces of fighting could be found inside their cave dwellings.

This meant that they had likely been killed by someone, and their bodies had been disposed of to destroy the evidence.

More crucially, according to the incomplete statistics of the Punishment Hall, the number of dead disciples had already exceeded five hundred...

At this, even the Seven Emotions Elders were all alarmed!

Joy, Anger, Worry, Thought, Sorrow, Fear, and Shock—all seven elders put aside their current tasks and began assisting the Punishment Hall in investigating the cause of the disciples' mysterious deaths.

One must know that for an evil sect like the Joyous Union Sect, recruiting disciples is a very difficult task.

Losing over five hundred disciples, while not enough to break the sect's foundations, was still enough to make the Joyous Union Sect's upper echelons feel a deep, painful sting.

Furthermore, among these dead disciples, many had excellent talent and were very likely to become great demonic powers in the future.

The elders immediately decided that no matter the cost, they must get to the bottom of this matter!

Inside Lin Qingqing's cave dwelling, the Seven Emotions Elders and the Punishment Elder Pei Jiuye joined forces, using their great cultivation to begin reconstructing what had happened in this dwelling previously.

Such a method, even for the eight of them combined, was terrifyingly draining.

If not for the death of over five hundred disciples, they would never have used such a body-damaging method.

Strands of fragmented causal threads were reconnected and straightened out, and before the eight elders, a figure as ethereal as a banished immortal slowly appeared.

"Damn it! It's this brat again! I knew he was a demonic heretic; he actually dared to lay a hand on his fellow disciples!"

Enemies are especially jealous when they meet; the moment he saw Ye Lin, the Anger Elder instantly switched to a state of explosive rage.

After locking onto the suspect, the subsequent work became much simpler.

A slight investigation revealed that Ye Lin had been running to the Joy-Greed Hall every night for the past few days.

A disciple of the No-Thought Hall running to the Joy-Greed Hall every night—is that reasonable?

The eight elders were almost instantly certain that even if Ye Lin didn't kill those disciples, he was definitely inextricably linked to it!

They continued their investigation, and the more they investigated, the more panicked they became.

Because all the evidence pointed to Ye Lin!

"I'm going to go catch that brat!"

Without a word, the Anger Elder charged directly toward the cave dwelling where Ye Lin was located.

Before he even arrived, a finger was extended first.

A massive finger descended from the firmament, directly grinding Ye Lin's cave dwelling into powder.

If Ye Lin hadn't dodged fast enough, he likely would have been crushed along with the dwelling.

"Elder Anger, what is the meaning of this? Are you targeting me again?" Ye Lin's eyes turned red.

"Stop putting on an act for me! Today, I will expose your true colors!"

The Anger Elder's voice was thunderous, instantly spreading throughout the entire Joyous Union Sect.

Last time he was played by Ye Lin and his reputation was ruined; now that he had caught an opportunity, how could he not take the chance to restore his image?

"Audacious villain Ye Xiehong, you have committed every evil deed, and heaven will not tolerate you! You actually secretly murdered over five hundred disciples of the Joy-Greed Hall; do you confess your crimes?"

Hearing the Anger Elder's voice, many Joyous Union Sect disciples in seclusion were alarmed and broke out of their seclusion one after another.

Killing over five hundred people inside the Joyous Union Sect? What kind of murderous maniac is this?

Soon, Pei Jiuye and the other six of the Seven Emotions Elders all arrived, and the spectating disciples surrounded the area until it was impenetrable.

It had been many years since a warrior of this caliber had appeared.

"Confess my crimes? What crimes do I have? I am merely practicing the No-Thought No-Emotion Record taught to me by the Hall Master. If you have an issue, go talk to the No-Thought Hall Master."

Ye Lin wore the expression of a dead pig that isn't afraid of boiling water.

"Bullshit! Since when does the No-Thought No-Emotion Record require killing so many people?" the Anger Elder questioned.

"What? Is it a crime to fall in love with someone quickly?"

Ye Lin looked at the Anger Elder with righteous indignation.

"Then let me ask you, can love for a person be measured by time? Can it?"

"If I have fallen deeply in love with someone, and I am practicing the No-Thought No-Emotion Record, must I not slay her to prove my Dao? Answer me!"

Listening to Ye Lin's twisted logic, the Anger Elder was sweating profusely. He clearly knew Ye Lin was sophistically arguing, but he was not eloquent and, for a moment, had no idea how to refute Ye Lin.

Suddenly, a flash of inspiration struck his mind, and like grabbing a life-saving straw, he immediately questioned.

"Then why were there male disciples too?"

However, one sentence from Ye Lin silenced the Anger Elder once again.

"Does true love distinguish by gender?"

The Anger Elder widened his eyes, his mouth slightly agape, his expression blank. After holding it in for a long time, he finally managed to squeeze out a sentence.

"Ye Xiehong, stop your sophistry! You are not the only one in the Joyous Union Sect practicing the No-Thought No-Emotion Record; have they ever killed so many people?"

"They have high talent, I have poor talent!"

Ye Lin looked righteous and spread his hands.

"Those with high talent only need to kill their beloved once to succeed in proving their Dao. Since my talent is poor, I naturally have to find more beloveds to kill. If it doesn't work once, I'll do it again."

"This way, even if my luck is bad, I'll always have a safety net. Others pull gold on single draws; if my quality can't compare, I can compare quantity. Through quantitative change causing qualitative change, what is the problem?"