Chapter 23: Inability Became My Downfall

Unaware that he had been spied on all afternoon by Wu Gensheng and the other, Li Ang performed his evening rites with a distracted mind.

"How exactly should I deal with them?"

As he thought about it, a flicker of irritation rose in Li Ang's heart.

Snap!

A sharp crack echoed; Li Ang instinctively covered his head and turned to see Zuo Ruotong, who had somehow appeared beside him.

He offered a sheepish grin and muttered nervously: "M-Master."

"Avoid restlessness during evening rites. Focus."

Zuo Ruotong did not even look at Li Ang; he spoke those words and then walked away, hands behind his back, toward another disciple lost in thought.

Seeing this, Li Ang obediently lowered his head and resumed reciting the evening scripture.

Yet as he recited, he inexplicably recalled passages from Journey to the West.

"Did Master tap my head to tell me to meet him at the first watch of night?"

"But the first watch is seven to nine—by then, evening rites will already be over."

"Or is he telling me to go to him right after they end?"

Thus, lost in his own musings, the evening rites soon concluded.

Watching the senior disciples file out of the hall one by one, he gritted his teeth and approached Zuo Ruotong, who stood by the doorway: "Master."

"Come with me."

Before Li Ang could voice his purpose, Zuo Ruotong raised a hand to silence him and led him to a side hall.

Looking at the disciple before him, Zuo Ruotong gestured for him to sit, then asked: "Do you have questions regarding your Reverse Birth: Three Layers cultivation?"

Li Ang had not come to his Master for this reason at all.

He opened his mouth to speak, then closed it again, visibly hesitant.

Seeing his hesitation, Zuo Ruotong said nothing, merely waited in silence.

After a moment, Li Ang made up his mind and said: "Master, the two new arrivals today—Yunsheng and Yunze—I feel something is off about them."

He chose to speak out.

But this was a decision Li Ang had weighed carefully: the worst outcome of exposing Wu Gensheng and the other would be being branded an accomplice and imprisoned by the Sanyi Sect for stealing Reverse Birth: Three Layers.

After all, he hadn't done anything truly wrong.

And to him, that didn't matter—because once this was over, he planned to leave this world.

Even if imprisoned, it wouldn't hinder his experience grinding.

The risk to his life was virtually nonexistent, a conclusion Li Ang reached by analyzing Zuo Ruotong's behavior in the original novel and his own observations over recent days.

Otherwise, he wouldn't have dared act this way.

Upon hearing Li Ang's words, Zuo Ruotong's gaze grew deep and shadowed; his voice remained calm: "Why do you think so?"

In response to his Master's inquiry, Li Ang did not answer directly; he merely shook his head slightly: "They give me an odd feeling—they don't behave like people their age should."

"It's more like…"

"The full-natured demons I've encountered before."

If anyone else had heard Li Ang's words, they would likely have thought him falsely accusing fellow disciples, for his reasoning sounded far-fetched.

Yet when he first met Zuo Ruotong, Li Ang had already told him that the Dagailu Society appeared to be plotting something against the Sanyi Sect.