She lifted her shadowed eyes and stared intently at Song Qingyun.

"Something’s wrong with the demon beasts, and something’s wrong with the setup here."

"Everything is wrong!"

From the start, Song Wanning knew the Song Family had been sabotaged. At first, she thought the problem lay with their assigned garrison post—that someone had tampered with it.

The Song Family had no say in the garrison assignments, making it the easiest target for manipulation.

’But after thinking it over just now, aside from the problem with the garrison, I’m afraid...’

"You think there’s a mole, too?"

Song Qingyun’s brow furrowed. He sighed and asked the question.

Song Wanning remained silent for a moment before nodding.

’So Father already thought of it.’

"At first, I also thought it was a problem with the garrison assignment. I figured whoever was behind this placed our Song Family here to make us lower our guard, then lured the demon beasts over to slaughter our disciples."

"But later, I kept feeling that something was off. It was just a guess, though..."

He had brought disciples from the main family, so naturally, he was reluctant to consider that possibility. But he had to.

After all, he was responsible for the other disciples. So, he had already tasked some trusted disciples with keeping a close watch on everyone’s condition.

Song Wanning’s expression darkened. "In my past life, I only caught a brief glimpse of the disciples’ bodies. I was too consumed by grief and anger at the time to notice anything unusual. But just now, as I recalled the memory in detail, I suddenly realized that the way they died was... strange."

"It didn’t look like they were mauled to death by demon beasts. It was more like... they were killed first and then trampled by them..."

"You mean to say they were already dead before the demon beast tide even began?!"

Song Qingyun was stunned, his eyes wide with shock.

"I can’t be certain, but... it’s a very strong feeling!"

Song Wanning’s brow furrowed even deeper. "It’s just... that seems unnecessarily complicated," she said, perplexed.

’The person behind this didn’t need to go to all that trouble.’

Inciting a demon beast stampede would have been enough to kill the disciples. Killing them beforehand was indeed redundant...

’Why kill them first?’

Song Wanning couldn’t figure it out, so she could only treat it as an unsubstantiated guess for now.

Song Qingyun had considered this as well. The two of them fell silent, pondering for a long time before moving to the sand table to discuss their options.

Both felt there was a good chance Song Wanning’s intuition was correct, and they began to strategize how to prevent it.

...

"Song Yuanlang, I hear there might be a demon beast attack tonight! How about we compete to see who can kill the most?"

Song Yue’er’s eyes crinkled with a smile as she walked over and patted Song Yuanlang on the shoulder.

With a cool expression, Song Yuanlang brushed her hand away and nodded.

"Heh, if you lose, you have to call me ’sis’!"

Song Yue’er instantly broke into a wide, carefree grin.

They had all heard that the demon beast tide in this area wasn’t severe. Many of the garrisoned troops had reaped great rewards.

She also wanted to earn more Spirit Stones so her parents could live comfortably when she returned home.

But Song Yuanlang wasn’t as optimistic. His gaze was fixed on the mountains, and he seemed to have something heavy on his mind.

Suddenly, he spoke up. "I heard the Eldest Miss is back?"

The young masters and misses of the Song Family’s direct lineage were all ranked numerically, while ordinary disciples from the main family, like them, simply used names.

The moment anyone mentioned the "Eldest Miss of the Song Family," everyone knew who they were talking about.

"Yeah! I just saw her a moment ago! You have no idea, the Eldest Miss is so incredible! She’s already reached Nascent Soul Peak!"

Song Yue’er had a look of pure adoration on her face. How she wished she could advance quickly too and earn a place in the Song Family’s hall of fame.

Hearing this, Song Yuanlang’s gaze flickered. He continued, "Do you know why the Eldest Miss came to the camp?"

"I don’t know." Song Yue’er shook her head. "Maybe since the Heavenly Inquiry Sect isn’t far, she just dropped by to check in?"

"By the way, why are you so interested in the Eldest Miss all of a sudden? That’s not like you..."

"It’s nothing."

Song Yuanlang gave a cool reply and turned to leave.

Song Yue’er gave him a baffled look but didn’t think much of it and went on her way.

’I still have to prepare for the upcoming demon beast tide!’

...

After a long discussion, Song Wanning bade farewell to Song Qingyun and sauntered out of the command tent.

The disciples she passed all greeted her and respectfully watched her until she was gone.

She made her departure conspicuous, so it seemed as if she had simply dropped by to see Song Qingyun, arousing no particular suspicion.

However, not long after she left, she sensed someone following her.

Her brow furrowed. After walking for about a thousand meters, Song Wanning stopped.

She crossed her arms and turned to look back.

Song Yuanlang, making no attempt to hide, quickly stepped forward and bowed.

"Greetings, Eldest Miss. I am Song Yuanlang, a disciple of the 172nd generation of the Song Family!"

"Song Yuanlang?"

Song Wanning raised an eyebrow. ’I’ve never heard that name before. He must not be one of the Song Family’s prodigies from the last few generations.’

"What do you want?"

Her eyes locked onto him, her gaze sweeping over him probingly.

Song Yuanlang glanced around, and after confirming no one was nearby, he said in a low voice, "I encountered something strange a few days ago, but I didn’t know who I should tell!"

His expression was anxious, yet tinged with hesitation.

Song Wanning’s expression immediately hardened. She gestured for him to be quiet.

"Come with me!"

She swept Song Yuanlang up in a burst of energy, and they vanished from the path in an instant.

...

"Junior Sister Ye’s Elixir Pills are amazing! I just took one, and the lung that got injured when I was kicked today is already healed!"

"I know, right! And I heard that in a single afternoon, she performed Alchemy and created over seventy Revitalizing Pills and over twenty Spirit Revitalizing Pills—and they were all Mid Grade Elixir Pills!"

"For real? Is Junior Sister Ye really that good?"

"Didn’t Junior Sister Ye already prove she was an Alchemy prodigy back then? Maybe she really was framed in that whole Dan Poison incident..."

"Shhh, keep your voice down! You can’t just say things like that. It was clearly her own mistake in the Alchemy process. You can’t just go around blaming people!"

"What’s there to be afraid of? I’m just telling the truth. It’s not like I said who framed her..."

"Did you hear Grandmaster Song went out today? She probably went to the Song Family’s camp."

"So, did she perform any Alchemy for us?"

"No idea!!!"

The disciples were all privately discussing the matter of Alchemy.

On the battlefield today, everyone had experienced the demon beasts’ frenzy firsthand.

Every last one of them was in a frenzy, charging and shrieking with absolutely no semblance of reason.

As a result, the disciples were suffering constant injuries.

Even Golden Core Cultivators were getting injured, to say nothing of low-level cultivators like them.

That’s why healing Elixir Pills were so crucial. They were the foundation of their confidence in battling the demon beasts!

Most of the Elixir Pills distributed today had been brought from the Sect. After returning to camp, a few of the injured cultivators received the pills Ye Chuxue had just finished making.

And that’s what led to this scene.

Several Nascent Soul Cultivators were leading the charge on the front lines, risking life and limb, yet Song Wanning, who had been tasked with Alchemy, was nowhere to be found in the camp. It was a situation that easily invited criticism.

The moment Song Wanning returned to the camp, she noticed the strange looks everyone was giving her. It only took her a moment’s thought to understand why.