After recovering, Lin Shu stood up and followed the guards back to the meeting place. He entered a large room where the cultivators of the town had gathered—both instructors were present, along with several students who had arrived with him. He spotted the two boys from his group but noticed immediately that some faces were missing.
A signal was given, and Lin Shu sat down in silence.
Then Madam Qu stepped forward, her expression solemn but firm.
"The attacks today were among the most violent we've ever faced. But thanks to all of your efforts, most of the attackers were slain. They won't be striking us again so easily," she said, her voice steady, echoing with conviction.
Her gaze swept over the room, lingering briefly on every injured or silent figure. "We lost good people today. Brave cultivators, warriors, companions. Their deaths will not be forgotten."
She paused, her voice trembling slightly before turning sharp with determination. "We will not let those shadow-dwelling monsters take any more from us. We will strike back—not just to defend, but to avenge. For every scream in the dark, for every drop of blood spilled, we will make them pay. That is my promise to you."
She took a breath, collecting herself.
"Do not lose hope. You have already thinned their numbers. We believe they are fewer now—wounded and driven back. At sunrise, we will track them down and finish this. Tonight, we rest. They thrive in the shadows, and it would be unwise to chase them now. But their tracks are fresh. Their trail is still warm."
She straightened and looked at each of them with a quiet intensity.
"So sleep while you can. Tend to your wounds. Mourn those we lost—but know this: justice is coming."
With that, she gave a respectful bow of the head and stepped back, ending the gathering.
Lin Shu didn't know whether he should laugh or clap for her.
Laugh—because he was sure most people didn't give a damn about the things she said. Maybe a few did. But the instructors? The high-ranked cultivators? He knew for certain they didn't care one bit about vengeance, sacrifice, or justice.
And yet, he also wanted to applaud her—for her acting skills.
The way her voice trembled with grief, the way her hands moved with carefully measured sympathy, her posture that radiated conviction and purpose—it was impressive. Almost flawless.
"I should learn acting," Lin Shu thought. "I'm terrible at hiding behind a mask. I simply don't possess the skill for that. Maybe I can pick up a thing or two from her. I'll watch her closely."
Then, his eyes drifted to the other students in the room. Some were actually cheering. Their eyes lit with resolve, voices rising with a desire for justice.
He blinked.
"Oh, right. We're not the same. They came here with friends… maybe even family or clan members. They actually care about that sort of thing."
He couldn't relate to that.
Still, he had expected them to see through the speech. But…
Then he glanced toward the four high-stage cultivators.
Expressionless. Silent.
As if her speech meant absolutely nothing.
"At least they have some common sense."
One by one, the people began to leave, each heading toward wherever they would rest for the night. Tomorrow, the mission would begin.
The sun rose, casting its light on the forest. The group of cultivators, ready for their revenge, stood in the clearing, though some were only acting like they cared, pretending to share the same burning resolve. Lin Shu, however, remained indifferent.
"I should stay in the middle of the group," he thought. "That way, I won't be caught off guard from the front, and I can't be attacked from the back or sides. Others can take the hits for me."
The tracking continued, hour after hour, until the sun reached its peak. By then, the group had arrived at the entrance of a cave. It wasn't too big nor too small, but the moment they stepped inside, they found themselves staring down multiple tunnels, each splitting off in different directions.
"I don't think we can finish them all off in one go," the tracking instructor spoke, her voice steady but cautious. "We need to kill them slowly, one by one. The priority is to take down the Mother of all the dwellers, but that will be extremely dangerous. Even though she's a Rank 2 beast at the early stage, she doesn't hunt or fight. At most, she's comparable to a peak-stage Rank 1 beast—if we're being generous. The real danger lies in the dwellers guarding her. We could encounter more than one peak-stage Rank 1 dweller. We need to dwindle their numbers first."
The instructor had already begun preparing traps at the entrance, her movements deliberate and methodical.
Madam Qu turned to her and asked, "How long do you think this will take?"
"Maybe weeks," the instructor replied. "We don't know how deep this cave system goes, and we can't move in until we've made sure there's nothing that could ambush us."
The other instructor then chimed in, "What do you think about using poisonous gas?"
"That's difficult," the first instructor answered. "We don't have any poison technique users, and even if we did, the caves are large and complex. We'd need to get close to the dwellers to use it effectively. I think we should save that idea for when we reach the chamber where the mother resides."
The group nodded in agreement, the tension growing in the air. They began patrolling the area, checking for any other entrances or caves nearby.
"We'll kill them in the morning and defend ourselves at night," the tracking instructor said. "If there are any other routes leading outside, we can't let them ambush us or attack the town."
The cultivators nodded, preparing themselves for the hunt ahead. A small group was assigned to guard the cave's entrance, while the rest of them entered one of the tunnels. It was decided that it would be safer to enter the caves one at a time, rather than splitting up into multiple teams, given the mistakes of the previous day.
Unfortunately for Lin Shu, he was picked to enter the cave. He had hoped to stay outside, but as a student, he had no choice but to follow orders. Desertion was a grave offense, and the punishment was severe. Despite this, he had already made up his mind—if anything attacked him, he would flee without hesitation.
The group moved forward, with Madam Qu and the tracking instructor leading the way. The other instructor stayed at the entrance to guard it. As they progressed, the ground suddenly halted, signaling an imminent threat. Madam Qu moved like a flash, and Lin Shu couldn't even track her movements. In an instant, two shadow dweller corpses fell from the ceiling—they had been hiding in a tight space, waiting to ambush the group, but Madam Qu had spotted and dispatched them before they could strike.
The group continued deeper into the cave, and eventually, they reached a dead end. A good number of dwellers awaited them, but they were no match for Madam Qu. She swiftly took them all down, her strength overwhelming their meager Rank 1 mid-stage power. As long as she wasn't injured or drained of Qi, she would never lose to enemies weaker than her.
"We'll head back to the surface now," Madam Qu declared, her voice firm. "Mark this area as cleared."
She turned to one of her subordinates. "Create a map of the cave passages we've gone through. We need to leave clear markings and maps to track where we are. We cannot afford to let anyone get lost or ambushed. Do you understand?"
The subordinate immediately obeyed, pulling out a tool to map the cave system as the group began to make their way back toward the entrance.
"This is just one passage of many. There are more inside, each with its own dangers. It's going to take at least two weeks to finish this up," Lin Shu thought, his mind already calculating the potential length of the mission.
That was a good thing. Lin Shu wanted the mission to drag on for as long as possible, hoping that by the time it ended, he would be forgotten. He had already decided to abandon any thoughts of upgrading his living conditions until he figured out what Han Yi wanted to talk to him about, especially if it had any connection to the Darkveil Crossing auction.
He was even considering changing his house at the institute to one that was either equal to or worse than the one he currently lived in. He didn't want to stay in the same place anymore. His new choice would be somewhere that wasn't too empty or too crowded, as both extremes could attract unwanted attention.
"Maybe I should start looking for other places to join. Perhaps another institute next year, far from here. If things go bad enough and I need to escape, I'll have a way out. I'll also find a way to change my face, maybe even disfigure myself as an extreme measure. I'd rather be unpleasing to the eye than easily recognized. And I'll change my hair color too."
Lin Shu was already formulating multiple escape plans, preparing for any eventuality where he would need to run.