The male elder next to Elder Ming sensed the transmission. He turned around with a look of suspicion. “What did you say to him?” he asked.

“A warning,” Elder Ming said. “He needs to come clean to the elders and sect masters. Lying will only make things worse.”

The male elder looked toward Alex. “He cheated during the Assembly. I don’t know how worse things can get for him,” he said.

“You might be right,” Elder Ming said and turned around, saying nothing more.

Alex didn’t turn to look at Elder Ming at all. He was still trying to wrap his head around what she meant. Why did she want to meet him? He had never interacted with this elder at all, and suddenly she wanted to talk to him. And that too only if he managed to survive whatever was coming?

The sect masters and elders landed in front of them and the two elders bowed in respect. Alex, however, remained upright. There was no respect in him for these people. Not even fake ones.

“Bold,” the new elder said. “And stupid.”

“He’s just angry. He lost a friend,” the young elder answered.

“He should go be with him then,” the First Elder said.

The three sect masters said nothing and simply walked past Alex, entering their home. They went in, but the elders remained outside.

“You two can leave,” the young elder said, letting Elder Ming and the male elder go back. Once the two were gone, there were only four of them left.

“Can we punish him to death already?” the First Elder said. “We already know he cheated during the Assembly.”

“I’m all up for it,” the new elder said. “But we’ll have to wait for Sect masters to give that command.”

“We need to first verify that he cheated,” the young elder said. “Who is to say that he didn’t just consume the poison normally?”

“Logic.”

“Common sense.”

The other two elders weren’t slow with their answers.

“I suppose the likelihood of—”

The young elder’s words were cut off as all 3 looked toward the house at once. Alex turned to look at what they were seeing and saw the 3 sect masters give a slight nod in sync.

It was time for them to enter.

Alex felt some sort of barrier around the property dispel momentarily, allowing the four of them to enter without triggering any of the other formations.

“Move,” the First Elder said and shoved Alex with a strong push, sending him falling to the ground at once.

Alex skidded along the dirt for a good few meters before coming to a stop. He got back up furiously, but before he could even think of doing something else, he paused.

A look of confusion and worry appeared on his face, one that hadn’t been there before. Up until now, he wasn’t worried at all about what happened to him, but something about this place changed it immediately.

It was faint, faint enough for it to not be a problem for anyone living here. Most people wouldn’t even notice it at all. But Alex could sense it very clearly.

There was Death aura permeating throughout the house.

Alex couldn’t help but feel very out of place all of a sudden.

“Keep moving,” the First Elder said.

Alex glared back at her and took the time to look at the other elders behind him. They seemed unbothered by where they were.

Either they truly didn’t care about the presence of Death aura in this place, or they simply didn’t sense it. Not everyone was capable of sensing it as easily as Alex did.

It wasn’t every day that someone learned the Dao of Death after all.

Alex moved, going into the simple house of the sect masters. As soon as he entered, he felt the aura get even more intense. There was more Death aura inside the house.

Alex didn’t get the feeling that there was something dead inside the house. There very well could be, but the feeling he got was more along the lines of there being multiple deaths in this house in the past.

It was similar to when an area was covered in garbage for a long time and then cleaned all the way through. There would be no garbage at that place, and yet the smell would linger.

There was most likely nothing dead here, and yet the aura lingered. It was attached to the wall, to the ceiling, to the furniture lying around the house.

The aura was pervasive and it had persevered here for a long time.

Alex could only wonder how many people had died in this place. Was… was he going to die here today too?

‘No,’ he thought. He had some contingencies planned for the worst-case scenario. Hopefully, he wouldn’t have to use them.

They arrived in a room with just as much Death aura as the corridor and entered. It was a simple room with mats lying on the ground in a circular formation.

The three sect masters sat on one side and let the other 3 elders sit by their side. Alex on the other hand was made to sit opposite them with a small table at the center.

Alex looked at the 6 people for a long time as no one said anything for a while. The silence was only broken sometime later by one of the sect masters who coughed.

“If everyone is ready, we can begin.”

“Yes,” the First Elder said. “Let us kill him already.”

“Kill?” the sect masters turned toward the First Elder.

“Uh… my apologies, sect master. I meant to punish. We should punish him,” she quickly said.

“We shall indeed punish him,” another sect master said. “But only once we understood the crime. Say, disciple, what did you do out there today? Did you consume an antidote beforehand? Did you swap the vial with something non-toxic? Or did you manage to eat an antidote while no one was looking?”

“Nothing,” Alex said. “I ate the poison and destroyed it in my body.”

“You…” the young elder sighed. “You do see how that is difficult to believe, don’t you?”

“I can see that,” Alex said. “I can prove it again if you want me to.”

“You are willing to drink the poison again?” one of the sect masters asked.

“Yes,” Alex said.

“No,” the First Elder said. “He must’ve already consumed another pill to protect himself.”

“Then I will consume another poison.”

“You must be ready for another one as well.”

Alex narrowed his eyes. “You choose what poison I should eat,” he said. “In fact, make it 3 different ones if that calms your mind.”

“He must’ve been prepared for this, sect master. Don’t fall into his trap,” the First Elder said.

“Do you believe that I preemptively ate different pills to stop me from being poisoned by 3 different poisons I do not know about? Do you understand how absurd that sounds?” Alex asked.

“Who knows what you did? There are easy ways to come across antidotes for anything if you really want to,” the First Elder said.

“If that was the case, then how come your son died?” Alex asked. “Or was he not capable of seeking something that is ‘easy to come across’?”

The First Elder became furious.