At the same time, in the Soul Lamp Tower!
The Tower Guardian Elder, Jiang Pu, looked at the completely extinguished soul lamp belonging to Gu Tao and sighed deeply.
He then rubbed his face and immediately ran out in a panic.
"Sect Leader, something major has happened——"
"Fourth Brother, Fourth Brother, something major has happened!"
Zhou Qing, who was bent over gathering spirit eggs from the chicken coop, was suddenly startled by the frantic shouts of Yan Xiaohu from outside.
"I must get a better sound insulation restriction tomorrow!"
After carefully storing the spirit eggs in a jade box and feeding some spirit rice to the old hen, Zhou Qing opened the courtyard gate.
As soon as he opened it, Yan Xiaohu burst in anxiously and grabbed Zhou Qing.
"It’s over, Fourth Brother, Master has been taken away!"
Zhou Qing was stunned and didn’t quite understand.
"Speak slowly, what exactly happened?"
Yan Xiaohu urgently pulled Zhou Qing, heading straight for the main peak, Divine Peak.
"I’ll explain on the way."
When the two arrived at Divine Peak, they found many people gathered outside Qiankun Hall, their faces filled with anger, whispering among themselves.
On the way, Zhou Qing had already learned what had happened.
Task Hall Hall Master, Gu Tao, was dead!
And the only eyewitness was their master, Mo Xingjian.
That was a mid-stage Divinity Transformation Realm expert. The sect had spent untold resources to cultivate such a figure, and now he was inexplicably dead?
To the entire Taiqing Sect, it was like brutally cutting away a piece of flesh.
"Senior Brother Zhou, you’re here?"
Lu Yaoyao quickly ran over and said, "Don’t worry, Uncle Mo will be fine. They’re just questioning him and he’ll probably be out soon."
Zhou Qing knew it had nothing to do with their master, but the sudden death of a Divinity Transformation Realm cultivator had caught everyone off guard.
No one present was prepared for this.
"What’s the situation now?" Zhou Qing hurriedly asked.
Lu Yaoyao replied, "Before you arrived, several Supreme Elders, numerous Peak Masters, and the two Vice Hall Masters of the Task Hall were called in."
At that moment, Li Daoxuan and five other core disciples, alongside a large team of law enforcement, brought in everyone who had recent contact with Gu Tao.
After a brief report, they all went inside.
"I’ll go in and take a look!" Zhou Qing, worried, tried to enter, but was pulled back by Yan Xiaohu.
"This matter is too significant. We shouldn’t cause more trouble. Let’s wait here!" Yan Xiaohu said.
Zhou Qing looked towards Qiankun Hall, his brows furrowed.
Could it be the people from Cangyan Daoist Palace who took action again?
Time passed bit by bit, and it wasn’t until late at night that Mo Xingjian came out, looking exhausted.
Several other Peak Masters came out with him.
"Master!" Zhou Qing and Yan Xiaohu quickly ran up.
Mo Xingjian looked at the two, nodded slightly, and then said to the other Peak Masters, "I’ll leave first. You all should head back early too."
Many of the Peak Masters, including Tong Min, nodded slightly, saluted, and then called their disciples to leave.
"We’ll talk back at Little Spirit Peak!" Mo Xingjian said.
The two wisely refrained from asking more questions and quickly followed their master back to Little Spirit Peak.
"So you’re saying, Gu Tao was an undercover agent from the Cangyan Daoist Palace in our sect?"
When Zhou Qing and Yan Xiaohu heard the truth from Mo Xingjian, they were filled with disbelief.
God, that was Gu Tao, the Grand Hall Master of the Task Hall, who had rendered countless meritorious services to the Taiqing Sect.
Mo Xingjian immediately gestured for them to lower their voices, indicating caution for eavesdroppers.
"This was discovered by accident in his storage bag. Not only that, but it also contained a large number of secret scrolls and cultivation techniques related to our sect, along with a million spirit stones. It’s clear he didn’t intend to return this time."
Mo Xingjian found it still hard to believe and puzzled.
He had been hiding for so many years, why was he suddenly planning to flee?
Just to take away those confidential items?
But that didn’t compare to the value of a Divinity Transformation Realm cultivator.
If he continued to hide, the damage he could cause was unimaginable.
And how did he suddenly self-destruct?
After all, he had seen it with his own eyes; it seemed he was forced to self-destruct, his divine soul completely annihilated. How could this be?
Could it be someone else’s doing?
Zhou Qing and Yan Xiaohu looked at each other in shock. So Master Gu Tao wasn’t planning on returning?
"Master, how did the Task Hall’s inquiry go?" Zhou Qing asked.
Mo Xingjian shook his head, "According to them, Gu Tao’s behavior was normal these past days. It was only this afternoon that he suddenly took a large amount of spirit stones and left in a hurry."
"By the way, before he left, someone saw him talking briefly with Gao Xuan. Gao Xuan admitted that it was just a casual greeting, and I can vouch for that, as I heard he and Tong Min had left together. Worried, I went out to look for them."
"I didn’t expect to meet them returning at the mountain gate, and afterwards, I witnessed Gu Tao leaving and shortly after, saw him self-destruct."
Hearing this, Zhou Qing couldn’t help but frown deeply.
Could it be Senior Uncle Gao Xuan’s doing?
But that didn’t make sense; there was no reason to.
For a moment, the three of them fell silent.
After a long while, Mo Xingjian looked at the two and said, "Recently, be extra careful. Safety comes first. Also, don’t spread the word about Gu Tao being an undercover agent from Cangyan Daoist Palace. Few know the truth, and if everyone knew, it would be a huge blow to the entire Taiqing Sect."