After a near-hypnotic interrogation, Ding Yun successfully learned the identities of the two assassins.
These two were not members of the Demonic Sect at all.
Instead, they were from the Five Lakes Gang.
Furthermore, they had no intention of killing Ding Yun. They were merely ordered to pretend to assassinate Ding Yun, inflict some minor wounds, and then, upon the arrival of the guards outside, feign fear and quickly escape.
As for their motive!
It was quite simple…
To create a sense of pressure for Ding Yun, making her feel unsafe staying outside. This would then facilitate their meeting and recruitment of Ding Yun the next day.
"These so-called righteous path cultivators are too unconventional. I wonder if it's just their gang, or if sects are all like this. The members of the Demonic Sect haven't even appeared yet, and they're already rushing over.
And even if they are in need of doctors.
There's no need to be this hasty.
Is it possible that only the physicians from Divine Doctor Valley possess exceptional medical skills, and there are no other skilled healers in the world?"
Upon understanding the situation, Ding Yun was not only not pleased but also filled with many doubts.
Since these sects and gangs valued the surviving disciples of Divine Doctor Valley so highly, where were they when Divine Doctor Valley was annihilated? If they had paid attention to protecting Divine Doctor Valley years ago, would things have come to this?
Ding Yun was now even beginning to doubt.
Whether the Divine Doctor Valley disciples who were previously assassinated.
Were truly killed by the Demonic Sect.
Perhaps it was that certain sects and gangs, failing in their recruitment attempts, resorted to foul play. Or perhaps the annihilation of Divine Doctor Valley was not purely the work of the Demonic Sect as currently rumored, with no involvement from those righteous sects and gangs, who merely arrived late to rescue.
These unresolved mysteries would likely require her to question more people, just like today, to uncover the truth.
As she could no longer extract any new information, Ding Yun quickly crippled the martial arts of the two assassins. Then, carrying one in each hand, she used her lightness skill to leave the area, and casually found a wild corner to abandon them.
If they were lucky, they might encounter their contacts and survive.
If they were unlucky and encountered wild beasts or something similar.
Then they could only blame their misfortune.
After all, she had already been quite merciful, not killing them on the spot, but merely crippling their martial arts. What more could they expect? Did they dream of being served with good food and drink?
Upon her return, Ding Yun lamented the calico cat, which had taken the opportunity to escape through the window. What a wonderfully textured calico cat, why didn't it appreciate its good fortune?
Could she have possibly starved it?
However, Ding Yun did not try to recapture the cat. Matters of fate required mutual effort. If the calico cat was willing, it would surely reappear, and there was no need to rush.
Therefore, Ding Yun soon slept soundly.
And in the following days, she successively received imperial commendations and decrees to be appointed to official positions.
As well as recruitment offers from other gangs and sects.
Except for the imperial commendations, which she accepted unceremoniously, she politely declined the rest. To refuse the decree appointing her as an official, Ding Yun even deliberately revealed her identity, stating that she was a woman and it was against the rules.
Of course, these were the matters she encountered on the surface.
In private, she had indeed faced quite a few assassination attempts.
Some were from other sects, and some were from assassins of the Demonic Sect. Through similar interrogations as before, Ding Yun did not gain much new information. She only learned that those who came from other sects to assassinate her either wanted to force her to seek their protection immediately, or they were displeased with her previous refusal and intended to kill her.
The information revealed by the Demonic Sect assassins was even less.
They only knew that they were acting on orders from above to eliminate all surviving disciples of Divine Doctor Valley as much as possible. This order was issued by Zhao Xiaoyao, the leader of the Demonic Sect, more than half a year ago and had not been rescinded, so they had been executing it all along.
This information only made Ding Yun realize that the righteous sects might indeed not be the culprits behind the annihilation of Divine Doctor Valley, and that the primary culprit was most likely Zhao Xiaoyao, the so-called leader of the Demonic Sect. She remained ignorant of anything else.
"Alas, it seems I still need to deal directly with the Demonic Sect.
However, there are too many people in the Demonic Sect. If I start cultivating manpower from now on, the speed would be too slow.
So, it's better to resort to cunning tactics.
Directly poisoning them or something."
Having thoroughly identified her target for revenge, Ding Yun knew that she could not openly defeat them alone. Fortunately, she had no such scruples to begin with. What was wrong with using schemes, employing deceit, or even poison?
As long as the objective was achieved.
Why worry about the process?
Warfare itself involved all sorts of conspiracies and tricks, with the outcome being the most important thing. And revenge was even more so.
Therefore, Ding Yun naturally began to guard against potential assassinations at any moment while secretly purchasing and collecting medicinal herbs to prepare various kinds of poisons.
She prepared poisons that were colorless and odorless, some to be added to water, some to be sprayed into the air, and some for contact. If she hadn't been concerned about harming innocents, she could even have created viruses capable of causing widespread plagues with her current medical and toxicological skills.
Because the medicinal herbs were not easy to find, Ding Yun spent more than half a month to prepare all the poisons she needed. Afterward, she secretly left Huiyang City again, preparing to head directly to the base camp of the Demonic Cult.
The Demonic Sect was not a single sect but a collective term for many sects. Zhao Xiaoyao was the leader of the Demonic Sect, similar to a martial arts alliance leader. His own sect was called the Moon-Worshipping Demonic Cult. Therefore, he was both the leader of the Demonic Sect and the Cult Master of the Moon-Worshipping Demonic Cult, and their base camp was naturally at the Moon-Worshipping Demonic Cult.
However, not long after Ding Yun left Huiyang City, she received new information: war had broken out between the righteous path and the Demonic Sect. Zhao Xiaoyao, the Cult Master of the Moon-Worshipping Demonic Cult, led the disciples of the Demonic Sect in an assault on the Ten Thousand Buddha Zen Sect. The thousand-year foundation of the Ten Thousand Buddha Zen Sect was destroyed. The other sects united to prepare to eradicate the Moon-Worshipping Demonic Cult, but upon reaching the base camp of the Moon-Worshipping Demonic Cult, they discovered that the members of the Moon-Worshipping Demonic Cult had long since vanished.
To put it concisely.
The Demonic Sect launched a surprise attack, destroying the Ten Thousand Buddha Zen Sect, one of the ten major sects of the righteous path. The other righteous sects intended to unite and eradicate the Moon-Worshipping Demonic Cult, and then deal with other demonic factions one by one. However, they discovered that the Moon-Worshipping Demonic Cult had already fled.
The current situation was that the righteous sects had united, but the demonic sects, instead of staying in their base camps to be besieged by the righteous path, had dispersed into roving groups. They had gone from being overt to covert, launching surprise attacks and targeting any righteous sects with fewer remaining members.
This left the righteous path in a dilemma, unable to gather or disperse effectively.
If they gathered, they couldn't find their opponents, and their own sect would be vulnerable to sneak attacks. Communication and transportation were slow in those times. If the Demonic Sect were to gather and launch a surprise attack on their sect, by the time they received news outside, their sect's foundation might already be destroyed by the Demonic Sect, and they wouldn't be able to rush back to rescue.
But if they dispersed and defended their own territories individually, they were also likely to suffer the same fate as the Ten Thousand Buddha Zen Sect, as individually, they were no match for the entire Demonic Sect.
This news had a significant impact on Ding Yun.
Because she had originally planned to go directly to the Moon-Worshipping Demonic Cult and destroy Zhao Xiaoyao's base camp. But now, with the Moon-Worshipping Demonic Cult empty, what was there for her to destroy?
Was she supposed to guard their gates?
With this development, Ding Yun didn't even know where to find Zhao Xiaoyao anymore. What a setback.