"What do you think you're doing!" Ye shouted loudly. He was walking around the Outer sect on errands when he spotted John cornering a young disciple into an alleyway. By the time he got to the alley himself, John was leaning into her in a close embrace.

For John's part, he stood up straight and looked down the alley. He was surprised to see Ye here, but maybe he shouldn't have been. He knew that he would be dragged into the conflict between Lady Song and Young Master Kai eventually, it was obvious from his first interaction with her, he just didn't expect it to be now. Oh well, the other shoe dropped.

"Well?!" Ye shouted again.

John sighed, this was a rather awkward position so he understood why someone would be incredulous, but Ye's face burned with such righteous fury, it was hard to understand.

"I'm trying to help her. Haven't you seen all the disciples acting strange lately?"

"Of course I have! I've already got a solution to that!" Ye whipped out a dull brown pill and held it in the air like that would obviously explain everything.

"Look, I don't think a simple alchemical remedy is going to work. There's something more specific going on, I can tell due to some unique aspects of my cultivation method."

Disciple Ye did not look convinced. John's headache was getting worse.

"Step away from her. Now." Ye commanded.

Damn this guy is annoying. John didn't think his pill would work given the Weird nature of the problem, but he didn't care to fight him on it really. Generously speaking, it's possible that alchemy could solve this problem. John was sure you would need some kind of Weird ingredients involved for that to happen though, and Ye's pill didn't give him any Weird sensations.

"Fine, you can try your pill, but when it fails, I'm going to cure her my way." John stepped back.

Disciple Ye eyed him suspiciously but approached the girl anyway. John tried to ignore the look he was getting, didn't he do exactly what Ye asked?

Ye pushed the pill into her mouth and closed her chin so that the pill would dissolve easily. A rush of healing and frantic energy rushed down to her dantian before spreading rapidly though her system. Her eyes seemed to clear up, and she looked up at Ye and John, who had very different reactions.

Disciple Ye looked smugly at John, assured that his pill was working as intended. John was staring in horror. This idiot really thought this was a mere sluggish disease, and that the victims simply needed a boost to fight it off. Maybe that would fight the symptoms, but unfortunately John could sense the ugly wriggling of Weird qi increasingly radiating off the poor girl's head. Even worse, its source started to move underneath her skin, crawling down her forehead towards her eyes. That's when she started screaming.

"You're killing her!" John shouted and leapt forward, grabbing the girl out of Ye's hands, strands of qi flying even faster. The girl was trying to claw her face off, and she probably could manage it in her desperate state. John caught her arms with ropes of qi and held them to her side. John's own arm caught her back and held her neck in place while the other formed narrow and incredibly sharp claws. Disciple Ye was shouting unintelligibly and trying to yank John's arm away from the disciple.

Given that John was well into Foundation Establishment and Ye was only at the top of Qi Condensation, Ye had no chance at moving him. Even though John had completed no breakthroughs on his body, his active enhancements still outclassed Ye's strength significantly. And then he bit John's forearm. Enraged, John shoved qi into Ye's mouth and yanked it open so hard he heard his jaw break. John cringed a little at that, but it didn't stop him from kicking Ye down the alleyway with a fully enhanced leg, sending him flying out into the street. This woman was going to die if he couldn't stop what was now obviously a parasite from getting to her brain, and he couldn't afford the distraction of self-righteous fools.

Turning back to the still-screaming young woman, the parasite had just wormed under her brow, John shoved his clawed thumb and forefinger forward, catching the head of the parasite a moment before it burrowed into her eye and pulling the thing out. It was a disgusting, red worm of several inches, slick with fresh blood. It had a face of sorts that was all mouth with four prominent fangs that it must use to chew through flesh. As revolting as the parasite was, John didn't want to obliterate his only evidence.

Looking back at the young woman, the cut in her face had already healed thanks to the lingering effects of the pill, leaving a small scar across her brow. The panic was out of her eyes but it had wracked her body hard, plus the lingering effect of the stimulant also from the pill, she was trembling hard. John released the qi holding her up and she just about collapsed into his arm sobbing.

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"It's all over now... It'll be alright..." John murmured to the woman, patting her back softly to calm her down.

She tried to say something back but it only came out if a croak. John simply kept calming her down as she settled. He turned to see Disciple Ye who was still in the street. His jaw must have been healed because he was speaking to an Elder and staring daggers at him. His eyes were full of injustice and rage, and also... jealousy? John didn't think his opinion of Ye could get any lower but it did. Was he really jealous that he was hugging this girl? This girl that coincidentally, Ye had almost killed through his ignorance. Some part of John wasn't surprised, didn't Kai say something like this happened--Disciple Ye and Lady Song grew close because he stood up for her or helped her in some situation? What a disgrace.

The girl's sobbing and trembling finally slowed enough that she could stand on her own and clear her throat, before bowing deeply and introducing herself.

"Disciple Sarah thanks you!" She practically shouted it, and then started babbling rapidly. "Oh goodness it was so awful for nearlyaweekI'vebeenhavingthishorriblenightmare..."

She went on an on, barely pausing to breathe as she described how she had been stuck in a limbo between waking and nightmare. How everything familiar had been replaced with awful, twisted replicas, and how she had been tormented by demons the whole time.

"Trust me, I know what you mean," was all John could say. It sounds like the parasite had sent her into a half Weird trance which had sapped her sanity over the last week. The only problem was figuring out where the parasites came from.

The Elder was approaching him now, Disciple Ye in tow who had replaced his indignation with smugness again. John didn't recognize this Elder, so while it wasn't anyone who might be pre-disposed to John, it wasn't Elder Song at least. The Elder did seem to recognize John though, a suspicious twinkle shined in his eyes.

"You must be Disciple John." He spoke once he was close enough. "Disciple Ye here claims that you maliciously cornered Disciple...."

"Sarah."

"Disciple Sarah, and that you attacked Disciple Ye after he attempted to stop you. What do you have to say for yourself?"

"I was trying to cure Sarah, she's been under the effect of this parasite." John held up his evidence, glad he hadn't destroyed it.

The Elder simply hummed non-committally which made John more suspicious. John was sure that the Elders were aware of the situation, just that they weren't doing anything about it.

"Disciple Ye insisted he could cure Sarah with a pill he made, I gave him the chance to try it, but the effects of the pill aggravated the parasite. When I moved to save her, Disciple Ye interfered and tried to stop me."

"He attacked you first?"

"Yes."

Disciple Ye's smug was slipping.

"Very well, Disciple Ye, you will serve three months in the punishment hall for crimes against your fellow disciples." The elder waved his hand before Ye could protest and both the elder and Ye disappeared.

John couldn't help but palm his face. He was glad that Ye was dealt with, but annoyed that the Elders were purposefully ignoring any situation where Weird things were involved.

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John headed back to the Weird compound, collecting Benjamin from the Alchemy Hall on the way there. Sarah insisted on following him, claiming she owed him her life. No matter how much John insisted that he was only acting on his own curiosity and self interest, she refused to be put off. John sighed, he really did save her life, but not out of any desire to be a hero. Ben informed him something strange was going on, and he acted. That was it. Plus, John felt a little weird around the normal disciples, this was the first time a regular disciple would step foot into the Weird compound.

When he finally made it back, he called everyone to a meeting. It was a moment like this were John felt the sting of Mark being gone the most, having someone stable underneath him made John feel a lot better about taking control. Chloe alone was much wilder, and she had her hackles raised the whole time now that Sarah was following him around. Oh well, time and cultivation waits for no man.

"Alright everyone, I needed to check up on your progress anyway now that I'm back from my missions. Everyone sound off with their progress."

Benjamin actually was quite close to Foundation Establishment which was a nice surprise. Chloe was still stuck, and Mark obviously couldn't speak for himself, but John noted there was still qi activity inside his petrified form. The three other surviving members were basically stagnant, John had given up on them progressing much farther.

The new members were an odd bunch, several of them had made great strides through Qi Condensation but the standout was a boy names Lambert. He was only a few stages away from advancing to Foundation Establishment, even faster than John had done it. There was an odd, wild glint in his eyes though that gave John some pause. John himself might not be perfectly sane, but all Weird cultivators had some issues, and Lambert didn't seem all that stable.

After the inspection, John brought out the parasite, now held in a glass jar.

"Everyone take a look at this. This parasite was infecting Disciple Sarah over here and caused her to enter a Weird trance. It seems like many disciples are under the same thrall, and we need to clear it out. It seems like if it is left too long inside a host, it's possible they will get possessed fully and transform into a demon." John wasn't sure about the last part, but the fluctuations coming off the affected people was similar to demonisation. He thought it should have happed already though.

"Also, I will be petitioning the sect to allow me to grow a garden that will help everyone cultivate faster."

They continued a small discussion; John answered some cultivation questions for the newbies and strategized about helping victims of the parasite in the coming days.

Eventually, John found time to speak with Elder Catherine, who agreed to get the attention of the sect leader for him, so they could speak about the Weird garden. John was pretty sure he would agree though, given the Sect Leader was the one who gave him the idea.

As it got late, John had to chase Sarah away--Chloe nearly got into a fist fight with her, and settled in to sleep. He had only just got back to the sect and another monumental series of tasks awaited him.