Meanwhile, just as Elder Qiao had punished and exposed the spy from the Hidden Factions, inside the dimly-lit Outer Disciples' dormitory, three furtive figures huddled behind a locked wooden door. The stale air was thick with tension and fear.
"B-Brother Qin..." A portly disciple clad in a sweat-stained white martial robe with aqua stripes stammered, his voice quivering. Pudgy fingers wrung together anxiously as beads of perspiration rolled down his flushed, baby-faced cheeks. His watery eyes darted back and forth between his companions like a cornered animal.
"W-what are we going to do? They've already caught one of us!" His panic escalated as he imagined grim punishments. "Should...should we make a run for it?" His voice cracked pathetically with unbridled terror.
The skinny young man beside him let out a harsh, mirthless laugh that bordered on hysterics.
"Run? You sniveling fool!" He hissed venomously, baring crooked rabbit-like front teeth in a disdainful snarl. His sallow face contorted with mocking contempt as narrow eyes gleamed with mingled fear and loathing.
"Don't you realize fleeing would be as good as signing our death warrants? We might as well march up to Elder Xia and turn ourselves in!" His bony hands clenched into white-knuckled fists, tendons straining beneath sickly pale skin.
"I...I just..." The portly disciple's lower lip quivered uncontrollably, fat tears of frustration and stark terror welling in his eyes. "I don't know what else to do! If we stay, we're finished! If we run, we're finished! W-what choice do we have?" His voice rose to a high-pitched wail of desperation.
"Enough!" The sharp bark shattered the tense stillness like a whip crack. Both subordinates flinched, snapping to watchful silence as they turned toward their leader.
Qin Bai stood tall and imposing despite his youthful features, back deliberately turned. His jet-black hair cascaded past his ears in an inky wave. Slowly, he pivoted to face them, revealing obsidian eyes burning with an icy, ruthless fury.
"Your pathetic squabbling changes nothing," he intoned, his deep voice dangerously controlled despite the rage visibly trembling within. Each precisely measured footfall echoed as he began methodically pacing the cramped quarters like a caged predator.
Powerful fists clenched at his sides as his penetrating glare bored into them. "We need to report this matter to the leader immediately. Those meddlesome Kunlun Law Enforcement dogs..." He spat the reviled words like venom.
"How? How did they uncover our careful infiltration?" He wheeled on them, feral eyes blazing.
Qin Bai raked a trembling hand through his sweat-dampened raven locks, his icy composure cracking momentarily to reveal the roiling fear lurking beneath the surface. "We've been fortunate, at least for now, that we can still pretend we didn't betray Kunlun," he growled, jaw clenched tightly. "But if those imprisoned start squealing..."
He left the threat unfinished, the ominous words hanging oppressively in the stale air as both subordinates paled visibly. The portly disciple gulped, his prominent adam's apple bobbing convulsively as panicked eyes grew round as saucers.
Suddenly, Qin Bai's expression hardened into a piercing, flinty glare. He dropped into a crouch, calloused fingers deftly sweeping aside a reed mat to reveal a small, intricately carved sandalwood box hidden beneath.
The portly disciple's eyes widened in dawning horror, his flushed face draining of color until splotchy red patches stood out lividly against sallow skin.
"N-no..." he whimpered, pudgy hands splaying protectively across his straining robes as he stumbled backward until the wall stopped his retreat.
"Not that. Anything but that! I...I don't want to die yet! My journey as a martial artist is still long! I don't want to be crippled!" His reedy voice rose to a piercing wail as fat tears spilled unheeded down bloated cheeks. "Please, Brother Qin! There m-must be another way!"
Qin Bai's mouth set into a grim line as he deftly flicked open the ornate clasp, revealing a neatly folded sets of Official Disciple alongside a small wooden vial containing a dozen jet-black pills.
The skinny disciple, who had been quick to berate his portly companion's cowardice mere moments ago, now found his own bravado evaporating like morning dew scorched by the blazing sun of reality.
"B-Brother Qin..." he stammered, rabbit-like teeth chattering audibly as cold tendrils of primal terror leeched the color from his sallow cheeks. "Is this r-really necessary? Can't we just...I mean, surely there's a way for us to slip away unnoticed?" His narrow eyes darted frantically about the cramped quarters, seeking any avenue of escape as his bony frame trembled uncontrollably.
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Qin Bai's head snapped up, his piercing obsidian glare blazing with a chaotic tempest of mingled contempt and grim resignation.
"Run?" he repeated, bitter sarcasm dripping from the derisive word like venom from a serpent's fangs. A cruel, mocking laugh erupted from his lips, the harsh sound utterly devoid of mirth as it sliced through the oppressive tension.
"And just where exactly do you propose we run, you simpering fool?" His deep baritone fairly dripped with disdain as molten eyes bored into the skinny disciple's cringing form. "Have you conveniently forgotten that we're dealing with 9th realm martial artists here, you witless wretch?"
The portly disciple choked on a ragged sob, his rotund form sliding bonelessly down the wall until he collapsed in a quivering, wretched heap on the hard-packed earthen floor. His skinny counterpart wasn't far behind, spindly legs folding beneath him as he crumpled in a tangle of trembling limbs.
Qin Bai ignored their shameful displays, his movements exuding an eerie, predatory calm as he deliberately stripped off his Outer Disciple martial robe.
Powerful muscles rippled beneath sun-kissed skin as he reached for the folded garment, deftly shrugging into the crisp white fabric with its deep azure stripes -- the signature colors of an Kunlun Official Disciple.
Of course, merely changing into the different martial robes would not be enough to pass as an Official Disciple. With the pristine white garment now draped over his lithe form, Qin Bai's calloused hand hovered hesitantly over the unassuming wooden vial containing the jet-black pills.
"The Unorthodox Faction planned for every contingency," he murmured, mostly to himself as a slight frown creased his brow. "Let's see if their meticulous preparations were truly worth the cost."
Without further hesitation, he plucked one of the obsidian pill from the vial and deftly tossed it into his mouth, working his jaw in a practiced motion as he swallowed the foreign substance.
For an endless moment, the dimly-lit chamber fell utterly still and silent, the air itself seeming to hold its breath in wary anticipation. Qin Bai remained deathly motionless, his face an inscrutable mask devoid of emotion or expression.
Then, without warning, his eyes flew wide, entire body going rigid as a board as a faint azure aura of swirling Qi began to materialize around him. The ethereal light pulsed and undulated hypnotically, rapidly intensifying until it enveloped him in an incandescent corona of cerulean radiance.
Both the portly and skinny disciples could only gape in a horrified trance, their eyes reflecting the coruscating brilliance as they bore breathless witness to their leader's body hungrily devouring the surging tides of Qi.
A manic grin slowly stretched Qin Bai's lips in a deranged rictus, splitting his features in an unsettling blend of rapturous elation and profound madness.
"Hahaha!" The unhinged peal of laughter bubbled up from deep within, bisecting the tension as his broad shoulders shook with escalating hysteria. "So this...this is what it feels like to forcibly open your Upper Dantian!"
...
While the trio of infiltrators plotted their next treacherous moves, on the far side of the sprawling Outer Disciple dormitories where the female disciples resided, an entirely different scene was unfolding.
It was still broad daylight when Song Jia finally returned to her room, body and mind utterly drained from the grueling interrogation and invasive background checks conducted by Kunlun's Law Enforcement disciples.
However, the beleaguered young woman found an enthusiastic gaggle of female disciples eagerly awaiting her arrival.
"Sister Song!" One of the younger girls, face flushed with admiration, hurried forward to clutch Song Jia's calloused hands in her own.
"That was absolutely incredible back there! I've never witnessed such an awe-inspiring martial art!" Her eyes fairly sparkled with a nauseating blend of starry-eyed idolization and giddy excitement. "What formidable martial art allows such move?"
Hot on her heels, another junior disciple darted forward, her slight frame practically vibrating with an overabundance of emotion and unrestrained gratitude.
"S-Senior Sister..." she stammered, voice quavering as unshed tears glistened in wide, adoring eyes. "I...I can never thank you enough for s-saving my life! If you hadn't heroically intervened when you did..."
The young woman trailed off, cupping her hands and falling into an abrupt respectful bow.
Song Jia's cheeks flushed an unflattering crimson as she squirmed beneath the avalanche of unexpected adulation and praise.
"P-Please, there's really no need for this..." she demurred, unable to meet their shining, worshipful gazes. "I just did what anyone would've in that situation. It was nothing special, truly."
Even as the platitudes reflexively tumbled from her lips, a nagging sense of unease blossomed in the furthest recesses of her mind.
'If Brother Ji hadn’t taught me Rising Gale… if he hadn’t trained and guided me… perhaps... no… did he somehow know this would happen?' Her brow furrowed as she pondered this startling new revelation.
'Perhaps this truly was his intent all along? Did he somehow foresee this very scenario unfolding? No...surely not, that's impossible...isn't it?'
Song Jia's brow furrowed as unbidden memories of Ji Wuye's strange actions back in Tianmu Village resurfaced.
The Dungeon...that horde of goblins surging forth...not to mention her own Senior Sister Li's veiled suspicions that Ji Wuye had somehow foreseen this entire events unfolding.
'Could he really have predicted these events?' The unsettling notion nibbled at the edges of her consciousness, growing more insistent the more she entertained it.
'Don't be ridiculous,' she forcefully shook her head, as if to physically dislodge the preposterous idea. 'There's no possible way he could have known what was going to transpire. I just need to focus on diligently train...'
"Sister Song?" A concerned voice suddenly pierced the hazy veil of her introspection. Song Jia started, blinking owlishly as she was jolted back to awareness of her present surroundings and the ring of worried young faces watching her intently.
One of the bolder Junior disciples took a hesitant step forward, hand outstretched as if to rouse her from some kind of trance. "Are you alright?" The girl's delicate features creased with a frown of genuine concern. "You must be utterly drained after unleashing such a formidable move."
"We didn't mean to disturb your rest," another contrite voice piped up from the pack in a small, apologetic murmur.
Song Jia felt her cheeks flush anew as she registered the depth of trepidation and solicitude writ across their expressions. Waving her hands in a flusteredly dismissive gesture, she hurried to assuage their disquiet. "No, no! I'm perfectly fine, really! There's no need for anyone to worry over me."
But rather than reassuring the gaggle of starry-eyed disciples, her flustered deflections only seemed to heighten their rapt fascination, if the hushed titters and speculative murmurs were any indication.
Then, a pretty young woman with large, soulful eyes who had been lingering shyly near the rear of the group suddenly found her voice, speaking up in tones that blended demure hesitance with breathless excitement.
"Um...Sister Song?" She bit her lip, clearly mustering her courage before plunging ahead. "Is it true that you and Brother Ji are...close?" A reddish tinge stained her cheeks, but her gaze remained steadfastly locked on Song Jia's puzzled expression.
"If so, do you think maybe... you could perhaps teach me that incredible martial art? I mean, I'm not trying to get close... I mean..."
An expectant hush descended over the assembled disciples as they subconsciously leaned in, a few attempting badly to feign nonchalance even as their twitching ears and surreptitious sidelong glances betrayed their burning curiosity.
Song Jia's eyes widened infinitesimally as she registered the abrupt shift in atmosphere, utterly bemused by their fixation on the two-faced man. 'What's so special about that two-faced man? Hmph!' she couldn't help but wonder, and snorted. 'He's cruel even to women! He's manipulative, and even Senior Sister Li and Lian are tricked, but not me!'
Yet for some inscrutable reason, a petulant tendril of annoyance also unfurled within her breast, leaving her strangely reluctant -- no, downright irritated -- by their prurient interest.