The Legend of the Princess' Counterattack

Chapter 293: The Change of Sect

After Yun Yao and Chu Mochen had a rift, she felt like she was in an ice cellar. The laughter and joy of the past disappeared like smoke, leaving only loneliness and bitterness in her heart. She locked herself in the room and poured out her heart to the system, but no amount of words could heal the pain in her heart. However, life will never stop because of one person's sadness. The gears of fate are turning quietly, and a shocking change is coming, which is about to break her self-enclosed little world.

On this day, Yun Yao, as usual, braced herself to go to the back mountain to practice. She pushed open the door, but found that the atmosphere of the sect today was very different from usual. In the mornings of the past, disciples would practice martial arts in groups of two or three, or recite exercises in the courtyard. The mountains and forests were always filled with vigorous vitality and clear laughter. But at this moment, the silence was a little strange, and the air was filled with a depressing atmosphere, like the dullness before a storm.

Yun Yao was puzzled and unconsciously quickened her pace, heading for the martial arts arena where most of the disciples usually gathered. Along the way, the disciples she met looked hurried, their eyes full of fear and panic. When they saw Yun Yao, they just saluted hastily and left quickly, as if there were evil spirits chasing them. Yun Yao felt more and more that something was wrong, and when she arrived at the martial arts arena, the scene in front of her made her heart tighten.

On the martial arts field, the weapons racks that were usually neatly arranged were tilted to one side and the weapons were scattered all over the ground. Many of them were broken and damaged, obviously having experienced a fierce fight. There were also a few dried bloodstains on the ground, which were particularly glaring in the morning light. The surrounding buildings were also damaged to varying degrees, and deep scratches on the walls showed the ferocity of the attack. Yun Yao looked around, trying to find someone who could answer her questions. She happened to see a familiar senior sister. She hurriedly stepped forward to hold the senior sister and asked anxiously: "Senior sister, what's going on? What happened?"

The senior sister’s face was pale, the fear in her eyes had not yet faded, and she said in a trembling voice: "Junior sister Yun Yao, you have been staying indoors for the past few days, and I am afraid you don’t know that our sect has recently encountered a major crisis. Since yesterday, a mysterious dark force has quietly appeared around the sect. First, many low-level disciples disappeared inexplicably while on patrol, and there was no trace to be found. Then, last night, several groups of patrolling disciples encountered extremely strange attacks. The scene... was horrible!" As the senior sister spoke, her eyes reddened, as if she was recalling the horrific scene.

Yun Yao was shocked when she heard this, and hurriedly asked: "Have you found out what this dark power is? Where does it come from? Do the headmaster and the elders have any countermeasures?" Senior sister shook her head helplessly and sighed: "We haven't found out yet. This dark power is too mysterious. Every time it appears, it is like a ghost, coming and going without a trace, and it is extremely cruel. Our disciples are no match for it. The headmaster has summoned everyone to the meeting hall to discuss countermeasures. Junior sister, you should go as well."

Yun Yao thanked her senior sister, turned around and ran towards the meeting room. Along the way, she felt extremely heavy-hearted, with a myriad of thoughts in her mind. The sect had long been her second home, where she had her beloved teachers, like-minded friends, and memories of Chu Mochen. Now that the sect was in such a crisis, how could she stay out of it? Although there was a rift between her and Chu Mochen, at this critical moment of life and death, what did those personal grudges matter?

When Yun Yao arrived at the meeting hall, it was already full of people, and the atmosphere was so heavy that it seemed to be solid. The elders of each faction had stern faces and deep worries in their eyes. The disciples also had solemn expressions and were whispering about this sudden disaster. Yun Yao quietly walked into the hall, subconsciously searching for Chu Mochen's figure. She saw him in a corner of the crowd.

Chu Mochen was still standing tall, but his face was a little haggard, and his eyes were tired and cold. The two people's eyes met in the air. At that moment, time seemed to stand still. The tenderness and sweetness of the past, the sadness and resentment of the past, all kinds of emotions surged into her heart like a tide. But before Yun Yao could come to her senses, Chu Mochen had already looked away, as if she was just a stranger. Yun Yao's heart suddenly hurt, as if it was grabbed by an invisible hand. She bit her lower lip, resisted the bitterness in her eyes, and cast her eyes on the head.

The head of the sect stood in front of the hall, sweeping his eyes majestically over the crowd. When everyone quieted down, he slowly spoke: "Everyone, today our sect is facing an unprecedented crisis. This mysterious dark force is coming with great force and has already endangered our lives and the foundation of the sect. From the various signs so far, this dark force is extremely strange and is definitely not an ordinary evil. We must find out its source as soon as possible and find a way to restrain it, otherwise the consequences will be disastrous."

The elders nodded one after another. An elder in charge of intelligence stood up and said, "Master, according to the information we have collected so far, this dark force first appeared in the deep forest behind the sect. The yin energy there is usually quite heavy, but now it is like the Netherworld, emitting a strong stench. In addition, some disciples said that they saw some vague figures in the darkness, which looked like humans but moved like ghosts. They were surrounded by black mist and had extremely strong attack power."

Everyone gasped when they heard this. Yun Yao's heart moved, and some information about the mysterious power that the system master had mentioned suddenly flashed through her mind. She was about to speak, but hesitated. In such an occasion, was it too abrupt for a junior like her to speak rashly? But since it was related to the survival of the sect, how could she back down?

While Yun Yao was struggling, the headmaster seemed to notice her abnormality. He looked at her gently and asked, "Yun Yao, do you have any ideas? Feel free to say it." Yun Yao was slightly startled, then she mustered up her courage, stood up, bowed to the headmaster and everyone, and said, "Headmaster, elders, I have seen similar records in some ancient books. Perhaps this dark force is related to a sealed forbidden area. The ancient books mentioned that a thousand years ago, there was a great battle between good and evil, and the evil forces were sealed in some secret places. If the seal is loosened, the evil will leak out. The back mountain of our sect has a long history, and perhaps there is such a hidden danger."

As soon as Yun Yao finished speaking, there was a whisper in the hall. Some elders nodded slightly, as if they agreed with her statement; some disciples looked puzzled, after all, this was just Yun Yao's guess. The head of the sect looked at Yun Yao deeply, and after thinking for a moment, he said: "What Yun Yao said makes sense. We don't have any more clues at the moment, so we might as well start the investigation from this aspect."

Then, the head of the sect began to quickly deploy countermeasures. He divided the disciples into several groups, each led by an elder, responsible for exploring the source of the dark power, guarding the sect's vital points, and rescuing injured disciples. Yun Yao listened to the head of the sect's arrangements silently, praying in her heart that she could contribute to the sect, and also hoped to take this opportunity to resolve the misunderstanding with Chu Mochen and jointly protect their homeland.

After the groups were formed, everyone took orders and left. Yun Yao's group was led by an elder who was good at defense, and the members were all senior brothers and sisters who got along well with her on weekdays. Their mission was to go to the back mountain of the sect, explore the traces of the dark power, and try to find the connection with the suspected forbidden area. Yun Yao took a deep breath, glanced at the direction where Chu Mochen left, and secretly vowed to resolve this crisis, let the sect return to peace, and let her relationship with Chu Mochen return to the past.

The moment she stepped out of the meeting room, the sun shone on her body, but it could not dispel the haze in Yun Yao's heart. She knew that the road ahead was full of dangers, but she was not afraid, because behind her was the entire sect, and the friendship that she could never let go. At this time of change, Yun Yao resolutely embarked on an unknown journey, heading towards the dense forest shrouded in darkness on the back mountain of the sect. Her figure seemed small but extremely firm under the reflection of the sun.

As soon as she entered the back mountain, Yun Yao felt a strong evil aura coming towards her, which made her almost unable to breathe. The surrounding trees seemed to have been drained of vitality, with branches and leaves withered and twisted, as if they had been manipulated by evil hands. The thick fallen leaves on the ground became rotten, and when she stepped on them, they made a creepy "crunching" sound.

Yun Yao and the others moved forward cautiously. With the help of the system, she kept an eye on the surroundings. Suddenly, the system issued an alarm: "Fifty meters ahead, there is a fluctuation of dark power, suspected to be a trap." Yun Yao quickly raised her hand to signal everyone to stop, and whispered: "Brothers and sisters, there is danger ahead, everyone be careful." Hearing this, everyone clenched their magic weapons and formed a defensive formation.

They slowly approached and saw a huge black vortex appeared in the open space in front of them. There were faint screams coming from the vortex, as if countless wronged souls were crying. Yun Yao looked closely and found that there were some strange runes looming around the vortex. These runes emitted a strange light, as if they were maintaining the operation of the vortex.

"What kind of evil magic is this?" a senior brother asked in horror. Yun Yao frowned, thought for a moment, and said, "I have seen similar runes in the information provided by the system. This should be an ancient summoning formation used to summon evil spirits in the dark. It seems that we are close to the core area of the dark power."

Everyone was nervous and excited when they heard this. They were nervous because they were about to face an unknown powerful evil force; they were excited because if they could find a way to crack it, they could save their sect from danger. Yun Yao looked around and found a dilapidated pavilion not far away. The pillars of the pavilion were also engraved with runes. She was moved and said, "Everyone follow me. There may be clues hidden in that pavilion."

They walked quickly towards the pavilion. As soon as they entered the pavilion, they felt a stronger evil spirit coming towards them. Yun Yao endured the discomfort and carefully observed the runes on the pillars. These runes were more complicated and difficult to understand than those outside. She mobilized the knowledge reserve of the system and tried to interpret the meaning.

At this moment, there was a sudden sound of fierce fighting outside. Yun Yao was startled and looked over, only to see another group of disciples fighting a group of puppets controlled by dark forces. Those puppets were tall and exuded a foul smell, but they were extremely agile and wielded their weapons vigorously. The disciples gradually lost to them.

"Oh no, it's Second Senior Brother and the others!" Yun Yao was so anxious that she didn't care about the runes that hadn't been interpreted yet, and she was about to rush out to support. The elder hurriedly stopped her and said, "Don't be reckless, we have to think about it carefully." Yun Yao said anxiously, "Elder, if we wait any longer, Second Senior Brother and the others will be in danger. I have the system to help, and I will definitely be able to help."

The elder hesitated for a moment, and finally nodded in agreement when he saw Yun Yao's firm face. Yun Yao took a deep breath, cast the acceleration spell granted by the system, and rushed to the battlefield like a gust of wind. She formed seals with her hands and chanted something. A ray of light burst out from her hands and shot towards the puppets. Wherever the light reached, the puppets' movements slowed down significantly, giving the second brother and the others a chance to catch their breath.

Seeing Yun Yao coming to support them, the morale of the second brother and others was boosted, and they all used all their skills to fight the puppets to the death. While Yun Yao cast spells to assist everyone, she also paid attention to the battlefield situation and tried to find the weaknesses of these puppets. During the fierce battle, she found that there was a red crystal on the heads of these puppets, which seemed to be their energy core.

"Brothers and sisters, attack the crystal on the puppet's head!" Yun Yao shouted loudly. Upon hearing this, everyone adjusted their attack direction and focused on the puppet's head. For a moment, the magic weapon's light flashed, colliding with the dark aura, and the shouts of killing echoed in the mountains and forests. With everyone's concerted efforts, the puppets gradually couldn't resist and fell down one after another, turning into a pile of black ashes.

The second senior brother and the others panted and walked up to Yun Yao, saying gratefully: "Thank you, Junior Sister Yun Yao, for your timely support, otherwise we would be in danger today." Yun Yao shook her head slightly and said: "Senior brothers, you are too polite. We are from the same sect and should support each other. We are in danger everywhere. Let's get together as soon as possible and find the source of the dark power together."

Everyone nodded in agreement, and after the two groups of disciples met, they began to share the information they had collected. Yun Yao told everyone the rune clues found in the pavilion, and after discussion, everyone decided to go to the pavilion together to see if they could find the key to cracking the dark power. However, what they didn't know was that a greater danger was still to come, and this battle with the dark power had just begun.

At this time, Yun Yao was worried about the fate of her sect and was entangled in her relationship with Chu Mochen. However, under these difficulties, she could only bury her personal emotions deep in her heart and devote herself to this battle of life and death. She looked at the mountain forest shrouded in darkness in front of her, her eyes became more determined, and her steps became more steady, as if she was declaring to the darkness that she would never retreat and would protect this piece of land that she cherished.