The Disciples of Yaoshi were bewildered.
On the Xianzhou, there were basically only two faiths: the Hunt and the Abundance. The two were almost diametrically opposed, leaving these people with no way to try and mitigate the conflict.
"Take me to your leader. I need to know what she's up to."
Noldrei had nothing more to say to these people. He had already obtained what he wanted. As for what came next…
Dan Shu was a woman with short hair and a mature charm.
She looked more like a married woman from next door than the leader of an organization like the Disciples of Sanctus Medicus.
When Noldrei arrived before Dan Shu with a group of people in tow, the woman couldn't help but frown.
"What happened?" Dan Shu 'looked' from side to side. It seemed as if she was looking, but in reality, her eyes had no ability to see at all.
"Are you the leader of the Disciples of Sanctus Medicus? Time for a change. I'm the leader now."
Noldrei didn't even bother with pleasantries, moving straight to usurp her position.
Dan Shu's brows furrowed tightly. A group of people emerged from behind her, forming a protective circle.
She wanted an explanation from the others.
But the researchers subconsciously shied away. They didn't even dare to tell Dan Shu that the moment Noldrei approached, everyone present would fall under his control.
"Submit to my will and live; oppose my heart and die."
"Tell your subordinates to lower their defiant blades!"
Noldrei's body shifted, and in an instant, he had taken on Dan Shu's exact appearance.
This sudden transformation froze the atmosphere on the spot. Everyone knew that Dan Shu's next words would determine whether she could continue to exist here.
After learning that the Aeons had no intention of caring about their supposed followers, Noldrei knew exactly how to handle these Disciples of Yaoshi.
Dan Shu sensed the bizarre situation.
Normally, in a situation like this, everyone would have rushed forward to apprehend the transgressor. But now, the scene had turned into a strange stalemate.
'Has he gotten ahold of the experimenters? How did he manage that?' A trace of doubt rose in Dan Shu's heart.
"You should be able to hear my voice, right? I'm speaking with your body right now. You wouldn't want the internal strife of the Disciples of Sanctus Medicus to be exposed, leading to all the believers being slaughtered, would you?"
"I don't care about that. It's just a matter of changing locations and finding a new group of people. But it's different for you. If you lose this, you'll have nothing left."
"So why don't we sit down for a cup of tea and a chat?"
Noldrei knew perfectly well that these people wouldn't dare make a big move, let alone risk blowing up the entire operation of the Disciples of Sanctus Medicus at a time like this.
This applied to their clandestine recruitment activities, their human experiments that defied Xianzhou regulations, and even Dan Shu herself, the Head Diviner of the Alchemy Commission.
The more a person cares about something, the easier it is for others to find their weakness.
Right now, Dan Shu was like a pair of illusory testicles, firmly grasped in Noldrei's hand.
Everyone was waiting for Dan Shu's command.
Whether it was to rush forward and take this person down, or to negotiate with him.
Their ultimate goal as followers of Yaoshi was still unfulfilled. Naturally, they were unwilling to let it all fall apart at this crucial moment.
Noldrei looked at the special group of beings behind Dan Shu.
These people had clear signs of plant-like transformation, their bodies exhibiting a unique wooden structure, like the legendary Divine Scythe-tree. They had even sprouted roots and leaves.
This thing definitely wasn't for photosynthesis; after all, humans don't need to get nutrients from the soil.
'Is this mara-struck? But from what Qingque said, after becoming mara-struck, one should become crazed and disordered, theoretically attacking people everywhere. How do these humanoid monsters seem to possess the rationality of normal people?'
'Have the Xianzhou people really hidden a way to maintain sanity while being mara-struck?'
'Then what are they trying to achieve by doing this?'
Countless questions popped up in Noldrei's mind.
It couldn't be that the Xianzhou people just liked turning into human form and then deliberately shortening their lives for fun, right?
Noldrei couldn't wrap his head around the Xianzhou people's thinking. No matter how he looked at it, he felt there was absolutely no need for them to do this.
Dan Shu sighed. "Tell me, what do you really want?"
Noldrei began to doubt their comprehension skills. He was already communicating in the Xianzhou language.
"I told you, what I want is you. What else could I want? I want these Aeon followers, and that's it. Without you, I'll just go find the next group of Aeon followers."
Dan Shu found his reason hilarious. He had rounded up a whole bunch of people from the Alchemy Commission and come to her just for that?
"Is that all you want? Didn't you infiltrate the Alchemy Commission for longevity and power?"
Noldrei found Dan Shu quite amusing. He said helplessly, "I already have long life and power. Why would I need to ask a bunch of weaklings like you for it?"
"…"
This time, Dan Shu understood. They had picked a real powerhouse as their 'test subject.'
She had been very careful. The Disciples of Sanctus Medicus even had a multi-layered screening process for recruitment.
Who would have thought that today, they would find the one person they shouldn't have.
"I was lacking enough Aeon followers to observe. At first, I was thinking of studying the Xianzhou people who believe in the Hunt. But then, the Xianzhou people here were quite nice and gave me your contact information. They told me that as long as I acted like a normal outlander visiting Changle Tian, a sufficiently dangerous group of believers would find their way to me."
"So, I was strolling around, thinking about whether to buy some drinks with my 'close friend'."
"She even got me a really disgusting drink."
"Your people were there at the time, so I just went with the flow and followed their lead right here."
"I was just standing on the shore, I hadn't even had time to bait my hook."
"And you people just couldn't wait. Splat! Just like fish leaping onto the shore, you landed right at my feet."
"Are you really not considering firing this batch of subordinates? Do you know how they recruited me?"
"In broad daylight, he walks up to me, and then, like some scammer, he 'whispers' to me, 'Brother, do you desire longevity?'"
"See? I was recruited by a subordinate like that."
"They didn't even think of changing their face. I'm really not lying. It was your Disciples of Sanctus Medicus who bumped into me."
"They even gave me a free sample of Vidyadhara marrow fluid. It's related to longevity and immortality, right?"
Noldrei's words flowed like a stand-up comedy routine, dripping with sarcasm.
Every Disciple of Yaoshi present wanted to beat the guy who recruited him to death. They even had the urge to carry out a major internal purge.
Dan Shu was also speechless, especially since the other party was using her own voice to recount these events to her.
Just by hearing the voice, Dan Shu knew that this person was a shapeshifter who could assume her appearance and act with impunity.
And now, he had clearly mastered some ability to control her followers.