Players Detected: 1 Human

Reading through the golden notification, Jing's eyes widened in shock.

"Quick!" Aukhman suddenly warned. "Act normal."

Jing reflexively turned to glance at the words, and he immediately understood his point.

A player might be among the twelve disciples, or rather a player was indeed among them!

Holding his breath, he straightened up his back and looked ahead with a determined look. However, he quickly realized how peculiar this would seem, and so he softened his facial features and began studying his environment. He easily found a good source of attention, and he glued his eyes to his right. In the very distance was a big fight happening between some giant goat-like creatures, and a lone red feline monster that crept up behind them.

Only his eyes followed them, his mind had more urgent matters to attend to. "What was that?!" He asked, his voice both uncertain and apprehensive.

"Well," Aukhman said standing up and gazing at the procession of monsters in front of him with a hard look. "There is a player here." He then turned to look at him with a wry smile shrugging his shoulders. "And from how you've been acting this whole time in front of the other disciples, they will start suspecting you now that they know you're here."

"They know?" Jing asked.

"Yes," The demon answered. "They would have seen the same notification as you did because unlike you they left their function activated."

As if to prove his words, that same golden notification appeared once again with a ding.

Players Detected: 1 Human

Aukhman's expression turned solemn and he said, "Now they're certain. Their representative must've informed them."

"Curses!" Jing mumbled. "Turn it off."

A silence stretched out with the demon still beside him before he sighed, "I shouldn't have tried it..." Glancing at the wise hundreds of years old demon, he asked, "What do you think I should do now?"

"I can't advise you," Aukhman said with a weak smile. "Otherwise, won't it be a fight between the representatives?"

Understanding his point, Jing countered, "But haven't you advised when you told me to act normal before?"

With an amused snort, Aukhman explained, "That was more so related to the function I am responsible for, hence my ability to slightly intervene."

"So," Jing questioned with a defeated look, "You won't be able to help me with anything? Like what should I do because I am shunned by everyone else here?"

"I cannot." The demon simply said before disappearing into the void.

Jing's previous carefree demeanor had already evaporated as he contemplated the array of issues that began piling up on top of his shoulders.

'Still,' He thought with a complicated expression. 'Xie Jing was still a village boy, if I am careful I can convince them that this wasn't the work of a reincarnated soul but simply a village boy who hadn't seen much of the world. They're not that different now that I think about it.'

Reaching that conclusion, his heart felt a tiny bit more at ease, though he knew that he should be even more active in making that a reality. He needed to adopt the persona of Xie Jing completely, especially in front of the other disciples. He was already in possession of a lot of Xie Jing's memories, and so acting like him didn't seem that difficult to him.

He had already received most of his memories, and unfortunately, he didn't receive anything of vital importance there. Even the so-called mission, Li Yan didn't bother explaining too much to him. He had only said something about some dangerous undercurrents that had been laid out for decades that had almost reached their end, and they needed to seize this opportunity to claim a greater position for themselves in the new world.

'The other person should have just arrived, like me.' He continued his musings. 'So, they will be just as shocked as I am.'

Unfortunately, because of how overwhelming things were for him in that meeting because of Peak Master Zho Gen's objection, and the Sect Master's threat, he didn't have the mental faculties to observe anyone, something he regretted not doing.

He was about to quicken the Shardfiend's pace to get even closer to the group of disciples, but he dismissed that idea as foolish. The other player had just become aware of his existence, and so he had to be even more careful. Suddenly acting out of character would bring too much attention.

His eyes glazed over all of the disciples, trying to pick out the silent ones of the bunch. The only ones who spoke were the two twins, Shen Yun and another female disciple, and two female disciples. Thus, the remaining seven kept to themselves. He had noticed how there weren't just twelve disciples from the peaks, but there was also a sagacious young man who accompanied that monster called Elder Ma.

However, he quickly shook his head in dismissal. 'Silence isn't a really good measure of whether they're players,' He thought with a deep look. 'They'd have plenty of memories to draw from, and even more questions to ask that would allow them to chatter endlessly.'

Suddenly, Jing noticed how one of the disciples who he was just looking at began slowing down his Shardfiend. Initially, he just thought he wanted to speak with someone else, but the disciple's eyes quickly met with his.

Jing was startled, and his expression couldn't help but morph into one of cautiousness. Aukhman had stressed plenty of times how much benefits players would receive when they killed others and such a benefit this early was bound to compound into a snowball effect that would have a considerable effect in their whole run.

The disciple was already beside him by then, with a wide smile on his face. His hair was brown, slightly long, and a grey robe on him. The disciple's expression became slightly confused as he looked at Jing, "What's wrong?" He asked.

Gripping the helms of his reins even tighter, Jing questioned, "What do you mean?"

"You look so startled." He said with a smile. His eyes suddenly lit up as if he thought of something and said, "Ah it's because of what my fellow disciples did previously." His eyes darted around them and spoke, "Do not mind them, they can be a bit immature. But..." His voice trailed off as his eyes met Jing once again, "We're about to undertake a very dangerous mission, and so unity is a must. Try to not let that get you down so much. When we pause for the night, I'll introduce you to each one of them."

Jing still had absolutely no clue about the disciple's motives, he just knew that the more he talked the more suspicious he became. With a nod, he said, "Thank you." The disciple who began talking to him was none other than the lone disciple who came in with Elder Ma and the sect master.

"It's necessary." The disciple said, but then he scratched his head with a difficult expression and continued, "As for the Zho twins, that will be a bit difficult."

"What is their problem?" Jing blurted out, frustrated by the duo's existence. He noticed how they had been glaring at him the whole time, which unsettled him quite a bit.

"You don't know?!" Asked the disciple clearly surprised. But he quickly caught himself and continued with a wry smile, "I don't know either, something with your father apparently." In an attempt to quickly change the subject, he questioned, "So, what is your deal village boy? Ready to kill some self-proclaimed righteous bastards?"

Jing's eyebrows shot up at that, slightly surprised by the disciple's words. "Of course," He said with feigned confidence.

The disciple stretched out his hand and said, "I am called Xu Yun, and I am Elder Ma's disciple. I will also be the leader of the outer disciples in this mission."

"Pleasure to finally meet you," Jing said, shaking the disciple's hands. "I've been hearing a lot about you."

Xu Yun's eyes suddenly shone with a meaningful glint before he casually asked, "So, you and Shen Yun are a couple?" Saying that his gaze intently focused on the young man before him.

"What?!" Reflexively said Jing with a startled voice. "Of course not!"

"Oh?" Murmured Xu Yun with a scrutinizing look. "You sound awfully against it."

Jing's head tilted to the side at that confusion written all over his face, and his mind worked in overdrive, trying to read what was the motive behind those words. In the end, he concluded something. "Not really," He finally said. "It's just that Shen Yun is a friend. But if that's other people's thing then they're free to do what they want."

Xu Yun still had a deep look as he gazed at him. "I am not sure that's how he sees it." He said. His gaze then landed on the other female disciples and asked with a faint smile, "So, have you been in bed with women then?"

Jing knew that he was as virgin as they came, but he didn't want to sound too green, especially in front of the leader of the group. "Of course not," He replied confidently, a smile crept up his face. "Just yesterday me and Shen Yun were in the house of these two female disciples in the territory just beyond ours."

Xu Yun softly chuckled to himself, "I don't think you need to feel that proud about it," He said. "disciples of the Twin Flame peak aren't exactly a challenge in sexual matters, after all, they benefit the most out of it."

Jing gently nodded in understanding, although it left a bitter taste in his mouth to be put down in such a manner. But he chalked it up to the disciple trying to make conversation and all.

"Where did you use to live before coming to the sect?" Xu Yun asked with a meaningful look as he looked at him.

Tapping into his knowledge, Jing replied, "I used to live in Muddy Goat Village, it's close to Sweet Blossom City in the Kaesen Dynasty."

"Really?" Xu Yun said. "The Kaesen Dynasty is a really strict and traditional place because of the Golden Mountain Sect's support and the strong royal family. I find it strange that you have the views that you do if you came from such a background."

Jing's eyes lit up in astonishment. The pieces of the puzzle seemed to finally fall into place, 'He's trying to see how much of a liability I would be in this mission of theirs.' He pondered. 'That is the reason he is trying to probe into my views about certain things.'

From his memories, he could indeed see how even in his village things were very traditional. Topics like homosexuality, sex before marriage, and many other things were very frowned upon.

Heck, there was even a specific memory that was very vivid in his mind of the original Xie Jing beating two boys who were caught being "red-handed" to a pulp. At the same time, he noticed how this demonic sect took a lot of liberty and seemed to have zero scruples around those matters. It made sense for them to use people's views around certain things to gauge people's background and loyalties, though he was sure that there would also be plenty of demonic cultivators who didn't follow those views, so he was slightly doubtful of the efficiency of it.

"Well," Jing said with a smile meeting the disciple's gaze. "When you live as a bastard, getting shunned by the rest is only natural. Thus, as you watch everything unfold from the sidelines, you learn a thing or two."

Xu Yun seemed satisfied with his reply as he gently nodded with a smile. "That's good to hear."

As they were busy talking, Shen Yun finally couldn't hold himself back and slowed down his speed to match theirs. Witnessing his approach, Xu Yun merely smiled before he spurred his Shardfiend forward, joining the rest of the group.