He could not ask about Jiyin's personal affairs, but he could still inquire about the immediate surroundings of the small building.

"Second Senior Brother, what is planted in the fields outside?"

"Those are spiritual herbs planted by Master. It is said that when utilized correctly, they can enhance the cultivation of us cultivators."

"When I arrived just now, I noticed a cave at the foot of the mountain with a stone door installed at the entrance."

"That is no ordinary cave. It is Master's alchemy cave mansion."

Zhang Cheng explained everything patiently, not forgetting to add a stern warning.

"The medicine fields outside, the cave mansion, and the second floor of this building are strictly forbidden to us. Without Master's explicit permission, you must never trespass."

"Thank you for the guidance, Senior Brother."

Song Wen desisted from asking further. He wanted to leave a good impression on his senior brother-and on Jiyin, who might be eavesdropping from upstairs-by projecting the persona of an honest, obedient disciple.

After cordially sending Zhang Cheng on his way, Song Wen immediately seized the time to cultivate.

Life in the small building was entirely isolated from the outside world. Jiyin required nothing from the three of them, and time passed in a flash. Three days went by, marking the official end of the one-month deadline.

That morning, Song Wen woke up and prepared to head over to the wing rooms for the daily morning lessons.

However, First Senior Brother Er Niu stopped him.

"Third Junior Brother, Master asked me to inform you and Second Junior Brother that starting today, you no longer need to go to the wing rooms for morning lessons."

Song Wen narrowed his eyes slightly and looked out toward the distant wing rooms.

The area, usually bustling with youths, was completely deserted today.

Noticing his gaze, Er Niu offered an explanation.

"Master has already dismissed them. They lack immortal fate and failed to achieve Qi Induction. There was no longer any point in them staying here."

An intense dread gripped Song Wen's heart, sending a piercing chill straight to his scalp. He could not suppress a cold shudder.

Those youths had almost certainly not been dismissed. They had likely been slaughtered to eliminate all traces, vanishing from this world forever.

Forcing a smile onto his face, Song Wen said, "Thank you for telling me, First Senior Brother. Otherwise, I would have made a wasted trip."

Though he concealed his emotions well, the thought of over a hundred young teenagers being wiped out made him feel deeply nauseous and terrified.

He did not want to stay inside the suffocating building for another moment. He needed to get as far away from Jiyin as possible, if only to find a brief moment of inner peace.

"The morning air is quite refreshing. I think I'll take a walk in the courtyard."

"I'll join you," Er Niu said. "I've been cooped up cultivating these past few days, and it's getting a bit tedious."

Most of Er Niu's time lately had been spent on the second floor, though what he and Jiyin were doing there remained a mystery.

Song Wen nodded, and the two walked together toward the center of the courtyard.

As they strolled, Song Wen casually steered the conversation toward Er Niu's family background.

Guileless and unsuspecting, Er Niu laid bare his entire life history within a few sentences.

He came from a remote, impoverished village. With five siblings and his parents, their family of seven relied on two meager acres of thin land and hunting to survive. Their lives had been incredibly harsh.

As the eldest child, he had followed his father into the mountains to hunt and work the fields since the age of eight.

Given their poverty, he should have been illiterate. However, the village schoolteacher took pity on their plight and allowed Er Niu to audit the classes for free, which was how he learned to read.

Once they were sufficiently far from the small building, Song Wen smoothly shifted the topic back to cultivation.

"First Senior Brother, you've been cultivating the longest, so your cultivation must be the highest among the three of us. What realm have you reached?"

Er Niu hesitated briefly, but after a moment, he lowered his voice.

"I am already at the late stage of the first layer of Qi Refinement."

Song Wen stared at him in utter disbelief.

He was certain his own latent talent surpassed Er Niu's, yet he was still some distance away from the mid-stage of the first layer. For Er Niu to have reached the late stage was completely illogical.

"How did you progress so fast?"

Er Niu's expression grew uneasy. He glanced around guiltily before whispering, "Master forbade me from telling you both. Master refined a type of pill called the 'Blood Qi Pill.' Consuming it vastly accelerates one's cultivation. I only took a single pill, and it propelled me directly from the early stage to the late stage of the first layer."

"The Blood Qi Pill?" Song Wen murmured, the name barely audible.

He instantly recalled Er Niu's withered appearance from three days ago and asked in a low voice, "Are there any side effects after taking this Blood Qi Pill?"

"It severely drains one's blood and Qi. The day I took it, I felt as though I had aged decades in an instant," Er Niu admitted honestly. He paused before adding, "But Master has given me plenty of restorative tonics over the last few days, and I feel like my body has fully recovered now."

"Master's methods are truly miraculous to be able to raise our cultivation so quickly. Master even promised that once I reach the second layer of Qi Refinement, he will appoint me as a hall master in the Heavenly Fiend Gang. With a monthly salary of several hundred taels of silver, I'll finally be able to give my family a better life."

As Er Niu spoke, his face shone with profound reverence for Jiyin and an innocent yearning for the future.

Song Wen, however, felt a profound chill run through his veins. He scrutinized Er Niu intently.

On the surface, the deathly pallor from three days ago had indeed vanished. But Song Wen was no physician; he knew nothing of traditional medical diagnosis, so he could not detect whatever hidden damage lay buried inside Er Niu's body.

Given his deep-seated distrust of Jiyin, he knew this matter could not be so simple.

If the Blood Qi Pill truly had no adverse effects, why would Jiyin bestow it upon others for free instead of using it himself?

A sudden flash of insight struck Song Wen, and the pieces of the puzzle instantly fell into place.

'Jiyin is using us as human test subjects for his pills!'

'His previous disciples probably all died from these lethal experiments, or were slaughtered once they lost their utility!'

This perfectly explained why Jiyin constantly recruited new disciples, why all his previous pupils had vanished without a trace, and why the core members of the Heavenly Fiend Gang held such deep terror toward his recruitment process.

A severe sense of crisis gripped Song Wen. Er Niu had been selected to test the pill a mere twenty days after successfully inducing Qi into his body. This meant time was rapidly running out for Song Wen.

He could only pray that Er Niu and Zhang Cheng would endure the experiments long enough to buy him an opportunity to escape.

Upon returning to the small building, Song Wen decided he could no longer afford to passively wait. He had to take the initiative. He needed to map out Jiyin's daily routine and sleeping habits to plot a successful escape.

Over the past three days, Jiyin had spent almost every waking moment on the second floor, his precise activities unknown. Song Wen had no idea if the old man even slept, or at what hours.

Standing at the base of the wooden staircase leading to the second floor, Song Wen steadied his breathing, steeled his resolve, and stepped upward.