Li Xun forced down the turmoil in his chest and leaned in for a closer look. "The bark around the hole is shattered like mush, yet the shape's more or less intact. The force behind it was fierce and domineering, but the surface still carries a strangely soft, feminine touch. And the one who made it was a woman… there can't be too many female cultivators like that in the Tongxuan Realm, right?"
"There are at least seventy or eighty," Shui Die Lan replied carelessly. But the glint of cold light in her eyes showed she was far from indifferent.
The two of them studied the small hole together, so close their breaths brushed against each other.
At such close range, Li Xun noticed that although Shui Die Lan's features had a trace of masculine sharpness, her skin was fine, luminous, and strikingly attractive. Right now her gaze was piercing, and combined with those strong features it formed a flawless, icy beauty of its own.
If only he could press such a beauty beneath him…
Shui Die Lan felt his gaze and shot him a glance in return. Her eyes were cold, then instantly softened. With a sudden smile she said, "No helping it. Let's chase them down and see."
Li Xun realized his slip had put her on guard. Still, with the kind of vigilance already between them, one more spark hardly mattered. So he acted as if nothing had happened and nodded. "Of course we'll keep chasing. But we've wasted a fair bit of time here, and that could be trouble."
A graceful curve lifted at the corner of Shui Die Lan's lips. "It doesn't matter. As long as the person carry the scent powder, no one under heaven can escape my tracking."
Li Xun wasn't used to hearing Shui Die Lan speak in such absolute terms, and there was something oddly unsettling in the way she said it.
Could it be that aside from being an assassin, she also pursued the arts of rouge and powder?
But Shui Die Lan wasn't exaggerating. Barely an hour later, they picked up Xiao Zhongzi's trail, and soon after, found him.
What left them both speechless was that Xiao Zhongzi was already dead. So dead there was no saving or mistaking it.
Li Xun pressed his lips together, eyes cold, staring fixedly at the corpse.
In truth, identifying who this body had once been was no easy task. Even the eyes had shriveled into a thin, leathery film.
He thought back to when he last met Xiao Zhongzi. The man's cultivation was weak, but he had been calculating and full of schemes. Who could have guessed that in just five days, he'd end up like this?
And worse, it seemed like the woman had slapped him hard across the face on her way out.
Just thinking of the ridicule soon to come from Lin Wuyou made Li Xun want to kill someone.
Shui Die Lan nudged the corpse's thigh lightly with the tip of her boot. Li Xun heard a faint crackling sound, then the entire thigh crumbled into ash, scattering a few small fragments of bone; the source of that noise.
Li Xun felt he had frowned more times today than in the past several decades combined.
With his knowledge, it only took a glance to see that Xiao Zhongzi had died from his yang being drained away. His life force had been forcibly stripped by a vicious dual-cultivation technique, until even his flesh collapsed.
Had they arrived any later, the body would have weathered completely, leaving not the faintest trace behind.
Such a domineering method of draining vitality could only belong to one sect in the entire Tongxuan Realm.
At his side, Shui Die Lan murmured softly, "Devour of Yang, Flayer of Yin."
Li Xun ground a name out between his teeth. "Bliss Sect."
The Bliss Sect. A name that rang far and wide.
Among the righteous, it provoked red-faced shame followed by gnashing hatred. Among the demonic, it inspired wary respect and burning desire. Their secret arts of dual cultivation, their Bliss Elixirs, even their demonic gu techniques—all stood unmatched in the Tongxuan Realm.
The "Devourer of Yang" and "Flayer of Yin" Shui Dielan mentioned were none other than two infamous female cultivators of the Bliss Sect. Known together as the "Twin Calamities of Bliss," their reputation rested entirely on the art of draining life through dual cultivation.
Since Shui Die Lan spoke with such certainty, she clearly had proof. Li Xun followed her line of thought and asked, "Was it the Devourer, or the Flayer?"
The more dangerous the moment, the calmer Shui Die Lan became. Her voice was slow, almost detached. "The finger force we saw on that tree, and now this method of draining, both are ruthlessly domineering. Naturally, it was the Flayer. Her nature is cruel, and she's a master of poisons. In her hands, Xiao Zhongzi never had a chance."
"Scraping bones and extracting marrow, the Supreme Bliss Technique… the Flayer truly lives up to her name," Li Xun muttered, eyes flashing as old memories stirred. He had never met the Flayer herself, but he was well acquainted with her counterpart, the Devourer.
Years ago, they clashed over a rare immortal herb. Layer upon layer, Li Xun had plotted and maneuvered, until he left the Devourer gravely wounded.
But she was formidable. Even cornered, she managed to turn her own body into a trap. Confident in the inheritance he'd received from Yin Wanderer, Li Xun underestimated her and nearly ended up like Xiao Zhongzi, drained into a dried husk.
Only with the aid of Nether Two, a true master of yin-yang dual cultivation, did he barely escape. The Devourer of Yang slipped away in the chaos.
From that day on, Li Xun treated the Bliss Sect's draining arts with utmost caution, guarding himself against them at every turn.
Even so, he could still recall with perfect clarity the seductive poise of the Devourer, the way her eyes smoldered and her steps swayed. He remembered too the soft, twisting moans beneath him, and even the rush of pleasure as his defenses wavered. Fear had shadowed it, but the sensation lingered, and he had savored it more than once in memory.
"…You drifted off. Hey, are you even listening?"
Shui Die Lan's lightly chiding voice pulled him back. Li Xun gave a start and muttered an "ah," realizing he had lost himself in thought.
His body had already begun to respond, and when he turned his eyes on Shui Die Lan, his gaze was far from steady.
Women were always sharp to such things, and Shui Die Lan, already on guard around him, read it in an instant. She gave him a cool, mocking glance, but without stripping him of face, merely repeated what she had just said:
"Even if Xiao Zhongzi was weak, in the grip of terror he should've held out a little longer. The Flayer, I've seen her before... she takes delight in tormenting her prey. Knowing we were closing in, she wouldn't have gone far. Besides…"
Her eyes swept over the valley around them. It was a secluded place, lush with grass and dotted with low trees, pleasing to the eye. The ground still bore scattered, pressed-down marks. Clearly, before he died, Xiao Zhongzi had been made to 'enjoy himself' one last time.
Shui Die Lan's gaze swept over the grass. She plucked a blade and twirled it lightly between her fingers, a faint smile on her lips. "I was worried at first that Xiao Zhongzi might prove too stubborn. But looking at this now, he really did die clean. He left no secrets behind."
Li Xun had finally wrestled his emotions back under control. At her words, he asked in surprise, "What do you mean?"
"There's a trace of Misty Ecstasy Incense on the grass. When stirred with a special technique during intercourse, it clouds the victim's mind and seizes control of their will.
"This incense is extremely rare. The Bliss Sect produces only a few taels a year, and its effects are terrifying. It's said that only a True Person or above can resist it. For Flayer of Yin to use it means she paid a heavy price. With Xiao Zhongzi's level of cultivation, he never stood a chance. Of course he left nothing behind."
Thoughts spun in Li Xun's mind like a windmill. At this moment, Lin Wuyou's warning—don't let anyone know—echoed through his head, filling it completely. The situation hadn't yet slipped beyond repair. If he could seal the secret in time, maybe there was still hope. And from Shui Die Lan's expression, perhaps there was a chance…
His questioning look said more than words. Shui Die Lan let the grass fall from her hand and gave a faint smile. "I'll give you a lead. Their camp is just seventy li from here. Ten in total. Besides Flayer of Yin, there are four women and five men. But they're only the vanguard. The sect master's 'Heart-Consuming Concubine' is expected to arrive within eight hours. How many she'll bring with her, though, no one knows."
Li Xun was too stunned to even feel surprised. He simply couldn't understand how Shui Die Lan could have such detailed information. From the way she had acted earlier, she clearly knew nothing about Flayer of Yin. So how could she suddenly know everything about it now?
Could it be that she had some secret channel for information?
Shui Die Lan caught the disbelief in his eyes and said casually, "I told you, the scent of all that rouge and powder is strong. You really can't smell it?"
Rouge and powder from seventy li away? Li Xun let out a dry laugh. Even if she had a spirit nose sharp enough to catch a scent from that far, how on earth had she managed to figure all this out?
She had clearly toyed with him, and seemed to be enjoying herself. For once, she went on at length to explain:
"It's actually quite simple. In the Bliss Sect, whether male or female, everyone wears perfume or carries certain incense pills. That makes them easy to recognize. Among the lower disciples, the men usually carry 'Dragon Rhinoceros Incense,' while the women wear 'Flowing Butterfly Fragrance.' Both kinds are meant to arouse desire.
"And as for a famous cultivator like Flayer of Yin, known for her beauty but also skilled in the arts of inner allure, she usually wears 'Green Vine Fragrance.' Its clean, refined scent tempers the vulgar edge of seduction and makes her charm even more effective.
"Besides these three scents, they also lit a censer of 'Ascending Immortal Incense.' That one happens to be the favorite fragrance of the Heart-Consuming Concubine, and she always has it burning wherever she stays..."
Li Xun still couldn't make sense of it. "Then why did you say she wouldn't arrive until eight hours later?"
"Because this incense has only been burning for two hour. 'Ascending Immortal' is an extremely rare fragrance. At first it smells no different from other blends, but as the hours pass, its layers unfold one after another, becoming a uniquely wondrous and beautiful aroma unparalleled in this world.
"The Heart-Consuming Concubine has always been fastidious. If the incense hasn't been burning for at least ten hours, she won't even bother to take notice. Her disciples all know her habits well."
Li Xun finally understood. But just as he did, a greater doubt rose in his mind: this bit of knowledge was so obscure that it was natural for a disciple of the Bliss Sect to know it; yet how did Shui Die Lan seem to know every detail as if she had lived there herself? Could it be that in the past, she too had once been part of the Bliss Sect?
He knew there was no way Shui Die Lan would answer that question, so he let it go. Still, curiosity got the better of him, and he asked offhandedly, "So how long does the 'Ascending Immortal' incense have to build up before it's at its best?"
Without a moment's hesitation, Shui Die Lan replied, "Thirty-six years. The number of a full cosmic cycle. When its fragrance has turned that long, it circles back on itself, and one may truly hope to ascend."
Li Xun clicked his tongue in amazement. At the same time, he caught a fleeting look of longing pass across Shui Die Lan's face. Clearly, she herself had never experienced incense that had aged for thirty-six years.
It was then that something struck him. Everyone in the Tongxuan Realm knew the concubine had another nickname: "Mirror-Bound Concubine." It was a title gossips had given her on their own, and though no one dared call her that to her face, the name was built entirely on fact.
And judging from how familiar Shui Die Lan was with all of this… could it be…?
The images stirred up by that thought left Li Xun's mouth dry, but precisely because of it, a sudden brilliant idea came to him. His mind raced in circles, quickly confirming to himself that the plan could work. He laughed aloud, clapped his hands, and said, "Excellent! Flayer of Yi... I'll take her!"