Out of a certain mean-spirited impulse, Shui Die Lan wanted to put Hundred Ghosts back in his place. "Flayer of Yin isn't like that little sweetheart of yours you can order around. Do you really think she'll just obey and do your bidding?"
Her voice was louder than usual. Hundred Ghosts, however, made no move to stop her. Instead, he gave a cold, mocking laugh. "A smart person doesn't do foolish things. Acting on your own, gaining something only to lose it again, that's one offense. Throwing yourself at the enemy and leaking secrets, that's another.
"And then, just now when we sparred, she even recited a few incantation techniques to me. Quite useful, that, and that makes a third offense. I spared her life and gave her a chance to erase all three. She ought to feel at least a little grateful. So why make trouble for me?"
He, too, made no effort to lower his voice, a show of utter confidence. Shui Die Lan of course noticed it. She clicked her tongue twice, then held her peace.
With her sharp eye she could tell. Before Li Xun entered the tent, he was brimming with killing intent. But after he came out, though his mind was clear, the murderous will was completely gone.
The subtlety of it was beyond words.
They say "the land of beauty is the grave of heroes." A bit of a stretch here, perhaps, yet Shui Die Lan could not help but secretly admire: So completely swept away, body and soul. This Bliss Sect's arts of seduction have nearly touched the level of the Dao itself.
Of course, she wasn't about to share her observations with Hundred Ghosts. Aside from not wanting to stir up more trouble, she also felt that what he said might not be entirely wrong. Even if, at the end of the day, Flayer of Yin really was scheming, so what? If it caused that brat Hundred Ghosts a bit of trouble, she would be more than happy to see it.
As for whether she herself might get dragged into it, that was simply not something she cared to consider.
Dozens of li away, once the two had gone, a towering figure stepped out of the air and appeared by the stream. He lowered his head, gazing at the bloodstains scattered through the valley, his crimson eyes seemingly weighing something in silence.
Then he strode to one of the corpses. With a slight hook of his finger, a clot of dried blood floated up and touched his fingertip, only to liquefy again in the very next instant into a fresh drop of red.
He pressed the drop onto his chest. As if by sorcery, that tiny bead of blood became an endless wellspring, wave after wave of scarlet seeping into every corner of his outer robe.
In the blink of an eye, his pitch-black robe turned the color of blood.
He brushed back the cumbersome hood and revealed a rugged face. His eyes swept once across the tents in the valley, bursting with a flash of bloodlight that vanished as quickly as it came. The next moment, he shot into the sky, disappearing without a trace.
Not long after his figure flickered out of sight, the flap of the pink tent lifted slightly. Flayer Of Yin stepped out, body bare. She first examined the mortal wounds of the five male disciples, one by one, and only after a long while let out a deep sigh.
Good. No special techniques were used, so there's no need to bother with destroying the bodies. The only question is, who should take the blame for this?
As she weighed the names of one notorious demon after another from the Tongxuan Realm, each infamous for lust and bloodshed, she dragged the four unconscious female disciples back into the tent. A moment later, soft moans began to rise from within. But soon enough, those moans turned into the despairing cries of the dying.
...
They glided through the dimming twilight, an endless sea of forest stretching beneath them. Even in the fading gray light, that vast expanse of deep green was breathtaking, almost terrifying in its immensity. Li Xun narrowed his eyes. His dark robe swelled slightly, like the wings of a bat spreading wide, stirring the air with silent, invisible beats.
Beside him, Shui Die Lan did not need to move at all. Her body floated like a spirit, riding the night wind as if she were part of the darkness itself.
From this alone, the difference in their cultivation was clear.
Li Xun, though he had already broken free of the "tool-riding" constraints and could command the heaven and earth's primordial qi with his own body, treading on the air and riding the void, was still somewhat unpracticed. The flow of energy around him left faint traces. Shui Die Lan, by contrast, wielded primordial qi as naturally as breathing. When she spoke, qi rolled like strings of pearls; not the slightest obstruction.
"Back then, Gu Yin offered a 'Langya Ancient Jade' and a 'Creation Golden Pill' to both the Succubus Sect and the Hundred Beasts Sect, asking for a bloodkiss that had achieved spiritual awareness. But the conditions were far too harsh. Neither sect could manage it, and in the end, they had no choice but to post a bounty across the Tongxuan Realm."
The Succubus Sect was famous for draining the blood and essence of spirits, while the Hundred Beasts Sect relied on raising all manner of demonic beasts and strange creatures for their strength. Between the two, they were perhaps the most skilled in this realm when it came to capturing and taming demons and spirit beasts.
That even they could not meet the requirements shows just how harsh those conditions must had been.
And yet, "Kitty" had once been a treasured prize in the eyes of Blood Wanderer, and on top of that had swallowed the "Crimson Ghost Chain." Even among its kind, it was anything but ordinary. That was precisely why it had met with disaster.
Shui Die Lan of course understood what was going through Li Xun's mind. But seeing the grim expression on his face, she still said calmly, "I happened to be there, and your little pet seemed a decent match, so I took her to give it a try. Gu Yin herself inspected her. I asked about it, and she said it was a gift. Later I heard that when Jade Wanderer welcomed Qixia into his chambers, Gu Yin gave it to Qixia's daughter."
Li Xun frowned. He vaguely recalled that at some point Lin Wuyou had mentioned this so-called "gift," though the details escaped him. Over the decades he had seen Lin Wuyou many times, yet never once had he caught a glimpse of "Kitty."
What struck him even more was Shui Die Lan's way of addressing Demon Phoenix. Normally, people of the Tongxuan Realm either spoke bluntly, calling her simply "Demon Phoenix," or else politely addressed her as "Lady Qixia" or "Lady Demon Phoenix."
At most, like Ling Ge, they might call her "Dear Phoenix."
Shui Die Lan's choice of words clearly belonged to none of these categories.
Of course, none of that was the main point. But the mention of the Succubus Sect made him recall what the two fallen Underworld Generals had said on the great lake beside the Demon Thunder Monastery.
The Succubus Sect… judging from Xiao Zhongzi's reaction, there does seem to be some connection. And right, Flayer of Yin just mentioned that Old Demon Luo had even given the Heart-Consuming Concubine a 'Heart-Locking Clasp.'
With so many scraps of information crowding in at once, Li Xun's thoughts grew muddled. He shook his head and muttered, "Succubus Sect, Hundred Beasts Sect… forget it for now. Hah, besides, does the Hundred Beasts Sect even exist anymore?"
Indeed, the name of the Hundred Beasts Sect had long since vanished from the Tongxuan Realm.
Twenty years ago, this sect famed for taming spirit beasts had provoked disaster after killing a few rogue cultivators. That angered the Rogue Cultivators' Alliance. Worse yet, their sect master, the Lion-Camel King, couldn't keep his mouth shut. He spent days sneering things like, "The Rogue Alliance isn't worth a fart," and "That whore Demon Phoenix ought to be fucked." Such words spread quickly. One night, over ten thousand rogue cultivators and demons, led by Demon Phoenix, Old Kunpeng, and three other Six Ruling Councilors, besieged the "Xuanling Cavern" and blasted the sect's stronghold to rubble. The guardian spirit beasts of the Hundred Beasts Sect were slaughtered nearly to extinction, and their sect treasures destroyed in a single stroke.
It was one of the rare cases of total annihilation in the history of the Tongxuan Realm, and it drew universal condemnation from every sect.
Still, since the Hundred Beasts Sect had been the one at fault, and the Rogue Cultivators' Alliance hadn't technically set out to exterminate them root and branch, the other sects could not press the matter too far. In the end, it was left unresolved. Even so, the aftershocks lasted for more than a decade, making it the most consequential event in the past sixty or seventy years.
After that battle, the Rogue Cultivators' Alliance had vaulted into prominence as the most powerful "faction" in the Tongxuan Realm. Only the lack of an ancestral lineage and sect hierarchy kept them from declaring themselves a true orthodox sect.
Li Xun felt a surge of emotion, but his face quickly hardened.
The Hundred Beasts Sect, the Succubus Sect, the Heavenly Vigorous Sect, the Bliss Sect, the Underworld Monarch Sect… on the surface, these sects shared nothing in common. Some followed the righteous path, others the demonic, yet among them there seemed to be a hidden thread of connection.
Now the Underworld Monarch Sect, Heavenly Vigorous Sect, and Bliss Sect had all arrived one after another, while the Succubus Sect lingered in the shadows. Elites from every sect had gathered here in the southeastern forest sea. Seen in this light, Lin Wuyou's so-called "One-Month Pact"...
Just as his thoughts began to take shape, Shui Die Lan gave a sharp scold. "Hey, watch it!"
Startled, Li Xun immediately tensed. He fell back a step behind Shui Die Lan, his figure streaking like a bat through the air as he slipped into the vast forest, narrowly avoiding the probing aura of a patrolling cultivator.
The ruins of the ancient temple were already in sight. But to break through the restrictive formations inside would be no easy task. The sects hunting Xiao Zhongzi had spent the entire day with nothing to show for it, and now they had all converged around these ruins.
The Heavenly Vigorous Sect carried on the usual upright style of the orthodox sects, boldly setting up camp right atop the ruins and making their presence plain. The Vermilion Hook Sect, true to habit, had melted into the shadows. Meanwhile Yuan Nan and Song Yuanchi, now little more than scattered stragglers, prowled the outskirts with clenched teeth.
Li Xun and Shui Die Lan had not seen this directly, but the subtle fluctuations of qi in the air left no room for doubt.
The three sides held each other in check, yet on different levels they also complemented one another. Without meaning to, they had woven a tight net around the ruins. To slip in without a sound, even Shui Die Lan might not succeed.
Her eyes flickered in the dark like candle flames, flashing and dimming.
Li Xun knew she was using some secret technique to probe the surroundings. But after only a few breaths, she stopped with a touch of frustration. Clearly, she hadn't found a way through.
"Hmph. Shadow-Devour is one of the finest escape techniques. Why can't you manage even a decent attempt?"
The words came out of nowhere. Li Xun was stunned for a moment before he realized she was blaming his mediocre escape skills for holding her back. In the past he might have brushed it aside, but now that the two of them had almost openly broken with each other, he no longer bothered to keep up appearances. He only sneered.
"I practice puppet techniques and specialize in restrictions. If I could master escape techniques on top of that, I'd already be head of a sect. Damn it, since your escape technique is so wonderful, why don't you try breaking that formation yourself?"
The air between them bristled with killing intent. In the end it was Shui Die Lan who yielded a little. She turned her gaze, smiled. "Then show me a better plan."
Sensing he had pressed enough, Li Xun held back. After a brief pause to gather his thoughts, he was just about to speak when a sudden ripple stirred in his heart. A familiar aura brushed past him like a night wind sweeping through the forest, carrying the faint, natural rustle of leaves. He quickly lowered his gaze so Shui Die Lan would not notice the joy flashing in his eyes.
Her perception was keener than his. The moment she caught it, her face hardened, her eyes sweeping the area. Then she rose sharply to her feet. Li Xun almost jumped in alarm. Here, every few breaths, another wave of cultivators' probing auras swept by. What she was doing was little different from shouting out loud.
"What are you doing?"
Shui Die Lan shot him a glance, her ice-blue lips curling ever so slightly. That image had barely seared itself into Li Xun's mind when her figure blurred like mist, vanishing into the forest fog that had begun to rise.
Li Xun froze, then leapt up and gave chase.
It was only two or three li, hardly more than the time it took to draw a breath even in dense forest. Yet in that brief stretch, blood had already been spilled.
Hidden in the shadow of a great tree, Shui Die Lan's gaze was sharp and cold. Not five feet before her, a cultivator staggered forward like a drunkard. He managed only two steps before collapsing at her feet, a dark bloom of blood spreading from his back.
Farther off, another cultivator lay sprawled on the ground, long since dead.
Seeing this from behind Shui Die Lan, Li Xun exclaimed, "Who did this?"
Of course, he already knew. Just twenty feet ahead, a swirl of robes flashed past the trees. It was gone in an instant, but the blood-red fabric was searing to the eyes, not to mention the low, guttural sound that followed, shaking the heart.
Li Xun's face froze in shock. "Who is he?"
The cold severity on Shui Die Lan's face slowly melted away. At last she curled her lips in a half-sneer, half-dismissive look, and answered with something completely different.
"I know who killed He Can."
Under Li Xun's startled, baffled gaze, she lifted her chin and said, "Go on then, let's hear this brilliant plan of yours. Make it quick. Otherwise… otherwise you'd better start praying and see if heaven's willing to spare your life."
Even as she spoke, her eyes shifted back toward the now-empty forest. In the distance, other cultivators had finally sensed something was wrong, and they were rushing to converge on this spot.
The forest, which had only just grown quiet, erupted into chaos once more.