Jian Li and Jian Dan traded a look. Jian Li flicked his sleeve to move Bi Shu aside, while Jian Dan lifted her hand and poured chaotic spiritual energy infused with the golden light of merit into the spatial cage.
A shrill, pitiful screech made everyone want to cover their ears. Under the twin assault of golden merit radiance and chaotic qi, the blood-red vein-lines on the blood insect's surface began to melt away. The creature's whole body trembled harder and harder. Jian Dan focused the chaotic qi on its antennae, and one of them dissolved halfway through.
Shunted away by Jian Li's sleeve, Bi Shu snapped awake as if from a dream. The moment her memory caught up, cold sweat broke out and she blurted, "It tried to control me!"
A cold light flashed through Jian Dan's eyes. She had underestimated the thing. Even like this, it could still exploit an opening. Sword light gathered at her fingertips. She was ready to cleave the creature in two.
"Junior Sister, keep it. It is still useful." Jian Li's timely voice stayed her hand.
Only then did Jian Dan withdraw the strand of sword light and recall the chaotic qi from the cage. She left the golden merit radiance in place, letting it continue to corrode the crimson vein-lines.
The blood insect shuddered, shrinking from twenty centimeters to fifteen.
Jian Dan's gaze flicked. With a wave, she guided the golden merit radiance to press in again, gnawing at the red tracery. The insect shrank once more, now only ten centimeters long.
Only then did she stop and nod to Meng Congjian. "Put it away. We have frightened our Xiaoyou enough."
"Yes, Zūnshàng." It was Meng Congjian's first time witnessing such a scene. Since Jian Lu Zūnshàng had spoken and Jian Li Zūnshàng did not object, he swept his sleeve and stored the spatial cage that held the blood insect.
Calm returned to the hall. Everyone took their seats again. Standing pale in the center, Bi Shu did not wait for questions. She spilled everything at once.
"Just now the blood insect told me to find a way to free it. Then it said I wasn't entirely insect race, that I could survive as a human cultivator and even cultivate, and it asked how I did it. I was ashamed and refused to tell it. Then I felt dizzy, like I lost consciousness. It was as if it was peeking through my mind. It seemed to be taking control of me. I did not know what I might do next."
When she finished, fear still lingered on her face. If the two Zūnshàng hadn't acted decisively, she would have been controlled. The next step after that would have been her execution within a single breath.
Mo Su and the others exchanged glances. The situation was more troublesome than they had expected.
Having vented a measure of anger on the blood insect, Jian Dan finally asked, "It could sense you. Can you sense it?"
"Not before. But when it linked to my consciousness just now, I could sense it." Bi Shu answered honestly.
"If, and I do mean if, the blood insect was parasitizing a cultivator, could you still sense it?"
"I do not know. I have never tried." She shook her head.
"What about now? If you encounter another blood insect like this, can you sense it?"
"I think I can."
That at least drew a quiet breath of relief from the Heavenly Demon Palace cultivators. Then their brows creased again. Any blood insect already in the mortal world would almost certainly be riding a cultivator. This one had been forced out by Heavenly Sword Sect cultivators working together.
"But…" Bi Shu stopped after two words, uncertain.
"Speak freely," Jian Li prompted.
"I think this insect seems more interested in why my fusion with a human cultivator is so successful." When she finished, she glanced at Jian Dan.
Jian Dan arched a brow. A thought flashed by. She sent a quick transmission to Liu Chuan.
"Liu Chuan, can you still sense insect race on Bi Shu? Does she have that stench you mentioned?"
"No. She is human cultivator now. The insect scent is gone."
"On my way back to Heavenly Sword Sect when I was disguised as Mo Yue, I stopped by the Bi residence. Did she carry insect scent then?"
"Yes. Faint. This time, almost none."
"Why didn't you say so earlier?"
"You did not ask. Wasn't she your little spy?"
"What a spy! She is exposed already. That is why they tracked her."
That was the end of Jian Dan's exchange with Liu Chuan. She cleared her throat and gestured to Wei Zhengrong. "Zhengrong, bring out the instrument that tests for possession by the insect race."
"Yes, Zūnshàng." Wei Zhengrong did not know her plan, but he still took the Golden Lattice Humming Orb from his storage ring and handed it to Jian Dan.
She set the small golden sphere on her palm, stirred it with spiritual power, and lofted it above Bi Shu's head. The hollowwork orb expanded slowly and shed a thread of golden light that fell over Bi Shu's entire body.
Bi Shu did not dare move. She stood quiet as a chicken.
Ten full breaths passed. The Golden Lattice Humming Orb made no sound. It drifted down and returned to Jian Dan's hand.
She caught the orb and sent it back to Wei Zhengrong with a pulse of spiritual power. "You see it now?"
"I do."
Wei Zhengrong had thought it through. His expression was not pleasant as he answered.
Every person in the hall was a pillar of the sect. After that simple demonstration, none of them could pretend not to understand. Their faces darkened.
Jian Dan turned the white jade ring on her finger and spoke mildly. "Mo Su, this explains why you were ambushed the moment you left your sect. They were not trying to kill you. They were after Bi Shu."
"Strictly speaking," Jian Li added in his low voice, "they were after Bi Shu as a perfect fusion body."
"Bi Xiaoyou." Jian Dan looked over at the dumbstruck girl and smiled.
"Yes, Zūnshàng." Bi Shu turned toward her.
"You can cultivate, correct?"
"I can. I only advanced to Nascent Soul not long ago…" Her voice faded as her face grew whiter and whiter.
A flicker of regret crossed Mo Su's eyes. He bowed to Jian Dan and Jian Li before speaking. "Back then, Junior Sister Mo Yue found Bi Shu. She said there was a fish that slipped the net. When we investigated, we found half a black-armored insect, and Bi Shu's Primordial Soul was incomplete. Because the insect was damaged, it could only choose Bi Shu to parasitize. After that, they complemented each other and fused into one."
"Because we always knew she was parasitized, we never used an instrument to verify it. We ignored the most important point."
Mo Yi and Mo Qi both wore shadowed expressions as they stared at Bi Shu, minds racing.
Jian Li turned his gaze to Jian Dan. He could tell from her unreadable look that she was piecing the whole matter together. He did not interrupt. Instead, he told the girl who stood there at a loss, "Bi Xiaoyou, sit and answer."
Bi Shu bowed to everyone and sat where she had been before, head drooping, waiting for judgment to fall.
Only a murmur of low discussion filled the hall. No one had expected the situation to twist quite like this.
Jian Li kept his attention on Jian Dan's face. Her eyes flickered light and dark, her brows faintly knotted. "Junior Sister, are your deductions unfavorable?"
At Jian Li's deep question, Jian Dan drew in her thoughts, nodded, and answered, "Somewhat grim."