Jian Dan's reply drew every gaze in the hall. Jian Li swept his eyes around and said evenly, "Junior Sister, share your deductions. Let the Heavenly Demon Palace and the Law Enforcement Hall weigh in."
"All right." Jian Dan nodded without demur. Everyone present would have to face these problems sooner or later.
"Bi Shu was marked by the insect race from the very beginning. She wasn't taken earlier because her fusion hadn't reached a perfect state. In other words, she still carried enough insect aura to be detected by instruments."
"That is correct. Ever since we discovered her, the Heavenly Demon Palace has kept her from leaving Huanle City. We soothed her family as well, saying that when the time was right we would bring Bi Shu into the palace to cultivate." Mo Su cupped his fists, adding context for why Bi Shu had remained hidden so long.
"My guess is that after Bi Shu advanced to Nascent Soul, her insect aura was completely muffled. The insect race noticed first, but fortunately the Heavenly Demon Palace moved swiftly and took her away at once."
"So that explains it. On the way back to the sect with Bi Shu, we were blocked by a group of Void Refinement cultivators. Good thing we met Jian Lu Zūnshàng." Mo Yi rubbed his chin. Linking his earlier ambush to this logic made everything click.
"Right. After their people were wiped out last time, they bided their time. Then the blood insect appeared, and the chance came. Hence the repeated ambushes on your road, to the point of dispatching a Mahayana Zhēnzūn."
"They want Bi Shu because she has already turned into a human cultivator?" Mo Qi's clear voice rang out.
"Yes. Strictly speaking, Bi Shu is a perfect fusion of human and insect. If they intend to hide on the Lingyun Continent and wait for the right moment, this is the best path."
"But Bi Shu only became what she is by a coincidence of fortune. It wasn't deliberate."
"Exactly. Because it was chance, they're desperate to get her. Study her, and they might find a way to make other parasitic insects become the same."
"That…"
The cultivators in the hall traded looks. Jian Lu Zūnshàng's reading likely matched the insect race's aim.
Listening to all of it, Bi Shu felt like crying without tears. Fate had been too fickle. She had no ambition and still ended up on everyone's mind.
"Bi Xiaoyou, you count as a human cultivator now. We are using you only to glean information about the insect race. But if they drag you back, they may carve you to pieces, extract your soul, and refine your spirit to figure out how you fused. At that point you will have to pray for your own fate."
Jian Dan finished and bared her teeth in a smile. Bi Shu shivered, her face turning dark. "Zūnshàng… what should I do?"
"What else? Wipe out the insect race, and only then will you be truly safe. After that, it's up to your own skill. Work hard. Perhaps you will ascend, and we can meet again in the Immortal Realm."
Jian Dan painted her a large, shining future.
Flippant as it sounded, once Bi Shu thought it through, she realized it was the only road left.
"Senior Brother, Bi Xiaoyou is our treasure now. Send her to my Tianyue Peak first. Have Lü Se arrange quarters."
"Very well. Zhengrong."
"Here."
"Escort Bi Xiaoyou over."
"Yes, Hall Master."
Wei Zhengrong led a wan-faced Bi Shu out of the hall.
"If Jian Lu Zūnshàng's analysis holds, Bi Shu must not fall into their hands," Mo Su said.
"Agreed. And we still do not know what bargain these cultivators struck with the insect race to act as their agents in the world."
Jian Dan paused there and turned to Jian Li Zūnshàng. "Senior Brother, when I fought them, their strength felt off."
"I know. You alone pinned down two Unity cultivators." A faint smile touched Jian Li's lips.
Jian Dan answered with a modest smile. "Your focus is wrong, Senior Brother. Their true strength was only early Unity. That is why I could hold them."
"Oh? You mean…"
"Their cultivation was not obtained by their own training." She spread her hands.
"Jian Lu Zūnshàng implies they received benefits from the insect race?" Mo Su asked mildly, sword brows lifting.
"Mm. That is my guess." Jian Dan's frankness drew a hush. Everyone fell into thought, turning the matter over.
"Junior Sister, you have worked hard this time. Please host the Heavenly Demon Palace's party for a few days," Jian Li said.
"No problem. Lend me Jian Feng to assist for a bit." She asked without the slightest politeness.
Mo Su's eyes brightened. He glanced at Jian Feng standing behind Jian Li, amusement in his gaze.
"Ahem."
Jian Li shot Mo Su a look, then said helplessly, "Fine. The Law Enforcement Hall is quiet lately. Jian Feng will help you for a few days."
"Many thanks, Senior Brother. I will go ahead and make arrangements."
Jian Dan rose, cupped her fists to Jian Li and Sect Master Jian Chong, then said to Jian Feng, "Jian Feng, escort our honored guests from the Heavenly Demon Palace to the Guest Hall on Tianyue Peak shortly."
"Yes, Zūnshàng." Jian Feng stepped forward to accept the order, then withdrew behind Jian Li again.
After a brief salute to the room, Jian Dan returned to her own peak. As she descended in a streak of light, Lü Se came up and cupped his fists. "Zūnshàng, I have already settled Bi Xiaoyou in the Guest Hall."
"Good. All Heavenly Demon Palace cultivators are to be housed in our Tianyue Peak Guest Hall. Jian Feng will bring them shortly. Set the hall in order. Prepare the best spirit fruit and tea. Make it presentable. They are all high-level cultivators."
"Understood. I will arrange it now."
"Have Yun Jian and Yun Shu assist you. Ting Feng and Wang Yu will remain on duty here."
Jian Dan added one more line.
"Thank you for your consideration, Zūnshàng." Lü Se hurried off with two attendants to make preparations.
Jian Dan returned to the rocking chair beneath the banyan and closed her eyes to rest. Inwardly, she judged that the Heavenly Demon Palace would not dare take Bi Shu away from the Heavenly Sword Sect lightly.
When the enemy discovered that the Bi Shu they had paid dearly to bring back was a puppet, their mood would sour.
Precisely then, the two Unity cultivators in Jian Dan's thoughts arrived with the flying shuttle before their own Zhēnzūn. The moment "Bi Shu" was dragged out, she turned into a wooden puppet in front of the three.
The Zhēnzūn on the dais, voice low and cold, smashed the puppet to splinters with a single palm, then sent another palm to batter the two Unity cultivators into serious injury.
"This is the person you brought back?"
"Zhēnzūn, forgive us. We were careless. We will keep watch at the Heavenly Sword Sect. No matter what, we will bring Bi Shu back."
They ignored their fallen cultivation and scrambled to their feet to speak up.
"Watch at the Heavenly Sword Sect? Do you not think your deaths quick enough? Go ahead and try."
Teeth ground in the air above.
"Your subordinate is incompetent. Please punish us."
"Get out. Keep track of Bi Shu. When she leaves the Heavenly Sword Sect, then you act."
"Yes."
The two answered in haste and slipped out of the Zhēnzūn's cave abode without a sound.
Once they were gone, their superior crushed the shuttle to powder with one hand.