East Victorious Divine Continent, deep within an old mountain forest.
"Where exactly are we going? Are there still allies of ours in the East Victorious Divine Continent?"
Dong Gua had endured days of exhausting travel. Her wounds hadn't healed, and Li Xingtian had slashed her again on top of that.
She hadn't even had time to treat her injuries before the Pig Mask had dragged her off on a relentless journey.
Every now and then, she was subjected to the Pig Mask's spatial traversals as well.
If there were a destination, that would at least give her some hope — some end in sight.
But when Dong Gua spotted the same mountain peak for the third time, she couldn't hold back any longer.
Was he just joyriding with her life? The entire East Victorious Divine Continent headquarters had been blown sky-high.
Her own life probably had no remaining value to anyone. If they met again, she'd be sliced up without a second thought.
Could there be an actual pig behind that mask?
The Pig Mask stopped moving and shot Dong Gua a dangerous look.
Dong Gua met his gaze without flinching. If she showed weakness here, there was an eighty percent chance she'd die at this pig's hands.
"If you have allies, you should be rallying them. If you have a destination, you should be heading there. Instead, you're taking me in circles."
"There's almost certainly still a dragnet out searching for us right now."
"You might not care about my life or your own, but the information and situation here needs to be reported to the top — even if you have to report it alone."
The Pig Mask spoke calmly: "I'm not going in circles. I'm searching for surviving operatives in my own way."
"So far, it looks like they all went down near the Silent Bone Forest. They must have seen through our operation completely."
"They were on the same mission as me, hidden in similar locations. They're all dead, and yet only you and I survived."
"Do you think we just got lucky? Or did someone intentionally let us go?"
"If they did let us go intentionally, then what was the purpose? Tell me, clever Dong Gua — can you answer that?"
Dong Gua's eyes narrowed slightly. "You suspect me?"
"Shouldn't I?" The Pig Mask slid both hands into his sleeves. Two short daggers were already in his grip as his body leaned slightly toward Dong Gua.
Dong Gua took a deep breath and explained in a cold voice:
"I've never been to the main headquarters, and I never knew its exact location. I'm a single-line operative. If I could access information above my clearance, the headquarters would have been blown up long ago."
"If I had truly sold out intelligence, I wouldn't still be traveling with you. What would I possibly gain from that? The glory of the human race?"
"The blood running through our veins means we can never truly blend into their skins."
"So tell me — should I really be under suspicion?"
The Pig Mask straightened up, retracting the daggers into his sleeves. His expression neither sad nor happy as he regarded Dong Gua.
"Then you're right — I shouldn't suspect you. But I have something to tell you."
"We're not going back to headquarters. We're both going to die here."
Dong Gua's face showed absolute bewilderment. "Why?"
"For the sake of safety." The Pig Mask looked up at the sky.
"The losses this time are beyond recovery. Even with the Heavenfall, it can never be regained."
"The information we carry is important, but only to a degree. If we both die, the main headquarters will naturally be put on alert."
"The headquarters' security is the most important bottom line."
Dong Gua stared at the Pig Mask, unable to hide her shock.
Why was it that every demon she encountered didn't want to live?
Was dying really that appealing? Why was every single one of them rushing toward death?
Dong Gua had many things she wanted to say, many arguments she could make. But she pressed them all down in her heart.
She understood perfectly well that the Pig Mask before her was nothing like Half a Melon. If she tried to argue forcefully, she'd probably be cut down with a single blade.
Dong Gua's face seemed to grow even paler. She leaned against a tree and slowly sat down.
All the effort she had put in these past days. All the desperate struggling. In this moment, it all seemed like a cruel joke.
She was still going to die. She still couldn't survive.
The Pig Mask glanced at Dong Gua's expression and said nothing, simply standing where he was.
"There's no need to be so dramatic about dying."
A sudden, cool female voice rang out.
The Pig Mask's daggers flashed beneath his sleeves, gleaming with piercing cold light. His source power flared as he glared viciously in the direction of the voice.
In his field of vision, a woman in a white dress stood at a distance, wearing a rabbit mask. The verdant bracelet on her wrist faintly glimmered with the light of a spirit treasure.
Behind the Rabbit Mask woman stood two cultivators wearing bronze masks.
They were at the very peak of Spirit Transformation — perhaps even in the Body Integration realm.
The bronze-masked cultivators had deployed a powerful technique that blocked divine sense detection.
That was how they had approached undetected by the Pig Mask's scans, getting this close before the Rabbit Mask woman spoke and he finally reacted.
Chen Baiqing's calm gaze swept over the two of them before settling on Dong Gua, who still hadn't risen from her seat beneath the tree, wearing a faint, almost mocking smile.
So this was the Dong Gua that Cui Hao's intelligence had described as having an incredibly strong will to live?
Chen Baiqing couldn't detect even the slightest trace of a desire to survive in her eyes...
No wonder Eldest Senior Sister was angry. Cui Hao really did need to be taught a lesson. Being this sloppy when handling serious business was inexcusable.
Chen Baiqing turned her attention to the Pig Mask, whose eyes were still full of murderous intent.
"If we wanted you dead, we wouldn't have said so much. The fact that you've survived this long is entirely because of us."
"You don't need to suspect each other. At the very least, neither of you is the problem."
The Pig Mask sneered. "And who are you?"
Chen Baiqing's left hand, hidden in her sleeve, gently squeezed a sealing stone imbued with source power.
Her right hand, wearing the Azure Heaven Treasure Ring, began simulating that same source energy.
She extended her hand beyond the screening barrier, sending a wave of source power toward the Pig Mask and Dong Gua.
The Pig Mask's eyes narrowed, his expression still tinged with suspicion.
"Who I am doesn't matter." Chen Baiqing withdrew her hand, and the source power instantly dissipated. "What matters is that there's something I need you two to do."
"There is already a traitor among us, and their status is extremely high — high enough to have sold out the East Victorious Divine Continent headquarters' location."
"And the reason we went to such lengths to keep you alive is straightforward: you're the smoke screen."
"I know that the two of you know nothing. But the traitor doesn't know that."
"You should understand what you need to do from here, yes?"
The Pig Mask shot a sidelong glance at Dong Gua.
Dong Gua caught his look. After a moment, she rose to her feet. She thought for a while before asking:
"Which Heavenly Demon envoy are you from?"
Chen Baiqing's voice was flat as she spoke two words.
"Spirit Mountain."
Dong Gua paused, then looked at the eyes behind the rabbit mask and asked again:
"Would you mind being more specific, Envoy?"
Chen Baiqing's tone remained even as she countered with a question.
"Do you truly want to know?"
At those words, Dong Gua's aura instantly weakened.
She understood the implication — do you still want to live?
Chen Baiqing quickly gathered the information she needed. She lowered her gaze, her tone carrying deep resignation.
"This matter shouldn't have involved us in the first place. That was the agreement when we divided our assignments."
"But if we don't step in now..."
Chen Baiqing paused, seeming to deliberate for a moment before continuing.
"Whether you're willing or not, this is your only path to survival. It's also your chance to save your headquarters."
"That's all I'll say. You never saw me today, and I never saw you. Even if you speak of it, we won't acknowledge it."
"How you proceed from here is up to you. Just know that after today, we won't cover for you any longer."
With those words, Chen Baiqing turned and departed without a moment's hesitation.
She spoke one last line before leaving.
"If there's a genuine emergency you can't handle, go to Spirit Mountain. Someone will receive you."
Dong Gua and the Pig Mask watched Chen Baiqing's retreating figure, their hearts churning with complex and strange emotions.
A hundred li away, Chen Baiqing and her two companions departed under concealment.
"Go tell my master — the likelihood that Spirit Mountain has ties to the demons is extremely high."
Chen Baiqing spoke calmly to the person beside her.
Deceiving a human or a demon was never easy, especially without any credentials or tokens.
Chen Baiqing had never planned to truly deceive the two of them from the start. She had merely figured that while attempting to deceive them, extracting useful but hard-to-verify intelligence would be relatively simple.
That was why she had dared to fabricate claims so freely, even with the Buddhist sect's intelligence being inconclusive.
Even if the deception failed, it wouldn't yield absolutely nothing.
That said, these two demons really were stupid.
No wonder Cui Hao had managed to fool them.
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