Not everyone is honest and trustworthy—Huajian had long known this, so she was quite accepting when it came to people breaking their promises.
Compared to that, she was more concerned about Linglong’s current mood: Was she confused or angry after being deceived?
“How does it feel to be tricked? Do you want to punch that guy into next week?”
Linglong turned her head and silently strode toward the inn.
Huajian hurried to catch up, and the two of them walked half the way in silence before Linglong finally spoke.
“I want to.”
“That’s right. People like that deserve a hard lesson. We risked our lives to get him out of that deadly trap, and he treats us like fools. Next time I see him, I’ll make sure he regrets it!”
“He’s already gone.” Linglong reminded her.
Once outside the city, who would know where that cultivator disappeared to?
Huajian shook her head and told Linglong it wasn’t that simple.
“He’s still clutching that token tightly, which means he has some plan. He’ll definitely be back in the city before the auction starts—and when that time comes, he won’t get off easy.”
“Can you catch him?” Linglong asked in confusion.
“Hard to catch one, but there are plenty others we do have.” Huajian pulled out intelligence she had obtained from Hanrui and squinted as she sifted through a pile of reports, finally picking out the fugitive.
“I’ll tell those competing for tokens which ones I’ve already taken and which remain unclaimed.”
“I think anyone with a bit of sense will choose to sacrifice some benefits and cooperate with me. We’ll play the good cop and bad cop—mutually beneficial, win-win.”
Hearing Huajian say such things, which hardly sounded like the words of a good person, Linglong’s expression showed a hint of helplessness.
After Huajian’s explanation, Linglong’s anger and resentment from being deceived lessened considerably. So this was what they were doing—playing dirty tricks with the bad guys.
But in a way, they were also helping those trapped in difficult situations, so it was still a good deed.
“What about Yaomei’s situation? What should we do?”
“That one’s complicated. How do two outsiders like us get close to the Su family, one of the Four Great Families? Sneaking in to investigate is impossible; we can only take it one step at a time.”
Huajian flipped through the intelligence while replying.
Suddenly, she paused.
“Huh? What a coincidence!”
She pulled out another sheet, which recorded a lucky young man targeted by none other than the Su family’s young master.
Coincidentally, that lucky youth’s token was already in Linglong’s possession.
“Linglong, look at this.” Huajian handed her the paper.
Linglong scanned the information and recalled the story she had told Huajian late last night.
It matched perfectly!
“The Su family’s young master wants a token too?”
“Exactly. I think this is our breakthrough. We can use this opportunity to gather intel on the Su family.”
…
With a target in sight, Huajian and Linglong immediately sought out Yaomei and asked about the Su family’s young master.
“You mean Su Yusheng? He’s my uncle’s youngest son, very favored within the family.” Yaomei recalled and listed Su Yusheng’s traits.
During her time living in the Su family, Yaomei rarely conflicted with Su Yusheng. After all, she was a well-behaved girl who never stepped outside the family gates—and her surname wasn’t even Su but Yaoxiao.
At most, during the few family banquets each year, Su Yusheng would glare at her with disdain.
Their daily paths rarely crossed, so conflicts didn’t arise.
“He despises my second uncle’s son because my elder brother is the illegitimate child of my second uncle and a maid. Seven or eight years ago, they eloped but met with an accident, and both died.”
“Considering my elder brother was my second uncle’s only blood heir, my grandfather, the head of the Su family, went against the majority and kept him in the family. And he showed remarkable talent.”
Then came the usual family grudges.
Because her mother often used that orphaned cousin as a reason for complaints, Su Yusheng disliked him greatly and frequently provoked him.
That cousin was very capable; Su Yusheng never gained the upper hand and often lost out. Gradually, they became enemies.
“Su Yusheng is arrogant, spoiled by his uncle’s favor. He refuses to fall behind in anything. He won’t miss out on a major event like the auction.”
After Yaomei finished, Huajian frowned. That young master sounded hard to deal with.
No one could truly like such a conceited scion from a great family.
Even if she humbled herself to approach him, he might not even respect her.
“Troublesome.” Huajian sighed.
Yaomei knew Huajian was asking about Su Yusheng to unravel the mystery surrounding her, so she earnestly searched for a feasible plan.
After some pondering, her eyes lit up.
“I remember, Su Yusheng loves reading various storybooks. He’s the type to daydream.”
“He often meets with talented and eccentric people, thinking himself the protagonist in a novel, with the insight to see through others.”
Yaomei’s idea was simple: Huajian and Linglong would disguise themselves as mystical masters who fool people with tricks and illusions.
This had a higher chance of success than approaching Su Yusheng under their real identities.
The Su family’s young master was just the type to fall for such a trick—and not mind being deceived.
“Ah, classic chuunibyou.” Huajian understood and found Yaomei’s clue quite valuable.
A lady like this was a good big miss—at least not just a decoration.
“Linglong, who should we pretend to be?”
Linglong shook her head slightly; she wasn’t good at this sort of thing.
Huajian’s next words almost made her jump out of her chair.
“Then let’s pretend to be from Wanhua Valley!”
Among the three present, Yaomei didn’t know what Wanhua Valley was, but Linglong gasped sharply and grabbed Huajian’s cheek.
“No way!”
Her tone was extremely stern.
Huajian rubbed her sore cheek, almost in tears, “Why not?”
“Do you know what Wanhua Valley represents?” Linglong asked.
“No, but haven’t you and others always said I resemble people from Wanhua Valley?”
Huajian figured if she looked that much like them, she might as well take the initiative to pretend once. She didn’t expect Linglong to react so fiercely.
As if she was about to go underwater.
“Playing a role reluctantly and actively deceiving people are two different things. And under no circumstances should you get involved with Wanhua Valley—understand?”
Being mistaken as a Wanhua Valley cultivator by others was one thing; actively pretending to be one was a completely different matter.
Linglong could tolerate Huajian having complicated relationships with girls from other Sacred Sects, but connecting with Wanhua Valley was absolutely forbidden.
What if Huajian got addicted to the role and actually went to Wanhua Valley? That would really be going under!
“Then let’s just pretend to be wandering cultivators with extraordinary talents. How he interprets that is up to him…” Huajian was startled by Linglong’s serious demeanor and didn’t dare joke around anymore.
Timing was everything; acting foolish now would only bring severe punishment.
“But is Wanhua Valley really that terrifying?” She scratched her head. Huajian had always lacked sufficient understanding of the demonic sects.
The main forces of the demonic path weren’t in Zhongzhou; the southeast, southwest, and northwest regions were their strongholds.
Those areas were vast and sparsely populated, with few powerful cultivators, making it easy for demonic sects to hide.
Huajian woke up already in Zhongzhou, where people didn’t openly discuss the demonic path, so her knowledge was very limited.
She didn’t even know how many major demonic powers existed, let alone the differences and characteristics among them.
“If you won’t let me pretend to be one of them, at least tell me what they’re like.”
Linglong’s expression darkened. Wanhua Valley’s activities were hard to speak of; she needed to gather her thoughts.
Taking a deep breath, she pointed toward the direction of the painting boats they had visited before and said, “They do that.”
Huajian looked where Linglong pointed and took a few seconds to understand what she meant.
Then she gasped, “So they’re from Hehuan Sect?!”
“That was the name they used long ago. Later, Hehuan Valley underwent a drastic change and eventually became what it is now.” Linglong briefly explained the past and present of Wanhua Valley.
“Today’s Wanhua Valley hasn’t abandoned the traditions of the older generation, but their activities now straddle the righteous and demonic paths, mainly acting as information brokers.”
Even the demonic path disliked Wanhua Valley for cozying up to the righteous, but their intelligence network was powerful, and their sect leader ranked among the top in the demonic path.
So they reluctantly accepted Wanhua Valley’s demonic identity.
The righteous path actually wished all demonic sects were as compliant as Wanhua Valley, so they never targeted them seriously.
The old Hehuan Valley was harsh and exploitative; now, their methods are gentler, not driving people to death.
Even their sect’s secret method, the Flower God Codex, contains few Hehuan Valley traits.
“I heard from some senior sisters how terrifying Wanhua Valley’s intelligence network is. In every city’s willow-lined alleys, there might be Wanhua Valley spies monitoring the entire cultivation world.”
“So the places we visited before probably had Wanhua Valley operatives too?” Huajian was shocked.
“In big cities like Huiyue City, it’s almost certain there are Wanhua Valley spies,” Linglong nodded.
Learning that Wanhua Valley did such things, Huajian felt uneasy.
She was a pure and chaste girl and didn’t want to be connected to such unscrupulous people.
This time, she completely agreed with Linglong—pretending to be Wanhua Valley was a no-go.
It would easily cause strange misunderstandings.
“I didn’t expect them to be like this. No wonder they’re so disliked,” she murmured.
From her years of experience in this world, sects like Wanhua Valley were indeed looked down upon.
After all, others relied on their cultivation; Wanhua Valley’s methods were… well, something else.
“Even worse, Wanhua Valley people have no restrictions on gender. They especially like beautiful youths. You have to be very careful.” Linglong continued to frighten Huajian.
Her intention was clear: to keep Huajian far away from those bad people. She couldn’t let her favorite junior sister be tainted by Wanhua Valley.
“Okay, okay, I’ll be super careful!”
…
“Huaxinyuan, I’ll ask you again—will you hand over the person or not?”
“The person isn’t with me; how could I hand them over?”
The woman in the red dress took a light sip from the tea cup before responding calmly.
Opposite her sat a black-clad man, his face dark as thunder—the very demon cultivator who had recently raided the Ling King’s tomb.
He had come to strike a deal with Huaxinyuan: if she handed over Yaomei, Wanhua Valley would reward her handsomely.
Yet Huaxinyuan brushed him off, claiming the person wasn’t there. If not here, where else could they be? Clearly, he was being hidden!
“This person is crucial to us. For the future of the demonic path, Huaxinyuan, don’t be selfish!”
“The future of the demonic path? Ha, I think you mean the future of Tianmomen.” Huaxinyuan sneered. She despised those hypocrites who acted all righteous despite being demons.
Everyone was a demon here; why pretend otherwise?
Tianmomen had recently become more aggressive and excessive to support that elder’s breakthrough to the Saint Realm.
At first, they only fought over spiritual treasures; now, they were after people.
Yaomei wasn’t ordinary—if she were truly in Huaxinyuan’s hands, the black-clad man couldn’t afford the price to buy her back.
“I’ll say it once more: the person is not here, and this has nothing to do with Wanhua Valley. Every debt has its debtor—please leave!”
Finishing her tea, Huaxinyuan slammed the cup down on the table.
“You…”
“Hanrui, see them out!”
The young girl in pink standing outside entered with an awkward smile, politely escorting the threatening but hesitant black-clad demon cultivator away.
A few minutes later, she wiped sweat from her brow and returned to Huaxinyuan’s reception room.
“Senior Sister, his gaze was terrifying! I thought he was going to kill me!”
“Senior Sister’s tactics are brutal—she’s really putting me through the fire! So mean!”
“A useless worm, not worth the time.” Huaxinyuan snorted in disdain. “A mere Ling King dares talk to me like that? Does he think Wanhua Valley are soft cotton?”
Who gave that man the guts to talk to her like that? Huaxinyuan was a true Ling Emperor!
Did he think Wanhua Valley were little lambs to be bullied?
With that attitude, even without other reasons, Huaxinyuan would disrupt his plans!
“Boss… the soft targets are gone—none left.”
“What happened? Weren’t there plenty before? How did they all vanish in a single day? Did they all get taken in one day?”
“No, other forces got involved, took all the tokens from those soft targets… and told us, if we want tokens, we have to pay five hundred spirit stones each. Not a single stone less.”
The cultivators who had been robbed by Huajian recently exchanged looks, unsure how to assess the situation.
Was it bad? Not necessarily. Spirit stones could solve the problem. Better than threatening people with all that effort.
But five hundred spirit stones was quite steep…
“Tsk, and the others just watch the new guy gouge us?” The boss was angry.
“I heard the newcomer is strong. A few reckless ones tried to mess with him, and he took them down alone.”
Strength was the best bargaining chip. With such a record, cultivators with secrets dared not think ill.
They’d better just pay up honestly and get the job done.
At least that way, the Su family young master’s mission could be fulfilled…
Before the thought finished, a subordinate came running, “Boss, bad news! Su Yusheng sent people to demand payment—he wants all the spirit stones we collected handed over!”
“What?!”
…
Why did Su Yusheng do this?
Because he found a better, simpler way to get tokens.
“Five hundred spirit stones—for the token?” The young master placed five large spirit stones, crystal-clear and several times bigger than usual, on the table, addressing the masked mysterious figure opposite him.
After the last failed mission, he lost faith in those useless lackeys. He sent new men to search for token leads—and found a huge surprise.
Someone was selling tokens openly for just five hundred spirit stones each!
His hired group had charged him thousands but found nothing all these days.
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