Before she finished thinking, she suddenly felt something warm press against her side.
“Hey, wait…”
Before she could react and reject, Linglong had already embraced her, gently stroking her head.
“Don’t cry, don’t cry. I’m here. Next time you point out that person, I’ll help you get revenge.”
Huajian didn’t hear those words clearly; at that moment, she was busy pondering what the soft thing touching her cheek was.
“Y-you… let me go! How improper!” Her face flushed crimson, but she didn’t dare struggle much, afraid to touch anything forbidden.
Huajian was a walking contradiction.
If she had no feelings for someone, she would act freely around them—hugging and being hugged without a hint of shame.
For example, with Caidie or Su Xiaoxiao, she could hold or be held without blushing.
But if she had even a subtle affection for someone, she became timid and cautious, unwilling to make any inappropriate moves, like a lowly dog worshiping its goddess.
Even if the goddess stood naked before her, ready to be plucked, she wouldn’t dare touch.
In short: she was a coward.
As for Linglong, Huajian really did have feelings that went beyond friendship.
Where those feelings came from was hard to say; she couldn’t exactly admit she was attracted by Linglong’s looks.
There’s no such thing as love at first sight—just lust.
In any case, Linglong’s generous affection broke Huajian’s defenses, revealing her most fragile side.
Linglong’s lips curled slightly as she watched the faintly blushing Huajian. She found her quite adorable.
She liked this side of Huajian.
……
Just as strange thoughts stirred in Linglong’s heart, a terrible event had already unfolded within the Su family.
“What did you say? The Su family’s old patriarch died last night?!”
The next morning, just waking from cultivation, Huajian heard the thunderclap news.
The Su family’s old patriarch had passed from illness, and the supposed heir, the eldest young master, along with his wife, were missing.
The entire Su family had plunged into chaos.
Along with them disappeared three Spirit King bodyguards, making it hard not to suspect deeper machinations.
“Tsk… such ruthless methods. To stop our investigation, they even dared do this,” Huajian gasped, making a tiny contribution to global warming.
She didn’t need to think hard to know why the old patriarch died and the heir disappeared—it was because the demonic path had learned of her plan to infiltrate the Su family via Su Wangsheng to investigate the medicinal herb secrets.
To cut off her investigation, they had struck at the Su family.
Thinking back, perhaps Miss Su’s serious illness years ago and the old patriarch’s ailments were the demonic path’s doing.
They had gone to great lengths to fight over the medicinal herbs.
“What secret could this young lady be hiding to draw such demonic attention?”
Huajian really couldn’t understand what was so special about the medicinal herb. No strength, no beauty, no hidden elixirs—why was the demonic path focused on her?
“The demonic path severed the clues. Now, the only lead we have is Su Yulin,” Huajian sighed, feeling a headache coming on, and asked Linglong if she could try to pry information from Su Yulin.
“We could soul-search him, but I suspect he’s sealed with a powerful spiritual ward. Random soul-searching might shatter his spirit…” Linglong shook her head.
In the cultivation world, there were many ways to make someone talk; soul-searching was the simplest and most direct.
But its downside was that it often left the subject mentally crippled, and if a powerful spiritual ward was in place, it would block the attempt and implode the soul.
Search once, and the target is silent forever.
That’s why soul-searching was only used as a last resort. Usually, the righteous preferred to reason and persuade captured demonic personnel—confess and be lenient; resist and be harsh.
If you confess, you might lose your cultivation but avoid worse. If you don’t, prepare to be soul-searched into a vegetable.
“Is there a way to make him talk willingly?”
Linglong was silent for a long time before shaking her head.
“Maybe, but I wouldn’t do it.”
There were countless spiritual techniques in the world—there might well be one that worked like that.
But Linglong was a battle-type cultivator who used electricity; she was good at striking people, not so much at coaxing or spying.
Otherwise, why would she travel with Huajian as an external brain? She couldn’t just be there for fun and beauty.
“Then it’s difficult. I’ll try to approach Su Yusheng again and see if I can find more clues through him.”
……
In a single night, with his grandfather dead and father missing, even a fool like Su Yusheng knew the Su family was in dire straits.
But he was utterly useless—could do nothing but watch his elder brother bear the pressure, managing the family, consoling relatives, and striving to keep the Su family from shattering.
At this critical moment, the person he longed for suddenly appeared at his door.
“Little Young Master, you seem troubled.”
Su Yusheng, hiding in his room and drinking bitter tea, trembled as he heard Huajian’s voice. The teacup in his hand shook.
He turned toward the voice and saw the masked girl emerging faintly from the white mist—ghostlike in form.
“How did you…”
“Of the eight Spirit King bodyguards, six are gone. The remaining two are protecting your brother closely. Your defenses here aren’t strong,” Huajian said calmly.
The Su family had only eight Spirit King bodyguards total; three had recently died, three had disappeared with the new patriarch, leaving just two.
Those two couldn’t spare one to protect the useless Su Yusheng.
Now, all the family’s remaining forces were either with his elder brother or lying low, watching and waiting. Su Yusheng was left entirely unprotected.
“Does this have anything to do with you?” Su Yusheng’s brain might be slow, but even he could figure out Huajian’s involvement with the recent turmoil.
They had met just yesterday, and the Su family upheaval followed that night. How could he believe Huajian wasn’t involved?
“Indirectly. What I asked you to investigate touched some sensitive nerves. They’re now panicked and want to sever all the clues.”
Huajian snapped her fingers, and green vines rose behind her, weaving into a chair. She sat down, swinging her legs, explaining to the useless young master.
“Apparently, your grandfather and father knew about this, but you and your elder brother were kept in the dark.”
Otherwise, more people wouldn’t have gone missing. Since the demonic path was involved, they wouldn’t hesitate to eliminate a few more to seal off the Su family completely.
“Now, there aren’t many people you can rely on or trust.”
Su Yusheng swallowed nervously, sensing Huajian’s implied meaning.
She wanted him—no, the Su family—to cooperate with her, to submit!
“My demand is simple: cooperate with me to uncover their hidden secrets. After success, I will at least guarantee your safety.”
Huajian’s voice was calm and cold, making Su Yusheng’s fogged mind clear for once.
Of course, this time she didn’t use the confusion mist.
Before, she worked secretly with subtle tricks; now, she came out in the open and wanted him sober and alert.
The subconscious suggestion she planted in Su Yusheng’s mind the day before was beginning to work, and after some hesitation, the stubborn young master nodded in agreement.
“I… will go ask my brother.”
“Go. Take this with you.” Huajian nodded approvingly. This Su Yusheng looked much better than before, and the subconscious obedience suggestion had worked.
If he still acted like a spoiled noble, she’d have been very annoyed.
She tossed a jade token edged in gold to Su Yusheng, signaling him to get to work.
Catching the token, Su Yusheng stared at the characters on it and shook violently.
“This…”
“Don’t ask what you shouldn’t.”
“Yes, yes.”
Before long, Su Yusheng returned in a hurry with his elder brother.
No persuasion was needed; the token was the best argument.
“I am Su Yushu. Please, envoy, guide the Su family to a clear path.” The weary eldest young master bowed respectfully, returning the token Huajian had given Su Yusheng.
Compared to Su Yusheng, this eldest young master looked much better. His looks were about equal to Su Yulin’s but somewhat more ordinary.
If not for this sudden upheaval, he would have needed years of training to grow into the next family head. Now, he was forced into the role.
The token Huajian produced was given to her by Linglong—a token from the city lord of Huiyue City, the highest status token available.
Whoever held such a token was clearly a distinguished guest of the city lord, a figure the Su family must treat with utmost care.
“Cooperate with my investigation. If the Su family is innocent, nothing will happen to you,” Huajian waved at the token, then took it back.
“But if your elders are not innocent, be prepared.”
She left the outcome open-ended. Whether the Su family survived depended on their true innocence.
If Su Yulin was guilty, the family could cut him off and call him a traitor. But if both the old patriarch and new patriarch were corrupt, the Su family would not be spared.
Innocent family members would still be protected, such as the two brothers—still wealthy men.
“Understood. Whatever you wish to know, I will answer fully and truthfully.”
“I want to know about the medicinal herb.”
“Huh?”
“Are all traces cleaned up?”
“Completely. All those who knew have been dealt with.”
“Hmph. Those Wanhua Valley bitches are good at dirty tricks. Too bad they’re slow.”
Two black-clad men sat in a teahouse not far from the Su family, sipping tea and eyeing the desolate aura around the Su residence.
After discovering Wanhua Valley’s involvement in the Su family, they quickly purged the family internally to prevent Wanhua Valley from uncovering the secrets they wanted to hide.
Now that Su Yulin had been taken, the Su family was no longer useful. They preferred to root out all infiltrators in the Su family and concentrate their forces to seize the medicinal herb school.
Before withdrawing forces from the Su family, they had to clean up all traces—especially killing all insiders who knew the truth.
“Thanks to that old man’s tight lips, we didn’t have to kill too many this time,” one black-clad man sneered.
The old patriarch had been careful, only telling the secret to his son. Unfortunately, he hadn’t expected his son to be untrustworthy.
The second son, supposedly lost during a secret elopement, was not lost by accident but ambushed by the demonic path.
From the second son’s soul, the demonic path extracted the medicinal herb school’s information, confirming it was their target.
Then followed years of infiltration, planting spies in the Su family. Yet their plan was foiled just before success by Wanhua Valley’s interference.
A bitter failure!
Because of this, the demonic path refused to give up.
They had expended so much effort over Yaomei—how could they just abandon her?
Even if it meant wiping out all Wanhua Valley cultivators here, they would reclaim her!
“The senior brother will arrive in a few days. Once the auction begins, we strike Wanhua Valley!” the second black-clad man said coldly.
Wanhua Valley had a Spirit Emperor here, but so did they—and in overwhelming numbers of Spirit Kings.
Huiyue City was not Wanhua Valley’s main stronghold in Zhongzhou. Just because Huaxinyuan was here didn’t mean the rest of Wanhua Valley’s power was.
They had investigated and found a severe gap in Wanhua Valley’s forces here—only Huaxinyuan, one resident Spirit King, and a few Spirit Masters and Knights with no real strength.
If a fight broke out, they could easily crush Wanhua Valley’s forces.
The auction’s start would be their best opportunity. The entire city’s attention would focus on the auction, with the city lord personally attending and staying to prevent accidents.
That would be the perfect cover for their attack.
Unfortunately, they still didn’t know where Wanhua Valley was hiding Yaomei.
There were no signs of her at the city lord’s mansion. She must have been hidden again by Wanhua Valley.
The demonic path’s biggest problem was that they didn’t know Yaomei’s location. They could only guess where Wanhua Valley concealed her.
“I’ve had people watch Wanhua Valley, but they’re acting normal. No clue where they’re hiding her.”
It was as if she wasn’t even in their hands.
But that was impossible—all evidence pointed to her being held by Wanhua Valley, who were probing her secrets.
So there was only one possibility: this time, Wanhua Valley was serious and had hidden Yaomei extremely securely!