Call it luck or timing, but the second He Mulan introduced himself, a spark went off in Li Xun's mind; he shared a surna with that person...
Celestial Lord He Zhiyan!
Back in the day, that man was the very picture of iron-blooded toughness. But after being tornted by the Yin Wanderer, he was left a broken, hollow shell; so much so that even being erased from the Tongxuan Realm's rolls beca public knowledge.
These days, the only place he still existed was as a cautionary tale, a living nightmare people used to explain just how terrifying the Yin Wanderer really was.
And Li Xun? After spending so much ti with that terrifying woman, how could he possibly not have a vivid mory of the man who’d been literally scared into madness by her?
He Zhiyan had beco so traumatized he’d turn pale at the sound of a woman’s voice, then collapse like jelly.
So now, with Li Xun playing the part of a low-ranked junior disciple, scared out of his wits by the Heavenly Demon Phoenix that he couldn't even hold his sword…wasn’t that completely natural?
This tactic, playing weak to draw sympathy, shifting the focus away, was one Li Xun had perfected down to an art. The plan ca together in a flash, and he improvised the rest seamlessly. In monts, he’d sold the image of a terrified, traumatized soul with heart-wrenching precision.
Even without soone like He Zhiyan as a point of comparison, his act was already rock-solid. But with that real example hanging over everyone’s head? No one dared to doubt it.
The Heavenly Demon Phoenix and the Yin Wanderer… yeah, they were definitely grandmasters of the sa level. In terms of cruelty? Pretty much neck and neck.
Once the past ca to mind, any remaining doubts in He Mulan and the others were erased.
Li Xun had just pulled off a masterstroke.
He didn’t just wipe away their suspicion of him; he even managed to subtly fra the Yin Wanderer as a conman type. That gave him a logical excuse for his behavior and laid down a nice, clean exit strategy.
Even if they brought this up again soday, it’d still be frad within this version of events.
And naturally, Li Xun could read their reactions too.
Except for He Mulan, who was a true cultivator with his calmness and deep mind, the others might as well have worn their thoughts on their sleeves.
Only Gu Pin’er showed him any genuine sympathy from start to finish.
As for the other three? They never once hid their contempt.
Upright cultivators like them couldn’t stomach soone like Li Xun… so “spineless,” so “weak.”
Of course, that was only because they’d never actually encountered monsters like the Demon Phoenix or the Yin Wanderer. They had no idea what true terror looked like.
Seeing that Li Xun clearly wasn’t in the right headspace to keep talking, He Mulan had no choice but to escort him back to theNational Preceptor’s Residence. He also returned Azure Jade to him. With that, the five of them took their leave; no doubt needing a serious discussion among themselves.
But the mont they stepped out the gate, all the madness in Li Xun’s eyes vanished like smoke.
His expression turned cold, and without a word, he turned and headed straight into his study room.
“Li Cong… my dear little brother.” Li Xun slamd his palm onto the desk, his face cold and hard. This ti, he was genuinely angry.
He didn’t know exactly how Li Cong got connected with people from the Heavenly Vigorous Sect, but he could pretty much guess the gist of it.
It must’ve started after that fight the other night; those people from the Heavenly Vigorous Sect started paying more attention to what was going on in the capital. Then, after crossing paths with Li Cong, they started digging into matters related to cultivators.
And when it ca to Li Cong’s mindset, Li Xun knew him like the back of his hand.
In the end, Li Cong had gotten scared.
He was afraid, afraid that Li Xun, with his strange and formidable abilities, would steal the title of heir right from under him. That he’d lose the position, the status, and the wealth that he thought belonged to him. So, he started throwing wrenches into things behind the scenes.
Maybe he didn’t know exactly who He Mulan and the others were, but he could definitely tell they were the sa kind of people as Li Xun. And that they definitely didn’t co with good intentions.
So what did he do? He sold Li Xun out.
Maybe he didn’t an to go so far, maybe he just wanted to stir up so trouble. But deep down, there was definitely a part of him that hoped soone else would take care of Li Xun for him.
His plan had been pretty clever. He could have played the whole thing off as a coincidence and made himself look like soone who ant well but ssed up—textbook case of “good intentions, bad results.” But soone like him, a pampered young master who’s never been slapped in the face by life, how could he possibly withstand that kind of overwhelming pressure that was so far beyond the human realm?
That’s why Li Xun had seen right through him at a glance.
Li Xun was lucky, honestly. His brother hadn’t spilled too much. At least, not yet. The matter with the Yin Wanderer and the Blood Wanderer was still under wraps. So He Mulan just thought he was a deserter, not a traitor.
Even so, he couldn’t afford to let his guard down. If sothing went wrong, the two Wanderers could just vanish without a trace, but Li Xun didn’t have that luxury. He couldn’t possibly survive the righteous sects uniting to take him down.
That’s why he made absolutely sure to cover every angle.
Aside from throwing off suspicion with a genius-level performance and leaving himself an escape route, he also used another trick, Sound-Penetrating Sand.
This was sothing the Yin Wanderer had given him. It was not just one of those “little trinkets” she casually handed out, but a real treasure.
When Li Xun had told her that He Mulan had seen through his Water Mirror Technique like it was nothing, and asked how he could avoid that in the future, the Yin Wanderer, on a whim, gave him this gem.
The sand looked exactly like regular dust. Toss it into the sunlight, and it would blend in perfectly with the floating particles in the air.
But under a specific incantation, it could cling to soone’s clothing, silently collecting all the vibrations in the air around them, every conversation and every whisper, and then transmit it to a specialized receiver, perfectly reproducing the sounds sowhere far away.
Yin Wanderer had once said that even she would have trouble noticing it if she weren’t actively on guard. It was, without a doubt, one of the finest eavesdropping tools in the entire Tongxuan Realm.
Once activated, the Sound-Penetrating Sand would start collecting sound nonstop until the special energy stored within it was completely spent—roughly ten days of use.
Yin Wanderer had stumbled upon fifteen grains by pure chance long ago. She’d used them with extre caution, and after hundreds of years, only seven remained. The fact she gave even one to Li Xun was already an incredible exception.
And now, Li Xun had used that precious grain… just to spy on He Mulan and the others.
Probably the lowest usage that treasure had seen since it was created.
He pulled out the tool to activate the Sound-Penetrating Sand. A small bowl-shaped device etched with extrely intricate restrictive patterns and seals. It was leagues more advanced than the crude Water Mirror in the imperial treasury.
Li Xun exhaled slowly but didn’t rush to activate it.
The sand’s duration was limited and valuable; he couldn’t afford to waste a single second.
He closed his eyes slightly, calculating He Mulan and the others’ likely route. Only when he judged the timing to be right did he open them again and gently tap the rim of the bowl. A soft hum began to resonate.
With practiced ease, he cycled through the incantations, filtering out all the irrelevant noise until finally sharp, crystal-clear voices ca through.
“…A disgrace to the Mingxin Sword Sect! Lin Ge was once a giant among n. How could he have raised such a cowardly waste?”
Judging by the voice, that idiot must be soone surnad Liu.
Li Xun didn’t bother rembering his full na; he was the fool who took a hit from Li Xun’s Reverse Blood Needle and thought it was the deadly Reverse Surge Blood-Dissolving Needle.
Based on that alone, Li Xun didn’t see him as any kind of real threat.
Li Xun wasn’t normally petty, but this guy? If the chance ever ca, he was definitely due for a lesson.
And then there was He Mulan, always the calm one. “Let’s not gossip behind people’s backs." His voice was steady. "Junior Brother, don’t be too harsh. This Li Xun… he’s a pitiful soul. Looking at him reminds of that ‘Celestial Lord’ from the Three Sovereigns Sword Sect…”
“The Demon Phoenix and the Yin Wanderer, there’s really not much difference between them. And Li Xun is just a third-generation disciple. It’s not his fault he couldn’t handle it.”
As he listened, Li Xun felt a mix of pride and guilt.
He Mulan really was an upright man. Maybe too upright. But soone like that? You never had to worry about getting stabbed in the back. A true ally, if only they were on the sa side.
But sadly, Li Xun lacked the one thing needed to truly be his friend: righteousness.
He wasn’t an evil man, not exactly. But he was too selfish, too fond of scheming, always thinking three steps ahead for his own gain.
And most of all, he had no real sense of responsibility. No willingness to take responsibility for his actions or wrongdoings. This was completely at odds with He Mulan’s 'putting the world before oneself' sense of duty.
He and He Mulan were like fire and ice, walking opposite paths. There was no common ground between them.
Self-awareness is hard. But when soone like He Mulan is standing beside you, it’s like holding up a mirror. You can’t help but see yourself.
For Li Xun, that mont of recognition was brief, but unforgettable.
Just as he was pulling out of his thoughts, the conversation reached a critical point.
This ti, it was Gu Pin’er’s voice, soft and hesitant, tinged with compassion. “Senior Brother… what should we do about him?”
He Mulan fell silent for a mont.
“Strictly speaking," he finally began, "he hasn’t done anything evil here. But cultivators from the Tongxuan Realm must never interfere with imperial court affairs in the mortal world. Otherwise, it could disrupt the course of the mortal world.
“But… he is a disciple of the Mingxin Sword Sect, and that’s not sothing we have the authority to handle ourselves. The best we can do is report this to his sect and let his elders decide what to do with him.”
Li Xun’s heart skipped a beat. His sect might be sending people?
Truth be told, he wasn’t entirely opposed to returning to his sect; if he were, he wouldn’t have put on such a convincing performance, carefully wording things to leave himself a backdoor.
But… with the Yin Wanderer still around...
He Mulan seed disinclined to linger on the subject. He changed topics, turning to sothing else:
“As for Li Xun, we can set that matter aside for now. What really bothers … is the person we encountered that night inside the Forbidden Palace. It’s been seven or eight days now, and it’s as if he’s vanished into thin air.”
His voice dropped, growing more serious. He was clearly deep in thought.
The breath Li Xun had just released caught again in his throat.
Damn it! These Heavenly Vigorous Sect disciples really were stubborn to the bone. It’s been over a week; can’t they just consider that the man might’ve already run off?
Gu Pin’er seed to be thinking the sa thing. When she heard He Mulan’s words, she muttered under her breath:
“Senior Brother, we’ve been patrolling the capital every night… it’s the eighth day already, isn’t it? Maybe he has already escaped.
The implied aning was that this young lady was sleepy, tired, let’s wrap things up!
Her words sounded more like acting coquettish, but He Mulan, ever the embodint of righteous discipline, remained completely unmoved.
“Impossible." His tone didn’t waver in the slightest. "During the day, the skies have been clear for several days straight, strong yang energy. With the Heavenly Movent Sympathetic Formation I’ve laid down, nothing could’ve slipped past unnoticed.
“And at night, the five of us together used the Five Directions Divine Sense, which is enough to cover hundreds of miles around. If he left, we would definitely have sensed it!
“But he’s been completely absent this whole ti. That can only an one thing; he’s still hiding sowhere in the city… perhaps even within the imperial palace itself!”
He paused for a mont, then added darkly:
“Besides, the aura I sensed from him that night… was sowhat unexpected. Let think carefully...”
As he sank into deep thought, the others fell silent, not daring to disturb him.
Even Li Xun, eavesdropping from afar, grew increasingly anxious. The Forbidden Palace held too many secrets tied to him. If this man really figured sothing out…
Ti passed. He didn’t know how long.
Then suddenly…
Slap!
He Mulan clapped his hands together. “Peach Blossom Blood!" he shouted. "Could it be… the Peach Blossom Blood?!”
Reviews
All reviews (0)