No matter how much Han Weiliu cursed his alternate personality, the damage had already been done.
Originally, Han Weiliu could have sternly refused and loudly condemned Pei Liang’s utterly shameless humiliation. But with his alternate personality interfering, he had practically turned into a pretty boy who eagerly leaped at the first sign of a good thing. The next time he saw Pei Liang, he would be the one unable to hold his head up.
He wanted to go back and explain everything, but there was no guarantee that his alternate personality would not emerge and cause trouble at the crucial moment, making the situation even more chaotic.
Han Weiliu could only swallow this bitter fruit. For the time being, he chose to stay away and focus on suppressing his alternate personality completely.
As for the old servant, who had become increasingly suspicious after Pei Liang brought him up, Han Weiliu had no intention of questioning him just yet.
After all, if things were truly as she suspected, then someone who had been able to lie low in the Han household for decades would be no easier to deal with than the culprits from the Cao and Jiang families.
Moreover, the man was several times his age and might understand the Han family even better than he did. Simply confronting him with questions would never produce any answers.
He would follow Pei Liang’s suggestion: turn from the light to the shadows. Only by suddenly disappearing would those who had originally intended to use him for some purpose grow anxious and lose their composure, thereby revealing their flaws.
After leaving Moonchaser Manor, Han Weiliu did not contact or meet with anyone.
Taking advantage of the access Pei Liang had given him, as well as his astonishing mastery of disguise, he changed his appearance several times and altered his route repeatedly, completely eliminating any possibility of being followed.
In the end, Han Weiliu arrived at an isolated island. The island appeared on no map, and the surrounding waters were filled with treacherous currents. Without special routes and techniques, even those who entered the waters would be unable to approach it.
The Han family’s martial arts manuals and the secrets of its treasure map were secondary. This island was the Han family’s true capital for rising again, as well as the refuge meant to preserve the family in the event of catastrophe.
Only the successive heirs of the family were taught its location through coded words passed down by word of mouth. The meaning could be deciphered only when necessary, leaving absolutely no evidence behind.
Unfortunately, neither natural disaster nor war had ever forced them to use it. Instead, in a time of peace, the entire family had perished before they could even evacuate.
Han Weiliu prepared a boat, purchased a supply of basic survival necessities, and brought seeds said in the coded instructions to be capable of sustaining life on the island.
Overnight, he seemed to vanish from the face of the earth.
Those who had been secretly monitoring him had initially guessed that he had been hiding at Moonchaser Manor. But Jiang and Cao families had returned from the mourning rites quite some time ago, and nothing had happened at Moonchaser Manor. No suspicious person had emerged from there.
They had even risked exposing their spies and conducted a painstaking search, yet they still could not find any trace of him.
At the beginning, they had at least been able to keep track of some of his disguised identities. Now, however, they had not only lost Han Weiliu’s whereabouts, Pei Liang had also used the opportunity to uproot all the spies hidden within Moonchaser Manor.
Pei Liang looked at the several familiar faces being dragged before her and smiled.
“Your roots run deep indeed. Anyone able to rise to such positions while remaining utterly loyal to their former master must have been trained by someone with extraordinary skill in controlling people.”
The identities of these men were largely in line with Pei Liang’s suspicions.
Within Moonchaser Manor, some held important positions, while others performed sensitive duties.
For example, among the jailers in the manor’s dungeon, two of them were spies. One was a jailer of middling rank, while the other monitored and controlled the entrances and exits.
Neither position seemed particularly important, but with the convenience they provided, the two men could move freely throughout the dungeon.
And with that, the mystery of how Xia Yunsha had managed to kill Sect Leader Pei with nothing more than her weak, seemingly helpless self in the original story was solved.
When Han Weiliu had been in danger, the two men had used their freedom of movement in the dungeon to secretly inject an aphrodisiac into his cell through the gap beneath the door.
The father and son of the Pei family had been closest to the doorway, and they had been affected first.
The two men were lecherous by nature. In the past, when traveling outside, they had more than once assaulted beautiful women they happened to see along the road after becoming aroused. Thus, they did not find their own lust particularly suspicious.
When Han Weiliu disappeared, Pei Liang took the opportunity to set a trap and capture these people. They resisted fiercely.
Judging by their martial abilities, many of them were wasting their talents in the positions they had originally occupied.
Quite a few were even hereditary servants of the Pei family, having served the family since their parents’ generation.
Pei Liang looked at the men, who faced death without flinching, and smiled.
“You are certainly loyal. But don’t worry—I won’t kill you.”
In Pei Liang’s eyes, these men were merely commercial spies. Their crimes did not warrant death.
The group was startled. Pei Liang continued, “To plant so many people within one of the four great sects and eight major schools, while ensuring that they remained loyal for decades, could never have been achieved through money and material benefits alone.”
After all, this organization was filled with capable people. Their missions had begun as far back as their parents’ generation. Like the old servant of the Han family, many of them were practically required to devote their entire lives to the cause.
If they had held high positions, that would have been one thing. But many of them were clearly talented, yet had been forced to remain in lowly positions according to the plan.
Take one of those captured, for instance—the man who collected night soil. He was responsible for removing the filth produced by all the people and livestock in Moonchaser Manor, transporting it out through secluded paths, and delivering it to the tenant farmers.
The position was filthy, degrading, exhausting, and laborious. Yet as a means of passing information or entering and leaving the manor naturally at special times, it offered irreplaceable advantages.
That night-soil collector possessed martial skills that were actually no weaker than those of the sect’s elite disciples. If he had revealed his true abilities, he could easily have secured a comfortable position as an administrator, with plenty of food and wealth.
Instead, he had been content to remain in that lowly position for several decades.
If the Han family had possessed a considerable number of people like that, then it was no wonder they had been completely powerless on the night their entire household was wiped out.
In theory, even if the three families had joined forces, the Han family’s patriarch and core members had all possessed peerless martial abilities, while their disciples were likewise elites.
A surprise attack by the three families might have inflicted devastating losses, but annihilating the Han family in a single night without leaving a trace was genuinely suspicious.
This was also why so many sects in the martial world had refused to take action to help Han Weiliu. In everyone’s eyes, whoever could destroy the Han family so easily had to be an overwhelming force of unimaginable power.
Thus, without knowing the truth, they had chosen to protect themselves and remain uninvolved.
One of the prisoners heard Pei Liang’s sarcasm and let out a fearless, cold laugh.
“Moonchaser Manor is nothing more than a vulgar second-rate organization—a filthy den of corruption. And yet you shamelessly place yourselves among the esteemed sects. Do you really think you deserve that?”
Pei Liang smiled.
“You seem rather proud of the organization you serve.”
“Let me guess. Among the martial sects of the world, the four great sects and eight major schools stand at the top. Though their rankings may differ, each has experienced its own rises and falls over the decades.”
“Even Shaolin, the number-one sect in the world, once fell into decline when the late emperor took a dislike to Buddhism. I truly wonder which sect in the martial world would dare speak so arrogantly and look down on all the other renowned sects and clans.”
The men’s expressions changed. They suddenly realized that they had said too much.
Indeed, this woman had exposed all of the Jiang family’s sordid secrets in front of their memorial hall, stripping away every last shred of their dignity.
Those secrets were so well hidden that even the people they had planted inside the Jiang family might not all have known them. Yet the eldest young lady had been aware of everything.
If this wasn’t actually a haunting, then this young lady’s ability to gather and analyze information was probably something they had never seen in their lives. The smartest thing to do around her was not to say a single word.
Unfortunately, it was already too late. That one careless remark had given her enough to deduce a great deal of information—information that could get them killed.
She continued leisurely, “The earliest origins of you people can be traced back to your fathers’ and grandfathers’ generation, several decades ago. Once we consider all the forces in the martial world that were powerful enough to stand head and shoulders above the rest during that period, the possibilities narrow considerably.”
Not merely narrow. They had practically been identified.
Cold sweat poured down the men’s backs as Pei Liang slowly voiced the answer that would doom them.
“Several decades ago, before one particular sect, the Four Sects and Eight Schools could only be considered second-rate organizations.”
“That sect stood alone at the pinnacle of the world. It was even capable of contending with the imperial authority, and was without question the leader of the martial world. Unfortunately, its momentum grew too strong. Its sect leader looked down upon everyone else, and his ambition expanded blindly. He actually disregarded the people’s livelihood and attempted to overthrow the dynasty. In the end, the imperial court and the major sects joined forces to besiege it.”
“What was that sect called again?” Pei Liang put on an expression of deep concentration. “It was so long ago that I’ve forgotten. The Burning Books Sect?”
“It was the Burning Heaven Sect!” one of them roared. His eyes burned with fanaticism, and he looked at Pei Liang as though she were a heretic he wanted to tear apart and devour.
Pei Liang shrugged. “It doesn’t matter. Even dynasties that are overthrown aren’t all remembered by posterity, let alone some mere martial sect.”
“Our Burning Heaven Sect was born by seizing the Mandate of Heaven. Every disciple beneath our banner is protected by the sacred flame. We burn away all injustice and inequality under Heaven. How could we possibly be compared with that mediocre dynasty?”
Pei Liang smiled. “As expected, I do love this sort of authoritarian management philosophy. It’s so easy to understand.”
And so easy to provoke.
To ensure loyalty over the course of decades, as Pei Liang had said, money and material wealth alone were insufficient. No matter how generous the secret subsidies, if a person could never spend them in his lifetime, they were no different from having received nothing at all.
That made a form of religious faith and worship essential.
People like these might be fanatically loyal, organized, and disciplined. To ordinary people, they were difficult to deal with. But Pei Liang had extensive experience handling such individuals.
There was also one advantage: they regarded their beliefs as divine and would not permit anyone to profane them. As long as one struck at their sore spot, very few could remain calm and composed, continuing to conceal their thoughts—
Then again, anyone capable of such restraint would possess a strong mind and would not have been so easily brainwashed in the first place.
These men were a perfect example. Though they understood rationally how formidable Pei Liang was and knew they should not say too much in front of her, they had still been provoked with ease.
And in their fury, they had revealed even more information.
At last, Pei Liang clapped her hands and rose, looking as though she had gained a great deal.
“Throw them into the dungeon and keep them under strict guard. Don’t let them sleep. Dig up the Burning Books Sect’s old leads and use them to supplement the interrogation.”
“Record every word of their conversations without omission and deliver the transcripts to me every night.”
“It’s the Burning Heaven Sect!” someone continued to roar.
“Yes, yes, the Burning Books Sect.” Pei Liang nodded. “Send word to the Four Sects and Eight Schools. Have them investigate anyone purchased as a household servant in their estates sixty years ago, as well as anyone who suddenly joined their sects during that period, along with the descendants of such people. Pay particular attention to those who had no intention of buying servants but entered by one means or another.”
“And investigate the direct relatives of these people who, over the past several decades, entered the major sects through connections. These positions, in particular, must be subjected to a thorough investigation.”
As she spoke, she glanced back at the several fanatics.
“Oh dear, is that too little information? Perhaps I should write down the methods of investigation and send a copy to every sect.”
The men’s eyes bulged with fury, as though blood were about to spill from them.
The other members of the Four Sects and Eight Schools might not have possessed Pei Liang’s ability to uproot every hidden agent within Moonbane Manor, but after this incident, decades of arrangements and schemes by the Burning Heaven Sect would nearly be destroyed.
This woman was terrifying. She might not make a move for years, but once she did, she cut off every possible avenue of survival.
She claimed she would not kill them, wearing that hypocritical expression of hers. But what could be more agonizing than revealing the secrets of their sect and causing countless fellow disciples to be implicated—to make their lives worse than death?
Two of them tried to bite through their own tongues on the spot, but Pei Liang had given orders in advance. The guards escorting them reacted swiftly and dislocated their jaws in one motion.
Then they dragged the men away.
The various forces immediately sprang into action. Following Pei Liang’s instructions, they used countless decoys to conceal the truly vital information, ensuring that the intelligence was transmitted to every major sect both accurately and securely.
At that moment, Elder Uncle Pei emerged from the inner room with a painting in his hands.
He had never been skilled in this art, but now he was willing to settle down and carefully work on the fundamentals. Every day, aside from practicing martial arts and painting, he left everything else alone.
Pei Liang did not conceal her actions from him. Since so many matters were discussed in his presence, Elder Uncle Pei had been forced to gain a thorough understanding of the current state of the Pei family.
He studied the task Pei Liang had assigned him in the painting. Today’s subject was still eggs, and he was quite satisfied with the final piece.
Only then did he put the painting away and say, “By acting so decisively, you have destroyed decades of planning by the force behind the scenes. They certainly won’t forgive you for it.”
“When the time comes, even I may not be able to guarantee your safety.”
“I think it’s precisely the opposite,” Pei Liang replied with a smile.
“Oh?” Elder Uncle Pei became interested.
“Most of the hidden agents and informants planted by the Four Sects and Eight Schools have been uprooted. That is equivalent to cutting off their eyes and ears throughout the martial world. But how could these sects tolerate being watched by some abyssal monster for decades?”
“If only one of them had suffered a loss, it might have prioritized self-preservation and chosen to lie low for the time being. But if all of them are in the same situation, then everyone is tied to the same rope when it comes to this matter.”
“The Four Sects and Eight Schools will join forces. They’ll search every inch of the martial world to drag out that hidden presence—one that has been able to endure in silence for decades, a presence so unsettling that it has made everyone sit on edge.”
“So from now on, those people in the shadows will face the scrutiny of the entire martial world. The feud has already been established. If they don’t want to be uprooted completely, they’ll have no choice but to desperately conceal themselves and flee.”
“At first, they may have wanted to kill me. After all, following the deaths of my father and brothers, the entire course of events was thrown into disarray. They had to eliminate me, the uncertain factor.”
“But now? They won’t dare act rashly. Because although I managed to uncover this network, I haven’t said where my information came from. The Four Sects and Eight Schools will assume that I know even more.”
“I’m merely holding those secrets for the highest bidder. They’re desperate to learn more from me. I’m standing at the very center of the storm, which actually makes me the safest person. If I die, the situation will spiral out of control.”
“Besides, based on what I revealed, the mastermind will understand that I only learned what I did through a combination of coincidence and deliberate baiting. They’ll realize that, at this point, doing nothing is the best course of action.”
Just as Pei Liang had predicted, when the Four Sects and Eight Schools received the information, they were furious—but many of the cleverer members also felt a chill run down their spines.
The Han family was an enormous power, yet it had been wiped out overnight. Once this clue was taken into consideration, the difficulty of carrying out such an operation became immediately clear.
What kind of terrifying threat was this?
For a time, every major sect began moving frantically. Nearly all of them turned their own sects inside out, as though digging through the earth itself, carefully sorting through the hidden agents whose patience was frighteningly deep.
Sure enough, by catching them off guard and using some of the techniques Pei Liang had taught them, the various sects and schools managed to uncover quite a number of people. Thus, overnight, it seemed as though the entire martial world had gained a common enemy.
The situation suddenly grew tense and terrifying. The Jiang family, which had been embroiled in scandal and unrest day and night, temporarily set aside those insignificant matters.
What made it especially infuriating was that Pei Liang had ruined the Jiang family's reputation, yet now they still had to accept a favor from her.
The Jiang and Cao families were both deeply unsettled. Even though they were the culprits behind the massacre, it was the father and son of the Pei family who had been responsible for contacting their inside men.
At the time, they had merely assumed that the Pei father and son had offered a high price, allowing everything to proceed so smoothly. But now that they thought about it carefully, they feared that the so-called bribes offered by the Pei father and son had also been part of some faction's scheme.
If that were true, then the massacre was no longer a secret carefully guarded by the three families. At the very least, another force from outside knew about it.
This left the Jiang and Cao families constantly on edge. During this sweeping investigation, they behaved even more enthusiastically than the other sects.
As for the Wangqiu Sect, it practically hated Pei Liang to the bone.
After years of patient concealment and countless preparations, they had finally reached the point where they could begin their plan to rise to the top once more. Yet before the plan had even properly begun, a little girl had cut them to pieces with a few swift blows.
The person at the very top had even disregarded everything else and snarled, “Kill her! We cannot let her remain alive. Every additional day she lives is a hidden danger.”
“Cult Leader, please think this through. Killing her now would carry enormous risks. Judging from the information she has revealed, most of it was probably uncovered by accident, or was simply the result of our hurried actions.”
“If we act rashly, it would naturally be ideal if we could kill her in one strike. But Pei Ye is protecting her. Pei Ye was once a supreme martial artist renowned throughout the martial world. After more than a decade spent concentrating solely on refining his skills, there may be few people in the entire martial world capable of matching him.”
“Moreover, nearly all of the Pei family's hidden agents have been uprooted. Our people made discreet inquiries from a distance, and the current arrangement of Brightmoon Manor is strange and unprecedented. That girl has managed it like an iron fortress. I fear it would be extremely difficult to succeed.”
“Not only is the chance of success low, but she might also seize upon some clue and directly determine that the Wangqiu Sect is the new incarnation of the Blazing Heaven Sect. We cannot afford to take that risk, Cult Leader.”
“So we are just going to let that girl ruin our plans with impunity, striking us off guard time and time again?” the Cult Leader roared furiously.
“We have not yet reached the point of having no options,” someone below replied. “Since the entire martial world is searching for the Blazing Heaven Sect, then let us give them one.”
“Twenty years ago, after the demonic cult was defeated by the Martial Alliance, it withdrew from the Central Plains and went west to the regions beyond the frontier. Having recuperated and rebuilt for so many years, it is time for it to reemerge in the martial world.”
“Conveniently, this will also give us an opportunity to unite the Four Gates and Eight Sects.”
Decades of careful planning had sunk roots far deeper than ordinary people could imagine. Even after suffering such a devastating defeat, they were still able to activate a contingency plan at once.
In a certain sense, the former leader of the Blazing Heaven Sect might have been arrogant, but he truly had the power to back it up. He had been worthy of commanding that colossal force, one that could stand against the imperial armies as well as the combined strength of the Four Gates and Eight Sects.
Just look at the arrangements made after its destruction. As long as its descendants carried them out step by step, the hope of rebuilding that great enterprise was within reach.
Objectively speaking, Pei Liang rather admired the former leader of the sect. If the person who had inherited the Blazing Heaven Sect's legacy of power possessed even half the ability of that former leader, Pei Liang probably would not have been able to drag them into the light so easily.
They had not even shown their faces, yet several of their hands and feet had already been chopped off.
Still, Pei Liang understood that the other side's apprehension was only temporary. Once the storm passed, the first thing they would do was figure out how to kill her.
So Pei Liang did not waste this time.
After revealing such earth-shattering information, Pei Liang did not step outside Brightmoon Manor even once.
Aside from managing and expanding the Brightmoon Sect, she spent all her time exchanging lessons with Elder Uncle Pei.
Pei Liang taught him how to paint, while Elder Uncle Pei taught Pei Liang martial arts.
The Brightmoon Sect possessed quite a few peerless manuals. There was really no need to envy the other sects.
Elder Uncle Pei said, “In the martial arts, a mediocre person will achieve little even if given the finest secret manual or technique.”
“A genius, on the other hand, can glimpse profound truths even while holding an ordinary scripture.”
That was true. It was said that the founding ancestors of several great orthodox sects had originally had nothing to do with the martial world. Yet they had discerned hidden principles within the books and teachings of the sages, thereby creating their own secret manuals and founding sects of their own.
Naturally, martial arts manuals varied in quality. A supreme technique was like the study notes left behind by a top scholar. Naturally, they would be clearer, more useful, and more accurate than the notes of an ordinary graduate.
But it also depended on the level one was already at.
Take Elder Uncle Pei, for example. As the heir to the Brightmoon Sect, he had been exposed to first-rate martial arts manuals from childhood. With a solid foundation and exceptional comprehension, the influence of any technique he learned afterward was practically negligible.
The original owner had practiced martial arts since childhood, and her fundamentals were reasonably solid. Her talent was not poor either—at the very least, she was far more gifted than that idiot of an elder brother.
However, because she was a woman, the sect's highest-level secret manual was passed down only to men, to prevent daughters who married out from revealing it. As a result, most of what she practiced consisted of peripheral techniques.
Besides, the original owner herself had never been very interested in fighting and killing. Apart from practicing martial arts as part of her family heritage, she had mainly chosen techniques such as lightness skills, which emphasized grace and agility.
They made her entire person seem as ethereal as an immortal maiden. As for how she had earned the title Xi Shi Beneath the Moon, it was due not only to her beauty but also to the dreamlike mastery of her lightness skills.
The original owner's natural talent was already quite good, and Pei Liang was confident that she would not lose to her.
Some time ago, she had memorized the formula for the Brightmoon Swordsmanship by heart. Before officially beginning her practice, she had carefully chewed over every word, trying to recreate the state of mind and insights its ancestor had possessed when creating the manual.
She felt that she had benefited greatly from the process. Sure enough, once she began practicing, her progress was so rapid that even Elder Uncle Pei was astonished.
She also had the original owner's foundation to thank. Though it was not especially deep, it was not a liability either. At this level, the movements of the techniques were secondary. The circulation of internal energy was the true core.
For an ordinary person, circulating internal energy every day in hopes of expanding the dantian, strengthening one's inner force, and making the meridians tougher and more complete was extremely difficult.
And the farther one progressed, the harder it became. This was what people called a bottleneck.
It was not like leveling up in a game. As long as one's experience continued to rise and one worked hard enough, one would eventually break through.
Martial arts did not work that way. If one's energy could not continue to accumulate and solidify, breaking through the barrier, then maintaining the status quo would never produce a qualitative change.
Yet Pei Liang rarely encountered such situations. In fact, to Elder Uncle Pei, she seemed as though she had originally been a supreme martial artist whose internal energy had vanished overnight—and who had simply started practicing all over again without caring in the slightest.
This left Elder Uncle Pei baffled, especially when he saw Pei Liang wielding a weapon.
The Brightmoon Sect's ancestral divine weapon, the Brightmoon Saber, could be worn only by the sect leader. Yet in Pei Liang's hands, it was as natural as an extension of her own body. Elder Uncle Pei had to admit that even in terms of wielding a saber, he could not compare with Pei Liang back then.
But Pei Liang knew perfectly well where this came from: she had benefited from her experiences in the first world.
Back then, she had devoted herself to honing her culinary skills, especially her knife work and wok tossing. At times, she would enter that sort of mysterious, transcendent state.
At the time, Pei Liang had already begun to feel that, in a certain sense, she was no longer merely honing her culinary skills. Rather, she had transcended technique itself and reached some ineffable realm where all paths converged.
Sure enough, the martial-arts world confirmed her suspicions. Once a particular art truly entered a realm so exalted that words could scarcely describe it, mastery in one field could illuminate all others.
The hardship, pain, concentration, and experience she had gained while learning to cook—learning to understand and merge with the knife, the wok, the ladle, even the fire beneath the stove—had benefited her enormously in this world.
After all, cultivating martial arts required essentially the same qualities.
When Elder Uncle Pei had first agreed to teach her, it had been only because she had taught him how to paint, and because her appearance resembled that of his daughter, who had died young. It was as though he were watching his daughter grow up before his eyes.
Though he had no affection for his half-brother, he instinctively protected and indulged this niece of his.
But as time went on, Elder Uncle Pei truly began to feel that he had stumbled upon an extraordinary piece of jade. He was a martial-arts fanatic by nature, and now that he had withdrawn from worldly affairs, he devoted himself entirely to painting and cultivating his niece.
After several years of this easygoing life, he had suffered far fewer attacks of his illness.
By the time the three-year agreement came due, Pei Liang had never formally sparred with anyone besides Elder Uncle Pei. Even so, according to him, she had already reached the upper ranks of the martial world. She could take charge of a sect and would never find herself unable to command respect because her martial skills were too shallow.
Pei Liang therefore assumed that she was now roughly on par with the original host’s father—the former Sect Leader Pei, whom she had burned to ashes and scattered into a manure pit.
Although she was still some distance from her goal, her current strength would suffice for the time being.
However, on the day of the three-year agreement, she did not receive any news of Han Weiliu’s return. Instead, she received a Heroic Invitation issued under the Jiang family’s leadership.
It stated that the Demon Cult had risen again and had committed appalling atrocities throughout the land. Heroes from every corner of the martial world were being summoned to discuss the matter and devise a way to deal with it.
Strictly speaking, an event of this nature should have been organized by Shaolin, the sect with the greatest prestige. But since the Jiang family was located closest to the Demon Cult’s headquarters, it was not considered improper for them to issue the invitation.
After the Jiang family’s reputation had been ruined overnight, their influence in the martial world had plummeted. In the past, whenever Jiang family members ventured out, the major sects and even the authorities would show them some respect, allowing them to get things done with ease.
Things were different now. Once it became known that the Jiang family’s former grace and virtue had all been a sham, many upright martial artists refused to indulge them any longer. Wherever Jiang family disciples went, people pointed and whispered. Naturally, doing business had become far more difficult than before.
The direct and indirect losses to their interests had been considerable.
Fortunately, the revelation that every major sect had harbored hidden infiltrators for decades had diverted attention from them and given the Jiang family some room to breathe.
After three years of painstaking effort, they had restored much of their reputation. But they wanted to return to the peak of their former dominance, when their word had been law.
The Demon Cult’s reappearance was the perfect opportunity to demonstrate their strength.
Even though they hated Pei Liang to the bone, she was now the head of the Zhan Yue Sect. Naturally, they could not leave her out.
Pei Liang was not surprised when she received the invitation.
“Demon Cult” was merely the righteous martial world’s name for them. Their proper name was the Sacred Flame Sect. According to the rumors circulating through the martial world, the Sacred Flame Sect was composed of remnants of the former Heaven-Burning Sect.
And it was not merely speculation. By comparing the evidence with the clues at hand, people had indeed uncovered a great deal of proof. Most of the martial sects were convinced beyond doubt.
The old grudge over infiltrators planted in their midst for decades, the suspicion that the Sacred Flame Sect had massacred the Han family, and the twenty years they had spent quietly building their strength—all of this was enough to make the major sects uneasy.
The Jiang and Cao families in particular were eager to pin the Han family massacre squarely on the Sacred Flame Sect.
It could be said that the Sacred Flame Sect’s return had successfully drawn the attention of the entire martial world. Naturally, it also gave quite a few people the chance to fish in troubled waters and divert attention from themselves.
Pei Liang sighed. “You really can’t lead a crowd that won’t think for itself. A little smokescreen like this is enough to send everyone running in circles. If I were the mastermind behind it, I’d be laughing in my sleep.”
Hongxiu kneaded her back. Her hands were soft and fragrant as dough, yet they possessed no shortage of strength and skill. The sensation was so comfortable that Pei Liang felt she might ascend to heaven.
Hearing this, Hongxiu asked with a smile, “Will Miss be leaving for the Jiang family?”
“I have to go.” Pei Liang touched her small hand. “It’s a rough journey, though, so I won’t be taking you or Qingyi.”
Both women immediately looked crestfallen.
“Three years ago, Miss was already breathtakingly beautiful. Now you’re even more dazzling and graceful. When you appear this time, countless heroes are sure to fall at your feet.”
“Putting everyone else aside, even that lecherous Young Master Jiang remains hopelessly obsessed with you. After the disgraceful scandal back then, the first thing he thought of was still asking you to continue honoring the marriage agreement.”
“We’re only maids of the inner residence, after all. We’re frail burdens who cannot even accompany Miss as you roam the martial world and make your mark. We’re nothing but dead weight.”
“We only hope that while you’re away, you’ll think of us from time to time. Please don’t forget that the two of us will always be waiting for you in your chambers.”
Pei Liang hurriedly consoled them. “How could I? If that heartless brothel keeper who raised you hadn’t focused solely on sculpting your figures and given you harmful drugs that destroyed your ability to bear children, would you really be so frail?”
“If there were even the slightest possibility of you learning martial arts, I would have you practice a few techniques to strengthen your bodies. Then I could bring you with me everywhere. I can’t do without you.”
“Don’t worry. I’ll be back before long. Without you two for a few days, I’m sure I won’t be able to sleep at night.”
She finally managed to soothe the two beauties, but Pei Liang could not help feeling that she had just jinxed herself by raising an ominous flag.
A sect leader’s procession could not be lacking in grandeur. Pei Liang brought more than a hundred people with her, though that was hardly excessive.
Even so, when the various sects gathered at the Jiang family estate, Pei Liang’s presence was by far the most conspicuous.
She was not the only female hero present. The Emei Sect, for instance, consisted entirely of women, and there were plenty of other heroines among the various sects.
But Pei Liang, dressed all in white and leading more than a hundred experts from a distance, was impossible to ignore. The disciples of the Zhan Yue Sect wore the stern, austere black uniforms of their sect. Perhaps this was a result of Pei Liang’s guidance as their new leader.
Compared with the days when the former Sect Leader Pei had been in charge, the disciples of the Zhan Yue Sect now looked more spirited and radiant, with an air of heroic confidence.
Every one of them wore a solemn expression and followed Pei Liang in neat formation. Their bodies were lean and powerfully built, and the close-fitting black uniforms accentuated their graceful physiques and vigorous bearing.
They all held their heads high and their chests out. None suffered from the stooped shoulders and hunched posture common to ordinary people. Even the youngest disciples possessed an innate dignity and looked full of energy.
There were not that many of them, but they appeared utterly distinct from those around them. Their crisp, incisive presence struck straight at the heart and made it impossible to underestimate them.
And that was without even mentioning Sect Leader Pei herself, who walked at the very front. She was breathtakingly beautiful, yet radiated tremendous authority.
Unlike the outspoken bravado of a fiery female hero, her presence was not flamboyant or aggressive. Instead, it exerted an unmistakable pressure.
She was also different from how she had appeared at the funeral several years earlier.
She had certainly been formidable then, but what had inspired admiration and caution had mostly been her intelligence and strategic mind. Now, however, she possessed an entirely different kind of confidence.
The experts present could naturally tell that her internal power had grown profound. She was no longer the woman she had been back then.
The abbot of Shaolin understood at a glance and smiled knowingly. “Sect Leader Pei, your cultivation has advanced tremendously. The Zhan Yue Sect now truly has a worthy successor. How gratifying.”
The others, however, were not as serene as the Shaolin monk—especially the young disciples of the various sects.
When Sect Leader Pei walked over, everyone stared—
“So this is Sect Leader Pei? The Sect Leader Pei famed as ‘Xi Shi Beneath the Moon’?”
“We knew that the current Sect Leader of Moon-Slaying Manor was the younger sister of the former Young Sect Leader, so she must be young. But without seeing her with our own eyes, it would still have been hard to believe.”
“Among the Four Sects and Eight Schools, Sect Leader Pei is certainly the most pleasing to the eye.”
“Not just among the Four Sects and Eight Schools. Among everyone here, no one can compare.”
“But Sect Leader Pei is so young. It must be difficult for her to lead Moon-Slaying Sect, mustn’t it?”
“Heh heh! You must be a youngster who’s only just entered the martial world. Sect Leader Pei’s martial arts may be lacking, but her methods are second to none. Back then, the Jiang and Cao families tried to take advantage of the Pei family while its father and brothers were newly deceased. You all know what happened to them over the past few years, don’t you?”
“Exactly. And the spies planted in the various sects for decades were also exposed by Sect Leader Pei, who pieced together the clues.”
“Though she is a young woman, when it comes to intelligence and strategy, Sect Leader Pei is unquestionably among the best of all the sect leaders present.”
Among the Four Sects and Eight Schools, there were naturally other noble young ladies and heroic women of backgrounds comparable to Pei Liang’s. At first, they had felt sympathy and pity for the famed “Xi Shi Beneath the Moon” after she lost both her father and brother before marriage, though their concern had been tinged with a measure of schadenfreude.
Who could have expected that, in the span of just a few days, she would transform from the legitimate eldest daughter of the Pei family into the leader of a sect?
At the time, however, it had been a funeral, the circumstances had been sudden, and the journey there had been rushed. Most of the women had not attended. Though they had heard what happened, they had never truly felt its reality.
Now that they saw her again, the Pei Liang who had once stood alongside them had become the leader of a sect, commanding tremendous authority. Her already captivating beauty had only grown more striking, and she had become someone far beyond their reach.
How could some of them not feel sour inside?
Cao Hui felt it most keenly. It was not only her innate competitiveness, but also her jealousy that Pei Liang had become the fiancée of the man she loved, as well as her hatred over how Pei Liang had exposed her affair with Senior Brother Jiang at the funeral, forcing her to part from him.
Over the past three years, her father had not failed to consider breaking off the engagement with the Pei family. But she had rejected the idea every time. On one occasion, her father had merely sighed and told her to accept her fate and wait to marry into the Pei family.
It could be said that Cao Hui and Pei Liang were enemies who could never coexist beneath the same sky. How could she possibly bear seeing Pei Liang basking in glory now?
What made it worse was that Jiang Xun, the very man Pei Liang had reduced to such a humiliating state, still approached her with an ingratiating smile—
“Junior Sister, you secluded yourself for several years, and now your divine art has reached perfection. Your Senior Brother is deeply gratified.”
Pei Liang glanced at Jiang Xun. Three years had passed, yet the man was still every bit the charming womanizer. The moment he spoke to her, many of the female heroes present turned to look, their eyes filled with jealousy and resentment.
Clearly, just as he had said back then, after his reputation had been ruined, he had only grown more reckless. Given Jiang Xun’s looks and other qualities, few women could truly resist his charm once they got close to him—even after learning what kind of man he was.
This was especially true of the inexperienced young heroines, as well as the older women who had seen through the ways of the world and wanted nothing more than his body.
But then Pei Liang suddenly spotted someone in the crowd. The woman had changed greatly since three years ago.
Back then, she had worn red and been flamboyant and forthright. Now, she was far more gloomy and subdued.
“Fire Pomegranate?” Pei Liang asked hesitantly. She was still with the Jiang family?
Huo Shiliu looked up at her, the hatred in her eyes completely undisguised.
Then Jiang Xun suddenly leaned closer and whispered into Pei Liang’s ear, “She should be called Concubine Huo now~”
