Shu Xin had not expected the Hu family's reaction to be even more extreme than she had imagined.
Normally speaking, since the Hu family had hired so many guards, they should have anticipated that someone might try to rob the escort and made preparations well in advance.
But what happened next left Shu Xin somewhat dumbfounded.
The Hu family seemed to be overreacting. They began sending people around the flying ship to question every cultivator about their origins, what they had been doing recently, and so on.
Although this provoked considerable resentment, the Hu family did have a point. Someone had come today who was a demonic cultivator in the Grotto-Heaven Realm. Who knew whether an ancestor in the Immaculate Realm might come tomorrow? If they could identify even one more spy aboard the flying ship, they would have that much more protection. If people did not want to die without knowing why, it was better for them to cooperate.
Of course, refusing to cooperate was not an option either.
Anyone who resisted, or who stammered and failed to answer during the questioning, was killed on the spot by the Hu family.
However, compared with the few “bodyguards” and guards who died here and there aboard the flying ship, even more of the dead were servants and maids employed by the Hu family.
There were many cultivators from outside aboard the Hu family's flying ship. In order to gather information or make their own lives a little more comfortable, these cultivators would often inquire about various matters from the Hu family's servants. Some even became involved with the Hu family's attractive maids and attendants.
Under normal circumstances, these were nothing more than amorous affairs, and nobody would care.
But at a time like this, they became crimes.
The Hu family might well have known that many of these servants were innocent.
Still, in order to make the cultivators cooperate with the investigation, it was necessary to kill a few as a warning to the rest.
Otherwise, why would the Hu family have brought so many attendants aboard the flying ship? At critical moments, they were there to take the blame and serve as a warning to everyone else.
They were only servants. Once they died, the Hu family could simply replace them. One spirit stone could buy more than a dozen young boys and girls of the right age, who could be trained a little and then put to work as servants.
Once blood had been shed, the rest of the process naturally became much easier.
When Shu Xin's junior brothers and sisters saw this, they could not help going to argue with the Hu family. Instead, the Hu family casually shot back, “When we deal with our own people, do we need your permission?” and “If you aren't spies, why are you getting so worked up?”
“It was only a demonic cultivator in the Grotto-Heaven Realm. Was it really necessary to go to such lengths and kill so many people?” Meng Wenrui gritted his teeth, practically itching to fight the Hu family head-on.
“That demonic cultivator was only a pretext. Even if he had never appeared, they would have found an excuse to test our strength,” Qi Feiyang said, shaking his head. “Have you forgotten? Master once told us that when taking on escort missions like this, the most common thing was for the employer to kill a few people as a show of force.”
This was usually done to intimidate cultivators like them who had accepted the assignment.
Capable cultivators tended to be proud and arrogant. If they were not suppressed a little first, how could the employer feel comfortable using them?
“If the Hu family really wanted to shed blood, why didn't they kill those with higher cultivation or status? In the end, they're nothing but bullies who prey on the weak,” Cao Ru added. “Right now, our identities are only those of servants. Surely the Hu family can't simply kill us. But if we weren't Core Formation cultivators and were merely Qi Refining cultivators, they would probably have killed us when we argued with them just now.”
“We'll encounter things like this often in the future as well.”
Everyone fell silent.
“All right. The Hu family's affairs aren't something we can interfere in,” Shu Xin said with a smile. “You should go back and think carefully about the wager we made earlier.”
Her five junior brothers and sisters, who were serving as student-servants, knew that they could not ask too much of their senior sister. They could only suppress their feelings for the moment and return to their rooms.
“How strange.” Shu Xin closed the door and frowned. “Although I disguised myself as a demonic cultivator and stirred things up, I never attacked any of the Hu family's retainers from beginning to end. I did not even see the shadow of the spirit herbs. The Hu family's reaction is far too extreme.”
“Yes. Their reaction makes it seem as if they had never considered that anyone might try to rob the escort,” the Sword Spirit said, finding it strange as well.
Shu Xin had done similar things before, but they had almost never produced this kind of effect.
Shu Xin paced back and forth in the room before asking the Sword Spirit, “How many people has the Hu family killed over the past few days?”
“Two Core Formation cultivators from outside were killed, along with the servants they brought. If we include the Hu family's own servants, there have been at least thirty to fifty deaths,” the Sword Spirit replied.
“That number doesn't add up.” Shu Xin frowned. “If this were merely a warning to the others, killing three or five people at most would have been enough. Why kill so many?”
“There is something I've found strange all along.” Shu Xin narrowed her eyes slightly. “There are simply too many people aboard this flying ship.”
“Not counting the Hu family members, there are thirty Core Formation cultivators hired from outside.
“If we include the Hu family's own Core Formation cultivators, there are at least a hundred.
“As for Dao Infant cultivators, there are more than ten from the Hu family alone, in addition to the eight of us.
“And that isn't even counting the servants and attendants each of them brought along.
“The flying ship is divided into four levels, with at least a hundred rooms on each level.
“We're escorting spirit herbs, not going on vacation. Why make such a grand display? Are they afraid that passing cultivators won't come and try to rob them?”
“Logically speaking, for something this important, they should travel light and keep as low a profile as possible.”
“You mean there's something fishy going on?” the Sword Spirit asked curiously.
“Guard me. I'm going to release my divine sense and investigate.”
“All right.”
Since there were two other Grotto-Heaven cultivators aboard the flying ship, along with the possibility that other hidden experts might be present, Shu Xin had kept her divine sense sealed almost the entire time, refusing to give anyone the chance to detect anything unusual.
But extraordinary times called for extraordinary measures.
With the Sword Spirit protecting her, Shu Xin released her divine sense and did her best to spread it across every corner of the flying ship.
Not here.
Not here either.
When Shu Xin's divine sense passed through the third level and reached the uppermost level, it suddenly encountered an obstruction.
This flying ship did not have only four levels.
It had five!
The topmost level had been concealed using special methods, making the ship appear to have only four levels from the outside.
There was definitely a tremendous secret hidden within!
Shu Xin cautiously condensed her divine sense until it was as thin as a strand of silk, attempting to slip through unnoticed.
Unfortunately, the instant her divine sense peered into the fifth level, she saw only corpses packed densely across the floor.
Countless vines appeared to be piercing the hearts and heads of those corpses. Their tips had coiled together into a pillar, and atop the vine pillar sat a treasure-seeking rat with three red eyes growing from its face, noisily gnawing on the fruits that had grown from the vines.
“Who is it?”
In the next moment, an enormous pressure came crashing toward her.
Shu Xin decisively extinguished that strand of divine sense, leaving behind no trace.
But the pressure still followed her like a shadow.
The two swords at Shu Xin's side trembled faintly, completely cutting off the other party's attempt to probe her.
【See? I told you your luck was cursed. You only disguised yourself as a demonic cultivator once, and you actually managed to attract a real one.】
【The only people who could follow your divine sense here are cultivators from the Spirit-Parasitic Demon Sect—the ones who abandon physical cultivation and focus solely on cultivating their divine sense!】
Over the years, she and Shu Xin had traveled the world together and killed countless disciples from the Ten Great Demon Sects. But the cultivators who had left the deepest impression on them—and were the hardest to capture—were those from the Spirit-Parasitic Demon Sect.
For one thing, although the Spirit-Parasitic Demon Sect was ranked among the Ten Great Demon Sects, even demonic cultivators looked down on it. The moment one of its disciples was discovered, they would be killed immediately.
For another, the sect’s cultivation method was bizarre and difficult to guard against. Very few cultivators were even capable of practicing it.
Shu Xin’s face paled, but after adjusting her condition, she quickly recovered a fair amount.
The loss of this small portion of her divine sense had not affected her much.
“…It was only a coincidence,” Shu Xin said helplessly. “In the past, whenever we tried to find disciples of the Spirit-Parasitic Demon Sect, we could search forever and still find only one or two. I never expected that this time we’d run into a cultivator in the Grotto-Heaven Realm.”
A Spirit-Parasitic Demon Sect cultivator who could reach the Grotto-Heaven Realm would have to possess at least two parasitic bodies.
The fact that they had survived this long without being killed was no small feat.
【The Hu Family actually has ties to a demon sect? How would they dare associate themselves with the Myriad Dao Sect, then?】
“Precisely because they have ties to the Spirit-Parasitic Demon Sect, they need to associate themselves with the Myriad Dao Sect.” In an instant, Shu Xin understood the scheme behind everything.
If the Hu Family had no secret technique, how could they have obtained spirit herbs again and again?
And why had they made such a grand show of traveling?
They were probably deliberately trying to lure people in as blood sacrifices.
After all, on the surface, the Hu Family still had to present itself as an orthodox cultivation clan. They could not use their own people to feed that clearly suspicious treasure-seeking rat, so they had to resort to other methods.
Who would have thought that those thousand spirit stones were actually payment for a life?
“If the Hu Family uses this opportunity to establish ties with the Myriad Dao Sect and allows a cultivator from the Spirit-Parasitic Demon Sect to possess one of the Myriad Dao Sect’s disciples, what do you think will happen?” Shu Xin prompted.
【Tsk… The conflicts between these sects are getting more and more excessive.】
On the surface, it seemed as though many different factions were fighting over the matter, but behind the scenes, every one of them had the shadow of another sect.
The demonic sects were working desperately to plant spies in the orthodox sects. And yet, had the orthodox sects not also cultivated countless trusted agents within the demon sects?
What appeared to be a simple mission was actually anything but simple.
If a cultivator’s strength was insufficient, they might not even know why they had died.
“I originally thought that using those few Dao-Infant cultivators to temper the sword would be enough.” Shu Xin sighed. “I didn’t expect so many more people to come looking for death.”
“Oh, right. I’ll write a letter.” Shu Xin patted the body of the sword. “Wait, you take it to Situ Jian.”
They had finally found a cultivator in the Grotto-Heaven Realm from the Spirit-Parasitic Demon Sect. There might finally be clues about the thing Situ Jian needed.
【What? What kind of status does Situ Jian have that I should personally deliver his letter?】
“Because I can’t leave,” Shu Xin said innocently as she looked at the Sword Spirit. “At a time like this, besides you—the Sword Spirit of a ten-thousand-year-old immortal sword—who else could deliver the letter to Situ Jian silently and swiftly?”
“If someone else carried the message, I’d have to worry about it being intercepted. But if you go, even an Earthly Immortal wouldn’t be able to stop you.”
【You know your place.】 The Sword Spirit sounded rather smug. 【Fine, then. I’ll expend a little effort and send half of myself to deliver the letter for you.】
“You really are the most reliable.”
【Of course!】
The Everlasting Dao Sect.
After returning from the Seeking God Sect, the Lin family ancestor had remained in seclusion.
This time, however, he was paying even closer attention to Situ Jian. Even while in seclusion, he had not forgotten to send people to investigate Situ Jian’s cultivation progress.
When he learned that Situ Jian had already cultivated the Lin Family’s ancestral technique to the minor mastery stage, he rewarded him lavishly, sending a large quantity of cultivation resources to Situ Jian’s cave abode.
The sheer amount of resources was enough to make everyone who knew about it green with envy.
Situ Jian really was lucky.
How had he managed to meet a master who was so generous—and so wealthy?
Situ Jian did not hold back either. He accepted everything the Lin Family sent him.
Not only did he accept it all, he even took the initiative to make lists of additional items and send them to the Lin Family, asking them to help him locate the things he needed.
This made the members of the Lin Family extremely dissatisfied. Yet, the Lin Clan Chief forcefully suppressed everyone’s complaints. Whatever Situ Jian requested, he sent it to him.
Lin Youwei keenly sensed that something was wrong.
Her family had never been generous.
Not to mention an outsider like Situ Jian—even she, a member of the direct bloodline, had to complete tasks for the family before she could exchange for cultivation resources.
Situ Jian had done nothing for the family from beginning to end. Why was he receiving so many resources?
There had to be something going on that she did not know about.
No, she still needed to find a way to achieve the Dao-Infant realm and immediately apply to travel outside the sect afterward.
Lin Youwei vaguely sensed that something was amiss. She became even more attentive to her cultivation, and she also began treating her dual-cultivation partner with considerably more warmth.
She would make use of him a little longer and raise her cultivation first.
Situ Jian accumulated a large stockpile of resources. He kept whatever he could use, while sending the rest out through his subordinates to be exchanged for top-grade spirit stones, which he stored in his storage ring.
Then, one day, a familiar sword flew directly before him, carrying a slip of paper.
Only one person besides him could enter his cave abode while ignoring all the formations within.
The note was very short, containing only a single line.
It was written in Shu Xin’s style, as always.
“We have found a cultivator from the Spirit-Parasitic Demon Sect in the Grotto-Heaven Realm. There is hope of obtaining the Mirrorheart Divine Water.”
As Situ Jian read the words on the note, his breathing quickened for an instant.
They had finally found a clue.
“Please trouble Sister Shu to take good care of the matter concerning the divine water,” Situ Jian said to the sword. “The Lin family ancestor was injured on his return to the sect and was punished by the Nine Sons of Longevity. His lifespan has been greatly depleted, and he will act against me soon. I am waiting for the right moment. Once I succeed, I will join Sister Shu. Above all, be careful.”
The sword wobbled slightly but said nothing.
Situ Jian naturally understood. At most, what had come here to deliver the letter was merely a strand of the Sword Spirit’s consciousness.
The only person who could command the Sword Spirit was Sister Shu.
“I have yet to congratulate Sister Shu on achieving the Grotto-Heaven Realm.” Situ Jian waved his hand, and a storage bag filled with a massive amount of resources and spirit stones appeared hanging from the sword hilt. “This is my congratulatory gift.”
The hilt bobbed once, acknowledging that Situ Jian knew how to behave.
After receiving Situ Jian’s reply, the spiritual sword prepared to fly back.
However, there was truly quite a lot inside the storage bag. The sword’s return speed was noticeably slower.
It was a little heavy.
As Situ Jian watched the spiritual sword disappear into the distance, his eyes lowered slightly.
If he could find the Mirrorheart Divine Water, he would be able to proceed to the next step.
The Lin family ancestor was about ready to make his move against him.
He only hoped the old man would not keep him waiting too long.
Aboard the flying vessel.
After Shu Xin’s probing, the Hu Family’s inspection of the people aboard the flying vessel became noticeably stricter than before.
It had even reached the point of making people uncomfortable.
Shu Xin knew that the Hu family must have grown desperate because they were worried their secret would be exposed.
But Shu Xin had concealed her identity flawlessly, and with the Sword Spirit covering their retreat, the Hu family and the demonic cultivators possessing the parasitic spirit would only assume that some powerful expert was watching them from the shadows.
Her identity as a Dao-Nascent cultivator also reduced suspicion directed at her considerably.
Thus, when the Hu family came to question her, Shu Xin cooperated perfectly, leaving them unable to find the slightest fault.
Elder Hu De’s younger brother, Hu Ren, had come personally to question Shu Xin as a sign of respect. He had been worried that this female cultivator from a prestigious clan might refuse to cooperate, but unexpectedly, she had the most agreeable attitude among all the Dao-Nascent cultivators.
As a result, the attendants on Shu Xin’s side were spared. They now looked at her with even greater respect than before.
“Those who share a boat share both honor and disgrace. Since I’m already aboard this spirit vessel, I naturally have to consider my own safety.” Shu Xin spoke with such heartfelt sincerity that it was almost moving. “The Hu family has no choice but to step in here. I understand. If our positions were reversed, I would make the same choice.”
Elder Hu Ren secretly sighed in admiration. As expected of someone from a prestigious clan—she truly had a sense of the bigger picture.
“Still, forgive me for speaking out of turn, Elder Hu. Simply questioning people like this probably won’t help much in finding the traitor.” Shu Xin offered the reminder in all kindness.
“Alas, since there’s a spy aboard the spirit vessel, they must be deeply concealed. Finding them in a short time will be difficult. We can only investigate slowly for now. If we can at least make them hesitate to act, that would be something.” Elder Hu Ren also felt that the matter was troublesome, but no matter how troublesome it was, it still had to be dealt with.
The Hu family had never expected that they would encounter a demonic cultivator in the Grotto-Heaven realm on only the tenth day of their journey.
They still had at least a year or two before reaching their destination. What were they supposed to do?
“Actually, the best solution would be for one of the Hu family’s enshrined elders to secretly take the spiritual herbs straight to the merchant guild without informing anyone of the route, while the rest of us draw attention here,” Shu Xin deliberately suggested. “That way, we could rest easy.”
“We naturally thought of that as well.” Elder Hu Ren did not mind admitting it. “It’s just that our Hu Family Ancestor cannot leave, while the Grotto-Heaven Adepts in the clan are either in seclusion or occupied with other matters. If we spare two more people to escort the spiritual herbs, the clan’s forces will become too thinly spread. But if we ask outsiders to escort them, how could we possibly trust them?”
That was why the Hu family had no choice but to personally deliver the spiritual herbs in this manner.
Of course, more importantly, they intended to use this opportunity to show the Myriad Dao Sect the Hu family’s strength, rather than make this a one-time transaction.
It seemed that Elder Hu Ren truly knew nothing about what the Hu family actually intended to do.
“This junior may be unworthy, but I do have a few ideas regarding how to catch the traitor.” Shu Xin knew exactly what she was doing and brought the matter up herself.
“Oh? Please tell me, Fellow Daoist Lin.” Elder Hu Ren’s eyes lit up.
“The traitor’s purpose in remaining aboard the spirit vessel can only be to coordinate with people outside,” Shu Xin said with a smile. “Elder Hu, why not return and discuss this with your clansmen? You could spread some false information about the spiritual herbs, or deliberately leave a few flaws in the spirit vessel’s formation. The reason is already at hand: simply claim that the attack by the Grotto-Heaven demonic cultivator caused some minor damage to the formation. If the traitor truly has designs on the herbs, they will surely seize the opportunity to send out information or sabotage the spirit vessel.”
“Lure the snake from its hole. Brilliant!” Elder Hu Ren was no fool. He immediately understood that Shu Xin’s plan was feasible.
“Of course, this method carries its own dangers. I’m merely offering a few immature ideas. The specifics of how to carry it out and improve upon it will still depend on you, Elder Hu.” Shu Xin stopped there. She did not fully lay out her suggestions, instead leaving the Hu family ample room to develop the plan themselves.
Elder Hu Ren thought for a moment, then could no longer sit still. “Hahaha, I must return and discuss this with my elder brother. If it proves effective, I certainly won’t forget Fellow Daoist Lin’s guidance.”
“How could this be called my guidance?” Shu Xin gave him a gentle smile. “I merely offered a few insignificant suggestions. I’m an outsider, after all, so it would be inappropriate for me to interfere in the Hu family’s affairs. Still, we are both from prestigious clans, and there will surely be opportunities for us to help each other in the future. If the Hu family truly becomes an honored guest of the Myriad Dao Sect one day, my Lin family will certainly come to offer its congratulations.”
They were all intelligent people. There was no need to say anything more.
Shu Xin was willing to hand over the “credit” for the strategy to Elder Hu Ren, hoping only that when the Lin family and the Hu family interacted in the future, Elder Hu Ren would speak favorably of her.
Elder Hu Ren understood perfectly well that if the Hu family truly rose to prominence, there would be countless prestigious clans eager to befriend them.
This female cultivator from the Lin family was simply making an early gesture of goodwill.
But he did indeed need someone to offer him advice. Otherwise, when would he ever escape this awkward position of being neither here nor there within the clan?
Among mature cultivators, relationships often began with an exchange of benefits.
Elder Hu Ren looked at Shu Xin and suddenly felt the comforting warmth of seeing one of his own. He then bid her farewell and hurried away.
【Every time I watch you manipulate people like this, I still have to marvel at how skilled you are.】 The Sword Spirit could not help but sigh.
Her methods and rhetoric were remarkable. Though it looked as if she were making concessions, she had actually maintained control of the situation the entire time.
If Elder Hu Ren really managed to catch a few traitors with this strategy, Shu Xin would have an ally aboard the spirit vessel from then on.
“This little trick is something the Hu family’s higher-ups could certainly have thought of themselves.” Shu Xin yawned. “The fact that Hu Ren was sent to handle such a minor matter shows that his standing in the clan isn’t particularly high, though he definitely has enough influence to make himself heard. I gave him this idea simply to help him make an impression before the true decision-makers in the clan.”
She had already alerted the enemy once before, so the Hu family would certainly intensify their investigation.
With Hu Ren assisting her now, matters would become much simpler.
【To be honest, I almost feel sorry for those people trying to steal the spiritual herbs.】
They might have thought they were merely robbing a shipment of spiritual herbs, but the Hu family was deliberately waiting for them to take the bait so they could kill them.
The Sword Spirit sighed. 【Given the Hu family’s ways, I’m afraid blood will be spilled again.】
“If cockroaches keep hiding in the shadows, you can never catch them all,” Shu Xin said coldly. “Only by forcing every last one of them into the sunlight can you wipe out the entire nest in a single sweep.”
【What are you planning to do if the Hu family really lures the snake from its hole?】
“Of course I’ll make the Hu family turn a clever scheme into a real disaster.” Shu Xin revealed a row of white teeth. “I was born to rule. I’ve never been willing to live beneath someone else, and I certainly don’t like having anyone above me acting as my superior.”
The Hu family wanted to profit from both sides?
They could dream on!
Whether they got their way would depend on whether she agreed.
Since they had provoked her, the Hu family would simply have to suffer the consequences—sooner or later, they were destined to be swallowed up by this vast world.
