Soft Tactics Work, Hard Ones Don't

Xie Huide's words made your scalp tingle.

"Fuck! My cover's blown! When did that happen?"

Your heart tightened.

Yet Xie Huide and Deng Rusong across from you remained calm.

You were certain you could beat Xie Huide.

But against Deng Rusong, a mid-stage Grandmaster Realm expert, you could fight for your life and still not win.

And this was a secret chamber, with several heavy stone doors tightly shut outside. You could not even run away.

If those two old foxes accidentally trapped you like catching a turtle in a jar... Huh? It seemed you had cursed yourself too...

"Am I really going to die here?"

You feigned composure and smiled. "Master, who the hell is He Yu? I don't know him!"

Xie Huide pulled out a letter from his robes. "He Yu, I said you would see our sincerity. Before that, we wish to be frank with you."

"What do you mean?" You looked at the letter in Xie Huide's hand.

Xie Huide opened it and took out the paper.

He looked at you, then read aloud, "He Yu, male, twenty-eight years old, from Shidong Village, Xian'an County, Danzhou."

You jolted, a chill running down your spine.

They had investigated all the way back to your ancestral graves!

Xie Huide's voice remained as still as an ancient well as he continued reading.

"Before the age of fifteen, Yu farmed at home. At fifteen, a great drought struck, and his parents starved to death."

"When Yu was near death, he was saved by Wang Kun, master of the Golden Saber Martial Hall in Xian'an County."

"More than a month later, all two hundred and fifty-three members of the Golden Saber Martial Hall vanished without a trace despite an extensive search."

"They were suspected to have been slaughtered by Yu, their corpses destroyed and all evidence erased."

"Eight days later, Danzhou Prefect Duan Qian issued a warrant for his arrest, but found nothing."

"Seven months later, Yu appeared in a small fishing village beneath the Danxia Sect."

"Two months after that, Yu took the alias Zhao Tiezhu and entered the tutelage of Danxia Sect Elder Xie Huide."

"He Yu is meticulous and alert, clear in gratitude and grudges alike, decisive and ruthless."

"His talent in martial arts is outstanding, and his talent in alchemy is likewise excellent. Given time, he will surely become a formidable hero."

"However, his cultivation is unknown, and his intentions cannot be discerned. He is exceedingly dangerous and must be treated with caution!"

After finishing the letter, Xie Huide looked at you. "This is everything we know about you. Even with this as our foundation, we are still willing to speak with you."

"Detailed. Too detailed!"

After hearing Xie Huide read out your entire biography, you could not help sighing repeatedly.

It was as though someone had been following at your side at every moment.

Other than the seven months you spent hiding in the wilderness to lie low, for which there was no specific information—

Every other place where people had appeared, all your actions had been laid bare.

At that moment, you calmed down instead.

Since these two had gone to such lengths to read you a classical Chinese biography—

They clearly were not planning to kill you.

Perhaps they truly wanted you to look after Shimu.

You asked, "The only person in the world who could investigate someone this thoroughly must be Emperor Li Anlong, right?"

"That's right. After finishing the pills, we asked him to look into it for us," Xie Huide replied.

"Not bad. There was even a complimentary service. So you started suspecting me long ago?"

Xie Huide sighed softly. "It was not suspicion. We simply had to make sure you were someone worthy of entrustment."

You looked at Xie Huide. "Aside from leaving out my handsome appearance, that letter was accurate in every other regard. And you still want to entrust Shimu to me?"

"We have been master and disciple for several years. I cannot be sure of much else, but I can be sure that you distinguish gratitude from grudges. I believe I have shown you only kindness and no enmity. I do not care what happened to you before."

You recalled how Xie Huide had indeed painstakingly taught you alchemy over the years.

He had even given you all the pill formulas and alchemy notes he had accumulated.

Back then, you had thought Xie Huide was arranging his final affairs and about to collect his lunchbox.

So he had been laying down favors in advance.

But whether Xie Huide's actions had been deliberate or not, you had truly benefited from them.

Other than secretly investigating your background, which was a little offensive, Xie Huide had indeed shown you only kindness and no hostility.

And investigating your background was not such a big deal anyway.

Back in your hometown, even when joining some tiny company, they would make several calls to harass your former colleagues for a background check.

Xie Huide was entrusting the greatest matter of his life to you. What was wrong with doing a little investigation?

There was no problem at all.

You looked at Xie Huide, then gave Deng Rusong an especially careful look.

You asked, "What sincere terms can you offer?"

Seeing that you had softened, Xie Huide said sincerely, "Other than the treatment you should receive as a Personal Disciple, all pills needed for your future cultivation will be provided by the Danxia Sect. We will also provide you with a sect-guarding cultivation method, or a martial skill of equal rank."

You nodded slightly.

The offer itself was actually quite good.

But it was not terribly tempting to you.

Because your Inner Divinity Pills were currently entirely self-sufficient.

Although you could not yet refine the Rank 6 Essence Pills needed to aid cultivation after reaching the Dragon Transformation Realm—

You were still far from the Dragon Transformation Realm, so you did not urgently need Essence Pills.

You believed that by the time you advanced into the Dragon Transformation Realm, you would already have become a Rank 6 alchemist.

Then you would naturally be able to refine Essence Pills yourself.

As for sect-guarding cultivation methods and martial skills, those were quite enticing.

Overall, the terms Xie Huide offered could only be called acceptable.

Your expression did not change much.

Deng Rusong's face was taut and stern across from you.

He was actually rather resistant to the matter of your infiltrating the Danxia Sect.

But because Xie Huide thought so highly of you, Deng Rusong naturally said nothing.

But if you stubbornly refused to submit, then you would go from being an outstanding employee of the Danxia Sect to a treacherous man plotting ill intent.

Deng Rusong would very likely act against you, and you would have no chance of surviving.

Although you had become accustomed to dying—

You would still naturally live as many extra days as you could, so you could improve your realm and return to deal with Duan Qian.

Still, their attitude of locking you inside this secret chamber did not look like they were negotiating terms.

That made you furious.

You glanced at the heavy stone doors behind you and said calmly, "What if I still refuse?"

Deng Rusong's expression darkened several degrees.

Yet you looked at Deng Rusong blandly, without the slightest fear.

Was it not merely death?

It was not as though you had never died before.

And if you wanted to kill yourself, not even a Supreme Grandmaster could stop you. It would also spare you from being captured and tortured.

Xie Huide lowered his head and sighed. "Ah, Tie... He Yu, I never intended to harm you from the beginning."

You looked at Xie Huide without speaking.

"Investigating your identity was only so there would be no estrangement between us. Otherwise, I would not have frankly told you about it."

Xie Huide continued on his own, "Even if you refuse, we will not do anything to you."

Rumble—

The several heavy stone doors behind you all slowly opened.

Bright daylight surged into the secret chamber, each ray scrambling to be first.

Xie Huide looked at you.

"You can leave whenever you wish."

You looked at the freedom within reach.

Your eyes flickered several times.

After a long while—

You broke into a radiant smile. "Master, I'm the sort who yields to softness but not hardness. Leave Shimu to me without worry, hehe."