Betrayal

Ahead, the white-clad young man walking at the front—Senior Brother Mo—suddenly stopped.

The two young women behind him immediately halted as well, warily scanning their surroundings.

The young man did not turn around.

He merely stood where he was and spoke calmly toward the empty darkness behind him.

"Your Excellency had been watching us at the inn during the day, then followed us all the way after nightfall. May I ask what guidance you have for us?"

Shen Che's figure emerged beneath the hazy moonlight.

He ignored the scrutiny in the white-clad young man's words and simply stood there calmly.

"Demon Suppression Division, Shen Che."

He took a black iron token from his robes. The ferocious beast head carved upon it gleamed with a cold light in the night.

"Ordered to investigate the disappearance of the Huafeng County Demon Queller Envoy."

The tension in the air eased by more than half once he revealed his identity.

Within the Great Jing Dynasty, the Demon Suppression Division's name carried enough weight.

"So it is an officer of the Demon Suppression Division."

Tu Rong, the blue-clad young woman who had remained silent, bowed to Shen Che.

"We are disciples of Heavenly Snow Mountain. We came here to investigate a disappearance as well and have no intention of opposing you, sir."

Beside her, Xue Xi, the red-clad young woman, curiously sized Shen Che up with her large eyes.

"The Demon Suppression Division? You don't look that old, yet you're already an official Demon Queller Envoy?"

Shen Che put away the token without answering her.

"Since our goals are the same and we are all investigating disappearances, why not travel together?"

Tu Rong took the initiative to suggest it.

"This place is strange. One more person means one more measure of support."

Mo Feng, the white-clad young man at the head of the group, glanced at Shen Che and did not object.

"Fine."

The four formed a temporary party and continued deeper into the wilderness.

Along the way, through Xue Xi's chattering introduction, Shen Che learned where the three of them came from.

They were all from Heavenly Snow Mountain, a first-rate martial sect in the Northern Territory.

The white-clad young man was named Mo Feng. He was their senior brother and a genius ranked eighty-ninth on the Hidden Dragon Ranking.

"Eighty-ninth on the Hidden Dragon Ranking—do you know what that means?" Xue Xi's tone brimmed with admiration. "It means that among the younger generation under thirty throughout the entire Great Jing Dynasty, my senior brother's strength ranks among the top hundred! That's insanely impressive!"

The blue-clad young woman was named Tu Rong, and she had a quieter disposition.

They had come down the mountain this time to investigate a missing junior brother from their sect.

The last message from that disciple had come from an abandoned village outside Huafeng County.

A Heavenly Snow Mountain disciple had vanished.

A Demon Suppression Division Demon Queller Envoy had vanished.

Both incidents had occurred near Huafeng County.

Shen Che linked the two clues together, and the outline of the matter became much clearer.

Most likely, the same group of things was responsible for both.

Well, that worked out nicely—one mission, double the KPI.

After walking for roughly half an hour, the outline of a village appeared in a distant mountain hollow.

Black Mountain Village.

Yet the closer Shen Che got, the more something felt wrong.

It was too quiet.

Even if everyone in a village had gone to sleep at night, there should still have been the barking of dogs or the chirping of insects.

But this place was utterly silent.

Even the sound of wind rustling through the leaves seemed especially piercing.

A faint fishy stench also drifted through the air, mingling with the fragrance of earth, there and gone like a wisp.

"This village... is so strange."

Xue Xi also put away her lively demeanor and muttered softly.

"Look. Only the inn in the center of the village still has lights on. Every other house is dark."

Tu Rong tightened her grip on the sword hilt behind her back. It was her first time coming down the mountain for experience, and facing a scene like this made her nervous.

Mo Feng walked at the front. He stopped and gazed toward that lone light.

"Come. Let's go in and take a look."

Without any unnecessary words, he took the lead and headed toward the village.

The four entered Black Mountain Village.

The dirt road beneath their feet was clean, and the doors and windows of the houses along the roadside were all tightly shut. Nothing seemed out of the ordinary.

Yet that faint fishy stench grew stronger and stronger.

Soon, they arrived before the brightly lit inn at the center of the village.

"Black Mountain Inn."

The inn was filled with a hubbub of voices, forming a stark contrast to the village's deathly stillness.

Mo Feng pushed the door open and entered.

The main hall was packed with people. Some looked like traveling merchants, while others resembled martial wanderers. They raised cups and traded drinks, making for a lively scene.

The moment a portly innkeeper saw Mo Feng, his face immediately broke into a broad smile.

"You've finally arrived."

Mo Feng nodded to the innkeeper.

"I have not failed my mission."

That exchange left Tu Rong and Xue Xi, who had followed behind, both stunned.

How did their senior brother know an innkeeper in this desolate village?

"Senior Brother, this..." Tu Rong began in confusion.

"Sit down first."

Mo Feng found an empty table and sat down, gesturing for them to do the same.

Shen Che seated himself at another table. From the moment he entered, he had felt that the inn's attendants and those "guests" were looking at people in a very wrong way.

They were not looking at living people.

It was more like butchers appraising livestock awaiting the slaughter.

"Junior Sisters, my mission this time is already complete."

Mo Feng lifted his teacup and blew on the rising steam.

"I'm preparing to leave the Great Jing Dynasty and see the overseas lands. Do you want to come with me?"

Tu Rong and Xue Xi looked at each other, utterly unable to make sense of the situation.

"Leave the Great Jing Dynasty? Senior Brother, what do you mean? The sect's mission..."

"Hahaha!"

The fat innkeeper beside them burst into laughter, cutting Tu Rong off.

"Little girl, your senior brother did not come here to carry out any sect mission."

The innkeeper walked over to Mo Feng's side, patted his shoulder, and acted extremely intimate.

"He came to pledge allegiance."

"Young Master Mo secretly learned Heavenly Snow Mountain's sect-defining ultimate art, the Ice Soul Divine Art, and came here specifically to offer it to the King as a gift of introduction for joining our race."

The fat on the innkeeper's face quivered as he spoke.

"As for you two..."

His gaze swept back and forth over Tu Rong and Xue Xi, filled with undisguised greed.

"Women with such extraordinary innate talent and peerless beauty are excellent provisions. The King will surely like you very much."

The fat innkeeper's words were like a thunderbolt from a clear sky, exploding in Tu Rong and Xue Xi's minds.

Pledge allegiance?

Secretly learn the sect's ultimate art?

Provisions?

Tu Rong and Xue Xi's faces turned white as paper.

Their minds went blank, unable to process what was happening before them.

The genius senior brother they respected and admired, the proud talent on the Hidden Dragon Ranking, had betrayed his sect.

And he was going to offer them up as "provisions" to some "King"?

"Senior Brother, you..." Xue Xi's voice trembled, thick with tears. "You're joking, right?"