A Pawn Must Enter the Game

"Senior Brother Lin, the steward is calling for you in the front hall," a chore disciple said in a low voice outside the door.

"Understood." Lin Ye replied, turned, and headed out.

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In the front hall, Zhou Bapi sat upright. Seeing Lin Ye enter, his eyelids twitched, and he forced a smile onto his face.

"You're here."

"Does the steward have any instructions?"

"Word has come down from above. For next month's Hundred Herb Banquet, our Herb Repository must provide fifty Jade Marrow Ganoderma, thirty Blood Ginseng, and twenty Seven-Heart Lotus."

"Although the Hundred Herb Banquet is a grand event for the inner sect, in previous years, they only took a symbolic amount of mortal-grade low-tier herbs," Lin Ye said slowly. "Why do they need so many this year?"

"This is the will of those above; how would I know?" Cold sweat beaded on Zhou Bapi's forehead. "Regardless, you are to count them out. People from the inner sect will come to collect them in three days."

Lin Ye stared straight at him.

Zhou Bapi felt unnerved by the gaze, his voice softening. "Lin Ye, I know your capabilities. That business with Senior Brother Zhao was my fault. This time, you must help me. If this is handled well, I will transfer you to the Inner Repository. The work there is light, and the spiritual energy is abundant..."

"I can try." Lin Ye finally spoke.

"Good, good, good!" Zhou Bapi breathed a sigh of relief. "Then I'll leave it to you."

Coming out of the hall, Chen Feng was waiting for him outside.

"Zhao Liang's handiwork?" Chen Feng whispered.

"Yes." Lin Ye nodded. "He wants to force me into making a mistake. If the herb count is incorrect, the punishment is a flogging and the crippling of my cultivation at best, or expulsion from the sect at worst."

"What do you plan to do?"

"I'll go check the Inner Repository first."

The Inner Repository was the core of the Herb Repository, housing the most precious herbs. Usually, only Zhou Bapi and a few trusted aides could enter. Since that night, Zhou Bapi had also granted Lin Ye access.

Lin Ye pushed open the door to the Inner Repository. Night-luminescent pearls were embedded in the four walls, emitting a soft, cold light. Rows of jade shelves were arranged neatly, holding various jade boxes and jade bottles, all labeled.

"Two Seven-Heart Lotus are missing..." Lin Ye tapped his fingers lightly against the jade shelf.

"The entry records state twenty. Yet, there are only eighteen here now."

Who could steal two Seven-Heart Lotus without anyone noticing, under the heavy formation surveillance of the Inner Repository?

"Unless there were only eighteen from the moment they were entered into the repository. But the ledger recorded twenty." A flash of realization crossed Lin Ye's eyes. "Someone tampered with the intake process. And it was someone with the authority to make decisions."

Looking across the entire outer sect, there were no more than five people who had the authority to manage the intake of herbs into the Inner Repository.

The manager of the Herb Repository, Zhou Bapi, was one of them.

But Zhou Bapi lacked the guts and the necessity. He wouldn't dare do something that would cost him his head the moment it was investigated.

"The water is deeper than I thought." Lin Ye closed the jade box and turned to leave the Inner Repository.

Back on the ground floor, Chen Feng was still waiting for him.

"How was it?"

"Two Seven-Heart Lotus are missing." Lin Ye said calmly. "Someone is playing a game of chess, and we are both just pieces."

"Who is the chess player?"

"I don't know." Lin Ye looked toward the distant, mist-shrouded peaks of the inner sect.

Three days passed in the blink of an eye.

The inner sect had arrived. A young man wearing a white robe with a purple jade pendant at his waist. He was about twenty years old, with a handsome face, an ethereal temperament, and a hint of arrogance in his eyes.

Behind him followed two inner sect disciples, both clearly in the True Qi Realm.

"Zhao Mingxuan from the Inner Sect Deacon Hall." The young man spoke indifferently. His gaze swept over Zhou Bapi and the chore disciples bowing in welcome, lingering on Lin Ye for a moment longer. "Are the herbs prepared?"

"They are prepared!" Zhou Bapi said hurriedly. "Lin Ye, hurry and bring the herbs up!"

Lin Ye responded, stepping forward while holding a tray.

Zhao Mingxuan casually opened a jade box containing a Seven-Heart Lotus, took a look, and nodded. "Not bad, the quality is intact."

He opened the second, the third...

When he opened the eighteenth jade box, his brows furrowed.

Inside the box was a Seven-Heart Lotus, but the petals were dull in color, and its spiritual energy was dissipated.

"This is a defective product?" Zhao Mingxuan looked at Zhou Bapi.

"That's impossible!" Zhou Bapi's face turned pale. "They were all top-grade; I checked them personally!"

Zhao Mingxuan ignored him and continued opening the boxes.

The nineteenth was defective.

The twentieth was empty.

"Hmm?" Zhao Mingxuan's expression darkened. "Zhou Fu, what is the meaning of this?"

"I..." Zhou Bapi's legs went weak, and he knelt on the ground. "Deacon Zhao, please see clearly! The herbs were all counted by Lin Ye; this has nothing to do with me!"

Zhao Mingxuan looked at Lin Ye, his gaze sharp: "You counted these herbs?"

"Yes," Lin Ye said calmly.

"Where are the two missing Seven-Heart Lotus? And what is the deal with these two defective ones?"

"Reporting to the Deacon, the entry records show twenty Seven-Heart Lotus, all top-grade. The Inner Repository currently holds eighteen, all top-grade," Lin Ye said slowly. "The twenty on the tray—eighteen top-grade and two defective—were replicated by this disciple using Illusion Heart Grass and Seven-Colored Flower. They are enough to pass for the real thing. As for the two that are missing..."

He paused and looked at Zhao Mingxuan: "This disciple does not know."

Zhao Mingxuan's eyes flashed with a hint of surprise: "You can replicate the Seven-Heart Lotus?"

"I know a little about pharmacology," Lin Ye said.

Zhao Mingxuan picked up a fake Seven-Heart Lotus and examined it closely: "The color, form, and scent are indeed enough to pass for the real thing. But the spiritual energy is thin; it wouldn't fool an expert. Did you replicate these to try and muddle through?"

"This disciple would not dare," Lin Ye lowered his head. "This disciple was merely curious why twenty were recorded but only eighteen remained. So, I replicated two to see if anyone would notice."

"And the result?"

"The Deacon's eyes are like torches; you saw through it at a glance," Lin Ye said.

Zhao Mingxuan looked at Lin Ye and suddenly smiled.

"Zhou Fu, you may leave first," he waved his hand.

Zhou Bapi acted as if he had been granted amnesty, scrambling away as he retreated.

"Lin Ye, Body Tempering eighth stage, from a servant background, in the sect for half a year, rising from the third to the eighth stage of Body Tempering. You once defeated a fifth-stage Body Tempering practitioner while at a lower level, can refine pills, understand pharmacology, and have a meticulous mind," Zhao Mingxuan slowly recited Lin Ye's background. "Zhao Liang wanted to fix you, but instead, you forced him to take an oath."

Lin Ye felt a chill in his heart.

His background had been investigated thoroughly by the other party.

"The Deacon is too kind," his expression remained calm.

"I am not praising you," Zhao Mingxuan said indifferently. "I am evaluating whether you are qualified to enter this game."

"Enter the game?"

"A grand play," Zhao Mingxuan walked to the window, looking at the clouds and mist outside. "Some people are ignorant, struggling on the chessboard. Some see through the game but are powerless to resist. And some people..."

"Want to become the chess player."

"This disciple is dull; I only wish to survive," Lin Ye said.

"Survive?" Zhao Mingxuan laughed. "In this Qingyun Sect, if you want to survive, you must pick a side. Pick the right one, and you will rise to the clouds. Pick the wrong one, and not even your bones will remain. And you are standing at a crossroads right now."

Lin Ye gritted his teeth: "Please, Deacon, enlighten me."

"The matter of the Seven-Heart Lotus is the work of an elder in the Inner Sect," Zhao Mingxuan said bluntly. "He needed two Seven-Heart Lotus to refine pills and didn't want anyone to know. So, he tampered with the records during the intake. This matter was originally seamless. Once the Hundred Herb Banquet passed and the accounts were balanced, no one would have been the wiser."

"But this disciple replicated fake flowers, creating a flaw in the plan," Lin Ye added.

"Correct," Zhao Mingxuan nodded. "You ruined that elder's plans. By the rules, you should be dead."

"But I feel you are a talent worth using," Zhao Mingxuan changed the subject. "That elder is my rival. You ruined his plans, which means you helped me. Therefore, I will give you a chance."

"What chance?"

"Work for me," Zhao Mingxuan stared at Lin Ye. "I can ensure you remain safe in the Outer Sect, and I can even provide you with resources to help you grow quickly. But you must be used by me and act on my behalf when needed."

"What does this disciple need to do?" he asked.

"Nothing for now," Zhao Mingxuan said. "You are too weak. At the eighth stage of Body Tempering, you don't even qualify to be a chess piece."

"Then the matter of the Seven-Heart Lotus..."

"I will handle it," Zhao Mingxuan waved his hand. "I will say the herbs were stored improperly, causing the spiritual energy to dissipate, resulting in them being downgraded to defective. This matter ends here."

"Yes."

"Take this," Zhao Mingxuan tossed over a small pouch.

Lin Ye caught it and looked inside; it contained ten Qi Gathering Pills and a booklet.

"The Qi Gathering Pills will help your cultivation. The insights and sword techniques are a welcoming gift," Zhao Mingxuan said. "Three months. Break through to the True Qi Realm. If you can't do it, you have no value."

Zhao Mingxuan glanced at him: "Also, stay away from Chen Feng. There is someone behind him, and the waters are deeper than you imagine. Once you get involved, you won't even have a corpse left."

Lin Ye felt a shock in his heart.

"Go."

Lin Ye bowed and retreated.

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