Blood Treasure Worm

"Wei An?"

Chen Xian murmured under his breath, never having imagined that Wei An was a mole the Blood Demon Sect had planted inside the Sword Sect.

His mind involuntarily conjured the kindly old man in the Dining Hall, leaning against the big stove, a porcelain bowl in hand, meticulously studying which piece of cured meat had more chew.

From the first time he bought a Mortal Fruit to their month-long acquaintance, in Chen Xian's impression, Wei An was a textbook foodie.

Every time he went to the Dining Hall, the old man would cheerfully pull two spirit fruits from his pocket and stuff them into Chen Xian's arms: "Senior Uncle, these old bones of yours need more nourishment. These freshly picked spirit fruits, they're sweet!"

He simply couldn't connect that old man, who grinned all day with nothing but food on his mind, to a mole.

The two had already become friends.

"Qingyang, could this be a mistake?" Chen Xian frowned at Lei Qingyang.

Lei Qingyang stood beneath the mirror, looking up at the face reflected in it, and let out a long sigh.

"Alas, the Heart-Reflecting Mirror is a Truth-Breaking grade Dao artifact. There's absolutely no way it could be wrong. I wish it were..."

The sect master, usually as stern as thunder before his disciples, spoke with a tone tinged with regret.

"Wei An was also a veteran from the Sword Gate era."

Lei Qingyang stared at the face in the mirror, his gaze deep and distant. "Back then, he was just an ordinary disciple in the medicine garden."

"Later, when that great battle nearly severed the Sword Gate's legacy, he was guarding the formation. To protect those few spirit herbs, he took a Blood-Dissolving Palm from a demon cultivator head-on. The herbs were saved, but his Dao foundation was destroyed. His realm plummeted from Sword Master third level all the way down to Dao Disciple ninth level."

"By the time the sect was rebuilt, his injuries had festered for so long there was no hope of recovery."

Chen Xian stroked his beard in silence. So the old man carried such a past on his back.

"The sect remembered his contributions and wanted to send him to Hidden Dragon Valley for a quiet retirement, but he was stubborn to the bone and refused to step down. Said he was used to hard work, that without the hustle and bustle he couldn't sleep a wink. In the end, there was no choice but to let him be the steward of the Dining Hall. That was thirty years ago."

Lei Qingyang clasped his hands behind his back, his voice dropping low. "Besides Senior Uncle Wei An, Elder Wu in this mirror, Deacon Wang... which one of them isn't a pillar of the sect?"

A rage wrapped in sorrow burst in his chest, lightning-fire kindling in his eyes. "Every single face on this mirror is a veteran of ten, twenty years in my Sword Sect! Blood Demon Sect, truly masterful methods!"

Liu Yunshu stood to the side, her expression cold and stern. "Sect Master, calm your anger. After my covert investigation these past few days, I've already found evidence on several of them. They can be apprehended at any time."

Lei Qingyang took a deep breath and slowly nodded, his gaze sweeping over the faces in the mirror. "No rush. Keep it secret for now. Continue investigating. I want to see what other tricks the Blood Demon Sect has up their sleeve."

Just then, a hastily flying transmission talisman cut through the air and landed in Lei Qingyang's palm.

He swept his Dao sense over it and looked at Chen Xian. "It's a message from Deacon Huang in Ask-Dao City."

Chen Xian's heart stirred. Half a month—Huang Huanghuang had finally made progress!

Lei Qingyang traced his finger lightly, undoing the seal, and Huang Huanghuang's slick, slightly urgent voice immediately came through the talisman:

"Reporting to the Sect Master, this disciple has uncovered some leads in the city!"

"Among the eight great families of Ask-Dao City, the Qian Family, the Yuan Family, and the Tang Family have recently joined forces to launch a high-priced red tea called Shou'er."

"The source of this tea is mysterious. It's said that regular consumption nourishes qi and blood, prolongs life, and it's highly favored by powerful figures from all sides. Even a few elders of the Mortal Elder Pavilion drink it often."

"Beyond that, the Qian Family sent someone to find this disciple yesterday, stuffed five thousand Dao Silver into my hands, and gifted several boxes of so-called premium Shou'er tea leaves..."

"This disciple finds such bribery utterly disgraceful. Though I accepted the gifts to avoid arousing the Qian Family's suspicion, I haven't touched a single bit. This disciple is grateful for the sect's guidance, utterly loyal to the sect, as clear as the sun and moon..."

Deacon Huang's desperate need to cover himself practically overflowed from the talisman paper, stringing together a long-winded declaration of loyalty.

"As I recall, Deacon Huang has been stationed in Ask-Dao City for three years now, hasn't he? Truly, his loyalty is as clear as day."

Listening to the full minute of loyalty pledges, Liu Yunshu couldn't help but shake her head with a smile.

"What exactly is this Shou'er?" Lei Qingyang frowned, searching his memory. He had no recollection of a tea called Shou'er.

"A red tea. The brew is as red as blood, and it has a faint, sweet, fishy smell. Very eerie."

Chen Xian spoke, recalling that when he was at the Qian Mansion, the tea Steward Li had brewed seemed to be called Shou'er.

At the time, he found it as sinister as blood and didn't drink a single sip.

Now it seemed he'd been right.

"Senior Uncle truly has vast knowledge! An old treasure indeed, haha!" Lei Qingyang laughed.

Just then, Huang Huanghuang's voice in the transmission talisman finished its loyalty speech and landed on a final note:

"This disciple has sent a trusted subordinate to secretly deliver both the silver and the tea back to the sect. It will arrive soon!"

The three present exchanged glances. Lei Qingyang waved his hand, and the Heart-Reflecting Mirror retracted into the dome. "Let's go see what this Shou'er really is."

In less than a quarter of an hour.

Three lacquered gold wooden boxes were placed on the tea room's low table.

Lei Qingyang opened one of the boxes, and instantly, a strange, faintly sweet and fishy aroma spread through the air.

The tea leaves were an extreme red, so red they practically gleamed. Even an ordinary person could vaguely sense an eerie vitality contained within.

Chen Xian leaned in for a closer look. He felt the veins on the tea leaves resembled blood vessels twisting in agony.

"Hmph, this tea reeks of evil at a glance!"

Lei Qingyang snorted coldly, reached out, and pinched a single leaf between two fingers, gently crushing it.

"Crack."

The dried leaves crumbled into powder, yet a clump of viscous red light flashed within them.

Immediately after, a tiny, semi-transparent blood-colored worm appeared between Lei Qingyang's fingertips, writhing and twisting frantically like a red thread, its sharp mouthparts visibly opening and closing in a desperate attempt to bite through skin and burrow inside.

"A Blood Treasure Insect!"

The well-informed Liu Yunshu's face changed abruptly: "This vile thing must be fed with fresh human blood for a full day to mature. It's been gone so long, yet it's seen the light of day again!"

"Moreover, this insect dissolves in water into blood. Drinking it steeped can indeed temporarily surge one's qi and blood, revive vitality, like an old tree sprouting new shoots. But long-term consumption actually drains one's lifespan and erodes the sea of consciousness—it's a poisonous bug!"

Chen Xian, listening nearby, felt his heart tremble. Staring at the tiny worm twisting on Lei Qingyang's fingertip, he swallowed subconsciously. Good thing he hadn't drunk a single sip back at the Qian Mansion.

This wasn't health tea—this was raising a parasite inside his body!

"Though this insect dissolves instantly in water, its eggs are like dust. Once inside the body, they lie dormant."

Lei Qingyang recalled the relevant information as well. A flicker of lightning arced from his fingertip, and the struggling Blood Treasure Insect instantly turned into a wisp of black smoke.

His face was as dark as water: "For those who drink this tea long-term, once they stop, the eggs will hatch quickly and burrow into the sea of consciousness, turning them into rabid, mindless mad dogs."

"By then, the Blood Demon Sect only needs to tug on that invisible leash from the shadows, and all these noble families and Mortal Elder Pavilion elders dependent on Shou'er Tea will become puppets biting for them."

"What a vicious scheme. They want to swallow Ask-Dao City without spending a single soldier!"

He stared at the remaining two boxes of tea leaves, his gaze sharpening: "Deacon Huang has rendered great service this time. Have him continue investigating downstream to find the source and eliminate the mother insect."

"Elder Liu, Deacon Huang's status in Ask-Dao City is too low to act effectively. Grant him a temporary elder token."

Lei Qingyang made the decision on the spot and began arranging matters.

Chen Xian sat in his chair, listening to these insidious methods, and couldn't help but shiver.

The Blood Demon Sect's techniques were too sinister. If he ever ran into them, he'd have to be careful—his cultivation was still far too low.

He also thought of Qian Yue's Blood-Irrigated Body and figured that Qian Yue had long become a puppet of the Blood Demon Sect.

Lei Qingyang seemed to sense Chen Xian's tension. He turned back, and a flicker of surprise suddenly flashed in his eyes.

"Uncle-Master, it's been a while, and your cultivation... you've already reached Dao Disciple Sixth Layer?"