"Wei An?"
Chen Xian murmured under his breath. He could hardly believe that Wei An was a Blood Demon Sect mole planted in the Sword Sect.
A familiar image surfaced unbidden in his mind: the kind old man in the Dining Hall, leaning against the huge stove with a porcelain bowl in hand, carefully figuring out which piece of cured meat had the best chew.
From the first time Chen Xian bought mortal fruit to now, a month after they had met, Wei An had always struck him as a true gourmand.
Whenever Chen Xian went to the Dining Hall, the old man would cheerfully pull two spirit fruits from his pocket and press them into his arms. "Uncle-Master, those old bones of yours need a little extra nourishment. These fruits were just picked—they're real sweet!"
He just couldn't connect that cheerful old man, whose eyes were always fixed on food, with a spy.
By now, the two had become friends.
"Qing Yang, could there be some mistake?" Chen Xian asked, frowning at Lei Qingyang.
Lei Qingyang stood beneath the mirror, gazing up at the face reflected in it. He let out a long sigh.
"Alas, the Heart-Reflecting Mirror is a Truth-Breaking Dao Artifact. There's no way it could be wrong. I only wish it were..."
The sect master, whose authority struck like thunder before his disciples, spoke with a note of sorrow.
"Wei An was also an old hand from the days of the Sword Gate."
Lei Qingyang stared at the face in the mirror, his eyes distant. "Back then, he was an ordinary disciple in the medicinal garden."
"Later, when the battle that nearly severed the Sword Gate's legacy broke out, he was guarding the formation. To protect those few spirit herbs, he took a Blood-Dissolving Palm from a demonic cultivator head-on. The herbs were saved, but his Dao foundation was destroyed, and his cultivation plummeted from the third layer of Sword Master all the way down to the Ninth Layer of Dao Disciple."
"By the time the sect was rebuilt, his injuries had festered for so long that there was no hope of recovery."
Chen Xian silently stroked his beard. So the old man had carried such a history with him.
"Grateful for his service, the sect had planned to send him to Hidden Dragon Valley to enjoy a quiet retirement. But he was stubborn and refused to step down, insisting that he was so used to hard work that he couldn't sleep without the bustle of daily life. In the end, we had no choice but to make him an attendant in the Dining Hall. He's been there for thirty years."
Lei Qingyang clasped his hands behind his back, his voice sinking. "Apart from Uncle-Master Wei An, what about Elder Wu and Deacon Wang in this mirror? Aren't they all pillars of the sect?"
A sorrowful rage burst in his chest, and lightning flared in his eyes. "Aren't every one of them old hands who've served my Sword Sect for decades? The Blood Demon Sect truly has some vicious tricks!"
Liu Yunshu stood to one side, her expression stern. "Sect Master, please calm down. After several days of covert investigation, I've already found evidence against some of them. We can arrest them at any time."
Lei Qingyang took a deep breath and slowly nodded. His gaze swept across the faces in the mirror. "No rush. Keep this under wraps and continue investigating. I want to see what other tricks the Blood Demon Sect has up its sleeve."
Just then, a Sound Transmission Talisman hurtled through the air and landed in Lei Qingyang's palm.
He scanned it with his Dao Consciousness, then looked at Chen Xian. "It's a message from Deacon Huang in Ask-Dao City."
Chen Xian's heart stirred. Half a month had passed, and Huang Huanghuang had finally made some progress!
Lei Qingyang traced a finger across the talisman, undoing its seal. Huang Huanghuang's smooth voice, edged with urgency, immediately rang out from within.
"Reporting to the Sect Master, this disciple has uncovered some leads in the city!"
"The Qian Family, the Yuan Family, and the Tang Family—three of the eight great Aristocratic Clans in Ask-Dao City—have recently joined forces to introduce an expensive red tea called Shou'er Tea."
"Its origins are mysterious. It's said that drinking it regularly nourishes the blood and qi and prolongs life, so it's become a favorite among the city's powerful and wealthy. Even several elders from the Mortal Elder Pavilion drink it often."
"On top of that, yesterday the Qian Family sent someone to find this disciple and pressed five thousand taels of Dao Silver into my hands. They also gave me several boxes of so-called premium Shou'er Tea..."
"This disciple despises such bribery. Though I accepted the gift to keep the Qian Family from growing suspicious, I haven't touched a single bit of it. I am grateful to the sect for guiding me on the Dao, and my loyalty is as clear as the sun and moon..."
The final part of Deacon Huang's message practically oozed desperation. He went on at length, vowing his loyalty.
"I remember Deacon Huang has been stationed in Ask-Dao City for three years now, haven't I? Who would've thought he really was loyal as the sun and moon?"
After listening to a full minute of protestations, Liu Yunshu couldn't help smiling and shaking her head.
"What is this Shou'er Tea?" Lei Qingyang asked with a frown. He couldn't recall ever hearing of a tea by that name.
"It's a red tea. The brew is as crimson as blood, and it has a faint, sweet, fishy smell. Very strange."
Chen Xian remembered that the tea Steward Li had brewed at the Qian Mansion had seemed to be called Shou'er Tea.
At the time, he'd thought it looked as sinister as blood and hadn't taken a single sip.
Now it seemed he'd been right.
"Uncle-Master really knows his stuff! You're like an old treasure, haha." Lei Qingyang laughed.
By then, Huang Huanghuang had finished his vows of loyalty. The message ended with one last line:
"This disciple has already sent a trusted subordinate to secretly deliver both the silver and the tea back to the sect. They'll arrive shortly!"
The three exchanged glances. Lei Qingyang swept his hand, and the Heart-Reflecting Mirror withdrew into the dome. "Let's go see what this Shou'er Tea is all about."
A quarter of an hour later,
three gilt wooden boxes sat on the table in the tea room.
Lei Qingyang opened one. In an instant, a strange, fishy fragrance tinged with a faint sweetness filled the room.
The tea leaves were an intense crimson, so bright they seemed to shine. Even an ordinary person could faintly sense the strange vitality within them.
Chen Xian leaned closer for a better look. The patterns on the leaves reminded him of veins bulging as someone writhed in agony.
"Hmph. One glance tells me this tea is an evil thing!"
Lei Qingyang snorted and picked up a leaf between two fingers, gently rubbing it.
"Crack."
The dry leaf crumbled, and a mass of viscous red light flashed within.
Then, between Lei Qingyang's fingertips, a translucent blood-red insect appeared, thin as a thread. It twisted and clawed its way upward, its sharp mouthparts snapping frantically as it tried to pierce his skin and burrow inside.
"It's a Blood Treasure Insect!"
Liu Yunshu's face suddenly changed. "This evil creature can only mature after being fed human blood in broad daylight. It disappeared for so long—who would've thought it would surface again!"
"What's more, it dissolves into blood when mixed with water. Drinking it really can make a person's blood and qi surge for a short time, filling them with vitality like a new shoot sprouting from an old tree. But drink it over a long period and it'll drain your lifespan and corrode your sea of consciousness. It's a poisonous insect!"
Chen Xian's heart gave a jolt. He stared at the tiny insect writhing between Lei Qingyang's fingers and swallowed instinctively. Thank goodness he hadn't taken a single sip at the Qian Mansion.
This wasn't tea for health—it was raising a Gu inside your body!
"Though the insect dissolves as soon as it enters water, its eggs are as fine as dust. Once inside the body, they lie dormant."
Lei Qingyang recalled the relevant information as well. An arc of electricity flashed at his fingertip, and the struggling Blood Treasure Insect instantly turned into a wisp of black smoke.
His face darkened like still water. "Once someone who's been drinking this tea for a long time stops, the eggs will quickly hatch, burrow into their sea of consciousness, and drive them mad, like rabid dogs."
"Then the Blood Demon Sect need only tug the invisible leash from the shadows. The Aristocratic Clan nobles and Mortal Elder Pavilion elders who depend on Shou'er Tea will all become puppets, biting whoever they're ordered to."
"What a vicious scheme. They mean to take Ask-Dao City without spending a single soldier!"
He studied the two remaining boxes of tea, his gaze narrowing. "Deacon Huang has rendered great service this time. We should have him keep investigating. We need to find the source before we can eliminate the insect queen."
"Elder Liu, Deacon Huang holds little standing in Ask-Dao City, which makes things difficult for him. Give him a temporary Elder's token."
Lei Qingyang made his decision at once and began making arrangements.
Chen Xian sat in his chair, listening to these sinister methods, and couldn't help shivering.
The Blood Demon Sect's methods were far too sinister. If he ever ran into them, he'd have to be careful. His cultivation was still too low.
He thought again of Qian Yue's Blood-Irrigated Body, and figured Qian Yue had probably become a puppet of the Blood Demon Sect long ago.
Lei Qingyang seemed to notice Chen Xian's tension. He turned back, surprise flashing in his eyes.
"Uncle-Master, it's been a while since we last met. Your cultivation... you've already reached the sixth layer of Dao Disciple?"