Outside the private room.
Min Ning had nearly bitten her lip bloody, and the saber hilt at her waist was slick with sweat.
This man... hadn't changed...
He really wasn't trustworthy. He wasn't someone to get close to.
She recalled what Chen Yi had done over the past month: abusing his position for personal gain and treating Great Yu Law as though it were nothing.
Yet yesterday, she had thought he was only pretending to be a wastrel, when in reality he was biding his time. Now it seemed he had merely been putting on an act on a whim. What he actually wanted was...
Remembering Chen Yi's words yesterday, Min Ning felt a chill of revulsion.
The Eastern Depot Agents all said he lusted after women, but who could have imagined that this supposed fondness for women was only a cover? His actual target was his own superior.
And now, for the sake of that shameless business, he was threatening her elder sister here...
Min Ning wanted nothing more than to charge inside and take his head off with one stroke.
But Min Ning couldn't.
He was a Hundred Household of the Western Depot...
If a dignified Hundred Household died at the Hundred Flowers Tower, the Western Depot could not possibly ignore it. They would investigate thoroughly. When that happened, not only she but her sister would be implicated, their lives hanging in the balance.
Bitterness filled her spirited face. All she could do was grip her saber hilt in frustration.
"What... should I do...?"
[Min Ming's negative emotions rewarded three years of True Qi. Min Ning's negative emotions rewarded five years of True Qi.]
Looking at the extra eight years of True Qi on the panel, Chen Yi's appetite was whetted.
These sisters really were of one heart. They truly deserved to be called the Min family bank.
Whenever he was short on True Qi, he could come farm some "affection" from them. They were practically the best cultivation partners for the Grudge Yin-Yang Art. "Beyond the Heavens" could be replaced; the Min sisters were indispensable.
Min Ming straightened the broken zither string, her fingertips still trembling despite herself. She tried to remain calm, but with that man right in front of her, she simply couldn't.
Seeing her remain silent, Chen Yi spoke.
"After all these years, how much silver have you earned, Miss Min? Would it be enough to buy your freedom?"
Min Ming let out a breath and asked with a slight tremor in her voice,
"What if it isn't enough?"
"I have never had much money to my name. I'm afraid it wouldn't be enough to buy my freedom."
Chen Yi took something out of his robes.
Min Ming looked over, thinking it was a banknote. To her surprise, it was paper and a brush.
Chen Yi pushed the paper and brush toward Min Ming and said earnestly,
"If it isn't enough, you can write me an IOU. Remember to pay it back. Interest will be calculated at fifty percent a year."
Outside, as Min Ning heard this, her Embroidered Spring Saber slid from its sheath inch by inch despite herself.
That bastard.
He wanted to force her sister to become his bedchamber attendant,
and he expected her sister to buy her own freedom? He wanted to get her for free?!
Just as she was about to charge through the door, Min Ning stopped again. She thought of her own helplessness, then of her sister enduring humiliation to preserve them both. Her eyes stung and reddened.
[Min Ming's negative emotions rewarded five years of True Qi. Min Ning's negative emotions rewarded five years of True Qi.]
Chen Yi struggled to suppress the slight upward curl of his lips.
Min Ming, too, was shocked by Chen Yi's shameless words, her pretty face paling.
She forced herself to calm down, looked at Chen Yi, and tried to threaten him.
"You know that the Do Not Use Tower stands behind me.
"The Do Not Use Tower has been operating in the Capital City for some time now. Surely it won't allow a single Hundred Household to do whatever he pleases."
As Min Ming spoke, Chen Yi listened closely to the faint movements outside the door.
[Negative emotions: 95]
Seeing such a high reading, Chen Yi realized that if he kept making withdrawals, Min Ning might lose control and strike to kill.
For now, he couldn't let her ruin his plans.
"Miss Min, I'm not afraid of the Do Not Use Tower. You have the Do Not Use Tower behind you; I have the Lin faction behind me.
"As for why I came, besides persuading you to buy your freedom, I also wanted a little cooperation with the Do Not Use Tower."
Chen Yi slowly explained.
After hearing this, Min Ming's expression eased a little.
When she had said those words, she hadn't been certain... hadn't been certain whether the Do Not Use Tower would offend a Hundred Household of the Western Depot for her sake, especially one who belonged to the Lin faction.
Ultimately, however capable and useful she might be, she was only a courtesan who did not sell her body. Now, she didn't even have a trace of True Qi left.
"What do you want, Hundred Household?"
Min Ming recovered her former alluring tone.
"Spread a piece of news."
Chen Yi said mildly,
"Make up a rhyme: the Bright-Dark Divine Sect has the Eastern Depot as its lord; the Demonic Cult's Holy Maiden has the Eastern Depot as her guard."
"Say that the Eastern Depot colluded with the Demonic Cult and helped it escape the Capital City.
"And that...
"it intends to protect the Holy Maiden's emergence for the Demonic Cult."
Min Ming lowered her head and fell into thought.
He wanted to go after the Eastern Depot?
Hadn't he always been an unambitious man who abused his position for personal gain? Shouldn't he be in league with the Eastern Depot?
At this thought, Min Ming froze a little.
Could his supposed lack of ambition and corruption all have been an act?
All so that one day he could bring down the Eastern Depot, planning for the state with seasoned foresight...
Just how many people had he kept in the dark?!
That night, she had actually dared to test a man like this herself...
Goose bumps rose on Min Ming's skin.
If that was the case, then should she... sabotage him...?
Chen Yi saw through her thoughts at a glance and smiled.
"Miss Min, don't play any tricks with this.
"Thousand Household Min's future is still in my hands.
"Besides, do you think I don't know that the Do Not Use Tower won't offend me for your sake? That it won't offend the Lin faction over me?"
At these words, Min Ming felt as though he had struck a vulnerable place in her heart, and her scalp tingled slightly.
Chen Yi slowly stood.
"Miss Min, I won't change my mind.
"Have that IOU ready in advance.
"Because when the time comes, you might beg me."
After saying this, Chen Yi walked slowly toward the door, waited a moment, then pulled it open.
Min Ning had hidden herself somewhere.
Chen Yi sighed, then slowly descended the stairs.
Not long afterward, a figure in an Embroidered Uniform Guard uniform stepped into the private room. Her palms were slick with sweat, and her eyes were so red that she looked ready to cry at any moment.
The moment she entered, she threw herself into Min Ming's arms. Wretched, aggrieved, and hurting, she curled up like a wounded wolf, letting out muffled sounds as tears fell silently and soaked her elder sister's clothes.
After a long while, she said in an extremely low voice,
"Sis, don't be afraid. I'll find a chance... to kill him."
Two days later, on a day off.
Chen Yi ambled down the road.
Faintly, he heard intermittent, barely audible footsteps behind him.
Someone was following him...
Who else could that pursuer be?
After hearing that conversation outside the door, Min Ning was bound to act.
Given her character, there was no chance she would inform the Eastern Depot that he intended to move against them.
Quite apart from how that would implicate her sister, it was hard to say whether those old hands would even trust this Thousand Household.
Chen Yi first visited the Eastern Depot and obtained a chief constable's uniform. With his waist token properly fastened, he headed toward the outskirts of the Capital City.
Naturally, more than one group of Demonic Cult remnants had remained in the Capital City to rescue the Holy Maiden.
If he remembered correctly, there was a temporary Demonic Cult base out near the outskirts.
The farther he walked toward the edge of the Capital City, the more the wind carried a murderous chill. Chen Yi turned into an alley and sensed many ill-intentioned gazes.
He had indeed come to the right place.
Speaking of which, Min Ning was hiding quite well.
Chen Yi turned his face and glanced behind him.
The leaves stirred slightly. She was probably looking for an opportunity to eliminate him in secret.
Chen Yi smiled, then walked straight toward a half-abandoned tavern.
Its doors were tightly shut, as though locked fast.
Chen Yi thought back for a moment, then knocked hard five times, followed by four light knocks. The first five symbolized the Demonic Cult's five treasured realms of light, while the last four represented its four Holy Maidens.
After quite a while, the door opened a crack. An aged eye stared at him, and a voice asked,
"Who... are you?"
Chen Yi did not answer directly.
It seemed to be asking his name, but if he answered with his name outright, his head would hit the ground the next second.
He had learned this through repeated saves and reloads.
"When the Great Ming Venerable Buddha appears, he shall restore... the World of Ignorance."
At the sight of this man in an official uniform, the aged eyes registered a moment of surprise. Then the door slowly opened.
Chen Yi lifted his foot and stepped slowly inside.
A group of Demonic Cult members sat inside the abandoned tavern. The man who had questioned him was the cult's Discipline Elder. His hair was gray, and his True Qi was vast and dense.
"Who are you? Why haven't I seen you before? And you're even... an Embroidered Uniform Guard?!"
A heavily muscled Demonic Cult member eyed him suspiciously.
"We have so many spies. How could you have met them all...? Still, he certainly looks unfamiliar."
Another Demonic Cult member spoke.
Everyone's gaze converged on Chen Yi, but he showed no nervousness at all.
The Discipline Elder returned to the seat of honor and looked down at Chen Yi, speaking calmly.
"State your name."
As his words fell, several Demonic Cult members instinctively placed their hands on the weapons beside them. The atmosphere in the tavern instantly turned murderous.
A single look would be enough to have this man in official uniform hacked to pieces.
"Cosmic Shift, Heaven and Earth Void and Bright, Realms of Light and Darkness, Two Sects and Three Intervals..."
The Discipline Elder's expression changed instantly, his face full of astonishment.
Could this be...
the Great Star-Absorbing Art?!
This was a cult-protecting technique, a foundation that held the cult firm. Even within the Demonic Cult, only a very few knew of this high-grade technique.
The elder kept looking toward him, only to see that sincere tears had appeared in the young man's eyes at some point.
"Elder, three years after three years, then three years after three years... I've lived under an assumed identity in the Capital City for nine full years."
"Do you know how I've spent these past nine years?"
With tears in his eyes, Chen Yi cupped his hands in salute.
"Your subordinate, Song Shengbao, returns to the cult today."
Song Shengbao...
At that name, the elder's pupils contracted slightly.
That was the spy the Bright-Dark Divine Sect had planted in the Eastern Depot nine years ago-and its most important one!
To keep that spy from being betrayed, apart from the cult leader, only a very few people knew his identity and appearance.
Chen Yi's voice was neither loud nor soft, just enough to reach the tavern's second floor.
Min Ning, who had slipped silently into the tavern to observe in secret, was utterly stunned.
He was actually... a member of the Demonic Cult?
So he had used... the Great Star-Absorbing Art to take her sister's True Qi...
But... why was he using Song Shengbao's name? And why had he intercepted and killed those Demonic Cult members...?
Min Ning recalled the details of that day.
Chen Yi hadn't left a single survivor.
Normally, he should have left someone alive... Could it have been to prevent word from leaking?
He had killed those Demonic Cult members only to conceal himself better!
And his use of Song Shengbao's name was most likely part of a scheme in which the cult's villains worked together from within and without! The Song Shengbao who had been killed wasn't the real Song Shengbao, only Chen Yi's shadow puppet!
In Min Ning's mind, she pictured those three Demonic Cult members going fanatically to their deaths to conceal the truth.
Such cold-blooded methods! What were they for?
Soon, Min Ning heard the answer.
"Elder, the Eastern Depot has turned against the Demonic Cult now."
"Do you think we're still cooperating with the Eastern Depot? No. In fact, they're merely waiting for the right moment, letting us run free so they can catch us all in one net and rise three official ranks."
"A few days ago, people from the Eastern Depot came to the Western Depot, demanding that we bring men to intercept and kill our brothers in the cult. They're using us to do their dirty work!"
"If we keep trusting the Eastern Depot, I fear... the Holy Maiden will be in danger. They've already heard of her emergence. Elder, you can send a secret message yourself to see whether I'm telling the truth."
The more Min Ning heard, the more alarmed she became.
Who could have imagined that the Western Depot Hundred Household, usually so arrogant and overbearing, was actually a spy the Demonic Cult had planted in the Capital City!
If she hadn't come to assassinate him this time, then perhaps... everything would have gone exactly as the Demonic Cult wished!
And that Holy Maiden...
Who exactly was the Holy Maiden he spoke of?
Right, she remembered that he had taken a maid... from the Xiang Prince's Residence.
No matter what... she couldn't let him succeed!
Inside the tavern, as his words fell, the Demonic Cult members slowly lowered their weapons.
The tense, murderous atmosphere abruptly eased.
"It seems it really is you."
The Discipline Elder composed himself and looked at Chen Yi, then suddenly challenged him:
"But let me take a look at the martial arts manual you're carrying."
The atmosphere abruptly grew tense.
Chen Yi calmly drew a martial arts manual from inside his robe.
The elder gave it a quick look.
It matched. Everything matched...
The Eastern Depot Chief Constable, the password, the Great Star-Absorbing Art, and the Eagle-Fall Art he carried... this man was undoubtedly Song Shengbao!
"The situation is perilous. Please forgive me for testing you."
The elder handed the Eagle-Fall Art back.
Chen Yi waved a hand and said:
"For the cult's great cause, no amount of testing is a problem. What truly matters right now is those scoundrels in the Eastern Depot."
"Elder, we can't delay. As I see it, they're only pretending to cooperate. The Eastern Depot has begun investigating the Holy Maiden."
Chen Yi spoke with the utmost seriousness.
The elder's expression shifted slightly, and he frowned.
"But we previously reached an agreement with the Eastern Depot..."
Before he could finish, Chen Yi said:
"A few days ago, the Eastern Depot already cut off contact with quite a few of our people.
"And now rumors are circulating that the Eastern Depot is protecting the Holy Maiden's emergence..."
A trace of astonishment entered the elder's eyes. The other Demonic Cult members froze at those words, then murderous intent rose from them.
"You mean..."
Chen Yi sneered.
"I fear the Eastern Depot spread those rumors themselves!
"They're using them to deceive our brothers in the cult, just waiting for the time to be ripe before stabbing us in the back.
"Those people from the Eastern Depot... they love saying one thing and doing another."
As he listened to Chen Yi, the elder remained silent in thought, his brow tightly furrowed.
He knew the man before him spoke the truth. If the Eastern Depot knew about the Holy Maiden, they certainly wouldn't help the cult. Their relationship was far from firm. It was merely cooperation for mutual benefit, with no trust to speak of. If the benefits were great enough or the dangers too severe, the Eastern Depot would inevitably sacrifice a pawn to save their king.
If they continued following the Eastern Depot's lead, he feared... not only would all the cult members in the Capital City be lost, but they would lose a Holy Maiden as well.
But... turning against the Eastern Depot just like that...
"The Eastern Depot is powerful. If we openly break with them... we would undoubtedly be making a risky move."
Having said this, the elder let out a deep sigh.
Just as he thought Chen Yi would try to dissuade him, the young man actually sneered.
"Elder, a risky move?
"What's wrong with making a risky move for the Holy Maiden?!"
Chen Yi raised his voice slightly, growing somewhat agitated.
"In the sixteenth year of Qingying, a terrible drought struck Jiangyong. The Governor's Office was corrupt and lawless, even withholding the grain the court sent for disaster relief. Not a rooster crowed for a hundred li. It was the cult that gave me food, treated my illness with Sacred Fire Talisman Water, and told me that wicked ministers held power in Great Yu, which had lost Heaven's virtue. When the Great Ming Venerable Buddha emerged one day, he would surely restore the World of Ignorance!"
His words rang out with conviction. The Demonic Cult elder faltered slightly. In Chen Yi's eyes, he saw undisguised fanaticism and the sorrow of someone bitterly disappointed in another's failings.
He couldn't help being moved.
"The Holy Maiden is one of the Four Great Dignities of the Bright Venerable. How can we abandon her so easily? If the Holy Maiden is harmed, isn't the Great Ming Venerable Buddha harmed as well?"
The more Chen Yi spoke, the louder his voice grew. From time to time, he paused to give a few bitter, defiant laughs. After finishing, he fell silent. A long while later, he even let out a few choked sobs.
"If the Bright Venerable is harmed, and the five kinds of demons-Resentment, Hatred, Wrath, Delusion, and Desire-wreak havoc upon the world, who will defend the Fivefold Radiant Treasure Land of the Bright Realm? Who will save all living beings from the Resentment Devil Master?!"
Not only the elder, but the other Demonic Cult members also caught their breath.
This man...
How does he understand the Bright-Dark Divine Sect better than I do?
The elder's gaze instantly grew complicated. Though he held the esteemed position of Discipline Elder, he too had come from poverty. When famine struck his hometown, he had only survived thanks to relief from the Bright-Dark Divine Sect. In this young man, he seemed to see his past self.
The Demonic Cult elder's thoughts were tangled, and he wanted to say something.
But the young man before him had already risen in disappointment.
"I've said all I have to say. You... had best look out for yourselves."
At this sight, everyone kept lowering their heads. They wanted to sigh, but couldn't, their throats choked as they wavered.
What they didn't see was that,
as the young man stood before the entrance, about to push the door open, a barely perceptible smile appeared on his face.
Seeing that he was about to leave, Min Ning shifted her feet, only to accidentally step on a thread the next moment. A bottle of high-quality Muscle-Weakening Powder then tipped over onto the floor, its contents drifting into her delicate nose.
Bells instantly rang out!
"An intruder!"
At that sharp cry, the Demonic Cult members in the tavern rose at once.
Min Ning was stunned. She drew her saber and turned, about to charge out.
But suddenly, her legs weakened, and she couldn't muster any strength. Only then did she see the bottle of Muscle-Weakening Powder rolling into the corridor.
As she watched the Demonic Cult members charge at her with raised blades, terror filled Min Ning's eyes.
There won't be an afternoon update, but there will be another at 11:50.
Before you continue