Although he had not taken the money, Wen Qingkong was in a good mood after killing Lu Ruokong.
Lu Ruokong had murdered his own senior brother, so he was no innocent man. Killing him did not count as slaughtering the innocent.
Wen Qingkong swung his blade in the Corpse Seamstress Workshop, then slept until dawn.
As he stretched his arms, every hair on his body suddenly stood on end, and a powerful warning rose within him!
Wen Qingkong darted from his room and opened the door to Li Lan'er and her daughter's room, only to find that they were still asleep.
This was completely abnormal. Li Lan'er was a village woman, accustomed to early nights and early mornings. She could never sit still.
Usually, she would have already risen and prepared breakfast.
Wen Qingkong quickly stepped to the window of Li Lan'er and her daughter's room and checked their breathing. He sighed inwardly in relief. Their breathing was normal.
The mother and daughter had clearly had their sleep acupoints sealed.
Who was it?
Wen Qingkong went downstairs, and his gaze sharpened.
It was her!
A white robe perfectly outlined her graceful figure. White gauze hung from her conical hat, yet she radiated a chill like ancient ice, carrying an aloofness that kept others a thousand miles away.
"I fear no one would have imagined that a mere Corpse Seamstress was actually an Innate Expert."
"How did you find out?"
Since she had already identified him as an Innate Expert, there was no point pretending any longer.
"When the fragment of the Jingchan Palace Mechanism Map appeared, our Holy Church naturally took action as well."
"I happened to be leading the team."
"The day you came out of Jia San's room, I knew you had changed your appearance. After all, your disguise was truly rather crude."
"But I did not recognize you then. I merely saw you deceive those martial artists into dividing the gold, silver, and jewels, so I suspected that you had secretly taken the fragment for yourself."
"So I followed behind you the entire time, watching you change your appearance and return to Corpse Seamstress House Number Nine."
"I was truly surprised then."
"Then, last night, Lu Ruokong, the Wuding Gang's second disciple, was killed."
"Everyone else thought it was revenge by ghosts and monsters, but I had been observing you in secret. I clearly saw you visit the Lu residence during the day, then remain at the tavern across from it for a while."
The White Lotus Saintess spoke with a trace of teasing.
Wen Qingkong's expression, however, was grim. This Holy Maiden had been following him all along and observing him for so long, yet he had not sensed a thing.
"Angry? Helpless?"
"There is nothing to be angry about. I am already a Grandmaster, with martial cultivation sufficient to dominate a region. If I were following you and still let you discover me, I might as well draw my sword and slit my own throat."
"A realm is a realm. You are Innate, two realms below me. You can never defeat me."
"Every advancement in realm brings a leap in strength. Other than in novels and storybooks, I have never heard of anyone killing someone across realms."
The Holy Maiden's voice was indifferent.
Wen Qingkong had already calmed down. As the White Lotus Sect's Holy Maiden, her martial prowess was certainly beyond his.
There was nothing discouraging about failing to notice her.
With the system in hand, he only needed time. He would certainly surpass this White Lotus Sect Holy Maiden before him.
"You did not come looking for me merely to tell me this, did you?"
Having steadied himself, Wen Qingkong looked at the Holy Maiden.
A flash of appreciation passed through the eyes hidden beneath her white veil.
Remaining composed in the face of danger was precisely the quality many experts lacked most.
"Indeed. I came to ask you to join the Holy Church."
Wen Qingkong raised an eyebrow slightly.
"You exposed my identity, yet you still want me to join the Holy Church?"
The Holy Maiden asked in return, "Is that not possible?"
Wen Qingkong fell silent. The White Lotus Sect was hunted by the Great Xia Dynasty's court. Joining the White Lotus Sect meant danger at every turn. This bargain hardly seemed worthwhile.
"Ever since Qin Tian was killed by the Black Cloaks, the Holy Church has had no foothold in Yujing City."
"This Corpse Seamstress Workshop of yours is considered an inauspicious place by others, making it ideal as the Holy Church's new foothold in Yujing City."
"Of course, I did not expose your identity to threaten you."
Wen Qingkong sneered inwardly, but his face revealed nothing.
"Joining the Holy Church will benefit you."
"Your martial arts are quite good, but I can tell that you have no master."
"The further one progresses on the martial path, the more one needs a master's guidance. Otherwise, when crossing realms, one is like a blind man feeling an elephant, never able to glimpse the whole picture."
"You must either join a sect under a master, or remain trapped in the Innate Realm for the rest of your life."
"Join my Holy Church, and I can personally teach you."
"Second, if you join my Holy Church, you will no longer need to worry about money."
As she spoke, the Holy Maiden took a stack of banknotes from her robes and placed them on the table before him.
Wen Qingkong picked them up and looked them over.
Hmm...
Thousand-tael banknotes!
There had to be a hundred notes in this stack!
"I can see traces of you cultivating the Thirteen Taibao Horizontal Training."
"What external martial arts need most are food and medicinal supplements. You charge ten taels to stitch a single corpse, so you must already realize that you lack money. I can solve that problem for you."
"Fine, I'll join."
Wen Qingkong answered crisply.
The Holy Maiden froze instead.
"What?"
"Are you going back on your word?"
Wen Qingkong stuffed all the banknotes into his robe, his eyes full of vigilance.
The Holy Maiden was stunned. When she mentioned martial guidance, Wen Qingkong had not been tempted, yet now he was moved by money!
Had she known, why would she have wasted so much breath?
For a moment, she even felt somewhat annoyed.
"What do you want me to do?"
"Gather intelligence? Assassinate high-ranking officials?"
The Holy Maiden shook her head. "You are only Innate. The Holy Church will not have you carry out its operations. Besides, this is Yujing City. The Holy Church generally does not act in Yujing City."
Wen Qingkong looked at the Holy Maiden skeptically.
The Holy Maiden explained, "Qin Tian's case was different. He was implicated because of my senior sister's death. In Yujing City, you only need to pay attention to gathering information. If the Holy Church has an operation and needs you to provide a foothold or offer some cooperation, then do so."
"Fine, no problem. I can do that."
Wen Qingkong nodded in agreement.
Suddenly, two sharp beams of light shot from beneath the white veil.
"Do not think joining the Holy Church is such a simple matter. If you dare betray the Holy Church, you will wish you were dead!"
"I understand."
Wen Qingkong nodded. The White Lotus Sect was a rebel organization. He understood this much of their rules.
Seeing that he understood, the Holy Maiden rose and said, "In that case, I will leave. If you have any information, go to the Listening Wind Tea House in the eastern part of the city. Find the teahouse manager and tell him that you owe Mu Yinyao three taels and three fen of silver. He will understand."
Wen Qingkong gave a grunt, and the Holy Maiden rose into the air and flew away.
As she departed, Wen Qingkong's expression darkened.
Of course, he had not joined the White Lotus Sect for the money. But since the White Lotus Sect Holy Maiden had personally come, she would never have allowed him the chance to refuse.
For the first time, Wen Qingkong felt an urgent need to stitch corpses.
He had to raise his strength as quickly as possible. Yet the White Lotus Sect Holy Maiden's words had also reminded him of something. Why had he still not broken through to the Grandmaster realm? Logically speaking, after absorbing so much internal energy, he should have broken through long ago.
Could it be that breaking through realms truly required a master's guidance?
Wen Qingkong frowned, but then suddenly recalled that he had entered the Innate Realm because the monk whose corpse he had stitched had been Innate. Zhou Wu, Qin Tian, and the others afterward had also all been Innate.
Perhaps he should find the corpse of a Grandmaster, or even a great Grandmaster, to stitch.
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