"What were you and Donggua whispering about?"
Lin Luoyu sat on a clean boulder, encircled by the glowing energy of another sound-isolation talisman. This one was unmistakably Cui Hao's as well.
After finishing his conversation with Donggua, Cui Hao had hurried straight to Lin Luoyu. He had even activated the talisman right in front of Donggua, making no effort to hide the fact that they were having a private discussion.
Lin Luoyu rested one hand on the hilt of her Haoran Sword and looked at Cui Hao, who was grinning from ear to ear.
"That wicked smirk of yours is bad enough. But why is Donggua smiling so strangely too? Don't tell me your nonsense is actually contagious?"
Cui Hao's smile vanished in an instant, replaced by an expression of exaggerated disbelief.
"Senior Sister, you've changed! How could you say something so hurtful? If you've damaged my fragile heart, will you compensate me?"
"Your fragile heart is tougher than your mouth."
Lin Luoyu tapped her sword hilt, cutting off his banter and getting straight to the point.
"What new scheme do you need your senior sister to cooperate with this time?"
Cui Hao brushed off a small rock beside Lin Luoyu, sat down, and spoke.
"I'm planning to sell you out. I get sixty percent, Donggua gets thirty, and you get ten."
"You're selling me out and only giving me ten percent? No wonder Qinghe calls you a heartless merchant."
"Qinghe called me a heartless merchant? Back when we were doing business, she was the one with greed written all over her face, practically begging me to help her hoard more spirit stones."
"Qinghe doesn't have the brains to act on her greed even if she wanted to. What's truly dangerous in this world is someone who has both ability and ambition."
Lin Luoyu raised an eyebrow and gestured upward.
"If you're planning to sell me out, why did you need a sound barrier for so long? Weren't you worried Donggua would grow suspicious and ruin everything?"
"If things go wrong, doesn't Master have a backup plan?"
Cui Hao grinned broadly. "This is my first time running an errand for Master. I should at least prepare a few surprises."
"But just fishing out the target seems like too little. Why not... try to catch a truly big fish?"
Lin Luoyu's eyes closed gently. A soft laugh escaped her lips.
"If you're confident you can pull it off, go ahead. If things go south, your senior sister will cover for you."
Cui Hao nodded emphatically.
"Four Senior Sister truly lives up to the spirit of Haoran Righteous Qi. This junior brother is in awe! But there is one thing I need to remind you of."
"What is it?"
"When I give you the signal, make sure to look as though your heart is broken and you want to kill me."
"I may not be able to manage heartbroken, but wanting to kill you — I should be able to pull that off quite convincingly."
"Er... you don't need to want to kill me that badly."
Lin Luoyu's eyes opened, her tone turning serious.
"I'll say it again — stay safe. If it gets genuinely dangerous, do exactly what you did before: drop everything and run."
Cui Hao nodded. "Don't worry, Senior Sister. Whatever I act like on the outside is exactly how things will be on the inside."
With his fourth senior sister proving so cooperative, Cui Hao felt even more confident in his plan.
He deactivated the sound-isolation talisman. From here on, he needed to be even more careful and precise — the last thing he wanted was to become a laughingstock for his senior sister.
He turned and looked at Donggua, who had been watching him from a distance.
Donggua met his gaze with a questioning look.
In response, Cui Hao offered her his most innocent, pure smile.
Unfortunately, Donggua was unfamiliar with the unspoken communication styles of the inner sect and had no idea what Cui Hao's expression was supposed to convey.
She probably thought it meant: Don't worry, I've got this handled.
Night descended completely.
The group, which should have been moving, had all stopped for their own reasons. No one mentioned continuing onward.
A bright half-moon hung in the sky, casting cold pale light across the ground. Insects chirped in the darkness.
Cui Hao and Donggua rose from their small group and walked away without a word.
Donggua followed behind Cui Hao, casting a wary glance at Lin Luoyu, who remained seated on her boulder in meditation.
There was no doubt that Lin Luoyu could sense their movement. Yet she did not turn around or ask a single question.
Was Cui Hao truly Lin Luoyu's weakness?
If Donggua were the leader, and someone wanted to slip away under these circumstances, she would have demanded an explanation first — and if none was satisfactory, there would have been consequences.
To be so careless with people's lives in a situation of life and death was a good way to get everyone killed.
The two did not go far — just a short distance back the way they had come.
Cui Hao found a relatively concealed spot and set up another barrier with a talisman. He looked at Donggua.
"Let me see the item first."
Donggua did not rush. She asked her own question first.
"What did you tell your senior sister? Why isn't she concerned at all? And how can you guarantee she won't follow us secretly?"
Cui Hao replied calmly, "I doubt you want to know."
"You guessed wrong," Donggua shot back immediately.
Cui Hao spread his hands.
"I told my senior sister that you and I had taken a fancy to each other and arranged to sneak out tonight for a bit of fun. If she was worried, she could use her divine sense to scan me and see for herself. My senior sister told me to keep the noise down so I wouldn't attract attention."
Donggua's eyes narrowed as she swallowed her anger. There would be plenty of opportunities to make Cui Hao pay later.
Without another word, she retrieved a Rule Crystal that pulsed with a dark, ashen light.
Cui Hao's eyes lit up. He reached out, took the crystal from Donggua's hand, examined it from every angle, and even held it up against the moonlight.
Then he looked at Donggua with an expression of genuine enthusiasm.
"How do you use this thing? What does it do?"
Donggua could barely hide her astonishment, her tone incredulous.
"You don't even know what it is, and yet you conspired with me over this?"
It was over. Cui Hao had been bluffing all along. She had thought he was pretending to be foolish earlier, but now she realized — he was genuinely ignorant.
Cui Hao had originally claimed to be investigating the ancient incident involving the Heavenly Dao Sect and the Wuxuan Observatory.
That incident had caused an enormous stir. The Jade Yang Daozi of the Heavenly Dao Sect had personally entered the fray against Chu Xingchen, whose reputation had recently swept across the Central Plains.
With cultivation at only the Spirit Transformation stage, Chu Xingchen had leveled the entire Wuxuan Observatory, reducing it to cliffs and chasms.
And it had not been a mere clash between young prodigies.
The Heavenly Dao Sect's Sect Master had arrived with all their elders. The Heavenly Manifestation Sect had been even more dramatic, dispatching Bai Xuanling — someone who had not been seen in the Central Plains for ages.
The cause of this conflict between two immortal sects, according to intelligence reports, was a single scattered Rule Crystal.
After that battle, the name Chu Xingchen had begun to rise in prominence. Now, he was renowned throughout the Central Plains.
Cui Hao was not from the Heavenly Dao Sect, so his information might not be as complete. But he couldn't possibly know nothing, could he?
To stake everything on something without even knowing what it was?
Donggua scoffed, suppressing her emotions.
"You know absolutely nothing about this thing, yet you think it's worth betting everything on?"
Cui Hao brought the Rule Crystal close to his mouth, breathed on it, and wiped it clean before speaking.
"I don't trust myself, but I also can't distrust the Heavenly Dao Sect. You have no idea what promises they've made in exchange for this."
He lifted the crystal and held it up.
"So tell me — what are those dark threads inside? Why does it look so disgusting? It's so big — don't tell me we're supposed to swallow it raw?"
[
Dear Readers,
I post 3–4 high-quality chapters daily across multiple fictions, with free chapters unlocking every week.
Patreon Tiers:
$6 — 10 chapters in advance
$8 — 20 chapters in advance + bonus chapters
$10 — 30 chapters in advance + character images + bonus chapters
Note: Avoid the Apple App. It adds a 30% fee and delays payments by 2–3 months. Subscribe through your browser instead.
Your support keeps the daily releases going. If you cannot subscribe, reading and sharing is also appreciated.
Thank you.
Patreon: patreon.com/Alex_Cruise
]