Lin Luoyu still reached out to accept the experimental product Dong Gua offered.
But she refused Dong Gua's proposal to help with the treatment.
Her face no longer hid her wariness as she looked guardedly at Dong Gua:
"You only need to tell me how to use it. Whether I use it, how I use it—I'll judge for myself."
Dong Gua slowly retreated two paces, giving Lin Luoyu ample psychological safety distance.
"You only need to probe it with your spiritual sense. It will naturally guide Fellow Daoist to find the correct method of use."
"However… the first manipulation will inevitably be somewhat clumsy."
Lin Luoyu looked at the experimental product in her hand, her gaze sweeping over the two of them.
"Wait for me here. Once I'm done, I'll come find you."
Seeing Lin Luoyu's resolute attitude, Dong Gua simply stood in place and said nothing.
The rest was up to Cui Hao.
Lin Luoyu turned and took Cui Hao, disappearing from the two's sight.
Dong Gua calmly watched the direction they'd left.
A smile gradually surfaced on her face.
Without turning around, she spoke: "One thinks too highly of himself, the other is kept in the dark. A sheep rushing to its death, a tiger with a soft heart."
"With the two of them, we might even be able to gather some intelligence on the Taodao Sect."
"Lin Luoyu's noble qi also can't be wasted. This thing will definitely taste better than prayer power. I'll share some with you then."
Ban Xi Gua had already skillfully found a comfortable spot to lean against.
Listening to Dong Gua's victory declaration, Xi Gua felt no joy whatsoever.
He sighed softly. "Don't you think everything has been too smooth?"
"Smooth?" Dong Gua shot him a glare. "Are you saying that losing half your body, being covered in wounds, and being chased nonstop counts as smooth?"
Ban Xi Gua looked up at the azure sky. "I'll be direct. From the moment we encountered that fortune-telling Taoist, I felt we'd stepped into a trap specifically designed for us."
"They'd study us, then push us to the brink of death, forcing us to grasp at anything that looked like a lifeline if we wanted to survive."
"On the edge of death, we encountered Cui Hao and Lin Luoyu. When we needed manpower to continue our plan so the higher-ups would know, Cui Hao rushed to offer his life, complete with a Lin Luoyu."
"We had no choice, and they arrived at just the right moment."
"The sudden appearance of evil cultivators that disrupted our plan was the hook. Cui Hao and his group were the line."
"When we bit the hook, they started reeling us in. Ring after ring, we were played cleanly and thoroughly."
Dong Gua didn't rush to refute Xi Gua's words.
After a moment of silence, she finally questioned: "Are you saying Lin Luoyu, who's full of noble qi, would collaborate with the Evil Spirit Sect's bloody evil cultivators? One playing the hook, one playing the line? Unknowingly, we became the shared target of both the righteous and evil paths?"
Xi Gua was somewhat tongue-tied, not knowing how to rebut.
If the person who'd arrived wasn't Lin Luoyu, if she didn't possess that noble qi, perhaps Dong Gua's vigilance would have been fully raised.
She would have questioned whether Lin Luoyu and Cui Hao might be a trap, and wouldn't have chosen to call out to them initially.
Some people didn't need to speak. Just standing there made one wary.
But others, one glance at them made one feel at ease and reliable.
No one could believe that a noble qi cultivator would abandon the principles in their heart to join hands with evil cultivators.
Moreover, she was an extremely top-tier noble qi cultivator.
This noble qi was far more important to its possessor than the experimental product.
Because it represented the pure Dao in her heart.
It was like an emperor giving up his throne to beg alongside a beggar.
Logically, it didn't make sense.
Ban Xi Gua had naturally calculated many things along the way and felt Lin Luoyu and Cui Hao shouldn't be aligned with Li Xingtian.
But the unease and sense of something being very wrong lingered in his heart.
Dong Gua looked at Ban Xi Gua's silent, worried face.
She sighed softly. "I know you've always been cautious, but the word 'gamble'—whether you want to accept it or not—will always entangle you for life."
"Making choices with unknown outcomes is itself a gamble."
"Sometimes all we can do is hope we gamble and win."
Xi Gua was tongue-tied, only silently and slowly nodding.
He thought of Dong Gua's words and gently swallowed.
If noble qi could enter his throat… it would surely be quite a flavor.
As for the two of them being his lifesavers…
One could only blame good people for having no eyes.
They'd saved the wrong people.
———
Cui Hao raised his hand and shook the experimental product, smacking his lips: "This thing doesn't look like a good product at first glance."
Lin Luoyu glanced sideways. "Have you finished looking? If so, give it back. We still need to use this thing."
Cui Hao froze, his expression surprised as he looked at Lin Luoyu: "No way, senior sister. You really intend to use this thing on me? What if it turns my extraordinary talent into something like a wild boar? I might as well smash my head against a wall."
"Are you pretending to be stupid now?" Lin Luoyu said with exasperation. "Of course we'll test it on some random beast. We're unfamiliar with this thing. What if they can determine whether we've used it or not?"
"Senior sister makes a good point. However, us handling it personally does carry some risk." Cui Hao nodded heavily at her words.
"So let someone else do it. Surely the Taodao Sect's elite cultivators can handle it without fail."
As Cui Hao spoke, he took out a token and infused it with some spiritual energy.
In just moments, a middle-aged cultivator arrived, concealing his aura.
The middle-aged cultivator's aura was robust. He slightly cupped his fists: "What task do you require of this subordinate?"
Although their cultivation was negligible in his eyes, these two weren't ordinary externally hired personnel.
They were young friends with extremely deep backgrounds.
If judged by the Jade Sun Daoist's standards, these two were far from simple young friends.
They could be elevated to—little daddy realm.
Cui Hao's smile was warm, his tone and attitude excellent: "Sorry to trouble this senior. Please find any random beast and test this thing on it. If there are any abnormal effects, please make note of them."
The middle-aged cultivator took the experimental product and glanced at it.
He then looked toward Lin Luoyu.
Only after seeing Lin Luoyu gently nod did he cup his fists again and depart.
Cui Hao stood in place and began stretching his limbs.
He'd been jostled around the whole way by his fourth senior sister just now, without any consideration for her poor junior brother.
Before Cui Hao had stretched for long, the middle-aged cultivator returned with the experimental product.
His expression was somewhat strange as he spoke: "After using this thing, it leaves hidden traces on both the user and the target. If one's cultivation isn't sufficient, they can't be detected at all."
"Moreover, this thing has a very strange effect and is extremely unstable. It's probably still just a simple experimental product."
Lin Luoyu asked: "Can it leave traces on us?"
The middle-aged cultivator gently nodded: "Not difficult. It just takes some time."
Cui Hao's expression was calm, his gaze shifting, wondering what he was thinking now.
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