Zhao Yunxiao Two closed the only window in the room, ensuring that nobody could peek in. He then casually took a seat at a table before casually gesturing to the chair across him.
"Have a seat."
"Is this house yours?" Cai Caoyuan sat down as instructed.
"No, why would I have a house here? I just decided to come in since the house is empty," Zhao Yunxiao Two answered matter-of-factly.
"What? Why are we chatting here, then? How do you know that the owner isn't around? Or even that they won't return anytime soon?" Cai Caoyuan started panicking a little.
"There won't be anyone here for a while," Zhao Yunxiao Two said with such confidence that Cai Caoyuan decided to stop probing. "So, tell me. Why did you request our assistance if you truly believe that we cannot afford to offend the terrifying masterminds behind the current situation?"
"You won't be speaking so casually about the matter if you actually knew who you are dealing with here."
"Why don't you tell me, so that we can find out for sure?" Zhao Yunxiao Two shrugged. "For you to have reached out to the Black Tortoise Sect, deep down, you must actually want us to resolve the matter. So, why did you suddenly change your mind?"
"If you have succeeded in one go, then there wouldn't have been an issue," Cai Caoyuan said with a sigh. "But with how volatile things have become, I truly do not wish for you to stay around and risk losing your lives! If that happens, who knows what the Black Tortoise Sect would do to the city?"
"So, are they from the Scarlet Leaf Sect?"
"What?" The sudden question caused Cai Caoyuan to jerk up in his seat. "How did you find out?"
"How I found out is not important," Zhao Yunxiao Two answered. "Just tell us everything you know and we will handle the rest. Let's start with the curse – is the Scarlet Leaf Sect responsible?"
"...No, the curse is real and existed way before the Scarlet Leaf Sect came into the picture," Cai Caoyuan let out a wan smile. "In fact, the curse is what drew the Scarlet Leaf Sect here. Apparently, they heard of the matter and told us to never stop the performance, no matter what happens. Otherwise, we will be the first to die..."
"So, that's why you are so insistent on the continuation of the performance," Zhao Yunxiao Two nodded in understanding.
"Since then, other cultivators have heard of the matter and tried to come to our aid," Cai Caoyuan continued. "Unfortunately, all of them came to tragic ends. It took a while before I finally realised that the Scarlet Leaf Sect has been using the curse as bait to reel in other cultivators for slaughter."
"So, that's how you are so familiar with the strength of cultivators. Does anyone else know? For example, Lan Huolian or Chang Huien?"
"I didn't tell anyone. Everyone in the city is only interested in maintaining their own political power. Who knows? If I told them, they might even want to make use of this opportunity to cooperate with the Scarlet Leaf Sect!"
"That's why you decided to seek help from the Black Tortoise Sect."
"It's the greatest orthodox faction in the region. I thought that if anyone could solve this issue, it would have to be the Black Tortoise Sect. And with the curse gone, the Scarlet Leaf Sect would lose their reason to remain in the city as well," Cai Caoyuan sighed. "But when I saw that even you failed to get rid of the curse, I finally realised that there's truly no hope for us."
"You have already given up, then? In that case, the reason why you told us to return today for the exorcism..." Zhao Yunxiao Two chuckled. "I suppose the Scarlet Leaf Sect is already lying in wait to act against us?"
"...That's right," Cai Caoyuan confessed.
"I see," Zhao Yunxiao Two replied solemnly. "But why are you suddenly willing to tell me this now?"
Cai Caoyuan did not respond, but Zhao Yunxiao did not need his response either.
His focus might still be on self-preservation, but the fact that he was willing to contact the Black Tortoise Sect in the first place was already a testament to where his heart truly lay. Perhaps understandably, it was not easy to always make the morally right decisions when one's life was at stake.
"Thank you for telling me the truth, and sorry that we failed before. However, I would ask that you trust us one more time," Zhao Yunxiao Two said while getting to his feet. "The next time, we will not fail."
"Don't you need more information?" Cai Caoyuan asked when he saw that Zhao Yunxiao Two was about to leave. "For example, don't you want to ask about the Scarlet Leaf Sect members? How many of them are there? What are the means at their disposal?"
"I would certainly have use for such information, but I don't intend to get it from you. What you know is simply what they want you to know, but what I need is what they don't want anyone else to know," Zhao Yunxiao Two smirked. "And don't just sit there. You are coming with me as well."
***
"Come on, just spill it," Gu Qiansi said helplessly. "Tell me everything you know. Neither of us are enjoying ourselves, so let's not drag this out any longer than we have to."
In front of her, a middle-aged man was lying on a wooden table with his limbs, neck, and waist bound by thick roots lined with countless little thorns that cut into his flesh. His abdomen and shoulders had much deeper wounds that continued bleeding, especially as the tiny sprouts growing out of them continued to wiggle.
"I have already told you everything I know!" the man answered weakly. "There's nothing more! Please, just kill me!"
He had puncture wounds in various spots.
His meridians had been sealed.
And then this witch had inserted strange plants into him which were actually growing within his body even now, cutting through his flesh and spouting from his wounds. In fact, he could feel the strange plants slowly creeping up towards his head, at which point he could only imagine what else would happen!
This was a kind of pain and fear that he never imagined possible!
He only regretted trying to fight back against the archer instead of directly detonating himself earlier! That way, he would not have been knocked out and brought here to be subjected to such torture!
"He doesn't seem to be lying," Gu Qiansi turned around to face the trio behind her. "I think that's all that we are getting from him."
Standing not too far behind her, Zhao Yunxiao was fiddling with a Petiole-rank token that had been retrieved from the middle-aged man's long black robes. It was proof of the middle-aged man's identity as a member of the Scarlet Leaf Sect.
The Scarlet Leaf Sect... always the Scarlet Leaf Sect!
Again and again, they had proven that they were nothing but vermin to the cultivation world!
"Is this enough information? Otherwise, I will go hunt for more," Nie Hanchang said.
"Can I go too?" Lu Zhiying asked. "I promise not to get in the way!"
"Of course, not!" Gu Qiansi rejected immediately.
"It's enough for now," Zhao Yunxiao stepped forward and tapped the cultivator on the forehead, instantly knocking out the cultivator.
"What's next?" Gu Qiansi asked.
Zhao Yunxiao looked out the window of the simple hut, at the moon that would probably turn full in two days. It had taken a while to extract information from the Scarlet Leaf Sect member, but what they got in return was well worth the effort.
Still, what Cai Caoyuan said earlier continued to ring out in his head.
Cai Caoyuan had been ensnared by the Scarlet Leaf Sect, forced to help them bait in cultivators to be killed. He had reached out to the Black Tortoise Sect for help, only to be disappointed by their failure. This had caused him to lose all trust in the Black Tortoise Sect, forcing him to return to listening to the orders of the Scarlet Leaf Sect.
Damn it, I screwed up!
He had underestimated this mission and got careless, believing that the only problem they faced was to resolve the curse surrounding the performance. The clues had always been there regarding the strange circumstances of the Good Luck Theatre Group, but he had neglected them and erroneously attributed Cai Caoyuan's decisions to mere greed.
If word got out about this, just how embarrassing would it be for the Black Tortoise Sect? How badly would the sect's reputation be affected?
Most importantly, how would others see his companions in the future?
And he would be the sole reason for that all.
That was, the sole reason apart from the actual culprits – the Scarlet Leaf Sect.
And now, to ensure that he did not become a burden, either to the sect that had kindly taken him in or to his precious companions, there was only one way to go about it.
He was going to forcibly set things right – to prove that it had been the right decision for Cai Caoyuan to approach the Black Tortoise Sect, and that they were still in control!
"Junior Martial Sister Lu, watch closely from within the hut and make sure that you don't miss a thing. Gu Qiansi, protect her and support us from range. Senior Martial Brother Nie, cover me," Zhao Yunxiao spoke with a tone that felt uncharacteristically cold.
The trio were confused for a moment, but quickly caught onto the meaning behind his words – their enemies had arrived!
"Be careful," Gu Qiansi said worriedly, having noticed a light in Zhao Yunxiao's eyes that reminded her of some memories that she would rather not recall. "Remember, you are not-"
"Trust me, I've got this," Zhao Yunxiao interrupted as he decisively made his way out of this makeshift hut that they had temporarily set up in the wilderness.
Fresh grass crunched under his feet as he stepped outside, and a cold night breeze caused his hair to flutter along with the trees. It appeared to be a quiet night out here in the forest, but Zhao Yunxiao knew that could not be further from the truth.
Or at the very least, that was not going to be the truth for much longer.
Zhao Yunxiao flicked his wrist, and the Penta-Edge Grimoire Halberd appeared in his right hand.
From within his spatial pouch, the Heaven's Descent Bowl trembled and the prints on the ceramic bowl started moving. The blue waters formed a sea along the bottom, and the blue clouds transformed into rain. Four water pillars rose from the blue sea, rising all the way up to the mouth of the bowl, reaching over it to flow into the bowl itself.
Within the Heaven's Descent Bowl, a blue liquid started to form and quickly filled to the brim. Five streams of blue liquid then escaped from the bowl, leaving the spatial pouch and moving through the air to form five separate blobs on the ground before Zhao Yunxiao.
Bit by bit, each of these blue blobs transformed into a blue replica of the avatar of the dog spirit. They stood there facing Zhao Yunxiao, looking at him with their hollow blue eyes.
"Go."
The five replicas of the avatar of the dog spirit shot out in an instant, heading towards five different directions in the woods.
Zhao Yunxiao did not just stand there either, charging out towards a sixth direction with his spiritual sense blasting out in full force.
Clank-!
The Penta-Edge Grimoire Halberd pierced through a tree trunk like a hot knife through butter, slamming straight into a sword that the cultivator hiding behind the tree had hurriedly put up in defence.
"Wha-?!" the black-robed cultivator exclaimed in shock, clearly unable to believe that he had been discovered.
[Explode]
Boom-!
The black-robed cultivator never expected the follow-up explosion that sent him straight into the ground, the impact forming a small crater around him.
What on earth?!
Their spies had already determined the cultivation level of these Black Tortoise Sect cultivators during the earlier exorcism attempt! They were supposed to be at the Essence Gathering realm!
No, not just that. He could clearly sense his current opponent's cultivation level as well. There was no doubt about it – he was at the Advanced Essence Gathering Realm.
But could that be possible?
How was this supposed to be the strength of someone at the Advanced Essence Gathering realm?!
Even he, someone at the Primary Essence Physique realm, could not stand up to it!
[Weight]
Pu-!
The black-robed cultivator spat out a mouthful of blood as his arms gave way, no longer able to withstand the mountain-like force bearing down upon him. Forced down by the black halberd, the back of his sword cut straight into his chest, crushing his ribs and the organs underneath.
The crater deepened around him, unable to withstand the sheer pressure bearing down upon the area.
Just before he lost consciousness, he caught sight of the cold and indifferent gaze coming from the previously harmless-looking, young cultivator, who was now mercilessly pressing a halberd into his chest like it was just another summer evening.
Damn it, we screwed up!
They are hiding their cultivation levels as bait!
This time, we have become the fish instead of the fishermen!
At almost the exact same moment, essence energy burst forth from within the shadows as five different cultivators reacted to the sudden revelation that their locations had been compromised.
No matter how well they thought they had hidden themselves, it lost all meaning before the powerful senses of the replicas of the avatar of the dog spirit!